GUESS WHO? Yeap, the lazy blogger herself. HEE. Im just gonna skip the apologies and lame reasoning part and move straight onto my summer holidays in Europe! 6 other guys and I joined a popular tour company called Contiki and our tour was for 20 days (quite long but there were plenty of countries to cover). Our journey began in London, where we crossed the English Channel into Europe on a ferry (nothing exciting to talk bout the ferry ride though). A few hours after arriving in Europe, we reached our first destination which is as the title hinted, PARIS the City of Lights and Love. No doubt Paris was one of the destinations I looked forward to visiting most. We checked into our campsite (our tour's accomodations were cabins, hostels and occasionally hotels) and had a yummy dinner. After that, it was on to the coach tour around Paris to give us a taste of what to expect the next day. I'll let the pictures do the talking shall I? =) By the way, sorry for some not so good pictures (mostly are those taken while on the coach) because the bus was moving and there was reflection off the windows. =(
One of the first views of beautiful Paris
As you can see, it was the perfect weather that day
NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL!!!
Sigh ain't it beautiful? HOWEVER, due to lack of time, I didnt managed to get in there *cries* So this picture will have to do
Another shot of beautiful Paris while on the coach
A glimpse of the Lourve Museum
One of the many bridges in Paris. I think this was the one where a scene in Sex and The City (the movie) was shot (something about someone running after Carrie. You fans out there should know better than me =p )
Ah what can I say. Paris is indeed beautiful.
Yet another bridge (albeit a nicer one)
Palais des Invalides
Cannons ( sorry I forgot the story, history was never my best subject)
Had a chance to stop at the Palais des Invalides for picture taking. That roof is made out of real gold, no kidding.
Sam and I
Random shot just because the sky looked nice here =D
errr..urm...hmmm..forget it, i cant remember the name of this building
Posing against this huge monument thingie with THE tower in the background
A-maaaaaazing. I do not care that it is rusting lol.
Closer look of the Eiffel tower, which basically symbolizes Paris
The Seine river
I-don't-remember-the-name-of-this-building. But I dont think its a very famous one. i THINK..
Yet another shot. This is the best place to take a picture of the Eiffel tower.
Random shot of Ferrari hehe
Academie Nationale de Musique (Opera House)
I heart Paris
The pictures above were mostly taken during the coach tour. We had a free day the next day and the first place we went to was where else but the Eiffel tower. Without a doubt, there was a longggg queue to go up the tower, even if you are climbing the stairs and not taking the lift. Eiffel tower has two levels and you can only climb to the lower level. The highest level can only be accessed by lifts at an additional charge of course. Wherever you want to go when you are in the tower, queueing up for a good while has to be expected. Even when you want to go down from the top level to the lower level. The queues were extremely long. Overall 3hours plus was spent just on that tower itself. That is the reason why we had no chance to visit the Notre Dame... =( ANYWAY, enjoy the breathtaking view taken from both levels of the tower.
Champ de Mars AH. can't believe I actually had the chance to see this view in person and not from someone else's pictures. Like a dream *pinches self*
Me on the lower level
The long queue below (nice formation don't you think? haha)
The other breathtaking view at the top of the Eiffel
Seine River taken from the Eiffel
*Love*
I have no idea why is my hair so brown. No I did not dye it
Posing away helps reduce boredom while queuing up
Same shot as the top picture but taken at the highest level of the tower
Another shot just because I like the view =)
Me again
Look at all those bridges along the river
Seine river and I
Us with Eiffel Tower (double love)
With some obscene sculpture thingie
Don't ask me what is that building cause I never knew
Look at that gloomy sky. It was like that the WHOLE DAY. Tough luck we couldn't get the same sunny weather as the day before.
My favourite picture of the bunch (super love)We grabbed lunch on the way to the Arc de Triomphe (banana and chocolate crepes & baguettes with ham and cheese YUM) as there was no time for us to sit down and have proper McD food lol. Whole morning gone just on the tower. It was a long walk down Champs Elysees but worth every minute because that street is packed with shops after shops and posh looking restaurants. Sooo good shopping opportunity but I not only lacked time, I was also dead broke and was on a super tight budget. Finally we reached the Arc de Triomphe which was situated in the middle of the scariest, most dangerous roundabouts I have ever seen. Cars were just zooming out into the roundabout( which was definitely big) and there didnt seem to be any clear road lines. Im just glad I survived that roundabout..
Arc de Triomphe!
Saw this while walking down the Champs Elysees, headquarters of Louis Vuitton! Grand dont you think?
Sorryiforgotthename
Place de la Concorde
One of the fountains there
Obelisk at the Place de la Concorde. It was said to be a gift from Egypt (I think) but according to the them, it was stolen from them by Napolean (I think lol)
The famous Tuileries Garden (on the way to the Lourve)
Some arch which I dont know the name of
THE FAMOUS PYRAMID! =D
Big pyramid on the left, mini pyramid on the right
The small inverted pyramid (been really looking forward to seeing this-- big da vinci code fan)
*pointy*
outside from inside
welcome to musee de lourve
seineseineseineseineseine
Groupie photo
Picturesque
Entrance to Musee de Lourve
Happy after exploring ParisThat night, we went to watch a cabaret show called La Nouvelle. It was a good night, with pretty girls dancing the french can can ( not all are pretty mind you. some were quite erm..elderly ) and there were some pretty good interval performance too. Of course, there were also occasional boobs on display, like Moulin Rouge. That show was not cheap, it set me back by 71 euroes but there was half a bottle of champagne each so it was quite worth it imho. Before dinner, we walked up a REALLY REALLY steep hill to the Sacre Ceur. It was ok. Nothing much to shout about actually.
Sacre Ceur
View of Paris from the hill top
Beautiful Lourve all lit up at nightI guess that sums up Paris for me. Of course, there's alot more to Paris than what I managed to explore in the little time I have. I have a few regrets for my Paris trip though.
a) Like I mentioned above, I didnt get to go in Notre Dame
b) Didnt get to see the arts in the Lourve (yes Im into famous arts and sculptures)
c) Didnt had chance to see Paris at night and more importantly Eiffel tower which I heard is absolutely spectacular when its lit up. This is due to the sky turning dark really really late in summer. Which means I dont get to see Paris in its full City of Lights glory.
d) I didnt get to see Palais de Royal, which I heard can be more spectacular than Eiffel tower
Ah well, I'll definitely go back to Paris again if the chance arises. Its a wonderful city and I enjoyed it alot (despite the gloomy weather)
Till next time! (only God knows when =p )
Signing off,
Ling
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