Day-8 in Paris, France

On Dec 27 morning around 9:00 am we were at the Paris, Bercy train station. There we were assisted by a tourism staff about the trains that we needed to take to reach our hotel and she also handed over the transport map. Hence we smoothly reached our destination in about 40min. On the first look, Paris to me seemed like a very planned city, in fact better organized than New York. The metro system was simply great and the frequency of trains and the train conditions were all very superb. After checking-in at the hotel and getting ready, we started for Notre Dame Cathedral. It is the most serene and peaceful church I have ever visited in my life. Inside, the church was dimly lit and the sunlight peeped in through the several patterns of elaborate stained glass panels. There were several altars, each done distinctly and beautifully. Even among sea of people, you could feel the calmness inside.

We treated ourselves with paper pancakes stuffed with nutella and bananas. It was mouth-watering and we could not resist a second one. From Notre  Dame, we headed towards several palaces, passed them by and headed towards the hotel since it was getting cold and Abhi had to take his thick polar bear jacket. The destination for the night was the elegant Eiffel Tower. We almost spent 5 hours there till 1:00pm. The view from the top of the tower is panoramic. The city looked spectacular in the   night lights more so due to the additional festive lightings. The long wait in the queue to reach the top in freezing temperature and wind was nothing compared to the joy of climbing the top. We watched the magical light show after getting down and finally went back to sleep.

Day-9 More Paris

We had decided not to venture too much in Paris especially to the suburbs like Versailles. So, most of the time we stayed within the city limits. Next morning, we had a sumptuous breakfast at the hotel and we headed straight for The Louvre. Spent most of the day in there and had fresh French lunch. Mona Lisa did not really impress me. They had Roman, Egyptian, Greek, Renaissance and various other arts from different periods. Clicked several snaps and took the train through long underground tunnels to Arch de Triumph and Champ-Elysses. The street was uniquely lighted and decorated and was so very lively. We roamed around for quite some time until we were thoroughly exhausted……..still in my heart I didn’t want Paris to come to an end so soon. One thing I have a little regret about is that we missed Moulin Rouge show as we had gotten too tired by that time and didn’t have an ounce of energy to go for a late night show.:-(

From the Tourist spots list, you know the Metro station stops where you need to go in order reach your destination.On the transportation map,find that stop and you will know the train passing that stop!

London…….here we come!:-)