Advertisement
Published: February 16th 2011
Parisian Weekend
It was our first few days then - we had just arrived, theres the uncertainty of getting an apartment, and there's still delays in the allowances. But hey, no one can stop this friends of mine and their itchy feet. (i was just dragged! hehehe)
It is one of the most dreamt about destination known to man - to see the Eiffel, be amazed at the artworks in Louvre and have a stroll at Champs Elysee'. True enough, upon setting foot on Europe, this has been the most talked about "place to be". So when the "seat sale" at Swiss Air came out, we were I think, the early birds for the promo.
I think the timing is great - It was a good birthday gift, it is after our first pay, but then the unwanted: the Parisian strike broke out. They were starting cancelling flights 3 days before our trip. There's also the problem that our visas might not be for travel outside Switzerland.
We left work early that day - with our fingers crossed that we can get through the pending hurdles easily.
We arrived in the airport in time, and glad to
learn that no flights are being cancelled for the day. We board the plane now praying that we can get through French customs police or whatsoever or whomever that will block us. After 2 hours, we arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport and started looking where we can buy the 2-day city transpo pass and the 2-day museum pass. Museum pass, check but the tranpo pass - we have to find where we can buy, because of the French strike.
Left, right, up, down, here, there and and last we found the train ticket station. We bought the pass, waited for the train and headed to the city center, now in search for our hotel reservation.
The ride from airport to the city center was a long one - 45 mins, and was not a smooth one. We got lost few times, we were, "culture shocked" by the volume and diversity of people, the trains was not as good as we expected, and the pollution is rampant - not the Paris as we expect it to be. "Well, we are still in the suburbs, and it is already dark, the city will suprise us tommorrow" , we comforted
ourselves.
After much turns, and map reading, we reached our hotel - Aloha Hotel, a backpackers hotel with a "good view" of the world-famous tower. We checked in, then decided to take a quick stroll outside, believing that we will reach Eiffel tower in no time. Walk, walk, and walk, looking for food, dreaming of reaching Eiffel, but we failed. The tower is near, yet so far. We just went home and slept, after all, we will have two full days to conquer the city.
Day 1.
We took advantage of the free French breakfast - authentic French bread, cereals, jams, juice. Wethen headed off to our first tourist spot - The Eiffel tower. Following the map, we must get down at Bir-Hakeim station station and from there, we will see the tower. When we saw the tower from afar, we took pictures of it. We walked closer, another round of photos. Under it, on the other side, pictures.. jump shots. There were lots of tourists, vendors and locals. We didnt bother getting up the tower as it will consume most of our time, we didn't have any reservations, plus it cost much (well too much for just
riding the elevator and using the stairs). After the Eiffel we felt the strike, as the intervals between trains are more than 30 minutes.
Our next stop was the Louvre museum. I was excited when I first saw the famous glass pyramid. It did not fail us, it is really a must-see for everyone. It has great collections and houses some of the world's greatest artworks. We tried visiting each and every corner, took photos with the famous works until we noticed that we have been walking for almost 4 hours. We were already tired but we found ourselves walking to the Arc d' Thriumph, a momument at the center of Place de Etoile, which commemorates the victories of France and honoring those who died in battle.
It started to rain and to get dark, so we decided to look for a good restaurant offering French specialty (but not French Fries).
After eating, we went back to Eiffel tower to witness the lighting of the tower, which they say is a must see. Fighting the cold breeze and freezing feeling, we were there, a few minutes late for the lighting, but still took lots of photos.. and
jump shots with the tower.
We went home with a sore feet and frozen feeling, slept, and again woke up to a brand new day.
Our tour continues.. this day we went to the Jardin du Luxembourg, the second largest public park in Paris, where the French senate resides as well. Then to the Pantheon, which was originally built as a Church dedicated ti St. Genevieve and to house the reliquary châsse containing her relics, but after many changes now functions as a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens. After that we went to the Cathedral of Notre Dame, a Gothic-Catholic Cathedral, considered on of the finest example of Frnech gothic architecture in Europe. It was also made famous to us by the story of Quasimodo, the hunchback from this place. We went around the Church, and then afterwards queued so we can go upstairs to have a good look of the city and the equally famous gargoyles. We then had a quick stop with the souvenirs stores nearby and had some authentic French crepe for snacks. Afterwards, we went to the famous "Shakespeare and Company" bookstore which houses various collection of hard to find
books. We ended the night by strolling at the famous Avenue des Champs Elysees then headed back to our hotel, as we will be leaving the city very early in the morning.
Paris didnt fail us, the architechture is great and the sights are awesome.A 2-day tour is not enough to explore whole of the city (maybe even a week also), but it was such a great experience and opportunity to been set foot on one of the most dreamt about tourist spot. I will definitely come back again someday, with my wife and son, if given the chance.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.23s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0417s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Eiffel tower, worm's eye view
