Paris I

 
 Flying nearly for free
The new trend here is: cheap flights – like HLX: you pay nearly nothing for the flight + tax: so when we checked it out, see there we found a flight for a weekend in Paris: 0.01 cent there and 0.99 cent back + tax…. So in the end for 2 people we still paid barely 100 Euros.
And so we decided, let's go to Paris for the weekend – why not?

And so Thursday after work, we took the train to Stuttgart: Did I mentioned it took us nearly longer to go by train to the airport because you go around all Stuttgart then actually flying to Paris.
And see there: we are now in Paris. The next 2 days were full of action because we had to see all.


 Palais the Chaillot
don't know what it is - not a big deal - but know it is the best place to see the Eiffel tower for the first time or by night

 
 Eiffel tower

• Named after Gustav Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower
• Erected in 1889 as the entrance for the world’s fair – originally only built for the temporary exhibition
• Today it is one of the most recognizable structures in the world
• It’s the tallest structure in Paris: 324 m high, and for 41 years it was the tallest structure in the world
  

What will you do first when you go to Paris: check out the Eiffel tower? So with the Metro we went and first were standing across the tower to stand in awe because it is so supercool looking at it. This is one amazing spot to watch. And then we can admire it slowly walking towards it.
And for sure we did not went up one level we went all the way to the 276 m high viewing platform – and we did use the stairs.

One thing is for sure this is one amazing structure… and also the view is super: we found Sacre Coer up in the hills, discovered the star shape form of the roundabout of the Ard the Triomphe, discovered the statue of liberty in the middle of the Seine River, saw amazing tall buildings with tiny gardens on top, especially the greenery around the Eiffel tower and the viewing platform where we started out.

And we admired the metal structure…
This is a sight we loved – and so we came here again and again….

 
 Hotel de Ville

• Or for us plain people the town hall
• In 1533 the king decided Paris needed an appropriate town hall: and there we are – it got rebuilt in today’s Renaissance style in 1882
• We didn’t count but there are 108 statues
  

This is a super cool place, part of it is that there is a nice fountain for sitting which makes it even more relaxing when you check out the building and all the little details. And then after a little break we go on… only to come back again

 
 Invaliden dome

• Built in the 1670s to house 4000 invalides - war veterans
• On Jul 14, 1789 a mob broke into the building and seized 32.000 rifles – then they headed to the Bastille and started the French Revolution
  

This is another really cool looking building with another beautiful garden out front.
Here is also the Military museum… all we saw of it, were some cool canons sitting in front of it and what I thought was super cute are those cute triangle shaped trees.

  Center Georges Pompidou

• Built in 1977 and is a really funky looking building – it’s called radical architecture
• Georges Pompidou wanted an artist hub and here he got it
  

Want to see something totally different: like a building with the pipes on the outside, the staircase on the outside… then this is the place to be – kind of makes sense that it is for the artists…
But again a nice fountain gives us a perfect spot to sit and relax… having a break before we keep on going

 
 Place the La Concorde
So you are in Paris and there you see an Egypt obelisk – it was a place which was a must see on Gine’s list (like nearly everything else) – because Gine was once in Egypt and stood in front of the other obelisk at the Luxor temple

• The 23 m high Egyptian obelisk was originally in front of the Luxor Temple and is over 3000 years old – where still it’s twin is
• The obelisk arrived in Paris in Dec 1833 – as a gift
• If you can read hieroglyphs you will discover it takes about Ramses II
• Place de la Concorde is one of the major squares in Paris with the Rue Royal
  

So this is one impressing site…. And we stood in front and try to figure out what it is it wants to tell us. Enjoyed the nice fountain

 
 Going around with the Metro and exploring more about Paris
And wherever we go – there are only two ways to go around Paris: the Metro or the Boat. And both are ways we like a lot and used a lot.
And also walking around Paris you can see a lot of little treasures everywhere: amazing buildings, a glance to the Eifel tower here, statues, even the toilets are cool…

 
 A Car in the Metro
Now normal people walk by foot down the steps… what we saw was super cool… a car on the way down the steps…
Paul said he understands that the guy got confused: own can they put a parking sign right at the steps….