First "real" day in Paris (cont..)

At the stroke of 3, we met with a group under the Charlemagne statue by Notre Dame. According to BikeAbout's website, the tour was already full, but we thought we'd give it a shot. Rach had a connection to Christian, the fellow who started this tour group, so we thought that gave us an extra good chance. Thankfully, we met Christian and he was able to squeeze us in the tour.

Kat was our lovely tour guide; she came to Paris from England after graduating "just for six months"...but it's been three years now :) So she has an office job during the week & gives bike tours on the weeked! Pretty sweet, huh?

 The whole point of BikeAbout is to give tourists a look at the "real" Paris, not just the ordinary sights and info that most others get. Honestly, the trip was just exhilarating...there's not much that can beat riding a bike through the streets of Paris! The trip lasted about 4 hours, so here's what my little brain remembers seeing/learning from the tour:

In the 3rd and 4th arrondissements (zones), or the Marais, north of Seine
-Jewish history museum: after WWII, the Parisians became very sympathetic to the plight of the Jews and dedicated this museum to those who had suffered; it is still very much respected today, and the wall outside is covered with plaques of people who have financially supported it; once the museum was built, they renamed the street to something like "the road of justice".

 Beautiful Rach by the wall w/ names of museum supporters.

- We passed by the most adorable allleyway with flowers and shops; this little spot is the hub of activity on Sundays since the Jewish quarter is one of the only places open on Sundays
-Charlemagne School: looks nothing like the strip mall that HOPE was in! haha. A fantastically ancient building to attend school at; a lot of schools are named after Charlemagne b/c he was the first to implement an education system for all peoples, not just the wealthy or those from the church.
-famous cannon ball: lodged in the side of a building, about 2 stories high and left as a memorial of WWII

-"Paris brûle-t-il?": Hitler wanted Paris burned to the ground, so he would constantly call his general in the area and forcefully ask "Is Paris burning?"  However, to his great credit, the general acknowledged the great history and beauty of Paris and refused to give the commands! How sad it would be to have this city in ruins.
-Victor Hugo's home: the famous author of Les Mis and The Hunchback of Notre Dame; he was paid by the word for his stories, so no wonder they were so long!! :) Absolutely ginormous home, a part of the connected houses that went on for a whole block...3 stories high...one was sold a couple years ago for 25 million £!  

5th arrondissement (Latin Quarter, south of Seine, where our hotel was located)
-oldest street in Paris: one incredible shop really caught my eye - stationary, notebooks, canvas bags, archaic pens, etc. I could just imagine the characters from Les Mis, Scarlett Pimpernel, or even Belle walking in to one of these shops :)
-1st coffe shop in Paris: a bit different than the Starbucks that was now down the street!
-outdoor market area- lots of fresh produce and breads; a creperie, patisserie, restaurants, etc. Our group stopped for a bite to eat at this point; I had a deliciously fresh veggie salad and Rach got a chocolate croissant.

1st arrondissement (west of Notre Dame, north side of Seine)
-Louvre: absolutely gorgeous! It has quite the history, dating back to the 12th century. It was first used as a fortress, then centuries later turned in to the royal home...but it wasn't big enough for King Loius XIV, so he built Versailles instead.
-Bastille: we stopped along the Seine and looked beyond to the view the area; I think she said somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 people were killed here at the guillotie, including Marie Antoinette

Other fun sightings:
-Love: Several weddings and photo shoots along the Seine!  Ideal location for sure.
-A huge wedding party had rented two of the double-decker tour buses...they blared music and danced as they rode around and around the square
-WWII bullet holes: purposefully not repaired on many of the walls, as a reminder of the sacrifices and hardships
-Modern art museum: made "inside out" - all the bathrooms, ticket booths, and walkways are outside the building, covered by plastic tubes. Very strange. Apparently very well received, though, and has brought in a lot of revenue for the city.  A lot of funky artists hang around here, too:)

- "Silliest Orchestra": best thing ever!! A one-man orchestra...it's indescribable. I wonder what his life has been like....
-Space Invadors: these little blue figures made out of tiles; the artist is still anonymous, so it's this hugely mysterious phenomenon.  He has pasted these on walls all around the city and has now extended to some other parts of Europe; if you trace the space invaders from a satellite image, the pattern even makes out a space invader!!  Obviously well thought out and strategically planned! There are pictures of him while he works, but his face is pixellated out of them.

 notice the little blue guy above the signs...

-the hub of Paris: the most popular metro station, where 1.5 million people come through every day!

-Sales: France's government regulates shops to just 4 weeks of sales a year - 2 wks in winter and 2 wks in summer. We just happened to be here during the first weekend of the summer sale, so the streets were absolutely crazy!!!  We got over the timidity of ringing our bike bells by the end of it....basically, just get out the way whenever you hear a little bell tingle-ling!

WHEW!! After this ride, we were ready for some dinner. We hopped around the corner from our hotel and found a great little restaurant for dinner...and then proceeded to bed...exhausted but so happy :)