In Paris - Day One
Paris, the biggest tourist destination of the world; I always wanted to visit Paris, because of all the stories, which I have heard from the people who have done so. It was always a source of fascination for me and long ago I have decided that this is one of things, which I want to do before I die. For quite some long time, I have been waiting for this moment to happen. I have made my mind, if I ever visited Europe, I would surely visit Paris. Finally during my second week at Amsterdam, I finally decided that I have to visit Paris in any case, no matter how costly this visit will be or even if no one accompanies me, I will still go to Paris. I was little nervous as this was my first foreign tour and honestly I haven’t yet fully understood the norms of the European culture and their transport system. There were some fears in my mind; rather I would say negative thoughts. Like what if I lost my belongings or passport, or what if I ran short of money or I miss my return train. Another thought was disturbing was that what if instead of visiting Paris, I just get lost there and couldn’t see all the places I want to see. I put all these thoughts on rest and finally on Tuesday I bought the tickets of thalys to visit Paris. I got return ticket for 158 Euros; the ticket lady was kind enough in helping me to find the most economical fare. She wished me luck for my tour. Thalys is a fast speed train, which runs between Amsterdam and Paris. This train travels through Belgium in between. The entire travel by Thalys between Amsterdam and Paris is around 4:10 hours. The tickets were of weekend Saturday morning 7:30 am. The return train was 7:30 pm Sunday evening. So I almost go 2 days of visit, which was quite enough I suppose. For the entire next three days after Tuesday, I googled all the places and tourist spots of Paris. I have collected information about Paris from all the people I know who have been there. I have listed all the places I want to see in Paris and did as much research as I can. On Friday night I packed all my stuff and tried to have a good nap, I put alarm on my cell and closed my eyes.
The alarm rang. It was 4:30 am Saturday morning. I quickly jumped off the bed, went to washroom, changed my clothes, grabbed an apple and put some lays packets in my bag. I locked my room and went out of hotel. I have an umbrella and a bag with me. The forecast of Paris was rainy for Saturday. It was 5:00 am. I went to metro station, which was 5 minutes walk away from my hotel. But there was no metro. The metro service hadn’t start then. I waited few minutes and tried to read the timings on the timetable, but that was Dutch, I couldn’t. I went to tram station, which was 5-10 minutes walk away. But no luck, trams haven’t started also. I started thinking of alternate solution. I went to a bus stop, which was again 5 minutes away. But there was no bus. I came back to the metro station hoping I might be able to see the light of metro but none. I knew there was a bus station near by but I wasn’t sure about its exact location. I followed my instincts in a direction. I saw a black man running. I presumed he was too going to bus station. Guess, I was in the right direction. Also, I saw a bus going to the same direction. I followed it. And after good 10 minutes, I finally reached Amstelveen Bus Station. I thanked God. In 10 minutes, the bus to central station came and I was relaxed. I reached station at 6:30. Still had one hour to wait. I took coffee from the shop and waited. At the exact time, train arrived, and the journey to Paris started.
The route of Thalys from Amsterdam and Brussels take around 2:30 hours. The track is slow speed. The rail track from Belgium and France is a fast one and the train shoots like a bullet there.
We reached at exact time at Paris. It was around 11:30 am. I went out of station; Gare De Nord station of Paris. Gare de Nord is like a big hall kind of station. In the station, there is a tourist information section. I took city map along with the brochure of open tour bus and hotel accommodation book from it. As soon as I went out of station, I saw beggars outside lying down on the land outside station. Paris station is quite opposite to Amsterdam Central station. It is more crowded and congested and yes have beggars. This is one thing, which I haven’t seen in Amsterdam. I roamed on the streets for some minutes and then I jumped on the Open tour bus. The open tour bus takes you around all the main tourists spots of the city and you can hop on and hop off on them as many times as you want. They have four different routes. I took ticket of it for two days from the bus driver. I went on the rooftop of the bus. There were around 8-10 ladies sitting. As they saw me, few of them said “oh No”. Did I just experience racism? Or was it a gender issue. I didn’t know and I didn’t bother. I just made a smile and sat at a distance from them and ignored them. The bus has commentary and it informs you about the places it is taking you to. I hop off at the Paris Opera. It is a beautiful building of old times. I took some snaps and roamed the streets. The weather was extremely pleasant. It was cloudy and there was little sunshine in intervals. I again hop on the next bus and went to Notre Dame church. There was a long queue outside, but no ticket. The church was beautiful. I spent some time there and took pictures and went back to bus. The bus went to Louvre Museum, the most famous museum of world. I want to see the museum but I have put it on my to-do list for the second day. Along with Seine River, the bus took us to Place de la Concorde. The Place de la Concorde is one of the major squares in Paris. I jumped off the bus and spend some time there. There are two beautiful fountains there. From there, I had my first look of Eiffel tower but I preferred to give this time to Concorde. I requested some Japanese tourists there to take my pictures, and then I moved on to Champs-Élysées. The Champs-Élysées is the most prestigious and broadest avenue in Paris. Its full name is "Avenue des Champs-Élysées". With its cinemas, cafés, and luxury specialty shops, the Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets in the world. It is about 2 kilometers long. It starts from Concorde and ends at Arc de Triomphe.I walked on the street. It was about an hour walk. I visited few of the shops and reached at Arc de Triomphe. Again some Japanese cum Chinese tourists came to my rescue and they took my pictures. You can go over the top of Arc de Triomphe but I didn’t feel the urge to go over the top. I then looked for the open tour bus stop. It took me some time, to find the stop. I waited for it there and in the meanwhile, I realized that it more than 4:00pm and still I haven’t looked for any place for my night stay. I searched the accommodation book, but it was useless for me for some hefty reasons. The bus took us to Eiffel tower; there was very big crowd there and some protest was going on there. I was occupied with the thoughts of finding accommodation, so I decided first I will accommodation then I will come to see Eiffel tower again. I went off the bus at Madeline church and looked for the hotels. The hotels there were bit expensive, as it was the central city. The range was from 85 –110 Euros and even more. I asked one of the receptionists of the hotel if she could help me in finding any cheap hotel, she suggested me to go to Mont Marte area. I didn’t know where it was. I once again sat on Open tour bus, which was going to Mont Marte. I went off at Gare de Nord stop and looked for the hotels there. The hotel guy asked for 60 Euros but he said there is no shower. Another hotel girl said 45 Euros but the hotel closes at 11:00 at night. Third asked for 85. Fourth asked for 65 Euros and said yes we have shower and we open all night. Fifth one asked for 90 Euros. The lady there was an Indian. I asked if she could tell me any cheap one, she said the two star hotels situated opposite are fine and safe. I went to the fourth hotel where there was shower and which doesn’t close at night. The guy asked me asked me “if I am Pakistani”. I was surprised. I asked how he knows it. He said from my accent. I was confused. That guy seemed like Pakistani too, but his attitude wasn’t friendly, so I didn’t try to have a chat with him. He returned me 5 Euros making me speechless of his act. I put my things in the room and went to see for Eiffel tower.
Till then I have only traveled in Open Tour bus. Now it was my time to experience the public transport of Paris. I didn’t know from where could I find the bus to Eiffel Tower. Seeing me confused, a lady on bus stop told me that there is a bus station few meters away. She told me the direction and there I found the bus. The bus took 20-25 minutes to reach near Eiffel Tower. There were people from different nationalities and ethnicities I saw in bus. I could recognize some Indians there.
Eiffel tower is a beautiful monument. It was around evening. The whole tower was lightened up with beautiful lights and at intervals it is sparkled with white lights just like diamonds. There was a long queue waiting to go upstairs and the time was near 9:30 pm. The closing timing was 10:30 pm. I decided not to take risk and if I have time I will go on top of it tomorrow, now lets take the boat trip of Seine River. Its route is from Eiffel tower to the central city backside. It is one-hour cruise and with the commentary on with French music it is a must treat to enjoy. The songs were beautiful to listen.
It was near 12:00 then. I decided to go back to my room. I went to the same bus stop where the bus stopped but there was no bus. The bus service has closed and I couldn’t see any night bus service. I walked in search of stop. I walked for more than an hour and finally I found a metro station. I took ticket and jumped on the metro. There was no direct metro to Gare De Nord. I have to change two metros. Metro system of Paris is quite old, bigger and confusing than that of Amsterdam. After reaching hotel, I was dead tired. I was never that much tired in my whole life. it was more than 2:00 am at night. After some time browsing television, I went to sleep. Another new day was ahead of me tomorrow.
The alarm rang. It was 4:30 am Saturday morning. I quickly jumped off the bed, went to washroom, changed my clothes, grabbed an apple and put some lays packets in my bag. I locked my room and went out of hotel. I have an umbrella and a bag with me. The forecast of Paris was rainy for Saturday. It was 5:00 am. I went to metro station, which was 5 minutes walk away from my hotel. But there was no metro. The metro service hadn’t start then. I waited few minutes and tried to read the timings on the timetable, but that was Dutch, I couldn’t. I went to tram station, which was 5-10 minutes walk away. But no luck, trams haven’t started also. I started thinking of alternate solution. I went to a bus stop, which was again 5 minutes away. But there was no bus. I came back to the metro station hoping I might be able to see the light of metro but none. I knew there was a bus station near by but I wasn’t sure about its exact location. I followed my instincts in a direction. I saw a black man running. I presumed he was too going to bus station. Guess, I was in the right direction. Also, I saw a bus going to the same direction. I followed it. And after good 10 minutes, I finally reached Amstelveen Bus Station. I thanked God. In 10 minutes, the bus to central station came and I was relaxed. I reached station at 6:30. Still had one hour to wait. I took coffee from the shop and waited. At the exact time, train arrived, and the journey to Paris started.
The route of Thalys from Amsterdam and Brussels take around 2:30 hours. The track is slow speed. The rail track from Belgium and France is a fast one and the train shoots like a bullet there.
We reached at exact time at Paris. It was around 11:30 am. I went out of station; Gare De Nord station of Paris. Gare de Nord is like a big hall kind of station. In the station, there is a tourist information section. I took city map along with the brochure of open tour bus and hotel accommodation book from it. As soon as I went out of station, I saw beggars outside lying down on the land outside station. Paris station is quite opposite to Amsterdam Central station. It is more crowded and congested and yes have beggars. This is one thing, which I haven’t seen in Amsterdam. I roamed on the streets for some minutes and then I jumped on the Open tour bus. The open tour bus takes you around all the main tourists spots of the city and you can hop on and hop off on them as many times as you want. They have four different routes. I took ticket of it for two days from the bus driver. I went on the rooftop of the bus. There were around 8-10 ladies sitting. As they saw me, few of them said “oh No”. Did I just experience racism? Or was it a gender issue. I didn’t know and I didn’t bother. I just made a smile and sat at a distance from them and ignored them. The bus has commentary and it informs you about the places it is taking you to. I hop off at the Paris Opera. It is a beautiful building of old times. I took some snaps and roamed the streets. The weather was extremely pleasant. It was cloudy and there was little sunshine in intervals. I again hop on the next bus and went to Notre Dame church. There was a long queue outside, but no ticket. The church was beautiful. I spent some time there and took pictures and went back to bus. The bus went to Louvre Museum, the most famous museum of world. I want to see the museum but I have put it on my to-do list for the second day. Along with Seine River, the bus took us to Place de la Concorde. The Place de la Concorde is one of the major squares in Paris. I jumped off the bus and spend some time there. There are two beautiful fountains there. From there, I had my first look of Eiffel tower but I preferred to give this time to Concorde. I requested some Japanese tourists there to take my pictures, and then I moved on to Champs-Élysées. The Champs-Élysées is the most prestigious and broadest avenue in Paris. Its full name is "Avenue des Champs-Élysées". With its cinemas, cafés, and luxury specialty shops, the Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets in the world. It is about 2 kilometers long. It starts from Concorde and ends at Arc de Triomphe.I walked on the street. It was about an hour walk. I visited few of the shops and reached at Arc de Triomphe. Again some Japanese cum Chinese tourists came to my rescue and they took my pictures. You can go over the top of Arc de Triomphe but I didn’t feel the urge to go over the top. I then looked for the open tour bus stop. It took me some time, to find the stop. I waited for it there and in the meanwhile, I realized that it more than 4:00pm and still I haven’t looked for any place for my night stay. I searched the accommodation book, but it was useless for me for some hefty reasons. The bus took us to Eiffel tower; there was very big crowd there and some protest was going on there. I was occupied with the thoughts of finding accommodation, so I decided first I will accommodation then I will come to see Eiffel tower again. I went off the bus at Madeline church and looked for the hotels. The hotels there were bit expensive, as it was the central city. The range was from 85 –110 Euros and even more. I asked one of the receptionists of the hotel if she could help me in finding any cheap hotel, she suggested me to go to Mont Marte area. I didn’t know where it was. I once again sat on Open tour bus, which was going to Mont Marte. I went off at Gare de Nord stop and looked for the hotels there. The hotel guy asked for 60 Euros but he said there is no shower. Another hotel girl said 45 Euros but the hotel closes at 11:00 at night. Third asked for 85. Fourth asked for 65 Euros and said yes we have shower and we open all night. Fifth one asked for 90 Euros. The lady there was an Indian. I asked if she could tell me any cheap one, she said the two star hotels situated opposite are fine and safe. I went to the fourth hotel where there was shower and which doesn’t close at night. The guy asked me asked me “if I am Pakistani”. I was surprised. I asked how he knows it. He said from my accent. I was confused. That guy seemed like Pakistani too, but his attitude wasn’t friendly, so I didn’t try to have a chat with him. He returned me 5 Euros making me speechless of his act. I put my things in the room and went to see for Eiffel tower.
Till then I have only traveled in Open Tour bus. Now it was my time to experience the public transport of Paris. I didn’t know from where could I find the bus to Eiffel Tower. Seeing me confused, a lady on bus stop told me that there is a bus station few meters away. She told me the direction and there I found the bus. The bus took 20-25 minutes to reach near Eiffel Tower. There were people from different nationalities and ethnicities I saw in bus. I could recognize some Indians there.
Eiffel tower is a beautiful monument. It was around evening. The whole tower was lightened up with beautiful lights and at intervals it is sparkled with white lights just like diamonds. There was a long queue waiting to go upstairs and the time was near 9:30 pm. The closing timing was 10:30 pm. I decided not to take risk and if I have time I will go on top of it tomorrow, now lets take the boat trip of Seine River. Its route is from Eiffel tower to the central city backside. It is one-hour cruise and with the commentary on with French music it is a must treat to enjoy. The songs were beautiful to listen.
It was near 12:00 then. I decided to go back to my room. I went to the same bus stop where the bus stopped but there was no bus. The bus service has closed and I couldn’t see any night bus service. I walked in search of stop. I walked for more than an hour and finally I found a metro station. I took ticket and jumped on the metro. There was no direct metro to Gare De Nord. I have to change two metros. Metro system of Paris is quite old, bigger and confusing than that of Amsterdam. After reaching hotel, I was dead tired. I was never that much tired in my whole life. it was more than 2:00 am at night. After some time browsing television, I went to sleep. Another new day was ahead of me tomorrow.
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