eating potatoes in london: Day 147 - Paris II - The Palace, the Arc and the Tower

Objective today - to clear the major attractions in Paris, except for the Louvre, which would be done tomorrow.

Stop 1: Château de Versailles
Off to the famous French palace. Many would have heard of the "Treaty of Versailles" that ended World World I. Yeh lor, that Treaty was signed in this Versailles lor. Requires a long metro ride, and change to another train system to Versailles.

Foldable seats at the metro door. Sit when there is no one, fold up and stand when it is crowded. Good feature. :)

The entrance to the Château de Versailles, built by the Sun King, King Louis XIV.

You can see the sun emblem on the head of the bed

The famed Halls of Mirrors. So famous that I didn't hear about it before. :P

Cabinet war room. Key historical moments have happened hear. No idea where was the treaty signed though.

They converted this wing of the Palace into an art gallery.

The Queen's bed. To legitimise the royalty of the child she's pregnant with, she gives birth in public. So say the audio guide.

The glittering gold of the Sun King's Palace.

The famed huge gardens of Versailles.

Funny how the fountains are not turned on today.

I proceed to walk to the Marie Antoinette Estate at the other end of the palace compound, as my day ticket covers the entrance to this place. I tell you, there is nothing much to see there. No audio-guide, everything in French.

I think the wild flowers are more beautiful

A beautiful Gazebo

Another view of the estate.

the rare flowers in the highly-over-rated gardens of Versailles.

Other than the main path with canals and fountains, the rest of the gardens is very much like this - compartmentalised greenary. I felt like I was in a plantation.

The more beautiful side of the garden

Reminds me of the Roman representation of the Nile

I find the palace kinda over-rated. It is not as spectacular as the Viennese Palaces and the audio guide doesn't say much either.

Stop 2: Statue of Liberty
We all know the famous one in New York, as a gift from the French to the Americans. But there is another one in Paris, as a gift from the Americans to the French for their French Revolution. It is still too early to go to the Eiffel Tower, so I've decided to walk to the Statue of Liberty first.

Île des Cygnes, the smallest island on the Seine, where the Statue of Liberty is. Something dramatic happened before I took this photo. Turkish hawkers of souveniors sprint down this island as a police car stop by in an attempt to arrest them. Well, policemen with pot bellies vs nimble hawkers. I think you know the outcome.

The back of the statue

There it is.

Stop 3: Eiffel tower

Come Paris liao, how can don't see its (touristy) landmark right?

The details of the Victorian designs on the base of the tower.

It's already 7.30pm, but still too bright to go up the tower and see the night sights. Sigh, summer. Sun is down only after 10pm. So I've decided to go over to the Arc de Triomphe first.

Protests in commemoration of the Tiananmen incident anniversary.

Stop 4: Arc de Triomphe

Parisan traffic lights - 2 different levels.

The Arc de Triomphe

How to cross over?

The details of the arc

Oh forgot to tell you how to cross the road to go to the arc. There is a underground passage. You can try running across the circle road and if you manage to reach the arc alive, it is blocked anyway. So yeh, go buy the tunnel.

Every time I want to cross the road, I would press the button, and wonder why the traffic light will talk to me. Then when I saw this button with its label undamaged, I finally understand why.....

Back to Stop 3: Eiffel tower

It's time to get up the tower. Well, the lift is freaking expensive (€12) to the first 2 levels, and the queue is long. So I chose to climb up instead (€3.50)

The forgotten structures inside the tower.

View from first level. The pool in the background? That's where most people take picture of the Eiffel Tower with a reflection on a pool.

Every stair landing has trivia facts like this to make climbing up the stairs less boring.

The white lights are part of the light show the Eiffel Tower has 5 minutes after every hour (if I remember correctly). It's just random white lights flashing around the tower.

The Seine is just breath taking at night.

I heart it.

The rest of the tower. You could reach the top by jamming yourself into tins of sardines (the crowded lift). But the view at the 2nd level is good enough for me.