I owe it to Paris!

If Pinoys have Cebu Pacific and Asia has Airasia, Europe has Ryanair. So on my second trip to EU, me and my sister took advantage of the cheap flights they offer. My initial plan was to go to Venice or Milan but my sister, who has already been to several parts of Italy and has never been to Paris yet, wanted to go so we went. I have never been to Paris yet then, who was I to refuse?

Our flight landed us in Beauvais, which is two hours away from Paris. Buses were available for transport to different points in France and timetables where parallel to arrivals so it was very convenient for us as first timers.

Upon reaching the capital, a pang of loneliness engulfed me seeing the old buildings with intricate designs and endless picturesque scenes that screamed ROMANCE! The place was painfully romantic and beautiful beyond words and I was single at that time!!! Even my married-with-2-kids sister suddenly missed her husband upon our entrance to the city! LOL..Every corner and every turn was a postcard moment!

I so wanted to have someone special by my side at that time that was not my sister. She told me she felt the same way and wished her husband didn’t have to work so she could bring him and they could have a full two-day date in the Romance capital of the world.

I gotta say, the pictures of Paris on postcards didn’t take professional photographers to capture the romance. The place is not only oozing with it either, its practically built on sands of romance! Terribly romantic!

For tourists and backpackers, exploring Paris is really not complicated. One can buy a pass that can be used on every type of transport the city has. We got ourselves a two-day unlimited pass and headed for the city center.

Champs de Elysees

This is like EDSA to Manila and Sukhumvit to Bangkok. The center is where the Arc de Triomphe can be found. Oh, how mesmerized I was seeing the original version having seen the replica in Vientienne, Laos many times during our visa runs.

The same day we went to visit the residence of fictional Quasimodo from the movie ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’- the Notre Dame Cathedral. We headed for The Louvre museum and saw the famous paintings and work of arts but I was more fascinated meeting the famous Louvre cube in person! Most photos and postcards feature the outside bit of the cube but I was always intrigued with the hidden bottom bit.

Urban legend has it that the bottom edge is staring down the tomb where Monalisa was buried. I don’t know how true. We had lunch at the museum food court, too! I was soo psyched being one of the few among my friends who could say that! Haha!

After a sumptous (or so it felt for me) lunch of french pasta and a bottle of Evian, we set out for the Eiffel Tower. We both decided to spend the afternoon and the rest of the evening at the tower to store enough memories to last us a lifetime, haha!

Off the train, it was a long walk to the Eiffel, which was awesome because we got to see more sights, corners, nooks, little cafes, bridges and stairs..oh, everything was just beautiful and every inch was romantic and ancient! We managed to buy a painting for each of us to take home, too! She took one of the Arc and I the Eiffel.

It was a long queue going up the tower, took us a good hour to coil around at the bottom of the tower but it was no time wasted. We marvelled at the beauty that surrounded us and took as much pictures as we could. I wanted to dance and jump at the same time when we approached the mouth to the entrance.

We were taken by an elevator to the ‘second floor’ which is the hip part of the tower and from there we had to take the stairs just like everybody else going up.

I grunted for leg pains after reaching the third level but only for a moment.

I just couldn’t wait to get up the highest point man is allowed to climb the Eiffel!

Up there was a magnificent view of the whole city! There were cafe’s and restaurants and all sorts of other shops mostly for suvenirs.

Cold autumn wind was adding to the trance and night was looming when we decided to climb down to explore the vicinity. Lights were beginning to turn on and I told my sister I just wanted to sit on a bench and enjoy the view with a bottle of coke.

This snapshot was to commemorate that.

With what little time we have left before our flight back to Stockholm, we managed to have a peek at the Moulin Rouge Theatre. I always wanted to visit the place of the movie that opened my eyes first about burlesque artists 🙂

Paris is definitely a repeat destination for me, but next time hopefully with a special someone 🙂