Our third trip in Europe was to Paris!
We had planned the trip during autumn. This time we ensured that we took my daughter's (Aditi's) stroller along with us (after we learnt a lesson from our Italy trip ;-))
We were super excited about this trip; for many reasons:
- Eiffel tower
- Disney Land
- Louvre museum
- ...and many more
Day 1
Säve (Gothenburg) to Rygge (Norway)
We had our flight tickets booked from Moss Lufthavn in Rygge (Norway). Two families, including ours were traveling. We took the train to Oslo, from Central Stationen in Gothenburg to Oslo Central Station. The airport bus service picked us from Oslo and dropped us at the Moss Lufthavn in Rygge. It was about an hour's journey. The scenic beauty in the interiors of Norway was breath-taking...the greenery around was indeed a pleasant treat for our eyes!
By the time we reached the Rygge airport, it was lunch time. We had carried home made Indian food for lunch which consisted of lemon rice and some yogurt. We had our lunch and waited in the lounge to board our flight to Paris.Day 1...continued
Rygge - CDG (Paris)
We reached Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and deboarded the plane. We took our baggage and hired a taxi from airport to our hotel (Citéa Philippe Auguste) for 60 euros. Our hotel was a few yards by walk from the Philippe Auguste Metro station. Our room was clean and cozy.
After staying in Sweden, I felt that Paris and Italy were very congested and polluted. The houses were so closely built, yet very peaceful.
We had some snacks and refreshed ourselves and went around the area by walk - just to get familiar with the surroundings.
Day 2
Disney Land
The most interesting and exciting place to visit - for both, kids and adults! Paris certainly has a lot to offer, so I'd never say "don't go".
We woke up by 5.30 AM, prepared some food for our lunch (and packed them in our lunch boxes). We were ready by 7.30 AM and the weather was very pleasant and just perfect for the long outing in Disneyland!
We reached the Philippe Auguste Metro station and tried to get an automatic metro ticket by swiping our card, but in vain. I could manage speaking little bit of French and got some assistance from one lady, but it was of no use; since we did not get our ticket =D
The ticket distributor finally arrived about 8.15 AM, and we finally collected our tickets. We boarded the metro and it was an hour's journey from Philippe Auguste Metro station. I liked the Parisian metros - they are double-decked and the doors shut smoothly, the stations are also well-lit and makes a foreigner comfortable unlike the Italian metros and stations.
Don't be surprised to see people begging on the Parisian metros!!!
We finally reached Disneyland and the stop is called Marne-la-Vallée (Parc Disneyland). The station was so colorful and full of kids; we adults were automatically focused on having fun.
We entered the park which was highly secured with police and security guards all around. We learnt that food was not allowed inside the park, so we decided to have our lunch and then enter the park.
We displayed our entry tickets and went inside - Aditi was super excited and me and my husband also enjoyed every bit of it, especially Aditi's excitement :)
We visited all the places, ensured we did not miss the top attractions - Fantasyland, Discoverland, Frontierland, and Adventureland (Pirates of Caribbean).
We saw the
chuk chuk papa trainand the disney cartoon characters. We, along with Aditi enjoyed the train ride with the songs and dance by all the disney characters. Aditi started to cry when the show ended :(
We enjoyed every minute shopping, bought some gifts in the some of the shops inside the park. It was almost 5.30 PM and we decided to leave the park, since we had to go back to Paris (which was an hour's journey. We took the metro and reached Philippe Auguste Metro station by 7.30 PM. We shopped for a few snacks and yoghurt for the next day's local sightseeing and headed to our hotel.
We slept early and were ready by 8 AM the next day.
Day 3
Arc de Tripmphe (Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile), Jardin du Tuileries (Tulip gardens), Louvre museum (Musée du Louvre), Eiffel tower (Tour Eiffel) and Seine river
It was a very pleasant morning and our itinerary was to start with the Arc de triomphe and end with Eiffel tower.
On going to the Philippe Auguste Metro station, we learnt that there was a temporary maintenance in that route and the commuters had to take a bus for that day. We were guided to the stop and we boarded the bus, everything was new since we had adapted ourselves to the metro routes and were comfortable with it. Fortunately, we were dropped off on the Arc de Triomphe road (rue l'arc de triomphe) and it was easy to locate the place.
A little about the history of Arc de Triomphe - The Arc de Triomphe is one of the famous Parisian monuments. It means Triumphal arch in English. It was built in the honor of those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars. The names of all French victories and generals are inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I.
We saw the place, took some pictures and had a long nice walk on the Parisian streets, before heading to Jardin du Tuileries. It was about 4.5 kms by walk and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We took a few pictures and had our lunch in the garden. We relaxed for an hour and then went to the Louvre museum.
Louvre, is one of the word famous museums and is located on the right bank of river Seine. This museum is a very huge one, spreading across 660000 sq.ft in area, and consisting of about 38000 objects and 35000 art work. The Louvre was a point of interest in the book The Da Vinci Code and the 2006 film based on the book. The museum earned $2.5 million by allowing filming in its galleries.
The world famous Monalisa painting by Leonardo Da Vinci has been displayed in one of the rooms in the museum.
About the painting... Leonardo da Vinci began painting the Mona Lisa in 1503 or 1504 in Florence, Italy. According to Leonardo's contemporary, Giorgio Vasari, "...after he had lingered over it for four years, left it unfinished...." Leonardo, later in his life, is said to have regretted "never having completed a single work".
In 1516 Leonardo was invited by King François I to work at the Clos Lucé near the king's castle in Amboise. It is believed that he took the Mona Lisa with him and continued to work after he moved to France. On his death the painting was inherited, among other works, by his pupil and assistant "Salai". The king bought the painting for 4,000 écus (gold or silver french coins, whichever in use during that period) and kept it at Palace of Fontainebleau, where it remained until given to Louis XIV. Louis XIV moved the painting to the Palace of Versailles. After the French Revolution, it was moved to the Louvre, but spent a brief period in the bedroom of Napoleon in the Tuileries Palace. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) it was moved from the Louvre to the Brest Arsenal. During World War II, the painting was again removed from the Louvre and taken safely, first to Château d'Amboise, then to the Loc-Dieu Abbey and Château de Chambord, then finally to the Ingres Museum in Montauban.
Theft and vandalism
The painting's fame was emphasized when it was stolen on 21 August 1911. The next day, Louis Béroud, a painter, walked into the Louvre and went to the Salon Carré where the Mona Lisa had been on display for five years. However, where the Mona Lisa should have stood, he found four iron pegs. Béroud contacted the section head of the guards, who thought the painting was being photographed for marketing purposes. A few hours later, Béroud checked back with the section head of the museum, and it was confirmed that the Mona Lisa was not with the photographers. The Louvre was closed for an entire week to aid in investigation of the theft.
The woman sits markedly upright with her arms folded, which is also a sign of her reserved posture. Only her gaze is fixed on the observer and seems to welcome him to this silent communication.
We visited the other ares of the museum and decided to go to the Eiffel tower, as we already had our tickets booked for 4 PM.
We took a bus from Louvre to Eiffel tower. We walked about a few meters from the stop and could see the Eiffel stand tall from a distance. I was overwhelmed to see one of the seven wonders of the world!!!We stood in the queue and within a few minutes entered inside the elevator room and were soon atop the Eiffel tower. The view of the Seine river from the top floor was breath-taking!!! Ah! How I wish for another chance to visit Paris!
It was very windy and really very cold, but we did not want to come down from the 3rd floor. The view was ecstatic and peaceful. We then came one-level down to the 2nd, and spent sometime there as well. Soon, it was getting dusky and we did not want to miss the beauty of Seine :), so we sat by the banks of the river. What a beauty she is! The curves of the river really adds to the beauty of Paris!
Some facts about the tower...The tower stands 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930. However, due to the addition, in 1957, of the antenna atop the Eiffel Tower, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building.
The view of Champs-Élyséese from atop the Eiffel is just beautiful! We could not go there since it started to rain :(
Given a chance, I would not mind settling in Paris (I am serious!) for many reasons - beauty, fashion, easy travel to the neighboring EU countries :). And most importantly, my husband, for his own reasons loves to settle down in France!We saw a man making pancakes near the banks of river Seine; they were not too tasty, but we as usual started craving for Indian food (reminded me of Dosas - Indian pancakes). We had ordered a few of them, with and without cheese and were refilled with some energy to head back to the hotel.
We then walked in front the Champs-Élysées and found out the route to the closest metro station. We walked another good 3-4 kms. Fortunately, we had Aditi's pram :). We took the metro and got down at Philippe Auguste Metro station and went to our hotel.
Day 4 - Back to Gothenburg
We packed our baggage's, checked-out of the hotel and took a metro to the place where we had to board our airport bus. We waited for almost an hour for our bus and bid adieu to Paris!!! We reached Gothenburg by evening and had a good dinner and a peaceful sleep.
