Lyon

Lyon

After being in Paris last week we decided to travel to Lyon. The first place we visited was Cathedral Saint Jean Baptiste. The Cathedral dates from 12 century and is very imposing. Sadly when we were visiting the Cathedral was in the middle of 5 year restoration project, so therefore not all of the Cathedral was accessible at the time. We also went to the Parc de la Tete d’Or. This park is the largest green place in town in Europe. With Zoo and "un jardin botanique" (with hundred different types of roses,great trees like libanes pine, sequoia,giant magnolia tree)and an ancient carrousel from de end of 19 century. The zoo is surprisingly well equipped considering its free and the greenhouses in the botanical gardens were a good place to warm up on a cold day. This park would be good to run around or perfect for an afternoon stroll around the lake. After the park we decided to do something a bit more culture and we went to the Musee des Beaux-Arts, this museum is home to an impressive collection of paintings, both French and international. We loved this museum. It's beautifully curated and a pleasure to walk through. The audi guides are free, which is a major plus as all of the plaques are (understandably) in French. This is one of those galleries where, amongst some very ordinary artwork there are some real treats - a Gaugin, some Matisses, and some Courbets - to name a few

Paris

After spending couple days at Disney Paris we decided to start adventuring into Paris and get ready to learn a little more about the culture, the food, and the city itself. The first places we wanted to go were the La Tour Eiffel and the Louvre. 

La Tour Eiffel was magnifique. It was located on the Champ de mars in Paris. The champ de mars is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh arrondissement, between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after the Campus Martius, which is a tribute to the Roman god of war. 

At the ground level of the tower there are many souvenir shops. There is also a big buffet, and a petite sculpture of Gustave Eiffel. On the first floor, there are fascinating signs everywhere offering explanations about the history of the tower. There is also a little room called the “Gustave Eiffel room”.This reception room is set in a prime position on the 1st floor of the Eiffel Tower with a breathtaking view over Paris and its most remarkable sites. Then on the second floor there are plenty of restaurants. There is a champagne bar, another buffet and a couple of very fancy restaurants. We opted to go to the champagne bar and we decided to have a glass of rose champagne. Which was really good in the company of an amazing view. To get to the top of the tower we took one of three glass elevators that there are. It took forever to get to the elevator because there were so many tourist. But we did not want to take the stairs. We weren’t sure we could make it. It was 708 steps! At the top of the tower we got to see the whole city of Paris. It was an unforgettable experience. 

After our amazing tour of the Eiffel tower we decided to walk to the Louvre. It was about 2 miles, but it was very nice to get to see the city by foot. We got to see different stores, restaurants, and bars. 

The Louvre was also fascinating. There was an exhibition of Eugene Delacroix. He was a french romantic artist. The museum was full of art. There was also a loooot of people there but it was well worth it. We got to the the venus de milo, the Mona Lisa, The oath of the Horatti, and the Raft of the Medusa, just to mention a few. The museum was a very interesting experience. It was very emotional to get to see all the pieces of art that are such a valuable pieces of history in the humanity. 

Well that is it for today, I will let you know about our next destination. 

Au Revoir!