I had a 4 day weekend at the end of March and took it upon myself to see Paris. Loved it. Great atmosphere, friendly people, beautiful European architecture, good food and wine and very easy to get around. I went to the Louvre and spent most of my time in the Italian section since I am not much of an art buff and, like many of the tourists there, actually recognised paintings in that section. I did think the Louvre was quite an amazing palce, but I had made the mistake of going while there was good weather so I really just wanted to get outside. And so I did. And I walk to Notre Dame and sat out in a cafe eating frogs legs and soaking up the atmosphere.
I spent the next day at the Eiffel Tower in a queue and remember halfway up (as so often seems to happen, you would think I would learn) that I am not really a big fan of heights. After the Eiffel Tower I took a walk up Champs Elysees to Arc de Triomphe and then back down again. It was a gorgeous day and it was good to be out walking and soaking up the sites of Paris. The next evening I had to leave but not before I was to see Montmartre and Sacrecoeur. I climbed to the topmost tower of Sacre Coeur and luckily was well enclosed and had a lot of building underneath me so the height was more comfortable than on the Eiffel Tower. It is a beautiful basilica. Usually I find catholic churches too ostentations. I can't deny it the fact that it is ostentatious and like all catholic churches I have seen seems to cry "hypocrisy!" (sorry catholics. It is my view and it is there to stay. Didn't Jesus try to get us all to be humbe and wasn't he a humble man? Sow if you truly believe in Jesus and what he stood for, what is is with all the gaudy huge expensive buildings which clearly were not built simply by people voluntarily as a gift to God), but it is a magnificent basilica and, given the area of Paris in which it sits and the views you get from there, it was my favourite site in Paris (possibly also because there wasn't the crowds there on the Monday morning).
