Paris; Sunday, 16 December, 2012

I arrived at Gare de L’Est and headed into the Parisian rush hour to Les Halles and my hotel for the night.

After checking in and dropping off my stuff I headed out for a bit of evening sightseeing. I had assumed that it was gone 6 on a Sunday evening it would be entirely from the outside, but I was about to be proved wrong.

First stop of the night, just a short hop on a packed metro from the hotel was Notre Dame. I had a walk around the outside and was amazed to find that despite the fact the cathedral was in the middle of Sunday mass it was still possible to visit as a tourist. I had a quick look around, but didn’t feel comfortable taking lots of photos whilst people were worshiping.

From Notre Dame I caught the metro round to the most famous of Paris’s landmarks, the Eiffel Tower. The tower itself is open until 23:45 at this time of year, but messages on the boards above the ticket desks warned of 45 minute wait for lifts to the top, and the queue just to get tickets was pretty massive, so I decided to keep my feet on the ground for tonight and instead take lots of photos.

Back on the metro and up to the Arc de Triomph. I had intended on just looking at the Arc, but on arrival I noticed that there were people not only standing directly underneath it but also on the top of it, so I found the subway under the road and to my astonishment found that it was open until 10pm, so I decided to purchase a ticket and take the 250 odd steps up the inside of the Arc.

There are a couple of small galleries on the way up that give a bit of information on the Arc, its construction and its history, but it’s a half-hearted attempt as they know the real reason people have visited is to get to the top for the stunning views. And I wasn’t disappointed. From the top of the Arc is possibly some of the best views of the city, with all the key monuments clearly visible, and at night beautifully lit up.

Having descended back down from the Arc I caught the Metro round to Montmartre and took the funicular up to the Basilique du Sacré Cœur. Again I was amazed to find that the church was still open, so I had a bit of a look around before realising that it was now well gone 10pm and time to head back to the hotel to get some sleep.