Day 5 - Paris, France
A beautiful day, and a day we spent so much on food. This morning, we had to check out of Garden Hotel and make our way to Liberty Hotel, Paris. We did not book our accommodation early on HostelWorld.com hence cheaper hostels were all unavailable and we had to settle for the next cheapest deal we can get, budget hotels. We could not get Liberty Hotel for the first night in Paris therefore we had to book a room at Garden Hotel and then transfer to Liberty Hotel for the next 3 nights.
Garden Hotel is located in a small street along a main street called Avenue Parmentier. I was quite reluctant to leave this place because I love the neighbourhood, especially in the morning when parents with their cute little kids or huge furry dogs would come to the bakery to buy their daily bread. Oh yes it's the dogs. There were many people walking their dogs in the morning, and the dogs came in different sizes and colour! On our first day there, Tian and I saw this old man walking a really Huge dog, very big and fluffy I tell you, and I think I was too stunned by the dog such that I forgot to take out my camera to get a shot of it. Because of the tranquility of this neighbourhood, I was sad to change hotel and had high hopes of Liberty Hotel. After grabbing a quiche for breakfast at our favourite bakery, we set off for Jacques Bonsergent Metro station.
Liberty Hotel is a short walk from two Metro stations, Jacques Bonsergent and Gare De Lest. It might be a less residential place, because there were fewer adults walking their dogs. However, there were many amenities such as a grocery stop which made it convenient for us to buy mineral water and fruits etc. There is also a police station located right next to our hotel which gave us some assurance. Eventually, when we saw our rooms, we knew we had made the right choice.
With a prettier room, television (too), wireless Internet (too) and breakfast provided for the same price of 27.50 euros/night, Liberty Hotel was a more decent hotel. Tian and I gladly left our backpacks in our room and began our sightseeing for the day. First stop, Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre Basilique.
Oh I love this place very much. The streets are lined with cafes and restaurants on both sides, with people just chilling out at the cafes watching tourists go past - very French. It was so hard for us to choose a restaurant for lunch because there were so many restaurants serving the same type of food (think the usual pasta and pizza) and prices were similar too. We couldn't judge a restaurant by the number of patrons because most of the restaurants had about the same number of diners. We couldn't be too picky or else we would not have time for sightseeing hence we settled for this restaurant, Pizzeria Bella Italia.
We had a ham and cheese pizza (of course the name of the menu is something more sophisticated) and a Carbonara. It was our first decent and expensive meal after 5 days, and we were so excited. Tian complained, as I was busy snapping pictures of the food and refused to let him eat first.
See, I even had rose wine and Tian had orange juice, which cost more than my wine. And of course before the main courses came, we feasted on the bread, drenching it in olive oil. I love bread, with butter or olive oil.
We savoured our food as we watched 'buskers' trying to make a living. They are individual men carrying musical instruments (a violin etc.) and they would go up to the outdoor tables of restaurants and cafes and ask the people if they want him to play for a token of money. Most of the time they would be rejected, and then they would continue down the street to try their luck with tourists.
I persuaded Tian to have a tiramisu for dessert! I'm so spoilt haha. Tian can't stand my sweet tooth.
After lunch, we strolled to the Funiculaire de Montmartre. We had trouble finding the basilica and with directions from the locals, we were told to walk to the Funiculaire. Initially, I was wondering for so long what a funicular was before I realised it was a train, more like a lift that moved diagonally instead of vertically upwards, which served to transport people up a hill. We didn't have to buy tickets because our Paris Visite Pass covered for it so up we went! I have no idea why I didn't take photos of the Funiculaire. =p
I have to confess that I went to Europe without knowing the difference between a basilica, cathedral and church. Anyway don't you think this basilica made of white stone is majestic?
To add to the grand factor, it is located on a hill top, overlooking the city, providing yet another panoramic view of Paris. There were so many tourists relaxing on the steps to the basilica, enjoying the view and the cool weather. And there were buskers too!
This was a group of boys' choir, I can't remember where they're from. But they sang very well and got many cheers and applauses from the crowd. Spot the cute guys!
We went on a tour inside the basilica, which was crowded with visitors and locals who were making solemn prayers. I sat down for a very long time inside the basilica to say a little prayer to the Mighty one high up, for our friend to rest in peace, and for her family and friends to have the strength and courage to find inner peace and get past this difficult time of grief.
The walls were badly vandalised, as were the walls of Metro stations all over Paris. The extent of vandalism in Paris was an eye-opener - Imagine the underground rail tracks, the walls of the tunnel in which the train travelled, every single wall of the tunnel was vandalised, "decorated" with huge colourful words which I obviously could not read. Good thing the trains were only minimally "decorated" by the budding artists of Paris.
We love conquering domes! It's tiring, it cost 5 euros each, but since we're all the way in France, why miss the domes! It's good workout anyway haha, and the view is beautiful anywhere.
We continued out stroll towards Montmartre square, where we were greeted by many portrait artists who set up their easels in the place. Sadly, a portrait of myself would cost 50 euros, making that S$100 so I was a very sad girl that day. I would love a portrait of myself so badly, done originally by the French artists at Montmartre, how cool is that! My darling boyfriend just did not think much of it. =p I lingered around the square for a long time, watching these talented artists sketch out faces with such quick strokes of the hand, as if it was such an easy task.
Many paintings for sale. It's a very nice, artsy place.
Another busker or musician, I don't know what her instrument is called, the thing which you feed paper with holes and music is produced as she turned the handle.
From Montmartre, we headed for Moulin Rouge. All I know is that it is located near Montmartre, and from the directions we get from the locals, it was supposed to be 'around the corner' or 'just straight up'. It turned out to be such a long walk, Tian and I really thought we were getting it wrong.
You know you're in Moulin Rouge when you start seeing the sex shops haha. Anyway there's really nothing much about Moulin Rouge in the day, the next time I'm in France, I'm going back there at night. I'm sure it's not that dangerous. I want to see the sleeziness of this famous place!
Making use of the very short afternoon left, we visited Notre-Dame, just in time to visit the cathedral, not in time to climb up the towers. We re-visited Notre-Dame on Day 7, and I'm so glad we didn't miss it.
Don't you think the towers of Notre-Dame are beautiful? I like the great rose window, and also the delicate, soaring columns, and all that ornaments which I can't describe in words, it's so gorgeous. And the square in front of the cathedral was crowded with tourists, and we saw the pigeons! Yeap a trademark of Europe maybe, everyone was crazy over feeding the pigeons and taking pictures of the birds standing on their hands.
This old man was happily feeding the pigeons until they surrounded him and even flew up on his body till he had to shoo them away.
Notre-Dame has got to be one of the most beautiful cathedrals – ok I bet I say that for every cathedral I visit but seriously, Notre-Dame is gorgeous. There was a mass going on but surprisingly, visitors were still allowed to tour the cathedral along the sides, and photography was allowed.
When we first stepped into the cathedral, there was this music that sounded surrounded the whole cathedral. Perhaps to signify the beginning of a mass or something, we don't know. All the tourists followed the sound waves to find the source of the beautiful melody. And we saw the majestic organs of Notre-Dame.
The South Rose Window
Statue of St. Joan of Arc inside Notre-Dame.
The impressive interior of Notre-Dame, with the slender, graceful columns.
The actual size of a chandelier, it was way taller than me.
Candles, some tourists bought them as sourveniors.
(discoverfrance.net) The west front contains 28 statues representing the monarchs of Judea and Israel. The three portals depict, from left to right, the Last Judgment; the Madonna and Child; St. Anne, the Virgin's mother; and Mary's youth until the birth of Jesus.
The full glory of Gothic
(Fast forward to Day 7, we revisited Notre-Dame to climb the towers.) I remembered on this day, there was a long queue to the towers of Notre-Dame, and the thing is they regulate the number of people going up perhaps to avoid congestion on the narrow walkway.
Fantastic birds, hybrid animals and mythical monsters perched on the towers of Notre-Dame. It was quite fun pointing out the different creatures on the towers.
Tian's imitating the stryga - transliteration of the Greek word meaning bird of night, vampire or hag. In oriental legend a nocturnal and evil spirit.
The gargoyles creeping over the surface of the walls
I do not know if we were supposed to find Quasimodo, I thought I read somewhere on the tower that there we can see the statue of Quasimodo hanging down from one of the towers but Tian and I did not manage to find it. I don't think it exists.
I ought to read Victor Hugo's novel one day, maybe I'll appreciate Notre-Dame even more.
Inside the belfry.
I don't know if this is the cathedral's largest bell.
We continued climbing up to the top of the south tower, and we were welcomed by a breathtaking view over the Seine and its bridges, which gave Notre-Dame the rare charm of being a cathedral at the water's edge.
Dinner time! It was a headache deciding on a restaurant for dinner. Latin Quarter is food haven. You'll find a restaurant or café on every street and corner, and each restaurant just gets better and better, or more expensive. =p And by evening, it was getting rather chilly. We settled for this brasserie because we saw that the food portion was huge and the price was reasonable.
The food was so so good. I think we were rather deprived of steak. And fries and salad! We chose the outdoor seats because almost every Parisian in the cafe was smoking and the pollution was unbearable (café was quite crowded). But soon it got too cold for me, I really need a warm and chic winter coat.
A double decker train which Tian thought was cool.
It was only about 7.30pm to 8pm and we thought we had time to visit the Eiffel Tower but traveled all the way there to find that we missed the last lift up to the top level of the Tower by just a few minutes. That means we had to come back for the Tower on another night, blah..
(discoverfrance.net) Built to celebrate the science and engineering achievements of its age, soaring 300m / 984 ft. (320.75m / 1,052 ft. including antenna) and weighing 7000 tons, the structure consists of two visibly distinct parts: a base composed of a platform resting on four separate supports (called pylons or bents) and,
above this, a slender tower created as the bents taper upward, rising above a second platform to merge in a unified column.
An immense structure of exposed latticework supports made of iron.
While the night was still young, we took the opportunity to pose with the Eiffel Tower.
Parc du Champ-de-Mars was a beautiful place to relax on the grass and gaze at the Tower. There were even tourists picnicking on the grass with food and wine!
At the end of Champ-de-Mars there was a huge wall with the word “peace” inscribed in 32 languages. My memory card did not allow me to take a picture of the transparent glass/plastic wall. In front of the wall was the 18th century Ecole Militaire, a military academy.
Parc du Champ-de-Mars was once a parade ground for French troops, now, it is a vast green esplanade beneath the Tower.
It was a long walk to the Metro station and we were so glad to return to our cosy hotel room. Touring can be a tiring affair. It was an interesting night too because from our hotel room, we saw the police bringing a criminal to the police station which was located just next to the hotel. Tian and I are kpo people haha. Good night, Paris!
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