A busy day calls for a hearty breakfast. Last night we decided that we should just go downstairs for breakfast at 9:00am since we wanted to make the most of our day. The selection was pretty good and I think it should be for 21 Euros / person.
While doing research for the trip, Karen came across Batobus (19 Euros / person) which is a hop on hop off boat. It goes up and down the Seine River and has nine stops that allow you to get off and explore the various sites of Paris. What was awesome is that Les Frenchies who are a couple that live in Paris and have a YouTube channel just did a video about exploring Paris on the Batobus. It gave us a really good idea of what to expect. The only restrictions that we had was that the boat runs from 10:00am to 7:00pm. The Batobus gang included Karen, Darlene, Nana, Dave, Cathy, Michael, Liam, Marie, Brodie, Donna, Teresa, Jon, Paul and Jen.
The closest Batobus station to the Novotel Paris Centre Bercy was Jardin des plantes which was about a thirty minute walk. As we approached the station, the boat was about to sail away. We ran and asked if they would take us and luckily they did. Because if they had not, it would have been about a twenty-five minute wait for the next boat.
Our first stop was the Louvre Station. It took us about ten minutes to walk to the Louvre Palace which has the museum and the famous glass pyramid. If you want to see the Mona Lisa, you should buy tickets in advance because the line is very long to get inside. There are these boxes around that you can stand on to do the mandatory pinching of the top of the pyramid photo. Almost everyone took a turn on the box.
Les Frenchies also had a recent video called Top 10 Parisian Streets For Shopping and one of the streets was not to far from the Louvre, Rue de Rivoli. There was a variety of stores including high end clothing stores and cheap souvenir shops. On our way back to the Louvre Batobus Station, we found a Starbucks and a McDonald’s so people were able to get caffeinated.
The next stop was Place de la Concorde where we walked across Pont Alexandre III. This is considered to be the most ornate and extravagant bridge in Paris that spans the Seine.
Instead of getting back on the boat, we decided to walk the one kilometre to the Flame of Liberty. It is a full-sized, gold-leaf-covered replica of the flame of the torch from the Statue of Liberty. It has become the unofficial memorial for Princess Diana because it is located above the entrance of the tunnel where she was killed.
Everyone was getting hungry so it was time to find someplace to eat. There were many options so people went in different directions. Some went to a restaurant while others headed to the grocery store. Once everyone finished their late lunch, it was time to walk to the Eiffel Tower. This is where the group split up. Marie, Darlene, Karen, Nana and myself went to Trocadero Gardens which is across the street from the tower. Dave, Cathy, Michael, Liam, Brodie, Paul and Jen went to the tower so that they could get in line to buy tickets to go up it. The rest of the gang decided to head back to the hotel.
After we got our pictures of the Eiffel Tower, we decided to walk over to it to see how the people that were going up the tower were doing. Dave, Cathy, Michael, Liam and Brodie decided to walk up while Paul and Jen decided to take the elevator up.
Darlene and I decided that we wanted to keep going so we jumped on the boat at the Batobus Tour Eiffel Station and rode it to the Notre-Dame Station. We asked how long before the next boat would come since it was getting late. They said we had about twenty minutes before the second to last boat of the day. We quickly walked to the cathedral and got some pictures. Unfortunately it is under construction due to a fire back on April 15, 2019 and therefore it is closed to the public. When we got back to the station and boarded the boat, the gang from the up the Eiffel Tower gang were onboard. Now it was time to go back to where we started our day at Jardin des plantes.
We did the half an hour walk back and had a late dinner at Bistrot du Metro which is across the street from the hotel. Our evening ended with us packing up since we are off to Marseille to board the cruise ship tomorrow.
19371 steps, 15.71kms
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