PARIS: PANTHÉON, NÔTRE DAME AND QUARTIER LATIN

We had already spent five days in Paris but we still had a lot of interesting places and monuments to visit. We began the sixth day with a visit to the lovely Jardin du Luxembourg and, afterwards, we went to Le Parc de la Villette. Finally, at night, we enjoyed a fascinating Sena cruise. For me, one of the best experiences I lived in Paris.


Star sights of this day in Paris:

• Le Panthéon
• Le Quartier Latin
• La rive gauche de la Seine
• Nôtre Dame
• La Sainte Chapelle

DAY 5

Le Panthéon

The main façade of Le Panthéon. It has a classic look

Inside Le Panthéon

In the middle of Le Panthéon there is a Foucault's Pendulum

Another picture inside Le Panthéon

The dome of Le Panthéon

Inside Le Panthéon I saw this inscription about Antoine de Saint Exupery. From here, I would want to pay tribute to this writer, author of Le Petit Prince 

Under Le Panthéon there is a crypt where there are buried many men and women who did a lot for France, like Rousseau or Voltaire. Here, Victor Hugo

La Sorbonne

Going from Le Panthéon to Le Quartier Latin we saw La Sorbonne, one of the most prestigious universities of France

Le Quartier Latin

The dome of Le Panthéon from Le Quartier Latin, a neighborhood of Paris really lively

La rive gauche de la Seine

There is an special environment around the left bank of La Seine. Here the booksellers, called in french bouquinistes, give to this place a bohemian air

Booksellers work here under the look of Notre Dame. This extremely beautiful cathedral, together with les bouquinistes and La Seine is one of the most interesting places in Paris

Nôtre Dame

Spectacular view of Notre Dame next to La Seine

A little and pleasant park at the rear of Notre Dame

The spire of Notre Dame was added after its construction and it's similar to the spire of La Sainte Chapelle

One of the impressive rose windows of Notre Dame

Some gothic elements of Notre Dame, such as flying buttress and pinnacles

Inside Notre Dame. Its main nave it's really high

On the right, the virgin of Notre Dame

And after visiting Nôtre Dame we were a bit hungry. Here, I was about to eat a delicious tajine marocaine in the restaurant Degrés de Notre Dame, a restaurant which I strongly recommend (address 10 Rue des Grands Degrés, 75005 Paris)

La Sainte Chapelle

On the left La Sainte-Chapelle next to Le Palais de Justice

Main façade of La Sainte-Chapelle where it can be seen a rose window

Inside La Sainte-Chapelle. If you don't enter this wonderful building, you can't realize how beautiful is

The rose window of the main façade

L'Hôtel de Ville

The City Hall of Paris next to La Seine

La Seine

Between La Ile de la Cité and La Ile de Sant Louis we enjoyed this view of the beach of Paris and the City Hall of Paris

There is a lot of boats-restaurant where you can eat something with wonderful views of the Seine and Notre Dame. I strongly recommend Le Six-Huit (the lilac boat that you can see under the bridge)

La Tour Eiffel at night

La Tour Eiffel lit at night from Le Trocadéro, one of the most wonderful views of Paris

L'École Militaire appears here under the main arch of La Tour Eiffel

A wonderful memory of our days in Paris

You can see more pictures of the days I spent in Paris clicking on the links below:

• First day in Paris (Les Champs Elysées)
• Second day in Paris (La Tour Eiffel and Montmartre)
• Third day in Paris (Le Grand Louvre and Île de la Cité)
• Fourth day in Paris (Les Invalides and Musée d'Orsay)
• Fifth day in Paris (Le Panthéon and Nôtre Dame)
• Sixth day in Paris (Jardin du Luxembourg and La Villette)
• Seventh day in Paris (Versailles)
• Eighth day in Paris (La Défense)

Besides, in France I have visited the following beautiful places I strongly recommend:

• Collioure, Elne and Perpignan
• Carcassonne
• Canal du Midi and Pays Cathare
• Gorges de la Fou and Coustouges
• Villefranche de Conflent

Finally, other great cities I have already visited are:

• Barcelona
• Berlin
• New York and Washington
• London
• Dublin in Irleland
• Istanbul in Turkey
• Saint Petersburg
• Rome and The Vatican
• Florence in Tuscany
• Lisboa in Portugal
• Madrid
• Venezia
• Dubrovnik in Croatia

• The Greek Islands and Athens
• Bruges, Ghent and Brussels in Belgium

• Helsinki and Lapland in Finland

• Tallinn in Estonia

• Tortuguero, Caribe, Arenal, Monteverde and San José in Costa Rica

• Marrakech in Morocco

PARIS: LES INVALIDES AND MUSEE D'ORSAY

As soon as I realized in the morning that it would be a lovely day, I decided to come back to Les Invalides to admire the golden dome shinning in the sunshine and other places of Paris which had really impressed me.

So, during the fourth day, I came back to Les Invalides, I visited le Musée d'Orsay, I discovered a romantic parc called Buttes Chaumont and I visited the luxurious mansions of Le Marais around the extremely symmetrical Place des Vosges.

Star sights of this day in Paris:

• Les Invalides and Le Pont d'Alexandre III
• Arc du Carrousel and Pyramid du Louvre
• Musée d'Orsay
• Parc de Buttes Chaumont
• Opera
• Place Vendome
• Le Marais, Place des Vosgues and Place de la Bastille
• Centre Pompidou at night

Day 4

Les Invalides and Le Pont d'Alexandre III

Beyond Le Pont Alexandre III over the Seine, Le Grand and Le Petit Palais appear in Les Champs Elysées

In 1670, Louis the 14th decided to erect a building able to house disabled soldiers, or those too old to serve in his armies, whose design is a reminder of the Escorial palace by Philippe II (Spain)

An overall view of L'Esplanade des Invalides, with Le Pont Alexandre III, which links this esplanade with Le Grand Palais and Le Petit Palais in Les Champs Elysées

The construction of the military complex was over in 3 years only and the first residents entered as soon as October 1674. The life of the 4000 residents (end of the 17th century) was ruled in the same way as in barracks and monasteries. The soldiers were divided into companies and worked in workshops, making uniforms, shoes, tapestries and book illumination, so as to fight idleness

The fantastic Dome of L'Église des Invalides over the tomb of Napoleon

Inside this church I could see spectacular paintings like this one

The Tomb of Napoleon impressed me a lot because is much bigger than what I had never expected. When I think about this tomb, the church with its dome and Les Invalides on the whole, I realize what Napoleon means for french people

From Les Invalides to Le Musée d'Orsay

The Eiffel Tower looks wonderful from L'École Militaire beyond the green esplanade of Le Champ de Mars in Paris

I could enjoy the view of La Place de la Concorde when I was going from Les Invalides to Le Musée d'Orsay

Musée d'Orsay

The building of Le Musée d'Orsay originally was the Orsay railstation in Paris. This wonderful building located in the left bank of the Seine was restored and turned into one of the best museums in impressionism painting

Inside Le Musée d'Orsay I was really impressed by the beauty of this building, specially the ceiling and the clock

Bedroom in Arles, one of the most known paintings of Van Gogh

La Seine flows between Le Louvre and Le Musée d'Orsay, from whose terrace I enjoyed this view

The fabulous clock of Le Musée d'Orsay. This clock struck the hours also in the former station which was in this building before the museum

From le Musée d'Orsay to Le Parc de Buttes Chaumont

L'Ile de la Cité with the bell towers of Notre Dame appear in the background between the waters of The Seine

The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, which is about 20m high, is richly decorated in rose marble on the columns and the front paneling. It is composed of threes arches: a big one and two little ones. The arc is surmounted by a group of men on horses underneath of which, one finds the names of the battles and treaties of Napoleon. It is part of the so-called Grand Ax of Paris which consists of the Grande Arch de la Defense, the Arc de Triomphe at Etoile, the Champs-Elysees, the Obélisque de Luxor at the Place de la Concorde, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and continues on to the Louvre

The pyramid of the Louvre, and the Louvre itself have something that fascinates me

Parc de Buttes Chaumont

Inaugurated during the World Fair of 1867, the Buttes-Chaumont is the archetypal Haussmanian park and one of the finest in Paris. It has age-old trees, sophora, old plane and chestnut trees and a rich birdlifeWith its cliffs, belvederes, suspension bridge and lawns the park is quite unlike any other

In the East side of the city, there is a place both charming and surprising, the Parc des Buttes Chaumont. I was really charmed by a rich and varied landscape (rocks, waterfalls, caves, footbridges, lawns....) and surprised by the abrupt relief of the park. An ideal place where you can have a romantic break in the green

Buttes-Chaumont park, in the east of Paris extends over an area of 23 hectares. It was built at the wish of Napoleon III, who, as with Montsouris park in the south wanted to provide the working classes with a green area. It was laid out on the bare heights -'monts chauves' (bald mounts) hence the name 'Chaumont'; between 83 and 101 metres high, it makes up the most westerly promontory of the hills of Belleville

I was really charmed by a rich and varied landscape (rocks, waterfalls, caves, footbridges, lawns....) and surprised by the abrupt relief of the park

As you can see, this park is an ideal place where you can have a romantic break in the green

Opera

The building of the Opera is one of the most glamorous places in Paris. When you contamplate this building you realize that it is a really beautiful building

Place Vendôme

I came back this day to La Place Vendôme to contemplate it in broad daylight

La Place Vendôme is not far from Les Tuileries, which you can see at the end of this street

A last image of this wonderful and glamorour place of Paris

Le Marais and la Place des Vosges

La Place des Vosges, where Victor Hugo lived, is a quiet place of Paris whose symmetry surprised me a lot

You saw houses like these ones in the previous image, but these houses are in the opposite side of the place

Place de la Bastille

La Place de La Bastille. This column remembers the Bastille prison, where the French Revolution began in 1789

Centre Pompidou at night

Le Centre Pompidou lit at night

You can see more pictures of the days I spent in Paris clicking on the links below:

• First day in Paris (Les Champs Elysées)
• Second day in Paris (La Tour Eiffel and Montmartre)
• Third day in Paris (Le Grand Louvre and Île de la Cité)
• Fourth day in Paris (Les Invalides and Musée d'Orsay)
• Fifth day in Paris (Le Panthéon and Nôtre Dame)
• Sixth day in Paris (Jardin du Luxembourg and La Villette)
• Seventh day in Paris (Versailles)
• Eighth day in Paris (La Défense)

Besides, in France I have visited the following beautiful places I strongly recommend:

• Collioure, Elne and Perpignan
• Carcassonne
• Canal du Midi and Pays Cathare
• Gorges de la Fou and Coustouges
• Villefranche de Conflent

Finally, other great cities I have already visited are:

• Barcelona
• Berlin
• New York and Washington
• London
• Dublin in Irleland
• Istanbul in Turkey
• Saint Petersburg
• Rome and The Vatican
• Florence in Tuscany
• Lisboa in Portugal
• Madrid
• Venezia
• Dubrovnik in Croatia

• The Greek Islands and Athens
• Bruges, Ghent and Brussels in Belgium

• Helsinki and Lapland in Finland

• Tallinn in Estonia

• Tortuguero, Caribe, Arenal, Monteverde and San José in Costa Rica

• Marrakech in Morocco