Day 1: We arrived early morning from London via a 3-hour train ride on Eurostar. As we arrived at the train station, du'Nord, we quickly found our way around and proceeded to take the subway to central Paris.
Turns out, our hotel was just a few blocks away from the Eiffel Tower. As we strode closer to the hotel, we saw that the tower loomed larger over the horizon. By the time we reached our hotel, we couldn't contain our excitement any more. We dropped off our luggage and immediately took off in the direction of the Eiffel.
As we finally arrived at Eiffel, we took many pictures in and around the park/garden that surrounds it. After spending quite awhile taking in the sight, we walked over to the footsteps of the tower. Underneath the tower, we were mesmerized by the sheer size of this steel structure. It is much larger than it appears to be in the photographs. Very impressive.
We toured the gift shops in the vicinity briefly before heading over to the nearby Trocadero on the opposite side of the street. We wanted to get a better view of the tower, so we climbed up the stairs to the top of the marble Trocadero platform. And when we looked back towards the Eiffel, we were rewarded with a fabulous view of it.
That night, for the first highlight of the trip, we returned to our hotel and changed into proper attire, then returned to the Eiffel Tower to dine at Altitude 95, one of the five restaurants in the tower. Our reservation ticket also included a tour of the tower itself. So, after touring the Eiffel from the inside on level two, we got back down to level one and enjoyed our three-course meal (which included a ice seafood platter that also included snails) beside a window table. Our seat had an unbeatable view to the northwest, with Trocadero nearby and La Defense in the distance.
Day 2: We decided to begin the day by visiting places far away, then work our way back. Our first stop was the La Defense, a newly appointed area of commercial and residential zones. As we emerged from the subway, we found ourselves in the middle of the gigantic plaza in the middle of La Defense. We were surrounded by mini-skyscrapers and the Grande Arche to our back. The area beamed with a unique contemporary industrialism. We toured the area, ate lunch there, and took quite a few pictures of the Grande Arche before heading back towards the city.
Our next stop of the day was also one of the most important sights during our Paris trip, the Louvre. Once we made it out the underground maze of shops, where our subway stop took us, we strolled through the Louvre courtyard and arrived at the Pyramid, the entrance to the Louvre. Here we proceeded to the underground again to obtain admission tickets into the museum.
Once inside, our first priority was, of course, to see the "Mona Lisa" by Da Vinci. As we walked towards the gallery that housed the infamous painting, we were at once amazed by the huge collection of art sculptures and paintings contained within this museum. Room after room, hallway after hallway, every inch of this place is covered in masterpieces after masterpieces. It was a pure cultural adventure. Then, as we finally reached the painting, we were instantly surprised by how accurately reproductions have recreated the painting. We were also surprised by how small the painting really is! After viewing the "Mona Lisa," we took our time strolling through the vast galleries of the Louvre, lingering inside its grand hallways. We also came across a rather large window, and we took the liberty of gazing out of it towards the Louvre courtyard from one of these vantage points on the third floor, getting a panorama of the Louvre pyramids. Once we finished the tour, we proceeded out to the underground plaza that surrounds the Louvre and enjoyed a quick afternoon tea and snack. Since we had some time left, we walked through the garden that directly faced the Louvre, to the Concorde, before heading back to the hotel.
Day 3: Next on our agenda was the Notre Dame. To our surprise, it is actually located on an island in the middle of the river. We took quite a few photos of this infamous structure, toured the vicinity, and picked up a few souvenirs along the gifts shops the lined the streets around Notre Damn.
After a brief lunch at a local brasserie nearby, we proceeded to the Centre Pompidou, a museum for all things modern. We appreciated the modern design of the building, but since we aren't so interested in modern art, we decided to pass and move on to other more interesting places, the Opera Theater and La Fayette.
To our surprise, the subway station popped out of the middle of a five-way intersection. We took a few picture of the Opera Theater in this busy intersection before heading to tour the infamous La Fayatte mega-store to pick up some supplies.
Our next stop of the day was the Sacre Couer, where faith, or, in this case, tourism, necessitates climbing a 300-step staircase to reach it. However, the trip is very well worth it. Once at the top, we were rewarded with a close-up view of the church, as well as a panoramic view of the city. It was also to our surprise that there was an artist district right alongside the church with many shops selling one-of-a-kind merchandises. We took our time touring this area before heading down the hill along the main street, where we also discovered a lot more gift shops/craft stores.
But since we still had some time left in the day, we took the subway back to the city, this time taking our time strolling on the Ave du Champ Elyssee and taking pictures of the Arc du Triumphe. We also took a picture of the Lido Theater as a souvenir picture, as this was the place where we were going to see the world-famous Lido dance and light show that night.
And, having seen the show, I have to say that it was awesome. It is a variety song-and-dance show with bits of acrobatics and topless-ness thrown into it as well. There must have been more than 25 segments to it, so there is something for everyone. A segment of it even features figure skating! The stage is technically impressive (whole sets of stages pop out of the floor with the change of each segment). The costumes are brilliant. The compositions are top-notch. To top it off, there is even a bottle of champagne included in your admission price to accompany the show. As the show ended, I only craved for more. It is definitely worth the price of the ticket, especially if it is an occasion of celebration.
Day 4: For our last day, we decided to finish sightseeing the whole of Paris. We began by visiting the tomb of Napoleon at Invalides, then walked toward the Champ Elyssee again through the greatly ornamented Pont du Alexander with its multiple golden sculptures, passing by such places as the Grand Museums.
It was then by chance that we arrived at Magdalene Square, where we were surprised to find a cluster of luxurious fine food stores along side the square. In those stores, food is so delicately prepared, it is an art form in itself. We were getting hungry just by looking at them. Then, in one store, the Fauchon, we sampled the "world's best" ham. Five very thin slices of ham cost us 10€.
Since the area was close to La Fayette, we decided to return there. It was through pure chance that we ran into a Norwegian couple who were there to buy the "le Foie Gras," the French delicacy. After learning the "proper" way of sampling this delicacy, we brought back a more than a dozen packages, as well as a French wine to accompany it when we get back to the States.
We then spent the last few hours visiting the City Hall/Hotel De Ville, and then we went back to the Concorde for some last-minute photos. That night, we decided to pay a visit to the Eiffel Tower once again, this time visiting it at night. Our last photo, and memory of Paris, was of the Eiffel at night, with giant beacons of rotating light shooting across the night sky from its peak.
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