Paris holds the key to my heart..
Yes, yes.. as the title suggests, I did enjoy Paris!! In fact, I enjoyed it so much that it's officially my favourite city in the world!!! Haha.. ok, maybe there's a morsel of exaggeration in that, but seriously, I thoroughly enjoyed being in Paris!
Let's start from the very beginning.. I went to Paris with WS (naturally! Can't possibly go to the Romance City without him, can I?) and a couple of other friends (NT and WT, whom are actually WS's friends from 'kampung' Segamat, but I've known them since our Taylor's days..) and their respective girlfriends, K and B. So yes, this was a super-duper romantic kinda trip. (My dear ee-ee said it was a pre-honeymoon, but since no one's promised to marry no one yet, I'll just ignore that remark)
Well, we went to all the touristy places, as expected.. (What to do? We are after all, tourists.. d'oh!) We went to the Eiffel Tower, by the River Seine, which was indeed, a remarkable structure. (7 wonders of the world, no less..) I know it's stating the obvious, but it's really really really tall! It's quite unique as well and not at all just a pile of metal planks, as the French claim. Anyway, we went to the second floor and then, all the way to the top floor.. actually, didn't enjoy that bit too much as I'm terrified of heights and therefore, was clinging on to WS for dear life. Hope it didn't ruin his experience! :) (In my defence, it's not my fault! I didn't want to go up but the rest all forced me too! :P) We went back another day to see the tower at night, and to view the hourly displays of light on it.. it was amazing!!! Lots of snapshopts involved!
We went to several museums, including the prestiged Louvre and slightly less renowned, Musee d'Orsay. I enjoyed both very much, but definitely preferred Musee d'Orsay, as I can appreciate Impressionist art much more than any other forms of art. (Big fan of Monet over here.. ;) And after Musee d'Orsay, am beginning to appreciate Renoir and Manet too!) Ooh, pieces from the neo-Impressionist period were very interesting as well, as they used the pontissini-type of brush strokes (i.e. dots) Little fact, Musee d'Orsay was actually a train station which was built in 1900. Nevertheless, the Louvre was still quite good.. a bit too big to handle so we did the touristy thing and homed in on the important pieces including the Mona Lisa (too small a painting, too many people surrounding it..), Venus de Milo (intriguing piece..), Michelangelo's Dying Slave (quite alright, but will take David in Italy anytime of the day!), Madonna on the Rocks (not the greatest fan of Da Vinci, but still, they looked good..) and the Winged Victory of Samothrace (this one was definitely good as it's presentation was so grandeur!) Saw the Gates of Hell and The Thinker at Musee Rodin too, so that was nice..
We also saw the Cathedrale du Notre Dame, which was indeed, magnificient in all its splendour! I thought the artists who drew it in the Disney cartoon, the Hunchback of Notre Dame was exaggerating but when I saw the real cathedrale standing in front of me, I was truly, truly enthralled. However, to my slight disappointment, it wasn't as large as many of the cathedrales that I've seen in other places.. (Obviously not as huge as St Peter's in Vatican City, but not even nearly as big as St Paul's in London and York Minster in York!)
The Basilique du Sacre Couer, on the other hand, was huge!!! Unfortunately, I did not enjoy myself around the Montmartre area at all, as it was really a very rough area, and I for one, definitely could feel it. Plus, seeing lots of Afro-Carribean men trying to tug on your hand to tie some friendship band and witnessing someone getting mugged and a few kids caught seconds later doesn't exactly contribute to the overwhelming uneasiness that engulfed us..
Apart from the Montmartre area, went walking around the Latin Quarter as well.. Such a difference, I must say! It was a lovely area, and certainly felt far safer than the rough Montmartre.. People were far nicer as well.. (Though at this point I have to say, that I spoke French throughout my stay in Paris.. Hardly anyone answered 'Oui' when I asked 'Parlez vous anglais?'!!!)
Ooh.. we also went on a lovely cruise down the River Seine.. very very relaxing, nice and utterly romantic.. would have been lovelier if we weren't so preoccupied with the sights around us and the commentaries given. Oh well, we wanted our 7 Euros worth! We also went walking along Champs Elysees, the main shopping street and saw the marvelous Arc de Triomphe. We saw it both in the daytime and at night, and it was quite remarkable! Also went shopping in Galeries Lafayette, a most impressive shopping centre! And I got a lovely Swarovski brooch from WS as a present! Teehee! Ooh, we also went to take pictures of the famed Moulin Rouge at night. I really wanted to go watch the Cabaret show but unfortunately, was not willilng to part with 100 Euros just for that... Sighh.. next time, next time.
We also went to many gardens like the Jardin des Tuileries and Jardin du Luxembourg. Unfortunately, not many flowers had blossomed since we had a long winter this year.. Oh well.. We also took a day out on an excursion to the Versailles Palace and it was certainly worth the trip! And gosh, the gardens were humongous!!!
Didn't eat too much in Paris, which could be a good thing.. We had a pastry spree on the last day and bought so many different French speciality pastries like fruit tarts, macaroons, creme brulee, eclairs and so much more!! Yum!!! Apart from that, we usually spent our meals eating crepes and baguettes, both of which were French specialities and quite nice. Tried the most famous ice-cream in Paris, Berthillion.. very unique and lifelike! We had a good sit-down meal on the last night.. a romantic dinner in Paris for two.. where we enjoyed French delicacies like escargots, French onion soup, sauteed rabbit and of course, cafe au lait! Really regretted not drinking coffee from the first day because it was very very good! I mean, I'm not really a coffee drinker myself and I really loved it!
Ok, I think I've rambled enough about Paris.. would love to go on and on but if u're really that intrigued, get in touch with me and I'll tell you more.. :) Please do visit the link to this entry, which contains the main pictures taken while we were in Paris... (You can do this by clicking the title of this entry) Otherwise, just click on the blue/purple-coloured words to be linked directly to the pictures! So for now, Au revoir!
Let's start from the very beginning.. I went to Paris with WS (naturally! Can't possibly go to the Romance City without him, can I?) and a couple of other friends (NT and WT, whom are actually WS's friends from 'kampung' Segamat, but I've known them since our Taylor's days..) and their respective girlfriends, K and B. So yes, this was a super-duper romantic kinda trip. (My dear ee-ee said it was a pre-honeymoon, but since no one's promised to marry no one yet, I'll just ignore that remark)
Well, we went to all the touristy places, as expected.. (What to do? We are after all, tourists.. d'oh!) We went to the Eiffel Tower, by the River Seine, which was indeed, a remarkable structure. (7 wonders of the world, no less..) I know it's stating the obvious, but it's really really really tall! It's quite unique as well and not at all just a pile of metal planks, as the French claim. Anyway, we went to the second floor and then, all the way to the top floor.. actually, didn't enjoy that bit too much as I'm terrified of heights and therefore, was clinging on to WS for dear life. Hope it didn't ruin his experience! :) (In my defence, it's not my fault! I didn't want to go up but the rest all forced me too! :P) We went back another day to see the tower at night, and to view the hourly displays of light on it.. it was amazing!!! Lots of snapshopts involved!
We went to several museums, including the prestiged Louvre and slightly less renowned, Musee d'Orsay. I enjoyed both very much, but definitely preferred Musee d'Orsay, as I can appreciate Impressionist art much more than any other forms of art. (Big fan of Monet over here.. ;) And after Musee d'Orsay, am beginning to appreciate Renoir and Manet too!) Ooh, pieces from the neo-Impressionist period were very interesting as well, as they used the pontissini-type of brush strokes (i.e. dots) Little fact, Musee d'Orsay was actually a train station which was built in 1900. Nevertheless, the Louvre was still quite good.. a bit too big to handle so we did the touristy thing and homed in on the important pieces including the Mona Lisa (too small a painting, too many people surrounding it..), Venus de Milo (intriguing piece..), Michelangelo's Dying Slave (quite alright, but will take David in Italy anytime of the day!), Madonna on the Rocks (not the greatest fan of Da Vinci, but still, they looked good..) and the Winged Victory of Samothrace (this one was definitely good as it's presentation was so grandeur!) Saw the Gates of Hell and The Thinker at Musee Rodin too, so that was nice..
We also saw the Cathedrale du Notre Dame, which was indeed, magnificient in all its splendour! I thought the artists who drew it in the Disney cartoon, the Hunchback of Notre Dame was exaggerating but when I saw the real cathedrale standing in front of me, I was truly, truly enthralled. However, to my slight disappointment, it wasn't as large as many of the cathedrales that I've seen in other places.. (Obviously not as huge as St Peter's in Vatican City, but not even nearly as big as St Paul's in London and York Minster in York!)
The Basilique du Sacre Couer, on the other hand, was huge!!! Unfortunately, I did not enjoy myself around the Montmartre area at all, as it was really a very rough area, and I for one, definitely could feel it. Plus, seeing lots of Afro-Carribean men trying to tug on your hand to tie some friendship band and witnessing someone getting mugged and a few kids caught seconds later doesn't exactly contribute to the overwhelming uneasiness that engulfed us..
Apart from the Montmartre area, went walking around the Latin Quarter as well.. Such a difference, I must say! It was a lovely area, and certainly felt far safer than the rough Montmartre.. People were far nicer as well.. (Though at this point I have to say, that I spoke French throughout my stay in Paris.. Hardly anyone answered 'Oui' when I asked 'Parlez vous anglais?'!!!)
Ooh.. we also went on a lovely cruise down the River Seine.. very very relaxing, nice and utterly romantic.. would have been lovelier if we weren't so preoccupied with the sights around us and the commentaries given. Oh well, we wanted our 7 Euros worth! We also went walking along Champs Elysees, the main shopping street and saw the marvelous Arc de Triomphe. We saw it both in the daytime and at night, and it was quite remarkable! Also went shopping in Galeries Lafayette, a most impressive shopping centre! And I got a lovely Swarovski brooch from WS as a present! Teehee! Ooh, we also went to take pictures of the famed Moulin Rouge at night. I really wanted to go watch the Cabaret show but unfortunately, was not willilng to part with 100 Euros just for that... Sighh.. next time, next time.
We also went to many gardens like the Jardin des Tuileries and Jardin du Luxembourg. Unfortunately, not many flowers had blossomed since we had a long winter this year.. Oh well.. We also took a day out on an excursion to the Versailles Palace and it was certainly worth the trip! And gosh, the gardens were humongous!!!
Didn't eat too much in Paris, which could be a good thing.. We had a pastry spree on the last day and bought so many different French speciality pastries like fruit tarts, macaroons, creme brulee, eclairs and so much more!! Yum!!! Apart from that, we usually spent our meals eating crepes and baguettes, both of which were French specialities and quite nice. Tried the most famous ice-cream in Paris, Berthillion.. very unique and lifelike! We had a good sit-down meal on the last night.. a romantic dinner in Paris for two.. where we enjoyed French delicacies like escargots, French onion soup, sauteed rabbit and of course, cafe au lait! Really regretted not drinking coffee from the first day because it was very very good! I mean, I'm not really a coffee drinker myself and I really loved it!
Ok, I think I've rambled enough about Paris.. would love to go on and on but if u're really that intrigued, get in touch with me and I'll tell you more.. :) Please do visit the link to this entry, which contains the main pictures taken while we were in Paris... (You can do this by clicking the title of this entry) Otherwise, just click on the blue/purple-coloured words to be linked directly to the pictures! So for now, Au revoir!
posted by Jean at 11:55 PM
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