Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Day 1: Paris (Eiffel Tower and Hotel Invalides)

We took a TGV Lyria train from Geneva to Paris which took us about 4 hours. We then arrived at Gare De Lyon Station at around 11am. (It's amazing how they say the train will arrive at 11:13 and it actually arrives at 11:13 on the dot!) From there, we took a cab to our hotel. I was spazzing because we passed by some of the landmarks like the Notre Dame along the way. I was literally squealing!


Pastries we saw of a boulangerie (bakery) near our hotel while looking for a place to have lunch in. We ended up eating in a chinese-thai restaurant because we're asian and I missed the pace of eating like an asian.

The Metro Station (LOL no horses here if you know what I mean)  closest to our hotel. Just a 2 minute walk. So convenient! The hotel that we stayed in was called Hotel Trocadero Etoile. It's near the Trocadero Gardens, situated in between the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. Our hotel also has a Carrefour across the street so it was really convenient to buy groceries. I'm so proud of this trip since I arranged everything from the day-to-day itinerary by the hour to the hotel reservations! 

Let me tell you this: Almost all hotels in Paris have a strict policy of two people max. per room since the rooms are really small. You really have to look for hotels that offer the Triple and Family Rooms if there's more than two of you.

Me and the famous Eiffel Tower, viewed from the Trocadero Garden.


There was actually an ice skating rink and a "Christmas Market" selling lots of food and quirky things like the popular French Macarons, chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) and vin chaud(hot wine).

Went across the River Seine towards the Tour Eiffel and Champ de Mars.

After some time looking for each other, we were finally able to meet up with my cousins and aunt from America!


 We took a long walk from Champ de Mars to this really nice building called Hotel Invalides where Napoleon Bonaparte is buried. This also serves as an Army Museum.

Napoleon's tomb

Night view of the Eiffel Tower. My parents said they weren't awed by it (They still liked the Petronas Towers better) but for me, it was one of the most amazing things to experience. The Eiffel tower sparkles every hour. Everyone on earth needs to witness this at least once in their life!!!

We ate dinner at the christmas market place but then it started raining so hard we had to just head back to the hotel instead of going to Champ Elysées. Either way, this day was amazing. :)

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