Tuesday, November 15, 2016 (Hotel Peyris Opera, Paris, France)

Day 2 in  Paris...and, like yesterday morning, we made the 20 minute walk to the Hop On-Hop Off bus. At least this time we knew where we were going and what to do. It was another day of riding the bus...lots to see in our short time here!

Today, we are taking the yellow bus to the green line...and over to the purple and orange lines. We'll check out that end of the city today...and, again...tons of pictures!

Lots of police and military presence on the streets of Paris...it's the anniversary of the Paris bombings and shootings a year ago. It wasn't until we were watching the news that we found out that France was still in a state of emergency and has between 6000 to 7000 soldiers deployed. We've noticed that they always patrol in groups of no less than four and yes they were fully armed...even had their helmets.
It was last November when the single deadliest terrorist attack in French history happened with multiple shootings and grenade attacks from suicide bombers. Among the locations targeted were a music venue, sports stadium, and several bars and restaurant terraces killing 130 and injuring 350. (Some of these areas were near our hotel and restaurants we visited.)
There was the attack last July in Nice by a man in a 19 ton cargo truck on crowds celebrating Bastille Day killing 86 and injuring 434. In researching this we were amazed at how many other attacks have taken place. Mostly stabbings and vehicle ramming by lone wolf Islamic extremists.

We got off the green line (not far from Notre Dame) and walked up the street to the bus stop for the orange line. We had to wait for a bit...but eventually the bus came and we were on our way.

Paroisse de Saint-Severin...The Church of Saint-Séverin is a Roman Catholic church in the Latin Quarter of Paris, located on the lively tourist street Rue Saint-Séverin. It is one of the oldest churches that remains standing on the Left Bank, and it continues in use as a place of worship. 
It certainly looks like it could use a little 'TLC' on the outside though...

Square Barye...

We passed through Place de la Bastille...
The Place de la Bastille is a square in Paris where the Bastille prison stood until the "Storming of the Bastille" and its subsequent physical destruction between 14 July 1789 and 14 July 1790 during the French Revolution. No vestige of the prison remains. The square straddles 3 arrondissements of Paris, namely the 4th, 11th and 12th. The square and its surrounding areas are normally called simply Bastille.

National Museum of Natural History... unfortunately, you can't see much of it.

Ministry of Commerce and Finance...

National Library of France - François Mitterrand...

Not real crazy about the modern buildings in this part of Paris. Such a contrast to the beautiful old architecture of the rest of the city...

UGLY!!

AccorHotels Arena...

These (next 2 pics) are government buildings...Ministry of Economy and Finance...(a previous picture shows a different view of the building from across the river)

The road goes under this massive building...

We looped back around the Place de la Bastille and the July Column...
The July Column (French: Colonne de Juillet) is a monumental column commemorating the Revolution of 1830. It stands in the center of the Place de la Bastille and celebrates the Trois Glorieuses — the "three glorious" days of 27–29 July 1830 that saw the fall of King Charles X of France and the commencement of the "July Monarchy" of Louis-Philippe, King of the French. It was built between 1835 and 1840.

Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis Church...

Hotel de Ville Paris (City Hall)...housing the city's local administration. The headquarters of the municipality of Paris since 1357, it serves multiple functions, housing the local administration, the Mayor of Paris (since 1977), and also serves as a venue for large receptions.
Another view of Hotel de Ville Paris (City Hall)...

And another view of Hotel de Ville...

Notre Dame...

Back at the bus stop we got on at...we waited for the next bus...the one that would take us on the orange tour.

The Panthéon...

Jardin du Luxembourg...

The Galeries Lafayette is an upmarket French department store chain. Its flagship store is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris but it now operates in a number of other locations in France and other countries.
Tour Montparnasse 689 ft office skyscraper is the second tallest in Paris...

Canadian flag outside of Canadian Cultural Centre a venue for concerts , film art, exhibitions and conferences....

We completed the orange loop...glad to get off the bus and stretch our legs. We found this cool little alley of shops and restaurants...

As we were strolling along, we were in front of il Gigolo Italian Restaurant having a look at the menu when the waiter, arms stretched out, was trying to coax us in...he was too funny in his endeavour and had the whole restaurant laughing...of course, we had to go in. He did it to others passing by which was very entertaining....a great waiter and a great restaurant. The pizza we shared was excellent.
That's the waiter in the centre back. He may have been the owner...

After lunch, instead of getting back on the bus right away, we decided to walk along the Seine River. We wanted to find one of the tour boat docks.

Fence of Love Locks....

Institute of France...

The Louvre Museum...

Many of the barges carry a car. Not sure how they get them on and off...

Musee d'Orsay....

We found one of the stops for the tour boat...of course, it was just pulling out when we got there. The fellow at the kiosk was very helpful. He gave us the schedule for the boat but it was on it's last loop for the day...so we decided to "do" the boat tour tomorrow.

We caught the bus, getting off at Place de Concorde...deciding to walk back to our hotel from there.

More crazy traffic...no lane lines painted...

American Dream Restaurant...looks cool on the outside but it doesn't have very good reviews...

It was only about 2.5 kms/1.6 miles to our hotel...but it sure seemed a lot further...I guess due to all the busy Paris streets and dodging all the people. After relaxing in our room for a bit, we went to our friendly little bar down the street for a drink.
Then we ventured across the street to another spot for dinner...it wasn't very popular and had a very limited menu (he brought the chalk board menu to our table)...but it was quaint, the old fellow waiting on us was quite attentive...and the spaghetti was okay.