All the trains to Paris were full! Serious.. We couldn't get a ticket in Rome.. we couldn't get a ticket in Nice.. so we had to take from Nice to Marseilles then to Lyon then a first class ticket to Paris. Expensive sia! Oh well.. as long as we get to Paris. Makes up for the accommodation by bunking in with Chye (who ironically isn't around.. haha)
28th Dec - Paris Disneyland
The happiest place on Earth! Oh well.. not comparable to the one in the US.. but the visit to Paris Disneyland was much needed break from all the museums and churches and the artyfarty stuff that we were exposed to the past 2 weeks. Though it was foggy and extremely cold and the rides were disappointingly unexciting.. the feeling of being a kid again shopping around Mickeys and Donalds was stress-releasing. =)
29th Dec - Eiffel, Arc de Truimph, Louvre Our spate of good weather seemed to have ended in Paris.. Predicted fogs over Paris meant that we would have made a wasted trip up the Eiffel Tower.. hence we decided to take a chance to ascend the Eiffel on the 3rd day instead (when it was predicted to rain).. No Eiffel = more sleep.. coz if we wanted to scale the tower we would have to go early to beat the crowds
Oh but it turned out to be sunny! Ok not exactly blazing sun sunny but at least there was sun amongst the fog. Yeap so a minute change of plans and we headed for the Eiffel Tower instead.
Whoa the queue was terrible! There were 4 queues into the 4 entrances into the tower and they were all snaking around the underneath of the tower making some sort of a swirly pattern if seen from the top. We queued for like 2.5 bloody hours before we managed to scale to the 1st level by lift)
What's fascinating about the Eiffel was its construction.. but I wasn't able to understand/appreciate it haha.. just know that scaling Eiffel was one of the must-dos in Paris itself.. The view on top, just like the view from any high point, was great.. though it could have been much better if the weather had been good.
Sent postcards from the Eiffel. And we went down without continuing up to the 3rd and highest level coz the queue at the 2nd level was simply too long. Regret.
Well, we continued on to other sights like Arc de Truimph.. where I broke contact with the rest of them (again) while trying to snap a shot in the middle of the photo. Haha.. wasted a few SMSes trying to locate them until we decided to meet at Notra Dame.. which we did.
One of the great things about being a student in Europe is that students get to enjoy extraordinary perks.. like free entry into the Lourve on Friday nights! The queue into the home of Mona Lisa was long but fast moving.. and we entered in no time.
I must admit I wouldn't have enjoyed the Lourve at all if not for the existence of the Da Vinci Code audio guide.. which Weijie and I shared. Interesting walk through of the Lourve explaining some artwork related to the story.. some with Mary Magdalene inside.. the scenes in the movie.. Mona Lisa (which is surprisingly small) itself and of course.. the "blade and the chalice" as described in the book.
Mona Lisa was really a hoo-ha. It was small! Probably about like A2 size? But it was well protected by THREE security guards and a bullet-proof glass! It was exactly like what you will see in posters and postcards.. except that the very fact that I am looking at the real thing itself.
30th Dec - Paris Opera House, Notre Dame, Sacre Cour, Moulin Rogue Paris just had too many things to see.. Fangxi wanted to visit Chopin's grave, Summer wanted to see the Catacombs while I, still being the crazy Phantom fan like I was 12 years ago, would want to visit the home of the Phantom of the Opera - the Garnier Opera House. So how? Split up lor.
Went to the Opera House just in time for the guided tour. Initially I thought the guided tour will include lotsa stuff about the Phantom.. or even visit the legendary river below the Opera house.. but no.. it was all about the guy who constructed the Opera house.. how he was 'accidentelly' chosen to build the Opera house for the Emperor.. how he created the 'new' Napoleon style.. how the Opera house was actually never completed after the emperor was captured by the Germans during the war, how the Opera-watching culture was like in those days.... Though the only mention about the Phantom was the visit to Box No. 5 which is, according to the story, only reserved for the Phantom, the excellent guided tour was surprisingly good enough to ward off the initial disappointment.
Met up at Notre Dame again.. Summer and Caiping didn't though. So the 3 of us continued into the home of the hunchback.. Rented the audio guide.. same old information about churches.. blah blah blah..
Then we went on to Sacre Cour and Moulin Rouge.. our last 2 stops in Paris...
Hence ended our visit to Paris. I must say Paris is one of the places I'll definitely visit again.. in Summer.. coz I'm sure I didn't get to see Paris at its best. After all, it's the most romantic place in the world.. =)
To thank Chye for bunking us in.. here's a little video that we made for him haha.
th reader
