Hello peeps, I'm back from Paris! Having heard so much and so many friends talk about it, expectations were high naturally. Indeed, I can safely say that Paris did not disappoint, and I'd think 3 weeks, rather than 3 days are sufficient to explore the whole place well. Still, I can't complain since these 3 days conincided with the public holidays here in Amsterdam, and spending S$200 to explore one of the nicest European city is quite a bargain really!
Some interesting stuff about Paris and France before you read on:
France is the largest country in the European union, its about 950 times bigger than Singapore. Paris is about 4 times the size of Singapore, so you can roughly gauge how big the rest of the country actually is.
Paris was conquered by Russia for the first time in 400 years back in 1814.
Rome is the sister city of Paris since 1956. (Seule Paris est digne de Rome; seule Rome est digne de Paris / Solo Parigi è degna di Roma; Solo Roma è degna di Parigi / "Only Paris is worthy of Rome; Only Rome is worthy of Paris")
Champs-Élysées is the most scenic shopping street/avenue you'll probably set foot on, rents are not cheap. Expect to pay some S$14k to open a shop no bigger than 100 square meters.
The Eiffel tower, built it 1889 is the tallest building in Paris (as of now). It was meant to be built originally in Barcelona, and only to stand for 20 years. It survived that 20 years and has of course become one of the most recognisable icons in the world.
The Musee du Louvre, or Louvre museum is the world's most visited museum, and houses some of the world's most famous pieces. It was also the home to many French Kings of the past.
Day 113 - 114
Yea we caught the Eurolines bus from Amsterdam to Paris. The fare was reasonable, about S$100 for a 8 hour return trip. I think I've become a much more patient person, because the trips did not really feel that long! Haha. The bus did not feel too comfortable, and I barely got 1-2 hours of sleep throughout the night. This is yet another interesting discovery, that gh does not actually have to sleep that much!
Arrival at the Galleni bus terminal! Took a train from there to the Paris city centre.
The first buildings that greeted us were really distinctive. I can't put an exact definition on the style of the architecture (I really need to read alot more), but you could be sure that its different from buildings you'd see from other major cities like Rome or Amsterdam.
Even traffic lights are different!
You need to squirm your eyes really hard to see if its the green man that's on when you walk under the afternoon sun.
Paris is indeed so big that the map scale on some lousy map we got hold of before checking into the hostel was a 1:1000 m scale. Most other city maps are usually 1:200 or 1:250. What appeared to be nearby on the map took us 30 minutes by foot, Seb reckons we covered the equilivant of a full marathon on the first day.
Some sights along the way.
The Porte Saint-Martin, a triumphal arch. These arches are basically very elaborate structures which are built to celebrate war victories in the past.
A very grand looking threatre just beside Porte Saint-Martin.
After much difficulty and delay (we had hoped to find the hotel and checked in at 1, we ended up checking in at 330), we checked into what was possibly the most horrible hotel we've stayed in Europe thus far. I could say 101 bad things about the hotel, but given the fact that I only needed to have a bed for me to sleep for that couple of hours, this was really the bare minimum the hotel had to offer. One thing for sure, its the hotel that all hotels should NOT follow by example, and I await with great eagerness to see how long it will take for this hotel to be torn down or taken over.
A parting shot of the incredibly small toilet. Credit to the hotel for displaying unconventional creativity by installing toilets in the walls of the hotel along the spiral staircase. You will struggle to open the door, get in and then close that door. I will leave out more horrible details, but you can ask me if you're curious. In short, this is one hotel that you won't want to pay S$50 per night to stay in!
Given the time constraint we were facing, we had to get moving, but not before settling lunch! We had not eaten since dinner the previous night, so stomachs were growling! By some luck we came to this market street, and there were a few crêpe shops along the way! crêpe is something like a fusion of pancake and the chinese springroll, and is considered a national dish of France. You'd choose your filling, and I took bacon and eggs!
It was delicious, but not really filling.
Of course, we could not pass on the opportunity to taste some wine or champagne on this trip, given that the French are reknown for wines.
Anyone can afford to buy his wine here, and it doesn't make sense to drink something else.
Afterwards, we made our way to the Notre Dame de Paris. Its a gothic cathedral and considered by many to be the finest example of French gothic architecture. Those Gargoyles on the top of the buildings really reminded me of this cartoon I watched as a kid, which come alive at night and roam the city, before settling down by daybreak. It also houses one of the most magificent musical instruments, the organ.
Moving on, we decided to go to the Louvre to check how we could buy admission tickets to the museum. A check on the website before we went there stated that admission to the museum on friday evenings were cheaper, so we we abit more kiasu and wanted to buy them earlier, just in case. It was closed by the time we got there, but the security told us we could get tickets either at the entrance, or from Virgin megastores. Another interesting thing about Vigin megastores in Paris, they sell alot of things, have their own libraries, and its pretty much like Sistic + HMV + library all in one.
So we decided to take some touristy pictures. Given the beautiful sunset and gorgeouss surroundings, you just go trigger happy.
Being the very ambitious people we are, our grand plan for the rest of the day (it was 830pm by the time we reached Louvre) was to go see the Eiffel Tower at night and then go the Moulin Rouge. The sun in Paris doesn't set till 10pm, and we were quite confident we could still catch a glimpse of the Eiffel in the evening, right before lights came on.
From the Louvre, it will be a 5km walk to the Eiffel. Considering the time we had on hand, we decided that we will take the Metro, thinking that it will save us some time. Turns out that we had to take the Metro, walk long distances in the stations (Paris's metro stations are HUGE. think of somerset mrt station, but maybe twice the size and pavements you have to walk to the platform to take another train), and still had to wait for a regional train to get to Eiffel. Still, we did get to the Eiffel within the estimated time, and yes we caught a shot of it right before the lights came on!
A shot from right below the tower.
Shots of the tower when the lights came on.
We were drinking the champagne and snacking on chips bought at the supermarket moments earlier, and its really relaxing to just stay by the grass patch beside the tower. We wanted to queue to go up to the Eiffel, but 3 of them were stopped by the security because of the champagne in the bag. We had to finish it, and by the time we did, we would not have been able to go up the Eiffel Tower and still catch the last metro back to the hotel.
So we headed to the place where Moulin Rouge is, something that Bev was really keen on seeing. Anyone who's watched the movie of the same name by Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor should know what I'm talking about!
The Moulin Rouge is a Cabaret (form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre) built in 1889 in the red-light district of Pigalle near Montmartre, distinctive for the large red imitation windmill on its roof. The French can-can dance was also started here, so yea quite a bit of cultural history in this seemingly normal nightclub, as most would assume at first sight.
The whole area of Pigalle has got a similiar feel to the Red Light District in Amsterdam, but there are more open spaces in the area, and definitely bigger and more eye-catching night clubs.
It was rather late by the time we covered the whole stretch, and I was really exhausted to do anything else. Collapsed and woke up the next day for more things to be done!
Day 115
The second day of our grand mission of 'Touring Paris in 50 hours' saw us covering a list of tourist attractions in record time. As much as we would have preferred to stay longer, it was more like quantity over quality in this aspect. Still, its the most enjoyable day of the trip. The sights and stuff we saw for the day cemented Paris as one of the cities I'll need to revisit in the future.
The day started with a trip to the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur. Surprisingly, our hotel was like 10 minutes by foot to this place. Guess that's about the only plus about the hotel, hahaha.
Anyway the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur is built on the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city. It is visible from the west of the Arc de Triomphe. I think its just me, but its really quite similiar to Taj Mahal. No offense to both structures, majestic in their own right.
The weather in Paris for the 3 mornings we were there couldn't get any better. You'll see.
Tell me a place where you can take such a nice class photo. Hahaha.
Right after the Basilica, we headed for the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées.
You'd be stopped by policemen if you tried taking pictures by standing in the middle of the road in Singapore. Here you just have to risk not getting knocked down, since there are no road dividers. It was well worth it.
While the rest chose to get a view of Paris from the top of the Arch at night, I chose to go in the afternoon (I managed to sneak up back at night though), and it was really a sight to behold!
Champs-Élysées
Eiffel Tower
Basilica of Sacré-Cœur
The view from the Arch, where the roads converge, or going away from it is simply quite stunning.
A helicopter view of the roads.
Having spent 1 hour at the top of the arch, I went down to meet the rest who were walking around Champs-Élysées. Hahah, with reference to the particular aspect of game theory we have been taking, there are indeed too many salient locations for us to meet. Like we'd say 'Meet in front of Cartier at 1.15pm', or one could tell another 'let's meet in front of LV/Chanel/Gucci/Mont Blanc..etc', bloody brillant.
And yes, the typical european activity of chilling out under the sun, and people watching.
We engaged in some nice outdoor lunch in the vincinity of the cheap and reliable Macdonalds. Of course cheap here is subjective and relative; subjective because coming from NTU where you can get a big mac meal for S$5, you'd have to pay S$13 for the same meal in Champs-Élysées; relative because all other eateries price their meals at anything from S$40 and above. Still, as long as the hungry man gets his food, all's good.
Following lunch, we spent some 3 hours walking around the Champs-Élysées. Someone bought some really nice stuff, well as much as I am tempted to get something as branded, I see no urgent need for it as we speak. Guess the bounded rationality of the individual still holds true for me in the face of such giantic distractions.
I would also love to comment about the success of this brand that is Louis Vuitton. Entrepreneurs who are up and coming cannot ask for anything more, than to be as successful as the brand that's so easily recognisable by its initials and for its monogram leather products. Snaking queues of tourists who seem to find the stash and zeros in their bank accounts an eyesore, that they have to secure the attention of the world's most smartly dressed customer sales assistants to help convert their wealth into what's otherwise a few pieces of designer leather products. LV has managed to brand itself so successfully, that customers' demand are almost if not perfectly inelastic, and requires no promotion or sale to see its products fly off the shelves. Its mind-boogling trying to analyse this from an economic perspective. Hahaha.
Along the way, we also saw a few carmakers with their concept cars. Its interesting to note all the environmental awareness that are built into these cars.
Renault and its car, which stores a bicycle in it.
Toyota's CS&S, I find the circular shape strangely appealing.
Towards the end of the stroll in this street that will make me see our very own Orchard-Somerset stretch in a very different light, there was another interesting thing that caught my eye..
Hmmm, you'd need a really healthy bank account, and a very irrational mind to spend that kind of money. Folks like us are appalled by the kind of logic behind such pricing. =/
From Champs-Élysées, we went to the part of the trip which I was looking forward to the most.
The Louvre.
When we were still in Champs-Élysées, we had wanted to buy the admission tickets from the Virgin megastore. Due to the fact that the store charges a 1.10Euro service charge, we decided against buying there, and wanted to buy at the Museum instead. It turns out to be a masterstroke, and with lady luck smiling at us, it was a free admission day to the museum. Perhaps this made the time I spent in the museum even more enjoyable, think consumer surplus... hahaha.
Of course, I could rant on and on about the museum and its interesting details, but I'd leave most of it out now. Will come back to it when I can really afford the time (I'm even having ideas about writing a book about everything here in Europe when I get back), and for now, enjoy the sights of the Italian paintings and a minute fraction of the Greek artifacts we managed to see in 3 hours.
Nike of Samothrace, the goddess of victory, or more commonly linked with that sports brand. Haha.
The painting that is the highlight of the visit for many.
See what I meant?
The painting, locked away behind that big glass window, and separated by a barricade from people adorning it metres away.
The closest anyone could get to the Mona Lisa. Indeed, this painting commands as much attention as any of those artists out there in the market.
Virgin of the Rocks, by Leonardo Da Vinci as well.
Just abit of a blast from the past.. I remembered vividly an art club excursion I embarked on to the National Art museum as a 11 year old back in princess elizabeth primary school. There was this special feature of Leonardo Da Vinci and his famous works, (of course, all of them were replicas) and we would be holding a drawing board and a pencil in our hands, not to try sketching or reproducing such fine art, but to write down what we felt was interesting about the exhibition. I saw someone doing exactly just that when I took the photo of the Virgin of the Rocks in the Louvre. Both Mona Lisa and the Virgin of the Rocks were the two paintings that were etched into my mind, and the awe I felt when I was really looking at the actual paintings cannot be easily described. Simply amazing, something I wouldn't have dreamt of doing some 12 years later. For that, I think I'm really lucky enough to deserve this trip to the Louvre!
All right, more pictures.
Coming out of the museum was the last thing I wanted to do, for 3 hours, we could not even finish looking at all the paintings in the Italian art section, and this was perhaps only 5% of what's on display at the Louvre. I can only see it as a incentive to revisit this most wonderful museum again at the next opportunity which presents itself. (I hope I won't have to wait too long for it!)
Some other nice shots before we left.
Emo kid who didn't get enough of his museum. hahahaha.
I'll be back, for sure!
Yeah and so, we went back again to Champs-Élysées, I managed to somehow get in with my ticket from the day, though I think it was meant for a one-time entry only.
Its hard to say which view is nicer, but personally I thought it looked really nice in the bright blue sky.
By the time we headed back to the hotel, it was already midnight, and to our surprise, we saw policemen on rollerblades, quite alot of them actually!
Turns out that in Paris, or at least at the area where we stayed, there will be night rollerblading on Fridays and Sundays. Something like a weekly get-together of some sort! Cool stuff!
At least 500 people where there I reckon, they started from this downslope, and everyone just seemed to be gliding through the roads like fish through water! If only we had the rollerblades to join in! (oh, and yes I need to know how to rollerblade first, hahahah)
Day 116
And so, the weekend trip to Paris was coming to an end. We decided that we will end the journey with a visit to the Eiffel in the day. Again, wonderful weather, and a terrific picnic to boot.
Relaxing right beside Eiffel Tower.
You wouldn't want to move away from an equilibrium position as such. Its way too dreamy and picturesque.
I bet people must have been wondering 'what are these bunch of crazy people up to?' when we were engaged in our silly photograph taking. hahahah
And how lovely it is for us to end the trip with a picture perfect photo. One of the slighly frustrating things about taking group photos is that the friendly stranger may never be able to capture the full beauty of the backdrop with us in it, and we are often to shy to say 'this picture is kinda bad, can you take it again?' Hahaha, but this lady who helped us take the photo proved us wrong.
Think its hard to better a group photo than this number. Current no.1 picture taken by a stranger. hahahaha.
Ah and yes, that concluded our trip to Paris. I really enjoyed this trip, and while I've taken a few hours to come out with this entry, I still think it still deserves my effort to pen the details of this trip, before I start to forget the important parts. It also marks the last place I'd be visitng in 3 weeks, exams are coming up and I've got a ton of other stuff to do, including packing up for both the trip, and back to Singapore. =/ Will update again soon (if i've got te time) and hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I had enjoyed writing it. Take care meanwhile!
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