We touched down in Paris in the morning and began right away with the city tour.

 

 

The tour was mostly conducted on the coach. There was a local guide on board who provided the commentary in English with a thick French accent as we navigated the city roads.

 

It kind of reminded me of the Paris scene in the movie “Monte Carlo” where the tourists had to keep on their toes to catch a glimpse of the attractions as the bus zipped past them. It was not as exaggerated though.

 

 

Our first photo stop was at the Arc de Triomphe. When I first saw pictures of it while doing my pre-trip research, I wondered what is so spectacular about an arc structure erected in the middle of the road which looks just like an ERP gantry in neoclassical disguise.

 

But seeing it in real life, I was left in awe of its majesty. Sadly, we were only given like 10 minutes for photos and confined to the street across Champs-Élysées.

 

 

Next stop was the Plaza of Liberties and Human Rights which presented a beautiful backdrop with the magnificent Eiffel Tower.

 

 

Lunch was a typical oriental fare at the Sichuan Panda restaurant @ Galeries Lafayette. We spent the next few hours at the mall while some tour members were brought to the Louvre Museum as part of an optional package.

 

 

We did not join the optional tour for (1) it was rather inflated, and (2) the time allocated for Louvre Museum was only ~2h! From my pre-trip research, that meagre time would barely be enough to queue to see the famous Mona Lisa.

 

The upmarket shops didn’t appeal to us so we took to the streets outside. Besides I wanted to see the Opera House round the corner. So we strolled in the sprinkle of rain and snapped pictures of the dynamic window displays that bordered the mall.

 

 

After our little adventure “out in the wild”, we went back in and settled at the Lafayette Caffé which overlooked Paris. It was like a dream come true: having afternoon tea and soaking in the views of the cityscape.

 

 

Then I was struck by an idea; to take a time-lapse video of the Eiffel tower! Assembling my elaborate setup of tripod and zoom lens for my iPhone drew curious looks and friendly smiles from the locals.

 

 

On rejoining the tour group, we were brought to the Eiffel tower. Having marvelled at its beauty in the scenes of “Monte Carlo” and “Midnight in Paris”, I was so looking forward to this.

 

 

As we proceed to go up to the 2nd level, I was flooded with a mix of excitement and fear. Yes, I have a slight phobia of heights and seeing the wobbly lifts crawl up the undersides of the tower compounded it.

 

I fixed my sights on the floor of the lift throughout the ascent but it did feel steadier than what I perceived from the ground.

 

Once up on the steady platform, the fears dispelled but we were hit by the chilling winds. Without our thermals, we were shivering so bad that we had to seek refuge in the heated souvenir shop between periods of admiring the stunning panoramic views of night-time Paris.

 

 

We had an unimpressive dinner at our hotel, Forest Hill La Villette before retiring to our room. Actually, most of our meals during the trip were average so I shall only write about those worthy of mention from this point onwards.