So far it had been a wild ride. We had a blast in both Madrid and Barcelona, Spain in general and they were beyond our expectations. Even though we were repeatedly told that the crime rates were high, we were fortunate enough to not experience any of it. We left Spain with heavy hearts yet were excited onto our next destination, Paris! We took separate night flights from Barcelona to Paris via Air France and Ryan Air( they had limited promotions that time, so it was more worth it to take Air France than Ryan Air).

Day 1

Charles De Gaulle Airport



Once we arrived the busy airport, we made our way to the accommodation via the express train known as the RER. Tips: Get a carnet of tickets (10 tickets) for €14.10 at the nearest Metro station as the individual ticket was pricier at €1.90 each and you would use the tickets anyway as Paris was quite a huge city to travel around. Don't freaked out if you came across locals who just jumped over the machine as they wanted to get free rides.

Eiffel Tower





Our first stop was the one and only Eiffel Tower. Knowing the fact that it was a remarkably famous place for its romantic environment and magnificent building amongst the tourists around the world, we left our accommodations super early in the morning at about 7.30 am to avoid insane queues. The admission for stairs access was the cheapest, at €5. The alternative was through the elevator, which was way pricier. The downside of stairs tickets was that we had to buy it on the spot.




The tower was really beautiful but unfortunately the area was shield by transparent glasses as there were terrorist attack couple of months back in 2017. Hence, the securities were stricter in terms of allowing the tourists to enter the premise. Tourists had to go through scans and their bags checked by the guards before entering.



Nonetheless the long wait and hassle were worth every minute you spent as you enjoy the breathtaking view of Paris from the highest floor of the tower. If you are wealthy enough, you can also dine in at the restaurant at the highest floor. They serve pretty fancy food there.




Musee d'Orsay



Thank god we had our UK student cards with us as ALL the entrance fee for museums and attractions were waived for students studying in European Union universities! Otherwise we would have to spend a hefty sum of money for the trip. Musee d'Orsay was a beautiful museum and it was once a railroad station and now it displayed some of the most fantastic art collections we had ever seen.









On a side note, the museum was humongous. Some of the most prominent collections by artists such as Picasso and Van Gogh were displayed here. There were also sculptures but I was particularly intrigued by Van Gogh's paintings. I found the paintings were pretty unusual but unique in their own ways.




Joe Burger

Image Source: lebonbon.fr

For lunch, we went to a burger restaurant and we were not disappointed by the burgers at all! No wonder it has been called as the best burger place in Paris. No doubt! The burgers were cheap (for Paris standards) and tasty and the fries were equally good! If I remembered correctly we got two burger sets for just €22 and our tummies were really happy with the portions. :)

Latin Quarter




Having the Asian genes in us, we decided to walk around the Latin Quarter for us to digest all the food that we had previously consumed to avoid being bloated and sleepy. According to internet, it was practically a tourist trap as things were sold at an exorbitant price especially Rue de la Harpe. It was however a good walk as we got to admire the Square St Michel and the oh so romantic Seine River.

Shakespeare & Company



After walking for some time, we stumbled upon this harry potter-ish looking bookstore. It was the iconic Shakespeare & Company, a book lover's dream that sold both new and classic titles and the view outside the shop was gorgeous especially during spring where the pink flowers were blossoming and musicians playing their instruments and singing, perfecting your France's experience!


Pantheon


Being the medical nerds suckers for pretty drawings, we ended up with couple of postcards and bookmarks before leaving the shop and went to the next place, the Pantheon. The place was really dreamy as the Pantheon was surrounded by rose shrubs of variety colours and types. It was designed by architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot. From time to time, there would be exhibitions and art galleries held in the Pantheon. Tips: There was a rose garden beside the pantheon and it was worth the time to check them out!

Palais du Luxembourg

Image Source: justfunfacts.com

Image Source: justfunfacts.com

Our next destination was the Luxembourg Palace. Gosh this place was equally dreamy. I thought every area in Paris was simply Instagram worthy. The Palace seemed like it was built according to one of the fairy tale stories that we have read since small! Another eye-catching neo-classical building with a gigantic garden that would take days to appreciate the beauty of each flora being planted in organised manner.

Montmartre




Visiting the palace was really an eye opening for we had not seen one back in our home country. We then left the place and went to Montmarte where it was undoubtedly one of the best spots in Paris as there were plenty of cafes and restaurants! Nonetheless, there were also a lot of tourists around the area as everyone was aiming to take a look at the famous Basilique du Sacre-Coeur de Montmarte, including us eight.





Basilique du Sacre-Coeur de Montmarte



Being a 19th century basilica built by the French following the Franco-Prussian War, the Sacre Coeur Basilica features a massive medieval dome that provided excellent view of Montmartre. If you squint your eyes small enough, you might thought that you are actually at India looking at the Taj Mahal. #kidding. It was worth the euros to get to the top of the tower and enjoy a spectacular Parisian view!

Le Bouillon Chartier






Our stomachs were practically growling by the time we finished walking around Montmartre. For dinner, we headed to this lovely fine dining restaurant. This place definitely had the authentic sense of "old Paris as reviews had mentioned. The waiters were working at an exceptional manner, both efficient and polite at the same time as if they had gone through years of training. Perhaps they actually did. The food was delicious and at reasonable price. The waiter who was serving us had a great sense of humour and naturally we tipped him generously at the end of the dinner.




Day 2

Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris






On our second day at this romantic country, we woke up early in the morning (as usual) to go to the Cathedrale Notre-Dame. Fun fact, the cathedral was actually built on a tiny island that was surrounded by Paris! Of course, bridges were constructed to connect the cathedral to the mainland. It was a Gothic building that stood on the Ile de la Cite and was the symbolic heart of the city. The beauty of the glorious cathedral was enhanced by the blossoming flowers during spring time, making the place dreamy as heaven!


Sainte Chapelle



Another day another church. Yet this is probably the most beautiful chapel I had ever come across in Europe. Saint Chapelle was the finest royal chapel built in France and it housed some of, if not the most majestic collection of stained-glass windows! I had to admit that it was way more impressive than Notre Dame's interior even though the chapel might be minute compared to it and there were not many tourists around, just like we loved it.



Place de la Concorde




We decided to visit open space attractions after going to numerous buildings. Placa de la Concorde was Paris' largest public square with lots of histories. One of the most prominent ones was that the place served as the site of the guillotine that was used to execute Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, Robespiere and many others during the French Revolution. On a bright side, the place did not look spooky at all and there was an obelisk that was well worth to spend some time admiring it. Since it was an open space, it was an amazing opportunity for us to take some photos as well.

Jardin des Tuileries


The Jardin des Tuileries which was located within the Placa de la Concorde was a massive garden itself. It portrayed the Parisian style of intricate landscaping. The gardens were beautiful and had soothing atmosphere with fresh air and trees around in organised plan.

Musee du Louvre

Image Source: cdn.nanxiongnandi.com

The main thing that attracted us to come to Paris other than the Eiffel Tower was this brilliant glass and metal pyramid structure, the Louvre. It was considered the world's greatest art museum, housing some of the most famous paintings such as the Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci. Quick tip: In order to avoid the ultra long queue at the main entrance of the Louvre (glass and metal pyramid), we went into the building through an alternative entrance, which was located at a hotel-like building that was couple of blocks away.

The building itself was marvellous enough and the art collections there were truly impressive, especially the Mona Lisa painting. Almost a couple hundred of tourists were queuing to appreciate the beauty of Da Vinci's masterpiece. I felt as if I was dreaming when I finally laid my eyes on the famous painting that I have seen numerous time on television channels and websites.

Pont Neuf Bridge

Image Source: frenchmoments.eu

After visiting the Louvre, we took some time walking by Seine River and went to see the Pont Neuf Bridge. It was depicted in a famous painting by Renoir and it also was the oldest remaining bridge in Paris. However, the love-locks are disappearing as the town council had decided to clear them but we could still have a stunning views while standing on the bridge.






Seine River Tour

Image Source: secretescapes.com

Admiring the famous Seine River from the side was no fun so we decided to take up a local river cruise. No specific tour operator was recommended but if you were rich enough, you could take a ferry with meals provided as well. It was worth every penny that we had spent as we not only got to look at numerous bridges of different designs, but also the Eiffel Tower when they lit up at dusk. The view was just so gorgeous in every way and it totally made our Paris trip much more perfect.

Arc de Triomphe

Image Source: quefairedesmomes.fr

Everything was amazing so far (minus the smelly and filthy metro stations and cold looks from fellow Parisians). We were pretty pumped to look at the humongous Arc de Triomphe at the lavish ares, the Avenue des Champs Elysess.  The monument was not as secluded as we thought. In fast, it lied in middle of the road, with cars driving here and there. We kind of risked our lives in order to take a wefie. We made it out alive.

Avenue des Champs Elysees

Image Source: wallpaperswide.com

I did not receive a notice that the street would be as grand as Oscar's red carpets. Naturally I was in my comfy clothing and I looked way under-dressed compared to the locals but beyond what was acceptable in the eyes of crazy rich asians. Moving on, the most important thing to be done was to vist the Laduree. While the macarons could be overpriced, I had to admit that they were really really eally tasty. Unlike other macorans that I have tasted, Laduree's was not too sweet and left an amazing aftertaste once you finished the macaron, making me wanting to buy more!

Image Source: expressoparis.com

Image Source: laduree.fr

Image Source: laduree.fr

Image Source: laduree.fr

Day 3

Chateau de Versailles

Image Source: musement.com

Image Source: wallpaperup.com

Image Source: croisieuroperivercruises.com

On our final day of Europe trip 1, we went to the Versailles Palace in the wee hours of the day. As the palace covered 2014 acres of land, it was a sensible move for us as we were slowpokes by nature and we would stop at any place to take photos #asiansatwork. We spent the whole day enjoying the wonderful interiors of the palace as well as the well groomed gardens that comprised of variety of flowers and trees. They are super spacious to the point I thought Disneyland and Universal Studios could be both opened next to each other here. Surprisingly, there was a post office at the area and we could even send some postcards and mails back to our country!

Tips: Do get early to the palace as the queue is already mental by the time you reach there. Otherwise you might as well drop your intention to visit the palace as it will take at least two hours or more to get into the building.

Paris Gallieni Porte Bagnolet

After packing our bags and checked out from the accommodations, we were ready to head back to the UK to begin yet another adventure. We boarded the Eurolines from the bus station instead of getting train because the train tickets were so expensive that they were beyond our budgets. The journey was quite an interesting one. After getting our passports checked at the customs, we got onto the bus and the bus actually drove into a container to be carried across the English Channel via the train!


Everything was pitch black and we were slightly nervous (very afraid) while sitting in a bus in a container. Not the best experience but we got tens of pounds saved for our expenses in the UK. All in all everything was alright. Stay tuned for the second part of our Europe trip. Till then, bye.

Paris Itinerary