Paris

I had a few hours transit in Paris on 1st May. The landing was 5 or 10 past 12 pm.  The ticket centre for Paris urban and suburban was very crowded.  Queues stood in front of the various ticket machines and the centre as well.  I chose the ticket centre as there were more people serving. The waiting was not too long and I could take a RER train departing before 1 pm.  My destination was Notre Dame.  The journey took about 40 minutes with stops at the suburban and city centre.  By the way, a 1-day ticket costs €23.5 for zone 5, covering airport connection.

It was cloudy with drizzle all through the day.  Cold!  But it did not reduce the zeal from tourists.  Crowds were at Notre Dame.  The queue to enter into the church was endlessly long.  The facade is very beautiful, full of exquisite sculptures, telling you stories and win your admiration for long.   I just could not stop appreciating them and shooting photos.  The one below is the most impressive. An angel and the devil were battling to get people.

Other beautiful pieces include the baby massacre and the escape to Egypt.  I simply cannot show all the excellent sculptures.  You must pay a visit there.

Numerous was not only the tourists, but the police. Chinese brides were shooting wedding photos on the one side of the church or nearby.  Freezing cold but scarce clothing.

Then I walked a bit along the Seine and streets nearby. It's melancholic yet romantic. Not far away is another tourist spot, the Grand Chatelet. It was originally built in 830 and rebuilt by Charles V.

It was cold.  I need something to warm me up. The best and quick option is crepe.  It is made fresh by order.  My €3 chestnut crepe fueled me up for further hours wandering Paris.  

As I went further away from Notre Dame more and more mouth watering food awaited.  Prices were lower relative to the similar stuff in Hong Kong.  Just I couldn't eat more since extra kilograms would be too scary. Look the size of the cheesecake pieces is enormous.

Purposeless wandering led me to Centre Georges Pompidou, a renowned high-tech architecture and the biggest modern art museum in Europe. Given that I had only a few hours this time, I had to skip visiting the art pieces but appreciate the outlook.

What's next?  Find the way to Arc de Triomphe or take the public transport to Eiffel Tower?  I chose the latter as I preferred to spend the evening around the Arc and Les Champs Elysees.  It's quite a winding trip, from Chatelet to Concorde, then Invalides and walked zig zag underground to get RER to the Eiffel Tower station.  It's some distance to the tower.  But it's also an advantage to see it from far moving to close.  Close at it were many people.  Looking the tower from the base to top is stunning.  If it were a fine day, I might have ascended to the top........

From Eiffel Tower to Arc de Triomphe is crossing the river and then more or less straight to the northeast.   But I took a detour after Musée Guimet, passing Musée Galliera on Rue 1er de Serbie and then the Avenue Marceau.

Along the way, I bumped into a fantastic bakery shop (La Pâtisserie Cyril Lignac) with my best baguette in life and a very beautiful church facade, Église Saint-Pierre de chaillot.

Sculpture groups on the facade of Eglise Saint-Pierre de Chaillot are gorgeous.  The most striking one to me is a man hung upside down on the cross.  I thought of Peter, the disciple of Jesus Christ.

Continuing along the Avenue Marceau I arrived Publicis Drugstore. It sells all sorts of stuff and houses a brasserie, steakhouse and the famous restaurant Joel Robuchon (closed on 1st May).  The store was full of people.  The part with the longest queue is macaroon. It also runs a cinema on Les Champs Elysées.  I am a amateur baker. Sweets, pastries are always attractive.

Arc de Triomphe!  I was finally there.  Traffic was from all the directions, busy and busy. I did not have sufficient time to figure it out crossing the streets to reach it. Viewing it from a small distance was already good. It was nice to be there again after my last personal travel in 1993.  Paris is always beautiful.  Its landmarks and architecture leave fond memories to everyone.

May 1st is a public holiday.  Therefore most of the shops along Les Champs Elysées were closed.  But it did not diminish my wish to walk along it, to feel the extravagance. Some of the buildings are now non-French, e.g. HSBC, China Southern Airlines.

Sadly it was about the time to get dinner before returning to the airport.  I had to stop the sightseeing at the statue of Charles de Gaulle. Buildings nearby such as Grand Palais, Musee du Petit Palais and the Alexander Bridge were viewed from a distance.  OK, next time.

I went back to Chatelet as there is one of the RER stations for the airport.  But the restaurants there served often pasta, happy hours.  I picked one with entrecote as part of the restaurant name.  Hmm, the food was so so.   No worry.  I will do more homework for my next visit.  Bye, Paris!