alleyesonally: February 2008

Sorry it took so long.. lazy lazy... always the reason for late post.. :P

11 hours of flight, happily looking forward for that one day trip in Paris.. i'll cut the crap and flow in pictures..

my room!! damn shiok ok! king size bed, comfy pillows... dreams are even sweeter.. lol..

next day, taking a bus to Paris...

maria, colleague. same training batch as me.

the old buildings on the way to town. these are residential building!!! cool man!

while these are the modern ones..

bicycle parking area... :P

police car?

Then we took a tour bus / hop on hop off bus to go around.. to save time.. :)

the name: Les Cars Rouges..

first stop:

Arc de Triomphe.

The Arc de Triomphe is a monument in Paris that stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, also known as the Place de l'Étoile (Star Square). It is at the western end of the Champ Élysées. The arch honours those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars, and today also includes the tomb of the unknown soldier. -wikipedia

It actually has 8 main roads surrounding it. Like a big roundabout. And there aren't any red lights but precautions from the drivers.

these are either some famous persons name or some historical names.. i dunno :-/

there are also plates on the floor, marking some important dates: in french..

pretty designs..

never to miss: french pigeons!! cooing french? lol...

trying to take a pic with a foreground in it.. pro not? :P

perempuan bertudung aka me on the double decker bus. its C-O-L-D okay...

Quick stop: Grand Palais

The Grand Palais ("Grand Palace") is a large glass exhibition hall that was built for the Paris Exhibition of 1900. It is located in the VIIIe arrondissement of Paris, France.- wikipedia

Dint feel it was special.. so just fyi, i passed by.. ;)

and on my way to....

Eiffel Tower!!!

Nearer

Warmer..

oh, need to show you that they have pasar siang (day market) too... right in the middle of the road selling veggies... ;)

and more classic residential buildings...

also some random statue...

guess what? do you love Paris now?

Eiffel, im coming...

lol...

caught ya!

i caught Big ben in London too...

wondering...

p-e-a-c-e-!-!

3rd stop: Tour Eiffel (that's how they spell it)

The Eiffel Tower (French: Tour Eiffel) is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the Seine River in Paris. The tower has become a global icon of France and is one of the most recognizable structures in the world.-wikipedia

from under you can see... the under... :p

while queing up for the ticket..

now now, the story goes like this:

It was a Saturday, and as usual, Eiffel is always crowded. same to the queue. So knowing little, we just queue at one of the never ending queues...

By a few more rows reaching the counter, only we saw that we were queuing for

STAIRS ONLY

we've queued soooo long, we decided to go ahead, though we need to work another 10 hours back to Korea the next day... pheeee yeu!!!

see... stairs... ONLY

catching my breath..

first floor: 328 steps....

ah... so lomantic lah... i also wan sleep here..

2nd floor:

700 FUCKING steps!!!

can you see from the pic im catching my breath?

these are the HUGE wheels that brings the escalator up...

the tower's shadow...

damn windy and cold.. my hair actually got frizzy... :(

got bar on top leh!! ice bar summore!!! with its ice cold sculptor too!!

trying to act cute..

they also have street symphony...

gegala melepak digalakkan disini...

lets lepak more ;)

look how they cut the trees...

art of work ok!

4th stop:

Musee Du Louvre

The Louvre (French: Musée du Louvre) in Paris, France, is the most visited and famous art museum in the world.[2] The structure is located on the Right Bank in the 1er arrondissement between the Seine River and the Rue de Rivoli.[3]
The structure originated as the palace during the Capetian dynasty under the reign of Philip II.[4] The building holds some of the world's most famous works of art, such as Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, Madonna of the Rocks, Jacques Louis David's Oath of the Horatii, Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People and Alexandros of Antioch's Venus de Milo. The equestrian statue of Louis XIV constitutes the starting point of the "axe historique", but the palace is not aligned on this axis.-wikipedia

Its actually the biggest musuem in the world.. and you really need ONE DAY to tour...

I dint enter the museum this time.. im gonna show you pics from my first trip..

pyramid from the inside

look at the queue!!

inside:

this is one of the beautiful sculptors... psyche and cupid.. story goes here.

that long long walk to see Mona Lisa...

and this is my best shot.

the potrait was damn precious, guards were surrounding it, with safety belt, "distaning" visitors like 10 meter away from the potrait. then another hundred bunch of people were trying to get as close as possible to get a pic of it. so my attempt to zoom mona lisa with my shaky hand = failure...

you ppl just gotta pay to go paris and see the real thing... ;)

the musuem itself was once upon a time a palace. thus the pretty sculptors and designs around it, including the ceilings..

next: Venus de Milo

wish i can have those pillars for my home... lol

to see all these famous arts, i/we (korean crews) actually walked more than the 700 steps i climbed on Eiffel..

Last but not least, the mesopotamia zone: this one we've learn before in highschool history.

Code of Hammurabi

ok, enough of museums...

5th stop: Norte Dame

those who watch hunchback of notre dame, there you go... its a 200 years old catholic church..

and while posing for a pic, these ppl just have to disturb me...

while some are willing to hug them (esp males) i am not sure shall i hug them or not! will they take the opportunity to take something from me?

i did eventually.. but kept check of my stuff after hugging...

a friend told me they are students and I see not only them but lots of them offering free hugs.. why huh?

I found some answer here

back to Norte Dame:

inside: the glass panel

more glass panel

and the story of jesus

wooden minature of Norte Dame

outside:

I was sooooo hungry.. I tried their famous crepe

with coconut, chocolate and banana...

cost me 5.5 euro (rm26) for that piece!!!!!

my next trip, im gonna come here... biggest shopping center in Paris..

by this time, my pick up bus back to hotel actually left us. Since so, we decided to see the night view and take the train home later...

sorry its blurry, but this is actually the LV building...

Arc de Triomphe by night

the Alexander III bridge. one of the prettiest bridge in Paris (they have lots of bridges) again, sorry for the blurry effect.. the bus was moving, im shaking in cold... brrr...!!