Last Updated on: 6th March 2021, 05:39 pm
Welcome to a new series of posts of my travels in Europe. These posts are about my travels to Europe in 2013… so the exact details of a few things aren’t that clear now, but there are plenty of photos.
The best way to get around Europe is obviously by rail, and I trust most people already know that. My experience with the rail system in Europe was quite good. Fast, clean and more leg room than planes, it is probably a more convenient option than planes. There are still baggage limits though.
La Secour
When you think of Paris, you probably think of the Notre Dame and the Eifel Tower. La Secour is a lesser known and underated, yet still magnificent, cathedral in Paris. It is free to enter, and away from the main city, surrounded by grass and trees. It is located on a hill top accessed by several-but-shallow steps. The view from the top of the cathedral is terrific as the cathedral is already on a hill.
Unfortunately I do not have any pictures of the interior, but here are some pictures of the outside:
I really recommend coming here because this place is really underated. The construction and architecture is magnificent, and the roundness of the domes are a change to the usual sharp intimidating looks of Gothic cathedrals.
Recommended stay time:
One to two hours, (possibly longer if you want to go in and admire in detail the detail of the architecture) depending on how busy it is and how fast you want to go through the area. The cathedral is free to enter so you may want to spend some time here.
Getting here:
We stayed in an apartment close to the La Secour, so we walked here, however in the opposite direction there was a tram stop so it is walkable.
Tip: I want to take this opportunity to bring to light an ongoing issue that goes beyond tourist scams. There are some street souvenir vendors here who try to pressure you into buying their handmade bracelets by grabbing your arm and strapping them on. They don’t hurt you, and I understand their sad vicious cycle plight that the media rarely digs deep into the root problem of, but you should just be aware of this. These people are immigrants who have fallen into a viscous cycle and live in fear of arrests. The local police’s only solution to these immigrants, legal or not, is to arrest them. I read about the sad story of an immigrant who, at only 29, originally arrived in France 5 years beforehand to donate a kidney to his sister (who married a local French man). His residence permit since expired and was not renewed. To avoid arrest by local police, he jumped into the Marne River and died of a heart attack. I really hope one day soon the problem can be solved, and not just by endless arrests.
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