Visit de Paris - avec famille

As I mentioned in my last post, from the 17th to the 19th of April my family (little cousin, maternal grandparents and uncle) was going to pay a visiting to Paris.

Taking an early train Wednesday morning I arrived at the Paris Montparnasse station in a little under two hours and from there walked to the hotel where I waited for the arrival of the visitors.

Finally around midday the travelers arrived to the lobby where I greeted them with pastries (I had made the night before) and lots of love.
Settling our affairs in the rooms we promptly headed off for a day full of sightseeing.

There are several bus companies in Paris but we decided to take the Opentour because of the 4 routes that are proposed (more than 40 stops), all included in the two day pass.

On this bus you are also provided with free earphones  for commentary in eight languages.
These are the four routes proposed, that mainly cover all the main areas of interest:

Paris Grand Tour (Green route) with stops at: Auber, Opera, Palais Royal, Louvre Museum, Pont Neuf, Notre-Dame, Saint-Michel, Orsay Museum, Concorde, Champs Elysees- Clemenceau, Boetie-Champs Elysees, George V, Charles de Gaulle Etoile, Trocadero, Eiffel Tower,Invalides, Concorde Royale, Madeleine

Montparnasse Saint Germain (Yellow route) with stops at: Petit-Pont, Luxembourg, Observatoire, Denfert-Rochereau, Raspail, Montparnasse, Invalides, Rue du Bac, St Germain des Pres, Latin quarter, Notre-Dame 

Montmartre – Grand Boulevards (Orange route) with stops at: Auber, Trinite, Blanche, Montmartre-Anvers, Gare du Nord, Gare de l’Est, Republique, Bonne nouvelle, Grands boulevards, Italiens, Capucines-Scribe, Madeleine.

Bastille- Bercy (Blue route) : Notre-Dame, Petit-Pont, Maubert-Mutualite, Ile St Louis, Bastille Opera, Gare de Lyon, Gare d’Austerlitz, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Parc de Bercy, Bastille, Place des Vosges, Hotel de Ville

My uncle explaining the monuments we passed aboard the bus. 

We began by taking the Orange Route Wednesday evening, at the Tour Montparnasse stop.

Getting off first at the Thermes baths (which were closed due to repairs), and then taking a look around the block (notably known for the Sorbonne university).

In front of La Sorbonne

Once again catching the bus after failing to enter La Sorbonne (students only), we stopped at the Notre- Dame Cathedral. 

Posing next to the Notre Dame Cathedral

Inside the Notre Dame Cathedral

From there we made a connection onto the Blue Route, getting off once again at La Place des Vosges. At this plaza we took a little break to eat lunch and then entered a museum which I have already forgotten the name.

At the unknown museum

Concluding our day by an impromptu stop by the city hall of Paris. We were able to quickly catch a glimpse of a the splendorous exhibition on Haute Couture. Seeing dresses from a variety of famous high end designers my grandmother was in heaven (even if only for 20 minutes). Exhausted and jet lagged we were back at the hotel around eight, and decided upon searching a pizza (and wine) for dinner.

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The next morning we began our day by a wholesome buffet breakfast( supplied by the hotel), in which my cousin was pleasantly surprised to see crepettes, or miniature crepes .

Nice and full, by nine o'clock we were on the streets walking to the nearest metro station (Pasteur) heading towards the Eiffel tower.

On the exit of the metro stop ready to see the Eiffel tower.

Taking the speedy and efficient metro we arrived in less than fifteen minutes to our destination where there was already a line forming.

We make a funny bunch..

My grandmother and I, well prepared for the sun-rays.

After taking the above pictures we then continued our morning by hopping onto the sightseeing bus at the nearest station. And not three stops afterwards we were getting off once again, this time at the church of La Madeleine.

The Madeleine Church(more formally, L'église Sainte-Marie-Madeleine; less formally, just La Madeleine) is a Roman Catholic church occupying a commanding position in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The Madeleine Church was designed in its present form as a temple to the glory of Napoleon's army. 

Then continuing onto the Louvre Museum stop where we got off and ate a picnic for lunch.

In front of the Louvre

Continuing our trip onto.. the Museum of the Legion of Honor. A museum which we happened to stumble upon when we got off at the Musee d'Orsay stop.

Entrance to the museum

The museum was built between 1922 and 1925 in a wing that was once the stables of the Salm Mansion. Founded by General Yvon Dubail, it was funded by contributions from Legion of Honour and Military Medal holders.

Once more my uncle is patiently explaining things to my little cousin.

An extensive museum with numerous rooms and halls, this is a picture of the top floor (which as you can see was lacking another soul other than myself).

Finishing our the tour early by taking the metro to go back to the hotel, my grandmother left the men to visit the citys' parks.

On our return back to the hotel us girls took a slight detour stopping by the Notre- Dame du Travail church.

That evening my little cousin and uncle met up with some friends, while the rest of us calmly waited for the night visit of a distant cousin of mine.

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Saturday morning after another filling buffet breakfast my grandfather and I left to take a tour of the a nearby attraction the catacombs. Unfortunately (after nearly half an hour of walking) on our arrival to the catacombs we found a line sufficiently long enough to repel my grandfather. Therefore, we did not enter the tunnels.

Photo which I took from Wikipedia as we did not go inside.

The Catacombs of Paris or Catacombes de Paris is a underground ossuary in Paris, France. Located south of the former city gate (the "Barrière d'Enfer" at today's Place Denfert-Rochereau), the ossuary holds the remains of about six million people[1] and fills a renovated section of caverns and tunnels that are the remains of Paris's stone mines. Opened in the late 18th century, the underground cemetery became a tourist attraction on a small scale from the early 19th century, and has been open to the public on a regular basis from 1874.

It was a nice walk though and I got to spend some one on one time with my grandfather. On our arrival back to the hotel, things got a little complicated as everyone was anxious to catch there connecting trains. Nevertheless, I was still dropped of at my train station (with over half an hour to spare) and we said our goodbyes.

Teary eyed and above all tired I saw off my family until the next time.