Well, Day2 started quite early at 4:00 AM as we had to be ready by 6:30 to check out and depart from the hotel.So far so good, everything went fine and as scheduled we departed from the 'Gallieni' station at 6:30 AM( it was the first metro for the day).We were heading to the next destination called 'Versailles Palace'.
I dont know the historical value but i do know that Mr L N Mittal booked this palace to celebrate his daughter's wedding. And entire Bollywood fraternity was present here to bless the couple.Anyway, not to deviate to the bollywood, we reached the destination by 8:00 AM and following signs reached the palace by 8:30 AM.It was a village, i think, quite far from Paris and by the time we got down there were almost nil co-passengers in the train.
5th destination:Palace of Versailles
Located at a village called Château de Versailles.After,more than an hour of journey in metro followed by a train, we reached here.On reaching the station, we realized our two day pass was not valid this far by distance.And there was no facility to take extra tickets, but i think government also understood this problem so they kept one gate without any lock.It was meant for passersby like us:).When we reached the palace,the extravagant space, the warrior on the horse, the 'golden' painted gates, two ever immortalized gate keepers makes you realize that this monument does represent the remnants of the power it had.After all,Louis XIV stayed here with his family.
The dome of the palace is made of gold, but the gates are painted gold now.
There was a big queue for the visitors to take ticket and peep inside the palace.We roamed around the palace for a while and moved ahead to the next destination.Of course didnt bother to see the palace from inside.Alas! the agent was not there to discuss the rental conditions!! So we moved ahead:).
6th destination:Notre-dame
One of the most famous church in Paris.The mass was 'on' when we entered the church. Entrance was free and the ambience was calm.As soon as you will enter the church,you will notice different types of drawings mostly glas paintings in the ceiling and several statues smiling at them.Its a big church and even if you roam around each painting and statues just for 1 minute, it will take around 1 hour to complete one round. During my last visit in 2008, there was an exhibition here in which 'a thorn in the crown of Christ' was on display.
Actually visiting these places make you even realize more that the maintenance of Qutub minar and Taj-Mahal is equally important as curbing the menace of corruption in our country.
7th destination:Louvre
Our next destination was Louvre museum which is home to some of the best creation of art.After all, Mona Lisa and The Last Supper share the same room here.The entrance to the museum was also through the underground metro station.So as soon as we came out of metro, we were in queue to move inside the museum. Best part is, Sundays have free entrance.The closer you move towards the museum, you will find yourself near,'Inverted Pyramid' which will remind you of the last chapter of 'Da Vinci code' where just below the inverted pyramid,there is small pyramid which conceals the 'Holy grail'.
Fiction or Fact, you still feel close to something 'historical'.There are three entrance to Louvre. It is practically not possible to roam around Louvre in one day,without going for a long run and remain determined not to see any paintings. So to guide you and make your tour experience better, there are navigation devices available for rent in 6 euros which you can use to decide which type of tour you wish to take.Like if you want to see only masterpieces, the device will guide you step by step to see each masterpiece and finally guide you out of the big museum. Dont forget to make a fixed rendezevous point before embarking on the tour if you are going in small groups.
It was already around 11:00 AM when we decided to visit Monalisa and deviate from the original plan of roaming inside Louvre for three hours.Monalisa was on third floor and the road to meet her was crowded.With some effort and patience we reached the big room from where the famous lady had been smiling all this while.Infront of this painting, lies the giant painting of 'The Last Supper'.As you look at this painting, the perfection of masterpiece captivates you.The best part with this painting is you can move closer to the printing and get yourself photographed easily).
While returning from Louvre, we decided to go to Eiffel and stay there for the remaining part of the day.
Lunch:
On our way to Eiffel, we made a stopover at a restaurant on the way.To experiment with the French food, our order contained French fries, Pizza, Pasta, Omelette and Coke. Except for coke, everything else was 'different' in taste. While Indians prepare omelette with onion, and at least coriander in it.
The French omelette is devoid of any such luxury. It doesn't contain even the salt:). Anyway, we tried to gobble up to compensate for the amount it was coming to be but this strategy backfired since one or two of us had started getting vomiting sensation post this cruel attempt. The bill came to around 50 Euros.
Disheartened but bold, we moved on to Eiffel tower.
8th destination:(Final one):
We came back to Eiffel to take the ride this time and see Paris from top.It costs 8 euros if you go to first landing. But it takes 13 euros if you wish to go to the 'Top'. So to scale the heights and reach to the top, we took the obvious choice.In the queue to take tickets, it was amazing to see, one of the police man wished me 'Namaskar'. Remember the 'model indian concept' from Day 1:).
The weather conditions were deteriorating now. Temperature was already hovering around -3 to -4 again.And we were talking of going to the top. The thought itself was chilly, we were wondering about the 'to be' experience.Tickets were taken we started the ride on Eiffel.The lift took us to the first landing.Paris was in full view now.Windy ofcourse.Bones were chilling.Nevertheless we joined the queue for the next lift to the top floor.There is one restaurant on the first landing so if you want to have some snacks or anything to eat, you can have it here.Not to waste our time and remaining 'little' energy; we proceeded directly and joined the long queue.Now if you thought we were the only idiots who have decided to go till Top;you are mistaken:).There were around 50 people in queue with us.A long chilly wait of around one hour took us near to the lift and further to the top.Temperature must have been around -10;worse;wind was also enjoying our 'not so good' situation.After spending around 10 minutes and struggling with the weather, we decided to join the 'sane' group and started the journey downwards.After enjoying for some more time, the glory of Eiffel, we moved back to the Hotel.
Took the luggage and journey started back to Amsterdam.
The snowfall has not obstructed the path and bus reached on time.Tired and exhausted we parted ways from our friends promising to plan for the next trip.
=Thank You=
Monday, December 20, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Fun:Trip to Paris--Day1
It was a snowing day on friday,3-Dec-2010 in Amsterdam. Weather forecast was not so good for the next two days, bus to paris was supposed to depart at 10 PM and at 4:00 PM, i was still in two minds whether to continue with this trip or not. The group included 5 members and towards the evening, when clock bell of 5:00 PM rang, we decided to take the trip, come what may. The mood was euphoric, for we were going to Paris, to meet Monalisa in Louvre and then to scale the peak of Eiffel.
Fortunately for us, the snowfall stopped towards the late evening and the bus departed as scheduled at 10:00 PM. Its called Euro-lines buses which connects european cities. Traveling to paris from amsterdam in 40 euros is good but be ready with 'not so luxurious' ride:).We reached Paris when it was still dark, morning of 4-dec-2010. As soon as we landed, the reality of 'not being French' dawned on us. There were lots of signs for directions but not a word of English.First time i realized how difficult is it to be illiterate? Anyway,with some guesses and limited help from French language, we could find the 'EXIT' and zoom--out to the open world where there were no signs, no people-- and we were looking for the hotel:).
The first person whom we managed to find and asked about the hotel said,"pata nahin". Surprised, but its possible anywhere now.With a moustache and almost a dark face, i am a 'model indian':).So irrespective of any language i use, people can reply me in hindi with confidence..
Anyway the bad news was that we were in wrong direction to find the hotel but the good news was we were not so far. One of our team mate found the network and hence the hotel person could inform us that we were in wrong direction. So we zoomed back only to find that it was around 50 meters away from the station in other direction.Anyway with great hopes and delight, we entered the hotel making plans to take some rest, fresh up then to visit the city.But OOPS!, the checkin was only possible at 12:00 PM and it was still 7'00 AM.There was no lounge and no place to sit either. But the heaters were ON so staying there sounded a better option than roaming in cold.So we stayed for a while,used the staff bathroom to freshen up and were ready to roam by 7:30 AM.
First destination:Sacre-coeur:
Its a church and it is said that 'some one is praying the lord here for last 125 years'.The weather was cold, of course, and the temperature was around -4 something. Adding to this, the church is located at a height of 271 feet above the ground level, so there was more cold and more wind:). But the fighters fought with patience. Inside, it was serene, we saw people cleaning the statues with such minute effort, i realized it will take a giant's effort for us to realize the importance of tourism and to maintain it in our country.Competing to these places, i think, we do nothing to save our heritage.
2nd destination: La chappelle
This street is known more for tamil food and hence christened as Tamil street.All around, you can find indian shops and so indian stuff like silk sarees to ornaments, almost anything. You name it, there you will have it.
We had our lunch there. The snowfall from which we escaped in Amsterdam caught us in Paris.Anyway we were inside a small eat-out called 'Krishna bhavan' so decided to ignore snow for the sumptuous lunch of rice, vada and different south indian special dishes including payasam.
It was already around 1:30, time to check in, we returned to the hotel. After taking rest for 2-3 hours, we started for Eiffel tower.Snowfall has stopped but cold was killing.I think temperature would be around -5 to -6.
3rd destination: Eiffel tower
After changing two metros, we reached a place called ,Bir-Hakeim. From here,it was walkable distance of around 150 meters to reach Eiffel. On the road to Eiffel, you will see number of Asian people trying to sell eiffel models speaking French, English, Hindi and many more.The smallest model was available for 6 pieces in 1 euro.The experience of looking at Eiffel is overwhelming. I dont consider this as a masterpiece architecture, nevertheless the way it looks down on you,one can feel nothing but mesmerized with the sheer size of this monument.Few minutes passed, and the famous eiffel lighening started.The old game of AND,OR and NOT gates and people cheering at the visual effect of this game:).After spending around one hour here, we started to the nearest monument called Arc De Triumph.More description of Eiffel will follow the next day as we wanted to visit Eiffel on both the days:).
4th destination:Arc De Triumph
Looks very similar to India gate but that is where the similarity ends. Rest everything is so controlled and well managed that you are left with no option but to pray that someday we will reach this level of professionalism in our day to day work.The entrance cost is 9 euros per person. There is one ever lit fire like our AMAR JAWAN jyoti here.Inside the building there are circular stairs which will take you to the top.On the first landing there are some statues and a smaller model of Arc de triumph itself. On one side, you will find a rotating model of Arc de triumph which is synchronized with a screen and LED.You can control the rotation and the part of which is being reflected on the screen, you can read about the generals stories who faught for France.Arc de triumph is originally a monument remembering the great contributions made by different generals of France over the centuries.The 2nd landing of Arc de triumph is the roof, you can locate almost anything in Paris using telescope here which will cost one euro.We enjoyed the Paris view from here for around one hour fighting the cold wind and then gave up the fight very much unlike the warriors for whom the monument stood for.
Overall, the day went well. By 9:00 PM,we returned back to hotel for the much desired rest for the evening.<End of Day1>
Fortunately for us, the snowfall stopped towards the late evening and the bus departed as scheduled at 10:00 PM. Its called Euro-lines buses which connects european cities. Traveling to paris from amsterdam in 40 euros is good but be ready with 'not so luxurious' ride:).We reached Paris when it was still dark, morning of 4-dec-2010. As soon as we landed, the reality of 'not being French' dawned on us. There were lots of signs for directions but not a word of English.First time i realized how difficult is it to be illiterate? Anyway,with some guesses and limited help from French language, we could find the 'EXIT' and zoom--out to the open world where there were no signs, no people-- and we were looking for the hotel:).
The first person whom we managed to find and asked about the hotel said,"pata nahin". Surprised, but its possible anywhere now.With a moustache and almost a dark face, i am a 'model indian':).So irrespective of any language i use, people can reply me in hindi with confidence..
Anyway the bad news was that we were in wrong direction to find the hotel but the good news was we were not so far. One of our team mate found the network and hence the hotel person could inform us that we were in wrong direction. So we zoomed back only to find that it was around 50 meters away from the station in other direction.Anyway with great hopes and delight, we entered the hotel making plans to take some rest, fresh up then to visit the city.But OOPS!, the checkin was only possible at 12:00 PM and it was still 7'00 AM.There was no lounge and no place to sit either. But the heaters were ON so staying there sounded a better option than roaming in cold.So we stayed for a while,used the staff bathroom to freshen up and were ready to roam by 7:30 AM.
First destination:Sacre-coeur:
Its a church and it is said that 'some one is praying the lord here for last 125 years'.The weather was cold, of course, and the temperature was around -4 something. Adding to this, the church is located at a height of 271 feet above the ground level, so there was more cold and more wind:). But the fighters fought with patience. Inside, it was serene, we saw people cleaning the statues with such minute effort, i realized it will take a giant's effort for us to realize the importance of tourism and to maintain it in our country.Competing to these places, i think, we do nothing to save our heritage.
2nd destination: La chappelle
This street is known more for tamil food and hence christened as Tamil street.All around, you can find indian shops and so indian stuff like silk sarees to ornaments, almost anything. You name it, there you will have it.
We had our lunch there. The snowfall from which we escaped in Amsterdam caught us in Paris.Anyway we were inside a small eat-out called 'Krishna bhavan' so decided to ignore snow for the sumptuous lunch of rice, vada and different south indian special dishes including payasam.
It was already around 1:30, time to check in, we returned to the hotel. After taking rest for 2-3 hours, we started for Eiffel tower.Snowfall has stopped but cold was killing.I think temperature would be around -5 to -6.
3rd destination: Eiffel tower
After changing two metros, we reached a place called ,Bir-Hakeim. From here,it was walkable distance of around 150 meters to reach Eiffel. On the road to Eiffel, you will see number of Asian people trying to sell eiffel models speaking French, English, Hindi and many more.The smallest model was available for 6 pieces in 1 euro.The experience of looking at Eiffel is overwhelming. I dont consider this as a masterpiece architecture, nevertheless the way it looks down on you,one can feel nothing but mesmerized with the sheer size of this monument.Few minutes passed, and the famous eiffel lighening started.The old game of AND,OR and NOT gates and people cheering at the visual effect of this game:).After spending around one hour here, we started to the nearest monument called Arc De Triumph.More description of Eiffel will follow the next day as we wanted to visit Eiffel on both the days:).
4th destination:Arc De Triumph
Looks very similar to India gate but that is where the similarity ends. Rest everything is so controlled and well managed that you are left with no option but to pray that someday we will reach this level of professionalism in our day to day work.The entrance cost is 9 euros per person. There is one ever lit fire like our AMAR JAWAN jyoti here.Inside the building there are circular stairs which will take you to the top.On the first landing there are some statues and a smaller model of Arc de triumph itself. On one side, you will find a rotating model of Arc de triumph which is synchronized with a screen and LED.You can control the rotation and the part of which is being reflected on the screen, you can read about the generals stories who faught for France.Arc de triumph is originally a monument remembering the great contributions made by different generals of France over the centuries.The 2nd landing of Arc de triumph is the roof, you can locate almost anything in Paris using telescope here which will cost one euro.We enjoyed the Paris view from here for around one hour fighting the cold wind and then gave up the fight very much unlike the warriors for whom the monument stood for.
Overall, the day went well. By 9:00 PM,we returned back to hotel for the much desired rest for the evening.<End of Day1>
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Habit of saving
Hi All,
My wishes for the last month of the year 2010.
Finance being one of the most boring subject of all times( i hope you will agree with me on that), i decided to start and then advance according to the feedbacks. So i will come with Finance, you (my readers) have to come with Fun with comments:)
The information coming next is mostly for those people who have just started working or for those who are working for around 4-5 years and still are in 'paise nahin hai yaar, bachte kahan hain' class.
An average IT person in India earns around 25K in hand. If you are staying in Bangalore, Gurgaon or Pune, basically, IT hubs, I think 25K is just enough to fulfill basic requirements.In such a situation if you are not inheriting anything from your earlier generation, you are on your own then you got to save for rainy days. But how do you decide to save depends on your thinking. To consider this part, think about the below scenario:
There are two choices:one, you get a lump sum amount of 2 L rupees other, you get an amount of 2500 each month for 80 months. Which option would you pick? Think of it till we get back to this.
So when this is 'on your own' situation, you got to start saving irrespective of salary component. You have to figure out how to save and easier, you should fix some amount as little as 500 at least, to save, per month. Remember those good old,gullak days, when every single penny from anyone was supposed to be saved. There is nothing wrong in having a gullak even today:). The gist is 'start saving'.
The next step is a saving account, not the one which is a salary account. Because salary account doesn't let you have your separate gullak. So have a savings account. After a constant saving for 3 months, deposit this money in the newly opened salary account.Hide the ATM card of this account where you also cant find it. Basically, don't use it till the end of the world.
Just work on this habit for first 6 months;you wont like to leave it ever in life.
Why do I think we all can save? Remember those college days, when 5000 was a princely amount in which you lived life king size. Now, 5 times this money is not enough.
At the end, it is there in the mindset. After all, every year you pay taxes to the government, there is less salary in the month of March, you still survive, isn't it?
Just for few days, consider that those 500 bucks were lost some where:)
So what did you decide, which option will you take? Actually, no option is incorrect.But in practical life,over the years, people have found that a constant income is always better than the lump sum amount. You can virtually see the power of compounding through this constant income factor.
Till the time, we meet again, I hope you have started saving.
Last, welcome to the club of less than 1 percent of India's working population who actually consider saving as a habit.
Sujeet
My wishes for the last month of the year 2010.
Finance being one of the most boring subject of all times( i hope you will agree with me on that), i decided to start and then advance according to the feedbacks. So i will come with Finance, you (my readers) have to come with Fun with comments:)
The information coming next is mostly for those people who have just started working or for those who are working for around 4-5 years and still are in 'paise nahin hai yaar, bachte kahan hain' class.
An average IT person in India earns around 25K in hand. If you are staying in Bangalore, Gurgaon or Pune, basically, IT hubs, I think 25K is just enough to fulfill basic requirements.In such a situation if you are not inheriting anything from your earlier generation, you are on your own then you got to save for rainy days. But how do you decide to save depends on your thinking. To consider this part, think about the below scenario:
There are two choices:one, you get a lump sum amount of 2 L rupees other, you get an amount of 2500 each month for 80 months. Which option would you pick? Think of it till we get back to this.
So when this is 'on your own' situation, you got to start saving irrespective of salary component. You have to figure out how to save and easier, you should fix some amount as little as 500 at least, to save, per month. Remember those good old,gullak days, when every single penny from anyone was supposed to be saved. There is nothing wrong in having a gullak even today:). The gist is 'start saving'.
The next step is a saving account, not the one which is a salary account. Because salary account doesn't let you have your separate gullak. So have a savings account. After a constant saving for 3 months, deposit this money in the newly opened salary account.Hide the ATM card of this account where you also cant find it. Basically, don't use it till the end of the world.
Just work on this habit for first 6 months;you wont like to leave it ever in life.
Why do I think we all can save? Remember those college days, when 5000 was a princely amount in which you lived life king size. Now, 5 times this money is not enough.
At the end, it is there in the mindset. After all, every year you pay taxes to the government, there is less salary in the month of March, you still survive, isn't it?
Just for few days, consider that those 500 bucks were lost some where:)
So what did you decide, which option will you take? Actually, no option is incorrect.But in practical life,over the years, people have found that a constant income is always better than the lump sum amount. You can virtually see the power of compounding through this constant income factor.
Till the time, we meet again, I hope you have started saving.
Last, welcome to the club of less than 1 percent of India's working population who actually consider saving as a habit.
Sujeet
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)