On the Seine with Batobus, a thrilling experience!

Leaving Musée d’Orsay for l’Acadeémie Française with the Louvre in the background

I had to celebrate my godson’s thirteenth birthday and besides taking him to Hotel de la Marine in the gilded galleries overlooking Place de la Concorde, I thought of wandering around the Seine on a Batobus and it was a wonderful little adventure. We started in front of Musée d’Orsay but could of gone from the Tour Eiffel at 10 am when it starts. Your day pass is valid for 24 hours so don’t worry about schedule. Hop on and off as you wish. Spend the day on the boat if you love it.

Notre Dame and the works

From there the first stop was in front of the Académie Française, where you are encouraged to get off and visit the Latin quarter and Saint Germain des Prés. It’s a short walk to la Palette on rue de Seine for a cup of coffee or even a shorter one to Bibliothèque Mazarine, the jewel library of the Academy which is open to all. Twenty minutes later you can hop on the boat again and go towards Notre Dame, where, of course, there are zillion things to visit in the museum beneath it. Do not miss Berthillon on Ile Saint Louis, the paradise of sherbets and ice creams. The next stop is Jardin des Plantes where you can walk and visit the Museum d’Histoire naturelle. Then the boat turns to the right bank, Hotel de Ville and the Marais. We had lunch at the Louis Philippe which was a surprisingly good (and cheap) for a simple brasserie .

Louis Dulout and his sister Hortense enjoying the lazy promenade

Hop on the boat again in the direction of the Louvre, where we did not stop, and to the Concorde stop which is actually at Petit Palais. There, the museum of the city oof Paris is free and has the most wonderful collections of art, an exhibition on Sarah Bernhard until August 27 and much more. You can then hop on again and go all the way to the Eiffel Tower and you will have spent an easy day, on the water, away for the heat with lots of entertainment on the side.

The Louvre from close up

Batobus tickets can be bought on the internet for 19€ and 9€ for children or at any stop. You can hop on and off as often as you like and they are good for 24 hours. Try it, it’s really a fun way of discovering Paris and much more individual than the traditional bateau mouche…We noticed that there were less tourists in the morning than after lucnh…