Paris In The Middle Of Summer

Visiting Paris was a fun adventure. We were lucky because we had a local guide, our cousin Pascal, who for years lived and worked in this beautiful place.

A short journey by Eurostar, took us to a completely different atmosphere than London, where we lived. Arriving at Garu du Nord you are impressed with its facade in the form of a triumphal arch, decorated in 1864 with 23 statues symbolizing the cities, destinations of the trains departing from this station, such as London, Berlin or even Warsaw.

The Louvre is enormous. The complex covers a total area of over 60 thousand square meters and it houses a collections of about 380 thousand works of art. There you can admire the works of the world’s greatest minds, artists and sculptors such as the Statue of Nike of Samothrace, Stele of the Code of Hammurabi or the Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo. In the main courtyard you can see the characteristic Louvre Pyramid, since 1988 covering a new entrance to the underground complex below. You can spend all day in the museum and still not see everything so we recommend to plan your time wisely.

The Basilica is famous thanks to its almost 80-meter domes of white granite. The north tower houses the heaviest bell in Paris (19 tons), called the "Savoyarde", his heart weighs 500 kg. The Montmartre district has a distinctly different character than the rest of the city. Old houses build along the winding, cobbled streets and narrow passages with stairs, full of street artists and small pubs draws on tourists with its charm. Legend has it that on the hill of Montmartre, about the year of 250 AD, first bishop of Paris, Saint Dionysius died a martyr's death.

Its construction took over 180 years and it miraculously escaped destruction during the French Revolution. It is also known for its unique Great Organs which have 7374 pipes. The treasury of the Cathedral keeps the relics of the Tree of the Holy Cross. They were present at the coronation of Polish kings from the days of Wladyslaw Jagiello. It was a part of the treasury of the Polish Crown, which was illegally taken away after the abdication of King Jan II Kazimierz in 1669. Interesting fact is that from 2006 the church square of Notre-Dame is devoted to Pope John Paul II.