Paris, France

Paris was the last leg of our Europe trip. We took a high-speed train (which was TGV) from Gare de Cornavin in Geneva to Gare de Lyon in Paris, France. We reached Paris at around noontime. Because we pre-ordered our Paris Visit Pass from the Internet, Alvin had to collect it from the store outlet which was located near the Louvre while Albert and I stayed in the train station.

We decided to take taxi from the train station to the hotel because we had big luggage. The taxi driver took as for a ride! Instead of taking a more direct route, he went around Paris and we had to pay 35 euros!


After a short rest at the hotel, we went to our first item in the itinerary, the Trocadero and the Eiffel Tower. I must say that Paris really has a lot of cultural heritage! All the buildings, structures and statues are picture worthy. We were awed by the sight. Anyway, we walked from the Trocadero to the tower and decided to go up to the top. There were so many tourists so queuing for the ticket already took as 45 minutes. The elevator took us midway of the tower. The view was already spectacular. We could see most of Paris and its entire grandeur. We decided to go to the top. The queue to the elevator was darn long! It took us around one hour to get to the lift. The view at the top was also good.


The second day (21st May) was Albert’s day. We took Albert to Euro Disneyland for the whole day. I bet he enjoyed everything that he saw and did there. He particularly was very happy riding the cars and trains.


Our third day (22nd May) was hectic. In the morning, we went to see Hotel de Ville and Notre Dame. These were really beautiful buildings. I wondered how they could build such intricate and ornate structures. Even the surrounding buildings were also pretty. Everything there was artistic! In the afternoon, Alvin and Albert went back to the hotel to rest while I went around shopping! I went to the popular Paris department stores of Boulevard Haussman, the Printemp and Galleries Lafayette. I saw for myself how Asians were REALLY crazy about Louis Vuitton bags. Everyone was buying more than one bag! Then I also went for a glimpse of another shopping district, the Avenue Montaigne and Avenue des Champ- Elysee where the legendary designers like Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton and some trendy shops like Zara and others are located. After the shopping and window shopping, I went to Arc de Triomphe to meet Alvin and Albert. Again, another majestic monument. After climbing the arc, we were very tired. But as the sun was still up (the sun sets at 9:30 pm when we were there which was spring and I think it’s the best time Europe because day-time is longer), we took a bus to visit Louvre. Majestic!





On the fourth day (23rd day), we went back to the Louvre Museum. We first had our lunch in the Jardin de Tuiliries which was just in from of the museum. Then we went to the museum. It has three major wings. We decided just to visit one of the wings were Mona Lisa was exhibited. I must say that there lots of exhibits from various artists in Europe and different times. It was just overwhelming to absorb everything. The most famous of the exhibits were of course the Mona Lisa. Everybody was scrambling to get a picture of the piece! We had to really squeeze in to get a good view (and picture) of her famous smile. And that was it. After that, we strolled on the streets of Paris, the ones along the Seine River going towards the Conciergerie. I also bought some souvenirs from the street vendors. Another tiring day was over.


On the fifth and final day in Paris, we went to Versailles. We visited the palace which was again, very gorgeous. As our train was very early in the following day, we went back to the hotel early to pack up and get some sleep. The last five days in Paris were really tiring but amazing for us.

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