J'adore Paris! (Part 2)

I know that I am usually very slow at things, but now that I have some time, I guess its high time I continue on my Paris posts, and then after that get down to writing the Melbourne post that I took with Fabby =D


History

One of the many things I love about Paris is the rich history and the deep heritage that only so many nations in the world can boast about. I mean compare to Singapore, where our history is a brief 6 lines, the thousands of years of history there, is just amazing. Of course the first thought that came to me was that: "It must be VERY difficult to be a student studying the history of their own country". I mean just the name of the Kings alone must be confusing enough.

With a place so steeped in History, there are so many places to go and visit. And honestly, one trip to Paris is definitely not enough to see them all. We picked a few choice places and set out on our journey.

One of the first few places that we went to was the Sacré Coeur Basilica. 

On the steps outside the Sacré-Coeur Basilica

It took us a while to find it, because all we had was a little city map, and we used the general direction, and some road signs to help us find our way. Its not too difficult to get there really, and it is really worth the walk up. Inside the Basilica was just the most amazing interior, with all the glass windows and beautiful and grand design. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed inside (or that my iPhone was just not good enough to capture good enough shots), so there are no photos of the insides. One thought that was constantly buzzing in my head was: "How did they do this so many years ago". These buildings were at least half a millennia old, and they do not have any form of modern technology. 

At the Château de Versailles, this sense of awe continued. 

The Château de Versailles

The garden view

This place was the palace where many of the Kings used to stay, and it was also where the infamous French Revolution March on Versailles took place, and drove the monarchs back to Paris. But that's history lesson which I shall not touch on. Stepping into this building, is no mean feat - you first need to get past the throng of tourists, which comes by the busloads. But if you put aside these annoying tourists (Yes I am talking about the majority of the Chinese tourist), and rent the audio-guide, it will be an unforgettable experience, and an exercise in the art of "Zen".

The interior is just so opulent, and so gorgeous. And the paintings on the ceilings left me breathless. I mean, how do they paint these things? It is literally on the roof, look at the pictures. The pictures are breathtaking, and detailed. With the ancient techniques, they make it look almost life-like.

One of the many grand halls

Painting ON the roof

Look at how they 3-dimensional and real they look

Of course no trip to Paris is complete without a visit to Musée de Louvre. 

The requisite shot

The tunnel leading to the Louvre

As expected, it was swarming with tourists, and to be very honest, I am more annoyed with them than the Parisians. In fact, like I said earlier, the Parisians are far friendlier than I expected. It is the tourists, armed with the digital cameras who go around taking a snap of EVERYTHING that really upsets me. I mean we are there to soak in the atmosphere and understand the paintings and the history. What is the point of going to place, not knowing anything about it, but leaving with 2,000 photos that one will never look through again?

The Mona Lisa was one such painting that EVERYONE was trying to get a million shots of. And frankly, it was underwhelming. However the painting right opposite Mona Lisa, which was such a great work from Paolo Veronese. It was The Wedding at Cana, just about the largest piece of art in the Louvre. But of course no one paid attention.

Of course I had to get a shot of the Mona Lisa 

The interior of the Louvre

Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to spend there, one need weeks and months to finish everything, and if you have the time, try to allocate at least one full day there. Don't get the audio-guide though, it is useless.

Well of course along the way we passed by other historical monuments, it is Paris after all.

Cathedral de Notre Dame

The Concorde

The Pantheon

That concludes my 2nd post on Paris. There's really a lot to share ain't it? Well let's hope I find time to blog soon. A bientot.