I've wanted to record an account of my trip to Paris for a long time since bt nvr gt round to dg it. Figured this may be e best time to do it, given I'm still too sluggish frm all the CNY festivities to drag myself bk to face the books..
The most beautiful pic I took......Eiffel Tower in AutumnDay 0Still rem the departing flight was at 2340 hrs, supposed to meet my Deputy Director at the gate bt he was e last person to arrive n consequently, i was e last to get onto the plane since I had to pass him the Euros I changed for him. Gt my window seat n in a flight full of ang mohs, was quite glad to see tt i was sittin next to a pleasant looking Sporean mother n her veri well behaved teenage daughter. All i rem of tt flight was me cursing myself for choosing a window seat when there was absolutely nothin bt pure darkness to view outside of e window. During the 13 hr long flight, I had to prevent parched me frm drinkin too much water so as to cut down on e no of toilet visits. I went once b4 the plane took off n tolerated for a few hrs b4 the urge to go came again bt the daughter had her head down on the dining trayboard n was sleepin so soundly tt I was loathe to hv to wake her up. Nevertheless, nature beckoned n i went, "excuse me? excuse me..." like umpteen times b4 she finally woke up. n i felt so bad for wakin both mother n daughter up at the ungodly hr of...ermmm...i din even noe which timezone we were in then..
Day 10600 hrs
Arrived at Charles De Gaulle airport in the early hrs of a Sunday morning, waited a mighty long time for my luggage. Lugged it to the chilling entrance where we waited for our foreign delegate to pick us up. He dropped us off at the hotel at 7 am, promising to return to take us for lunch. Gt to my room, quite small bt a pleasant one which featured door length windows opening out to the courtyard. Promptly smsed Miles b4 setting off for a jaunty mornin walkalong the Champ Elysees. It was a Sunday morning n the whole of Paris was still asleep...The mornin air was cold and crisp, n e weather was an estimated 5 degrees... Finally witnessed the world's most magnificent boulevard n was awed by the mightyArc de Triumph of Napoleon. Picked up a latte and a pastry at the famous St Paul Patissier, sat down on a bench and indulged myself in the cafe culture of Parisien streets as i watched the swirling flocks of pigeons flying ard.
Ard 1pm, Christophe came round to pick us up n we had lunch at Beouf, which meant beef in French. He told us that this restaurant, which was jus round the corner of Champ Elysees was a fave with French celebs n i din doubt it at all. The exorbitant prices on e menu proved that much n it was a reallie elegant n classy place. I had escargots and steak washed down with red wine and champagne whilst my Dep Director oso had steak and raw oysters to go down with. End result being that we were stuffed to e brim with e bill coming up to a hefty 300 Euros for the 3 of us. Befuddled as we were with all tt meat n wine, we decided to gif the sightseein a miss n made our way bk to the hotel rm for a nice snooze.
Woke up ard evening time and decided to venture out alone with a map in hand to make my way to the destination of my dreams....Eiffel Tower. Was unlucky enuff to drop n damage the digicam on tt 1st evening at Arc de Triumph bt my veri 1st glimpse of Eiffel in its magnificent glory was almost enuff to make up for it. The hourly light show was on just at the moment tt i caught my first glimpse of Eiffel and it was simply dazzling in its glittering splendour. I was speechless, ..nt tt there was anione beside me to tok to, anyway. I think I was gaping as I went closer and closer to tt magnificent steel architecture which typefied not only man's amazing engineering feat but also epitomized the classy, elegant city of Paris. I was at the most romantic spot in the world....alone. At tt moment, I wished with all my might tt Miles could be with me den bt suddenly recalled a scene frm Forrest Gump and realised sthg. He may not have been physically present but he was with me on tt first nite I visited Eiffel... afterall.
Day 2& 3Whirlwind of meetings, official meals, sightseeing...
I recall vividly how I threw open all the windows n filled my lungs with the cold, compressing nite air outside, bgt a latte n curled up on an armchair beside the window with my notes spread forth, attempting to churn out all my filenotes so I'll hv e time to totally enjoy myself when he's here. Totally memorable, haha..
Day 3On my last day of meeting, Miles finally arrived in Paris. Fairly flew out of my hotel room to meet him after receiving his msg tt he had arrived in Paris. We decided to meet at the Arc de Triumph. Saw him lugging his luggage with a hefty backpack on his back n as we gave each other a delighted hug, it dawned upon me tt our adventures in Paris were finally gg to start! We had our 1st brekkie tog at St Paul's b4 I went off for my numerous meetings. Met him again at 5 plus pm where we took a long stroll to the La Concorde, took lotsa fotos and went crazy over the Ferris Wheel n started squealing when we saw the glittering Eiffel Tower in e distance. Parted our ways just 2 hrs ltr as I rushed bk to the hotel to prepare for yet another official dinner. That was also Halloween nite.
Day 41st Nov 07 marked our 1st official day in Paris. I was free frm meetings, reports and official meals, woots! Moved my luggage to his hotel and promptly started laying out our grand plans for Paris..Our first stop was the Louvre of Da Vinci Code fame. We spent half a day in the Louvre bt din enjoy it t much. I guess the paintings were all rather ancient for us to fully appreciate it n we gt quite confunded by the maze of stairways and turns in tt pyramid like structure. We rather enjoyed lazing around in the gardens of the Louvre, though...Following which, we strolled along Champ Elysees before finally setting off for the Eiffel Tower and spent the whole evening queuing up to go up the Eiffel. It was a very windy nite n we were totally chilled bt still exhilarated by the beautiful view which greeted us when we finally made it to the top of the Eiffel. We could see miles and miles ahead as there were no tall buildings anywhere to block the sublime beauty of Paris by nite.
Pretty chilled at the top of Eiffel
Lulling in the gardens of Louvre
Day 5This was the loveliest day we spent in Paris, a day that would remain with me forever. We set forth for Musee d'Orsay in the morning, me carrying off the honours of navigating us successfully to the musuem, quite a Napoleonic achievement I wud consider, given hw I've nvr been frens with maps during my 25 yrs of existence. We marched past grand architecture and historical buildings n unabashedly went cam crazy...posing as lost, bewildered tourists, haha..We both loved Musee d' Orsay, which housed much of the paintings frm the 19th century Impressionist movement....shared an affinity with the paintings frm Monet and Van Gogh. Those paintings seemed to talk to u, u get the feelin tt there's a story beneath the canvas. Monet's last painting as below, it was painted when he had almost completely lost his eyesight...Widely hailed by art critics as his masterpiece, Water Lilies...This was the view of his garden pond frm his house.
After having our fill of artistic culture, it was time to feed our growling tummies and we proceeded to picnick along the scenic River Seine, under the beautiful autumn trees of Paris, most of which were shedding their crimson hue of leaves. There were artists painting along the Seine, seagulls were soaring above the river n it formed a most pretty and poetic picture as we munched our way through the sandwiches clumsily made by me. After lunch, we sought some gothic excitement in the shape of the Notre Dame church. Gaped at the weather beaten gargoyles...which unfortunately, in their state of erosion were nt as terrifying as I had once imagined them to be. After exiting the gloomy gothic interior of the church, we went outdoors and spent some time in the park njoying its sombre peace n quiet.
Notre Dame church
Gifing our knackered legs a rest at Notre Dame parkIn e evening, we went for a river boat ride along the Seine. We were fairly ecstatic tt we managed to secure seats outside the sheltered area bt were soon to regret it as it was so cold tt we were struggling to keep warm n curlin myself up into a huddle began to take priority over njoying the river sights. Made e decision to go in n Miles followed shortly. We passed by this bridge which e tour guide told us was a Lovers Bridge n tt we had to kiss someone to be lucky in love or sthg along those lines. Gave each other a quick peck before someone tapped Miles on e shoulder. It turned out to be a black French ger who wanted him to kiss her on both sides of e cheek. Haha...I was beside myself with laughter n gallant him did so ultimately, albeit reluctantly...n it was jus hilarious, I kept tellin him tt we shud hv documented it on the video to show his parents.
Looking out at the River Seine
A freezing river boat rideWe den went for dinner at Chez Clement, a French restaurant n our first proper French meal tog. Waited reallie long to get a table in the crowded midst within n the food was decent, service took a looong time bt the warm chocolate cake was heavenly. Made our way bk to the hotel after a long, tiring bt happy day..
Miles lookin veri happy cuz of the delectable warm chocolate cake with homemade Vanilla ice-cream..
Us lookin fwd to dinner!Day 6Went to Opera Garnier n gt ripped off by someone touting tickets for La Traviata at 4 times e original price. Oh well, figuring this may be the onli time we wud step into Paris' grandest opera theatre, we grimaced and forked out the price, assurin ourselves tt it wud be all worth it.
At Opera GarnierSet off for the Sacre Cour Church, e 2nd highest pt in Paris, after Eiffel...Raced each other up a reallie looong flight of stairs and found ourselves looking out at the whole of Paris..
Sacre CourIt's little wonder the word "timeless" has always been associated with European cities. History doesn't belong in the past for them. It is found everywhere around them. We ventured into the busiest little alley near the church and found a long stretch of reallie interesting and fascinating shops. It reminded me of the Diagon Alley in Harry Potter! being totally intrigued, I spent much time poking ard every nook and cranny of the street before discovering a most prized possession! I found my scowling witch on a broomstick! He bgt it as part of my bdae pressie n I named it Paris. Quite an apt name for it'll always remind me of the beautiful city from now on. We went bk to the hotel for a short nap b4 walking to Opera Garnier for La Traviata where a most exhausted me, with barely a proper view of the stage, promptly fell aslp watching it. As expected, he wudn't let me hear the last of it. Though i hv my sneaking suspicions tt he may well hv dozed off whilst sittin behind me too...I mean hw stimulating can watching an opera performed in Italian with French subtitles be, right? I onli realised recently tt La Traviata is possibly the most famous opera in the world and was e very opera which moved Julia Roberts' character to tears in Pretty Woman. Ha, shame on me...even a streetwalker in LA (in the movie) can be moved to tears, yet it onli lulled me to sleep.
Day 7The bleakest day in Paris. We went to St Pauls for our last breakfast in Paris..
Yummalicious pastries!In a way, i was glad to leave Paris, chilly weather, sucky food at exorbitant prices, nt to mention e nt too warm service. However, the beauty of the city still enthralls me n at the same time, i din particularly wished to return to all tt work piled up. We took the RER train to Versailles, trooped up the 2nd deck of e train n I was pretty quiet as the train took us away frm the hustle and bustle of the city n afforded us a few glimpses of the quiet suburban area of the city.
The queue at Versailles was the longest ever n to stir ourselves out of the monotony, we amused ourselves video-ing the queue, the birds, the cobbled streets, anything! But for all tt waiting, it was a sheer disapptment when we finally gt in...all we saw were throngs n throngs of pple...It was a relief to finally get out of the stuffy Palace and to wander out onto the vast gardens of the Versailles estate. Those visions of autumn beauty shrouded in the misty silhouette took my breath away, it reallie did.
After leaving Versailles, we revisited Eiffel n paid our last tribute to Paris' most famous landmark n possibly the world's most iconic sight as well. We made a pact, or rather, I cajoled him into making a pact...the contents of which shall remain a secret.
It was quite a silly one n of cuz I was way too old to be making such pacts animore. It reminded me of e only other pact I made before. That was with Juan at the age of 14, we solemnly promised each other that we would take a cruise to the Atlantic Ocean a decade later and pay our respects to the victims of the Titanic disaster on 14 April 2006 when we were both 24 yrs old. Of cuz, tt pact did not materialise n i hv little doubt tt this one wud, either..Gt bk to the hotel and did my last round of packing. Fortunately, this time round, other den some souvenirs and food, I din buy any clothes at all n hence din hv to spend half e time sittin on my luggage to cram my clothes in like wad i did in HK.
Day 8....Last DayMorning dawned and I set forth for the airport alone. Checked in bt realised tt I needed to get to the custom taxes office to settle the waiving of the taxes bt found no apparent way to get down to the first floor. Met two French guys who were on e same quest n were lookin for a travelator to go down as well. In e end, out of frustration, we ran down an ascending travelator, were promptly chided by the customs officer before we parted ways, resolving to find our own way out. It was a nightmare, to say e least. Gt onto the flight, gt a window seat again n was seated next to two angmoh guys, one old and one young. Lurking near me was this toddler from hell who cried frm the pt the plane took off right till the pt the plane landed. N this, I'm nt exaggerating. Watched a few soppy love movies, one of which i watched twice and cried buckets over. Leaving a place always makes me feel particularly emotional n nostalgic, i guess, especially if I was alone. A few hrs later...toddler still screaming his head off.....fantasized abt throwin tt toddler off the plane, yes, no kidding...n den dreamed abt flinging myself off instead. In e end, I caught barely a wink throughout tt long, torturous flight journey. Arrived bleary eyed in a rainy Spore n was stuck in the morning jam on a Monday morning. Sped hm, dumped my luggage b4 rushin bk to the office to be welcomed by an exploding inbox, umpteen reports to finish for my worktrip n a terrible jetlag to round it up.
That was Paris, in a nutshell.
I hope i did it justice.
