Day five in Paris we took the BigBus red and blue line tours and much to our surprise spent about four hours total on both buses. It was certainly a good value (tickets cost €36.00/person) and the audio commentary provided just enough facts to provide some history and insight without being overwhelming.
Prior to day five we'd done a far amount of walking since our arrival in Paris and I'm including those random shots of Paris as well to give a more rounded view of this spectacular city.
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| Big Bus red and blue bus routes |
We'd planned to board the bus at stop #7 across from the Musee d'Orsay (a short distance from our Airbnb flat), but due to the 2018 Color Run it was not in service. Not that dampened our spirits. This 5km run is all about fun and participation and as a result not timed. If one choses to walk the entire way, so be it. Adding to the fun participants are doused in coloured powder at various places along the route that follows the left and right bank of the Seine and as a finale a DJ added some music.
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Photo courtesy of Google
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Photo courtesy of Google
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While the runners passed by we walked along the Seine upper level and then crossed Pont Alexandre III - a beautiful arched bridge with art nouveau lamps and golden winged statues to reach the red bus stop #9 that is in front of the Grand Palais (below). We began and ended our day at this stop.
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| All Aboard! |
Stop #10 on the red line offers an amazing photo opportunity to capture the Eiffel Tower in all of its glory.
John took this next photo from our window table at the
Jules Verne Restaurant while we were enjoying lunch a couple of days earlier. We did not realize it at the time, but situated between the two buildings is bus stop #10. Parked just in front of the white column there are a number of buses - no doubt to offer their customers a similar photograph of the tower.
The following are a number of the landmarks we saw along the way...
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| Les Invalides Military Museum |
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| Les Invalides cannons |
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Place de la Concorde with Egyptian obelisk
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| Champs-Elysses traffic |
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Arc de Triomphe
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Jardin des Tuileries
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Art Nouveau metro station
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| Louvre |
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| Louvre and Jardin des Tuileries |
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| Arc de Triomphe de Carrousel |
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| Arc de Triomphe de Carrousel |
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| Arc de Triomphe de Carrousel |
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| Opera House |
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| Ile de la Cite |
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| Pont au Change |
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| Ile de la Cite & Pont Neuf |
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| One of many artist stalls along the Seine |
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| Joan of Arc |
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| Colonne Vendome (with Napoleon) |
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| Moulin Rouge |
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| Gare de l'Est |
On foot we saw an equally impressive amount and while we did not take a lot of photos we did get some lovely memories.
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| Park on the Left Bank |
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| Left Bank Flower Shop |
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| Shop Interior |
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| Added detail outside Flower Shop |
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| Antique Shop |
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| Art Gallery |
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Space Invader!
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There is so much to see and do in Paris and if time is limited - and even if it's not - a hop-on-hop-off bus tour is a great way to see the sights, get one's bearings and give your tootsies a much needed rest!
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