After the Louvre and walking around the Latin Quarter a little my sister and I stopped for a drink at an outdoor Cafe. It was probably around 10:30 - 11:00 in the morning at that point but we had been up for quite some time and I feel like having a drink in the morning is okay if you're on vacation. Cheers!
I'm struggling a little to remember the sequence of events since this whole thing took place last summer, but I think our next stop was to the fountain and statue of St Michael.
The statue is quite beautiful actually and there was an outdoor market there as well that we spent a little time exploring.
From there we crossed back over the Seine to essentially head right back to the Louvre and it's Jardin des Tuileries.
There are a lot of really neat bridges that cross the Seine river in that area and this time we chose to cross the Pont des Arts.
The Pont des Arts is an old wooden slat style bridge located at the the cultural center - the Institut de France. It's an old and grand building, much like so many others in the city.
The views from any of the bridges in the area are spectacular in my opinion, so the bridges themselves could actually be considered a "site to see" in the city.
Our walking route was a big loop that brought us over to the outdoor garden behind the Louvre, like I mentioned previously.
The museum property is huge and there is a lot to see there but we mostly just headed over to the garden side this time around.
For a public park the Tuileries is a really nice space. Its somewhat busy as you might expect but very nice indeed.
It's filled with flower gardens, benches shaded by large banks of trees, a Ferris Wheel, and many many stone statues scattered around.
We just strolled through the space casually while making our way over to the Eiffel Tour.
Do you remember the movie Matilda? Well this is what I imagine Mrs Trunchbull would look like naked. If you recall she was an Olympian who specialized in the hammer throw. This statue looks strong enough to throw a shot put (or child) across a field if you ask me.
It was super hot out that day and we eventually stopped for lunch at an outdoor terraced restaurant. That's the Parisian thing to do.
We both got the exact same meal, the duck with a glass of wine.
I haven't had a bad meal in Paris yet. They've always been very delicious, and this one was no exception.
The Eiffel Tower came into view just outside the Tuileries Garden.
We were still a long ways away from it at this point, probably a 20 minute walk or so, but at least now we could see it.
The walk at this point was a little boring because I didn't plan for any stops along the way. We did see this nice bridge though as we got closer to the tower. I forget the name of it unfortunately.
The tower sort of came in and out of focus for us throughout the walk.
It would be hidden behind buildings or trees and then it would randomly appear through them.
It was a bit of a tease really.
Upon arrival we made our way to the large lawn out in front. It's the best location to see the tower in all its glory.
Now that I think of it we actually ate lunch after seeing the tower, while making our way over to the Champs-Élysées. Oh well, no turning back now.
Somewhere along the way we popped into an old church too. I don't recall the name or location of it but I'm always down to pop into a church now and again.
I didn't take many photos of the Champs-Élysées but there are a few neat things to see along the famous street.
Even though its nothing really special, I quite liked this wall of mirrors.
The last thing that we did while in the area was check out the Arc de Triumph.
And with that final landmark crossed off our list we were ready to head back home. We had basically seen all of the main touristy sites in the area so it was time to go back to the train station. It's not really possible to see the entire city of Paris in one day but overall we had covered a lot of ground and had seen quite a bit of the city. We were both quite happy with the experience and tired enough to want to go home to rest. Tomorrow was another travel day after all.
