We woke up at around 10:00 in the morning on our second day in Paris. While everyone was getting ready for another day of touring, I left the apartment to buy breakfast. I stopped by the boulangerie I had seen from the previous day and, with my little familiarity of the French language, bought two croissants, two pains au chocolat, and water. I then walked back to the apartment with my bread in town, feeling slightly Parisienne.
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| French Pastries |
The picture above cannot quite capture the experience of purchasing and eating French pastries in France. I only wish I had a cup of espresso or a fresh glass of orange juice to go with it (at this point of the trip, we had not discovered Marche Franprix yet!). After breakfast, we made our way to Notre Dame des Champs and took the metro to Bir-Hakeim and see the Eiffel Tower. The ride alone, which gives a preview of the iconic tower, was enough to give any tourist's heart a leap. Goosebumps, really. Anyway, we arrived at Bir-Hakeim in under ten minutes and walked the remainder of the way to the park below the Eiffel Tower.
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| So close!!! |
Along our way, we were met with a phenomenon unheard of in Toronto--the entire route towards the tower was lined with street vendors. Not only were they uncommonly numerous, they were also uncharacteristically aggressive. In any case, we made it to the park unscathed and un-scammed.
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| You are beautiful. |
The Eiffel Tower is huge. It may be shorter than the CN Tower but it is majestic in its own right. One could only stand at its wake and marvel at Gustave Eiffel's creation. It is beautiful. Once we had taken our fair share of photos, we decided to see the Eiffel Tower from afar. As such, we took the Metro to Trocadero, which boasts a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower at a distance. Unfortunately, I do not have any photos on my computer that share this view but know that it was, indeed, both breathtaking and amazing.
By the time we had finished taking in the sight of the Eiffel Tower, it was already 3:00 in the afternoon and we were due for lunch. We ended up eating at nearby Le Wilson, a traditional French restaurant on Place du Trocadero. My mother, sister, and I had a three-course meal of terrine, roasted chicken, creme caramel, and espresso whereas my father had an egg-based appetizer whose name I can't remember and steak.
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| Lunch at Le Wilson |
After a satisfying meal at Le Wilson, we reverted back from hungry to keen tourists and made our way to Champs-Elysees, from which we saw the famous Arc de Triomphe. Due to the lateness of the day, we were pressed for time upon our arrival because we had plans to attend mass at Cathedrale Notre Dame. In any case, it was good to at least see the Arc for a few minutes rather than not see it at all. (As a side note, we actually did return to Champs-Elysees for shopping so it was clearly not the end of us seeing the Arc!)
We were close to the point of insanity but we made it! That Saturday, we had the extreme pleasure of hearing mass at the beautiful, the amazing, the awe-inspiring Cathedrale Notre Dame at Ile de la Cite. It is truly spectacular in person and I am thankful for this chance of a lifetime.
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| Outside Cathedrale Notre Dame |
Following mass, we walked towards Hotel de Ville and a restaurant recommended to us by a fellow Air Transat passenger. Unfortunately, we did not have accurate directions to the said restaurant and consequently asked students waiting at a nearby bus stop for directions.
This will be the first time I am mentioning it in this series of posts but French hospitality is unlike anything I had ever experienced. They are extremely nice, kind, and helpful - they really went above and beyond to help us find our way in Paris not only on this occasion but also throughout our stay. In this case, the people we had asked even searched for our restaurant on the internet and gave us directions, even bidding us to enjoy our journey in their country. Exceptional people.
We located our restaurant soon after but quickly found out that it was not suited for us. We instead opted for the creperie Cat'man, where we had crepes with mystery meat (I am sorry but my memory is getting foggy!), onion, cheese, and honey. The combination was surprisingly extremely tasty and I would not hesitate to return there again to have the same crepe and, maybe, even a glass of cider as well.
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| Delicious! |
After dinner, we decided to go home and, along the way, we stopped by
McDonald's to get coffee. Sadly, their machines were down but we spent some time there and enjoyed a little break prior to our commute home. Interestingly, McDonald's in France sells desserts, including the famous French dessert macaron! Hahaha. I was impressed. We then walked to nearby
Hotel de Ville, where we took some photos, and rode the metro to go back to the apartment. All in all, a great, jam-packed second day in Paris.
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| French McCafe! |
Good morning/good afternoon/good night!
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