Paris Trip - Day One(29th June,2007)
The recent four days trip to Paris was a memorable one.Paris was high on my holiday destinations' list in Europe and eventually I executed my travel plan with panache.It had left indelible mark on my mind for all good and mixed reasons.
Paris is one of the most wonderful cities in Europe with centuries old history and culture.It is the city where Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte ruled in different phases of times.It is situated in the North of France on river Seine.This magnificent city has a nickname 'The City of Light' (La Ville-lumière), a name it owes both to its fame as a centre of education and ideas and its early adoption of street-lighting.
We(me and my wife) took a bus of Eurolines from Frankfurt which left from Hauptbahnhof at 10 p.m. and reached its final stop in east of Paris next morning at around 7 a.m.The bus journey was not so bad but a bit tiring as you did not catch your sleep properly.Our hotel Etap,one of Accor group of hotels,was very close to the bus station so we dumped our luggage in hotel room and straightaway went to Gallieni,the eastern terminus of metro line 3.We bought three days, unlimited use, commuter pass, which is valid in metros,buses,trams and in RER for Zone 3.It is best way to feel the nerve of the city and gives you a lot of freedom to explore the city at your own pace and will.
On day one the very first place we visited was Eiffel tower for obvious reasons.Though the first encounter with Eiffel was not so exciting,and did not appeal to me from any angle.I wondered why so many people across the globe visit this one large electricity-transmission-pole lookalike structure.But then building such a structure way back in 1889-90 as a tribute to hundred years of French Revolution was a big feat and it remained the tallest structure of the world till 1930.Its lattice work of riveted steel beams is highly appreciated over the years.These thoughts had started giving me a reason to feel the grandeur of this structure and more time I spent there, an eerie fascination I had grown with Eiffel.The most striking thing which you find here is lot of fabulously dressed tourists from different parts of the world,some queuing up for going on top of Eiffel,some having romantic walks and some just chilling out in large green space of Champ de Mars.It seems one big gelling pot of different cultures and people from all walks of life. When I started from Frankfurt,it was predicted rains in Paris for next four days and I was a bit sceptical whether rain gods would play spoil sport during my entire stay but thankfully little showers neither in anyway hampered my travel plan nor dampened my enthusiasm to explore Paris to the hilt. We spent around an hour visiting Pont Alexandra III(popularly known as Alexandra Bridge),Palais-Royal and Invalides,which is popular army museum and houses Napoleon's tomb, by bus.We were very tired from overnight journey and decided to come back to hotel room for freshening up and catching some sleep and decided to explore planned areas for the day with fresh mood in the evening.
In the evening the very first place we visited was Museum Louvre,one of the largest museum in the world and is famous for housing painting of Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.In just front of this museum you will find Jardin des Tuileries(Gardens of Tuileries) which was found crowded due to peak of tourist season.We spent the rest of the evening hip hopping in buses to get a feel of the Parisian life.Somehow I found Metros of Paris clumsier and dirtier than Frankfurt.Even catching one metro from a platform to another on the same station required a lot of walk and most of the stations are not supported with escalators and elevators.
Nevertheless,the spirit of the city just takes over you in a mystical way.The architectural grandeur,glamour,culture and rich history are reasons enough for enormous numbers of tourists flocking in throughout the year and with no exception we were also amongst them.
Paris is one of the most wonderful cities in Europe with centuries old history and culture.It is the city where Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte ruled in different phases of times.It is situated in the North of France on river Seine.This magnificent city has a nickname 'The City of Light' (La Ville-lumière), a name it owes both to its fame as a centre of education and ideas and its early adoption of street-lighting.
We(me and my wife) took a bus of Eurolines from Frankfurt which left from Hauptbahnhof at 10 p.m. and reached its final stop in east of Paris next morning at around 7 a.m.The bus journey was not so bad but a bit tiring as you did not catch your sleep properly.Our hotel Etap,one of Accor group of hotels,was very close to the bus station so we dumped our luggage in hotel room and straightaway went to Gallieni,the eastern terminus of metro line 3.We bought three days, unlimited use, commuter pass, which is valid in metros,buses,trams and in RER for Zone 3.It is best way to feel the nerve of the city and gives you a lot of freedom to explore the city at your own pace and will.
On day one the very first place we visited was Eiffel tower for obvious reasons.Though the first encounter with Eiffel was not so exciting,and did not appeal to me from any angle.I wondered why so many people across the globe visit this one large electricity-transmission-pole lookalike structure.But then building such a structure way back in 1889-90 as a tribute to hundred years of French Revolution was a big feat and it remained the tallest structure of the world till 1930.Its lattice work of riveted steel beams is highly appreciated over the years.These thoughts had started giving me a reason to feel the grandeur of this structure and more time I spent there, an eerie fascination I had grown with Eiffel.The most striking thing which you find here is lot of fabulously dressed tourists from different parts of the world,some queuing up for going on top of Eiffel,some having romantic walks and some just chilling out in large green space of Champ de Mars.It seems one big gelling pot of different cultures and people from all walks of life. When I started from Frankfurt,it was predicted rains in Paris for next four days and I was a bit sceptical whether rain gods would play spoil sport during my entire stay but thankfully little showers neither in anyway hampered my travel plan nor dampened my enthusiasm to explore Paris to the hilt. We spent around an hour visiting Pont Alexandra III(popularly known as Alexandra Bridge),Palais-Royal and Invalides,which is popular army museum and houses Napoleon's tomb, by bus.We were very tired from overnight journey and decided to come back to hotel room for freshening up and catching some sleep and decided to explore planned areas for the day with fresh mood in the evening.
In the evening the very first place we visited was Museum Louvre,one of the largest museum in the world and is famous for housing painting of Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.In just front of this museum you will find Jardin des Tuileries(Gardens of Tuileries) which was found crowded due to peak of tourist season.We spent the rest of the evening hip hopping in buses to get a feel of the Parisian life.Somehow I found Metros of Paris clumsier and dirtier than Frankfurt.Even catching one metro from a platform to another on the same station required a lot of walk and most of the stations are not supported with escalators and elevators.
Nevertheless,the spirit of the city just takes over you in a mystical way.The architectural grandeur,glamour,culture and rich history are reasons enough for enormous numbers of tourists flocking in throughout the year and with no exception we were also amongst them.
Labels: Paris Trip Day One
posted by Deepun at 7:58 AM
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