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>