We arrived in Paris, really early in the morning- it's about 6am where the sky was still dark. From the bus-station, we had to walk to nearest train station dragging all our bags in order to catch the intercity train to our hotel which is located in the city centre. I can't really figure out which station that we were and which station that we stop for the hotel. Again we have to drag our bags and walk from the station to our hotel (our group leader was sure knew where he was leading us too..I don't!!) It was cold, wet morning and it was a quiet walk - Parisian are still sleeping!! not to mention there are people who sleeps right in the middle of the pedestrian walkways-I almost bumped into one!!
so Day 4 - after a quick freshen up (luckily we managed to get the room early) we start our Paris Tour with visits to the famous Eiffel Tower!! Majestic!! I'm seriously felt I was some sort in love with Paris. Eiffel!! I'm so in LOVE!! Unfortunately we cant make it through the top - the ques was already like a miles long even though it's only 10am at that time.. and the rest of the group wasn't as keen as me about going up there,so, we spend some time there snapping away pictures!
The opportunity to ride the double-decker bus was waived as we find that it wasn’t economic to do so for such a quick tour, which later we decided to do as what we did in Amsterdam - we take the cruise via the Seine River – it was said that it is the traditional and romantic way to explore Paris. The cruise starts from the quay nearby Eiffel Tower, and we make a stop at the Le Musée d’Orsay where I think it has a spectacular architecture but I was not able to enjoy it as the rest decided to make it a pass.
We continue the journey along the Seine where it is lined with old quays and crossed by many gorgeous looking bridges. The cruise pass-by the iconic Notre Dame - woww!!(magnificent detailing and the opportunity to see those flying buttresses outside the text book is tremendously awesome)
We make our last stop at L’Hotel deVille where we started our leg of tour by foot. I have two options - walk slowly with the 'backbenchers group' or follow the fast-pace of those 'road runners' (hehe..i chose road-runners!)
Looking for a place for lunch that could fit these guys basic requirements was tough (I was doing okay with bread and sandwiches-they don't!) So, we walk and we walk and we walk…under such good weather, whilst admiring the landscapes and the architecture, it makes you forget that it already way pass your lunch time and you only had your breakfast at 6am simply because you just doesn’t feel exhausted at all.
We finally make it to Champs Elysees, and from far you can see the Arc de Triomphe located at the other end of Champs Elysees Avenue. The traffic was heavy, but the avenue is so wide that it is so comfortable to just walk under the cool weather, plus there are so many things to look at that we didn’t realized we walked through it.
I do enjoy walking the avenue, feeling the Louis Vuitton boutique (woww, for 200 euro you can only get the key holder!! Lucikly, I'm not into it) but it was unfortunate that I just can’t make it to Arc de Triomphe – the rest decided to retreat.
We walk through the other side of the avenue and I get myself a bottle of perfume at the famous perfume shoppe... and then we headed back to hotel... this journey is something I wish to elaborate..so before we headed to Zurich ... I'll write more...
