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Women's World Cup posters in Paris, June 19, 2019

First full day in France, took a bus tour. We saw and photographed a lot of the famous landmarks during this tour, but I’m not going to focus on the typical guide book stuff if I can help it. The photos I’m sharing here are more about my impressions of the Paris as we worked our way around.

Didn’t climb the Arc de Triomphe, but these people did.

Tourists on the Arc de Triomphe, June 19, 2019

Photo from a tour bus of marked off photo line for tourists at the Arc de Triomphe. Paris in a nutshell: tourists, photos, traffic, and more tourists.

Traffic Island for Tourists to Take Photos in front of the Arc de Triomphe, June 19, 2019

One of countless rideshare electric scooters in front of the Eiffel Tower. Definitely ended up using these scooters after a while as it was 95 degrees most of the time making walking and the subway a less attractive way to get around the city.

Read the names across the top – the Eiffel Tower is a monument to science! I had no idea before this bus tour, somehow that’s not usually highlighted when spoken about.

The statuary on top of the National Academy of Music is quintessential French. Love it.

Still More Statuary at the National Academy of Music, Paris June 19, 2019

Statuary at the National Academy of Music, Paris, June 19, 2019 — Still More Statuary at the National Academy of Music, Paris June 19, 2019

Architects sign the buildings in Paris, why doesn’t this happen everywhere? The varied decorative features on the buildings were lovely, couldn’t get enough.

Building Decoration in Paris June 19, 2019

Architects Sign Buildings, Paris, June 19, 2019 — Building Decoration in Paris June 19, 2019

This is one of my favorite photos, people are the same everywhere. Can’t have a cherub in a fountain without turning it into an anarchist with a curly mustache.

Anarchist Cherub Fountain, Paris, June 19, 2019

This Ferris wheel was in varied states of construction during our time there.

Assembling the Big Wheel at the Place de la Concorde, June 19, 2019

Mosaic street art dotted the city. Here are two of the many we saw.

Mosiac Street Art, Paris, June 19, 2019 — Mosaic Street Art, Paris, June 19, 2019

This “Religieus” cream puff was gluten free. I think about this cream puff a lot, I’m not gonna lie.

This is Gluten Free, Paris, June 19, 2019

Paris streets as seen from the top of a tour bus.

Police on Bikes, Paris, June 19, 2019 — Paris Street, June 19, 2019

Support for women’s world cup soccer wasn’t ubiquitous, a few Parisians we spoke to didn’t even know it was going on. But graphic art posters like these were spotted here and there around the city.

We found ourselves speaking to some Scottish soccer fans in a pub, turns out the Scotland team was playing Argentina this night right in Paris. We went onto the FIFA website and got ourselves front row tickets. The stadium wasn’t sold out from lukewarm interest in the game, but we went as a trial run to see how attending these games works so we were savvy for the US games. Turns out we had a great time, that’s my next post.

Click to return to the index of 2019 France Trip Memories.

2019 France Trip Memories

Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, June 18, 2019

A year ago I took the best vacation ever: to France to watch the women’s world cup soccer matches in different cities across the country, and I am reliving the trip this year by posting memories with photos every day, to document all the great experiences in a travel journal that I didn’t get together last year.

We flew direct Boston to Paris, checked into our hotel which was a little bit away from the city center and the sites. After we rejuvenated with a nap followed by an Indian meal nearby, we jumped directly onto the metropolitan subway to figure out how to make our way around on public transportation. We headed for the center even thought it was late in the day.

Right away we found ourselves at Notre Dame cathedral. It was just two months since the date the building burned. We arrived June 18, 2019; the fire happened April 15, 2019. The area around the cathedral was cordoned off for safety and construction work, including the walkway down next to the river. An abandoned ride share bike, left on the river walkway and covered in ash, can be seen in the photo below. The cathedral looked lovely regardless of its trouble.

Abandoned Bike Share in front of the recently burned Notre Dame Cathedral, June 18, 2019

The gargoyles were still impressive against the sky.

Gargoyles on the recently burned Notre Dame Cathedral, June 18, 2019

Tired from our first day of travel we wandered across the river and found the English language bookshop and cafe, Shakespeare and Co. Perfect for a caffeine pick-me-up to get ourselves back to the hotel.