Playing Tourist in the City of Love

I know you may have heard mixed reviews about this town. Some people may call Paris overrated and some  may love it. If you ask me, I LOVE PARIS WITH EVERY FIBRE OF MY BEING.

Paris was absolutely phenomenal. Aside from the Metro smelling like pee most of the time and occasional sight of poop by the roadside, everything else was absolutely beautiful. Every sight was picturesque. I didn't want my 5-day trip there to ever end! 98% of the locals were nice. As French as this may sound, Ema and I were struggling with Google Maps to find the nearest Carrefour. An uncle approached us and offered his assistance. He later led us to the wrong direction, btw, but that's fine. It's the thought that counts. So Paris is not so bad after all!

Yes, you have to be extra cautious and wary when in Paris. Stories about pickpockets and gypsies are all true. But alhamdulillah, everything was fine throughout my stay. To avoid pickpockets, i wore a slingbag across my body underneath my long jacket and i buttoned my jacket all the way. I only put my phone and my travel pass inside my pockets.

My itinerary consiste of  museums and gardens. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't so great. It was drizzling and windy most of the time and i was only able to visit several museums and one garden.

You may also notice that the number of attractions we went to is not that many. We didn't want to rush and we wanted to enjoy every place we visited.

Eiffel Tower

We only came here on our last night in Paris, two hours before we left for Amsterdam. Looking at one of the wonders of the world, standing tall and proud, from such short distance left me in awe. All this while, i've only seen this beautiful monument in movies and pictures. It was almost unbelievable that i could come this close to the Eiffel Tower. Even now, it still is unbelievable that i flew solo all the way from the other side of the globe, later joined by my best of friend, staring with my own two eyes at the icon of the city of love. That moment, I felt serene.

I didn't go up the Eiffel Tower because i don't quite know how to appreciate view from a great height. I've never fancied the ferris wheel, skywalk or anything of such.

Musée du Louvre (€9)

Need i say more about this iconic museum? The museum was enormous! I would personally suggest you allocate at least 3 to 4 hours for this museum alone. We didn't manage to go through every floor due to time constrain. And we were starving. I'm not a big artsy person but even so, i was mesmerized by the intricacy of the paintings. You can find the world's most famous painting : Mona Lisa.

Grand Palais / Petit Palais (Free due to restoration)

By definition: Big Palace and Small Palace. These two museums are right across each other. We actually wanted to enter the Grand Palais but it was closed the entire week for Paris Fashion Week 2018. So we crossed the street and entered Petit Palais. The museum was under restoration so the entrance was free. Please note that most French museums legends/captions are in French. Before entering any museum, ask the information counter if the captions are bilingual or not. If not, you might need to rent the audio guides. So upon entering Petit Palais, we each paid €5 for the audio guides.

Jardin des Tuileries

This garden is absolutely... breathtaking, beautiful, picturesque, stunning, magnificent. Throughout my stay in Paris, it was mostly cloudy and drizzly. But i guess Allah just wanted us to witness the beauty of Paris that he gave one beautiful day for us to visit at least one garden from my itinerary. Jardin des Tuileries is one huge, clean park. There, you could find a carousell; a lot of benches; a pond and chairs all around it. After doing your intense shopping and sightseeing, please do pay this garden a visit. Take about an hour and a half (during sunset for best view!) and just chill by the pond.

Palais Royal

People usually come here to chill and sightsee, but i honestly came here for Christian Louboutin. Hahaha. They have the most amazing shoes and just by setting my foot in the store got me hyperventilated! I think i made it pretty obvious that i couldn't afford a single shoe but the staff was so nice and cordial; they let me try on a few pairs anyway. I finally laid my eyes on a pair of CL but after conversion, it would cost about RM3,500 so no thanks bye.

Arc de Triomphe (€12)

I gotta be honest. At first, this monument didn't wow me that much. Remember what i said about me not knowing how to appreciate view from a great height? I was stood corrected. The view from the top of the monument was, MashaAllah, phenomenal. Standing in the middle of Arc de Triomphe is like standing in the middle of a clock or a roundabout. Each nearby street eventually leads to the arch. Getting to the top of Arc de Triomphe requires you to take the spiral staircase. It may seem endless at first but trust me, it's so worth it. Every sight from the top of Arc de Triomphe is beautiful. Looking at the Eiffel Tower from a higher altitude left me speechless. Sadly, we only managed to spend less than an hour up there because it started to rain. Click here for more shots from the top of Arc de Triomphe.

Notre-Dame

When we arrived, it was getting dark and the cathedral was closing. So unfortunatelty, we couldn't get in but the ambience around the cathedral was wonderful. As the sun was setting, the view was significantly better. The architecture of the cathedrals was spectacular. And i absolutely love how the whole area is well-kept and maintained.

Ps: Before reaching the cathedral itself, you would have to pass by a row of souvenir shops. I would recommend you guys to buy your souvenirs here instead of in Central Paris. Souvenirs here are way cheaper than the ones in town. 

Galeries Lafayette.

Galeries Lafayette is an extremely big shopping mall. It's huge. It's enormous! However, i didn't quite like Galeries Lafayette because it's jam-packed with tourists. The amount of people was just irritating. If you have the tendency to get an anxiety attack or you're claustrophobic, i strongly advise you against visiting the mall.

On our third day in Paris, we headed to Sacré-Cœur. As we reached the nearest stop to the church, Emma just got notified that her online exam had begun. So we only went to Coquelicot (located near Sacré-Cœur) for a quick breakfast before we headed back to our Airbnb. As it was still early of the day, Emma stayed in to do her online exam and i roamed around Paris by myself! Alone! Honestly, it was the best feeling ever. Not that i didn't enjoy Emma's company, but roaming around a non-English speaking country, in a whole different continent by myself  made me feel so accomplished!

Because her exam was a 24-hour exam, i got to roam around Paris by myself on my third and fourth day. On my itinerary, i had listed several thrift/vintage stores that i wanted to visit. Solely relying on my Google Maps, Emma's luck and God's will, there i went, roaming around Paris by myself, on a quest for vintage outfits and accessories. But i was quite disappointed that they didn't really carry the items i was looking for. I expected more of chic, 70s Parisian fashion but 70% of the clothes were winter clothes (parkas, denim jackets, leather jackets, etc.).

Due to the uncertain weather, our plans were quite affected. For example, i initially wanted to visit the Eiffel Tower during the day because i wanted to take pictures of the tower in the broad daylight. And like i said, i wanted to visit sooo many gardens, especially Jardin du Luxembourg. I wanted to sit on the grass and just chill for a moment but sadly the weather wasn't on our side. And due to time constrain, we also didn't have enough time to visit Musee d'Orsay.

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