The Paris Chronicles : Day 1

We arrived at Orly airport at a few minutes before 9AM on Good Friday. From there, we rode the Orly Bus to Denfert-Rochereau station. There we bought tickets for the metro and got on the M6 line to Charles De Gaulle Etoile station. From there, we rode the M2 to Courcelles. :D It's surprising that I remember these things since I'm the type of person who can get lost in my own backyard (exaggerating of course). Oh well, the metro map/metro system is really very, very efficient and travel-friendly.

Oh, and what's amazing about the metro is that every single time, without fail, there was always a person/persons playing an instrument, singing, dancing, performing... I saw all kinds of instruments, from the common guitar to a harpsichord! It was entertaining every time. Check out the pic of Ria and me on the metro with a musician in the background.
My first view of the Eiffel Tower came while riding the metro, we passed Bir Haiken station ond on my right was the Eiffel Tower... wow. However brief it was, it was then that I realized that I was really in Paris.

We stayed at the Hilton Arc de Triomphe, courtesy of Ria and Eisel who used their Hilton Rewards and exchanged them for extremely low rates. We made a quick check in before heading out. We had brunch at Le Murillo before exploring the city.

Our first stop? Montmarte, where we could find the Moulin Rouge and Sacre Coeur. As much as I wanted to enter Moulin Rouge, I didn't have 100+ Euros to spare, so we settled for some picture taking outside. It was so windy...so cold... and it even rained, which is why we had very limited pictures at this area, although it was just outside the Blanche metro stop.

Afterwards, we went back into the station to warm ourselves a bit. It was really, really cold, I'm telling you. I bought a black beret, because I felt I was going to get sick because of the cold. And of course, when in France, don a black beret right? :)

On our way to Sacre Coeur, we passed by a church... I'm not sure what it's called something like the Lady of Montmarte, I'm not really sure.. .below are the pictures I took of the church.

Then, we continued on our way to Sacre Coeur. I was just following Jess and Marbi because I really had no idea where we were going... navigating the metro is one thing, making our way on foot around all the rues and tiny streets with the bad weather was another. Anyway, we finally made it at the foot of the hill that led up to Sacre Coeur. There was a funicular that we could ride that will take us to the top, but we opted (for some reason) to climb the two hundred and thirty-five steps on foot. When we got to the top, we were all out of breath, but believe me, it was worth it.

Inside the church were several images, like the La Pieta, we even saw an image of St. John Baptiste de La Salle, and we Lasallians took a pic with our school saint. Thanks to Fe Ann for these pics. :)

Then, we saw the Place de la Bastille....

The Seine River....

St Gervais...


Hotel de Ville...

Place du Chatelet...

And then finally... our last stop for the day... the Louvre. :) Already, I was suffering from a bad migraine... probably caused by the cold, the rain, and just plain exhaustion. But no matter how bad I was feeling, I couldn't help but marvel at the amazing works of art that were on display. Of course, before anything else, we had to take pictures with the famous Louvre pyramids right?

The grand gallery... walking through this hall reminded me so much of the Da Vinci Code. I took a pic of Madonna on the Rocks painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. :) And of course, the Mona Lisa...probably the most recognized painting in the world.

After the Louvre, we just had dinner and then went home. A very tiring, but worthwhile first day in Paris... I wish I could have explored the Louvre more, but we just didn't have the time or the energy to do so. Tip, entrance to the Louvre is free for those under 26, every Friday from 6PM onwards, just bring your passport.

I'll continue my Paris chronicles tomorrow... it's already past midnight and I really need to sleep. :) Bonne Nuit!