11-15 February 2011 (Paris)
After weeks of guessing, telling family, friends and colleagues that I do not know where I’m going with my 2 weeks leave, the secret was finally revealed at the airport!
AF257 – I am going to Paris!
AF257 – I am going to Paris!
My previous suspicion for Japan/Korea didn’t come close, and I wasn’t expecting a 13 hour flight to a totally unfamiliar continent. I was anxious to find out.
Flight on Air France was generally alright, seats were stiff and except for meal times, they do not come around with water knowing you’ve been seating dehydrated for hours (unlike SQ who does), bad news especially for long haul flights! A plus point to this airline, the food served on board! Great fromage (cheese) & ham! I like their buttery bread too! However, they got to stop serving Chinese food. The dinner meal I had, disappointing over-boiled broccoli and dry steamed fish. Serve French food! Baguette, croissants, they were very much better.
Anyway, the 13 hour flight was excruciating (my first long haul flight) - with babies on board and lousy movies for company. Whatsmore, I had my first experience of jetlag.
It was supposed to be lunch time, but breakfast was served, and Day 1 became longer than usual. I’m ok with it, just that my stomach took some time to adjust to that.
Then there we were, Charles des Gauille Airport at 0610. We took the train to Pont Neuf, our stopover for the night. A beautiful district called The Islands, this place was a perfect start to my Paris exploration.
The equestrian statue of Henri IV demarcates Pont Neuf.
Anyway, the 13 hour flight was excruciating (my first long haul flight) - with babies on board and lousy movies for company. Whatsmore, I had my first experience of jetlag.
It was supposed to be lunch time, but breakfast was served, and Day 1 became longer than usual. I’m ok with it, just that my stomach took some time to adjust to that.
Then there we were, Charles des Gauille Airport at 0610. We took the train to Pont Neuf, our stopover for the night. A beautiful district called The Islands, this place was a perfect start to my Paris exploration.
The equestrian statue of Henri IV demarcates Pont Neuf.
We dropped our luggage and headed out to visit Cathedrals, a popular attraction in Central Paris.
Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris
Completed in early 14th Century, this Cathedral is hard to miss from far. A majestic gothic architecture, this church welcomes many tourists everyday and it was crowded by the time we were there.
The protruding statues of beings from the building are actually water pipes that would flush out water from the roof when it rains.
The interior of the hall was peaceful, and you can't help but stare at the high ceilings and captivating murals.
This is the back of the Cathedral, you can easily spot this from across the river.
Our stroll brought us to the Pantheon.
Originally built as a church, it was subsequently transformed into a secular Mausoleum, which housed the remains of distinguished French citizens.
St Germain des pres
St Sulpice
Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris
Completed in early 14th Century, this Cathedral is hard to miss from far. A majestic gothic architecture, this church welcomes many tourists everyday and it was crowded by the time we were there.
The protruding statues of beings from the building are actually water pipes that would flush out water from the roof when it rains.
The interior of the hall was peaceful, and you can't help but stare at the high ceilings and captivating murals.
This is the back of the Cathedral, you can easily spot this from across the river.
Our stroll brought us to the Pantheon.
Originally built as a church, it was subsequently transformed into a secular Mausoleum, which housed the remains of distinguished French citizens.
St Germain des pres
St Sulpice
This Cathedral was made popular from the movie Da Vinci Code.
The entrance of the Church showed the depicted painting of Chapelle des St Anges (Chapel of the Holy Angels), Jacob wrestling with the angel.
And the Meridien line, built in the 18th century as a scientific tool for astronomers.
This was done in full agreement with the Church.. Hmm.. Science and Religion..
Jardine Du Lexembourg:
This garden is huge and it was the first time I’ve seen so many people, spending their time lazing and people watching.
The Seine River separates the Islands and had became our road compass when walking around the vicinity. The bridges across the rivers were beautiful spots to catch glimpse of the Eiffel Tower from far, definitely a romantic spot that many books referred to.
Amazing view at night fall
We decided to take a metro out to George V to visit the popular shopping district - Champs Elysee, and of course, to the five storey Louis Vuitton!
Yes, expect queues, especially on weekends!!
Just as you thought the streets were busy and everyone was having a great time, a corner was filled with people, not to watch buskers like at Orchard Road, but to stage a protest! And of course, complete with cheers, posters, flags... and the police. It seemed common to me, as the uninvolved group continued shopping and minding their own business. Peculiar.
Arc du Triomphe
We walked down the lane and found this iconic arc.
We walked down the lane and found this iconic arc.
It honours those who fought and died during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.
Day 2 – PARIS (Museums & Shopping)
Henri IV hotel was ideally located at Pont Neuf, walking distance to the Metro and you can get to see lots of stuff from here. And there’s shopping not far from here too! A clean and simple hotel, I like its location and they served good breakfast – Hot Chocolate & Baguette! A classic French breakfast, familiar to us Singaporeans (Delifrance), except... no curry!
It was all good, except the spiral staircase! Nice to look, but not good to have when you have to lug luggages up and down this!
Off to an exciting day – The inverted glass pyramids from the Da Vinci Code
- Musee du Louvré.
Initially a fortress built in early 13thc by Philippe Auguste, this place was subsequently transformed into a royal residence in the 16th C, eventually a national museum in 1793. Rooms of paintings, sculptures and artefacts – almost 35,000 of them filled the museum halls, I was awed.
It was all good, except the spiral staircase! Nice to look, but not good to have when you have to lug luggages up and down this!
Off to an exciting day – The inverted glass pyramids from the Da Vinci Code
- Musee du Louvré.
Initially a fortress built in early 13thc by Philippe Auguste, this place was subsequently transformed into a royal residence in the 16th C, eventually a national museum in 1793. Rooms of paintings, sculptures and artefacts – almost 35,000 of them filled the museum halls, I was awed.
It was crowded by the time we got there, and the queue at the entrance had already started.
Luckily, Wen knew a way in, from the basement.
The Hall of Sculptures
Goddess Nike (Winged Goddess of Victory)
Cupid - the expression of LOVE.
Aphrodite - The Greek goddess of Love, Beauty & Sexuality.
The Egyptian kingdom
Angels
The Paintings Hall
What's amazing about all these paintings is that they were produced centuries ago...
They depicted anecdotes and ancient beliefs.
They depicted anecdotes and ancient beliefs.
Adam and Eve - by Joos van Cleve (1507)
Can you tell that there were actually 2 people in this painting? :)
*hint - the feet
*hint - the feet
No painting could be as popular as a small framed painting, located in this hall. There were signs already at the entrance directing to this place, and you would notice a good crowd *far left
The Mona Lisa Smile - Leonardo da Vinci
The Mona Lisa Smile - Leonardo da Vinci
A close view at the world's most famous painting was amazing.
It took Leonardo almost 4 years to finish this oil painting in 1503 and was subsequently stolen, and damaged several times that some parts of the painting was re-painted and now placed behind a bullet proof glass and surrounded by a no entry barrier at least 2m away.
Still, it was an honour to be able to view the actual painting from the famous artist.
Leonardo has an acquired taste for art. Not only is the Mona Lisa an abstract piece of art, I find the paintings below by him are interesting as well. Just exactly were they pointing to? By the way, this is known as the 'John Gesture', which was found in a few paintings.
St John - The Baptist
This picture shows Virgin Mary, an Angel, baby Jesus and baby John the Baptist.
So who is the baby Virgin Mary is holding to, Jesus? Or John?
If it is Jesus, why is he worshipping to John?
The Angel had a John Gesture and was pointing towards the baby with Mary. Why so if it was Jesus? And what exactly was Mary holding in her arm?
It started to rain and we sought shelter from one of the world's most prestigious hotel - Hotel Ritz Paris.
Cimetière du Père-Lachaise
A sacred holy place, and yes, that's a protest going on at the entrance of the Church. All those who wished to enter the Church had to squeeze through a tiny side gate, with those exiting from the premise. How silly.
A 2,200 seater opera house founded by Louis XIV in 1669.
It was built on the orders of Napoleon III as part of the great Parisian reconstruction project.
Building work lasted for 15 years.
I like the golden status works and grandeur of the halls.
I like these lamps!!
Art appreciation? Act only... ;p
And me, a rich tai-tai wannabe!
Weather started to show signs of gloominess, we headed out towards Place Vendome, where a tall column was erected by Napoleon to commemorate the battle of Austerlitz in the early 19th century.
The area was surrounded by brand names selling jewelleries and watches.
The area was surrounded by brand names selling jewelleries and watches.
It started to rain and we sought shelter from one of the world's most prestigious hotel - Hotel Ritz Paris.
We only managed to open the entrance and was stopped. But the internal of the exclusive hotel was indeed posh.
There stood Luxor Obselisk.
It is a tall Egyptian 23m tower, given to France (Louis Phillipe) in 1829 by the viceroy of Egypt, Mehmet Ali.
A very wide and spacious square, it shared the compound with the Spinning Roue de Paris Ferris Wheel, overlooking to Champs Elysee and the Eiffel Tower.
It was beautiful.
We walked back to our hotel from there, and managed to catch the beautiful lighting at Musee du Louvre.
Day 3 – PARIS (Chinatown, Cemetery and Moulin Rouge & The Eiffel)
Early in the morning, and Wen was checking out the public toilet.
Paying to do your business is not a common sight in Singapore, but it is a mandatory fact in Europe! How I hated, even 0.5euros is almost a S$dollar and it's so not worth it!
And the other turned off part was that the door is automated, (20mins and the door would be automatically opened! - that's to prevent drug users from using these cubicles.)
We took quite a long walk to Chinatown and were glad to see this familiar sight,
a morning pasar malam!
Chinese New Year greeting banners
We had nibbles from the market at the nearby park before heading out to our next destination.
Cimetière du Père-Lachaise
The largest cemetery in the city of Paris, I didn't know a walk in the cemetery could be regarded as a tourist attraction. And locals actually treated it like a walk in the park.
(1810 - 1849)
Tributes were paid by music lovers, as a form of respect to this great composer.
A sacred holy place, and yes, that's a protest going on at the entrance of the Church. All those who wished to enter the Church had to squeeze through a tiny side gate, with those exiting from the premise. How silly.
We headed next to this iconic place...
Moulin Rouge
Somewhat like Crazy Horse, you get to enjoy performances over dinner.
Quite pricey.
We bought cups of coffee, had something to munch, and waiting for the sky to give us the picture perfect moment. And Wen found a great spot by the river where we could put up the camera stand and nobody disturbs.
And next on our list, the Eiffel Tower (built in 1889)
I was excited!! We watched the Eiffel from a distance, but we got a good view of the tower and its vicinity.
We bought cups of coffee, had something to munch, and waiting for the sky to give us the picture perfect moment. And Wen found a great spot by the river where we could put up the camera stand and nobody disturbs.
The glitters starts at about 8pm in the evening. It might not look good on photo, but it was very stunning.
We couldn't get enough of the night view in Paris, walking back to the hotel and across this bridge, we stood for a moment to enjoy the last few moments in Paris.
We couldn't get enough of the night view in Paris, walking back to the hotel and across this bridge, we stood for a moment to enjoy the last few moments in Paris.
Day 4 – Valentine's Day! 14 Feb 2011
According to Wen, we were supposed to check out of the hotel to a new destination this evening, but to my surprise, we checked into another hotel, still in Paris!
Hotel Duquesne Eiffel
What's unique about this hotel is that it gets a good view of the Eiffel Tower from the balcony!
With zoom lens *Far right
There was 'Chaud' and 'Froid'. For a moment, I had forgotten what my French teacher taught. It took me quite awhile to realise that they meant hot (grilled) and cold (ready made sandwiches).
The weather was too chill for anything cold, and the grilled kebab looked very good!
We had that with generous servings of fries.
Originally built as a hospital and a home for disabled soldiers by Louis XIV, it now houses a museum of the French army, and the tomb of Napoleon.
And my next surprise came.
Wen got me to put on the dress he had asked me to bring for the trip, and he was taking me to a Valentine's Day Dinner Cruise!!!
I was absolutely speechless!
It was located near the Eiffel Tower and I had a close up glimpse at the Tower.
We waited for the tables to be ready, before we were ushered onto the cruise.
The night was just beautiful.
I loooove this Foie Gras!!! *Missing it now*
Scallop, 'a' scallop.. Well, it's French cuisine.
We were entertained by romantic ballads...
And more dishes were served, the main course - duck, salads and loaves of bread
It was a great surprise that night.
And more dishes were served, the main course - duck, salads and loaves of bread
We had quite alot of food, and the cruise brought us to many beautiful attractions, which unfortunately we couldn't capture them nicely on camera.
And then dessert came! It was a sweet ending to our night.
I thought it wasn't worth buying those cute yet expensive macaroons we saw while passing by several macaroons shops and here we got to taste them!!
What a delight!
We had a great time chatting and enjoying the view, food and wine. Thanks, Wen.
Day 5 – Last day in Paris -
Finally it was really the last day in Paris as we are heading out next - to Barcelona!!
We took a last shot at our balcony that morning before heading out to one last attraction before we make our way to the airport.
It was cold that morning.
We passed by the Eiffel...
We passed by the Eiffel...
And it was then that I noticed that you could choose to take a lift (of course at a higher price) up the Eiffel, or to choose to walk up the stairs (pics below) to save money!!
It was also during this daytime view that I saw how complex the structure of Eiffel is.
That brought us to the end of our first 5 days in Europe and I was excited about what's next!!
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