Instead of it being just a collection of pictures, I was thinking more in terms of a travel guide writeup along with pictures :D
You start at the beginning - after you arrive in Paris - the city has a great public transportation system, so it would be kind of foolish not to take advantage of that - well unless you like throwing money away or you are carrying a LOT of luggage. Be advised that escalators are rare on the Paris metro. The easiest and cheapest way to get to the city from CDG (Charles DeGaulle) airport is the RER B train which takes you directly to the city center - the cost is about 9 euros (as opposed to 60+ euros for a cab) - among the central (and tourist friendly) stops it makes is Chatelet-LesHalles (which is one of the largest metro stations anywhere), St Michel (right opposite Notre Dame) and Luxembourg Gardens (right next to the gardens). In most stations its an easy crossover from the RER to the Metro - of course you might run across a scene like this :D
This time around I had decided to stay at an extended stay type hotel - the benefit is that these hotels have a kitchen, fridge and microwave in the room, and a laundromat on the premises. Given the stunning variety of food available, it gives you the option of buying stuff and keeping them in the fridge. This beautiful fountain was outside the hotel
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| Fontaine des Innocents |
Last time I went to the Louvre (and a very crowded Louvre) - this time because of time constraints I couldnt spend that much time sightseeing so I decided to visit the Pompidou Center which has a great museum.
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| View of Paris (and Notre Dame) from the Pompidou Center |
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| Basilica of the Sacre Couer in the distance |
The museum had a lot of very interesting art pieces - including these couple of Picassos
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| This one titled Printemps (Spring) |
I also hopped on an open top double decker bus one day and roamed around the city - you can hop on and off as often as you like and change sightseeing routes. Here are a few pictures:
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| Paris Opera Building |
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| Moulin Rouge |
The tabac shop and cafe seen in the Shammi Kapoor song is gone :P
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| Gare Du Nord |
The bus took me by this, and I had to take a picture - the Eurostar train to London departs from here as does the Thalys train to Brussels and Amsterdam :P
... to be continued ....
Woohooo! The rush of the metro scene makes a good place for a crime scene :O or one scene within a murder mystery. And I LOVEEE that fountain outside your hotel. The hotel itself sounds like bliss - just a little while ago I was wishing I could leave everything and everyone behind and go live alone in a new place amid strangers and new scenery, and that living accomodation sounds just right! In my mind though, I'm not and never have been that big a fan of Paris; I need more country and nature rather than concrete and metal :P .... that might come from being too habituated to it in my own surroundings :P But regardless it's a lovely experience! I still loveeee museums and artwork and really old things and buildings. Haye
ReplyDeleteAND I really love this method of sharing your Paris trip! :)
Deletehands over a tgv ticket to go to french countryside :P ... i love this method too :D
DeleteYeah, when I stalked you the first time you went last year, the map showed the French countryside :D :D :D
Delete:O .. u stalked me ... u dont strike me as the stalker type ROFL LOLLLL :D
DeleteWOW!!! Now I wanna go visit all these places and rub around :P
ReplyDeleteAwesome Guru ji! you're one lucky bugger !!
=))
DeleteLOLL mr smoke :D i love travelling :P ...next stop rome n florence but it might be a while :D
DeleteRome hayeee ! I was there such a long time back... :(
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