Paris Day 2 - Louvre Part 1

You can't imagine how excited I was, when I was able to visit the Louvre for the first time many years ago. Now, I am still that excited. Like a kid going to Disneyland. And even though I visited so many other museums, it is still in my Top 5. First of all of course, because of its enormous size. I think, even after three visits, I didn't succed in seeing the whole museum in one day. Or we did see everything, but when it was closing time, we were pushed towards the exit and saw some artworks just while passing by. So this time we started at the lower ground floor of the Denon Wing. Also quiet in the beginning we discovered one area of the museum, I apparently haven't seen before, which is the newest, the Islamic art collection and the East Mediterranean in the Roman Empire.

Ihr könnt euch gar nicht vorstellen, wie froh ich damals, vor vielen Jahren war, als ich das erste Mal das Louvre besichtigen konnte. Ich habe mittlerweile so viele andere gesehen, aber es befindet sich immer noch in meiner Top 5. Schon alleine wegen seiner enormen Größe habe ich es noch nie geschafft, das ganze Museum in einem Tag zu besichtigen. Dieses Mal haben wir auch in einer Sektion angefangen, die ich zuvor noch nie gesehen hatte, denn sie ist die Neuste, die erst 2012 in einem Anbau hinzugefügt wurde, die islamische Kunstsammlung und die Kunst aus dem östlichen Mittelmeerraum, zur Zeiten des römischen Reiches.

Paris Day 2 - Sacre Coeur

So let's start day 2 of our trip to Paris with our visit of the Basilica Sacre Coeur, which I hadn't seen from the inside before. I must say, it is not as splendid as you would expect from looking at the outside, but of course it is not a church from the baroque era, because its construction only started in 1875 and was finished in 1914. The highlight is definitely the view you have from the top of the dome, where you can overlook the whole city of Paris. The basilica also possesses one of the largest mosaics in the world entitled Christ in Majesty.

Also starten wir mit unserem ersten wirklichen Sightseeingziel des Tages, dem Besuch der Basilika Sacre Coeur, die ich bisher auch noch nicht von Innen gesehen hatte. Sie ist jetzt nicht so prunkvoll, wie ich es normalerweise liebe, aber es ist auch keine Barockkirche, sondern mit ihrem Bau wurde erst 1875 begonnen und sie wurde erst 1914 fertiggestellt. Ein Highlight ist definitiv der Ausblick von der Kuppel und der weiten Aussicht über die ganze Stadt.

Paris Day 2 - Montmartre

I think I've been to Paris already 3 times, but I didn't really explore the quarter of Montmartre properly. I just know the path from the subway station to the cathedral Sacre Coeur and the busy streets full of tourists and street vendors. This time our hotel was in that district, but 10 minutes away from that hustle. So on day 2 we got to know the picturesque streets and walked towards the cathedral, because Tim hasn't been there before. You would never guess, that you're in a metropolis, but rather in a little french village in Provence.

Ich war vielleicht dreimal zuvor in Paris und kannte vom Viertel Montmartre nur den Weg von der Ubahnstation zur Kirche Sacre Coeur und die chaotischen Straßen, vollgestopft mit Touristen und Straßenhändlern. Wir hatten aber ein Hotel etwa 10 Minuten entfernt und sind dann zu Beginn unseres 2. Tages erst einmal durch die malerischen Gassen in Richtung der Kirche gewandert und dort würde man gar nicht auf die Idee kommen, dass man sich in einer Millionenstadt wie Paris befindet, sondern eher in einem französischen Dorf in der Provence.

Paris Day 2 - Montmartre Outfits

I have to admit, Tim's outfit definitely won Best Outfit of the Day. I love his tshirt and would also want to own it. And combined with that burgundy trousers and blue shoes, which revive the colours from the shirt's print. Awesome! You see, I've told him a lot about fashion.;) I just wonder, why I chose such a simple outfit for myself. At the moment I have at least 15 new dresses and blouses hanging in my closet and waiting for my next travel, even if we don't know, when it will be possible again. Note to my future-self - we are in the middle or probably just in the beginning of the Corona Virus Crisis and don't know, when we can travel again without any worries. 

So on day 2, a sunny day in May, we walked from our hotel, which was in the heart of Montmartre, to Sacre Coeur and even though I visited Paris several times before, I have never seen the inside of that famous church.

Paris Day 1 - Through Rain and Sun

Still at the Musée d’Orsay, we saw that the sky got darker and darker and then started to rain heavily. Unfortunatelly the museum was closing at some point and we didn't have a new destination in mind. So we just walked towards the center of the city and shopped a bit until the rain stopped and then went to Galerie Lafayette, which is more a sight than a real mall, at least for us not-millionaires.

With the Arc de Triomph and Eiffeltower in mind, we then strolled along the Champs-Élysées, bought some snacks, took some photos at the triumphal arch and took a subway line to a station near the Eiffeltower. And in the dark it is always a spectacular place to be, when the tower starts sparkling every full hour. And luckily we bought a bottle of wine in advance to raise our glasses to our Paris trip.

Paris - Outfit Day 1 - Parisian Chic

Travelling and sightseeing vs. instagrammable outfits. Always a struggle. And I have told you many times before, the shoes are always the main problem, because when you walk for hours, there is no way you can wear high heels, which of course would make an outfit look instantly better (perfect). So if you see a blogger's outfitpics with high heels, who is on a citytrip, then she is just pretending to do sightseeing and 100% fake.(Or walks around with a bag of shoes in it to change). Because the high heels with which you can walk several kilometers still have to be invented. So always wear (white) sneakers or flat boots in neutral colours, because you can combine them easily with my traveloutfit-tip number 1: dresses! You don't have to think about combinations in the morning or have to change a hundred times to feel good (unless you have already styled your outfits at home and test-wore them (tip number2). But the easiest way is, to just put a dress on, your accessories and jewelry and that's it. And of course a backpack with a jacket and/or a warm knitpiece inside for the evening.

By the way, here we are on the terrace of the Musée d´Orsay with a view on the Seine, the Louvre and Jardin des Tuileries.

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Paris - Day 1 - Musée d’Orsay

Regarding art, of course I have my preferences, like my favorite epochs such as the egyptian and roman ancient times, the renaissance and the baroque period, but I'm always open to new or different things. So highly influenced by the good reviews on tripadvisor (it is currently the number one recommandation in Paris) we chose Musée d’Orsay as our first location to visit on our first full day. The museum is mainly focussed on that period between 1848 and 1914  including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography and is the largest and most important collection of  

impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world with pieces from the most famous artists of that time such as Monet, Renoir, Gauguin und Van Gogh. We have to admit, the most impressing part for us was the architecture of that building, which was a railway station until 1939. It is also amazing to see all those masterpieces in real life once, since we've seen them many times on tv or online like Vincent van Goghs Selfportrait or Gauguins Tahitian Women on the Beach. So I can definitelly recommend this museum, even though, for us, it didn't amaze us and we prefer the Louvre, but it is, without a question,  a matter of taste.