paris revisited – amendment

official explanation: due to some technical problems, this post is unable to continue

unofficial explanation: my only source of information is the lonely planet paris guide book which i borrowed  the library in town. however, somebody has borrowed it as well and his loan expires on 24th january. it’s not that i’m unable to post completely but will mean the names of places and roads will be missing. until then, there will be lots of gaps in between. meaning, not a very good read.

paris revisited – day 2 (16 dec)

one important point to remember when selecting accommodation: MUST choose places that provide breakfast. that’s one meal taken care off and helps to start your day. today’s plan: collect paris metro pass, visit market, lunch. plan some more during lunch. the paris metro isn’t that all complicated. first you have the metro and second, RER. the metro is exactly similar to the london underground. lotsa lines, lotsa stops. the RER is more of like a train that serves greater paris so it has few stops in central paris. i bought the 5 day pass for zones 1-3. but the frustratingly, had to collect from my specified tourist agency in the rivoli area. then it was a decision between taking the metro (faster and convenient) or walking to les halles (more sights). i decided to walk. i walked through the jardin des tuileries (tuileries gardens), the lourve museum and then reached les halles. les halles used to be THE wholesale food market in paris until 1970s when the whole operation was moved to rungis, a little further south next to orly airport. remnants of this once glorious market are found along the main street. i hid in a nearby cafe to plan where to go after lunch and decided on notre-dame cathedral and arc de triomphe in the evening.

for lunch, i wanted something authentically french. so i did a little search of the area. nothing. no brasserie or bistro. all seemed too touristy or were over my budget. the more i walked, the more i explored and the hungrier i became until i found myself lost, disorientated somewhere in paris (actually in front of the banque de france). i entered one crowded bistro and ordered one poulet roti (roast chicken). at first i thought poulet roti was chicken with bread cause i recognise poulet as poultry and roti as bread. no. it actually was roast chicken. the food wasn’t bad but because the tables were squeezed together, if you wanted to seat against the wall, you had to first move away the table, sit down, then move the table back in front of you. the meal was surprisingly cheap at €10 and the portions were large. not bad in a city like paris.

next to the notre-dame catherdral. for me, this is one of the ‘three gems of paris’ the other two bing the eiffel tower and the arc de triomphe. the notre dame is a working cathedral so mass is held on sundays. therefore, it is advisable to go on a weekday. by the way, there is no high or low tourist season. it is crowded all year long. unlike the eiffel tower or the arc de triomphe, words cannot describe the magnificence of the interior of the cathedral. you must go there to see for yourself. after finishing admiring the inside of the cathedral, do climb up the south tower. a small fee is charged €4.80 (exact change only), then you are allowed to ascend in groups of 20 every 10 minutes. before ascending, you are giving a leaflet (in your respective language) stating some facts and the views of paris from the top. be forewarned, you will climb 400 steps straight up, no lifts and no toilet facilities. the visit is also not recommended for pregnant women, people suffering from vertigo (me) or a cardiac complaint. as with all medievalstyle buildings, the steps are wound around one central pillar. to get an idea, take a long bamboo skewer (satay stick) and twirl a piceof string tightly around the stick. allow some space in between. the string therefore resembles the staircase and the stick (skewer) represents the central pillar.

in return, you get spectacular views of paris and on a clear summer’s day should be able to see the eiffel tower in the distance. the domed building which contains the sarcophagus of napoleon bonaparte lies in the same direction. halfway up, you stop to see the great bell known as ‘Emmanuel’, cast in the 17th century and weighing in excess of 13 tons and its clapper 500 kilos. This bell is rung on major Catholic feast days while four other bells in the north tower are rung several times a day.

The evening was spent at the arc de triomphe and walking up and down the champs elysee soaking in the pre-christmas atmosphere. there is a little ceremony at the arc which starts around 6pm. just a little ceremony to honour france’s tomb of the unknown soldier. the ceremony is conducted with a couple of policemen, some army personnel and few war veterans and their families. the tomb is cordoned off so you will have to get there early to secure a spot. also, the closest you can get is only watching from the left side of the tomb and the eternal flame (facing the champs elysee.) the ceremony lasts approx 30 mins (including prep time). after that, back to hotel for dinner in the area, then bed.

paris revisited – day 1 (15 dec)

first lets make this clear. this posts are all about a trip to paris. if by any chance you are a command and conquer red alert 2 fanactic looking for the map with the same name, be gone! shoo!

previously i wrote how this whole idea came about. so no repeating. i decided to go by eurostar as thats the easiest way to go to paris. and also to try out a train that travels at a speed ten times faster than singapore MRT. booked both my train tickets and hotel (3-star) online and the total cost was £380 and including the 5 day paris metro pass. was scheduled to leave on the 1330hr train to paris on monday. i did my packing on saturday and research a few days earlier. if you need help planning a last minute trip, i can gladly offer my services. the day of departure was nervous as usual since i had not travelled on the eurostar before. (on the contrary, air travel is like taking the bus. nothing special). having been informed that food is sold on board, i decided to buy my food on the train (bad choice, as explained later). basically it works the same like travelling by air, after checking in, then x-ray, then customs, i reached the so-called departure lounge which is just a small holding area. you remember those long walkways to the plane called aerobridges? here also have. they’re called travellators (long flat escalators).

i got a window seat in the last carriage (!)which is not bad. but had to squeeze together with 3 other people. so i would be stuck for the next 2hrs and 35 mins journey. here’s why you must bring your own food on board eurostar. one: the food, drinks and snacks on board is seriously overpriced. two: not that many choices. three: its not nice waking your neighbour every time you feel hungry. like all long distance journeys, a short nap is involved. reached paris gare du nord train station at 1700 hrs local time. (paris is one hour ahead of london) because i alighted from the rear (last) carriage, it was a long walk to the station entrance. at least you get to walk beside the entire train. with a standard tourist map, some asking and lotsa walking, i found my hotel. the easy part is that you just walk straight for about 8-10 mins approx. by tonight, i had found out what the travel industry does to single, independent youth travellers. rules to follow: give these fellas the worst seat on the train in the last carriage and a room on the top floor of the hotel. at least my hotel was fairly respectable. it was clean and cosy, albeit a little small. the only good thing was that the size of the bed is double that of my uni accomodation. had a shower, then planned for the next few days, and slept. i forgot to mention that dinner was confit de canard avec sauteed pommes. (english translation: leg of duck slow cooked in fat served with fried potatoes.) note: this is not to be eaten daily. regular consumption will make your arteries sad and your doctor very happy. dessert was a passable creme brulee.

paris revisited – preamble

somehow i got bitten by the paris bug. i decided on a whim to visit paris again. prior planning be damned. it all was basically a pack and go. i spent a total of 5 days and 4 nights. as a guide, i borrowed a lonely planet guidebook from the library and brought it along with me.

so, why so long to blog this post? well, i came back, tired, then celebrated christmas and new year. so i was all relaxing one corner and taking a beak from all the studying the previous term. in between, nothing much happened but i did have a special christmas dinner with champagne. as for new year, dinner was three straight days of tom yam ‘steamboat’. needless to say, dunno what compelled me to spend so much for these two festivities that i’m planning on cutting down my chinese new year budget. lunch has also been much of a problem. at least when school was open, you go to canteen and eat whatever slop they serve. holiday lunch requires planning and options are getting limited when you are fed up with western, pasta and chinese food so expensive. but enough of all this. back to the paris trip.

Bonne Année 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009 TO ALL ! new year resolutions? nah……..  (but paris posts coming sooon, reallly.)

< it’s not as if  i’m smitten with french. i change the title due to the ridiculous amount of spam received under the previous titles. >