Dheeraj, Subbu, Rk, sadheesh and sangeetha(this is another sangeetha, sadheesh’s wife) too joined us. We had quite a few places lined up and it was 9.30 by the time we left the hostel. We went straight to Montmarte. It was a cathedral on top of a small hillock which supposedly gives one of the best views of Paris. We got down at the station and we had a choice between the stairs and the elevator (Was watching Matrix today.. the choice and stuff, effect of Morpheus;)). Given that usually it’s just about one floor, we took the stairs and it was spiraling on and on and on… at one point I thot ok the station is right under the hillock and the stairs takes us directly to the cathedral on top of it. But after about 4-5 floor equivalent of climbing, we reached the ground level and realized Montmarte was about a quarter mile ahead.
Montmarte by itself was a very beautiful one. And coupled with the fact that it was on top of a hillock with a green carpet, was really a wonderful sight. There was a winch to the ppl up to the cathedral, but we preferred to walk up the incline. Atleast this time we knew when it’s going to end. ;)
After having a look at the cathedral, (btw what’s the diff between a church and a cathedral???) and taking a lot of pics, we came down and started towards Tuileries garden. Got down at the station and saw a pair of beautiful fountain and an obelisk. It had some hieroglyphics, we didn’t know what it was for, thanks to our knowledge of French. And after debating which direction the garden will be, we asked one person who pointed to a gate just behind us. We were in for a disappointment. Still being winter, the whole place was covered with trees devoid of any leaves… The way the trees were set surrounding 2 ponds, and a path thru the trees, it wud really be a beautiful sight when the trees are in full bloom. Spent some time in the garden and our next stop was Arc de Triumphe, this time in the day time.
On the way we also filled up our stomach with some burgers and fries from McD. They had this offer for ppl between 16 and 25. 25% off for young ppl. I thot someone who’s 25 doesn’t get categorized along with a 16 year old. 3 Euros less. Good for me. Coming back to Arc de Triumphe, again here we had to climb a spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiralling set of stairs all the way up to the top… Ufffff cudn’t they just have built it a little shorter… From the top had a nice view of the concrete jungle arnd. J Somehow the view from Top is always wonderful, even if we looking at the same thing from different places. But this was a little special with the 12 roads converging onto the monument. It was a wonderful sight.
Then we got down thru another set of similar stairs and the sun was shining brightly… Experienced that kind of a sunshine after a loooooong time. Actually first time since I came from India. So had a short sunbath ;) and slept for sometime. Then started towards the Eiffel Tower.
There was a hugeeee queue at each entrance to the Eiffel tower. Eiffel tower is basically divided into 3 Floors. The first 2 floors are pretty close to each other and to the ground and can be reached by stairs while the 3rd is on top of the tower which can be reached only by a lift. Just as we reached halfway thru the queue, they closed the entry to the third floor as there were too many ppl in the top floor. We were so disappointed and rued our luck. But thanksfully the lady at the ticket counter said you can go to the second floor and buy tht etickets for the third floor from there and that by the time we get there, they wud’ve opened up the third floor. Just as we got to the second floor, the sun was about to go behind the cloud cover over the horizon and by the time I took out the camera, it was gone. L. Anyway just like the lady at the counter had told us, they started letting ppl onto the third floor and after one queue for the tickets and another for the lift, we started our upward journey to the highest point in Paris. By the time we reached there it was getting dark and soon the city was glittering with the lights.
I’m going short of superlatives for the view… It was like a carpet of all types of strewn with gems. After taking a lot of photos from there, we came down.
We decided we’ll go for the cruise but our bad luck, the last cruise for the day left just 15 min b4 we went there. Then we got to know from a Bangladeshi street vendor that there were quite a few Indian restaurants at some place on line 4 which sounds like Starbucks. We referred to the map and found that it was Strasbourg Saint Denis. We had to change a couple of trains to reach that place and it was already 10.30 and most shops were closed. Thankfully we found one Pakistani restaurant which was just abt to close. We went in and that guy made us rotis out of fresh dough and we had it with Rajma masala. After 2 days of starvation, we had a sumptuous meal and then came back home. Mukul and Dheeraj were not done by the amount of walking we had done and wanted more. So the four of us including Subbu went out for a mid night walk thru the empty streets arnd the Hostel. Came back and fell in the bed and that’s it for Day 2.
Montmarte by itself was a very beautiful one. And coupled with the fact that it was on top of a hillock with a green carpet, was really a wonderful sight. There was a winch to the ppl up to the cathedral, but we preferred to walk up the incline. Atleast this time we knew when it’s going to end. ;)
After having a look at the cathedral, (btw what’s the diff between a church and a cathedral???) and taking a lot of pics, we came down and started towards Tuileries garden. Got down at the station and saw a pair of beautiful fountain and an obelisk. It had some hieroglyphics, we didn’t know what it was for, thanks to our knowledge of French. And after debating which direction the garden will be, we asked one person who pointed to a gate just behind us. We were in for a disappointment. Still being winter, the whole place was covered with trees devoid of any leaves… The way the trees were set surrounding 2 ponds, and a path thru the trees, it wud really be a beautiful sight when the trees are in full bloom. Spent some time in the garden and our next stop was Arc de Triumphe, this time in the day time.On the way we also filled up our stomach with some burgers and fries from McD. They had this offer for ppl between 16 and 25. 25% off for young ppl. I thot someone who’s 25 doesn’t get categorized along with a 16 year old. 3 Euros less. Good for me. Coming back to Arc de Triumphe, again here we had to climb a spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiralling set of stairs all the way up to the top… Ufffff cudn’t they just have built it a little shorter… From the top had a nice view of the concrete jungle arnd. J Somehow the view from Top is always wonderful, even if we looking at the same thing from different places. But this was a little special with the 12 roads converging onto the monument. It was a wonderful sight.
Then we got down thru another set of similar stairs and the sun was shining brightly… Experienced that kind of a sunshine after a loooooong time. Actually first time since I came from India. So had a short sunbath ;) and slept for sometime. Then started towards the Eiffel Tower.
There was a hugeeee queue at each entrance to the Eiffel tower. Eiffel tower is basically divided into 3 Floors. The first 2 floors are pretty close to each other and to the ground and can be reached by stairs while the 3rd is on top of the tower which can be reached only by a lift. Just as we reached halfway thru the queue, they closed the entry to the third floor as there were too many ppl in the top floor. We were so disappointed and rued our luck. But thanksfully the lady at the ticket counter said you can go to the second floor and buy tht etickets for the third floor from there and that by the time we get there, they wud’ve opened up the third floor. Just as we got to the second floor, the sun was about to go behind the cloud cover over the horizon and by the time I took out the camera, it was gone. L. Anyway just like the lady at the counter had told us, they started letting ppl onto the third floor and after one queue for the tickets and another for the lift, we started our upward journey to the highest point in Paris. By the time we reached there it was getting dark and soon the city was glittering with the lights.
I’m going short of superlatives for the view… It was like a carpet of all types of strewn with gems. After taking a lot of photos from there, we came down.We decided we’ll go for the cruise but our bad luck, the last cruise for the day left just 15 min b4 we went there. Then we got to know from a Bangladeshi street vendor that there were quite a few Indian restaurants at some place on line 4 which sounds like Starbucks. We referred to the map and found that it was Strasbourg Saint Denis. We had to change a couple of trains to reach that place and it was already 10.30 and most shops were closed. Thankfully we found one Pakistani restaurant which was just abt to close. We went in and that guy made us rotis out of fresh dough and we had it with Rajma masala. After 2 days of starvation, we had a sumptuous meal and then came back home. Mukul and Dheeraj were not done by the amount of walking we had done and wanted more. So the four of us including Subbu went out for a mid night walk thru the empty streets arnd the Hostel. Came back and fell in the bed and that’s it for Day 2.
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