Paris Day1.2 - The Eiffel Tower

I am pissed!! I just lost an hour's work on this entry. After my write up, I press Publish Post and what happens? Server Error!! What the ...... And what happens?? Cannot press BACK to return to the original page. Okay, so I redid this entry rather half-heartedly... Ugh...


Continuing to walk towards the Eiffel Tower.




Our plan was to get to the Eiffel tower and make it to the top of the Eiffel before sunset, so that we can see both the day and night view of Paris from the Eiffel. We probably made it to the base of the Eiffel Tower in time. However, we are obviously too idealistic! There were hardly any tourist when we visited Netherlands. But in Paris, the tourist are everywhere!!


The base of the Eiffel is filled with tourist and we have to queue to buy tickets and then queue to take the lift. As we queue, we lose our precious dayilght!


Here I am waiting for the lift that will bring us to the second tier of the Eiffel tower. You can choose the go to 3 different levels of the Eiffel tower. You pay about 4 Euros to visit the first tier, 7 euros to visit the second tier and 10 euros if you want to go all the way to the top. For 10 euros you can stop and visit the second tier too, because you have to switch to another lift that will being you all the way to the top of the Eiffel. We decide to go all the way out and buy a ticket for the top.


Photos from the second tier of the Eiffel tower. It is still rather bright.













At night, probably from 7pm to 12am, the Eiffel will start sparkling for the first 10 minutes of the hour. These 2 photos were taken between 7-7.30 pm. It is a really pretty sight! We were still on the second tier, so we took these photos of the sparkling Eiffel tip!







Notice that light is slowly fading away.

Officially night time to me.
I guess the point of transition between day time and night time is when all the cars start switching on their headlights and the street lamps and buildings start switching on their lights.


A colourful sky.


Although you can see scenery from miles away, 360 degrees around the Eiffel tower, I guess I like this view best because of the busy road. The headlights contribute to Paris' beautiful night scene and I think this makes this road the most brightly lit view from the Eiffel at night.

After taking some more photos, we decide to take the lift to the top of the Eiffel tower.

Scenery from the top of the Eiffel. Everything looks even smaller and your view extends further.


The view that I like again! Now with the sky darker and the lights more obvious.




The blue strip in the photo is a result of the spotlight from the tip of the Eiffel tower that scans Paris' city night.



We were supposed to meet SC to go to Sacred Heart at 9pm. However, we took longer than expected and were kind of late. This was partly because we were enjoying the view too much, even though it was freezing! Another reason was because we had to queue so much, the whole process of going up and coming down took longer than expected. We queued for tickets, queued for the lift up the second tier, queued for the lift to the top, queued for the lift back to second tier and finally for the lift back to the ground.


Sparking Effel at 9pm.

At 9pm, we have only just reached the metro station nearest the Eiffel. We still have to take the metro for half an hour to another station to meet SC. The sparkling lights come on again, and I sneak a last shot of the Eiffel before rushing into the metro station.

We are half an hour late and luckily for us, SC is still waiting for us 2 late idiots. From the station, we take the funiculaire to the Sacred Heart. You can walk if you don't mind climbing steps. We take a quick tour of the inside of Sacred Heart, because we want to rush off to the Artist Square. It's already 10 plus, and the artist will have all gone home if we are there too late. However, when we reach Artist Square, there are only about 4 stalls left along one side of the road. SC tells us that the square is more crowded earlier on in the night and Qiang and I decide that we must revisit Artist Square again another day. We intended to visit Moulin Rouge that night, but because we were too tired from the hectic day, we decided to leave Moulin Rouge for another day.



2 photographs of the Sacred Heart with different effects.

Paris Day 2

Easter tour Day 1(Paris) - The start of a 20 day trip!

We arrive in France late the previous night. For our time in Paris, we'd be staying at Shian Chin's (SC) friend, Weizhe's place. Weizhe's place is at the station Goncourt. According to SC, it's a rather complicated area of Paris and not a safe place to linger around at night. Once we are out of the station, we walk briskly to Weizhe's place. Probably due to the location, for the rent Weizhe is paying, his appartment is very spacious. Qiang and SC sleep on the sofa bed in the living room, while I get to sleep in the spare room. Wonderful!

After a good night's rest, we are out of the house early in the morning to start our tour. Shian Chin, who has studied in Paris for 5 years, is our tour guide for the day. You use these purple tickets when you travel by metro in Paris. Unlike in Sweden or Netherlands, the ticket can only be used once and not for the whole hour. However, on the weekends, there is a special unlimited day pass for 3.20 Euros. Otherwise the single travel ticket is 1.40 for one and 11 euro for 10. Since today is Saturday, we grab the day pass and intend to make full use of the day.


We pass by the National Art Museum with its super long escalator. There are platforms at each floor for you to stop though, so it isn't continuous.

Along the way, we pass by many souveneir shops, but SC tells us to look around first. Souveneir shops in Paris are everywhere. They usually sell more of less the same stuff, with slight variations in price. SC says some shops may sell the same picture, but the paper quality may differ by quite a lot, so make sure you take notice.

Qiang and I have an idea that when we are on exchange, we should be tasting the food from different parts of the world, so NOOO Asian food as far as possible. However, it seems that people, for eg SC, who have been away from Singapore for long periods of time, actually try to source out Asian food where they are. I guess I would be doing that too, if I was away for more than a year. Anyway, SC recommends having a BAO for breakfast. Heh... So breakfast in Paris is rou bao from a Hongkong supermarket. It's actually pretty good! Later on, we visit SC's school and he brings us to one of the top floors and out to the balcony where he gives us our first overview of Paris. Next we proceed on to the Notre-Dame Church.



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Qiang and I start to take photos of the Notre-Dame church once we can capture the whole church on the LCD screen, while SC keeps telling us to walk a little further. This is the beginning of understanding each person's style of photography.



What SC likes: and I approve. A little more distance away from the object of interest.


PLUS trees to frame the picture recommended! ( I soon learn that lamp-posts will do too)




More photos.

After Notre-Dame Church, we have lunch at this Vietnamese restuarant that SC recommends. It's asian food again, but French food is expensive and at least we know that it's a good bargain and good. Initially, I am apprehensive about having this bo bun thingy that SC suggested. I remember Vietnamese dry noodles usually have to be eaten with some funny sauces. I don't like suspicious looking sauces, esp. those that are red in colour or liquidy. NO chili, tomato or red yong tau fu sauces for me. But I sample Qiang's Bo Bun and its given the green light.

After lunch, we take the metero to La Defense, La Defense is a modern architecture built very recently and completes a series of 3 archs in a row. The 3 archs are built in a line and Paris landscape is such that you can see the other archs from afar when you are at one.





La Defense is actually a business district with many other modern buildings.

The arch's underside

Lounging on the steps of the arch.

View of the area from the steps of La Defense.

Admiring the view

Trying to capture the scenery.

You spot see the middle and most famous arch, L'Arc de Triomphe in the background. Next we walked down the steps towards the arc.


The arc again. As I said, the view from one arch to the other is not obstructed. However, we are still far from the arch and need to take the metro down.

After that, we walk about rather aimlessly and reach a park where we stroll around a bit more.

EEekks! Flowers! haha... My first sign that I'm somewhere warmer.

In front of an amusement park, which we couldn't be bothered to pay for and enter. Decided to head for the arc.

Nature (Spring is here! No more Snow!)

At Arc de Triomphe.




Underside of L'Arc de Triomphe.

Seeing La Defense from L'Arc de Triomphe.

LV in Paris!

Underpass for cars where Princess Diana had her accident.

Messages to Princess Diana

After a whole day of touring, we visit another one of SC's friends in Paris. SC arranges for dinner with his group of friends. Since qiang and I are reluctant to have chinese food again, we decide to visit the Eiffel Tower instead because it is within walking distance from SC friend's place. A rather last minute decision, we rush towards Eiffel Tower because we want to see the sun set when we are on the Eiffel Tower. That way we can capture both day and night pictures.

Eiffel from a distance. Nice park which i suspect is there, mainly so that you can capture Eiffel from a distance without any parts of it being obstructed by buildings.

Sun is still out, but it is getting dark... HURRYY!!

Warning, massive phototaking takes place, to be continued...

Paris Day 1 part 2