So WB was sent again to Belgium for 2 weeks in June.
Of course, for work related reasons… 😦
Since it was a such short notice, BB didn’t get to go with WB..
To compensate for this unfortunate situation, the inhuman Bears will be going in the place of BB! 😀
This time, WB is visiting Paris! the city of Love…… and croissants, yum yum!
WB bought tickets for Thalys (high-speed train), and it only took around 1 hour 15 minutes to reach Paris Gare Du Nord from Brussels Midi.
There was not much to see on the way there, only greenery and some small towns.
Once reached, WB made a beeline to the Metro tickets counter, but couldn’t find anyone manning the counter. So WB and her colleague tried their luck to operate the ticket machine. Immediately, there were people asking if we need help. DO NOT accept their help! They are criminals. And this guy immediately got shoved away by the guards in the train station.
So WB and her colleague tried their best and bought the simplest ticket which cost Euro 1.70 per trip.
Metro ticket looks like this. You can actually buy a one day trip around Paris, for Euro 6.40, it is much more worthy as you will tend to take the metro a lot. Especially if you are not a great walker, like WB 😀
First stop, Galeries Lafayette!
This shopping mall totally blew WB away, it looks more like a museum than a mall!
WB couldn’t afford a single thing here, and a piece of advice, branded stuff here is a tad more expensive than other European cities.
One thing that one cannot miss in Lafayette, is to take the incredibly elegant and classical elevator. So so classy ❤
WB took her lunch on Lafayette top floor, at a Chinese Sichuan restaurant,
This plate of prawn fried rice cost aroung Euro 8. It tastes quite bland, seeing that this is actually a Sichuan restaurant, one would expect kick ass hot food? Apparently not, WB ended up adding a lot of soy sauce.
Next station, the Arc de Triomphe, BB was ecstatic!
Normal boys’ stuff, war and soldiers (with all due respect to the fallen). But secretly this is the favourite spot in Paris for the human WB, not sure why 🙂
The Arc was built to honour those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. If one gets to visit the Arc, don’t just take picture from far, you must take the underground tunnel towards the Arc, which will lead you to the center of the round-about that houses the Arc.
There, an eternal flame burns in honour of all those unnamed fallen in WW1 who were interred beneath the Arc.
From the Arc, the bears walked thru the freakishly long Avenue des Champs-Élysées, (which the human WB nearly lost both her legs due to exhaustion) full of high-end boutiques selling overpriced merchandise, and indeed there was a long que at the LV store 😀
There were also a lot of high-powered cars ready for rent, well, not that WB wasn’t tempted, but the price was a quite out of the league 😦
The only store that WB was interested to visit, is the Disney Store! But unfortunately, WB did not find what she was looking for in the store, but oh well, still it’s a nice store 🙂
Along the avenue, WB thought that she has arriveed in Egypt, on closer inspection, indeed those are hieroglyphs!
It is the Luxor Obelisk, which was originally located at the entrance to Luxor Temple, in Egypt. It is over 3000 years old, now that’s something special. Seeing a little bit of ancient Egypt in the center of Paris! 🙂
After the bears passed by the tall granite needle, they proceeded to walk along the avenue, and reach another arc, this time, it is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, in Place du Carrousel which was built to commemorate Napolean’s military victories.
After passing beneath the Arc, WB finally arrived at the Palais du Louvre! (WB’s legs are detaching itself from the body by now), but for Lourve, WB would walk any distance!
Lourve was the royal residence and seat of government before Versailles became the royal seat. It is now a museum which houses the most valuable and well known masterpiece in the world! The Mona Lisa 🙂
WB feels like being transported back in time, though this feeling is cut short as WB did not have enough time to visit the museum itself.
Reluctantly, BB posed for a picture with WB in front of the Louvre Museum.
Next time, WB swears she will drag BB to witness the pure awesomeness of Mona Lisa! 🙂
Continuing on with their journey, (human WB was already dragging along her half broken legs at this point), they descended upon the Eiffel Tower, and took the mandatory picture with the red pointy A.
Feel the love… ❤ ❤ ❤
Eiffel Tower was the last straw, by now, WB could not take it anymore. So they headed back to the hotel.
The hotel was a budget hotel which cost Euro 80 per night (as they booked quite late). But surprisingly, it is situated at a great neighborhood at Balard metro station, 100m from the exit of the metro, and have lots of Asian food around.
There were two beds, a queen size on ground level, another single on a raised level near the sunroof. WB slept in the one on top, it was a nice experience, like sleeping under the stars 🙂
The bathroom is equipped with all facilities you could ask for, and clean as well. The only drawback was that the room was on 4th floor, and there was no elevator 😦
That night, for dinner, WB had Chinese again. This time, it was much better. The deco was nice, people friendly, but it was strange that there were not many patrons.
WB had prawn fried noodles, which was honestly very good, especially the texture of the noodles. It even inspired WB to buy the same type of noodles home from Belgium, well hopefully it is the same.
Okay, that’s it for the day, now we fast forward to the next day….
The first thing next morning the bears did, was to visit all the famous cathedrals in Paris… First, WB arrived at the foot hill of Sacré-Cœur Basilica, having weak legs, and forecasting that there was still a lot of walking to be done later in the day, WB decided to take the easy way up, with the uphill tram 😀
In case you are wondering, yes the ticket cost Euro 1.70 per trip, same ticket used for metro.
Sacré-Cœur is a cathedral on top of a hill overlooking Paris, (be warned though the view does not include the Eiffel Tower). Nonetheless, the view is still amazingly nice, especially on that clear blue day.
Below, sits the famous Montmartre, WB bought all her souvenirs there, there was a kind college guy that gave tonnes of discount and gifts! 😀
Montmartre, is the place that Impressionist arts breathe to live 🙂
Next stop, the bears travelled down (yes, by foot) the hill to the island in the river, which houses two magnificent cathedrals, yes, TWO! Many tourists always missed out another one, which is a shame.
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Hunchback, you here? Nah.. just an over excited bear, wonder why it’s so high? 😀
So, Notre Dame is hugeeeeeee!
The line to get in was even hugerrrrrrrrrr… WB queued for an elongated U shape to get in.
But it was worth it, there was a mass going on when WB was in there, and pipe organ started playing, the atmosphere was amazing.
Sainte-Chapelle
WB was dumbfounded when she stepped into the chapel.
The arches and stained glass are indescribable, with the daylight beaming in.
Left (top floor) right (ground floor), one has to climb an extremely narrow spiral staircase to reach the main hall. An entrance ticket is required for this cathedral (Euro 8.50), but WB assures you this is a place that you must see in Paris.
These two chapel/cathedral are over 800 years old, built over hundreds of years, intricately designed and crafted, even if one is not religious, still you can definitely feel its ancient aura and power it held for centuries. Definitely recommended by the Bears! (like it need the bears’ recommendation) 😀
One must visit at least one museum before one leaves Paris!
Thus, WB went to Musée d’Orsay to gaze upon the awesomeness of the Impressionist arts. (recommended by a very nice colleague of WB, thanks Ali!)
You need to pay for entrance ticket though (Euro 11), unlike the National Galleries of London.
So the forever rebellious WB took a forbidden picture in the museum, of the big clock,
Why is there a big clock in the middle of the museum you ask?
Because it was a railway station previously, choo choo! 🙂
There are two restaurants in Musee d’Orsay, one on the 5th floor, and 2nd floor.
The restaurant on the 5th floor has modern design, with the giant clock as deco.
The restaurant on the 2nd floor has a more classical theme, feels expensive though 🙂
There is also a balcony on the 5th floor, and there, you can take hell lot of pictures and the curator won’t even care.
It overlooks the Seine River, can you see Sacré-Cœur on top of the hill?
In short, the museum really houses a lot of impressionist arts, and they are really amazing, worth every penny! (or Euro)
As souvenirs, WB couldn’t help but kept the tickets to both Sainte Chapelle and Musee d’Orsay, and also the gold coins sold from vending machine in many cathedrals and museums (each Euro 2).
Before leaving romantic Paris, the bears took one last photo, with Love Lock Bridge in the background… muaxxxxx! ❤
And after that, the bears bid farewell to beautiful Paris… taking the Thalys back to Belgique!
Au Revoir… ❤
Too Fat Bears 