Day 3 - All over the map

Day 3 was a a busy day although it went off the rails quite early.


First stop was the Concorde centre, which was the location of the famous guillotine that took so many lives during the French Revolution. Napoleon re-engineered Paris so that this place was literally the centre of Paris. You can look one way down the Champ des Elysees and see the Arc de Triomphe, then look the other way and see the Tuileries Jardin leading directly to the Louvre. There is also an Egyptian obelisk there that he stole. It was later officially given to France by Egypt.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

We then walked through the Tuilleries. which were somewhat disappointing. The saving grace was a Grey Heron, an addition to the World list.   

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



Our plan was to go across the Seine to the the Musee d'Orsay, but since the Louvre was closed, there was a huge line-up. We bounced over to the Rue St. Germaine where we saw a protest at the Foreign Ministry. There were at least two gendarmes for each protester.


Next stop was the Conciergerie, which was transformed from a king's palace into the Paris jail and Hall of Justice. We saw the cell where Marie Antoinette was held before her eventual execution.

On the same grounds, we toured the magnificient St. Chapelle Church, where the stained glass windows date back to the 1200's. The picture I have included does not do it justice.

After a quick tour of the Palace of Justice, we headed over to tour Notre Dame Cathedral. It is again very impressive and one can see what the Notre Dame in Montreal was patterned after.

Our supper plans at the local wine bar were scuttled - who knew we needed a reservation?

So we bought a baguette at the local patisserie, some sausage and wine at the butcher, and some cheese at the grocer and ate on our hotel room balcony, looking at the Arc de Triomphe.



We decided the night was young and used our Museum pass to climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe - all 284 steps. This afforded us the view of the Eiffel tower at night, including a special light show at the top of each hour. So ended Day 3.