Paris : 15 June 2006

I simply love Paris. It was so beautiful when we were here in Sept 2002, when little one was only 9 months old. It was also a short trip then and I’ve missed many “must do” like visiting Louvre, Musee D’Orsay and Versailles. Unfortunately, we would technically have only 2.1/2 days for this trip so I am determined to squeeze as much in as possible.

We walked down towards Rue Rivoli and had the most delicious Italian gelato on the way. It is from Amorino and is very similar to the ones they sell in Odono’s in U.K. and that shop in Takashimaya basement. However, for a small cone, Odonos only let us have one flavour but here, oh la la! They scraped one flavour in the middle and artfully arranged the other flavour like petals around the rim of the cone. It looks like a little flower – a cool and delicious little flower which we devoured in less than 5 minutes. Thus refreshed, we walked to the bus stop along Rue Rivoli for no. 69.

We had taken this service before all the way to Champ de Mars where Eiffel Tower is. Along the way, the bus will stop by the middle of the road, execute a 90 deg left turn and squeeze through Entrance Rivoli of the Louvre, which are columns about 2m. wide. Look left as the bus enter through the columns and you will see the inner courtyard of the Louvre with I.M Pei’s glass Pyramid. The first time I saw it the sun was shining bright and the Louvre lighted up in gorgeous honeycomb gold with the glass pyramid glittering in the sun.

The bus terminated service before we could get to Champ de Mars so we walked the rest of the way. It was some 30min. later before we are staring up at the Iron Lady herself, La Tour Eiffel. From the distance, it looks slender and elegant but when you are right underneath it, with its four pillars astride, you would realise how huge the tower is.


You don't realise how massive the Eiffel Tower is until you are right underneath her!


The Eiffel Tower again.



The last visit we had opted to go all the way up – not recommended really since the queues for the lifts to ascend are horrible. I’ve never waited so long for a lift before. Best to just go up to the first floor where not only can you walk round the perimeter and see the whole of Paris, you can dine at the restaurant, buy souvenirs, watch good historical films of the tower at Cine Eiffel and also send a postcard from La Poste, complete with Tour Eiffel postmark.

Jenol, being a lift engineer, was absolutely fascinated with all the pulleys and mechanism working the lifts. The lift goes in a slope up each foot of the Eiffel Tower and at the bottom of each lift, they actually have a wooden guy to depict how the lifts were operated in the olden days. We decided to go down the steps rather than wait for the lift. I didn’t realise how high up we were, even on the first floor, until I looked down. Gayat you! Had to keep my eyes on the horizon to calm my nerves. By the time, we arrived back it was getting rather chilly so we headed straight back to the hotel to look for food and rest