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All truly great cities are built on water. I read that somewhere and whilst it’s not exclusively true (Rome doesn’t have a truly memorable river) it certainly helps. The Seine is an integral part of the Paris city-scape so what better to see it from a different perspective than by boat.

We used the well named but interestingly spelt Batobus service. As the name suggests a bus boat that for a fixed fee you can use as often as you like during a day. As it’s a slow and leisurely way to get about we thought a single trip in daytime and a return one at night would be the best use and was significantly cheaper than two separate conventional boat tours (although without a commentary).

We started off at their downstream location and were surprised to find the Statue of Liberty there. So the story goes it was built in the US but they decided to give it to France as a gesture of thanks for their support during the war and built a much bigger one. Very strange to see it in the middle of the Seine

The boat trip was a lovely relaxed way to pass through the city and I spent the whole journey up on deck

It gives splendid views of the Eiffel Tower

And a variety of other interesting buildings from below ground level as it were

This is the Pont Alexandre III with its ornate golden statues and street lamps

A distant view of the Grand Palais

The Musee D’Orsay, once a major railway terminus now a museum and art gallery

The Palais de Louvre

The pedestrian Pont des Arts we walked over earlier in the trip

The beautiful Pont Neuf

And then Notre Dame which looks especially grand from the river

We returned later in the evening to see Paris at night from the river. Clearly a popular activity as the boat was packed. It takes a slightly different route around the other side of the Ile de la Cite. Not entirely sure which bridge this is, there are several on that stretch.

Ile de la Cite and Notre Dame

Pont Louis Phillipe

The Conciergerie

The Pont Neuf

And lastly the Pont Alexandre III and the Eiffel Tower

It’s a grandstand spot to view the Eiffel Tower and we got our timing right this time to see it do its hourly sparkle. I’ve added in the video again

 

The service hops from side to side of the river and it does a nice 360 turn just past the tower to maximise the views

It was our last evening in Paris and a wonderful way to finish. 2.5 days was not even close to long enough and so much was left unseen. We were astonishingly lucky to have two days of glorious sunshine to see the city and our trip around Europe was off to a fabulous start. Time to cover some distance!

 

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Most of the cities we visited were well furnished with wonderful ornate churches. Paris most famous two deserved a post of their own I thought.

On our first evening, still full of first day on holiday enthusiasm we went out for a post-meal stroll. No particular direction in mind but before we know it we came upon the Ile de la Cite. We wandered across the Pont Neuf and then along the banks of the river to the majestic Notre-Dame

We were lucky and caught the setting sun perfectly. It transforms Notre-Dame (and most of the buildings around) from their white daytime look into an evening gown of pure gold

I think it was this evening stroll that sealed the deal for me on that first day as to what a wonderous city this is. Golden churches, a beautiful river with walks along the banks, cosy restaurants and tall buildings. Life was pretty damn good at this point

The setting sun over the river was a grand finale to our first day

We came back for another look at Notre Dame on our last day to see it in its day outfit. The colour difference is pretty amazing

We had thought about going in for look and maybe climbing the towers but were put off by the long queue

Instead we headed off to find the second of the city’s landmark churches. Via the Tour Saint Jacques

And the Pompidou Centre. Home to modern art its an odd-looking place. I’d thought about having a look around but they wanted serious cash or even £3 just to see the view from the roof terrace. It’s renowned as a piece of modern architecture but it looks like something a child would build if they didn’t have enough Lego to finish. I thought it looked dated and shabby so we didn’t dally and moved on

The Basilica de Sacre Coeur at Montmartre is everything you expect. Striking, unique, stunning, beautiful and busy! Most packed place we went to after the Eiffel Tower

It’s very geared to tourists and the surrounding streets are a bit tacky if you ask me

It doesn’t detract from the beauty of the building or the views from the terraces. If you click on the panorama below you can see a larger version

A close up view of the Pompidou Centre. It gets uglier every time I look at this photo

A bank of cloud passed over while we were up here so we didn’t see it at its gleaming best. We did want to go inside for look and climb the dome but the queues were long and the afternoon was drawing to a close

We did escape the crowds in a lovely park around the back with view of the rear of the church (minus people in shot)

Capped off with an excellent view of the Stade de France for you stadium fans out there

To close the post a few photos from around the vicinity of Notre Dame as I had no better place to put them in a blog post and I like them

Not bad having these views just round the corner from your temporary home.