Paris The City of Love, Day 1 Louvre Museum, Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees

Save the best for last!! That's what I thought when planing this trip, Paris was always in the top of my bucket list and finally I could see the beauty of this city with my own eyes. It's really easy to go to Paris from Brussels only take approx 2 hours using train. 

Our itinerary today is to visited Louvre Museum, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees and stores around it. 

Louvre Museum

Nearest Station : Louvre Rivoli OR Palais Royal Musée du Louvre - Line 1 (yellow)
Opening Hours  : Monday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday: from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

                            Wednesday, Friday: from 9 a.m. to 9:45 p.m.

                            Closed on Tuesday, see the detail here

Louvre Museum is one of Paris landmark, one of the largest museum in the world. Many people said it could take weeks to explore every rooms and galleries, but I don't have that much time so the best way is to take  a look at the museum map and go directly to see what I wanted to see. 

My first choice is to see Mona Lisa, who does know this famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Seeing this painting making me suddenly  remember about  "Smile Like Monalisa" song by ALL 4 One and I keep repeating the lyrics in my head. My husband can't take the picture clearly coz Mona Lisa painting was kept inside the bulletproof glass. Yeah someone got to protect this 100 millions US  painting from any attack. 

Venus de Milo was discovered on a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. A beautiful piece represent goddess, one of the most famous works of ancient Greek.

Similar to Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace, one of the world's greatest works of art belong to ancient Greek. This beautiful statue represent the Greek goddess of victory. 

The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon and the Coronation of Empress Joséphine on December 2, 1804. A moment capture in this huge French painting. There are many great arts in here which I can't explain one by one. The best thing you can do is walk and see the blended between art and history. 

After satisfied seeing all great art, I was wondering inside the gallery looking for "The Inverted Pyramid", turn out it was near the underground shopping mall. This is where the Da Vinci Code movie end, when Langdon follow the blood trail and understands that the pyramidion of stone placed under the point of the Inverted Pyramid is the grave of Mary Magdalene.

Arc de Triomphe
Nearest Station : 
1. Charles de Gaulle Etoile – Line 1 (yellow) 
2. Charles de Gaulle Etoile – Line 2 (blue) 
3. Charles de Gaulle Etoile – Line 6 (green-blue) 
4. Charles de Gaulle Etoile – RER A (red)
Opening Hours  : Open every day, see the detail here
                            1 April to 30 September : 10 am to 11 pm 
                            1 October to 31 March : 10 am to 10:30 pm Last admission 45 mins before closing

Arc de Triomphe, one of the famous monument  which stand at the center of the busy Place Charles de Gaulle. This massive monument is dedicated to glory of the French army and honors important battles, generals and victories in France’s military history. You can enjoy walking around the base and under the arches of the Arc de Triomphe for free or pay a fee to climb the stairs to the top for views over Paris.

From Arc de Triomphe we walked straight to Avenue des Champs Elysees. We just strolling around the area in the afternoon, you could find many restaurants and luxury boutiques like Louis Vuitton, Lacoste, etc. I just went there for window shopping and checking prices because later I will go to  La Vallee Village outlet mall for shopping. 

We just keep on walking around that afternoon until we reached Place de la Concorde, one of the major public squares in Paris. Seeing sunset and Eiffel Tower from a distance. That's the end of our journey for today and we are heading back to our hotel.