Paris day 1: Discovering the city

An exciting week in Paris ahead of us. We decided to revisit the city of love, which was our destination 5 years ago for our honeymoon. This time we went with a pair of friends who have never visited the city, so we did a couple of must-sees as well as some not obvious choices for tourists. But of course, the first day was devoted only to grasping the spirit of the city by walking to and fro. Because of my condition, I sometimes had to pass on certain attractions and stay in countless cafes or parks while the rest went sightseeing, but that was fine too - I had a possibility to have a look at the details.
Our first spot to see was l'Arc de Triomph, from where we took Avenue des Champs-Élysées to reach the centre of Paris with Louvre and numerous palaces (there were so many of them I somehow lost track - anyway - we didn't pass by all of them).

 

 

When we reached Roue de Paris we didn't think long. Five minutes later we could marvel at the roofs of Paris from a comfy Paris eye.

After the ride we found ourselves just in front of the Louvre square from where we moved to the Pont des Arts which is also known as a Love Bridge full of emblems of infinite bond and happiness - padlocks with names of the lovers.

It was already a bit late so we headed to a restaurant to try some cuisses de grenouilles (frog legs). After that I was a bit too tired to continue, so I let Radek and friends see the Eiffel Tower and watched photos later. Lovely as usual.

TenaciousD concert in Berlin

Twelfth of September I went to Berlin for a rock concert of a band called TenaciousD. This is my favorite still living band so I had waited for this moment for ages. Unfortunately I could't share this music experience with Ania because of her health issue ;-) but one of my best friends with whom I discovered TenaciusD joined me in Berlin and we went to concert together.

To summarize it was the greatest concert in the world.
Also because of flight schedule we had two days to enjoy and see Berlin. I have never liked Berlin because it is not enough "exotic" to me. Except small part of the city center it is like my home city - just bigger.

Two days is just perfect to see all important points of Berlin. Fortunately we had just perfect weather for sightseeing so we could walk all the time.

Fort l'Ecluse

Today we went to see Fort l'Ecluse that was built somewhere in the 17th century. Now it sits by the Swiss border (but still on the French side) and is open to tourists and climbers. In fact, it seemed like yesterday there were more of the second kind, people with ropes climbed the via ferrata that goes up the rock to the top. Well, although it looks pretty awesome, we chose the stairs :) And there were 820 of them! But before reaching the terrace, we made a tour round the low-level chambers filled with art exhibitions.

From the terrace we had a nice view on the surrounding Swiss and French valleys. There was also a nice breeze, so we stayed for a longer while to cool down after a long stairs climb.

Le téléphérique du Salève

We decided not to wait for the perfect air clarity in order to go to a téléphérique du Salève, which is a cable car that goes on the top of Salève mountain, known as the balcony of Geneva. Indeed, one can see the whole city from the station, as well as a good deal of Lac Leman shore.
A cable car ride is fun of its own, it goes very quickly and steeply. When we reached the top we headed staright to a view point on Mont Blanc, which was situated 15 minutes away walking from the main station. The mountain was a bit covered by the clouds, we tried to wait for the wind to blow them away, but it didn't look like that, so we came back to the station site to watch para-gliders and Geneva.

Le Reculet challenge

There was a nice event organised by our group leader - Le Reculet challenge. One could take part in a race to the top, but there were only a few daredevils. The rest hiked in their own pace and waited for the contstants at the top. After everyone reached the cross, we took a photo and went on to a mountain hut for some yummy raclette and jolly singing. Some stayed for a night, others went down in the darkness. Fun evening indeed.

Pointe d'Andey (1 877 m)

Today I went for a brief hike in Plateau de Solaison. I chose this destination because I was intrigued by a Saint Marry statue on the top. Also, it was said to be a very fast and easy hike -exactly what I need. I started from Plateau de Solaison, already pretty high up, and followed a narrow and pretty steep footway staright to the top. There were no spectacular views on the way up, maybe except a lot of wildlife.

From the top there was a nice view on the valley with Bonnevillle (Prettytown) and the surrounding mountains. I stayed for quite some time there before descending, having a bite of a sandwich and enjoying mild breeze. It's a pity that the clarity of air was not perfect, because normally I could see the Alps far far away. Maybe the next time.