expiration date 

this entry is written by ari, who’s helping me catching up with the Europe Travel entries.

As soon as we got out of the Eiffel Tower station, we could immediately see the hulking steel structure just a few yards away.

Since we were all tired from all the walking and a bit hungry, I shouted “Who wants ice cream?” as soon as I saw the ice cream truck at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Of course both Aina and Thalia yelled back “meeeee!”… And off I went to join the line to get ice cream. So here are the photos of us at the Eiffel Tower with Aina licking away at the chocolate swirl the whole time. Yummm…

It was quite a challange for us to find a good spot for a picture of us with the tower since we were too close, and our camera’s fixed lense has its limitations. Nevertheless, we finally got a good spot further down the Champ de Mars.

We sat down on the grass for a little bit, since we didn’t have any plans going up the tower, especially after passing the really long line near the elevator. There, we ate the croissants we bought this morning, next to a drunk old man trying to make conversation with a group of french girls. Soon after, the cops came and pulled him away.

After a while, we decided to move on. Opening up our map, we plotted our way towards Les Invalides. With Aina on the stroller, off we ventured along 7th arrondissement. We took pictures of Les Invalides, a glorious complex of military museum and veterans’ hospital built by Louis XIV.

We continued down Pont Alexandre III, a beautiful bridge with angel statues on pillars at each corner and at the mid-point.

Just over the bridge, lay Grand Palais to our left and Petit Palais to our right. There seems to be an exhibition/show by Hermès. We stopped by The Grand Palais to peek inside, unsuccessfully, but the architecture of the glass ceiling seems really beautiful from our vantage point. There were half a dozen black BMWs up front, reserved for Hermes officials. Designers and models were slowly trickling in, lining up for security checks at the entrance of the Grand Palais.

Petite Palais entrance


Grand Palais… We wish we could go in.

We continued on towards Champs-Élysées, the most famous boulevard in Paris and one of the most expensive stretch of commercial realestates in the world. Large brand names’ flagship stores were to be found there. Dior, Gucci, LV and even a Disney store. Which explains the uber-posh coffee shops on the super wide sidewalks.

aina and her hero :)


bajaj! at Champs-Élysées!

After a few blocks on foot, we decided to head back.

Back at the apartment, everyone went to sleep immediately. Tired of all the walking we did today. I guess we were pretty ambitious today… And a lofty price did we pay - stiff muscles everywhere after we woke up an hour later. I walked out to get the panini that we failed to buy in the morning. This time for dinner in our room. I also got a gyro on the way back. After dinner, we started to pack and Thalia and Aina took a shower before bed. Tomorrow, we’ll be on our way back to Singapore!

And the rest of today’s pictures are in the flickr’s 16 march 2012 archive archive.