[France Summer Vacation] Day 04: Exploring the city of Paris + Lunch at Le Petit Cler

August 08, 2022

It was Day 4 in Paris, and we walked down to Les Invalides after our breakfast. The walk took us about 15 minutes. We made use of our museum pass again to visit the Le Musée de L'Armée, as well as the Dôme des Invalides and The Cour d’Honneur.

Les Invalides, officially known as the Hôtel National des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), contains museums and monuments relating to the military history of France, as well the hospital and a retirement home for war veterans. It also houses the Musée de l'Armée, the Military Museum of the Army of France, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d'Histoire Contemporaine, as well as the burial sites for some of the famous war heroes of France, including Napoleon Bonaparte.

The centrepiece of the Dôme des Invalides is the tomb of Napoleon I. It is not just the resting place for Napoleon since 1861. There are various notables tombs, including Napoleon II (his son), Joseph Bonaparte (older brother), Jérôme Bonaparte (younger brother), his Generals Bertrand and Duroc, and the Marshals Lyautey and Foch (Supreme Allied Commander in WW1). It’s an impressive and obligatory visit!

The Paris's Army Museum (Musée de l'Armée) is one of the three largest arms museums in the world. In the Museum, there are a great collection of uniforms, weapons, equipment, decorations, emblems, flags, musical instruments, and other unique items including some belonging to Napoleon and his generals. The Charles de Gaulle Exhibition was worth a visit too!

Les Invalides is one of the historical monuments not to be missed in Paris. It is an Incredible place, especially inside, which left us in awe. If you love the history of France and its military history, this museum is for you!

After our historical visit, we headed down to nearby for lunch, and we settled at Le Petit Cler which is pretty near to the Eiffel Tower.

I had the perfect yummy Croque Monsieur, and it is a crisp, golden, ham and cheese sandwich. It is the perfect any-time snack!

Le Petit Cler totally got this dish down pat, and it was the perfect little bistro to experience French culinary expertise!

After our lunch, we walked down to the Eiffel Tower, and it was a quite a long walk but we got to enjoy all the scenery while we were strolling towards the tower.

Hello La Tour Eiffel! We didn’t enter the tower, as we been there during the last 2 trips. We only admired this beautiful monument from the outside! It was built in 1889, and it has now become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world.

We did what the local Parisians do, and that was to sit down on the grass at the amazing location of Trocadéro to admire the Eiffel Tower from a distance!

We need to pass by the Trocadéro in order to walk to the nearest Metro station to take a train to Abbesses station.

We wanted to check out an unusual monument which was dedicated to love. It's located on the square at Place des Abbesses in Montmarte. It's known as the 'Le Mur des Je t'aime', AKA the 'I Love You Wall', a work of art that is a must see for couples from all over the world whenever one visits Paris, the city of Romance.

The wall is covered with 'I Love You' written in 250 different languages. It is a very popular area that is located in a small garden square and it was very busy and crowded when we got there.

We walked around Montmartre, an authentic village in the heart of Paris before heading to the stunning Sacré-Coeur Basilica. It is a Roman Catholic church perched atop on Paris’s highest hill, in Montmartre.

The hill of Montmartre has been a sacred religious place for centuries. Do save some energy for climbing to the top of the dome. Denote: it is about 300 steps up to the Dome but it's worth it!