By Carl Dombek
We went to Paris, not for the art, the food or the romance, but to indulge our grandson’s passion for history, and especially World War II history.
Certainly, one cannot go to Paris and NOT see the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the recently restored Notre Dame Cathedral, or take a cruise on the Seine. But there are many more, perhaps lesser known, sites in the City of Lights.
We arrived midafternoon after taking the Eurostar through the Chunnel. More about that experience here. After checking into our hotel, we walked to the Eiffel Tower and checked out the area around it before heading for our Seine River cruise.
We had purchased combo tickets from BigBus.com that provided a river cruise and 24 hours of hop on-hop off bus access. Importantly, these are separate and do not have to be used on the same day.
Our one-hour boat ride took us past iconic places such as the Pont Alexandre III bridge; within sight of the Place de la Concorde; past the Louvre; under Pont Neuf; around Île de la Cité which is the island that is home to Notre Dame, the Conciergerie and Sainte-Chapelle; and then back to our starting point at the base of the Eiffel Tower.
The next day, we saw – and visited -- some of the usual and many unusual destinations.
A hop on-hop off tour got us started and took us past the Musée de l’Armée, Les Invalides and Napoleon’s Tomb; on to Av. Winston Churchill with the Grand Palais on the left and the Petit Palais on the right; down the Champs-Élysées, the Place de la Concorde, the Opera Palace; the Louvre and its famous I.M. Pei-designed glass pyramid (which had not been visible from the river cruise); and then on to a stop across the river from Notre Dame.
Alighting from the bus, we surveyed the throng outside the Cathedral, then decided to head to another site: The Conciergerie and the Sainte-Chapelle next door.
The Conciergerie is one of the oldest remains of the Palais de la Cité, residence and seat of power of the kings of France in the Middle Ages. Transformed into a prison for the Parliament of Paris toward the end of the 14th century, the Conciergerie remained a major place of detention during the French Revolution with the installation of the Revolutionary Court. Its most famous prisoner: Marie-Antoinette.
Today, though the huge rooms are largely empty, visitors are loaned multi-media tablets which show how the rooms once might have looked, with furniture, fireplaces and people added virtually. It truly brings the experience to life.
If you’re visiting the Conciergerie, buy combo tickets which will also get you priority admission to the Sainte-Chapelle next door and allow you to skip the longer line.
The Sainte-Chapelle is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité, the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century. It was built in the middle of the 13th century by Louis IX, future Saint Louis, to house the most prestigious relic of the Passion of Christ: the Crown of Thorns and a fragment of the True Cross.
It is absolutely amazing how quickly the cathedral has been restored since the devastating fire of 2019, and how many people want to see the cathedral first-hand. However, that creates the issue of overcrowding. Even the line of people without timed entries moved quite quickly, resulting in far more people inside than probably should have been.
After about three hours visiting those sites (and dodging a downpour by ducking under a store awning), it was back on the bus to our starting point, then a walk back to the hotel.
The next day, we visited several of the sites we’d only glimpsed from the bus. The first was the Musée de l’Armée, Les Invalides and Napoleon’s Tomb. The two museums were founded between 1795 and 1896, then merged in 1905. Today, they hold 500,000 artifacts including weapons from swords and spears to modern-day weaponry; armor, artillery, uniforms, emblems and paintings. My only criticism (and forgive me if this sounds jingoistic) is that there could be more subtitles provided in English.
In addition to Napoleon, 82 additional military figures, including 28 Governors of Les Invalides, are buried in the Caveau des Gouverneurs, an underground gallery beneath the Cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides.
My wife and I are both accomplished home cooks and appreciate that the quality of a dish depends quite a bit on the quality of the ingredients. With this in mind, I was pleased to learn of a little boutique that sells Maille French mustard.
Unlike similar systems in other major world cities including London and New York City, the Paris Metro does NOT accept contactless cards as direct payment for fares. Passengers must first buy a ticket at a machine or a Navigo Easy pass travel card for an additional €2, and then load money onto that card.
Not one of the four machines at the Madeline Station was able to sell tickets; they would only sell passes. And though it was mid-afternoon, there were no attendants on duty so we climbed back to the street and took a taxi to our hotel. Disappointing for a city that touts its mass-transit options.
Upon returning home, I found the following notice on the Metro’s website:
We went to Paris, not for the art, the food or the romance, but to indulge our grandson’s passion for history, and especially World War II history.
Certainly, one cannot go to Paris and NOT see the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the recently restored Notre Dame Cathedral, or take a cruise on the Seine. But there are many more, perhaps lesser known, sites in the City of Lights.
We arrived midafternoon after taking the Eurostar through the Chunnel. More about that experience here. After checking into our hotel, we walked to the Eiffel Tower and checked out the area around it before heading for our Seine River cruise.
We had purchased combo tickets from BigBus.com that provided a river cruise and 24 hours of hop on-hop off bus access. Importantly, these are separate and do not have to be used on the same day.
Our one-hour boat ride took us past iconic places such as the Pont Alexandre III bridge; within sight of the Place de la Concorde; past the Louvre; under Pont Neuf; around Île de la Cité which is the island that is home to Notre Dame, the Conciergerie and Sainte-Chapelle; and then back to our starting point at the base of the Eiffel Tower.
 |
| Eiffel Tower as seen from the Seine |
The next day, we saw – and visited -- some of the usual and many unusual destinations.
A hop on-hop off tour got us started and took us past the Musée de l’Armée, Les Invalides and Napoleon’s Tomb; on to Av. Winston Churchill with the Grand Palais on the left and the Petit Palais on the right; down the Champs-Élysées, the Place de la Concorde, the Opera Palace; the Louvre and its famous I.M. Pei-designed glass pyramid (which had not been visible from the river cruise); and then on to a stop across the river from Notre Dame.
 |
| The Louvre's famous pyramid |
Alighting from the bus, we surveyed the throng outside the Cathedral, then decided to head to another site: The Conciergerie and the Sainte-Chapelle next door.
The Conciergerie is one of the oldest remains of the Palais de la Cité, residence and seat of power of the kings of France in the Middle Ages. Transformed into a prison for the Parliament of Paris toward the end of the 14th century, the Conciergerie remained a major place of detention during the French Revolution with the installation of the Revolutionary Court. Its most famous prisoner: Marie-Antoinette.
Today, though the huge rooms are largely empty, visitors are loaned multi-media tablets which show how the rooms once might have looked, with furniture, fireplaces and people added virtually. It truly brings the experience to life.
If you’re visiting the Conciergerie, buy combo tickets which will also get you priority admission to the Sainte-Chapelle next door and allow you to skip the longer line.
 |
| Interior with rows of stained glass depicting books of the Bible |
The Sainte-Chapelle is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité, the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century. It was built in the middle of the 13th century by Louis IX, future Saint Louis, to house the most prestigious relic of the Passion of Christ: the Crown of Thorns and a fragment of the True Cross.
The interior is divided into 15 stained glass bays of 15 meters in height. The 1,113 stained glass panels of the windows relate scenes of the Old and New Testament. Each vertical row relates to a different book of the Holy Bible.
From Sainte-Chapelle, we walked the short distance to Notre Dame. Our daughter was able to grab timed-entry tickets on-line which moved us to the head of the line and got us inside immediately upon arrival. Timed-entry tickets are free but are strictly limited in number and must be obtained online.
It is absolutely amazing how quickly the cathedral has been restored since the devastating fire of 2019, and how many people want to see the cathedral first-hand. However, that creates the issue of overcrowding. Even the line of people without timed entries moved quite quickly, resulting in far more people inside than probably should have been.
 |
| Throngs waiting to visit the restored cathedral |
Call me a curmudgeon but I believe entry at Notre Dame should be limited to about half the number that are being allowed entry.
After about three hours visiting those sites (and dodging a downpour by ducking under a store awning), it was back on the bus to our starting point, then a walk back to the hotel.
The next day, we visited several of the sites we’d only glimpsed from the bus. The first was the Musée de l’Armée, Les Invalides and Napoleon’s Tomb. The two museums were founded between 1795 and 1896, then merged in 1905. Today, they hold 500,000 artifacts including weapons from swords and spears to modern-day weaponry; armor, artillery, uniforms, emblems and paintings. My only criticism (and forgive me if this sounds jingoistic) is that there could be more subtitles provided in English.
 |
| Dôme des Invalides |
Adjacent to the two museums is a third building, the Dôme des Invalides. Before Napoleon was interred there in the 19th century, it was the church where royal mass took place during the reign of Louis XIV. It also provided shelter for Allied pilots during World War II.
 |
| Napoleon's sarcophagus |
In addition to Napoleon, 82 additional military figures, including 28 Governors of Les Invalides, are buried in the Caveau des Gouverneurs, an underground gallery beneath the Cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides.
From there, it was time to take a break from our history overload and engage in a little whimsy.
My wife and I are both accomplished home cooks and appreciate that the quality of a dish depends quite a bit on the quality of the ingredients. With this in mind, I was pleased to learn of a little boutique that sells Maille French mustard.
 |
| Mustard on tap! Photo credit: Jennie Blu Photography |
The store, which has been at 6 Pl. de la Madeline since 1996, offers dozens of varieties of the famous mustard, prepackaged, and has many other varieties offered on tap. Customers can select earthenware pots that will be filled with the mustard of their choice and sealed with a cork stopper. Our grandson selected one blended with Scotch whiskey for his dad.
With our energy nearly spent, we decided to head back toward our hotel when we learned first-hand about one of the vagaries of the Paris Metro.
Unlike similar systems in other major world cities including London and New York City, the Paris Metro does NOT accept contactless cards as direct payment for fares. Passengers must first buy a ticket at a machine or a Navigo Easy pass travel card for an additional €2, and then load money onto that card.
Not one of the four machines at the Madeline Station was able to sell tickets; they would only sell passes. And though it was mid-afternoon, there were no attendants on duty so we climbed back to the street and took a taxi to our hotel. Disappointing for a city that touts its mass-transit options.
Upon returning home, I found the following notice on the Metro’s website:
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| Notice on the Metro web site ... but NOT in the stations. |
Those “simpler, more modern solutions” will be the Navigo passes, tickets on one’s smart phone, or onboard SMS bus tickets. It would have been helpful to have that information posted in the Metro stations…
A brief rest, a bite of dinner, then the daughter and grandson were off to see the Eiffel Tower at night, thus ending our last full day in Paris.
A brief rest, a bite of dinner, then the daughter and grandson were off to see the Eiffel Tower at night, thus ending our last full day in Paris.
 |
| Eiffel Tower at night; photo credit Jennie Blu Photography |
Visit my main page at TheTravelPro.us for more news, reviews, and personal observations on the world of upmarket travel.
Photos and video by Carl Dombek unless otherwise noted
Click on photos to view larger images
Photos and video by Carl Dombek unless otherwise noted
Click on photos to view larger images
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