Today we say "Auf Wiedersehen Lucerne!" and say "Bonjour, Paris!"
That's right! Today we head to Paris!
Day 9
We leave our hotel in Lucerne at 8am and begin our 10 hour journey towards Paris. Imagine, 10 hours on the bus with a pit stop every 2 hours. It's enough to drive anyone crazy! Or so I thought, the ride was rather uneventful. It was raining outside while we were warm and dry in the bus. Time passed by in the blink of an eye, with the aid of a few movies. We watched "G.I Joe", "Kung Fu Panda", and a cantonese show called "Cooking Godess"
Eventually we arried in Paris, 30 mins ahead of schedule, which was a good thing! Our first stop in Paris wasn't the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe or the Louvre. It was a chinese restaurant. That's right, we had a chinese dinner! In France no less. My waiter was hot!
But back to the main point... After dinner we went for a river cruise on the river Seine, which runs throught Paris all the way to the English Channel. It was a wonderful cruise, except it would've been more wonderful if I had a special someone to hold on the coldwindy deck... Ah well... I'm a hard man to please, haha! That plus I've got pretty high standards. The river cruise was great, and I had a whole bunch of pictures of my trip.
After the rive cruise we headed back to our hotel, the Hilton La Defense, for a good rest until 10.30pm. Aftewich my mum, my sis and I went back down to the lobby to meet up with another family, a honeymoon couple and our tour guide. What were we gonna do at 10.30pm at night? We were going to have fun at the Moulin Rouge! We arrived at the place about 10.40pm and we queued up in the cold for about 20 mins before being let in. When we were seated, every person wa given half a bottle of champagne, it ws good champagne, might I add. The show started at about 11.45pm, even though we were told it would start at 11pm... But hey, I'm not complaining.
The performance was truly world class! The performance was more than just dance and song, there were comedic skits, jugglers, and even a vetriloquist in between the acts! The ventriloquist made me laugh till my sides hurt. It as a really good experience, and I'm glad I could experience it before I even hit 20! I'll definitely go back again when the opportunity arises! The show ended at about 1am and by then we were really tired, but still hyped by the performance. We arrived back at out hotel around 1.30am, and then we had a short rest, before being awoken at 7am the next day.
Day 10
We were awoken at 7am the next day, but I was already awake at 6.30am. We had a wondeful breakfast at the Hilton's restaurant and then we headed out of the hotel for our city tour at about 8.45am. Our first stop on the tour was the Arc de Triomphe. It's basically a giant arch built to commemorate Napolean's victories in Europe and Africa. He, however, would not live to see it. He died bfore it was even completed. We headed next to Napolean's tomb, and then the Eiffel Tower.
The Eiffel Tower was built at the end of the 19th century in anticipation of the 1900 World Fair. It's designer was the engineer Monsieur Gustav Eiffel. He created it even though many people said it wouldn't stand on it's own. But when it was completed everyone fell in love with it. Gustav Eiffel even lived at the top of the Tower for 4 years, that's why they installed a lift for him. To get to the top you can either take a lift, or alternatively, you could climb the stairs. We decided to take the lift, but even so, you gotta queue up just to take the lift... We stood in line for almost an hour just to go up. But it was worth the wait. The view of Paris from just the second floor was spectacular! And so I snapped away with my camera.
We came down from the 2nd floor after about 25mins, and then it's time for the most exciting part of Paris. Shopping!!! Strangely, for a guy, I sure like shopping forbags, shoes and clothes... Oh well, my uniqueness is unique. (Uhm... Kinda redundant to say it twice, but who cares?)
We headed to Galeries La Fayette, the largest shopping center in Paris. And we shoppers were really happy, because Prada had a 40% discount off selected items exclusive of the 12% VAT tax refund, which brings it to a total of 52% off. I was estatic. Imagine me squealing like a girl when I heard we got 52% off. Haha!
So yeah, I got a Prada bag, and then we went to Versace, where my mum got alot of stuff, bag, ring, shades. And I got a pair of shades from Versace as well. Then we headed to BV, and there my mm bought another bag and a wallet. Then my tor guide got the sales manager to bring me about the shopping mall to get some shoes. It felt great being taken care of by a staff, who is none other than the manager. I felt so honoured.
Well so on the way to get shoes I got distracted by a metal belt, which I saw and like. Then I also got distracted by a beautiful silk scarf. I eventually bought both. I'm a sucker for fashion... Finally, after a few more distractions I finally got to my shoes, and I bought a pair of Kenzo shoes. There was another pair of Kenzo boots that I liked but they didn't have my size... I felt sad... But in any case it was a wonderful shopping experience.
And so we headed back to our hotel after our shopping spree and rested till 10.30pm before driving out to the Champ Elysses to celebrate the countdown. It was bestially cold, but it was wonderful, walking down the middle of a usually busy road, seeing people drinking champagne and merry making. Setting off fireworks and having a whole load of fun. I walked the entire 4km of the Champ Elysses, from the Arc de Triomphe to the Christmas wheel and back. That's a total of 8km. The experience was great.
Well we headed back to our hotel afterwards and started packing our luggage. We would be leaving wonderful Paris tomorrow...
Day 11
Nothing much, woke up early headed to the CDG airport and flew home to Singapore.
Day 12
Arrived in Singapore. I'll miss Paris...
Now Ayron shuts up, and the pictures take over
Enjoy!
Paris (Day 9)
The French countryside
Moi at one of our pitstops
Eiffel Tower as seen from the river cruise
Moulin Rouge Interior
Moulin Rouge Exterior
Paris (Day 10)
Me in front of the Arc de Triomphe
Eiffel Tower as seen from Trocadero
Napoleon's tomb.
The Eiffel Towerin all it's wonder!
Paris and the river Seine
Notice Napoleon's tomb?
Trocadero as seen from the Eiffel Tower.
Maxim. The most expensive restaurant in Paris.
Moi on the Champ Elysses! Beat that Mr. Gomez!
And now the exciting part...
...
...
...
My Purchases!
The Metal belt
The silk scarf (I know it looks nothing like a scarf...)
Self Explanatory.
Kenzo Shoes
My Prada bag!
And that's the end of my 12 days in Europe! Hope I've been able to somehow bring you guys along with me through reading my posts. The only thing I have to say about that place? You've gotta visit that place before you die. Otherwise yo wouldn't die peacefully! Haha! Have a wonderful 2010!
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