Third Europe trip part 1 - Paris again
This is the series I am longing to write and, if I am not writing in a sequence, it would have been published long back. There are quite a few mistakes made and lessons learned in this tour which I would like to keep a record of, to share with my friends as well as for my future reference.
Even though, I visited quite a few places, I still did not visit Italy, specifically Venice - the place I dreamed since, I forgot when. My initial plan was to book a weekend or a 3 day tour to Venice and celebrate my birthday there. Then, my sister decided to visit for my birthday and we wanted to go on a mini Europe tour for 9 days.
As my return date drew closer, I had to go through handover activities at office and got extremely busy while my sis was struggling to get through with tourist visa process. We almost gave up on the idea of making our own arrangements and started considering tour package - but none of them have same itinerary which matches what we had in our minds. While I was contemplating if going on our own is going to be easier than finding a suitable package, we got the news that our project got abruptly closed and my calendar got completely free. So I utilized the time to plan for the trip. After couple of algorithms and flow charts, budgeting and travel options, we finalized a base plan - take a bus from London to Paris, 2 days in Paris, flight from Paris to Geneva, 3 days in Swiss, train from Lucern to Milan, 2 days in Italy, flight from Milan to Brussels, 2 days in Belgium and reach London from Brussels in euro star.
I wanted to plan for just Swiss and Italy, but my sister wanted to visit Paris at least for one day. Anyway, bus from London to Paris (29€ pp) + flight from Paris to Geneva (~40£ pp)was costing less than flight from London to Switzerland. So we included Paris and I booked a modest hotel which costed about 70€ for 2 days.
We started on Friday evening from Victoria bus station. It took us a while to figure out the right platform and the area is quite packed. By the time we got into the bus, it was almost full and there we couldn't find any seats next to each other. So we settled in different rows. I thought the person who was sitting behind my sister changed his seat and went there only to realize later that he went to the washroom. By then, my first seat got occupied and I ended up in the last row 😭. Needless to say, I couldn't get any sleep and spent the whole time waiting for the switch to ferry. Surprisingly, ferry ride felt extremely short compared to my previous trip. We reached Paris at around 10 in the morning and went to a nearby station (which was below a shopping mall). I got the pack of 10 single use tickets and we took the train to Tolbiac. By the time we reached, we were extremely hungry and went to a nearby restaurant. I thought there won't be much quantity, as in my previous visit I only got bread and coffee, but we got decent amount of food this time.
After breakfast, we started trying to locate our hotel. I figured that the reason I am not getting signal in my mobile is due to the bundle pack and got my sister's sim with direct recharge. We were able to make call to the hotel, however, couldn't understand what the concierge was trying to say. After roaming around for about 20 mins, trying to figure out the street names, we found the hotel - we were in the next street the whole time. Even with the help of GPS, it wasn't easy to find and, for a minute, I thought we would regret not taking a package😰.
After freshening up, we went out for shopping - I thought of spending Saturday shopping and Sunday sight-seeing, as shopping centers usually will be closed on Sunday. We stopped at galleries de la Fayatte and did some shopping in H&M, Sephora and few souvenir stores opposite Louvre. There, we took 2 day pass for bato bus and started commuting by boat (I either did not notice in my previous visit or it wasn't included then, but there was an additional stop where there is a replica of statue of liberty🗽).
From Louvre, we went to Champs Elysee and, after spending some time admiring the artistic structures around, we walked towards Louvre by banks of Siene.
It was extremely sunny day and the walk, even the boat ride, wasn't too pleasant. However, we were crossing a bridge to get to the other side, only to realize it is Pont de Arts - the famous bridge with love locks💘🔏.
It was in my list even in my previous visit, but I didn't know the name and couldn't figure out where it is. It was a happy accident I could come across it in my second trip that too during sun set💕.
We retired to the hotel bit early as we got quite tired, not getting proper sleep the night before, and also as we had packed schedule the next day.
We slept in a bit next morning and by the time we got ready and came out, it was past noon. I had some coffee and some confectioneries from the small patisserie opposite our hotel and went to a pharmacy next to the station to get some skin care products. Our next stop was to Louvre, where I found a tax-free shop (Mariounnoud). My friend asked for a Dior perfume from La Fayette, which I searched for the previous day, but noticed the price to be much less in London. In Mariounnoud, however, there is an offer going on and I got it for almost 20€ less. There was also 3 for 2 offer going on in cosmetics and I bought 2 clarins lip perfecter glosses💄, which was in my list for a while, along with a Dior eye pencil as 3rd product (actually one of the lip glosses came free, being less priced🤑). There was an unexpected delay, as the card payment processed, but the bill did not appear in their sales list. They pulled out the records and looked for it while I tried calling the bank but couldn't get through. Finally, I made the payment again and they told, in case the amount is deducted twice, I could call them and get it sorted. It was almost 3 by the time we came out. I did not want to go to Louvre again, not that I didn't like it, but wanted to visit another place instead. My sister went to Louvre after fixing up a place and time to meet and I went to Champs Elysee. The plan was to try going to Arc de Truimph, but I ended up going to another museum near the tube station, which isn't quite big but very beautiful.
I spent more than an hour in there before heading towards the Arc.
It was quite far away and after walking some distance, I gave up on it and started checking out the shops instead - the street was lined with restaurants and stores of luxury brands👼.
They are not only open but bursting with people on Sunday - quite contrary to what I heard and experienced. I came across the biggest Sephora store I ever visited and it got numerous brands. I tried few Tom Ford and Chanel products and immediately taken to Chanel pencil lipstick and eye shadow. However, not willing to spend so much, I decided to pay Mariounnoud another visit.
I met my sister at around 6 in the evening and we both went back to the store check out my new found interest. I picked a lipstick and eye shadow but couldn't decide on the third product. After few minutes of speculation, I chose YSL touche eclat high lighter pen.
From there we went to Eiffel tower and it was past 7. The queue was enormous and they announced 45 min wait to reach the top. I immediately decided against it - I liked the view from the second floor anyway. After contemplating for a while, my sister too gave up on the plan to go to the top because of the crowd.
Thankfully, it wasn't dark when we reached and we get to see the view in two different kind of lights.
By the time, we came down to the boat station it was past 9:30 and we missed the last boat. I wouldn't be bothered if it is any other stop, but the train station near to Eiffel tower is good 15 mins walk away. We managed to find our way to the station and reached hotel almost around 11. Finding food at that time is another task 😥. We found a Korean restaurant and they were about to close for the day - some how communicated and got some noodles in soup parceled but not before giving a toast to Paris🍷.
I wouldn't call Paris my favorite city, but somehow felt like a place I would visit again. I didn't get to do few things I wanted to do in my second visit - didn't get to go to palace of Versailles, visit Disney Land or had lunch cruise on Siene.
Next morning, we checked out and went to Orly airport (I got to take a tram😍).
Had classic French breakfast at airport Cafe - crossaint, pain au chocolat and coffee.
Bought some macaroons from the duty-free.
And boarded the flight to Geneva.
Sure there are still lots to do in Paris even after 2 trips, but I got many things covered🤓.
Even though, I visited quite a few places, I still did not visit Italy, specifically Venice - the place I dreamed since, I forgot when. My initial plan was to book a weekend or a 3 day tour to Venice and celebrate my birthday there. Then, my sister decided to visit for my birthday and we wanted to go on a mini Europe tour for 9 days.
As my return date drew closer, I had to go through handover activities at office and got extremely busy while my sis was struggling to get through with tourist visa process. We almost gave up on the idea of making our own arrangements and started considering tour package - but none of them have same itinerary which matches what we had in our minds. While I was contemplating if going on our own is going to be easier than finding a suitable package, we got the news that our project got abruptly closed and my calendar got completely free. So I utilized the time to plan for the trip. After couple of algorithms and flow charts, budgeting and travel options, we finalized a base plan - take a bus from London to Paris, 2 days in Paris, flight from Paris to Geneva, 3 days in Swiss, train from Lucern to Milan, 2 days in Italy, flight from Milan to Brussels, 2 days in Belgium and reach London from Brussels in euro star.
I wanted to plan for just Swiss and Italy, but my sister wanted to visit Paris at least for one day. Anyway, bus from London to Paris (29€ pp) + flight from Paris to Geneva (~40£ pp)was costing less than flight from London to Switzerland. So we included Paris and I booked a modest hotel which costed about 70€ for 2 days.
We started on Friday evening from Victoria bus station. It took us a while to figure out the right platform and the area is quite packed. By the time we got into the bus, it was almost full and there we couldn't find any seats next to each other. So we settled in different rows. I thought the person who was sitting behind my sister changed his seat and went there only to realize later that he went to the washroom. By then, my first seat got occupied and I ended up in the last row 😭. Needless to say, I couldn't get any sleep and spent the whole time waiting for the switch to ferry. Surprisingly, ferry ride felt extremely short compared to my previous trip. We reached Paris at around 10 in the morning and went to a nearby station (which was below a shopping mall). I got the pack of 10 single use tickets and we took the train to Tolbiac. By the time we reached, we were extremely hungry and went to a nearby restaurant. I thought there won't be much quantity, as in my previous visit I only got bread and coffee, but we got decent amount of food this time.
After freshening up, we went out for shopping - I thought of spending Saturday shopping and Sunday sight-seeing, as shopping centers usually will be closed on Sunday. We stopped at galleries de la Fayatte and did some shopping in H&M, Sephora and few souvenir stores opposite Louvre. There, we took 2 day pass for bato bus and started commuting by boat (I either did not notice in my previous visit or it wasn't included then, but there was an additional stop where there is a replica of statue of liberty🗽).
From Louvre, we went to Champs Elysee and, after spending some time admiring the artistic structures around, we walked towards Louvre by banks of Siene.
It was extremely sunny day and the walk, even the boat ride, wasn't too pleasant. However, we were crossing a bridge to get to the other side, only to realize it is Pont de Arts - the famous bridge with love locks💘🔏.
It was in my list even in my previous visit, but I didn't know the name and couldn't figure out where it is. It was a happy accident I could come across it in my second trip that too during sun set💕.
We retired to the hotel bit early as we got quite tired, not getting proper sleep the night before, and also as we had packed schedule the next day.
We slept in a bit next morning and by the time we got ready and came out, it was past noon. I had some coffee and some confectioneries from the small patisserie opposite our hotel and went to a pharmacy next to the station to get some skin care products. Our next stop was to Louvre, where I found a tax-free shop (Mariounnoud). My friend asked for a Dior perfume from La Fayette, which I searched for the previous day, but noticed the price to be much less in London. In Mariounnoud, however, there is an offer going on and I got it for almost 20€ less. There was also 3 for 2 offer going on in cosmetics and I bought 2 clarins lip perfecter glosses💄, which was in my list for a while, along with a Dior eye pencil as 3rd product (actually one of the lip glosses came free, being less priced🤑). There was an unexpected delay, as the card payment processed, but the bill did not appear in their sales list. They pulled out the records and looked for it while I tried calling the bank but couldn't get through. Finally, I made the payment again and they told, in case the amount is deducted twice, I could call them and get it sorted. It was almost 3 by the time we came out. I did not want to go to Louvre again, not that I didn't like it, but wanted to visit another place instead. My sister went to Louvre after fixing up a place and time to meet and I went to Champs Elysee. The plan was to try going to Arc de Truimph, but I ended up going to another museum near the tube station, which isn't quite big but very beautiful.
I spent more than an hour in there before heading towards the Arc.
It was quite far away and after walking some distance, I gave up on it and started checking out the shops instead - the street was lined with restaurants and stores of luxury brands👼.
They are not only open but bursting with people on Sunday - quite contrary to what I heard and experienced. I came across the biggest Sephora store I ever visited and it got numerous brands. I tried few Tom Ford and Chanel products and immediately taken to Chanel pencil lipstick and eye shadow. However, not willing to spend so much, I decided to pay Mariounnoud another visit.
I met my sister at around 6 in the evening and we both went back to the store check out my new found interest. I picked a lipstick and eye shadow but couldn't decide on the third product. After few minutes of speculation, I chose YSL touche eclat high lighter pen.
From there we went to Eiffel tower and it was past 7. The queue was enormous and they announced 45 min wait to reach the top. I immediately decided against it - I liked the view from the second floor anyway. After contemplating for a while, my sister too gave up on the plan to go to the top because of the crowd.
Thankfully, it wasn't dark when we reached and we get to see the view in two different kind of lights.
By the time, we came down to the boat station it was past 9:30 and we missed the last boat. I wouldn't be bothered if it is any other stop, but the train station near to Eiffel tower is good 15 mins walk away. We managed to find our way to the station and reached hotel almost around 11. Finding food at that time is another task 😥. We found a Korean restaurant and they were about to close for the day - some how communicated and got some noodles in soup parceled but not before giving a toast to Paris🍷.
I wouldn't call Paris my favorite city, but somehow felt like a place I would visit again. I didn't get to do few things I wanted to do in my second visit - didn't get to go to palace of Versailles, visit Disney Land or had lunch cruise on Siene.
Next morning, we checked out and went to Orly airport (I got to take a tram😍).
Had classic French breakfast at airport Cafe - crossaint, pain au chocolat and coffee.
Bought some macaroons from the duty-free.
And boarded the flight to Geneva.
Sure there are still lots to do in Paris even after 2 trips, but I got many things covered🤓.
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