Paris Day 1 Part 1: Notre Dame n the Grand Arch

On 11th March, our Euro adventure begins.. we took a Ryanair plane from Stockholm Skvasta airport to Paris.. pretty cheap i tink the flight itself costs a few euro cents but the airport tax adds up to abt 20 euros.. but still worth it..
when we boarded the plane, its almost full n definitely no more 3 available seats in a row.. so we decided to take the first row.. BAD MISTAKE.. its so freezing cold with the wind n snow blowing in from the entrance.. at times, LL n me have to stand in the aisle when the cold becomes too unbearable..

after a long wait, finally all the ppl have boarded n the door is closed.. phew.. when the door closed.. the door was covered with snow n ice. n the stewards have to wipe it clean..
the door after being wiped clean

cockpit door looks very secure with peephole n bolts n locks..

the damn flight was delayed.. we had to wait in the plane.. ppl have to clear the runway of snow.. ok loh..

Finally Arrived at Paris Beavauis Airport at nite.. forgot wat time.. but its quite late.. the airport bus to Paris is 13 Euros!!!.. bloody ex.. they put the name "Paris" beside Beavauis to mislead ppl into tinking they have landed in Paris when they r not actually there yet.. there is still an hour plus bus ride to Paris.. ok loh.. bo bian mah.. we took the metro with our luggage n went to Shian Ching (SC) friend house where we will be staying for the next 3 nites..

Day 1...
We got up early n SC agreed to show us around Paris for today.. when u go to Paris on a weekend, must ask to buy the weekend ticket..its a very good deal.. for abt a few euros, u will get a train ticket that u can use to go anywhere (depending on which zones u bought for) with unlimited usage for the day.. cool.. definitely worth it.. Paris like many other cities is divided into zones.. it gets more expensive if u use to travel from one zone to other zones.. however most of paris nice stuff is in zone 1.. so good loh..
We went to a place near our place we r staying in (Goncourt).. SC brought us to see this unique architecture for a shopping centre.. this area is also known for its arty farty stuff like paintings, photogrpahs n drawings... ppl could buy such souveniors over here..

public toilets in paris.. not very cheap as well (abt 50 cent euro = 1+ Sing dollar)

u can always go to any mac donalds to do our bizness if u want or any other fast food restaurant.. unlike in Stockholm, u have to pay to even get into mac toilets.. of course these toilets r meant for mac customers only lah.. but who cares.. no way m i gonna pay 1 buck for using a toilet..
we walk around town a bit.. SC went to settle his bank stuff .. he was studying in France for 5 years b4 going over to STockholm to do his exchange,, he is a SIngaporean under DSTA scholarship.. going back after his stint in Stockholm KTH..
SC brought us to a smt like a mini mart where we bought a very meat bao for abt 2 euro.. its super big..


SC showed us his sch in Paris..

he brought us up as well.. to see the view of Paris..
the classroom..

the view..

we bought some hot chocolate from the vending machine in his sch b4 being chased away by the janitor.. we proceeded on to Notre Dame cathehedral.. where the story of the hunchback of Notre Dame is based at..
rubbish bins in Paris r replaced with such plastic bags so that ppl could see its contents. .as part of a security measure in fear of ppl putting bombs in trash cans at busy places.

Notre Dame Cathehedral..

its interior




after this we stopped by at some old small church en route to the Vietnamese restaurant where we r gonna have lunch..

Nice stained windows..

but they seem to get lazy afterwards.. haha these windows seem rather diff from the rest of which were rather detailed..

a service being performed in the church..

the Vietnamese restaurant we had our lunch in.. according to SC, its good n cheap..


i had this... Bo Bun.. abt nine SIng dollars.. but to eat out in europe.. this is abt the price.. i have grown to accept this sad fact.. haha no more 3 Sing dollar meal for mee pok or chicken cutlet..

Double decker trains.. usually for train rides to places outside zone 1 n 2..

normal metro trains.. u have to open the door yerself.. n it takes some effort to open them.. the lock holding the door together while moving will auto unlock when teh train stops n passengers wanting to get off will have to pull the handle to open the door..

entrance barrier to the Metro.. there r 2 barriers.. first u slot in yer valid ticket then the get past the first door.. after which the second door will be unlocked for u to push it open.. SC said that this is to prevent ppl from jumping thru.. he tried once n got thru the first door b4 being trapped by the second one.. so he had to jump out from where he came from.. the second door is heavy n high so its rather difficult to jump over it unless u climb.. it costs abt 1.50 euro per trip n the ticket can only be used once.. so if u got off the wrong stop.. u cant use teh same ticket to get back in...
we took the metro to La Defense where we could see the first of 3 famous arch in Paris.. the Grand Arch..

Me holding it up.. haha

this is the most modern arch of the three n its located in smt like a bizness district in Paris.. note the arch d triumph in the background

nvm if u cant see the arch d triumph in the previous pic.. let me make use of my 10 times optical zoom.. haha

Us posing under the Grand Arch..

We saw a garden on the map near this place.. we decided to check it out.. Jardin in french means garden..

flowers.. haha no time no see..

wat is supposed to be a garden turns out to be smt like an amusement park for kids.. yeah there is a garden inside.. but u have to pay to get in.. nah.. forget it.. its not summer yet.. dont tink will be nice..

we walked to the next metro station to take the train to the Arch d Trimuph..

along the way, we saw some french ppl playing some games in the park.. throwing some ball to hit other balls.. haha..