Europe 2019 - Day 9

15 May 2019, Wednesday 

The room was freezing so I couldn’t sleep that well. As a result of which, I woke up late and by the time we headed out it was already about 10 a.m. First destination - the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe is meant to honour those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I.

Then we took a stroll down Avenue Champs Elysees, which is like Bahnhofstrasse in Switzerland - the most expensive shopping street in Paris with brands like Cartier, Mont Blanc, Swarovski, Louis Vuitton, (the lovely) Apple, etc etc.

Next - the iconic Eiffel Tower! It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. It was constructed from 1887 to 1889, and is 324 metres tall. The park surrounding the tower is just as beautiful as the tower itself, so lush and green and full of life. I bought some souvenirs from one of the numerous street vendors outside, this guy was from Senegal and he took his change out from his underwear to give to me because he was afraid of pickpockets. We laughed and laughed.

But it is actually no joke. We had been warned many times to be aware of pickpockets in France. Apart from that, many of their train and bus stations stink of piss. It’s unsavoury.

Anyway, after that we headed to the Rodin museum because I wanted to see the sculptor of The Thinker but the entrance fee was Euro 12 so I had to be content with just seeing him from afar in the garden. 

Then a light lunch which for me was a chicken quiche and a chocolate eclair.

Then the Louvre. The entrance fee was Euro 15. The Louvre in itself is remarkable, as it dates back to the 1200s where it served as a royal residence, and became a museum in 1793 during the French Revolution. Now it is home to artworks dating from the 7th millennium BC to the 1850s. The collections are on 5 levels, but I only managed 2 levels which were the sculptors and the paintings. And of course, I saw the original Mona Lisa which is actually quite a small painting. 

By then my feet were hurting but I still had the Notre Dame to see, which was our next destination. We passed the River Seine on the way there. The Notre Dame is a medieval Catholic cathedral dating back to the 12th century, and is home to the famous Hunchback (joke). Unfortunately we couldn’t go in at all, it was barred and heavily guarded due to the recent fire. I could only see bits of it from a distance.

Lastly to the Sacre Couer Basilica where we had to walk uphill and then up some stairs. The view from the top was quite nice, you could see almost the whole of Paris city. We took a funicular down, and back to the hotel for some rest. 

Then we went out again at about 9 a.m. to Moulin Rouge, which is a street selling all kinds of sex stuff, including girls and cabaret performances and all that jazz. But according to my friend who has been here before, it wasn’t as happening as it was before. After that we went back to the Eiffel Tower to see it lighted up, it was quite pretty. 

Then finally back to the hotel to shower and sleep. Today I had walked almost 18 km and my feet were aching. But it was worth it as I basically managed Paris in a day.