Moulin Rouge, which means the Red Mill

It was an optional excursion, I was not sure of going because it was quite pricey (over 100€ per person), but my sister convinced me that it’s something that we should experience at least once in our life time. Besides, she paid the bills… I had nothing to complain about.

I was hoping to see the cabaret in Moulin Rouge; but we went to somewhere nearby instead. I forgot the name of the place, but it was quite a venue… the set up was amazing, the food was just decent but the show was great.

I am not sure how to describe the show… music, dance, stunt, nude and drama. Excitement is not the best word, it was more like enlightenment instead… the performance was so different from my cultural comfort zone; everything on stage was just so new and mind-opening, it was like wandering into a brand new world.

It was a wonderful experience… but I don’t think I will go for another cabaret show again. It is something that is worth witnessing once in a lifetime, just once.

Les Galeries Lafayette and its famous Dome

We had a bit of extra time after visiting Louvre, and my sister (she visited Paris before) led me to Lafayette, which is just a few blocks away, to have a glimpse at the famous dome. We didn’t have enough time to do have a walk inside the store, but the dome itself was worth a visit.

The Louvre Pyramid, built in 1989 by architect I.M. Pei

Photo taking was not allowed in the Louvre, and we only had slightly over an hour to explore the large collection, which was clearly not enough. In fact it would probably take days, weeks or months to explore every bit of the museum.

Despite the rush, we managed to take a look at the famous Mona Lisa painting with her creepy smile.

The Inverted Pyramid (La Pyramide Inversée)
In the final chapter of “The Da Vinci Code,”
the Holy Grail is buried beneath the small
pyramid below the inverted glass pyramid

History of the Louvre [Reference]

The building of Louvre itself was quite a story.

Louvre was initially a fortress to protect Paris from the Anglo-Norman threat in the 12th century. The fortress lost it purpose in the 15th century and was torn down to be reconstructed into a palace in the 16th century.

The construction of the current Louvre building begun in 1546 and was only completed in 1876. The Palais du Louvre lost its original purpose when Louis XIV moved to Versailles in 1670s.

In 1692, Louis XIV ordered the creation of a gallery of antique sculpture in Louvre, thus initiated the transformation of Louvre from a palace to a museum. The Museum Central des Arts was officially opened to the public as a museum in 1793, and the collections gradually spread to take over the building, to become the Louvre Museum we have today.

Moulin Rouge

Moulin Rouge (means ‘Red Mill’) was built in 1889, and the one I saw is indeed the one that has been running shows for over hundred of years, and still running. It is smaller than I thought, but hey… it’s cool, I visited the Moulin Rouge!

Basilica of the Sacred Heart

Visitors could walk uphill or take a funicular instead. My sister and I chose to take the funicular to go up and walked down later on.

Montmartre primes itself as the artistic centre of Paris since the late 19th century; but arts were not really our cup of tea, so we didn’t spend much time there. The basilica was lovely though; worth going up hill just to take a few photos of it.

We had crêpe for our lunch; the taste was different from the crêpe we had at Latin Quarter, but both were absolutely yummy. I was falling in love with the simple yet delicious snack.

We walked down the hill and had the leisure to shop for some postcards and French junk food before boarding on our bus for our next destination.

Artists and tourists at Montmartre

Paris city and the beautiful Seine River

Can you spot Arc de Triomphe?

Shadow of Eiffel and the Trocadéro; high rise buildings can be seen in newer area of Paris

The far point at the centre of picture is Montmartre and Basilica of the Sacred Heart

Champ de Mars

The Paris view from Eiffel Tower was amazing; the enlightening experience has sparked my interest to see a city from birds-view whenever possible in future.

Eiffel Tower look golden in early sunshine

There are 3 levels of platforms that are opened to public, and the entrance fees ranged from 4.50€ to 11.50€ for adults (using the elevator); level 1 and 2 is accessible by stairs (over 600 steps) as well, and with cheaper entrance fees. [Entrance fees reference]

The 2nd level platform (~115 metres) offers the best view of Paris, and the perfect range for photographs. [Read my next post for photos of the panoramic view of Paris] The 3rd level is probably too high to see the city in details.

Eiffel Tower is arguably the most visited landmark in the world; it has been visited by 229,623,812 visitors since its opening in 1889 until 2006. [Reference]

The tower (including its antenna) is 324 metres high, and was once the tallest building in the world; it is still the tallest building in Paris.

Eiffel Tower’s structural view from
the ascending elevator

History of Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower started its construction in 1887 and completed in 1889. The tower was built in conjunction to the World’s Fair in Paris in 1889, the Exposition Universelle.

The name Eiffel Tower was derived from Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the designer of the tower, who was assisted by Emile Nouguier, Maurice Koechlin and Stephen Sauvestre in constructing the iron structure.

The construction of Eiffel Tower created strong reactions from Parisians, claiming that the design was ugly and distaste to French art… but nothing could stop the construction of the tower.

Eiffel Tower was supposed to be torn down in 1909; it was initially built to be easily dismantled at the beginning. However, at that time, the tower’s antenna was heavily used for communication (telegraph) purpose, thus putting off the dismantle plan.

Besides, Eiffel Tower was already a prime tourist attraction back then, bringing in huge economic value for Paris and France… and Parisians began to accept the tower as a symbol of modernization. Given all the circumstances, the Eiffel Tower was destined to stay as a permanent icon for Paris.

(left) On the 2nd level platform of Eiffel Tower; it seemed like a sunny morning, but it was quite chilly… I was regretting that I wore just a t-shirt; (right) true color of the tower

Arc de Triomphe at night

If I was given the time, I would have climbed my way to the top, which I heard has an excellent panoramic view of the city, especially on the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysée.

Too bad it was our only visit to Arc de Triomphe; we had only a short stay in Paris and the famous monument was not the tour’s priority.

The Arc de Triomphe was commissioned in early 19th century to commemorate Napoleon’s victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, but only completed decades later; Napoleon was already dead before its completion.

Today, the arch honours those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars, and also includes the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the monument.

The Paris Arc de Triomphe is the most famous of its kind, but the largest Arc of Triumph is in Pyongyang (North Korea), which was built in 1982 and was deliberately built to be larger than the Paris one.

Pont-Neuf, which means ‘New Bridge’, is ironically the oldest standing bridge in Paris (left); Musée d’Orsay (The Orsay Museum), formerly a train station, now an art museum

Institut de France (French Institute), connected by pedestrian bridge Pont des Arts
(Bridge of the Arts) to Lourve at the other end

The highlight of the night was Eiffel Tower; it was a WOW experience when I first saw the tower with its spectacular light show… I could feel my adrenalin pumping; it was an exciting moment that I would cherish for life.

Eiffel Tower and its light show at night

Latin Quarter is one of the oldest sections of Paris, located at the left bank of Seine. The name Latin Quarter came from the widely used Latin language by the Sorbonne’s Latin students during Middle Age. (Sorbonne is the common name for University of Paris).

Street in Latin Quarter (left) and Saint Michel Fountain (Fontaine St Michel)

Today, Latin Quarter houses many of Paris’s famous monuments, as well as modern restaurants, hotels and bistros. You can find some cheap food and accommodation here.

Eglise Saint-Séverin, the oldest standing
church on the left bank

Paris Travel Tips

In Paris, the prices for the same food might vary depend on whether it’s a takeaway, or properly served on table. This rule applies in lots of other European cities as well.

Some theories said that it’s because the land prices are costly in the region; thus when you are sitting down and occupied a space, you would need to pay more. Another more logical explanation is the high wages; you have to pay more to be served by an extra person.

Statue of Charlemagne

The name Charlemagne initially caught my attention because it sounds like ‘Saruman’, the character from movie “Lord of the Rings.”

Charlemagne and France

Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, was the emperor of the Frankish Kingdom from 768 to 814. Under King Charlemagne, the kingdom covered large part of the Western Europe.

The Frankish Kingdom was later split into 3 by Charlemagne’s descendants; one of the 3 areas was Western Francia under the control of Charles the Bald, which became the foundation for modern France.

Photo of Notre Dame de Paris

Prior to the visit at Notre Dame, all I wanted from Paris was to ascend Eiffel Tower and have a peak at Mona Lisa at the Louvre… but I changed the idea after seeing the cathedral up close.

The carvings and sculptures on the wall of Notre Dame were simply amazing. I used to think that Notre Dame is just an old and huge cathedral; I never perceived that it would be a masterpiece of art and architecture. The experience really opens my mind that there must be lots of places and stuff (besides Eiffel and Mona Lisa) in Paris that would enlighten me during the tour.

Sculptures above the entrance at western facade of Notre Dame

We were just on time to enter the cathedral as it was closing in another half an hour, and how lucky we were. My sister was charmed by the lovely Rose Windows, but I was simply stunned by the enormous size of the cathedral… it simply took my breath away as I never thought that a church could be that huge.

Enormous interior of Notre Damel

Even though I am not a religious person, I felt so calm and peaceful inside Notre Dame. It was a wonderful experience, and a great place to kick-start my journey in Paris.

Rose Window inside Notre Dame

Notre Dame – random facts

Notre Dame means ‘our lady’ in French. The construction of the cathedral was started in 1163, and was only fully completed in 1345.

Notre Dame was almost destructed in early 19th century due to disrepair. Victor Hugo then wrote the famous “Hunchback of Notre Dame” which played a part in raising interest to restore the Gothic cathedral, which finally happened in 1845.

Notre Dame is still used as a Roman Catholic cathedral these days.

[More pictures of Notre Dame at my next post]