Morning walk in Paris

The best way to explore any city is by walking around with the locals and checking out how the locals live and experience their culture. Hence, we booked for the Sandemans New Paris Free Tour where you would be taken on a guided walking tour of Paris by a trained guide for free. At the end of the tour you may tip the guide whatever you feel it was worth to you.

Our tour began at Fontaine St.Michel. The Fontaine Saint-Michel is a beautiful fountain located in Place Saint-Michel in the 5th arrondissement in Paris. It was constructed in 1858–1860 during the French Second Empire by the architect Gabriel Davioud.

A short walk away was the famous Notre Dame de Paris. Notre-Dame de Paris, also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral or simply Notre-Dame, is an historic Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris.

Then we walked along the River Seine and were impressed by the Académie Française also known as the 

French Academy. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Shut down in 1793 during the French Revolution, it was reopened in 1803 by Napoleon Bonaparte. It is the oldest of the five académies of the Institut de France. The Académie consists of forty members, known as immortels (immortals). The body has the task of acting as an official authority on the language and is responsible for publishing an official dictionary of the French language.

And then we crossed the Love lock bridge to go towards the famous Louvre Museum. To show commitment towards one another, lovers would bring a lock to the bridge, lock their love on the bridge and throw away the key into the Seine!

We walked around the Louvre Museum on the outside listening to the history narrated by our guide. After 

this we walked along Rue Royale to Place de la Concorde which is the largest square in the French capital. The center of the Place is occupied by a giant Egyptian obelisk decorated with hieroglyphics exalting the 

reign of the pharaoh Ramesses II. It was gifted by the Egyptians to the French in the 19th century. The obelisk once was at the entrance of the Luxor Temple. It was brought to Paris in 1833 and three years later, King Louis Philippe had it placed in the center of Place de la Concorde, where a guillotine was during the Revolution.

Along the way we passed the Musée de l'Orangerie which is an art gallery of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings. All along the Rue Royale there are sculptures by famous sculptors.

Our walking tour ended at Place de la Concorde and it was time for lunch.

The morning walk in Paris was indeed very educative, fascinating and awe inspiring!