Paris 2013 - Along the River Seine

To me the most beautiful part of Paris is along the River Seine. Both sides of the river are lined with pedestrian promenades, and over 30 bridges cross the river at various points around the City. One evening I took a leisurely walk from Quai Branly, pass Place de la Concorde to Notre Dame and the Pompidou Centre - which was around 5 km. The weather was great, and the buildings along the river were really beautiful in the bright yet soft sunlight.

I zigzagged along the river, crossing the bridges whenever I saw something interesting on the other side. You get the best views of The Louvre buildings from the South bank of the Seine.

I particularly like the area around Notre Dame where the river forks out around Ile de la Cite. Now you are not just looking at the two sides of the river banks, but also the island in the middle which makes things even more interesting.

Whatever you do, make time for a walk along the River Seine. It was the most memorable and enjoyable thing I did in Paris.

Paris 2013 - Notre-Dame de Paris

The Notre Dame de Paris is not only one of the most recognizable landmarks in Paris - it is also an architectural masterpiece - considered as the epitome of French Gothic Style. Construction started in the 11th Century and it was only completed in the 13th Century. The cathedral was desecrated in the 17th Century during the French Revolution, and major restoration was carried out in the 18th Century by one of France's most famous architects - Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.

Notre-Dame is situated on a island in the River Seine - called Ile de la Cite. It is literally the heart of the City of Paris, where the city was founded in history. The island is connected to the City by several bridges - one being Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in Paris.

The interior of the Cathedral is truly magnificent.

It is good to go in the late afternoon, when you have a chance to witness the evening mass. Something not to be missed irregardless of your religious inclinations. The music and religious chants which reverberate through the interior of the building is beautiful and magical.

Paris 2013 - Dinner at Chez Edouard

Our 2nd night dinner in Paris was in a restaurant called Chez Edouard. It is in a posh area near the Rue Saint-Honore where we had our 1st night dinner. Being another one of the included tour dinners, we were frankly not expecting much. When we entered the restaurant it was full of other tour groups - not a good sign !

The restaurant itself is quite nicely decorated. It is on 2 floors and we were ushered to the upper floor which was empty - at least we can have some peace and quiet.

Dinner started with a very quintessential French appetizer - Escargot in Herb Butter. It was very good -the snails were plump and succulent and the herb butter was a perfect accompaniment to the slimy salty snails.

The main course was a poached salmon with Beurre Blanc. The fish was very nicely cooked and the sauce flavourful. But the portion was a bit small as you can see in the picture.

Dessert was an apple tart. It was not bad, but some vanilla ice cream on the side would have been nice.

On the whole the dinner at Chez Edouard was not the disappointment that we thought it would be. The escargot was a nice surprise, the main course was small but it was a nice break from all the rich food we had been eating, and the dessert provided a pleasant finish to the meal. 

Paris 2013 - Pompidou Centre

The Pompidou Centre in Paris is a huge cultural complex in the Beaubourg District. It houses the Musée National d'Art Moderne - one of the largest contemporary art museums in Europe, a large public library, and also IRCAM - a centre for music and acoustic research. For the foodie - there is also a designer restaurant at the roof top - Le Georges with great views but a pricey menu.

What attracted me to the building is the architecture. This is one of the most iconic "high-tech" building of the Modernist era - designed by two of the great modern master architects - Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. They won the project through a competition, and it established both of them as the preeminent practitioners of high-tech architecture.

The building was so radical for its time that it was not well-received at first. Imagine an important cultural institution that looks like an oil-refinery ! It was one of the fist modern buildings to expose all the services on the outside for all to see - a bit like pulling all the inner organs of a human being and exposing them outside the body. It sounds atrocious on a human - but to me works extremely well for a building - especially when it is done so well like it was at Pompidou Centre. 

The great advantage of putting all the services outside is that you get huge uncluttered spaces inside the building. The interior is more like an air-craft hangar or large warehouse then a conventional building.

The best time to visit the building is in the evening - when the sun is just setting. The glow of light from inside the building against the skeleton of the building lay bare the structural logic of the design.

When you are wondering around Paris at night, make sure you are always on alert. It was here - outside the Pompidou Centre that I notice a suspicious character who was scanning the passersby. It was when he started to follow me that I sensed something was not right. I quickly went into the building and he stopped just outside the door. Luckily when I went out of the building he was gone.