Pop Quiz for you. When you go to Paris what do you see first? Eiffel Tower . So with a bottle of water and a shoulder bag with camera, lens and power cord, I left for Eiffel Tower. Please see pictures at my photoblog at zoto.
Traveling Tip: Paris Metro each ride is 1.40 E. You can buy a 10 pack (for 10.50 E) or a day pass (5.30 E). If you think that you would not be hopping on and off the train for the next stop, 10 pack works great.
Eiffel Tower needs no introduction. When I got out of the train station and looked at this huge structure, it didn’t look very awe-inspiring. In fact, to tell you the truth, I felt disappointed, as it didn’t seem to justify everything that I had read about it. It was only when I went under the tower that I got the idea of how huge it is. Eiffel Tower as many of you know is situated right on the river “La Seine”. It was usual tourist scene with eating and souvenir shops as well as hawkers. The line for the cable car as well as walking tours up the tower was looooonnnng so I postponed that for some other time. Instead I went to “Palais de Chaillot”. It houses a number of museums (four I think) and it was a free day. Outside the Palais de Chaillot you can idle away your time seeing the impromtu show by skaters, skate boaders and bicycles. There are some good Crepe cafes for your Brunch/Lunch
Musee Tip: All Musee (Museums) have a free entrance on the first Sunday of the month, so plan your trip accordingly.
I had to find an apartment. So, I started searching for apartment in the nearby area. Paris, in fact Europe, is a leisure city. People want the life-work (Please note the life comes first) balance and I didn’t find a single rental agency open on Sunday. I walked through the area extensively and the only places that I found open were the cafes. I gave up on trying to find a SIM card on Sunday and just walked around to see the beautiful city of Paris. More about this later.
I had walk a lot and worked an appetite. So, wanted to head back home. I was in front of the “H Tel de Invalides” and thought that I would be near the invalides station. I spent next 20 seconds to contruct a French statement using my limited vocabulary. “Excusez Moi Monseur, Ou a la Gare des invalides?” and he replied sorry I don’t know French and showed me the Map to find out. That is when I realized that a lot of people you meet near a tourist spot are tourists in France. The city of France is not a grid of Avenue and streets like any US city and you find so many tourists with their face dug in their maps trying to find their way around.
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