Living the Dream…Paris

I don’t remember how I became hooked with the idea of going to Paris, but this was definitely reinforced when I enrolled to learn French at the university more than a decade ago. Although up to now I can’t speak the language, I still retained the dream of going there, to experience being surrounded by French speakers, eating their baguettes and pastries and see its famous landmarks. A month ago, I realized this dream, and what made it perfect is that I visited the city with the love of my life.


May 15

Hubby and I left Kuala Lumpur at 11:45 in the evening of 14 May for Paris through Malaysian Airlines (in lieu of the cancelled Air Asia X fight). We arrived at the CDG Airport at 640am (time difference of 6 hours) and we were surprised to see that the airport doesn't look bad as we expected (since it was voted as the worst airport). But it was just Terminal 1 that we saw so we couldn't judge much yet. We went to the immigration and the check was so quick because there was no queue at all. But I just happened to land with an immigration officer who wanted to test an Asian’s capability to understand their language and had my Professor Bautista known, he would have failed me… I didn’t get the officer’s question which he repeated twice “Ou est votre Schengen visa?” (Where is your Schengen visa?). Good thing, hubby, on the other window, just blurted out “Schengen visa” to get my attention to which the officer nodded, afterwhich he put an entry stamp on my passport. Whew! This is common knowledge but let me stress that you have to learn at least basic French before you visit France. But let me also stress that I hadn’t had a good sleep in the plane so my comprehension was more than lower than usual.

From the immigration at Terminal 1, we went to Terminal 3 to buy a carnet (1 set of 10 tickets)since we decided to just take the bus from CDG to Chateau d'eau. Carnet can be used when traveling by bus from CDG Airport to Central Paris (Zone 1) and also in trains and buses travelling within Zone 1 (where most of the landmarks are).  We decided to take the bus from the airport because it is cheaper (about 3EUR/person = 3 tickets)  compared to the train (about 9 EUR/person = 1 billet). The website, http://parisbytrain.com/ is a very good reference on Paris’ transportation system.  We weren’t also sure if it will be difficult for us to take the train with our big luggages, given that it was a 6:30am on a Monday which might be a rush hour for Parisians.   


The bus terminal is just outside of terminal 3. We didn't know how to use the carnet so we ended up not paying for our ride anymore. But the driver didn't check! And even if the ride can be free and hassle-free in terms of not having to transfer from one line to another bringing our heavy luggages, we don't recommend this option because of the heavy traffic all the way to zone 1. The supposedly 1-hr ride took 2 hrs. We alighted at the last bus station at Gare de l’est. It was a 10-min walk to Rue Jarry where Hotel Jarry is situated. That was only around 9am and even if we knew that check in time is at 2pm, we took our chances so we can rest a bit and shower. Unfortunately the room was not free yet but the hosts were kind enough to keep our luggages for the meantime. We spent he next 4 hrs walking to see some tourist spots already like the Republique - which at that time was being renovated. But as forecasted, the weather during our stay here was not good; we got stuck at the subway station because of the hail and rain. On the other side of the subway station is McDonald's where we decided to have our lunch and stay until rains stops. One order of BigMac, McBaguette, and 2 cups of coffee cost 11EUR, not bad.

The rain didn’t stop but we started walking back to Hotel Jarry to see again if we can check in though it was still 2 hours before check in time.  Good thing there was already an available room and since hubby requested for a top room, we got more exhausted from carrying our heavy luggages all the way up to the 5th floor since the hotel does not have any lift.  The room given to us was really small, but at least the bathroom was clean.  We showered and planned to rest a bit, but that bit turned out to be a long sleep that we woke up around 845pm. The nice thing with this part of Europe is that the sun sets at 9:30 and dark creeps in at 10 so it was still safe for us to go out and buy ourselves dinner. There is a Monoprix store in the next block and from there we bought wine, water, ham, cheese, bread and juice for dinner for about 33EUR. After finishing the bottle of wine, we went back to sleep again to prepare for a tour of Paris the next day.

16 May

Fortunately, the skies were starting to become clear on this day. The first in the itinerary is Notre Dame Cathedral which we reached by train using the carnet that we bought (just insert the ticket into the turnstile so the gate will open)

We walked all the way to the Louvre, and didn’t bother to enter and see the Mona Lisa because of the long queue (which now I regret).          
                 



It started to shower so we took cover under the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. Then we bought lunch from a booth of Paul’s – which sells savory pies and sweet pastries. We sat at one area of the Tuilerie Garden where we ate our quiche and blueberry at the .

           

We didn’t realize that there’s a better area before reaching the gates of the Tuileries where you can relax and eat. We sat near the fountain and enjoyed the sun while it was out.

From here we walked towards the Obelisk at Place de la Concorde, where a guillotine used to stand and the death place of King Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette. Then we started strolling along Champs Elysees to reach the Arc de Triomphe by Napoleon.

 
           
 
After 30 minutes of walking, we finally reached the Trocadero, which offers a very good view of the Tour Eiffel.
 
After a cup of coffee, we headed towards Les Invalides, then took the train back to Chateau d'eau. Going back to Hotel Jarry from that station turned out to be a scary instead of a leisure walk because of bystanders along the whole stretch, covering the sidewalks and blocking tourists to invite them to have a nail or hair job. They even send signals to their colleagues on the other end of the road in case they miss a possible customer. To avoid this, try following locals closely or tourist groups.

To end our day, we ate dinner at P’tit Bougnate. It's a bistro around the corner with friendly owners and staff. I'll never forget the meal because I ordered raw meat! There was an option to have it cooked but I didn't read carefully the menu and didn't try to understand what the waiter was saying. I didn't realize that the French eat raw meat! Anyway, it was ground beef mixed with capers, onions and it turned out to taste like salsa. Not bad actually but since it’s raw, I never finished half of it.

17 May

 The raw food from the other night did not upset my stomach (thank God!) so it was still a good day to walk around, despite being cloudy and chilly compared to the other day. We walked towards Sacre Coeur and along the way we checked out the Saint-Quentin market, that sells fruits, veggies, cheeses, cured meats, seafoods, with small eateries and even small appliances store inside that we were able to buy a petit flat iron fit for traveling, for only 29 EUR (half the price of what's being sold in Manila).

As you go near the church, you will pass by lots of clothes and shoe stores. But at the gates of the church, you will find a lot of guys selling friendship bracelets who force tourists to buy the items. Some also go all the way up to the church so be careful not to extend your hand towards them; just by waving your hand to say no will give them opportunity to charge you 20EUR. And if you are able to surpass them, you can go all the way up to the church and enjoy the view of Paris.

We grabbed our lunch along the way and ate at the gardens of Luxembourg Palace, just like what  locals and some tourists do. Just like in the Jardin du Tuileries, there are chairs available for visitors. It was really relaxing to stay here but it was getting windy and chilly so we fixed our stuff and started walking again, this time towards the Pantheon, to the Jardin des Plantes, and lastlly, La Bastille.






 

                                                                                                                                        

Back at the hotel we packed our stuff for next day's trip to Barcelona.  We postponed viewing the Eiffel Tower this evening until our return to the city on the 25th of May, but we didn’t, eventually.

25 May

Our flight from Rome was delayed for an hour and the heat that welcomed us in Paris was just like summer in the Philippines, that all we wanted to do was to grab lunch and sleep. We returned to P’tit Bougnate and there I read carefully the menu to order a well-cooked meal.

 

We returned to Hotel Jarry to sleep, and good thing, even if we were booked at the second level (since we didn’t want to carry heavy bags all the way up again), there were no noisy passersby so we were able to rest a bit.  When we woke up, we went to see the Canal du St. Martin, afterwhich we also grabbed crepes for at a bistro nearby. I forgot the name of the bar but the staff were really really friendly and we loved their crepes, which are chewy and really filling. 

    

       

We let go of our plan to see the lighted Eiffel tower since I was afraid to walk to the Hotel Jarry at dark. I just learned two weeks after our visit there that the tower is already lighted even if there’s still a bit of light, and the effect of the yellow lights on dark blue background is equally nice. Another missed opportunity! But anyway, this ended our tour of Paris since we were scheduled to go back to KL the following day.

26 May

We rode the train from Gare du Nord to the CDG Airport using the billet de CDG (you may buy the billet days before using it so that you won’t have to line up on the day itself).  Although the train was non-stop, we became pressed for time when we reached the airport because of slow service at the check-in counter.  Add to that the long queue at the luggage inspection…so there we were able to prove why it was voted as the worst airport.  Good thing there were still souvenir shops at the boarding area, so I was still able to buy some souvenirs and chocolates. Just 3 minutes after paying for the souvenirs, we were already called to board the plane to say “Au revoir, Paris!”