What You’ve Heard Is True (Part 4)
If you’ve been brave enough (and bored enough) to have read the last three parts of my Paris trip write-up, crack open a bottle of Vittel and smear some smelly cheese on a cracker, because you’ve almost made it. This is the forth and final part of my Paris trip write-up, where I visit the massive Grande Arche de la Fraternité at La Défense and the intricate beauty of Basilique du Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre.
At the end of part three, you left me sheltering from the rain in the Gift Shop inside the Arc de Triomphe. I spent a few minutes looking around but deemed everything to be a little overpriced and mostly rubbish. It was approaching late afternoon and I still had one more major attraction to fit into my day. So, I decided to risk a soaking, decended the steps and made a dash for the metro.
A short journey to the western end of Line 1 brings you to a futuristic looking business district called La Défense which is home to a cube shaped office block called the Grande Arche de la Fraternité to give it it’s full title. It’s designer intended it to be a 20th century version of the Arc de Triomphe. At 110 metres in height, it’s an amazing monument to behold and quite unique in appearance. I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything quite like it. The nearest metro station is almost directly underneath it. While I was acceding the escalator to ground level, I caught a glimphse of one of the corners of it. I immediately stared at the ground so that the first time I looked at it, I would see all of it in all it’s glory. Judging by the size of the corner I had seen, I decided that I would need to be quite some distance from it to see it all, so ended up walking away from it for a few minutes before turning round. The rain had stopped by now and the sun was out. I turned round to see the sun rays bouncing off of it’s shiny, clean edges. It looked incredible. The surrounding landscape was also a sight to behold. A variety of different shaped offices, hotels, shops and attractions. I’ve never been in such a futuristic environment and probably never will again (unless I return). I declined the invitation to go up to the roof in one of the vertigo-inducing lifts. I’d already been up Tour Montparnasse, Tour Eiffel and the Arc de Triomphe in the space of a day, so I figured I’d seen Paris from above enough already. Once you’ve seen the Grande Arche, you can either go on elsewhere in Paris, or do as I did and take the opportunity to buy some gifts for people at home at the nearby shopping mall. Prices are lower than they are in the centre of Paris and the stores themselves are slightly less crowded.
My last day in Paris was to be spent in Montmartre, just north of the centre of the city. The name means ‘mountain of the martyr’ and if you spend more than a few hours there, you’ll probably feel like you’ve climbed one. While it is only 130 metres high, the hilly, cobbled streets are very steep in places and even I, a fit, young, handsome thing got a bit puffed out at times (only a bit, mind). The main attraction at Montmartre is the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, a stunningly beautiful Roman Catholic basilica finished in 1914. I arrived early and was one of the first to go in as the doors were opened that day. The interior is just a stunning as the stark, white exterior with the main feature being a mosaic on the ceiling above the altar, one of the largest in the world and quite frankly, the most incredible work of art I’ve ever seen. The walk around the basilica was done so under the watchful eye of suited men, shushing people, telling them to remove their hats, telling them in which direction to walk and generally being a pain. I ignored them as best I could and simply gazed for quite some time at the mosaic, before setting off into the drizzle.
I had resisted the temptation to get off the metro at the station all the tourists get off at and alighted at the next one instead. I’d read on TripAdvisor that if you did this, it’s a really nice, quiet walk to the top of the hill and very parisian in feel. And you know what? It was. It was perhaps my favourite part of the day. I didn’t really know the direction to the basilica. I just knew that so long as I was going up, I’d reach it.
After I had seen the basilica, I was a bit lost for things to do. I was reluctant to go down the main steps from the basilica to the heart of the tourist trap because I’d read that there were plenty of people there willing to scam you out of your money and that the area was generally a bit seedy. So, I went back to the quiet back streets to find a boulangerie, bought a filled baguette and headed back on the metro towards Tour Eiffel. I thought it’d be a fitting end to my three days in Paris. There I sat, in the quiet gardens in front of the tower, scoffing one of the best ham, cheese and saladbaguettes I’ve ever had. It was by now, a bit chilly, but that didn’t matter. It could have been pouring with rain for all I cared. Having lunch is a daily highlight for me. But having lunch in front of the Eiffel Tower is a lifetime highlight.
So those are my glowing thoughts of Paris. If you’ve found this series helpful and/or has inspired you to make a trip of your own, please take a look at the HTG Guide for Paris. It contains plenty of tips and reassurance for planning your own trip.
