My 2 Day Parisian romance !!

 

13th feb 2016, was the day to remember forever as the travel plans to the most romantic city of the world “Paris” was finalized and we were all set to board my 1st ever flight to Europe.It would sound cliché but Paris  was  my dream city ever since and this stupor was coming true.The hiatus to be there was worth,as I am firm believer of divine decree.A former cabin crew and not travelled to this part of the world earlier,God had a plan for me and a perfect one.I was to visit my city of dreams for valentines with the love of my life, couldn’t have asked for more.

As travelers we have never made our travel arrangements through agents as we find it too pricey.Thank God for the acumen in Saurabh to spend hours before a trip looking for good flight and hotel deals which saved us a lot of money to expend on our trip later.We took an early morning/late night flight to make the most of our 1st day in Paris, landing at Paris Orly airport we took a shuttle to the city.Tickets to the city shuttle are readily available online or right outside the airport through vending machines.(P.S American express credit cards are not widely accepted across Europe ,so carry the right cards.) We always prefer using public transport over taxis as its better to save on the little we can to fund my shopping errands;)

A fifty minutes of shuttle bus ride with exuberant views of the city we reached our metro stop.As planned we bought a two-day paris metro pass right away because paris is very well-connected by the metro plus tard easy on the pocket.Soon we were walking down the road to our hotels, thanks to google maps navigating is so much easier.A small revelation here ,because of all our walking and use of public transport over taxis I managed to lose some kilo in my Europe trips;sounds nice!!

Day 1 in Paris:

We checked into our hotel room unpacked, showered,dressed-up and in no time were moving for our first Parisian encounter.On the way to the metro station we stopped at a cafe to grab a quick coffee and croissant breakfast.The best thing  about these coffee shops infesting the entire city is they have a very European feel to them.The paris metro map handed over to us at the hotel reception was very helpful through our two days in Paris.Thankfully we had made a check on the city weather before leaving for the trip so the umbrellas we got proved very helpful while it showered.First thing first we boarded the metro to catch a glimpse of the “Eiffel Tower”, one of the most iconic structures of the world.We got down at Tour Eiffel metro station and there was a small walk before we could witness the tower.In my small walk  to the tower I was so caught up by the small souvenir shops that i didn’t realise when the structure was right in front of me.

There were tears in my eyes, as I held onto saurabh’s hand ,for i was living my dream.Life had been kind!! Soon the photographer in us surfaced and we were clicking pictures like fanatics at every possible place in every possible angle and pose.The lift up the tower offering a panoramic view of the city was not going to the top that day so we decided to skip the long queues in the biting cold.There was a maddening number of people selling roses because of valentines making the place more crowded.We made our way to the main boulevard and took a small fancy rickshaw ride (unlike the rickshaw rides in india,though)to the most happening street of Paris” Champs Elysee”.The truly chic upmarket locality left me drooling over every high-end designer store ,the Gucci’s, prada’s,LV’s!!.The people clad in fashionable attire was a fashion lovers treat.After our walk to the Arc de Triomphe, some pictures, little shopping at Sisley paris and Zara we parked ourselves at a cafe flooded with the locals enjoying coffee and snacks after all the shopping.As we are a die-hard fan of south indian food our dinner paradise was Sarvana bhawan in Paris Nord.An indian waiter at the cafe helped us with the metro route to Paris Nord metro station.Its advisable to be careful of all belongings and pickpockets while in metro because they tend to be crowded.The sumptuous dinner of masala dosa , south indian thali , lassi left us full and we called it an early day returning to the hotel exhausted.

 

DAY 2 IN PARIS:

 

It was an early start of the day for the Louvre museum as we had heard about long queues for entrance to the coveted museum.To our disappointment it was already crowded by the time we made it to the Louvre and our early morning effort went in vain.The instant idea of skipping the long queue in the bone freezing cold moving at snail’s pace struck both our minds as we didn’t want to spend valentines in Paris waiting to enter the museum.After our mandatory photo session we took the metro to Jardin de Luxembourg,meaning garden of luxembourg.I was amazed to see despite the chillweather and couple of showers people were all over the park eating ,walking,exercising,maybe it was their idea of valentines.The center of the park overlooked a small pond with swans and remote operated toy boats over the greenish water which was very pleasing to the eyes.The leafless trees in the park would have looked pretty with cherry blossom had been one of the spring days .The cold and showers did not deter us from exploring more and more of the city and we took the metro to our next stop the Notre Dame Cathedral.A monument to marvel at the true essence of French architecture.The aura in the cathedral instilled in me a unique serene peace.We offered our prayers , thanked god for our blessings captured the architectural beauty of the cathedral in our phone and left.Wandering alongside river Seine looking for a place to have lunch we settled in a restaurant overlooking the small shops near the cathedral and feasted on crepe fromage and glasses of vin chaud.We shared a crepe Chantilly for dessert.How can one miss on to the glass of mulled wine while at a winter trip to paris.We continued our walk along the river eves dropping to some electronic music across the street.Almost running past the traffic we found the place where the music came from,it was a festival campaign for some sports clothing line.The energy there was magnetic, young boys and girls exchanging passionate kisses made the environment romantic for valentines.It was almost evening and we were fully exhausted after a complete action packed day with long walks.We went back to the hotel, took a nap, hot shower and were ready again to explore the city by night.

It was valentines eve and we had not seen the love lock bridge “Pont des Arts”,hitting the metro taking directions from few locals we made our way to the love lock bridge, though sadly the locks have been removed as sections of fencing on Ponts des arts crumbled under the locks weight which the people had put.Walking hand in hand with the love of my life at the love lock bridge we locked our Parisian valentines memories forever .We always try to capture the iconic monuments of a city in day as well as night , Louvre was near from the bridge so we clicked images of it all lit up.We ended our two-day valentines special trip to paris at the Eifel tower and it never fails to amaze by its beauty weather day or night.Though two days is not enough time in the most romantic city of the world, we were happy to have covered the major spots although we will love to return to get more of this exuberant city until then its au revoir “Paarreee”.