Boat cruise down the River Seine! Something I've wanted to do since I could spell "Seine", and we finally got the chance to do it during our amazing 4-1/2 day stay in Paris. For those of you who've been following The Odyssey Which is our Trip (I'll give a list of links at the end of this post), you'll know we were really looking forward to this excursion, and not just because our feet were sore from spending hours gawking at masterpieces in the Louvre Museum.
There's nothing like happy travel companions!
The Seine
A river of rich historical heritage, the Seine is Paris' heart. It bisects the city more or less into a top and bottom half. You can find out more information about the River Seine here, here, here and here.
Left Bank, Right Bank
It turns out this is a source of confusion for tourists, because maddeningly the river doesn't flow in a straight line. Lucky for me I've worked a bit with rivers, and can tell you the left bank is the bank you see on your left when you're facing downstream (so if you were a rubber duck pointing forwards, floating on the current and not paddling because you're rubber, the left bank of a river would be on your left and the right bank would be on your right).
The other major way to orient yourself with respect to the Seine is to think that it flows towards the ocean, and that means more or less flowing northwest - meaning if you're on the east side of the city and "below" the Seine from a map perspective (so on the Left Bank), then the river will flow from your right to your left. If you were on the Right Bank, it would flow from your left to your right. Confused? Best way to unconfuse yourself is to go there and experience it firsthand.
Our cruise route
Our cruise departed from the Left Bank (Rive Gauche as it's known in Paris) from near the Eiffel Tower, chugged upstream (eastwards) to just beyond the Île de la Cité (that island on the "left" in the middle of the river just past the Louvre in the map below; the other island is Île St-Louis), then turned back to travel downstream to our departure point.
The route gave us a superb view of several of Paris' main attractions. It was Friday evening, the skies had cleared up, and we enjoyed golden sunlight warming Paris' features and making her gilded details sparkle.
A sample of the sights
Lovely bridges
We passed under some of Paris' extraordinarily beautiful bridges. This site has an excellent mapping of the bridges.
Here's a sample of what we saw. Paris doesn't skimp on gold!
Paris doesn't just do gold trimming on bridges. She makes sure her metal bridges are ornate and catch the sunlight with warm colours as well.
The bridge of romance and locks
This bridge used to be covered in locks which lovers would fix to its rails - until the authorities realised the bridge was at risk of collapse. You can see a few remaining locks as the dark bits on the railings.
But Paris comes through - although they couldn't accept locks being fixed to the bridge any more, now lovers attach them to this lovely fence on the Île de la Cité. The shiny, kind of bronze sheen on the fence? Thousands upon thousands of locks. How romantic!
The Louvre
Oh, so majestic. Approaching the Louvre from the river is almost more exciting than through the Tuileries. How exquisite is its exterior?
Île de la Cité
Parisians and tourists alike love to sit in the tree-shaded park on the downstream tip of the Île de la Cité. It is considered one of the best picnic spots in the city.
Notre Dame
This was our first proper view of Notre Dame, which we planned to visit on the upcoming Sunday. We were overwhelmed at the sight of this historic cathedral in the summer evening sunlight.
The Musée d'Orsay
This converted train station now houses some of the world's greatest works by the Impressionists and post-Impressionists. The building itself is effectively a work of art. I've wanted to go there since my first visit to Paris! Look for a post in a couple of days on our visit there.
The National Assembly
Where French politics happen. Officially. When they're not happening everywhere else.
Not sure what it is, but it's spectacular
Apartments by the river
Oh, the wrought iron on those balconies....
Back to port
And finally, we approached the Eiffel Tower again - you can see it in the distance, with that beautiful bridge in between.
And then we were back on dry land. We had to keep the magic going a few more minutes. Just before hopping on the bus to return to our apartment, we treated ourselves to a few minutes admiring this carousel.
Other posts so far about this trip:
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/whirlwind-tour-of-paris-pas-de-calais-bruges-and-amsterdam
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/paris-day-1-part-2-of-several-posts-on-our-trip-to-paris-pas-de-calais-bruges-and-amsterdam
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-2-in-paris-for-team-beck-a-visit-to-the-louvre
All images by Linsey Dyer, Emma Beck and Tim Beck except where otherwise credited
