"La romantique ville de Paris" a Paris Travel Page by Jenniflower

Everyone dreams of going to Paris when young. It's mystical and magical, spoken of by lovers. My husband and I had the chance to go in 2004 and enjoyed it thoroughly. When you discover Paris with a genuine sense of enthusiasm, this city rarely disappoints.

Early morning rises and late nights - that about sums up our sleeping habits when in Paris! There is just so much to see. At first we found the language a bit daunting, but after trying to chat with the locals, we found it came more naturally to us. I did Latin at school... maybe I should have done French. What a lovely language.

We did the usual touristy things like going up the Eiffel Tower (right to the top!) – if you are afraid of heights, best stay well away… went on a romantic night cruise up the Seine River, where one sees Paris illuminated… went to Eurodisney where we went on as many rides as we could and I got sunburnt. We will be going back again as there’s so much to do there in the actual Disneyland Park as well as the Disney Studios. The Park has a fantasyland, adventureland etc.. and the Studios (basically another park) have re-enactments of movie scenes etc.

In one scene we were the actors on the set of Arnold’s Armageddon movie… there was a fiery meteor heading towards us and we were in a space station… it was all very realistic, with fire and smoke and red lights and sirens etc. Was great fun! This is an absolute must for child and adult alike… just take some sunscreen with you!

We saw the Pantheon (on the ‘hop on – hop off’ Open Top Paris Grand bus tour – highly recommended to get a good feel of what Paris is about) – which was a particular favourite of mine when I studied it in History of Art at school and Tech… Invalides… Montmartre – Grands Boulevards area (arty area)… Montparnasse – Saint Germaine area… bought a lovely original oil painting from an artist along the Seine – it is an oil painting in an impressionistic style, a still life of a violin and a glass of wine – simple and poignant, and some other prints and drawings. There is such a rich tapestry of artwork to be seen and savoured in Paris.

Our night cruise along the Seine was our highlight I think - and that was a hard decision to make!

A close second was the Louvre. We found it strange how everyone flocks to the ‘Mona Lisa’ – otherwise known as ‘La Gioconda’. (she has 3 guards specifically guarding her, and is behind what appears to be a bullet-proof glass casing, which is also slightly tinted, to protect her from the light no doubt). Okay, so we had a peek too, but the other art overshadowed her in our humble opinion.

I could actually go on for an age about the wonders of this museum/gallery. It is an architectural splendour, with awesome paintings, drawings, sculptures, wall motifs etc… One actually needs about a week there to take it all in though. We were gob-smacked... to say the least… and will be visiting Paris again for a long weekend shortly JUST to visit the Louvre for 3 days.

Please note: I have tried to write all the French names with the correct accents, but VT software keeps making the accents a question mark... so I have just taken the accent off. Just in case you were thinking me illiterate or something! haha