Eurotrip 2011 –Brussels & Paris, 13-17 May

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On route to Paris, we stopped at Brussels, Belgium for half a day to visit the pretty old square, the Manneken Pis (fountain of a small boy peeing into a basin) and purchase a ton of chocolate for our friends and family back home. It was nice sitting in the square eating waffles, chocolates and sweet biscuits. The mussels in Brussels were also pretty tasty for lunch. There was also some kind of antique car gathering in the square.

We arrived in Paris late at night with the backside of the train station looking spooky and no idea of how to get to our accommodation. As always, a kind bus driver helped us make our way there. And so, we were in our last stop of our Eurotrip 2011. We were determined to make the most of it.

We visited the Lourve in the morning. It was huge and we managed to visit only the Denon wing where the more famous exhibits were housed. We also took pictures of the pyramids which were made famous in the Da Vinci Code book. The Mona Lisa was a little disappointing with hordes of tourists doing a paparazzi photo shoot on the little painting in the room. I liked the other paintings better such as the “Raft of the Medusa” depicting starvation and desperation of shipwrecked people and “Liberty leading the people” depicting a lady personifying Liberty leading the people to revolution. In the afternoon, we visited the Notre Dame cathedral which reminded me of the musical “Notre Dame de Paris”. In the evening, it was time to visit the famous Eiffel Tower. After lots of picture-taking, we ascended the tower via a lift to the 2nd of 3 viewing platforms of the tower for splendid views of Paris. With the sun setting and the light falling on Paris changing, it was pretty and also very cold with the wind blowing. We waited till nightfall to view the city of lights. At the stroke of every hour before midnight, additional lights on the tower explode in a flash of brilliance to the happy photographers snapping away.

On our 2nd day in Paris, we visited Paris famous shopping street the Champs Elysees. I guess Jace was on a mission to do some serious shopping. Turns out, other than the main street, the rest of the branded shops were closed. Well the LV shop was open…….I found the burgers and churros in this particular fast food joint at Champs Elysees quite delicious…can’t remember the name….. We paid a quick visit to the Arc de Triomphe before going back to our hotel to deposit the shopping bags. We then explored the nearby Montmarte known for its old Paris feel. The Basilica of the Sacred Coeur with its white dome was also looking pretty perched on top of a hill. A musician was attracting large crowds before the basilica and it was nice just sitting down on the steps listening to his music and having a nice cold beer. There are many baskers around Europe and many of them can be quite talented. Some even play their instruments inside the subway train! I was trying to imagine if this was possible back in the MRT trains in Singapore which was next to impossible. In a country that is clean, organized and orderly, we lack creativity and boldness which are some of the things I appreciated on this trip.

On our last sightseeing day in Paris, we visited Disneyland Paris! Jace wanted very much to go to the park so we bought our tickets and we arrived at our first visit to Disneyland. We queued for an hour to take pictures with Winnie the Pooh before taking the rides in the theme park. I enjoyed the “Peter Pan flying ride” and “It’s a small World” boat ride. I also enjoyed the lively Peter Pan skit although only half of it was in English. The parades and characters were colorful and the kids around us decked in their costumes of princesses, pirates and Mickey mouse seemed to enjoy themselves a lot. We went back to central Paris and ended the night having a hearty dinner in the Montmarte area complete with foie gras, lamb, fish, wine and crème brulee. It was probably one of the best meals of our trip and we truly ended our Eurotrip 2011 on a high.

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Photos

Eiffel Tower
Viva la Paris

Mussels from Brussels
mmmmmph...yummy