Catacombs and the arc de triomphe

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Day 3 greated us with yet more blue skies , but we decided to head deep underground


To the catacombes of Paris 
We traveled down a spiral staircase 132 steps, I have to say I felt a little dizzy by the time I reached the bottom.


The catacombs were created in around 1786, if you don't know their story you can read more about it here 
The bones are for the most part arranged in just neat rows, however in a few areas like the above photo they were arranged in a decorative way. It was really interesting in a macabre kind of way.



When we returned to the surface we jumped on the metro and headed to the arc de triomphe which we climbed to the very top,for yet another amazing view of Paris. I have to say I am just blown away by the carving in the stone of the buildings here, the workmanship is amazing.



After we finished at the arc de triomphe, we strolled down the champs élysées until we reached the place de Concorde and wandered into the Tuileries gardens, where we got to see



Parisians enjoying the sun


And with a gelato in hand we enjoyed the beautiful gardens, with  their freshly planted flowers, and looked on in awe of the beautiful louvre building.

We then crossed the Seine hopped the metro and headed back to the 5th arrondissement ( our area)
 to enjoy lunch in a cafe, the menu did present us with a bit of a challenge but we managed to order and I have homework, working out how to decipher the French menu . . . . My high school French is 
not quite good enough . . . 

Tonight Gadget headed off for a journey on his own, so I have two days alone to explore Paris.

 Tomorrow I head to the Paris opera house and to the L' Orangerie And I think I will have a little wander around the ille st Louis  

Until then

au Revoir

Googy Girl


Comments

  1. Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra StitcheriesApril 5, 2016 at 3:02 PM

    Bonjour! I didn't get to the Catacombs! My Son today k me to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Élysées and then to the Mercedes Shop.....that was pretty cool! The buildings in PARIS are amazing.....love the gold on them! Would you like me to pop over and help you with a Menu lol......I can decipher a lot of it...enough mostly to make sense! If you like Mussels try some Moules and Frits (Mussels and Chips). The Chips are lovely! We stayed on The Isle...sigh! So good that you ar getting to,post...I didn't manage that! Au Revoir till next time!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chookyblue......April 5, 2016 at 3:55 PM

    I have seen the catacombs on tv and that is enough for me to freaky to go down there in real life...........totally interesting..........

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousApril 5, 2016 at 6:11 PM

    wow Trish amazing xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnitaApril 5, 2016 at 11:02 PM

    Never got to the Catacombs but did climb those 200 stairs to the top of the Arc!! I was amazed by the detailed and intricate carvings in all the buildings....all done way back when without modern tools!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. JanApril 5, 2016 at 11:38 PM

    I reckon the Catacombs would give me the heebie jeebies, Trish. ! Will definitely go up the Eiffel Tower and possibly the Arc. As for reading menus - I ordered different pizzas on our last trip and what I translated as green peppers were actually green chilis (wasn't my pizza though so not my problem!) Are you going to Monet's Garden? It's beautiful. Thanks for the tip re the Metro app; not available for Android but there's a bit of choice.

    ReplyDelete
  6. JaniceApril 6, 2016 at 2:00 AM

    We haven't been to the Catacombs. Thanks for the link. It was interesting reading. We stayed in the Opera district on our first visit. On our second we stayed in the Madeleine District. We haven't been to the top of the Eiffel Tower, but had dinner there, which was pretty special. I'm enjoying tagging along with you, especially to the places we haven't seen.

    ReplyDelete
  7. JennyApril 6, 2016 at 4:26 AM


    Enjoy wondering Paris on your own for a couple of days. Take care and enjoy . I loving your photos brings back lots of memories from 2002

    ReplyDelete
  8. DAWNIEApril 8, 2016 at 1:44 AM

    Make sure you get that baguette whilst wandering, the little corner shops have them, and Gallieries Lafayette have such yummy almond croissants too!

    ReplyDelete

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