Paris Absolute

Travel. We all dream of it and eventually most of us do it. I finally did.

In case you could not guess from the photo, I went to Paris, France. It was a dream come true, so much so that I went back again a few years later.

Hence, I present to you, the reader, the Paris places to visit from my perspective.

Père Lachaise Cemetery (Cimetière du Père Lachaise)

Yes. It seems morbid to go to a beautiful city like Paris and then go to a cemetery. That's what my friends and family thought too. I know differently. When you walk through the gates of this prestigious necropolis, you can really feel the history surround you and the beauty of the landscape and sloping walkways almost but not quite make you forget your surroundings. I had a walking tour with a guide to point out the most famous headstones and grave markers in these massive surroundings. I was in the presence of greatness, albeit deceased. Just to name a few, although there are many more—Frédéric Chopin, Marcel Marceau, Molière, Amadeo Clemente Modigliani, Gertrude Stein, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, and Jim Morrison. The section with the Holocaust memorials is sad and yet hauntingly beautiful because each one evokes emotion. You can spend a long time walking around here because it really is magnificent for what it is.

The Eiffel Tower (La Tour Eiffel)

I flew halfway around the world and I was not about to miss out on this ‘tourist’ location, no matter what. Yes, there are crowds and long lines, however, the experience is well worth it. The three levels of the Tower each offer a distinctive encounter with Paris.

The 1st Floor—Easily accessible and not high, only 57 meters above ground, it is perfect if you are skittish of heights. There is an astonishing experience to be had if you are brave enough to walk across the transparent glass floor that looks down to street level! 58 Tour Eiffel, one of two restaurants housed here is good for lunch or a sophisticated dinner. Make a reservation and ask for a window table and you will not be disappointed.

The 2nd Floor—The best views of Paris overall are to be seen here. This is where I discovered Paris. Through visitor telescopes and my own eyes, I was able to see much of the past melded with the modernism of today. Sacre Coeur on top of the hill was my favorite view because of the implied isolation of the church and sense of peace I felt just knowing I was that close to such history and religion. Here there is Le Jules Verne restaurant, a Michelin star eatery with a modern French cuisine menu, a proper dress code, and a well-deserved price tag.

The 3rd Floor—Only accessible by lift, this is the top of the tower with only the antenna above you. There are telescopes at this level as well for 360-degree views. You can see a recreation of the office of Gustave Eiffel complete with wax figures of Gustave and his daughter Clare welcoming Thomas Edison, and a champagne bar with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, so something for everyone.

If you really choose to stay on the ground, you can get close enough to the tower to photograph it beautifully from a different angle. Try visiting the Parc du Champ de Mars behind the Eiffel tower. With large seating areas, plenty of lawn to picnic on, and pristine rows of trees, there is still a sense of the beauty and power of the Tower. Visit at dusk when they turn on the lights and stay for the show every hour when it sparkles like diamonds.

River Cruise on the Seine

A leisurely cruise along the Seine shows another side of Paris. Departing from the base of the Eiffel Tower, you will spend about one hour on the boat passing many of the 37 bridges over the Seine and getting a feel for the history that helped build this great destination. You will pass the Assemblee Nationale, Musee d'Orsay, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Conciergerie. There is an audio guide on the boat offered in many languages that will give you all the history and locations and was extremely helpful on this excursion. I did this at night so I could also enjoy the lights of the Eiffel Tower and the lit up Ferris Wheel at Place de la Concorde.

As in the movie Charade, there is also a different boat offering a dinner cruise which can be romantic and you can feel like Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant.

The Moulin Rouge

Literally, the name means Red Mill. The Moulin Rouge came into existence in 1889. It became very prominent largely due to the creation of the dance known as the Can-can. Many of the early posters for the cabaret were painted by famed artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.

The atmosphere is very exciting, especially if you are knowledgeable of the history of cabaret and the artists that came before. I could really feel the energy of the past blended with the direction of the future. Once the show started it was all sparks from start to finish. Watching with a drink in my hand, I was truly mesmerized by the action on the stage. The show performed there now, Féerie (since 1999) is very reminiscent and still as extravagant as those of days gone by, and yes they do still perform the Can-can.

The Louvre (Musee d'Louvre)

Paris has a lot of museums, way too many to name. You know the most famous one, The Louvre. It houses more than 38,000 works of art from small statues to huge paintings that cover entire walls. The great pyramid in the courtyard has become a symbol of the city. It was built to better handle the visitors to the museum when the original entrance became insufficient for the amount of foot traffic.

By all means, go see the Mona Lisa, however, you will not get real close to her and you will have to deal with a pushy crowd of people trying to take selfies with her. I was lucky enough to be there when they first reinstalled the Venus de Milo and I sought out the da Vinci painting Madonna of the Rocks as this painting has a sister in the National Gallery in London. You can roam around for hours and just be fascinated by everything this historic palace has to offer. I really recommend planning what you want to see before you go.

Musee d'Orsay

The appeal of this museum to me is that it was once a busy transportation hub. Coming from a large city, trains and the buildings they are housed in hold a great fascination for me.

You walk in and you can see how it was once upon a time. On the main floor, the sculpture gallery is magnificent in its own right even before having seen the painting galleries. At the end of the gallery, there is an amazing sculpture by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux—'The Four Parts of the World Holding the Celestial Sphere.' It is truly moving.

Then wandering around, I discovered works by Monet, Klimt, and Kandinsky. My favorite painting was 'Starry Night over the Rhone' by Van Gogh, not to be confused with his other 'Starry Night'. There were other paintings that were colourful and mysterious and mesmerizing as well.

Last but not least we must not forget the Lady Liberty and the large clock in the main foyer that reminded me of New York and Grand Central Station.

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris (Sacré-Cœur)

Take a walking tour of Montmartre and you will surely end up here at the beautiful white basilica at the top of the hill.

Start your walk at the Moulin Rouge and travel at a leisurely pace up the hill through winding cobblestone streets and you will pass so many famous but little-known places. Van Gogh, Picasso, and Dalida all lived in Montmartre and there are fascinating stories that many tour guides can tell. It's hard to get lost here as long as you keep walking and looking uphill because you will see Sacré-Coeur at the top.

When you arrive you will see the true majestic nature of the building and its magnificent Roman-Byzantine style of architecture. There are two statues on the portico, one of Kind Saint Louis IX and the other of Joan of Arc, both on horseback. When you walk up the steps to enter the church, the main feature that caught my eye was the stunning mosaic in an alcove on the ceiling. Named 'Christ in Majesty' it is one of the largest in the world.

The basilica is free to visit but if you want to go higher and see the view from the dome there is a minimal cost. The view from the steps in the front was beautiful and on a sunny day, you can see forever.

If you are really tired after all the walking, you can take the funicular back down with a cost of a regular metro ticket.

In Conclusion

I hope I have given you a good overview of my favorite choices of places to visit in The City of Light (La Ville Lumière) as Paris is also known. There are many others within the city you may choose, Notre Dame Cathedral (Notre-Dame de Paris), the Arc de Triomphe, Sainte-Chapelle, Paris Opera (Opéra National de Paris - Palais Garnier) to name a few. It's all up to your own preferences as I could write about Paris and places all day as I love it that much. I look forward to my next trip to continue the exploration of this great city.