Holiday of a Lifetime in Europe - PARIS (Notre-Dame & Lourve)

Another famous site in Paris ... a new Gothic style church and was fully restored in the 19th century ! (It took 20 long years to restore this old church !)

Frankly, I do not know how to appreciate Gothic style churches. I have seen Cologne Cathedral in Germany before and was not keen to go near it. It is also a world-famous church but somehow the structure send shivers down my spine. Yes, I do not like medieval period stuff very much.

However, Notre-Dame church is not too Gothic-looking and the garden was wonderful. Tulips sprung and trees' flowers blossomed in Spring. It was simply relaxing just to walk along the garden by the seine river along the church. Peaceful despite the crowds that did not seems to diminish.


It was most crowded at the front facade of the church. The church does not look very big from his angle. You can enter the church free of charge but the queue curled like a snake. We decided to give it a miss. Can't help feeling that it was such a waste not to visit the interiors and it was my second time that I missed ! As I recalled now, we have walked for many hours this particular day and was tired. (My blog entries were not accordingly to the itineraries on the same day)

To reach the side facade of the church, turn right from the front of the church. It was very pleasant during spring to walk along this lane with pretty tulips!

Back facade of the church. More Gothic-looking when viewed from here.


Taken from a bridge across the church .... pretty church, clean and nice.


On the way walking to Lourve Museum.
Obelisk in Place de la Concorde (the largest public square in Paris) This is the very place where the bloody French Revolution was started in the troubled era !

The Fountain of River Commerce and Navigation on the Place de la Concorde

Huge square with the Hôtel de Crillon; to the left: the embassy of the United States of America.

After the square, we were closer to the Lourve. We will pass beautiful Tuileries Garden ...

A much smaller and ancient-looking "Arc de Triomphe".

Finally, we reached Lourve !!!

Main entrance to the world famous museum. Guess what ? We did not go in lah, we are just not the museum visiting type of tourists.

Another photo taken around the big square of Lourve.