By Jack Profijt
One of the high lights of this trip was the Paris tour by night. Most people see Paris in the day light hours and spend the evening in the cafes and restaurants having a grand old time. Many do not take the time to see this wonderful place in all of its brilliance.
My wife, through her tireless research discovered there are only two tour operators that offer night tours for the city of Paris. The first is Le Open Tours and the second is Big Bus Tours. Both companies offer Hop on Hop off tours in the day time and offer bundled discounts for those that wish to combine the tours. However the night tours are an additional fee to the day time price. It should also be noted that the night tour for either operator is not a Hop on Hop off excursion.
In the end we decided to go with the Big Bus Tours because their pick up point was closer to our hotel. The only deciding factor between the two operators was the distance of the pick up point from our hotel. With Le Open tours we would have had to meet at their office which was farther away and we would have had to make arrangements to get there while the Big Bus stop was two minutes walking distance from the hotel. We booked these tickets before we left on our trip and had the voucher in hand when we arrived at the tour. It made things easy and quick and there was no need to for the exchange of cash with the driver. We rode on the top level of the Double Decker bus and started our tour. The late September evening air was little cool but with a light jacket it was quite comfortable. The tour started with a spin around the Arc du
Triomphe which is an amazing monument. Most people don't realize this place is war memorial that commemorates many of the glorious and tragic events in Frances past. It also houses the eternal flame for the unknown soldier and is especially poignant at night time.
Next we were off to the Eiffel tower and the Trocadero, to see the tower with thousands of twinkling lights was breath taking to say the least. There are a number of different angles that this monument can be photographed, so you will want to have your camera ready for those awesome shots. Seeing this old structure in all of its illuminated glory, one can truly see why it is the ever lasting image of Paris.
The tour made its way around all of the usual sights, the Paris Opera House, The Louvre, Notre Dame de Paris, and of coarse the Moulin Rouge just to name a few. The tour itself took about two hours and we were finished and heading back to our hotel around 11:30.
We saw many of the same sites that were seen during the day time tours and to be honest I was a little concerned that this excursion might be a waste of time. However I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. Anyone can travel to Paris and see the sights and get lost in all of the touristy things that are there, however this excursion was definitely something I would do again if the the opportunity ever came up.
for me this tour added something to my love of Paris. The illumination of all of the wonderful buildings and cafes and the places filled with lovers was something that will be remembered. It gives almost a magical quality to the place that you just don't get during the day time hours.
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| Arc du Triomphe |
My wife, through her tireless research discovered there are only two tour operators that offer night tours for the city of Paris. The first is Le Open Tours and the second is Big Bus Tours. Both companies offer Hop on Hop off tours in the day time and offer bundled discounts for those that wish to combine the tours. However the night tours are an additional fee to the day time price. It should also be noted that the night tour for either operator is not a Hop on Hop off excursion.
In the end we decided to go with the Big Bus Tours because their pick up point was closer to our hotel. The only deciding factor between the two operators was the distance of the pick up point from our hotel. With Le Open tours we would have had to meet at their office which was farther away and we would have had to make arrangements to get there while the Big Bus stop was two minutes walking distance from the hotel. We booked these tickets before we left on our trip and had the voucher in hand when we arrived at the tour. It made things easy and quick and there was no need to for the exchange of cash with the driver. We rode on the top level of the Double Decker bus and started our tour. The late September evening air was little cool but with a light jacket it was quite comfortable. The tour started with a spin around the Arc du
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| Eiffel Tower |
Next we were off to the Eiffel tower and the Trocadero, to see the tower with thousands of twinkling lights was breath taking to say the least. There are a number of different angles that this monument can be photographed, so you will want to have your camera ready for those awesome shots. Seeing this old structure in all of its illuminated glory, one can truly see why it is the ever lasting image of Paris.
The tour made its way around all of the usual sights, the Paris Opera House, The Louvre, Notre Dame de Paris, and of coarse the Moulin Rouge just to name a few. The tour itself took about two hours and we were finished and heading back to our hotel around 11:30.
We saw many of the same sites that were seen during the day time tours and to be honest I was a little concerned that this excursion might be a waste of time. However I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. Anyone can travel to Paris and see the sights and get lost in all of the touristy things that are there, however this excursion was definitely something I would do again if the the opportunity ever came up.
for me this tour added something to my love of Paris. The illumination of all of the wonderful buildings and cafes and the places filled with lovers was something that will be remembered. It gives almost a magical quality to the place that you just don't get during the day time hours.
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| Hotel du Louvre |
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