The excitement continuous…..

Bienvennu PARIS!

After the 3 days trip to London, on the 29th, we headed towards PARIS. We took the Euro Star from Waterloo Station, London to Gare du Nord, Paris. PARIS was FABULOUS. “ You will really like Paris,” priti had told us prior to our departure and it was very true. The city was splendid.

My school friend Aradhana, aka Aru, had emailed us all the details on how to get to our hotel from the Subway. With that direction, we did not have a single problem. The hotel was situated right at the exit of the Ballard station…very convenient place.

This was our first evening at Paris. After freshening up we met up with Aru and her gang at this resturant called “ les Rousollion.” This was one of the hang out spots for Aru and her gang and the most surprising thing was, Aru while skimming the page of lonely planet landed on the same page where this restaurant was recommended! Funny isn’t.

After the quick nibble we went for a stroll around the city. The roads were small yet packed with shops, bakeries, cheese shops and farmers market. Louis Vutton, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Chanel, all the famous brand name shop laid right in front of my eyes. The street looked very similar to the one in New Roads, London on the other hand, mixture of New York and Boston.

Eiffel tower!!! Wow! Got to see the Eiffel tower! So beautiful and so big!

The Japanese have also also made the “ Tokyo Tower,” kind of like the replicate of Eiffel tower. Tokyo tower, is beautiful, however, the only thing that I do not like it is the how the tower is situated in the middle of the busy city. There are no gardens or walking area like the one in Paris!

Our next stop was Louvre. I was excited about going to Louvre. Especially about seeing the Mona lisa. I had read Dan Browns “ Da vinchi code” and was very much looking forward to seeing it. Louvre was simply amazing. The architect.. WOW!!!

The other intersting news is that- they are now planning to open LOUVRE 2, and amongst the 200 applicants, they have selcted a Japanese Architect for the design. YEAH!

We spend about 2 and half hours inside the museum and YES!!! We managed to have a good look at the Mona lisa. Also managed to take her picture. The palace was beautiful. The architect.. Simply breathtaking. Another picture that struck me most was the “ last supper.” The size of the painting was as big as the size of the whole wall, yet the picture was so descriptive. It clearly must have been of years and years of work!

After Loure, we had a nice and collddd walk near the Notre Dame area and had a relaxing lunch at one of the restaurants at the Latin Quarter. One thing you will enjoy for sure in France is the Food!! The food there is unbelievable. It is really really good!

Picasso’s museum is also a must go place and another of my favorite one is the Musee of Rodin! I had studied about Rodin during my junior and senior of high school and finally had the chance to see it. The thinker, the gate of hell… I had read about it and was happy to have actually been able to see it!

We also had a nice boat ride at the Saine River. The view was spectacular. It is really amazing how many bridges the town had. There really were lots!!!

New Years was great in Paris. Together with Pradeep dai and Kamana, we welcomed the New year 2006 in Paris, the city of love.

We had bit of a trouble finding cabs as all the train station was closed. BUT, huffing and puffing, we did manage to get to the hotel at 2:00 in the morning. It was a memorable incident.

Again! Happpy New Year to everyone!!!