Month: August 2023

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Rising Up From the Catacombs to the Eiffel Tower

We started out by heading to the Catacombs of Paris, a series of underground tunnels where human remains were moved after the city’s cemeteries were filled in the 18th century. Afterwards, we had lunch at a restaurant by Rue Daguerre, a pedestrianized street lined with cafes and shops.

After lunch, we took the Metro over to Cité, an island in the middle of the Seine. We visited the Sainte-Chapelle, a former royal chapel. We also saw the exterior of the Notre Dame de Paris, the city’s famous cathedral which is currently being restored after suffering a fire in 2019.

We then made our way to the Eiffel Tower where we took a 1 hour boat sightseeing cruise with Bateaux Parisiens, which we received as a welcome amenity yesterday from the Le Méridien Etoile. Afterwards, we went up to the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Eiffel Tower where we spent the rest of the evening.

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Montmartre and the Arc de Triomphe

After arriving at CDG in the morning, we headed over to La Defense to drop off our bags before heading to the Arc de Triomphe. We briefly took a look from the across the road before queuing to enter. We enjoyed the view from atop the monument before getting lunch from a nearby restaurant.

Afterwards, we took the Metro to Montmartre followed by the funicular to the top of the hill. Once there, we visited Sacré-Coeur and adjacent Saint-Pierre church. After walking down the hill, we took the Metro once again to Canal Saint-Martin where we walked around a bit before getting dinner near the Gare de l’Est.

We ended the evening with a quick stop at Les Halles where we got some dessert and walked around near the Saint-Eustache Church. After a debacle at the hotel involving wet carpets, we cancelled our stay and instead checked into the Le Méridien Étoile by the Porte Maillot station.

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Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

We were extremely surprised to find a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird today! While they’re not supposed to be uncommon, particularly if one has the appropriate feeder in their backyard, they certainly are hard to find due to their extreme speed and tiny size. Today, we saw one on a branch of a tree right in front of us while walking around the neighborhood! And even more surprisingly, we saw it fly away and return to the same branch again and again!

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