Living in London makes a weekend trip to Paris almost inevitable. And if it is a bank holiday weekend, Paris seems like the ultimate destination. It is that city, which from London, you can reach sooner than reaching Lake district and gives you the feeling of having gone to a glamorous foreign country. We booked tickets a month in advance and that gave me enough time to build up my excitement as I kept reading blogs and books on Paris tourism. We reached on a Friday night and had three full days in the city. One of the best parts of the trip was the flight. It was from City airport which saved us the hassle of travelling to Heathrow which would have been more than the flight time itself. City airport is an absolute no-nonsense airport, where you do only the things that you must do to eventually get on a plane. From the flight I got a bird's eye view of the Eiffel tower all lit up. It was just so fabulous and magical!
We stayed at the All Seasons hotel near a metro rail station called Gabriel Peri. We took the RER from the airport and then changed to the metro. There was a really long walk to the hotel from Gabriel Peri and made me weep at the thought of having to walk that much twice everyday, but to our greatest relief we found a train station much closer to the hotel, Asnieres-Sein-Sur. This was more like a national rail stop and had fast trains connecting to all the major metro stops. We bought a bundle of 12 tickets to travel back n forth and that lasted the two of us almost the entire trip.
After a good nights sleep, we started off to collect tickets at the Louvre. After a bit of struggle trying to remember my credit card number (Yes I forgot to carry my credit card!), we managed to collect the tickets from the Virgin megastore right next to the Louvre and entered the museum. The crowd was not bad at all and we got ample time for photographs or to read the various descriptions. To be completely honest, I did not enjoy the sculpture section of the museum that much. But the paintings section was brilliant. Each painting was a masterpiece and the scale of some of them for example the last supper was mind blowing. Some of the ceiling arts were breathtaking too. As expected there was a big crowd surrounding the Monalisa and I had to have a picture of her, although I failed to understand what the fuss was all about. There are many many more mesmerising paintings all over the place some of which did not have a single admirer! Following the Louvre and after some pictures next to the glass pyramids outside we decided to walk to the Luxembourgh Gardens. The garden is a good place for someone wanting to take a break from all the tousists and signtseeing. After some pictures in the sun, we started walking towars the Eiffel tower.
The Eiffel tower is something I have been really looking forward to seeing and it is one of those monuments you have been seeing in so many books and movies, you feel like you already know how it is going to look. But the first glimpse of it made me want to scream. I never imagined it to be that huge and it was nothing like how it looked in the pictuires or movies! After gaping at the metal wonder for a while, we went up to the second level to get some breathtaking views of the city. The whole Eiffel tower experience was totally magical to me. I highly recommend walking to the opposite side, a place called Trocadero which gives you unparalleled views of the tower. The most magical part was the tower being lit up at night and the sparkling lights. Just beautiful! No matter how much you try to capture the moment in a picture, it ends up not doing justice to what your eyes behold! That spectacular sight marked the end of our first day in Paris.
After a good nights sleep, we started off to collect tickets at the Louvre. After a bit of struggle trying to remember my credit card number (Yes I forgot to carry my credit card!), we managed to collect the tickets from the Virgin megastore right next to the Louvre and entered the museum. The crowd was not bad at all and we got ample time for photographs or to read the various descriptions. To be completely honest, I did not enjoy the sculpture section of the museum that much. But the paintings section was brilliant. Each painting was a masterpiece and the scale of some of them for example the last supper was mind blowing. Some of the ceiling arts were breathtaking too. As expected there was a big crowd surrounding the Monalisa and I had to have a picture of her, although I failed to understand what the fuss was all about. There are many many more mesmerising paintings all over the place some of which did not have a single admirer! Following the Louvre and after some pictures next to the glass pyramids outside we decided to walk to the Luxembourgh Gardens. The garden is a good place for someone wanting to take a break from all the tousists and signtseeing. After some pictures in the sun, we started walking towars the Eiffel tower.
The Eiffel tower is something I have been really looking forward to seeing and it is one of those monuments you have been seeing in so many books and movies, you feel like you already know how it is going to look. But the first glimpse of it made me want to scream. I never imagined it to be that huge and it was nothing like how it looked in the pictuires or movies! After gaping at the metal wonder for a while, we went up to the second level to get some breathtaking views of the city. The whole Eiffel tower experience was totally magical to me. I highly recommend walking to the opposite side, a place called Trocadero which gives you unparalleled views of the tower. The most magical part was the tower being lit up at night and the sparkling lights. Just beautiful! No matter how much you try to capture the moment in a picture, it ends up not doing justice to what your eyes behold! That spectacular sight marked the end of our first day in Paris.
On our second day we decided to visit Versailles, Champ D'Elysses and the Arc De Triomphe. We took the Paris metro to reach Versailles. Even with the pre-booked entry tickets we had to stand a long queue in the sun to enter the palace. Once inside everything was a grand affair, the ceiling art, the sculptures, Marie Antoinette's room and the passage she used to flee the palace during the French revolution, it all felt very surreal. The room of mirrors was just as you see it in the Dior Ad! We visited Versailles on a Sunday and the local market was such a treat, the grapes we bought there were some of the best I have ever tasted in my life! From Versailles we went staright to the Champ D'Elysses and Arc De Trimphe, took some pictures, did some people watching and went back to the hotel tired and in need of sleep! To any beauty addict, Champ D'Elysses offers great window shopping experience!
Third and the last day of our trip was kept aside for Sacre Coure, Notre Dame cathedral and the cruise on the river Seine. We travelled around on the Paris metro to reach Sacre Coure and Notre Dame, both of which have great architecture. The Sacre Coure is set on the top of a hill and offers good top views of the city. The cruise down the river Seine was a great experience. It gives a different view of all the monuments that you visit in Paris, escpecially the Eiffel Tower. We took the Bateaux Mouches cruise and would recommend it to anyone since the English commentary was pretty good. We then went straight to the hotel and setout for our flight journey home in a very happy mood since the journey from the City Airport home would take us less than 10 minutes on the DLR.
In retroscpect I would say Paris felt exactly like London but with everything written in French! It is a good weekend getaway from London if you are looking to fill your sunny weekends with lotsa people watching, good food and some sightseeing.
