Today we
started the day by doing a bike tour with Bike About - it was WONDERFUL. Last
time we were here we went through Fat Tire Bike Tours http://fattirebiketours.com/paris/tours/paris-day-bike which was great for
seeing all the tourist spots but it was soooooooo American (think Davinci Code extremists who think that book is the true story of the Louvre and participants who think a Boulangerie is the French version of Star Bucks). This time we did Bike About http://www.bikeabouttours.com/ which goes to places you don't necessarily
know to go and see as a tourist.
It started
at the 4th district at Le Marais (the swap) which is a trendy/Jewish/gay
district. Here we saw St Gervais Church, and learnt a little bit about Jewish
history. Also, saw a wall where all the people who helped hide the Jews during wartime
were listed (2600 names)!
From there
we peddled past Hotel de Sens known for the canon ball that's stuck to it and
continued on stopping to see some of the wall that surrounded the original
Paris. It’s now mostly destroyed and they've even lost track of the other
remaining pieces of the wall surrounding nowadays as houses have been since
built around them.
Next the
tour went through a shopping spot Rue De Turenne (may go back if we have time)
and Place Des Vosges (formerly known as Place de Royale) previously which was
Louis-XIII's Palace and then it became apartments - one of which was writer
Victor Hugo's. There's also a few offices there too including Issey Miyake's
office.
Back on
the bike again and past Jim Morrison's apartment where he lived and died - he's
actually buried in Paris, interesting!
On the
bike again past The Bastille, along the Seine and the tour guide pointed out
that along the river there's a nudist’s beach. Imagine that - nude in the
middle of your city?!
There was
an excellent view of Notre Damme so lots of pics were taken and we were shown
the restaurant where Ratatouille worked - in real life it’s called La Tour
D'Argent where dinner for 2 costs around 1000 euros. Bon Appetite!
The tour
stopped for lunch in the Latin Quarter then headed onto to see The Louvre. The
tour guide pointed out to us there is another entry that not many people knows
about where there aren't the horrific lines - wouldn't you be annoyed if you'd
joined that massive queue only to find out after that there's a sneaky side
entry! If you stand at that Mini Arc de Triomphe and look right it’s just
there.
Also, we
may go back as there are stairs also beside that Mini Arc de Triomphe that go
underground to a shopping centre apparently it’s called the Carousel or
something? Sounds interesting.
Next, past
the modern art museum and that was the tour!
It was
only just past 2pm so we decided we'd then do Montmartre. So off we went... Of
course we saw Basilique Du Sacre-Couer then headed up to Place Du Terte to
watch all the artists at work. We then started to wind our way back down and
came across a macaroon store - EXCELLENT! When we got to the base we walked
down to Moulin Rouge then hopped on the metro and came back to the hotel to put
our feet and legs up before heading out!
Tonight's
Lido night!
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