After spending our morning at Versailles Palace, we continue our journey to Arc de Triomphe. We took a RER from Gare de Versailles Château Rive Gauche and then continue using Metro to Charles-de-Gaulle-Etoile station. Once we get out from the station, voila, we can see the amazing Arc de Triomphe upon our eyes.
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| Arc de Triomphe |
At first we confused how to get to the monument, should we cross the street? cause the around Arc de Triomphe is closed by fences. Then we found out that there is a tunnel that can lead us to the entrance of the monument. After arriving at the monument, we saw a huge French flag is put under Arc de Triomphe and a slab with inscription "Here lies a French soldier who died for the fatherland 1914–1918" lying on the ground with eternal flame above the slab.
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| under Arc de Triomphe |
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| Here lies a French soldier who died for the fatherland 1914–1918 |
We didn't have to queue for the ticket since we already have the 2 days Paris Museum Pass, so we decided to go straight to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. We had to take the stairs to the top of the building. The circular stairs look like a shell from above. I had to stop once, because the stairs was so high.
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| looks like a shell from up here |
After climbing the stairs, we enter to the first floor of the monument. There was a huge sculpture that really eye catching in there, it was the statue of a soldier. I really curious who is the person described by that statue.
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| the head statue |
After taking another stair to the top of the monument, we finally arrive at the top of Arc de Triomphe. It's really high, and you can see 360 degree of Paris view from up there. My favorites views are Sacre Coeur, Champ Elysees, and of course, Eiffel Tower.
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| Sacre-Coeur from Arc de Triomphe |
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| Champ Elysees |
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| Eiffel Tower from Arc de Triomphe |
Done with Arc de Triomphe, we continue our journey by walking along Champ Elysees towards Palais du Louvre. We came there on December, so Christmas attributes were all around the corners. And there are some bazaars that are being held alongside the Champ Elysees avenue, mostly they sold beers and snacks.
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| bazaar alongside Champ Elysees avenue |
At the end of Champ Elysees avenue, we arrived at Place de la Concorde. From the information I read, Place de la Concorde is the place where Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette were guillotined in 1793. In here, we can see the Luxor Obelix and The Big Wheel.
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| Place de la Concorde |
After crossing Place de la Concorde, we arrived at Jardin de Tuileries. Inside the garden, there is a huge pond where many peoples are sitting and enjoying afternoon around the pool. In Paris, you can see many people smoking all around the corners, which made my travelling partner can't resist to do the same thing, "just like the Parisian," he said. LOL.
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| smoking at Jardin du Tuileries |
Finally after walking about 3.8 km, we arrived at Palais du Louvre. There are so many African sellers coming to us offering cheap souvenirs like 5 Eiffel key chains for about 1 euro, but since we intended to bought souvenirs from the official shops, so we ignore them and continue the walk to the famous pyramid of Louvre.
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| Palais du Louvre |
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| Louvre Pyramid |
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| inside the pyramid |
After taking so many pictures, then we entered to the museum. We use the Paris Museum pass to get into the museum. Just like many other tourists, our main goal was to see the famous Mona Lisa painting. I guess because it was the main goals for most people, the museum put lots of directions to Mona Lisa painting, and we just need to follow them. Unlike many other rooms in Louvre, the Mona Lisa room is really packed with peoples. Of course we didn't want to miss a chance to take a picture with the painting as well.
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| Mona Lisa painting |
Among all collections in Louvre, my most favorite collection is the David and Goliath painting. This painting has two sides, so you can see what happened in the front and the back of the battle between David and Goliath.
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| David and Goliath front side |
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| David and Goliath back side |
I wish I could spend more time in there, because the museum is so vast, and my feet has already tired due to taking the long walk during the day. When we walking out from the museum, we arrived at the Carrousel du Louvre shopping center, in there you can see the reversed side of the Louvre pyramid.
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| the reversed pyramid |
My friend suggested me to buy the Mona Lisa Swatch watch if I went to Louvre because it only sold in there. But since the watch was too colorful for me, I decided to spent my money in other stuffs in Pylones store. Really could not help my self with adorable things in that store. LOL.
XOXO,
The Tourist
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