Date of Visit: 24 - 27 September 2011
The lovely city of Paris. Where so many people say it's a romantic city. Too bad I visited the city with a guy... But I can't find out what's so romantic about Paris though, hmmm... Perhaps you can only find out if you come with a chick.
There are so many attractions to visit in Paris: the Arc de Triomphe; Eiffel Tower; Notre Dame; Champs Elysees(pronounced as shome elly-zee), Versailles Palace; Louvre Museum
Let us start with the Eiffel Tower. This iron tower was built for the World's Fair in 1889, and was meant to be a temporary structure. But they decided not to tear it down after the fair, despite most Parisans complaining that it's an eyesore to their beautiful city. Some interesting tidbits, a tailor once jumped off the tower to test a home-made parachute. He plummeted into the ground, immediately going 6 feet under, if you know what I mean.
As the queue to go up the tower is very long, and we have to pay to go up the tower (even if we climb the stairs), we did not go up the tower. But I did send a postcard from the Eiffel Tower post office, which will give your postcard a special chop on the stamp than the regular posts.
The Arc de Triomphe is located at the end of the Avenue des Champ Elysees. This arc is built to honor those who fought and died for France in the french revolution. What's more interesting to me than the arc is the road around it. It is a massive roundabout, without any lane markings. It is where 12 major road avenue converge, so you can just imagine the traffic situation at the roundabout.
The Notre Dame de Paris is one of the most famous churches in the world. It means 'our lady', which refers to the Virgin Mary. It has a grand facade on the outside, and it is easily the tallest structure in the surrounding neighborhood.
The building has all these weird beast on the outer wall as decorations. I think it is to make it look fearsome.. But anyway, we paid 5EUR to climb up the bell tower, which is about 15 stories tall if my estimate is correct. Once at the top, we get a panoramic view of Paris city. And you get to see up close to all the gargoyles and stone monsters, which apparently is famous.
Anyway, inside the church itself, there's nothing special about it. Probably just like the thousands of churches all over Europe. So I'm not going to talk more about it.
When in Paris, people say it's always worth the trip to Versailles. For history students, remember the Treaty of Versailles? Anyway, IMHO, it's not really worth the trip, lol. Personally I find it boring. Yes, it's a magnificent palace, with a garden the size of Jurong(I think). The palace is just a place for all the French Kings to showoff their wealth, even if they don't have it. But I guess that's what Kings do, build it bigger, grander, better than their predecessors. I finished touring the place in about an hour, which just includes visit to the staterooms and the famous Wall of Mirrors. The huge garden requires additional payment to enter, which I promptly refused and instead decided to go back to Paris city to do some shopping. Haha.
And what's Paris without some food? I met up with my friends, Dalida and Zineb, who came to NTU for exchange last semester. They recommended us the truly authentic french food. Mind you, food is rather expensive in Paris. But we went to those touristy kind with set meal and settle for it. Heexun's meal include foie gras and a steak. While mine include escargot and canard(duck). I've got to say they taste pretty good!
Well then, that's all for Paris. We happen to visit during one of the weird weather period in Europe. It is actually hot and warm in Paris, when it's supposed to be cold already as it is officially Autumn. It really is the perfect weather to visit. Everyday clear skies.
One last thing though, one of the favorite past time of Parisians are to sit in cafe and people watch. All the seats are facing the streets and they just watch people walk past. I tried it and got bored within 30minutes, LOL. Oh well, they like to chill and zhuo-boh, what can I say?
The lovely city of Paris. Where so many people say it's a romantic city. Too bad I visited the city with a guy... But I can't find out what's so romantic about Paris though, hmmm... Perhaps you can only find out if you come with a chick.
There are so many attractions to visit in Paris: the Arc de Triomphe; Eiffel Tower; Notre Dame; Champs Elysees(pronounced as shome elly-zee), Versailles Palace; Louvre Museum
Let us start with the Eiffel Tower. This iron tower was built for the World's Fair in 1889, and was meant to be a temporary structure. But they decided not to tear it down after the fair, despite most Parisans complaining that it's an eyesore to their beautiful city. Some interesting tidbits, a tailor once jumped off the tower to test a home-made parachute. He plummeted into the ground, immediately going 6 feet under, if you know what I mean.
As the queue to go up the tower is very long, and we have to pay to go up the tower (even if we climb the stairs), we did not go up the tower. But I did send a postcard from the Eiffel Tower post office, which will give your postcard a special chop on the stamp than the regular posts.
The Arc de Triomphe is located at the end of the Avenue des Champ Elysees. This arc is built to honor those who fought and died for France in the french revolution. What's more interesting to me than the arc is the road around it. It is a massive roundabout, without any lane markings. It is where 12 major road avenue converge, so you can just imagine the traffic situation at the roundabout.
The Notre Dame de Paris is one of the most famous churches in the world. It means 'our lady', which refers to the Virgin Mary. It has a grand facade on the outside, and it is easily the tallest structure in the surrounding neighborhood.
The building has all these weird beast on the outer wall as decorations. I think it is to make it look fearsome.. But anyway, we paid 5EUR to climb up the bell tower, which is about 15 stories tall if my estimate is correct. Once at the top, we get a panoramic view of Paris city. And you get to see up close to all the gargoyles and stone monsters, which apparently is famous.
Anyway, inside the church itself, there's nothing special about it. Probably just like the thousands of churches all over Europe. So I'm not going to talk more about it.
When in Paris, people say it's always worth the trip to Versailles. For history students, remember the Treaty of Versailles? Anyway, IMHO, it's not really worth the trip, lol. Personally I find it boring. Yes, it's a magnificent palace, with a garden the size of Jurong(I think). The palace is just a place for all the French Kings to showoff their wealth, even if they don't have it. But I guess that's what Kings do, build it bigger, grander, better than their predecessors. I finished touring the place in about an hour, which just includes visit to the staterooms and the famous Wall of Mirrors. The huge garden requires additional payment to enter, which I promptly refused and instead decided to go back to Paris city to do some shopping. Haha.
And what's Paris without some food? I met up with my friends, Dalida and Zineb, who came to NTU for exchange last semester. They recommended us the truly authentic french food. Mind you, food is rather expensive in Paris. But we went to those touristy kind with set meal and settle for it. Heexun's meal include foie gras and a steak. While mine include escargot and canard(duck). I've got to say they taste pretty good!
> Escargots (Just taste like any shellfish)
> Foie Gras (Taste very smooth, spread them on the bread like jam)
> Steak
> Canard (duck drumstick)
Well then, that's all for Paris. We happen to visit during one of the weird weather period in Europe. It is actually hot and warm in Paris, when it's supposed to be cold already as it is officially Autumn. It really is the perfect weather to visit. Everyday clear skies.
One last thing though, one of the favorite past time of Parisians are to sit in cafe and people watch. All the seats are facing the streets and they just watch people walk past. I tried it and got bored within 30minutes, LOL. Oh well, they like to chill and zhuo-boh, what can I say?
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