Paris Day 1 Part 2: Arc d Triumph, Champs Elysses, Eiffel Tower, Sacred Heart

We arrived at Arch D Triumph by metro.. took some pictures of the Arch on the outside..

This arch is situated on top of a roundabout where there r 12 lanes around it..so it pretty seems like a huge traffic mess..

We took an underpass to get directly under the arch.. the architecture of the arch as can be seen here..


From here, we can see the Grand Arch.. again thks to my 10 time optical zoom..

the 3 archs all lie on the same straight line.. so if u walk down a straight road from grand arch til the end, u will pass by the 3 archs..
the 3rd n the smallest arch can be seen in the picture here..

Its behind the long tall obelisk called the Concorde.. it was taken here by the French from Egypt.. behind the third arch will be the Louvre Museum..
We walked along Champs Elysses, one of the world's most famous shopping street.. rental here is also super high..

we heard from SC's friend that in the Louis Vitton shop along Champ Elysses, there r some ways to make a quick buck.. he mentioned that his friend earned 70 euros just by buying some LV bags for some Chinese ppl.. the LV store limits purchases of its products n they check passports of the customers.. and ppl from China will usually try to buy a lot of LV bags back to China to sell but they r limited by the rule.. so wat happened to SC friend is that some Chinese ppl approach him n passed him 2000 Euros to buy LV bags for them.. in return, they gave him 70 Euros.. of course hearing of this incident, i tink why not try our luck at the LV store..
SC mention that its very hard to miss the LV store.. when i reached, i understand why..


next picture is me trying out the stitch function of my camera.. not working very well.. but u get the idea of how showy the LV store is..

but however, the store along Champs Elysses is closed n have moved to another street.. not giving up on the idea of earning a quick buck, we proceeded to the other LV store..

take a look at its showcase outside the store n the prices... wooo...


well no such luck, no one approach us to buy for them.. n surprisingly the LV store is packed with Chinese, Japanese tourists.. the items are not very cheap loh.. but the store is still packed with ppl actually buying the stuff not just look-see..
we got out of the store n proceeded to the Metro..

Paris post box..

along the way to the metro, we passed Princess Diana memorial..
this highway is where Princess Diana was killed in the car accident a few years back.. the picture shows the entrance to the highway.. the car accident happened just beneath us..

Some tributes to Princess Diana written on the wall..

this served as a memorial to PRincess Diana altho its original purpose is to celebrate the millenium or smt like that but it just happened to be placed at this spot so it was used as a memorial as well..


The Eiffel Tower from far away.. the problem with Paris (not actually a problem) everything is so big here from the archs, palaces, eiffel tower etc.. that they all seem so near but when u try walking towards them, it takes half an hour to an hour.. crazy..

we proceeded to SC's old home in Paris where his friend is staying in now.. decided to take a rest from today's long walk..

SC advised me n LL to go to Eiffel Tower now so that we could take nice pictures in the evening.. while he could have dinner with his friends, do some catching up n he will meet up with us later..
We then proceeded to Eiffel Tower..


the queue to get the tickets to go up the Eiffel Tower is crazy.. so many ppl..


haha finally got my ticket.. not very cheap though buy aiyah once in a lifetime leh..

View from the top..

Every hour from 6 or 7pm onwards when it gets dark.. the Eiffel Tower will glitter for abt 10 minutes.. its a very nice sight..

Its freaking cold high up on the tower n its also very windy.. i took a video of the glittering Eiffel Tower.. nice but very noisy due to the wind.. could hear ppl gasping when the Tower starts to glitter on the hour..
Click here to watch 'Glittering Eiffel Tower'
Evening shot of the surroundings

Nice evening sky n the moon..

We went all the way up to the Eiffel Tower.. its crazy.. u have to queue up to get into the lifts to go to every level.. the first lift brings u up to the 1st level n the 2nd level.. u have to get off at the 2nd level where u have to take another lift up to the top level.. ticket pricing depends on which level u go... higher up u go the more ex it is..
Nite shots from the very top of the Eiffel Tower..
Note the blue streak of light.. its just spotlight from the Tower.. there r 2 spotlights on top which will rotate around the tower with blue illuminating streaks...


View of the football stadium from the top.. they looked so small as if they r in a video game n i m controlling them... cool..

We got off the Eiffel Tower.. even getting down by lift, u have to queue.. just too many ppl..
we took some more shots of the glittering Eiffel Tower from outside..

We met up with SC so that he could bring us to another famous Paris landmark, the Sacred Heart cathehedral.. very nice cathehedeal.. unique n diff from the other many churches we saw in Europe..

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..