a new beginning. or not.

Paris!

Just came back from the Spain/Lisbon leg this afternoon. Back into the cold. The temperature right now is 0 degrees. So cold not fun.. :(

I shall attempt to my best to blog about magical Paris. It's definitely on my list of the favourite cities right now. Though many have said that it is over-rated, but I still loved it. Loved basking in the atmosphere. Loved the streets. Loved the what-would-have-been shopping. Loved the gastronomical experience. It was just absolutely amazing.

My only regret was not being able to go to Galleries Lafayette. Which was so near to the hotel we were staying at. But Paris has just too many things to see and do and 2 and a half days was just too short for sightseeing and major shopping.

I look super cui in most of the Paris photos though so I shall leave those out. :P

Was supposed to go to Paris alone but thank goodness managed to persuade Jo and Melvin to come along quite last min so this is a photo of the "Paris gang" in the metro on the way from the bus station:

We were so hungry when we arrived and many cafes were alr closed for lunch. But we insisted on having a Parisian lunch so we settled for this cafe called "Select Cafe" on the way up to Montmatre and we were pleasantly surprised. Especially me. We had escargots to share and I had grilled lamb which was totally amazing! The best I've ever eaten! The meat was tender and juicy. And the skin was fried to such perfection that you couldn't taste the fats. Even the potatoes on the side tasted great!The escargots! Having the usual swayness, one of mine was empty.. :(
Forgot to take a picture of my grilled lamb!!

The pastries in Paris were fantastic too! We bought some from a Pastesseire on the way which won some Grandprix of Baguette and the pastries from there were just amazing as well!

After lunch, we proceeded on to our first sight: Sacre Coeur and it was utterly SURREAL. Sacre Coeur.

After that, we proceeded to the Montmatre area which was bustling with activity. Would have loved to have dinner at one of the restaurants and enjoy the atmosphere and people watch there!

Next, we made our way to the red light district. Where the highly acclaimed and made even more popular by the movie stood - Moulin Rouge. It was really nice. But going in would cost a bomb. 74 euros for just 2 drinks and at least 150 euros for a meal.Moulin Rouge!!

Thereafter, we took the metro to Champ Elysees where the famous Arc de Triomphe - the confluence of 12 roads is! It's said that Napolean tore down everything in Paris when he conquered and build everything from scratch from the Arc de Triomphe inclusive. And that's why the streets of Paris are so straight and well planned! Arc de Triomphe!

Of cos no trip to Paris is complete without walking down the famous shopping street of Champ Elysees where you can find all the luxury brands and everything is MEGASIZED. The building that left the greatest impression was this: The LV Castle. The picture isn't too clear but it's a 5 storey LV building. And the building is built similar to the architecture of a castle!

We walked along the street all the way to Musee du Lourve to take pictures of it by night and it was really beautiful! The reflection of the Lourve at night in the water's really beautiful!


That ended our first half day in Paris!

The 2nd day was the 1st sunday of the month which is free entry to museum day so we visited the Lourve the first thing in the morning cos we didn't want to queue! We were there about 915 but there was alr a long queue but it moved really fast though so we got in in about 10 mins. The so highly acclaimed Mona Lisa. As Melvin puts it, she must be one happy woman. So many ppl queue and squeeze just to catch a glimpse of her.
Me at the Lourve. I'm hardly a hardcore fan of art and I won't pretend to be. Honestly I wasn't too impressed with the art pieces at the Lourve. For one because they picture the exact same things as the Ufizi which was totally disappointing and I am really not a fan of Madonna and the child. My travel companions weren't that excited about art as well so we left after 2 hours!
Inside the Lourve. Us inside the Lourve. Outside the Lourve.

After that we passed by Hotel de Ville and on to Notre Dame. And passed by the Seine River on the way:
The Notre Dame.

Later in the evening, we visited the Effiel Tower! And it's really really nice at night! Especially when it sparkles with florescent lights! I always thought I would be like "oh ok. the effiel tower - a big chunk of metal". But really it has its own magnetism. Effiel Tower by night! Sparkling Effiel.

Too bad my camera's battery decided to die on me. If not I would have taken many more photos!

The next day, we went to the Effiel Tower in the day and went all the way to the top! The view from the top was good. But didn't have it's WOW effect. Probably becos we have been seeing too much of such things. So it was just one of another. But from the top it's really possible to see how straight the streets of Paris are! Effiel in the day.

View from the top.

Enough said. Paris Je'taime!!! :)

posted by just me @ 7:55 AM