Paris, France - September 2025

We made it to Paris after two and half hours of train ride. Our Airbnb apartment was in Batignolles neighborhood in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. It's a short walk from Port od Clichy metro stop.

Saint-Michel of Batignolles church.

That afternoon we explored the Montmartre area as it's not too far from our apartment. We did not make it up to Sacre Coeur Basilica because of the steep hill. But, walking around the Montmartre area was a lot of fun.

Saint Jean de Montmartre.

Inside the church.

Moulin Rouge - Will come back for an evening show later.

We were lucky to get two tickets to Nortre Dame Cathedral the next day.  The appointment was 1:00pm. It was a nice morning, we enjoyed a nice walk along the River Seine and Ile de la Cite'. 

Pont Au Change, the River Seine

Notre Dame Cathedral reopened in December 2024 since the fire in 2019.

The restoration work is ongoing but the interior was beautifully restored including cleaning of the stone walls and polishing stained glass.

One of the rose windows.

The restored grand organ.

The altar and the nave.

Taking a break after leaving Notre Dame Cathedral.

                                                       A visit to Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

                                                                Jim Morrison gravesite.

Leaving Pere Lachaise Cemetery, we took metro to the Eiffel Tower and Parc du Champ de Mars.

Eternal Flame Monument for Princess Diana - She was killed by auto accident in the tunnel underneath.

Across the street from the Eternal Flame, we found a nice spot for a picture with the Eiffel Tower. 

                     It's a pleasant surprise to bump into Dien and Kim at Parc du Champ de Mars.

As Dien and Kim continued their bus tour with the group, we went to Latin Quarter for dinner.

Beefsteak dinner.

And beef bourguignon.

                                                 

                                  The Olympic 2024 Balloon lights up Paris night sky. 

Bordeaux, France - September 2025

 It was not a smooth start leaving Philly for Bordeaux. Because of "crew" issue in Philly, our flight delayed for a few hours first and finally deplayed 24 hours...We stayed overnight in Philly trying to catch the same flight the next day to Madrid. The Philly hotel that American Airlines comped us was a seedy little hotel by the name Waterrfront Inn, a few miles from the airport. In the morning when things cleared up, the waterfront in front of our balcony did not look too bad!. We walked to the local restaurant for breakfast. It was a nice morning and we had a pleasant walk. Then, we caught the shuttle back to the airport around noon.

Not Bordeau...! But the view in front of our Waterfront Inn hotel room is not too bad! There is a little marina on the Delaware River not far from the hotel's balcony.

 

It was a long day in Madrid waiting for our short flight to Bordeaux. We finally arrived in Bordeaux, 24 hours later than planned. It was late in the afternoon on day two when we arrived at the hotel.  We were tired and exhaused. However, we walked to the riverfront as it was not too far from the hotel. It's good to have a feel of where we were and planed to get dinner. 

Porte de la Monnaie - Bordeaux Arch. There is a Vietnamese restaurant "Dat Viet" at the left of the arch where we had our first dinner in Bordeaux.

Gare St. Jean, Bordeaux central train station. From here, we took Bordeaux city tram which covers the city, the riverfront and tourist attractions. 

Place de la Bourse.

Place de la Bourse.


Pedestrian street in Place de la Bourse with shops and resturants.


Clock Tower - Place de la Comedie (Comedy Theater).

                        Walking through a quiet alley to visit the Notre Dame of Bordeaux.

Notre Dame of Bordeaux.

Inside the church.

Monument aux Girondins.

Bordeaux Maritime Museum .

On the bridge over the Garonne River with Cite du Vin Museum in the background. 

In front of Cite du Vin.

Port de Bordeaux with Pont Jaques Chaban-Delmas in the background.

Pey-Berland bell tower of the St. Andre Cathedral.

St. Andre Cathedral.

Inside the cathedral.

Back side of St. Andre Cathedral @ Hotel de Ville plaza.

Hotel de Ville of  Bordeaux.

We took the tram to cross the Garonne to visit the Bastide district on the right bank.

The right bank of the Garonne - Pont de Pierre in the background.

The Blue Lion sculpture in Place de Stalingrad on the right bank.

Pont de Pierre connects the left bank (city's historic center) and the right bank (La Bastide district) of the Garonne River.  

Back to the left bank to spend the rest of the evening in Bordeaux.

Porte de Bourgogne.

St. Catherine Promenade.

Place Camille Jullian in the historic center.

Back to Dat Viet restaurant for a glass of wine and appetizers.

Porte Cailhau.

Place du Palais at Porte Caihau.

We wrapped up the last evening in Bordeaux at Place de la Bourse which was our first tram stop earlier that day.

Place de la Bourse at night - illuminated against the twilight sky.

Our visit to Bordeaux was enjoyable despite we lost one full day there. We hope to come back to Bordeaux to visit Saint-Emilion's medieval village and world-famous wineries. Good bye Bordeaux for now!.

On the train to Paris.