We had an extremely short stay in Paris: One full day and a half.
We arrived at Paris in the late morning, took awhile to figure out how to get to Champs Elyseés from the airport, eventually managed to take 'les cars' that took approximately 1 hour ish to get to the center of Paris. I remember staring out of the windows of the crowded bus (so crowded I didn't get to sit beside R, *frowns*, because we were the last few to board the bus - no choice), and what I saw was raindrops and gloomy skies.
It didn't give me the ~sexy~ vibe that I thought every French city would possess, Nice did! But Paris was not a city I was crazy to head to, so I wasn't as disappointed as I was with Venice. In fact, I generally do not like the idea of going to a global/world-class city because I know that it'd mean a fast-paced of life, higher cost of living, plenty of focus onto the economic aspects en genéral. And in my opinion, these equates to lower tourist appeal.
Along the street towards our b&b apartment.
I do have to say, gloomy Paris looks a lot prettier than gloomy London. Only complaint is that Paris has too many vehicles on their roads, pretty evident from the photo above.
For lunch: we braved the rain to seek these koko krunch and milk and evian water. There was a carrefour below our apartment but unlucky us - that day the electricity of the store went down so they were close. Such nasty luck :(
After our koko krunch meal I dragged myself out unwillingly because I felt so gloomy from the gloomy weather. The worst part is our b&b apartment was on the 5th storey, with no lifts, and SPIRAL staircase. The spiral staircase isn't even pretty, damn. Imagine R carrying his 30+ kg worth of luggage + backpack up 5 levels of intense spiralling (and down when we left). PLUS mine, an additional 15 kg. Very good weight training.
Arc de triomphe! For some strange reason I actually do like this arc quite a lot, I feel as though it has more symbolic value than the Eiffel tower and I really like how the roads in Paris radiate out from the arc as a center.
And of course, how could we miss the Eiffel Tower when you're at Paris.
Utmost respect to the architect, such intricate detailing and symmetry.
YAY to brighter looking skies.
So happy that the skies decided to shower us with some love and brought out the sun :')
I love this shot of R!
Specially wore my Paris - City of Light shirt!
Noticed how the trees in Paris are mostly neatly arranged, sometimes to the point of symmetry. :O
Soon it was time to find a place to settle down for dinner!
Here's what we had:
Escargots, best I've ever had!!! SO YUMMY.
Boiled eggs with mayonnaise/buttery cream, yums!
The starters were so good we had such high hopes for our mains (which took forever to arrive), YET THEY DISAPPOINTED US. le sigh. My beef carpaccio was nice in small amounts but as you keep going you realized that you're eating the same thing, over and over, and I lost interest not long after. R's duck was not succulent as desired, chips were disappointingly dry (we had such high hopes coz they looked SO GOOD on other people's plates). Actually, I think the slow service made us expect a lot more, but we ended up feeling disappointed.
Thankfully the ice cream saved an unhappy mains experience.
Can't believe that we spent 2 hours dining at this restaurant and it was already nearly 10pm when we left the place. But we've got to really thank the waiter (who was so slow in serving us), indirectly allowed us to view the most beautiful moments of the Eiffel Tower. Because day view obviously wasn't satisfying enough, we had to go back to see La tour Eiffel - night version.
At 10pm. Instantly bedazzled by the lit-up Eiffel tower against the almost darkening skies
The atmosphere, WAS TRULY THE MOST ROMANTIC ONE I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED.
R and I just stood there, admired the brilliance of Paris - definitely my favourite moment of Paris. Too beautiful. I think I've never felt so touched by an architectural structure. Eiffel tower seems to translate an immense sense of dedication since it is built up from many many small intricate parts.
So beautiful right.
Then R had to interrupt the beautiful moment and SURPRISE ME.
hehehehe R magic-ed out a present for me :') and wished me happy monthsary and told me he loves me. AWW, right in front of the Eiffel tower. So romantic one this boy. ^^ I was honestly pleasantly surprised and I was so happy teehee, girls do love surprises. It's also extremely sweet to receive the surprise at one of the most romantic spots on Earth. :D
HAPPY 8TH MONTH MONSTER *heart heart*
Couldn't resist taking many more shots of the beautiful tower.
We stayed on for a good while (think: almost till 11pm) and while we were walking away from Eiffel tower, we heard claps and cheering from the crowd behind us. R turned and saw THIS:
Eiffel tower which sparkles
I WAS SO STOKED.
Never knew that Eiffel tower sparkles, and they look soooo amazing.
Just like stars landed on the tower.
I love stars.
:')
After a while, THIS happened. Eiffel Tower became colorful!!!!! WHAT SOCERY. Okay I didn't know they switch colours really.
Left the Eiffel Tower with a super good mood :') and left Eiffel Tower with my favourite boy on Earth :3 Only reached home near midnight, boyyy was so exhausted. But definitely the most wonderful night I had this entire trip! :D
The next day, we headed to Champs Elyseés, a shopping street in Paris. Oh I super love the song ever since I had listened to it in French class :D
Visited the Laduree store to get some macaroons. Very long queue!
And no, the macaroons didn't wow me. I didn't appreciate the intense sugary taste from their macarons.
The symmetry and alignment of trees in Paris = deserves a clap.
Entered a park!
The Louvre, we didn't enter.
Then walked to Pierre Hermè to try their macarons.
Love them!! Although we have squashed them a little while shopping at LaFayette. Oops.
Mostly spent the rest of the day shopping at Lafayette, where all the big brands are located in a single mall.
Headed home after a day of shopping and walking. Went to Paul's bakery to buy some croissant for breakfast the next day and a chocolate eclair to share!
I do have embarrassing photo(s) of R eating eclair HAHAHA would love to give it a permanent spot on this blog, but not so sure if he'd like that. (p/s dear, you can bribe me to not post it up here HAHAHA)
And we decided to have Tom yum vermicelli cup noodles for dinner. We first tried it in the afternoon after we bought it from the supermarket downstairs on the way home because we'd forgotten our passports in the morning, so we had to return to get them #fail but #goodfind. WE LOVED IT SO MUCH. I think this was when we started to miss Asian food quite a bit. Was so satisfied from just eating cup noodles alone. :') I LOVE THIS MAMA THAI CUP NOODLE BRAND.
A good ending to the last night in Paris!
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