What to do when you have only a day in Paris?
This was the question facing us when passing through Paris on our way to the upper Loire region of France for a wine-tasting barging trip recently. We decided to keep our intended sightseeing simple and opted to see the Notre Dame and the palace of Versailles. Unfortunately the weather was not great and we experienced spells of rain alternating with some sunshine, not that this was going to stop us!
Our plan was to visit the Notre Dame very early in the morning and then to head out to Versailles for the rest of the day. This worked well for visiting the cathedral because we managed to avoid the expected huge crowd of tourists, but we paid the price for this at Versailles in a big way where the crowd was just gigantic. This meant that we spent more time in the gardens of Versailles than inside.
The Notre Dame during a short spell of sunshine. (Jaunine, Nikon D750)
Inside the Notre Dame. (Jaunine, Nikon D750)
The shadow here makes me think that the Hunchback of Notre Dame is alive and well! 🙂 (Jaunine, Nikon D750)
Subdued view inside the Notre Dame. (Fujfilm X-T2).
At the palace of Versailles the weather continued alternating between spells of rain and sunshine, with the gardens offering no protection from the rain. However we did manage to stay mostly dry !
The palace from the main entrance. (Fujifilm X-T2)
Inside the palace, a rare glimpse without a horde of tourists blocking the view. (Jaunine, Nikon D750)
Inside Versailles. (Fujifilm X-T2)
The Hall of Mirrors. The crowd was getting a bit much for us and at this point we decided to head outside. (Fujifilm X-T2)
The gardens of Versailles. Simply stunning. (Jaunine, Nikon D750)
I couldn’t resist this shot 🙂 (Fujifilm X-T2)
Some of the artwork outside. (Fujifilm X-T2)
More artwork. (Jaunine, Nikon D750)
A spell of rain in the gardens. (Fujifilm X-T2)
The trip out to Versailles was well worth the effort despite the crowd. In retrospect we decided that it will be best to arrive here during mid afternoon since most tourists arrive early and work their way through the inside, then the outside. By mid afternoon the queue to enter has diminished to a small trickle, and most have moved out into the gardens.
No trip to Paris is complete without having a look at the Eiffel, especially if your previous attempt was marred by bad weather. At the end of our day the weather cleared up nicely and we could grab some shots of the tower during blue hour.
Eiffel tower at blue hour. (Jaunine, Nikon D750).
Last but not least, a quick stop at the Moulin Rouge for a photograph was too hard to resist, I simply had to get a shot!
The Moulin Rouge. (Fujifilm X-T2).
As expected, our time in Paris was much too short. We enjoyed our short stay very much and it was only the prospect of what was to follow that kept us from extending our stay!
Next up – wine-tasting and barging in France, watch this space !
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