This place is busy during the day time. It is also one of the best views of the Eiffel Tower. Tour buses drop people off here, vendors are everywhere.
2 Museums are pretty much the entrance of the place.
Someone said go in the morning for the best view and less crowd. Best tip ever!!!
I love street art. Graffiti is something I enjoy.
When I saw this, I really wanted to check it out. While obviously not as huge as the other museums, there were some really great political and counter culture stuff.
Additionally, you can purchase items here and use them outside… like you can paint and leave your mark there!
Pont Neuf is the oldest bridge crossing the Seine.
On our 2nd day when we jumped on the Big bus, we passed by Pont Neuf and saw a section that had locks.
The original bridge was Pont des Arts, but the locks were recently removed. It was kinda interesting when we saw the locks here.
After some book shopping from the bridge side vendors, we walked up to Pont Neuf to check out the locks.
Along the way, you can find small patches of locks here and there.
After we followed Rue Gabrielle to the end, we came upon stairs (Rue Foyatier).
Then these small tram/shuttles started to come down. I looked at it and was like, “are those just going up and down the short distance?”
Sure enough, they were! LOL.
I’ve never rode in a funicular before, so even though we were half way up, we walked down and got on.
Cost of 1 Metro ticket and seriously maybe less than 15 seconds of a ride?
I wanted to take pictures inside, but it was cramped.
It is pretty modern with like a 45 second count down. Smooth too.
As I said, I love visiting religious places out of interest of the history and art. I do my best to be respectful to the sacred place, but also to the people who are either there for prayer or ritual and try to be the quiet tourist.
When we arrived to the front of Sacre Coeur, there were tons of people just hanging around and tons of vendors selling stuff.
It was another place for people to hang out. The sad thing is this is a place of pick pocket thieves too.
If you are going to Sacre Coeur by Metro, you will certainly come across these steps as they lead you to the Cathedral.
But this is also the steps that were seen in the action movie Ronin starring Robert Dinero and Jean Reno.
After getting out of Abbesses station, directly behind the entrance is Park Square Jehan-Rictus.
I noticed tons of people going there to take pictures and then I saw the
Le Mur des Je t’aime or the I love you wall.
http://www.lesjetaime.com/english/index.html
After Montparnasse, we went down Gare Montparnasse station.
We were on our way to Sacre’ Coeur.
the Metro 12 was a straight shot. We would get off at Abbesses station.
Once we got off at Abbesses station, it was seriously like 8 flights of spiral stairs! But it was beautiful on the way up!
Finally reached outside. There was a nice carousel and fresh crepes right there.
Montparnasse Tower is the 3rd largest building in Paris. Eiffel Tower being 1st.
Montparnasse offers some rally good views.
From Invalides station, we jumped on the Metro 13 to Montparnasse station.
Once we got out, we went straight for the entrance to the Montparnasse observation deck.
The lady there said to come back at 3pm because it is not clear right now. So we went to the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Pantheon.
After that, we decided to head back, instead of walking like we did, we jumped on the bus. Again, a good idea to have that book of passes because the ticket also counts for the bus.
Once we got back to Montparnasse Tower, there was a long line because of middle and high school student groups (I believe they had the week off). Not too much of a wait and we got to the top indoor floor. Where you could go get some good views from inside and behind the glass.
If you wanted to outside views, you would take a few flights of stairs to the top. Very nice views, it was cold and in the middle, people were “ice” skating (which I found out later is only white plastic).
After enjoying the Luxembourg Garden, we wanted to see the Pantheon, which is a few blocks away. We walked a bit further.
The Pantheon is inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.
The Pantheon here is a mausoleum for some famous French people and enlightened thinkers such as Voltaire.
