Day 148 - Paris III - rest of Paris

7 am in my hostel room. Those curtains next to the bed? Draw it if you want some privacy when you sleep.

Unique urinals in the toilet of the hostel.

Usual free breakfast from hostel. One portion of baguette with one container of nutella-like spread. I usually eat 4 rounds of this and pack some baguette and nutella so that I don't need to buy lunch.

Scenic canal next to the hostel.

Stop 1 - Louvre Museum

One of the largest museums in the world, famous not due to "Da Vinci code", the home to the enigmatic Mona Lisa.

The controversial key icon of the Louvre Museum. Added when IM Pei was engaged to renovate the Louvre.

Interesting posters at the Louvre

Interesting posters at the Louvre

Some love it, some hate it. I say i love it. It makes a wonderful main entrance for the Louvre. According to the audio guide, IM Pei's idea is "The transparent is for the living, the opaque for the dead".

Automatic ticket machine. Maybe the ticket office has enough with tourists asking if they have discounts or concessions.

Since the Louvre has just opened, I rushed to the Mona Lisa before it gets its notorious crowd.

There. The lady.

The crowd aren't gathering yet.

But I think this huge picture opposite the Mona Lisa is much better. A Venetian art piece depicting the first miracle performed by Jesus at a wedding feast.

Sculpture court. A nice way to display sculptures that were recovered from the outdoors.

Cool lift at the main entrance. This is when it is all the way up......

......and the whole columns goes down when the lifts comes down.

I forgot the name of this sculpture. Mercury is it?

The long gallery.

They sure know what tourists are here for.

The famed Venus De Milo

And the crowd awed by it.

It was a former palace and fortress, so no surprise that it's really huge.

Part of the countless statues of Sekthmeth by (forgot which Egyptian King).

My favourite Persian motif.

Persian pillar.

Former Napoleon apartments.

The overwhelming crowd at Mona Lisa now.

King Leonadas.

Coronation of Napolean. I didn't know there are so many hidden statements in this!

The touch screen audioguide. Damn high-tech right?

They have already essentalised each gallery, but there are so much to see, that I couldn't finish!

The Great Courtyard.

The inverted Pyramid, where Mary Magadelene is suppose to be buried under according to "The Da Vinci Code"

You can't walk over it, unlike the movie.

I must say the Louvre is really impressive and overwhelming. They have almost everything in the world (that was looted) being displayed. Sculptures, archaeological stuff, artwork etc. The British Museum pales in comparison.

Stop 2 - Notredame Cathedral

Decided to walk along the Seine to the Cathedral and I spotted this interesting bin design.

The Cathedral. One of the largest in the world apparently.

Intricate entrance. Each Entrance has different themes. If I interpreted it correctly, they covered the different Saints, the Nativity, and the Passion.

Modern Confession room.

Beautiful rose

Which saint is this with the head on the hands?

Unfortunately, I'm numbed to Gothic architecture. It's beautiful, it's grand, but that's the only thing I can appreciate about it.

Stop 3 - St Sulpice Church

One of the larger churches in Paris, this church has been made famous recently by "The Da Vinci Code". This is where the supposed Rose Line lies (it's not!).

The infamous line. Actually it is like a sundial, used to tell time.

I laughed out loud when I saw this.

P for Priory in "Priory of Sion"? St Peter lah! One of the two patron saints of this church.

S for "Sion" as in Priory of Sion? St Sulpice lah, another patron saint of the church.

Too bad the facade is under renovation. But I think you can spot the towers being mis-matched. Spent some time trying to look for the Rose Line, which is marked with the Arago Medallion, but couldn't. (Post-note: Found out that there were a few at the Louvre! Argh!)

Stop 4 - Centre Georges Pompidou

House to the Museum of Modern Art, this distinctive building is landmark in Paris on its own.

I didn't go in as I have enough of museums. But it's an interesting place to people watch (at your own risk)

Spotted this along the way. Only the Machas will understand. :)

Stop 5 - Back to hostel and back to London

Went back to the hostel at about 7.30pm to collect my luggage and take the train back to London.

The metro broke down along the way

Cleared UK immigration at Paris Gaud du Nord. Was wearing my "Always give 100% at work" T-shirt. The immigration officer saw it and commented

"so it's Thursday today. You're giving only 20+%?"
"No! I'm on holiday! 0%!"

As usual, clearing immigration is a bitch. It is as though as they change their policy every month.

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.

City of lights indeed.

Time to head down to take the photo of the Eiffel Tower at night and catch the last metro.

Isn't its Victorian designs beautiful?

The tower at the pool. Notice the 2 spot light at the top? It rotates around.

Light show.

Boo!