Does the moonlight shine on Paris
After the sun goes down
If the London Bridge is falling
Will anybody hear a sound
If you follow the sunset will it ever end
Does the moonlight shine on Paris
*note: texts in bold are clickable.
That song kept repeating on my head whenever I look at the majestic Eiffel Tower.
I may sound like a broken record but if something wonderful happened in your life you just want to talk about it again and again. Paris has a special place in my heart because my life turned 180 degrees in this place. It redirected my life to a different path. It's amazing how a "yes" could just change your life in an instant. Yes, I got proposed at in Paris, and the Eiffel Tower was our witness (and maybe a few other people celebrating New Years Eve). If you're curious about the proposal story, click me.
Anyway, enough melodrama. We went back to Paris for 7 days to celebrate our 2nd year wedding anniversary. It was a late celebration as our wedding anniversary was 2 weeks ago prior our departure to Paris but we wanted to take advantage of the holiday long weekend (US Memorial Day) that's why we pushed the trip 2 weeks later.
Day 1.
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| orly west |
The super shuttle dropped us off first since we had to wait for the other passengers and by the time we got to our hotel it's almost noon. Our room was almost ready as the couple who previously occupied it had already checked-out but they still need to clean it. So we deposited our bags, had lunch and came back after an hour.
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| our favorite hotel in Paris....this is the 2nd time we stayed here, 2010 and now.... Stn: Bir-Hakeim Metro Station (6-light green) |
Day 2.
Day 2 was our post nup/trash-the-wedding-dress photoshoot with a local photographer. I brought my church wedding gown with me and the hubby brought his wedding coat barong and his regular barong for this. We booked 2 and 2. Which means 2 hours early morning (so there won't be much people) and another 2 hours in the evening (ofcourse! Paris lits up nicely at night).
Our call time was 7:45 AM but I had to wake up 3 hours earlier to do my hair and make-up. J, our photographer was right on time. He picked us up at our hotel and our first location was at the Trocadero and the rest of the locations were just around the Eiffel Tower and some cafes and streets.
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| our early morning photoshoot at Trocadero |
Our first location for that second half of the photoshoot was the Louvre, then we went back to Trocadero for night time Eiffel Tower shot and lastly by the River Seine.
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| Night time at the Louvre |
Day 3.
Day 3 would be a separate post because it's a whole different story worthy of posting on a separate blog but to give you a short gist, we left for London in the morning on Eurostar to watch Miss Saigon, stayed in London for the night and took the Eurostar again the next day to go back to Paris.
Here's a short video of the train ride:
Day 4.
Day 4 was half London half Paris. We got back in Paris at almost 5 PM, went back to our hotel to change and went to Moulin Rouge for our dinner/show reservation. We met two amazing Australian couple while having dinner and watching the show. It's always nice to hear travel stories from fellow travelers. They even gave us their names and email and told us to email them if we need tickets for the Australian Open, weee! The Moulin Rouge show was one of the best shows I've ever seen. I have seen Christmas Show at Radio City in New York and that just blows the door away but this Moulin Rouge show can be placed in the same category as the Christmas show. The costume, the acts, it's just fabulous. When you go to Paris, do not watch those cheap Can-Can shows, book the real deal, it's just so worth it (the hubby booked the Belle Époque which has better menu and better seats - we were 2 tables from the stage). Oh, and did I mention the food is fantastic? Oh yeah! It's a gastronomical delight!
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Day 5.
We went to pick up our Museum Pass at the Paris Tourism office near the Louvre, had a quick breakfast (at Mc Donalds) and went to the Lourve. I've been to the Louvre already but we were in a hurry the first time we were there that I only caught a glimpse of my favorite sculpture. This time I wanted to make sure I'll have my photo taken right next to it. Problem is, it was out for restoration! Agh, the frustration. I was ready to just leave but we decided to see the Roman, Greek, Egyptian collections, which by the way are amazing! I love sculptures more than paintings. I've seen Mona Lisa already during my first visit so we didn't bother to go see her.
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| just too happy to be back here, lol |
The sun finally came out that day (it was drizzling and cloudy since we left for London) and we've been wanting to have a picnic by the Champs de Mars and so right after we got out from the Louvre we went back to our hotel to get the picnic blanket and picnic bag that we packed with us. Our picnic bag is just a small bag that carries: napkin, wine glass and a bottle of wine. I used the space for bottle of wine to store the utensils and some plates (which is really just a couple of sushi mats wrapped on cling-wrap and rolled). There's a supermarket a few steps from our hotel and that's where we bought our picnic items: red wine, coke, different cheeses, french bread, a couple of different meats and some dessert. It was around past 3 PM and it was a lovely day just to sit, eat, people-watch and watch the French Open (they have a big TV up ahead).
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| pa-kyut lang ang peg, lol |
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| i took a quick snapshot of the approx spot where the hubby proposed on january 1, 2011 (new year's eve) |
We could have stayed a little bit more but we have a dinner reservation at Les Ombres at 7 PM and it's still a good 20-minute walk back to our hotel and we still need to change to dinner clothes.
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| view at Les Ombres |
I have been reading about this famous bookstore in Paris that have been frequented by famous writers called Shakespeare and Company and being a bookworm that I am, I just have to go see it. Problem is it was closed. I didn't know it was a holiday that day and they close early (8 PM), otherwise they're open until 10 PM. I did manage to take some photos of the store front and promised to go back the next day (which I did, scroll below).
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| they close early on holidays |
We went to the Love Lock bridge next because we brought a lock with us. I know, I know, so "jologs" (or corny, or cheesy, or juvenile, whatever) but we thought it would be fun and so we did it. It was hard getting a space to put our lock in but the hubby was able to find one. The lock we brought didn't have a key with it so we had nothing to throw on the River Seine, but it's alright, it's the gesture that counts, lol. We then went to a souvenir shop to browse around when we saw a sign: "engraved locks". It's 10 euros for the lock that we want (it looks like an overlapping double heart) and additional 5 euros to engrave. I wasn't happy about the price so I walked away and said no to the sales guy who has the engraver tool turned on already and anxious to start our lock. But he chased me and offered to give us the lock with engraving for 10 euros. The hubby wants to do it so I said yes, which means, we now we have 2 locks on the Love Lock bridge, lol.
We're aware that they cut off those locks every 5 years or something, and that's fine. We're in it for the experience. I do remember not seeing these much locks on the bridge the first time we were in Paris in 2010 so I guess they do clean up the Love Lock bridge from time to time.
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| first lock: pink, second lock: engraved |
We're aware that they cut off those locks every 5 years or something, and that's fine. We're in it for the experience. I do remember not seeing these much locks on the bridge the first time we were in Paris in 2010 so I guess they do clean up the Love Lock bridge from time to time.
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| i took this photo of the Love Lock bridge on December of 2010... |
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| and this is what it looks like now, May 2014 |
We then hailed a cab to take us back to our hotel so I could get my tripod and camera remote. I wanted to take night shots of the Eiffel Tower from Trocadero. When we got to Trocadero it was already past 10 pm but there were still a lot of people there. I tried to get some shots but gave up after a few long exposure shots and decided to go for a drink/bite at the Cafe Trocadero to pass time.
The food there is OK. The view, well, we can see the base of the Eiffel Tower from where we're sitting but trees are blocking our view. I wasn't really hungry so I just ordered French Onion soup and a soda. The hubby ordered some beef dish and red wine. I like my onion soup but the hubby claims his beef is so-so.
After a couple of hours we went back to the spot where I was taking photos and although the number of people at that plaza had significantly diminished there were still some people hanging around but I might not have a chance again so I took that opportunity. Below are some of my shots taken that night.
Day 6.
We wanted to start early but we didn't get to sleep the other night until around 3 in the morning so we ended up waking late and start touring late.
We started Day 6 at Sacré-Cœur. I figured we should go to the farthest first lest will get lazy once we got too tired. We got lost looking for the funicular which wasted a good 20 minutes of our time but we found it, and that's what's important. The view from up there at the Sacré-Cœur is gorgeous and the gentleman playing the harp added more to the already pretty ambiance.
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| steps at Sacré-Cœur |
Our next stop was the Musée des Arts et Métiers. This is like our Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. It consists of some geeky collections such as scientific instruments, mechanics, communication equipments, transportation collections, different old computing devices, etc. This is also where you will see the original model of the Statue of Liberty by Auguste Bartholdi. I personally like seeing Blaise Pascal's Pascaline, the first mechanical calculator.
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| Pascaline : the first mechanical calculator |
After geeking out at Musée des Arts et Métiers we went to Rodin Museum. I got very frustrated the first time I was in Paris because I got lost looking for the Rodin Museum that this time I made sure we actually will get there. We actually have a Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, but you know how it is, "proximity complex". You don't get to see stuff closer to home because of the mentality that it would be really easy to get to so there's no hurry and so you forever procrastinate. Anyway, it was almost closing time when we got there. We only have 45 minutes to tour the museum. I was able to tour the museum and the garden but when I got to the fountain the guards started gesturing us that it's time to leave. That's alright, seeing Rodin's sculptures is more than enough for me. Did I mention I love his works of art?! Very detailed, very meticulously made. Just awesome! Now I have to make sure I go see the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia. I read somewhere that the first bronze cast of the Gates of Hell was there and the second one was the one in the Rodin Museum in Paris.
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| My 3rd "The Thinker" statue I have posed pictures with. It was still drizzling on Day 6, ergo the jacket. |
We went back to Shakespeare and Company after the Rodin Museum and this time it's open, yey! It was just a small bookstore but it's refreshing to see a bookstore like that. It's cozy and unique and kinda old world. I was browsing thru the books inside when I saw stacks of Hemingway's Moveable Feast on a table at a corner. It's the one where the cover is Hemingway standing in front of Shakespeare and Company which I thought would be a pretty cool souvenir and so I bought it and I also have it stamped!
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| how to find shakespeare and co. |
Next stop was Berthillon. I have read lots of great reviews about Berthillon and I wasn't able to try their stuff on our first visit to Paris so this time around, even if we're already tired from all the walking, we made sure we get to try it. I ordered one scoop of mango and one scoop of peach sorbet (all in a single cone) and the hubby ordered one scoop of almond pralines and one scoop of chocolates cream. Both are very heavenly delicious. Next time we come back, I want to sit at one of their tables and order there. We were supposed to order a slice of cake and something to drink while there but we were asked to leave because cones are not allowed inside. Hmpf!
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| berthillon |
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| starbucks' paris mugs |
Then finally after taking a quick rest and changing to a more decent dinner attire we walked to the Eiffel Tower (our hotel is just walking distance to the Eiffel Tower), located our elevator and had dinner at 58 Tour Eiffel Restaurant. It's the hubby's idea to end our last day in Paris with a dinner at the Eiffel Tower and who am I to complain, it's a brilliant idea. This was the second time we had dinner here. The first time was back in 2010 when he was planning to propose here (he didn't like where we're seated that time so he didn't propose there). We met another amazing Australian couple while having dinner there. Australians are just the most friendliest people, my husband always tell me he never met a snotty Australian and so far in my experience that is true. We exchange travel stories and tips and jokes. That's another thing that is fun with travelling, meeting new people, swapping stories with fellow travelers. It was an absolutely another amazing night.
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I wanted to take night shots of Arc de Triomphe so after dinner we went back to our hotel to grab my tripod and we went to Champs-Élysées. The problem is, like my favorite sculpture, Arc de Triomphe is also under restoration, as you can see from the photo below. So I just took a set of long exposure shots and gave up on that idea and we just went to get some drinks on one of the cafes along Champs-Élysées. After all, no Paris trip is complete without visiting Champs-Élysées, atleast for us that's the case.
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| Arc de Triomphe under restoration |
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| at some random cafe at Champs-Élysées |
Day 7.
Last day was spent packing and waiting at the airport.
We love Paris and we'll never get tired of coming back.
We'll see you again in 2 years (because we have other plans for next year).
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