Paris trip

Majority of this journal was written in flight back to Mumbai from Paris.

24^th Sep 2005 Saturday

USA- We left for Paris on 24^th morning. The flight was at 7:20 am(Air France), so we left Summerfield suites around 4:30 in morning. To avoid the delay I had done the checkout previous night only.

Ved drove to SFO airport. He had rented the car from SFO airport – HERTZ. It was Hyundai Sonnata. The check in line was very-very long. We just managed to complete the chekin by 7:00. Our first stop was Atlanta. From Atlanta we had to change flight for Paris. Till that time Tia was at her best behavior. Not troubling much. First flight she slept. But the second flight was a different story. She was screaming, shouting and throwing tantrums. Finally we decided to give her sleeping medicine J, as prescribed by the doctor. It took an hour to take effect. Then she slept for 4 hrs. We had checked in 4 baggage, and had 3 hand baggage + Tia’s stroller.

Stroller was given to us by Tony da, when we visited them in US. Luckily Tia took a liking to it and agreed to sit on it. Stroller came very handy when we were moving around in airport and sightseeing Paris.

25^th Sep 2005 Sunday

Our flight reached Paris around 6:00 am. We had decided to keep the 3 big checked in suitcases in RER(train station}. We enquired and came to know of left luggage section in airport itself. They charged us 90Euro.This is very-very more than the amount RER would have charged us{based on the survey done by Ved} It would have come to 30Euro maximum.

After depositing our bags, we went to RER station to go to our hotel. Ved had booked “Hotel De Nevers” in Republique. First he bought 3 days train pass. It gave us unlimited access to RER, metro(m) trains and buses for 3 days.

After purchasing them we went to catch RER train going towards “NOTRE DAME”. From there we had to switch to Metro line(M) for Republique. Now we had 3 bags with us. Ved was having tough time juggling them. We finally reached our hotel around 10:30. Luckily for us our room was vacant and we were allowed to check-in(Though our check in time was 12:00) The room was small with attached toilet. We were paying 45Euro per night for it. We freshened up and were ready for our Paris sightseeing. It was a Sunday afternoon.

The first thing that struck me after landing in Paris, while waiting for immigration was: that there are many black people residing here. Another amazing thing was the “Underground Metro rail” network. Our guide was telling us that to cope up with the increasing road traffic, government started the Metro. It’s line run underground exactly below the road(public property). Not following that path meant government was required to pay taxes to the owners under whose ground they would be contracting the Metro.

The tours we had enrolled were conducted by “CITYRAMA”. Our first tour- PARIS SEINORAMA was going to start at 2:00. There office was at “12, avenue des Champs Elysées”. We had to change trains once to reach there. We got down from the train at “Louvre Museum” stop, which was about 5 minutes walk to the Cityrama’s office. While walking down we saw McDonalds restaurant. We booked ourselves for the tour and came to McDonalds for a bite. By that time Tia had slept on her stroller.

Our bus(famous yellow double decker buses) started at around 2:15 for the - PARIS SEINORAMA tour. We were shown scenic beautiful spots in Paris. We had One hour cruise on the Seine river.

This tour includes: Place de la Concorde, Avenue Champs-Elysées, Arc de Triomphe, A prestigious and residential area near the Bois de Boulogne, One hour cruise on the Seine river, visit to the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower to admire the superb panorama over Paris. The view from the Eiffel tower was amazing and breathtaking. We came down after spending 15 minutes there. Our tour operator had given us an option of breaking from the tour and going back on our own. Ved bought coffee and cookies, and we gorged them sitting on the grass below the tower. Tia too sipped some juice and enjoyed the break by running around on the grass. From there we walked to the fountain just in front of the tower. People were doing roller skates there and high jump using roller boards. Some were drumming, singing and dancing there. It was a complete festive environment. From there we went to “Avenue Champs-Elysées” on Metro.

“Avenue Champs-Elysées” is a tree-lined thoroughfare of Paris, France, leading from the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe. It is celebrated for its tree-lined beauty, its commodious breadth, the elegance of its cafés, theaters, and shops, and the fountain display at its center. Begun by Louis XIV and completed by Louis XV, it led through open country until the early 19th cent. This place was filled with people and hustling and bustling with jubilant crowd. All top fashion brands have their shops here. Filled with lots of restaurants and the pavement on both side of the road was much broader than the road itself. Some restaurant owners had extended their shop on pavements with potted plants and nice seat arrangements. We had dinner in McDonalds there and left for our hotel at around 9:30pm.

We were totally tired by the day end. First by walking so much while sight seeing and then walking equally for the Metro trip. These stations do not have any escalator, lifts. Generally all of them have stairs. And besides climbing up and down the stairs it is quite a walk there, to cover the station. No wonder we did not see any obese person moving around in underground train network. With so much of climbing stairs up and down combined with walking, the fitness level of an individual would always be good. Tia had slept a lot throughout the day and we were dreading that now it will be night waking for us. Luckily she slept in the night too, but very disturbed sleep. She woke up many times crying.

26^th Sep 2005 Monday

Our tour was going to start at 9:00. So we decided to leave at 7:00. All of us dressed up and came down for breakfast. Had coffee and croissant. The hotel we stayed had 2 in-house cats. Tia was so excited to see them that she started shrieking with joy. The owner told me to make her silent, which was little difficult for me J So I took the milk we had ordered for her and fed her in our room upstairs. Our room was in 3^rd floor (18 no.). The best part of the hotel was the lift. It looked very old made of wood and could hold only 2 people. Had 2 wooden doors, which kept closing if not clamped on the wall by hooking them.

This time we were experienced and knew the way to Cityrama office. The only thing we did not know was that the Metro kept running at the interval of 3-4 minutes and waiting time was almost nil. So we reached pretty early around 8:00. We still had an hour to pass. We strolled around the area. Liked some shops, which were artistically decorated. Clicked some snaps there. Looked around at people hurrying for their office. This place had a very nice garden “Jardin des Tuileries”. We roamed around there along with other morning walkers who were there in for daily regime. King Louis XIV’s gardener, Le Notre, who also designed Versailles Park, designed the luxurious Jardin des Tuileries (Garden of Tuileries). Situated on the Right Bank, the Tuileries Garden is the most central park in Paris and serves as the “backyard” to the famous Musee du Louvre. From the Louvre one can walk a straight line through the groomed Tuileries to the historic Place de La Concord, and, still heading westward in a straight line, stroll down the bustling Avenue des Champs Elysees to the stunning Arc De Triomphe.

This trip Tia was the troublemaker. She wanted her way only, which would be roaming on her own, getting down from the bus, rolling on the ground, touching other people’s belongings, opening her shoes………all that she is not supposed to do which would embarrass us in public. If we were holding her back, then she would scream and cry at top of her voice. And by now she had realized that if she screamed in public she could do whatever she wanted. Which was true to some extent.

The Cityrama trip was divided into 2 – morning and day. Morning trip included historical sightseeing, while the day trip had visits to “Louvre museum” and “Montmartre”.

Morning trip included- a drive through the Marais district and the Latin Quarter. A drive through the oldest part of the city will enable you to discover first the Marais district and its "hotels particuliers", i.e. the majestic private town-houses built by the French Nobility 3 or 4 centuries ago. Then by the Bastille Square, you will reach Bercy embarkation place to board a boat in order to reach the City island by the Seine river. After the guided visit (except when mass) of one of Paris highlights: Notre Dame Cathedral, another short cruise will allow you to join again our coach and drive through other historical districts of Paris: Latin Quarter and the Sorbonne University, St-Germain-des-Prés with its old church and its famous "cafés"... Then you will drive back to welcome office located on Pyramides Square, after seeing the admirable Vendome Square and the impressive Opera Garnier.

The first stop of our visit was the “Notre Dame Cathedral. Maurice de Sully, bishop of Paris, decided to build a new cathedral for the expanding population, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Although construction started in 1163, it was not completed until roughly 180 years later in about 1345. Built in an age of illiteracy, the cathedral retells the stories of the Bible in its portals, paintings, and stained glass. It was also here that Napoléon, wishing to emphasize the primacy of the state over the church, crowned himself emperor, and then crowned Joséphine, his Martinique-born wife, as his empress. For that we took around 40 mins Seine river cruise. In the church Tia refused to sit on her stroller and was misbehaving a lot – completely out of control. It was impossible to stand near the guide with her. She was disturbing others. When we entered the Church Ved decided to stay outside with Tia. I went in, but in the meantime lost contact with our guide, who moved ahead with the group. Finally I got hold of them The church is famous for its 2 pillars, which can be viewed from distant. It has beautiful tinted glass windows inside. We finished our tour and came outside. But, I could not sight Ved and Tia. Meanwhile our group went back to the boat. It was around 10 mins walk there. He had told us, that by 11:45 we would leave. I waited for sometime for Ved and Tia, and then realized they must have left for the boat. But it was late now for me to go, my watch was showing 10:50. I decided to stay there in front of the church. After sometime Ved came back with Tia sleeping on the stroller, fuming with anger. {We are still discussing whose fault was it}

The guide had told Ved that they would pick us up from the crossing. We waited there for around 15 mins but to no avail. We moved on our own to Cityrama office for our next tour and reached there around 1:30

Our next tour had visits to “Louvre museum” and then “Monte Marte”. Louvre is the biggest museum in the world. The building, a former royal palace, lies in the centre of Paris, between the Seine river and the Rue de Rivoli. Its central courtyard, now occupied by the Louvre Pyramid Louvre glass pyramid, lies in the axis of the Champs-Élysées. Here too Tia was in her element. It was difficult to keep her sustained and was crying, shouting for no reason at all. If Ved took her away she shouted for me or vice-versa. We finally decided to break from the tour and move on our own. The tour operator gave us the tickets for the next tour. They were to go up and down the Church from ropeway. (To avoid climbing the stairs) The church is one of the highest points in Paris.

We moved around the museum on our own. We had entered the SULLY section, where the history of the museum building was mentioned. In-between we had coffee, pizzas and cookies in a restaurant there. Then went to the DEVON section to see Monalisa. It is situated amongst the room hoarding big-big paintings. It looked to much normal and nothing great amongst other paintings in that room. And is surrounded by hoards and hoards of people. Taking pictures is forbidden on that floor. People were still clicking. Ved too took one of Tia and me hastily. The other thing that was upsetting was that Tia was not eating / drinking anything. She was sustaining in morning milk she had consumed. We had brought juice, milk for her, but she was not consuming anything. Finally at 5:30 we left the museum by coming out of the glass pyramid. Then sat outside in the huge courtyard outside the museum. Tried our best to feed juice to Tia, but alas failed. We moved away from there bought milk for Tia and entered the “Jardin des Tuileries”. During summers the park is open till 9:00 pm. It is summer in Paris till September end. There is a very nice pond in the park, with iron chairs around it and lots of ducks and fountain in it. We saw kids rent wooden sailboats, and sail them on the pond. Tia played there and wanted to go inside the water J or pick up the cigarette butts lying around. Stopping her meant noise pollution.

From there around 7:00 we went towards the Eiffel tower to view it in night. The metro station we disembarked was far off and it was a quite a walk for us. As soon as we reached near the tower the lightning started. Ved wanted to capture it from far(his photographic element was in form) and for that we literally ran away from the tower. As the twinkling lights last for 10 mins only. And to Ved’s badluck he had forgotten to bring a blank camera roll and cancorder too had only 8 mins battery left. He had only 3-4 exposures left. We captured the lights and then started going back home. Thought of having the dinner there itself. We picked up veg sandwich (6Euro) and Pizza slice (7Euro) and left for hotel. The sandwich, which Ved had ordered, was made of very hard bread, but my pizza was delicious and little more for us.

27^th Sep 2005 Tuesday

Tuesday was the day Ved had kept for Versailles and flea market for my shopping. Since we could not visit MonteMarte on Monday, we decided to make it on Tuesday. We started around 9:00 after having breakfast in hotel’s room. For going there we had to catch RER train. From station it is around 10 mins walk. While walking down we spotted McDonalds and also a shop selling jalebees.

Versailles, formerly the capital city of the kingdom of France, is now a wealthy suburb of Paris. The Château de Versailles is one of the largest castles in the world .The Chateau de Versailles has ... more than 2,000 windows, 700 rooms, 1250 fireplaces, 67 staircases and more than 1,800 acres of park. The paintings, tapestries , sculptures ,furniture of this fabulous castle , have been executed by the best Italian and French artists of the time . The Palace of Versailles was the official residence of the Kings of France from 1682 until 1790. It was originally a hunting lodge, built in 1624, by Louis XIII. The French classical architecture was complemented by extensive gardens. The palace was stripped of most of it's furnishings during the French Revolution, and Tuileries in Paris became the royal residence. Versailles is now a national museum. The place is worth a visit with beautiful and huge gardens. We did not visit the gardens but the King-Queen chambers, Museum and hall of mirrors. We were asked to deposit Tia stroller before the visit, which meant one of us had to carry and entertain her. While coming back we had lunch in McDonalds. Our Menu was always same – Burgers and vanilla milkshake along with potato fingers.

Then we headed for Montmartre. Situated in the North of Paris on the top of the Montmartre hill, the Sacre-Coeur Basilica proudly dominates the entire city. Set on a hill 130 meters high, the area of Montmartre looks grandly out over all of Paris. The name "Montmartre" comes from "Mont des Martyrs" (the bishop St. Denis, the priest Rustique, and the archdeacon Eleuthère were all decapitated there around the year 250) Ved was little skeptical whether the tickets the operator had given us previous day would work in funicular (inclined railway). Reaching there we realized it was the same ticket we used for trains. So we were ok. The funicular is operated by the Paris Independent Transport Authority (the RATP). Before going to church we took a small break near a children’s playground nearby. Tia played a lot in the slide there with pigeons flying all around. Then we went up to visit the church. The view of Paris from there is very beautiful. The church building too is very beautiful. I took one snap of Ved and Tia sitting on the church stairs. It drizzled a little when we were there. Not enough to drench us. Then we moved ahead for the flea market by changing 2 trains. When we reached there, we saw that nearly all the shops were closed. Ved referred to his guide book and realized that the market is open from Saturday to Monday. So off we came back after having coffee in a nearby shop. It rained while we sipped our coffee.

Near our hotel there was a restaurant where we saw the board saying “Chicken curry Indian style”. Ved’s plan was to have dinner there after reaching hotel and taking some rest. We must have reached hotel by 8:00. By that time Tia had slept. Ved bought milk for her. We all were so tired that all of went to sleep(no dinner).Around 10:30 I got up to change Tia’s diaper and went back to sleep without even changing to night clothes.

28^th Sep 2005 Wednesday

Ved got up pretty early and finished the packing. Our aim was to leave hotel by 7:00. We managed it by being 15 mins late. We were supposed to buy tickets today as 3 days pass would have expired. But thought that the tour ticket which the tour lady had given us for MonteMarte would work, as it would be one day ticket, not necessarily for the previous day. In Metro there is a system that you need to put in your ticket in a machine slot. Ticket comes out from another end and allows one person to go through. But the passage is very narrow, therefore not possible for stroller to pass through. We were basically folding the stroller and then going. The other day we found out that we could request the ticket counter people(if counter present) to open another gate(if present) big enough for stroller to pass. Luckily in Republique the Metro we took both were present, so I requested them for the same. And we both went through with our baggage. In RER the big gate was open by default and we just passed through it. And in both the places the tickets were not required, though Ved swiped it in Republique. From Airport we picked up our baggage and checked in at gate 2 in 2E. Our flight was leaving from gate E83 that was far off. To go there we got our hand baggage checked and Visa stamped. We had coffee and croissant there. Ved has taken a sudden liking to croissant and has become one of his favorite bread. We had to wait there for long. Our flight got delayed by around 2 hrs, due to some technical snag. Finally we boarded and left for Mumbai.

29^th Sep 2005 Thursday

We reached Mumbai late night and missed our flight for Bangalore. Those people booked us in another flight, which was leaving at 6:00 in morning. Our concern was that, this day complete helper staff of all India airports was going on strike. We just hoped that it might not affect our flight. Luckily we reached Bangalore safely and in time.