Visit to Paris

26 - 28 January 2007

It was an impromptu decision to go Paris...since it is so nearby (just 1.5hr by train) and since I just gotten my Freedom Pass and since it is such popular & well-known place that everyone yields to be there at least once...I should go there to experience it myself :)


Arc de Triomphe: Monument and museum to commemorate WWI & WWII

This monument is very grand and carries a sense of solumnity and sombreness, as the eternal flame is burning to commemorate those soldiers who served the country...


Cathedrale Notre-Dame De Paris: Masterpiece of gothic architecture, standing by the romantic Seine River that runs through the city...


La Pyramide & Musée du Louvre: The iconic glass pyramid just outside the museum, and this is the art museum that hosts the famous art piece of Mona Lisa...

Musée d'Orsay: Some very famous art museums in town ;)

Eiffel Tower: Of coz, not forgetting one of the most famous monument in the world (324m, 10000 tons), the icon of Paris :)

As we approached by train, it looked magnificent from far, however as we approached closer, it seemed so cold, metallic and somewhat ugly...maybe sometimes some things some persons are better off to admire from far...


Basilique du Sacre Coeur de Montmartre: Church built by public subscription after 1870 defeat in the Franco-Prussian war. Nice view from the top of the church...


Champs-Elysées, by day & at night: A long stretch of avenue that you can shop till you drop ;) This is the most popular street and it is known as the most beautiful street in Europe...*scoff scoff*I don't think so...

Indeed, there is vibrant night life in Paris, as compared to small little Brussels. The street is always so full of people and cars, even at midnight. Somehow this reminds of Singapore too, where people packed along Orchard Road, where there are always lots of social activities and entertainment around...Paris also has a simulating atmosphere for the arts and culture :)

Friends who have been to Paris like it upon their first visit, but somehow I don't really find it facsinating?!! Not sure why, there seems to be too much people around, too much commercialization, too modern and lack of the olden days' European architecture style. Maybe I have pre-assumptions of how Paris will look like, so when it was not my expectation, I feel this way then...or maybe I am just not there long enough to understand the true beauty of the place...

Opps, I almost lost a friend in Paris, he was late for the coach, his simcard was blocked and his mobile was flat, no way I could contact him, but in the end glad that he was back safe and sound :)