Europe was never on my must-see travel list. But then a few months ago, one of my friends signed up for an Europe tour with her husband and invited me too. Unfortunately, I couldn’t join her due to my job. The timing was inconvenient and I knew that I couldn’t do 11 cities in 11 days. However, it got me thinking. I got leave, permission to travel and planned and planned, up until the moment I was to leave India for my Europe trip. I just came back and cannot wait to tell you all about my 12 day Europe trip on which I travelled Solo to France, Switzerland and Italy. Unlike my USA and Cambodia trips, I’ll write elaborately about this trip due to a lot of request messages – starting with how to see Paris in Three days.
How to see Paris in Three days
I met the wonderful Karin of Ginkgo et coquelicot at Paris, which was my first stop on my Europe trip. She is like a typical Indian cousin who will invite you home, feed you and take you for siteseeing when in their city. To clarify she is neither Indian nor my cousin but a really kind hearted soul who I met through my blog. This is why I love blogging!! Do you know she has super strength? Yes, she carted my suitcase around metro lines all over the city until we reached my hotel.
Run around Arc De Triomphe
On my first day in Paris, after visiting Karin’s home, I saw Arc De Triomphe. I literally ran around it looking at all the sculptures and reliefs as Karin held my bag. Next stop was Seine River cruise and Eiffel tower night tour. I had booked it with headout (city wonder tours) and it was horribly managed. It was supposed to be a single voucher for 2 attractions (their customer care assured me several times). But when I turned up at Bateux Parisiens, dressed in floral pastels for my “summer in Paris” look, I was turned away. After desperate phone calls that were constantly rerouted to another number, I spent an extra 15 Euro and bought a ticket so as to not miss the last boat at 9PM.
Take the Seine River Cruise at sunset
The commentary on the boat was a let down, but the ride itself was calming. It lets you take in the sights and sounds of Paris at a leisurely pace. I saw the facades of Lourve, Musee D’ Orsay, Notre-Dame de Paris, Latin dance square and many more places. As the sun set, the bridges looked ephemeral calling out to the artist in me. The different between the left bank (La Rive Gauche) and right bank as in Pret and Haute couture is something Fashion students learn at the beginning of their course. Still, it was not until the end of an exhaustive Paris trip, my brain recollected the Lourve – Musee De Orsay, Right- left connection.
Meet some friendly Indian folks at the square
According to my voucher I had to report at 10:15PM near Trocadero square for my Eiffel tower tour at 10:30pm. Therefore, I ran all the way back to the station and looked for my guide. I went around the square 3 times until I was breathless with an Asthma attack. Apparently no one there has heard of them. I was almost in tears when I approached a Sikh man selling alcohol in the square. It was his friend, who seeing my state, left his bottles at a store and went around the square looking for this group. People told us to go to their office a few streets away and look for them. Amidst all that crowd, I noticed an oval pink sticker saying ‘city wonder tours’ on a woman’s chest. I followed her to a tour guide standing in a dark spot with no banner, flag, or poster.
That helpful stranger, a Punjabi Bhaiyya left me only after I found the group. Thank you – another Human of Paris. When I met the coordinator he was super rude and asked if I wanted to discuss the matter or go on the tour. He said that I obviously couldnt “see” as other people had found them. The guide was embarrassed an turned away. It turned out the other people in that group were from one family dropped there by their tour operator. Another family, joined us around 11PM for they were also looking for us. Never ever book headout reservations; they are super incompetent. I was so glad that my reservation with them to visit Versailles was cancelled.
See the Eiffel tower lights dance at Midnight
We walked to the Tower, watched the lights go on at 11PM, cleared security and went in. The elevators are slow (they move diagonally) and the wait takes time. The tour was meh, with the guide telling us generic information. It was also super windy, so the mikes did not work properly. Here are some other facts about the tower that I gathered later.
Gustave Eiffel did not design the Eiffel tower contrary to popular opinion though he owns the rights to it. His firm Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel created it for Exposition Universelle as a tiara for the exhibition grounds. It’s utilitarian purpose is to transmit radio and video signals. Lights blink on the Eiffel tower for 5 minutes each hour after its dark (not immediately after sunset). It is a series play of lights being switched on and off to create the romantic feeling that the tower is dancing. At 12AM, I saw the tower lights dance (blink) before taking a ride down. I was thankful that I took my jacket with me for it was super cold (by Indian standards).
Visit the Chateau of Versailles
I booked this trip with Paris City vision and it was a delight despite my horrendous jet-lag migraine. The trip around Paris with commentary was fun. We skipped the line at Versailles and given audio system guides. However, I couldnt use them due to my aforementioned migraine. So I just looked, gathered and occasionally overheard what guides of other groups said. I met Mr. Raja Kannu from Coimbatore and speaks 23 languages and works at the Chateau. He showed me a short cut to the gardens, so I could quickly see the most important fountains in the little time that I had. Thank you sir.
Chateau of Versailles was made famous by its kings and queen – Louis XIV, Louis XVI, and Marie Antoinette. The ceiling of each room was splendid with Gods, nymphs and men depicted in all their glory. The gold of baroque along with the swirling flourishes and new colours of Rococo makes Versailles palace a designer’s delight. There was an exhibition on Madam De Maintenon when I went too. Marie Antoinette is quite often portrayed as a villain who dusted her hair with flour when the common folk went hungry. I learned about her soft side and sad life about putting up a show of a lifestyle after losing her 11 month old child. She had public deliveries as well, agghh!!
What many miss seeing in Versailles, is the large room of paintings of Napolean and French revolution scenes. Also, the marble statues of officers in their regalia in a corridor downstairs is not to be missed. I seem to be missing quite lot of photos of this day trip including those of themed rooms. Check my Instagram to see my post on Marie Antoinette for more.
Visit the museums of Paris
While Paris is full of exquisite art and numerous museums, I had time only for two – Musee de arts Decoratifs and the Lourve. Karin accompanied me to the Decoratifs and we had fun browsing through decorative objects spanning many centuries. I could appreciate 16th-18th century objects better after visiting the Versailles Palace. But, I was super thrilled to see the works Ettore Sattsoss, Lambretta, bigletti, the convertible beds and bookshelf from the Memphis art movement. These were all objects that I studied about in college and done assignments on. It was so cool to see them in person. The jewellery exhibition on the 2nd level was full of extraordinary items. From Emaile brooches of Europe to those of Paul Vever and Rene Lalique it was spellbinding.
Lourve is a world by itself and I went from the moat to Richelieu wing +2. There is no way, that I could do justice to these museums in this post as I spent an entire day there. So I will write one focusing solely on them.
Marches Aux Puches – shop at Paris’s biggest flea market
Check out my post on Blueberry jewellery set to read all about this market.
Paris in three days – Tips
- Stay – close to metro stations as walking in Paris will tire you out. I stayed near Etoile and it was a good decision. While Metro is the quickest way to travel, take a tour bus or even uber at times. That is the best way to see how the city lives and functions.
- Eat – If you are an Indian (vegetarian) on an Europe tour go out of the way to find and eat at Indian restaurants as you will find only croissants, pasta, pizza and sandwiches in other cities. I recommend Ravi’s behind Musee de Orsay. The food is good and very reasonable. The hotel I stayed at had fluffy croissants stocked all day and it became my lunch on most days. They were the best I have ever had. Everywhere else croissants were like bricks. Indians will find European bread very hard. Shop for softer bread and water at super markets.
- Shop – If you want reasonably cheap souvenirs shop at vendors near the railway stations or even inside them. Most goods are made in China (even those inside the museum). Atleast, in these shops, they are cheaper. Pick up tin trays, postcards and magnets. I visited Europe during the Soldes when all designer goods are upto 50% off. But I neither had the money or space in my suitcase to shop for them. Also, most stores close by 7:30 PM. Keep a day exclusively for shopping and hit Lafayette mall (for high end) and Wagram for street wear brands.
Seeing Paris in three days is a myth. Yes, you can see parts of the city like I did. But you need atleast 5-7 days if you want to do atleast a bit of justice to the place. Please do come back for my upcoming posts on Zurich, Venice and Rome as well.
Dedicated to Karin and all the other helpful strangers whom I met.
I hope you found it interesting
Cheers
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