Paris - a beautiful place to see!

Paris is a lovely as I remember – this is my 2^nd visit here and I could come back again & again!

When we arrived in Paris we decided to walk to where we are staying from Gare du Nord, one of the main stations in Paris. It was an interesting walk to say the least. We wondered if we had arrived in India, Africa or somewhere in the Middle East. It looked like anywhere, but Paris. However, once we got to where we are staying it was quite different, but still a very diverse area.

We had pre-purchased ‘Paris Passes’ and these needed to be picked up and validated. We were advised we could walk to where we needed to go, the Hard Rock Café. We set off with the route worked out on a map. Then the rain come down and we then discovered that Paris streets ‘do not’ correspond with the map! After asking several people for directions we finally got there with a very wet & soggy map.

 

A very wet and soggy map - no wonder we got lost!

 

I don’t think I have ever walked so much in one city – Paris is made to walk and walk and walk! We have been to:

·         Notre Dame Cathedral – always lovely and the gardens at the rear of the cathedral are stunning and many people don’t take the time and visit the gardens. Sacré-Cœur Basilica is probably my favourite church in Paris because of its Roman architecture & Byzantine architecture.  The amazing Madeleine Church was designed as a temple to the glory of Napoleons Army.

 

 

The gardens at the back of Notre Dame Cathedral

 

·         L’Orangier Art Gallery – I most impressed with all the Monet’s water-lilies – they were stunning. Many other painting by other well-known artists such as Renoir, Cezanne etc. were also on display.

·         You can’t come to Paris and not see the Louvre – it is huge and full of wonderful paintings and other artifacts. Napoleon’s apartments were worth seeing.

·         D’Orsay Museum – on the left bank of the Seine is the place to go if you are interested in seeing work of the Impressionists – another fabulous place to visit.

·         We walked to the top of the Arc de Triomphe – 284 steps up and of course back down. The walk was well worth it and the view from the top was amazing.

·         The top of the Eiffel Tower – last time I was here I did not go up the Eiffel Tower as the queues are huge. This time we pre-booked tickets and we went all the way to the top. An amazing experience and a bit scary going up, but the view was wonderful.  

 

At the top of the Eiffel Tower.

·         One of the highlights was a tour of the Paris Opera House known as The Palais Garnier it is a 1979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875. This is another fabulous building and is where the “Phantom of the Opera” was originally written and performed. These days the Opera House is mainly used for Ballet. Doing an organised tour was the way to go as we learnt so much about this great Opera House. In the early days when the Opera House was open, it was a place for people to be seen rather than see opera or ballet. The Grand Salon was where people went during interval to be seen!

 

The "Grand Salon" at the Opera House

 

I mentioned that we purchased a “Paris Pass” this included entry into most places we went plus all transport in Paris. We have just done our sums; we think it was good value.

Paris is known as the ‘City of Light’ it is a wonderful place to visit and there is never enough time to see everything.

One more day in France!

The Alps and Heidi’s House.

 What a great way to spend our last day in Switzerland!

We decided to do a tour – it was called “Heidi- Land”. It was a tour to Rappersil and onto Heidi’s farm and house, then to Valduz the capital of Liechtenstein.

Our first stop was Rapperswil-Jona, ‘town of roses’ located on the upper end of Lake Zurich. It is a delightful old Swiss Town and yes, it does have beautiful rose gardens. The old part of this medieval town is car-free, making it very easy to wander about and take in the sights. There are old castles and churches and many of the buildings have wonderful old frescos on them. There was so much to see in such a short time we hardly had time for lunch.

One of the beautiful old churches in the car-free area of Rapperswil.

 

 



Standing in way of the ancient archways.

 

In the afternoon we drove to Heidi’s farm and house en-route we saw the incredible Swiss Alps. We drove along Lake Walen, the deepest lake in Switzerland. It is a popular lake for all forms of boating. The tour-guide told us about a skeleton of a shark that was discovered high in the Alps about 5 years ago. The skeleton was air-lifted out and is now in a museum!

I remember the Heidi stories from when I was quite young.

After doing a bit of research and listening to the tour-guide I am still uncertain if the actual story is true or not. From what I have read, I suspect it was ‘based’ on a real person who is still alive. From what I have read Heidi did marry Peter, they had 4 children but parted ways later in life. The drive to the house and farm was well off the main road and through another very ancient village. It was quite a walk up to the house and farm. You walk through delightful Swiss meadows that still have ‘some’ of the beautiful wildflowers you see here in Europe. Once you arrive at Heidi’s house you can go inside which I did. It was interesting to see how the family lived all those years ago considering how cold it gets in that area.

Outside Heidi's House.

 

On the way back to Zurich we went via the Principality of Liechtenstein. It is a very small land-locked country of 160 square kms wedged between Switzerland, Germany & Austria and on the Rhine River. The official language is German and there currency is Swiss Francs. We only had time for a short walk around Valduz the capital. Again this is a very ancient place to visit.

All up a great way to finish off a visit to Switzerland.

 

The Alps you see the from Heidi's farm - a wonderful to remember Switzerland. 

 

Now – Hello Paris.

Zurich – Switzerland

It was wonderful to arrive in Zurich after a long flight. 8 hours to Singapore and a further 13 hours to Zurich. We arrived at 6.10am to a beautiful late summer day. Fortunately our room was available when we arrived – we had been told we would need to wait until 3.00pm!

We are staying in Wollishofen about 5km from the centre of Zurich. Like most European cities there is an excellent transport system here. There is a very efficient tram system, as well as trains & buses.

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and is located on the beautiful Lake Zurich. It is a great city to walk around and see the sights. The first day of sightseeing included a walk along the banks of the Limmat River and Lake Zurich.

The walk takes you through the “Old Town” – where we saw the wonderful ‘Grossmunster Church’. Construction on this site began in the 1100’s. Since 2009, artistically designed stained-glass windows by Sigmar Polke have decorated the Grossmünster Church. The windows are quite contemporary but do not look out of place in this ancient building. The twin towers of the Grossmünster are regarded as perhaps the most recognized landmark in Zurich. Architecturally, the church is considered Romanesque in style and is a part of the first pan-European architectural trend since Imperial Roman architecture.



Grossmunster Church

Another amazing building was the ‘Rathaus’ or Town Hall. It was built in 1694-1698. It served as the seat of government until 1798. Since 1803, it has been both the cantonal (local government) and the city's municipal parliaments. The baroque architecture of this building is full of character.



The Rathaus (Town Hall),

 

The river and lake area is a popular spot for the locals with many cafes and restaurants doing a roaring trade while the weather is so nice. The lake is a popular swimming spot for the locals and we saw many people taking advantage of the hot weather.

On our second day here we took the train up to the ‘Uetliberg Observation Tower’. It is located at 871 meters above sea level on Zürich’s local mountain. The tower is a Zürich landmark and is considered to be one of the highest accessible observation towers in Switzerland. Needless to say the views were amazing. When we were there it was rather hazy and you could not see the Alps. However the views down in the valleys and over the city were stunning. After getting off the train there it is a decent walk to the top where the tower is located. It was lovely walking through the forest of evergreen & confer trees and then coming across some rather unusual ‘street lamps’ – these were a combination of a street lamp and street art and rather amusing.


Walk to the lookout.

The Lamps and/or street art!

 

Zurich is a beautiful city to visit and still more to see!!

 

This is the second time I have done a “Travel Blog” – last year I discovered it was a good way of keeping a travel diary for myself and for friends and family so they could see what I had been up to.

I had never been a ‘blogger’ before and I must admit at first, I found it quite stressful to do. But after my first few blogs I really enjoyed keeping the blog updated, hence me doing it all again.

The Bellarine Peninsula - not far from home

This year I am heading back to Europe, I am going to some new destinations and to a couple of places I have been to before. After Europe I am off to the UK and Ireland.

While I enjoy travelling I do miss home, but this year I will not miss the cold & wet winter we have been experiencing this winter. Needless to say I am looking forward to some lovely autumn weather!

First stop Zurich, Switzerland.