Paris Part 1

Well a rather uneventful flight took us to Paris for a few days…

Trip advisor has quite a handy ap that has travel guides that you can use without needing an internet connection. I was browsing through it and it had some suggested itineraries. Chose the Paris by night one because it was already late afternoon when we arrived. 

What was quite handy was the start point was near the Louvre (Musee du Louvre) which is close to where we are staying. It’s a nice sunny Sunday afternoon so it seems like everybody it out enjoying it. Next to the Louvre is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. On the top of this arch is a chariot drawn by 4 horses. Walking through the arch, there are gardens – the Tuileries Garden. It seems like every man and his dog is out walking the gardens. There were people everywhere! But they are really beautifully manicured gardens with lots of places just to sit and eat a picnic or read a book or just people watch. There was a large fountain in the middle and chairs all around and people enjoying the sun in these. We were lucky that people had just vacated some chairs and so were able to sit for a bit and just enjoy the weather as well. 

From there, the walking tour took us through the Champs-Elysées area where there were lots and lots of people out shopping. And there are lots and lots of shops and some very high end ones. At the end of that road was the large Arc de Triomphe. The arch was commissioned by Napolean in 1806 to honour those who fought and died in the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. 

We then walked to the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is something a tourist feels compelled to just see in Paris but I wasn’t blown away or anything. As we were crossing the river, a light show started on the tower that lasted for about 10mins.

Had dinner nearby and walked around the general area. It was getting late but there were still lots and lots of tourists around. Decided to call it a night and go back to the hotel.

Our hotel is located near the Louvre and I chose it mainly because of the location. But it really wasn’t anything like the pictures online and was actually the worst of our accommodation so far. The wooden floor isn’t even straight! The internet site said it was located around 5 mins walk from the Palais Royal/ Musée du Louvre station but it was more like 10mins. Cat and I both got back pain from the bed. It is very basic with no TV or minibar in the room. There is a small desk fan that you can turn on to cool the room down a bit but I would imagine it would be very hot in summertime. And the bathroom is so small that it is even difficult to take your clothes off to have a shower without bumping elbows on the walls! The room is on the 3rd floor up 3 flights of very steep stairs. Reception is on the first floor and Cat and I had a fun time trying to get our suitcases up the stairs. The young guy at reception who checked us in told us he would take our bags up for us. *phew*. Poor guy was puffing after that and our cases aren't that heavy but it's just that the stairs are pretty steep and narrow.

There is a bakery next to the hotel entrance with a display that looks amazing – I just want to eat it all! Also around the corner walking towards the Pyramides station is also a row of Japanese restaurants and I nicknamed the street “sushi street”. The funny thing is that the proprietors don’t even speak Japanese. I tried to order in Japanese because my French is non-existent but they didn’t understand me. There is a shop called “K-mart” that wasn’t a large chain store but a Korean supermarket.