Paris happens to be the romantic capital of the world. After coming to London, the first right decision which took was to have all documents in place and apply for a Schengen Visa. We decided to explore for our Christmas break.
We reached Paris at about 9:00 am on 17th December. The first thing which we did was our traditional breakfast at L' Arc Cafe. We boarded the French metro(M1) from Paris city centre- Bercy and reached the 27 avenue for this cafe. Here we had traditional breakfast which included french cheese Omelette, Cappuccino and french muffins.
After the delicious mouth watering breakfast, we headed towards Arc de Triomphe- one of the signature arcs of France. The construction of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris started in 1806 by Napoleon, the French Emperor. This was because he wanted to honor the Grande Armee(the name of the French army at that time).
The Grande Armee had conquered most of Europe and was then considered invincible. The skip the line ticket is £11 per adult. The timings to visit this 10:00 am to 10:30 am.Heading up the terrace one can click beautiful pictures of the city. Arc had mentioned the names of all matyr soldiers who died serving their country.
It also had french army uniforms displayed over the period of time. The war equipments and even the war prison was found as we went inside. e arch stands 150-feet (50-meter) tall and is 148-feet (45-meter) wide. It’s so big that after World War I ended, a pilot celebrated by flying his biplane through it.
After visiting this epic monument, we walked down Champs Elysees the premium road of Paris. On our way we also grabbed some french macrons from the famous shop Laduree. The second place which we now visited was Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris. Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris is symbolically considered the heart of the city. It is one of the main medieval Catholic cathedrals on the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France.The cathedral is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. Even if it was damaged a lot during french revolution, after restoration it is among the best known largest churches not only in France but also the whole world. The calmness and serenity inside makes it a pious place where one sit for hours. The entry here is free and it is flooded with tourists who visit to admire the interiors of the world famous cathedral.
The glasses and the eye dazzling architecture depicts Rayonnant style where the glasses where strained with carvings.
After visiting this, we decided to visit the the legendary and the most epic Eiffel Tower. It is beautiful and worth visiting even during the night because of its night light decoration. This is considered to the prime landmark of Paris. It is named after Gustave Eiffel who contributed to its construction and designing. Eiffel originally designed the tower to be built in Barcelona, but the Spanish council decided it was too expensive and did not match the aesthetics of the city. Eiffel tower had two levels the first and second floor. The approx waiting time is 30 to 45 minutes but it was worth standing at the top of that legendary tower. One of the highlights was the small shops near the tower serving chocolate pancakes, waffles and mulled wine. Admission to the Eiffel Tower varies according to which floor you want to visit. It’s €16.00 to take the lift to the second floor and €25.00 to the top. One can take tickets from Viator and GetYourGuide, they are the best online portals for purchasing tickets
The second day started with the foggy morning and covering the outstanding Eiffel tower. This was located in the main Paris city. We today decided to have breakfast in the shops near Eiffel tower to enjoy the view. After this, we proceeded towards the most beautiful and enriched Louvre Museum in Rue de Rivoli. The total entrance fee for this is €9. The exterior of museum has been a significant part in various movies like Da Vinci Code, James Bond etc.
Leonardo da Vinci's artistic masterpiece Monalisa can be found in this which is displayed here with pride and vanity. Apart from this place has some sculptures like the Winged Victory of Samothrace which is also known as the Nike of Samothrace. (2nd-century BC marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike Victory),Venus de Milo (with missing limbs etc).
I also came to know interesting facts about Louvre. Louvre happens to be the world's biggest museum of the world.Today the Louvre Museum is the world’s most visited museum, averaging 15,000 visitors per day, 65 percent of whom are foreign tourists.
The collection of the museum has been divided into eight parts-- Near Eastern Antiquities, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities, Egyptian Antiquities, Paintings, Prints and Drawings, Decorative Arts, Sculptures, and Islamic Art.
After covering some sections of the museum,we headed towards one most prominent place of Paris which is Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris. This was a typical roman catholic church which celebrated the sacred heart of Jesus Christ. Its construction started in 1875 and ended in 1914.
After visiting the Basilica, we headed to a Japanese restaurant for dinner. The name of the restaurant is Kadoya Restaurant. Here we explored all range of sea food and tried something out of the box. We not tried traditional sushi but also tasted traditional maki, chicken skewers, karage ramen, prawn tempura etc.
This is was indeed the most awaited part of my trip. I was super thrilled because I was visiting it for the first time. I always had this wish to visit the Paris Disneyland after Hong-kong and it was special because I visited it with my most special person who is my husband.
The first day we decided to explore the Disneyland park. The theme park made us nostalgic and we got carried away with the magic of Disney. The first day had little less dangerous rides as I was afraid to try the rides. However we enjoyed the Disney parade and watched the show Mickey and the Magician. There were some thrilling rides which completed my share of adventure for the first day. Some of them were Indiana Jones at le temple, Peter pan ride, Crush's Coaster, Buzz lightyear Laser blast. The day finally ended with Ratatouille's 3D adventure.
The second day we covered Walt Disney Studio. It had more rib chilling rides which made me skip my heart's beat. One of the most terrifying experience was Twilight zone of terror. Some of the other rides included Big thunder mountain, Rock Roller Coaster with Aerosmith guitar ride and Toy soldier Parachute drop. After reviving and surviving the rides, we took the toy train ride to explore the real life behind the reel life. The trip ultimately ended with sparkling Disney fireworks and with the promise that we shall again meet, rejoice and relive the magic.
