Thinking back, I'm still very proud of myself for organizing my mini trip with my brother. Because he is of absolute NO HELP, I had to plan two weeks worth of activities for the both of us. Tickets, itineraries, routes and so on. At least he never complains about anything and will carry all the luggages. Plus I can order whatever I like and if I can't finish it...there you go Eddy!
Us Everyday...
Me: "Hey Eddy, what would you like to see? What would you like to do? What would you like to eat?"
Eddy: "Iunno......I don't care"
It's a good thing I like you or else I would've sold you off for money for sure. Or at least your feet because they smell :)
Thursday
Getting to the airport in Europe is no easy task. Because I'm cheap and decided to book with Ryan Air, the airport is much smaller and harder to get to. However, when a flight to Paris is $25, I really have nothing bad to say. Sure I almost puked in the last 20 minutes because the pilot had a hard time stabilizing the aircraft, but for the price, it can fly upside down for all I care. As long as I can get there in one piece, I'm a satisfied customer. A picture to remember the uncomfortable plane ride. According to one of the passengers sitting behind me, Ryan Air will ALWAYS tell you that they arrived early/on time because they set their flight time 10 minutes longer than the actual time it would take to get there. Sneaky marketing techniques.
We left at 9AM and arrived in downtown Paris around 5PM. The flight itself only took an hour and a half, while the rest of the time was spent waiting and sitting on buses. I now fully understand why people would rather take the train than take the plane. Train stations are in the center of the city (easy access), you can look out the window and get a view of the land, and check in is painless because you have no luggage limits. I had people advice me to take the train whenever I could in Europe but I never understood the reason behind it. Now it has become crystal clear. The below is a picture of a typical subway exit door in Paris. I don't know why I found it amusing at the time. I do have to say, Paris has an amazing metro system. Every 300-500m, you are bound to find a metro stop. There's 14 lines or something crazy like that (unlike the 2 we have in Rome), and no matter where you live in the city, you'll be near a metro station. Absolutely brilliant.
So where did we stay in Paris? Well, funny story. You see, on my way back from our school's Venice trip back in February, I got to sit beside Carmen, a girl I had never met before. We started chatting about random stuff, and somehow the conversation led to how she used to live in Paris, and how I was going to visit there a month later. Long story short, she told me she has a lot of friends in Paris and maybe she could hook me up and get me to stay at one of her friend's places. Well, that's exactly what happened. Bizarre, I know. I meet a girl on a bus, and a few hours later, I find myself staying at her friend's place, whom I have never met before. I don't know who's crazier, me for signing my brother and I up for this escapade or Len for allowing two strangers to crash on his couch. I guess this is the mentality behind couch surfing. A picture of Len's wicked bachelor pad. This is pretty much what my dream apartment would look like.
We went to a local restaurant for dinner. I tried out the most French thing I knew; beef tartar. I was a little sceptical about it at first. I mean come on, raw beef? I don't enjoy beef that much to begin with, and now I have to eat it raw? But since I'm always willing to try new things, I gave it a shot and surprisingly, it was absolutely delicious! Maybe it's the peppercorn, mayo, radish, apples, green onions, potatoes and other goodies mixed in with the beef, but you could barely tell it was beef. The texture was tender and I ate every last bit of it. Someone get me some red wine and that beef tartar. I want to relive that moment again.
Friday
Early in the morning, Eddy and I went on a free walking tour I had booked for us. Thank you Sandeman for offering such cheap tours. The tour was 3 hours long and we covered a great deal of the center of Paris. You definitely feel well educated about the city afterwards. I would highly recommend doing a Sandeman tour as the first thing you do in any city. You get a sense of where everything is, what the local secrets are, what you should avoid and what the must see places are. I have to say though, 10% of the time, I wasn't listening to the tour guide because I would be off in the corner, taking pictures. Example shown below =D
Pont de Arts, the famous bridge with all the locks on it. Romantic right? Don't you just want to go there with your love one and put one of those golden locks on the bridge? Your love will be eternal on a bridge in the middle of Paris. I'm sorry but let me break your bubble because after around 6 months, you won't be able to find that lock again. Why? Is it because it'll be buried under other locks? Nope. Believe it or not, the government takes off the whole railing about once or twice a year because if they left it as it was, the weight of the locks would sink the bridge. Good thing I didn't need to put a lock on that day!
Because we covered so much during those 3 hours, I won't bore you with all the details but here's another typical tourist site picture: the Louvre. Don't worry, we'll be going inside it another day, but let's just admire this glass pyramid for now. The architect was told to build an entrance for the Louvre that was discrete. I think he got the idea down pretty damn well.
After the tour Eddy and I decided to walk some more because...well...we're in Paris, so why not. Then we found this Bridge: Alexander Bridge. The must gorgeous bridge I've ever seen in my life. The gold statues, the white panels, and the lamps. Sold! I will take a picture with you.
Since we're both students, all of the museums in Paris are free for us (yipeee) and we somehow found ourselves staring at the tomb of Napoleon I. I wish I paid more attention to my socials 10 class because I only have a few random facts about Napoleon, like how he was considerably short. There were quite a few groups of students listening to their teachers talk about the famous emperor. I wish I had the privilege of coming out to these sites for field trips when I was learning about them, would've made things a lot more realistic and enticing. I probably would've remember more useful facts too, not just his height.
Because Eddy insisted coming to the front of the church where Napoleon is buried and taking a picture there. I can never say no to taking a picture so click away my photographer, click away.
Hungry? Why have a crepe on the side of the street. For about 2-4 Euros, these lovely snacks can be found anywhere, especially on the exterior of a kebab shop. Can't say they were scrumptious but they'll kind of fill you up. Personally, I would rather go inside a pastry shop and grab a chocolate or almond croissant. Those babies are deadly and I could gobble them down all day. Actually, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I did... But really, they're extra crispy on the outside and soft and buttery on the inside. Can you say heaven? Italy, you have a lot of catching up to do in your croissant department. Step up your game please.
Well look what we have here!!! Yep, the infamous Eiffel Tower. TADA!!!!!! The most visited attraction in the world. Let's add 2 more people to that list shall we? I wasn't expecting much out of this tower, because let's face it, it's just a tower. But I kind of liked it. The colour is not as brassy as I expected, but more of a brown-grey tone and really is quite tall. A lot of pictures were taken with this beauty.
I had read on another blog (yes again) that you can climb the Eiffel Tower and the blogger stated that the hike is physically exhausting but rewarding. Knowing this, how could I possibly pass out on this opportunity? Especially since I love a good hike now and then.
I don't know if we lucked out but there was no line up at all for the stairs (huge line for the elevator) so we paid the 3 euros and made our way up. There's three viewing floorsin the Eiffel Tower. The first and second are accessible by the stairs while the last one can only be reached by an additional lift. People were complaining behind us the whole way but honestly, it's only about a 15 minute hike up (about 40-50 stories high I think).
View at the top was phenomenal. Eddy and I stayed up there for a good half an hour just taking in the scenery and chatting about life. We're philosophical like that.
Overall a great first day in Paris. Saw a lot, ate a lot, did a lot. With my stomach full of soup and body aching for some rest, I dozed off that night with ease.
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