PAIR-EEE!, 17-19
The festive season is over! And really really fast. No? As we get older, and progress more towards the Great Wheel of Transmigrations it seems that every year passing is the same. Whatever it was, I had a good time over the holidays.
I've quit my job so I'm currently jobless and I have no school placement as of yet. That's mostly my status. Bored and broke. And yes, I shall do something about it.
Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEWBS. YOU'RE OFFICIALLY OLD. :D
ANYWAY, lets get on with the Paris post.
Everyone has this amazing picture in their head of how Paris is. It sounds wonderful and looks wonderful too. Coffee by the river, ciggs while looking at the views... Arts, Music, Food, Cafes, Culture! What's there not to love huh?
But to be honest, the Parisian leg of the trip mostly had everyone wishing they were back in London. We thought we were well prepared armed with Lonely Planet guide and what not, but really, we were disappointed quite alot of the time. And if we weren't disappointed, we were alternately weary/ stressed/ rushing/ fighting. Maybe cos it started on a bad note (read the previous post for the disagreement on plans), or maybe cos we just were didn't do enough research and because of that, had unrealistic expectations about how it was going to be. Plus we didn't realise that Paris would be so bloody c o l d. oh and absurdly expensive. oh and that we would be walking to transport/ on public transport/ being lost trying to find transport for the MAJORITY of our time.
17TH, DEPARTURE AND DISAPPOINTMENT:
The boys who were most definitely feeling the effects of staying out the whole night on the streets of London.
This was the only one we were actually on time for.
The newly built (and very drafty) St Pancras.
Arriving at Gare du Nord at 9.30 Paris time.
Parisian streets all look the same.
Brown, long and confusing. And covered in gum and dog poo.
Now, this is in the hotel room that we finally managed to get into. This was after 2 problems faced after getting off the train.
1. We spent 15min in the information/ticketing line at Gare du Nord (you wld think they wld separate the two) to buy our 3 day Paris Pass. Then Janesh begs us to take a cab, so we do. Instead of a cab we mistakenly take a shuttle which ends up being terribly smelly and rather expensive (£40--> S$80).
2. When we arrive at the hotel, we are greeted by a surprised looking woman who waves a few sheets of paper around vaguely and asks apologetically whether we got "the email." (Oooh how ominous.) Turns out the hotel we booked 3 months in advance was undergoing renovations, and so they had to relocate us to another hotel situated "very near" the current one, "only 10 min away". They drew us a map. And though Janesh assured us that NS had taught him topography and map reading skills, we got lost for the first time out of many (he says street maps are very much different from the maps he's used to).
We check into the Hotel de Londres Eiffel. I immediately make Ivan lay a paper trail of maps leading to the bathroom so that we don't have to touch the carpet with our bare feet.
Walking to start our first! day! in! Paris!
This place turns out to be the most expensive meal we partook in Paris. £78 = S$164. 2 medium steaks, 2 medium chicken and fries, 1 bottle of Evian, 1 small vinegar-y glass of rose, 1 small glass of average red wine.
We get lost trying to get to the Metro station, and then get lost on the different trains that they have. You need to change trains quite a bit and the trains are more than a little confusing. Especially when you have to change rail operators.
Oh but the beautiful part of the Parisian rail transport system is that they really don't care if you pay your entrance fees. In fact, many Parisians (young AND old) either jump over the turnstiles or wait for someone to come out of the door that opens from inside. The train information people do not give a rat's ass if you do this. They are situated right in front of the turnstiles, and they can't care less. Nesh lost his Paris Pass on the second day, so just jumped all of the barriers after that.
Oh but the beautiful part of the Parisian rail transport system is that they really don't care if you pay your entrance fees. In fact, many Parisians (young AND old) either jump over the turnstiles or wait for someone to come out of the door that opens from inside. The train information people do not give a rat's ass if you do this. They are situated right in front of the turnstiles, and they can't care less. Nesh lost his Paris Pass on the second day, so just jumped all of the barriers after that.
There are no photos from about 1pm to 6pm cos all we did was get lost, travel, be veryvery disappointed with the places that seemed so great in my Lonely Planet guide.
We ultimately end up trying to get to the Eiffel, but of course we get lost, so we try to find a Metro station. We get lost again and start walking down the Seine in search for a Metro station. And walking beside bodies of waters is a exceedingly stupid thing to do in the middle of winter.
By the time we reach the end of this bridge, our ears are ringing and our fingertips hurt so very badly that we decide to jump into the warmth of a cab to bring us back to our hotel. We passed the Eiffel on our way back and it was giving one of it's world famous twinkly light shows.
17TH, SECONDS AND MORE HOPEFULLY BECAUSE:
We notice that the pharmacies there have reaaaallly bright neon signs, most of them animated. There are so many that we wonder what ails the French people that they need to have so fucking many of them.
Our cheapest meal in Paris. (£40ish) at this delifrance kinnda place. This included boisson (drink) and a dessert.
We arrive at the famed Printemp department store with its beautiful automated window displays.
After Printemp, we decide to walk past Opera and towards the world renowned Musee de Lourve. Needless to say we got lost, but it was possibly the most pleasant lost that we had.
Outside Opera
The very beautiful Opera.
Across the street from the Musee de Lourve
Passageway to the enterance
This is the first thing you are greeted by. This photo does absolutely nothing. The site that greets you on the end of that dark tunnel is just so peculiar and so right. The pyramids fill yet open up that space. (Yes, you're all rolling your eyes at my attempt at descriptive prose). Whatever it is, it's pretty bleeding amazing.
Horses!
Horses!!
Horses!!!
In case you are wondering why we spent so much time in the cold (look at picture above. Yes, the fountain really did freeze over) and didn't go in. The reason is that we went on Tuesday. Which happens to be the only day of the week that the Lourve is closed. Yes... closed.
Butcher
Where we bought our nightly meal of poulet.
And pizza.
Friendly Neighborhood Pizza Man
After dinner, we walked 10 min to the Eiffel.
North Pillar
Waiting in line
Waiting for the first elevator
A little S'pore represent (:
last look.
We decided that the night was still young so headed to one of Paris's famous jazz clubs. We initially planned to head to a jazz bar which was close to this one. But in following with our luck so far, there was a big hole in the wall where the jazz club was supposed to be. So we went to this one.
Sunset Jazz Club
19TH:
Our train was due to depart at 0930pm Paris time, so we figured we'd spend the whole day at the Lourve.
The Lourve was both beautiful and extensive. One gripe is that all the descriptions on all the exhibits, save a rare few, were in French. I would think that one of the most popular tourist destinations in Paris as well as one of the most renowned museums in the world, would at least provide a FREE english description. Your choices are to either rent a headset for £6 or to join an english tour. :/
2 heads are better than...
none at all?
This is a m a s s i v e painting. And a very beautiful albeit chaotic one.
Even J.C looks a bit stuned by all that's happening.
Of course you're not supposed to take photos of the exhibits. But... everyone else had these huge zoom lenses, I figured my point and shoot could do no harm.
The Quaran written in reallly miniscule text.
King Charles (I think)formal dining room.
the last shot before we headed out into the cold, headed back to the hotel, couldn't get a cab, walked all the way to the Eiffel to get one (cos obviously there's a whole line of them there), was just on time for our train back to UK. We made it with 2 min to spare before the Eurostar took us back to warmer pastures.