Welcome back!!

Prior to my trip to Paris, I purchased a sightseeing and a transit pass. Most large cities with many tourist attractions offer these products. They eliminate the need to buy individual tickets, waiting in lines, and usually save you $$. In Paris, it includes a river cruise and the Hop On Hop Off (HoHo) bus.

On this day, I hopped on the HoHo bus. The weather was nice at 78 and partly cloudy. Here's some of the places seen along the route:

The worlds largest art museum...

The Louvre

The Conciergerie

It once was part of the Royal Palace but was later converted to a prison. One of the prisons' more famous tenants was Marie-Antoinette. Today it's primarily used for law courts.

Along the river Seine was this outdoor cafe and lounges for people to soak up some sun.

Plaza Concorde
Built in 1772, it's the largest square in Paris at nearly 19 acres.
It was here a guillotine was erected and many executions took place, including that of King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.

Arc de Triomphe

Look familiar?
It's a replica of the flame on the torch held by the Statue of Liberty.

Museums and Trocadero Gardens across the river Seine from the Eiffel Tower

Do I really need to give this photo a title?
Built in 1889 (130 years ago) specifically for the Worlds Fair, it was intended to be torn down just 20 years later!

Fun Facts:
Also known as 'The Iron Lady'
It's 1,063 tall
2,500,000 rivets were used
Eiffel is the name of the architect

Prior to building the Eiffel tower, do you know what else he built?
He built the internal structure of the Statue of Liberty!!

Dome des Invalides
Part of a larger complex containing a military museum as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans. The church dome is the tallest in Paris.
Built in the late 1600's, the body of Napoleon was entombed there in 1840.

The Pont (bridge) Alexandre with the 4 gold statues.
Behind it is the glass-roofed Grand Palais.

The Petit Palais
Located across the street from the Grand Palais and currently houses the Museum of Fine Arts.

Something I've never seen before in Paris....a typical downtown skyline!!

The Church Saint-Augustin (1868) is off to the right.

Palais Garnier
(Paris Opera House)
I'll be writing about my tour of this place in my next blog entry...Day 5!

The Church of Madeleine

Very near to the places seen in the past few photos is an upscale shopping district. A large department store, Printemps, has a rooftop garden and restaurant. Of course, I had to check it out. I didn't dine there, but I did take the photos of the Church Madeleine and Palais Garnier from there.

When in Paris, eat snails.

I was on a VERY IMPORTANT mission while in Paris!!
I wanted to recreate a scene from I Love Lucy where she was visiting Paris and wanted to eat at a cafe like the locals do, but didn't understand the menu due to the language. She ended up just pointing at something to order. Lo-n-behold, delivered to her table was escargot!

So, I went to a sidewalk cafe and ordered escargot and recreated the 'nose' scene and had the waiter take a photograph of me. No, I wasn't in drag as Lucy!!! The staff had no clue what I was doing but I did my best to explain who Lucy was and the episode.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THAT PARTICULAR SCENE FROM I LOVE LUCY!!

The front side of the Palais Garnier (Opera House). The 4th photo back is of the opposite side.

Love the old Metro signage!

After the HoHo tour, I decided to go see the Sacre Coeur which wasn't far from the apartment where I was staying. Along the way was this pastry shop and I HAD to try some butter cookies. YIPES!! Expensive! 7 cookies came to $13.50.

The Sacre Coeur
Otherwise known as 'The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris'
Construction began in 1875 and was completed in 1914
You can walk up or take the funicular. I took the latter due to my knees.

The entry to the Basilica is free, but you have to pay a fee to climb up into the dome. Normally, I would leap at the chance, but my knees were killing me.