Days 1 & 2 in Paris

I arrived in Paris from Poitiers yesterday via a two hour long train. From the train station we took a couple of taxis and got to our hotel. We were expecting the hotel rooms to be a bit bigger along since a bit away from the main city, but the rooms are kinda small. But we also thought: why care? we're just gonna spend the night sleeping here, we'll be out throughout the day. Best part is that its got free wifi, even if its just around 1 mbps. And we were expecting it to be a wasted day but thanks to our dad's old friend living here, we went to the Eiffel Tower and then had a great ferry ride through part of the River Seine here. The queue for the elevators (as well as the stairs) at the Eiffel Tower was really really long, but apparently, it could have been way longer. The line for the tickets could be skipped though if only we had booked the tickets to it in advance. The ferry covered most of the bridges and a few tourist stops like the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Unfortunately, the camera's battery died just before the ferry reached Notre Dame, the last stop, but perhaps the MOST amazing. I had to switch to  my cell's uber-sucking cam. We could have availed huge discounts at a lot of places (including the ferry i think) if only we had booked it all at least 15-20 days in advance, but we hadnt even gotten our visa until around 10-15 days ago, so plans in France were kinda uncertain. However we had a great time. Paris seems to be pretty much open even at night, at least the part in vicinity if the Eiffel Tower. We returned back home, after dinner at the friend's place around 1 or 2 am. Paris seems to be pretty much open even at night, at least the part in vicinity if the Eiffel Tower. I slept after uploading and captioning most of the pics taken that day on facebook at around 4 am.

Eiffel Tower during Daytime

River Seine from top of the Eiffel Tower

The courtyard of the Eiffel Tower from the top of it

Me with the Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower at Night

Then today, the friend's son came along with us to guide us through the city. First we went to some Indian restaurant and had something like a brunch, then took an open bus tour. We bought a two day pass coz we werent sure whether we'd be able to cover the city in a single day (plus, the difference between a 1-day and a 2-day pass was of just 4€). We could just complete one of the routes (there are 3/4 in total), so we're planning to go to 2 other routes tomorrow. The main stops we covered on this route were the Louvre Museum, Arc du Carrousel, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the Place de la Concorde and some other places whose names I dont remember/know. The Open Tour buses stop around 6-7 pm, so we had to return. Then again we had dinner at dad's friend's place. Feels good to have some proper food after a tiring day. (:

The Museum Louvre

Arc du Carrousel

Notre Dame

Luxor Obelisk

An Apple Store in the Eiffel Tower's Vicinity

The Eiffel Tower again

Paris is a really complicated city (at least for tourists). Most of the roads look kinda the same, I guess thats the way it is since the Haussmannization of the city in the 19th century (we studied it in 9th/10th std) and metros are usually used to roam around the city. Cars are highly discouraged in France, and most of the streets in Paris are single lane with lots of traffic signals in between, its kinda like making the car drivers frustrated enough to make them give up driving cars. So, we too have been using the metro to get around the city. As for the buses, they're lot slower, thanks to the signals again. Paris seems to be warmer than Poitiers or maybe the weather around the whole country changed, but whatever it is, I didnt have to wear my jacket here. The weather is pretty pleasant, not too hot, nor too cold, just right and a little bit windy at night.

Arrr...........its almost 3:30 am again, gotta catch some sleep.