An Engineer and A Globetrotter: EUROPEAN TOUR SERIES 2013 : A SECOND VISIT TO THE CITY OF LOVE, PARIS

Just recently, I posted a blog about my first ever trip to Paris. During that tour, I had the luxury of time to explore and discover the city since I traveled alone. In this second visit to the city, I was with my friend E in our eight-city European tour. It was his first visit to Paris so I just followed my previous itinerary which included the visit to the Musee D’Orsay, Louvre Museum and Eiffel Tower. We had less days compared to my last trip so I just recommended the must see places. I won’t be writing anymore of those places instead focus on the places we visited but not part of my previous itinerary.

The Eiffel Tower

From Amsterdam Central, we took the afternoon Thalys train bound for Paris Nord Central Station. The travel time was approximately 3hours and 15minutes. From Paris Nord Station, we took the Metro going to our hotel at Atelier Montparnasse Hotel (near Pernety Metro Station, Line 13). A very chic and trendy hotel with good access to many restaurants around. I already sensed a not so good weather for the entirety of our Paris trip but this shouldn’t spoil our planned activities. Upon checking in and dozing off for short time, we went out and started our city exploration. The first stop was at Champs de Mars, the location of the sparkling jewel of Paris, the Eiffel Tower. We only had this chance to enjoy the night scene at the Eiffel Tower. But before anything else, we needed to take care of our stomach. It was getting late for our dinner so we look for restaurants nearby the Iron Lady. We found Le Bailli de Suffren. For our starter, we ordered escargot which is very popular in France and in Spain. Escargot is a cooked land snails. For the main course we had Poulet Roti which was actually a roasted chicken served with fries. While we were having dinner, it was pouring heavily outside. Luckily, it stopped when we were about to go out and stroll around the Eiffel. I wasn't that too excited anymore since it was my second time to be near the Iron Lady. Though it was already my second time, it still amazed me when it sparkled like a diamond. We stayed nearby the Eiffel till we decided to head back to our hotel.

Gare Nord, Paris (Main Terminal)

Gare Nord (Metro)

Entree : Escargot

Main : Poulet Rotti

View of The Louvre

It was a cold and rainy day during our first full day tour in Paris. Indeed not an ideal time to stroll around but we had no choice. Not to be ruined by the bad weather, we started off with our visit to the tourist info center for our Paris Pass. After getting our pass and having our lunch at a nearby restaurant, we took the Metro and headed to L'église de la Madeleine. We decided not to enter the church and continue walking towards the direction of the Place de la Concorde. On our way, we saw a Ladurée store so we decided for a short dessert stop. E never tried the Ladurée macaron so I introduced it to him. At the Place de la Concorde, we just had a couple of minutes for taking pictures and we took the long walk leading to the Louvre Museum. On our way, we passed by the vast Jardin du Tuileries and at the end of it was Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. The rain kept pouring and we’re getting soaked already so staying outside for long wasn't a clever idea. We increased our paced towards Louvre Museum and made our way inside the museum. After the museum tour, we head next to the Museé d’ Orsay and finally to the Notre Dame Cathedral. To end our day, we decided to take the night cruise at the Seine River. It could have been perfect if not for the non-stop rain and heavy winds. Nonetheless, it was still a fun first day in Paris.

Ladurée Store

Bird's Eye View of Musée d' Orsay

Restaurant at the top level of M'O

The famous lovelocks of Paris

The Thinker by Rodin

Optimistic of the second day activity, we were lucky to finally have a clear sunny day. This was our last day in Paris and we still had lots of things to cover before our night train ride down south of France in the Midi-Pyrénées region to visit the famous sanctuary and pilgrimage site of Our Lady of Lourdes. The first itinerary for the day was the visit to the Musée Rodin. The museum is dedicated to the French sculpture Auguste Rodin which is famous for his works like The Thinker, The Kiss and The Gates of Hell. The Musée Rodin is composed of three sections, Hotel Biron, the Chapel and the Sculpture Garden. Exploring the inside of this former 2-storey hotel allowed us to appreciate some of the artists priced pieces, pieces which were created using different materials. Rodin’s sculptures can be viewed with very obvious difference to the themes of mythology and allegory since they were centered on realism. Many of us may be familiar of the sculpture of a thinking man known as “The Thinker” but may not be aware that it is one of Rodin’s masterpieces. Having visited this museum allowed us to see the real sculpture by the artist. We even tried to act out the same pose of the sculpture and had our photo taken right next to it. Outside of the building is the access to the sculptured garden where some of Rodin’s pieces were artistically arranged in a French designed style garden. After exploring the garden, we decided to head out and moved to our next stop.

The Trocadero

If there is one place and perfect spot to view the Eiffel Tower, it is at the place called “The Trocadero”, site of Palais de Chaillot. During my first trip to Paris, I had no chance to visit the Iron Lady during the day as I had things already set and I was more interested doing the evening tour to see her glitter like a diamond. And besides, I only learned about the Trocadero after I came back from my trip so I told myself that given another chance to be in Paris, I’ll definitely go to this place. And so I did. After our visit to Rodin Museum, we go straight to the Trocadero. Standing at the center, the open esplanade provided an obstructed and excellent view of the Eiffel Tower and beyond. Indeed, the best spot to take that memorable shot with the Eiffel Tower as the backdrop. We all knew that Paris is one of the oldest and one of the major cities in the world yet it manages and continues to transform itself into a modern city but not loosing its character. And this is what really amazed me. In this part of the city where the buildings are the silent witnesses to the history of Paris, the planners could have been easily swayed by the promise of development and more profit for the city but instead kept these historical edifices unaltered for decades. No modern buildings nor skyscrapers were ever built near the Iron Lady thus making her the center of attention. We left the Trocadero after taking photos and enjoying the panoramic view of the Eiffel Tower.

Queue of tourist going in Versailles

Versailles and Arc Du Triomphe were the places planned in the afternoon so after completing our trip at Trocadero, we headed next to the train station going to Versailles. As expected, there was already a long line of tourists going inside the grand palace when we arrived. We cannot waste time so we lined up immediately. It didn’t take us very long to get in and explore the inside of this massive palace. Right after competing our very fast paced tour inside the palace, we proceeded to the beautiful gardens at the back. As much as we want to stay longer, we had a very limited time. It was our last day in Paris and E still wanted to see Champ Elysées and Arc Du Triomphe. Luckily, we still had several hours to spare before our train departs for Lourdes at 10:00pm from Paris Austerlitz Train Station. On our way back to central Paris, we didn’t expect a jam-packed train. Nonetheless, we were lucky to catch the last train heading back to Paris.