On Top of Tour Montparnasse

Our second day was a bright sunshiny day in Paris. The blue autumn sky looked promising for our day ahead and we couldn't choose a more perfect time to visit the 210-meter Tour Montparnasse. This lone skyscraper dwarfs the much shorter buildings around it, making it quite easy to spot.

We had been getting ourselves to higher elevations, to see bird's eye views of Paris, knowing we couldn't have possibly roamed Paris in a grander scale because of time constraints. If it's one way to know a bit more of this far away place then, we are in.

In my post about our Eiffel Tower climb, there is a photo of the towering Tour Montparnasse as seen from the tower. This time around, we were seeing the perspective of the skyscraper. Tour Montparnasse is actually an office building, consisting of 59 floors. I wonder how it would feel like to easily see the Eiffel Tower from your office window, especially those times when you need a quick breather from office work. If it were me, I may get reprimanded a lot for zoning out often. lol

We went to the Tour Montparnasse first thing in the morning. Well, after depositing our luggage at the Left Luggage in Gare d'Austerlitz train station, where we would depart later that night to Barcelona by an overnight train. Talk about a full day ahead of us!

Before we embark another journey to a new city (and a new country at that!), we did a 360-degree view of Paris, hoping that we save as many memories as we can in this very short weekend.

Ready to squint your eyes?

This view is facing the Jardin des Tuileries and the Louvre Museum.
The garden is that long horizontal stretch of fall colors.
Further ahead, you can almost make out the Sacré-Cœur Basilica. 

Now, let's move a little to the right where you can now see Jardin du Luxembourg.
We are going there next. ;)

Passed the Jardin du Luxembourg, is a pole blocking your view. :p
It's not really an unobstructed view on top.
More often than not, you have to make ways and means.

As I was saying... another good view of the skyscraper's poles.
But bonus points if you can spot the tiny Notre Dame Cathedral!

If you have given up spotting the Notre Dame Cathedral, here is a view without the lovely poles.
The Cathedral is at the leftmost, just above the Jardin du Luxembourg.
It's still tiny though. hehe

Further right from Jardin du Luxembourg,
the huge area, dearth with buildings is the Montparnasse Cemetery.
Our apartment for the weekend is just across it.
There are many famous people who are buried here
and thus, many tourists also pay a visit. Yes, that's Paris.

Here's another view of the cemetery.
Don't worry, I won't be asking where the tombs of the famous people are. :p

Facing the 13th Arrondissement of Paris.
Just this description because I don't know what to spot specifically. hehe

The train tracks terminating at Gare Montparnasse.

And we're back to the Eiffel Tower!
It's great that Paris has provided a specific zone for modern buildings.
As for the rest, you can definitely tell that what you're seeing is the French capital.

Just another view. And I say this a lot in this post. haha

Here's a zoomed in photo of the Louvre Museum.
No more bonus points for the Sacré-Cœur Basilica though.

Zooming in the garden we would be heading next after being on top.

 Notre Dame Cathedral is easy to spot now in this photo.

This is how it looks like on top of Tour Montparnasse.

Because it's too windy up there ya know. Messy hair. Don't care.

And those two kids are just adorable!

My cousin suggested the Tour Montparnasse and it just fit into the plan because our apartment was in Montparnasse. We only bought the tickets on site and good thing, it was open if it was a Sunday. The only thing was even if it was a clear day, it was so chilly on top! Brrrrr The chill was a cue for us to go down and start our long walk to Jardin du Luxembourg. We took a fancy walking because it seemed so near on top! :p Up next!

Ticket at €14.50/person
Website here.