| Paris and Brussels |
| Bon Jour! After two futile attempts to reach the French land, I had almost given-up the thought. But, this time I was told not be scared of the long queue at the embassy as they had set-up a new phone system to book appointments. It burns a big hole in your pocket though!� Anyway, this time with my folks around, I decided to give it a last shot. With all documents and tickets I went to the French embassy confidently! |
| This time I found them very kind hearted.� Waiting outside for just an hour, I was allowed to enter the golden door. A short interview and short fees, that's it! I was then given the golden pass to enter Schengen. Papa-Mummy had already got their Visas back in India. So, we were all set to fly! |
| Day 1 - Paris - 1st November 2003 |
| (Luvre, Champs-Elysee, Place-de-la-Concord, Arc-de-Triomphe, Tour Eiffel) |
| On the 1st November 2003 we left from Heathrow airport for CDG (Charles de Goulle) Paris. It is a very short flight. Actual flying time is not more than 30 minutes. We reached there at about 9:30 AM and headed for Central Paris. Getting train ticket at the airport was bit difficult because of the language bar. But soon I got use to it and learnt few Key Words. Knowing a little bit French always helps in France. I had been studying Paris for last one year. I have done the virtual tour on various sites for n number of times. I was very well aware of trains and maps. The Subway (or underground) system of Paris is no different than London's. Only that, it is very efficient. In three days, we used trains quite extensively and did not experience a single delay. |
| I had already chalked out the day's itinerary and the places to cover. We just had to follow the Metro (underground) map to go to the places. The first place was the most famous art museum, "Mus�e National du Louvre". It houses the world famous painting of Mona Lisa. We spent 2 hours at the museum. If you want to see if completely, it should take at least 6 days. It is a huge building. The surrounding is just scenic. We had breakfast in the Museum's famous restaurant and started for Place-de-la-Concord. It is a long stretch of garden green way from luvre till this place. It is a very enjoyable walk. There are many arts displayed on the way. This green way is full of hawkers like all other streets in Paris. They will come behind you negotiating in Hindi. We were offered 50-60% discounts on everything we were not interested in! Mummy and Papa showed no sign of fatigue on this nearly 4 miles long walk. |
| The place-de-la-concord is a very beautiful place. There are fountains in the centre and it is full of people. It is suppose to be the second best romantic place in Paris after the seine walk close to the Eiffel tower. We spent some time watching people and place and then started for the Arc-de-Triomphe. It is again a long walk. It can be compared to the Oxford Street of London that leads to Marble Arch. All the best designers of the world have their showrooms on this street. We saw the expensive shoe shop and a car shop on the way. The car was worth nearly a million pounds. Not a bad place for window-shopping! The Arc-de-Triomphe is a memorial to the soldiers of war like India Gate or Marble Arch. Every country has this in the capital city. |
| After walking so much we all were exhausted. So we decided to take train to go to Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower). We wanted to see the tower in day and in night. So the best time to get in the queue in Nov is at 3:30 PM. We were exactly in time. After about one and a half hour in queue, we were about to step in the lift to the world?s wonder, The Eiffel Tower! Mummy and Papa were very excited about this. Me too. It takes 2 minutes to reach the first stage. We did not spend much time there as we had tickets for the 3rd and the highest stage. We need to queue again on each stage to go to the next stage. It is most boring part of the tower. At 5:15 we were on the top of the tower. The sun was on the setting side still bright as in day. The first stroke of wind shook me top to bottom. It's difficult to stand such strong wind. Better go with good jackets and gloves if you wish to stand there for long. The view of city from the tower is breathtaking.� You see the beautiful seine river and city on its banks. The wonderful view of Trocadero Garden is awesome. The city is very beautiful indeed. Go there with enough photo reels as you will be short of one soon. The photographic beauty of the city is worth caging in the films for life.� The sun started setting soon. The golden paint on the city turned saffron. Soon, lights started glowing in the far. One after the other, all streets started oozing floodlights. A magical, mind-blowing view of the city is just unforgettable! Soon, the entire city started glittering! Well, this is called an evening in Paris! Why they say that, you just need to experience. No word can define that magical view. It's just amazing! You have to witness it to appreciate. We spent at least 2 hours on this wonderful place and then decided to go back to the hotel. It was 7:15 when we got down. Mummy and Papa were not ready to leave this place so soon. So we sat down in the garden. At 8:00 PM, the tower was illuminated! Lakhs of lights started flashing on this gigantic monument right in front of us. The ornamental beauty of the monument could be compared to any top model exhibiting thousands of diamonds. I have taken a short film of it in my camera. But again, its something to be experienced and cannot be penned! |
| Day 2 - Brussels - 2nd November 2003 |
| (Atomium, Mini Europe, Brussels Nord) |
| I had already booked tickets for Brussels. We started at 6:00 AM that day from the hotel. Finding the coach station was a tough fight. And when we reached there we were told that the coach has been delayed by two hours. The start of the day was upsetting. Also, it was raining like cats and dogs. I was a bit disappointed as my entire plan went on toss. Anyway, I could not do much as tickets could not be cancelled because they were booked in London. We started at 9:00 AM and reached Brussels at around 1:45 PM. With very little time left, as it would get dark early, we decided to take the city tour bus. The city tour buses are against my philosophy, but then, who I am I? The victim of circumstances had no other choice but to bow. |
| I don't like to listen to what I am not interested in those buses. They talk about the place when that is left miles behind. But, I was not very aware of the public transport in Belgium and also, there was not enough time with us. The bus took us to some place so we saw those. Finally, it passed by the famous Atomium. I have heard a lot about it. We got down there and went to see it. It is a Molecule shaped building. The molecule is of Iron. Papa being in to steel business was happy to take a picture with it. Otherwise I could see nothing worth in it. Close to it is the Mini Europe. It is a park, which has all the known monuments of the Europe re-constructed in the reduced scale. This also wasn't a new thing for me. I have seen the same in Netherlands, the Madurodam. For Mummy and Papa this was a novelty. I took many pictures for them. They were enjoying it even though it was raining like anything. After some time we started back to the coach station and also one of the famous tourist point in Brussels, The Nord. Nord means north. The Brussels Nord is sort of new commercial place. It has the telecom building and other major office buildings around. All the buildings around are glazed and shiny. It's a place worth visiting if you happen to go to Brussels. We spent around 3 hours there and then started back for Paris. |
| Day 3 - Paris - 3rd Nov 2003 |
| (La Defence, the Seine tour, Notre-dam, Latin Quarter) |
| We got up little late, as we were quite tired due to the hectic schedule of last two days. We had a breakfast in the hotel and we checked-out the hotel in the morning only. We went to the La Defence, a place in the second zone of Paris. It is something like Brussels nord, but manifolds bigger. The famous Grand Arch is in the entrance of La Defence district. |
| We took a tour of this grand arch. There is a wonderful view of La Defence district from the top of this 200 meters high building. We met an Austrian family when I was trying to get a group ticket to get discount. The Austrian guy gave me his coupon, which got all three of us half priced ticket. There is an art exhibition on the top floor. It was nice.� |
| La Defence is the most modern district of Paris. It has the buildings by the world's best architects. Each build is the architectural marvel. If you really want to see something modern, it's the place to visit. We wondered there for quite some time. Saw malls and IMAX cinema hall. Then we started back for most awaited cruise tour of Paris. Actually, the best time to do this is in the night. Unfortunately, we couldn't do it in the night. We came to a place called Trocadero in the central Paris. It is very close to the Royal Opera. When you come out of the Trocadero tube station, you get to see the majestic view of the Eiffel Tower. There is a long green garden and long row on fountains with a water pond in the middle. It's very beautiful. We sat in the garden for sometime and had our lunch. After some time we went to the seine bay. The river Seine is same as Thames in London. It divides Paris in to two parts. In this river there are many cruise tours. We opted for the museum cruise tour. It is the longest of all. It covers almost all the famous museums in Paris. This tour is worth going for if you are cruising in the morning. It takes you to the famous island in the Seine close to Notre-dam. We got down at the Notre-dam cathedral. It is like any other cathedral in Europe. Close to Notre-dam is Latin-quarter. It is the famous hang out for night in Paris. As I was with my parents, could not appreciate the place. If you are couple, or friends, it's worth visiting in the evening. Be careful while roaming around, as this place is full of muggers. We spent around an hour and had a hot chocolate in typical Latin restaurant. It was a wonderful evening in Paris indeed. |
| Then it was time to fly back to London and we left Paris at about 9:00 PM in the evening. |
| Wonders of Paris: |
| * Bagnolet is pronounced "Bonuvali"! * Mercy is "Thank you!". Pronounced "Messy" * Tube is almost free! It's up to you, whether to buy ticket. * Hindi is widely spoken at all tourist places. * There are no silly "Mind the Gap" signs or announcements. * Fish and eggs are vegetarian. * The hard to reach land is really sweet. |
| Regards, |
| Rahul |
| (Thursday 11th December, 2003/London) |
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