Paris Day 1 Continued: Tour and Cruise

To begin our tour with Blue Bike Tours, we met at the St. Michel Fountain. The group consisted of a family with two young boys, a single man, a single woman and a gorgeous couple that was incredibly sweet. We began by grabbing our bikes and our journey around Paris begun. Below I have broken down the tour:

• We biked from St. Michel to the boat we would ride on the Seine. The boat we took was with Croisiere Bateaux Parisens. The most famous river boats on the Sein is with Bateaux Mouches, which is what I rode when I was here eight years ago.
• During the boat cruise, we passed buildings such as the Louvre and the d’Orsay Museum.
• We stopped at the Eiffel Tower where I (finally) consumed a long awaited French crepe.
• We passed under and over Bridge Alexander III, which is regarded as the most ornate bridge in Paris. It symbolized friendship with Russia when it was finished in 1900. However, that friendship only lasted three years. It was also used to symbolize the power and greatness of the city in the 1900 World Fair.
• We rode our bikes to the Louvre, which is the world’s most famous museum and largest historic monument in France. I could go on about how extravagant this building is, but I will leave it at it’s absolutely ginormous, it’s fancy and full of rich history as well as pieces of art (the Mona Lisa!).
• We passed over Pont Neuf, which is Paris’ oldest bridge that has several intricately designed faces on the sides.
• We passed by Grand Palais, which was constructed for the 1900 World Fair as well as Palaid Petit, which is directly across from the Grand Palais. This was also built for the exposition and now houses the Paris Museum of Fine Arts.
• We stoppedd at the Conciergerie, which is the oldest standing Royal residence in Paris. Marie-Antionette was imprisoned here before she was beheaded.
• We biked on the Champs-Elysees, “The most beautiful avenue in the world,” which leads to the Arc de Triomphe.
• We gawked at the Place de la Concorde, which may be the most famous square in Paris. It has views of the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Conciergerie, a huge ferris wheel and Champs-Elysees.
• We saw and learned of the Luxor Obelisk. This is a 75-foot engraved stone that was found outside the Luxor Temple in Egypt. It has a twin, but the first one was such a struggle to bring to Paris, the second one never made its way over, and is still there to this day.

The tour lasted about four hours. It was amazing riding around this charming city by bike and I could not get over how fortunate I was as I glided past 200 plus year-old buildings. We took the subway home and let ourselves in the apartment. We will be using this company for more tours, and I am excited to see what I learn next!