Paris Travelogue

I have read hundreds of books and have met many people who describe Paris as the most romantic city in the world. It is also one of the most ‘desired’ destinations for the tourist’s world over. A city so architecturally rich, spread around river seine does make it into a picture postcard city. You will not get tired of clicking snaps at every turn you take and every place you visit.

There are several questions about Paris which people normally ask?
- Are Parisians as rude as the books say they are?
- Is it the fashion Capital of the world?
- Is it the food capital of the world ?
- Is it the most romantic city in the world?
- Do people of France spend 25% of their day either eating or talking about food & cuisine?
-Is Louvre the best museum in the world?
Some answers will automatically be in text below as I describe my days in Paris. I was visiting Paris to enjoy it. I had visited Paris many years ago. At that time I was alone and it was winter. The place was gloomy, so now ,it was time to visit Paris again. This time it was with family. We were on the way to USA/Canada and had decided to take a stopover at this magnificent city. The stopover decision turned out to be a good one as we had a great time there.

The flight landed in Charles de Gaulle airport Paris at 6 AM so we were in the hotel by 8.00 AM. The flight was incident free and we had no fears as the Air France plane from Rio to Paris had yet not crashed. It crashed a week after. As is the norm nowadays, the staff on the flight was pretty indifferent towards the economy passengers. The food was lousy and they did not serve ‘hard liquor’ as they felt it was too late at night. Too late ?? None of the stewardesses responded to any passengers’ call. Keep pressing the button but don’t expect anyone even if you want water. I wonder if they should remove that bell from economy class seats. The immigration took two minutes but luggage took a good while to come. CDG has now closed down the baggage storage locker so this meant we had to carry entire luggage to the hotel. Not easy in these countries as you have to do most of the hard work of picking luggage yourself.




We stayed at Novotel hotel, which was 15 minutes walk to the Eiffel tower and just across the road from Siene river. Perfect location I would say.At the hotel, it was too early for them to give us the room so we deposited the bags, took a walk, saw a colourful fruit shop and bought a lot of juicy cherries and strawberries. We then found a café and as the menu was in French, we ordered what we could understand and explain. 50% of the order was correct and 50% was different from what we had imagined. The egg (something like omelet) with bacon, mushrooms, cheese and a few other things tasted as good as it looked so it was a good start. The other thing we had ordered was a bit too cheesy. The Eiffel tower was 10-15 minute walk away and it was a good walk in the cold weather.


The Eiffel tower had serpentine queues so we decided to give climbing up a miss and sat around taking pictures and eating cherries at Champ de Mars. It is good that we did not buy tickets to climb up the Eiffel as our hotel gave it to us as part of reservation condition when we checked in later in the day.


Les Car Rouges was the name of the Company we decided on while taking the double decker ‘hop on hop off bus.’ The ticket (Euro 60.00 for the family) was valid for 2 days and one could get on at any of 15 odd stops with a bus coming every 10 minutes. They give you earphones for running commentary with a choice of around 8 languages. This is the best way of sightseeing Paris and getting to know the history of each building and avenue one passes. So, by the time we got our hotel room we had had a taxi ride from Airport to hotel ; had a good breakfast; tasted some exotic fruits; seen Eiffel tower from close quarters; taken a walk at Champ de Mars near Eiffel and taken a full round of central Paris on bus. We still had 2 days to go.


Montmartre is a hill. It is famous for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit. The famous cabaret Moulin Rouge is located near Montmartre. Being on a height , montmartre gives a good view of the city. We were advised by the concierge of the hotel to go ‘today itself’ as rain was predicted for the next day. As we got the room, we got ready and took a cab to Montmartre. I loved the place. It had a real touristy atmosphere. Behind the Basilica was a full market full of cafes. Hundreds of artists sat around drawing paintings and portraits of the tourists. The place was crowded and as the sun was shining so mood was generally good all around. In Europe the shining of sun and mood of people is directly proportional. We sat in one of the cafes, I had a beer and we all had a nice meal. We walked around the place , visited the inside of beautiful Basilica, saw the paintings being made by the artists, bought a few souveniers, almost got our portraits made and had a lot of ice cream. I would definitely go there whenever I visit Paris next.


Our next stop was Galeries Lafayette. This is the biggest store in Paris. It is near Opera and Madeline Avenue. We once supplied clothes to this store so I feel good about visiting it. Galeries Lafayette is not only well known for shopping, but also has a reputation for being one of the best sightseeing spots in Paris. The splendid glass dome of Neo-Byzantine style has been classified as a historical monument. If you plan to visit Paris, visit this store. You need not buy anything but I bet you will be taking pictures of the dome. This entire area is the high end area for shopping. Shopping in Paris was out of question as we were going to the USA so we sat down in a café and had latte instead. It is a great pass time to sit and watch the latest fashion adorned by young and old , particularly women.


By the time we got back to the hotel, Devicka had had enough. The whole night of travel and whole day of sightseeing had exhausted her. She felt a bit under the weather so we decided to retire. Europe in summer gets daylight till around 10-11 PM so one always feels that one could do more. The kids and I decided to go out for dinner when we realised that nothing interesting was available in the hotel. We walked along the Seine River, did some window shopping, had a dinner of roast chicken and that marked the end of our first day of holiday. It was still bright and sunny.
Day 2
It is a boon if breakfast is included in a meal if you are visiting Europe. It’s not only the best meal for us but saves a lot of bother of going out to eat. If you eat in hotel, they will charge your Euro 15.00 per person. The breakfast in this hotel was pretty good. The pork products taste much better in Europe than in SE Asia or even America. The farm fresh eggs have a different taste to them. Salmon was fresh and tasty and the breads had that fresh aroma to them.
The weather predictions in the advanced countries are quite reliable. Day 2 was overcast with intermittent rain. Occasionally it would get heavy. The coupons given by our hotel allowed us to bypass the long queues and go atop Eiffel tower without much problem. It is important to go up the Eiffel tower as otherwise what would you tell your friends back home? It was raining while we were at the top but we had enough time for a few photographs. You often wonder why this steel structure attracts 90 lac tourists a year!



A few years ago when I had visited Paris, I had walked in lanes and by lanes near Arc de Triomphe till I reached a broad road where the footpaths were even broader than the road and made of granite! This was Avenue de Champs Elysees . The Champs Elysees stretches from Concorde square to Arc de Triomphe(The India gate of Paris). Often described as worlds most beautiful avenue, it is a pleasure strolling down this Avenue. The atmosphere is festive and there is a smell of richness around. Top stores, up market cafes, Lido cabaret and several theatres line up on this Avenue. At night, the place shines with bright lights. We decided to have our lunch here and a pint of beer cost me Euro 10.00 (Rs 700). As someone back home would say “You paid Rs 700 for drinking a small bottle of beer at the roadside?” Well, the day after I landed back, I went and purchased a full case of Kingfisher Beer for Rs 420.00.


Louvre is one of the many museums of Paris. It is perhaps the most famous in the world. Most of the people head for the ‘Mona Lisa’ the moment they enter the Louvre. It has eight departments housing 35000 pcs of art and one has to decide in advance regarding the section one wants to visit as the permanent exhibits are spread over 60,000 sq mtrs. There are long queues to get inside but if you are an art lover, it is worth all the effort. But if you are an art lover, one day will not be enough.
The Musée d'Orsay is a museum on the left bank of the Seine. It holds mainly french art dating between 1848 to 1915. I am told that this museum was earlier a railway station !

Visiting the museums is fun but very tiring. The legs are aching by the time you come out. Much as we enjoyed the experience, my daughter asked me a very simple question to which I had no answer. The question was : “Why are so many paintings of naked women?”
We were in paris for just 2 days so we did not go and visit the French countryside. Being short of time and being with the kids, we gave Moulin Rouge a miss. The Notre Dam cathedral is worth a visit but climbing all those steps is a pain. Its architecture is unique and the area nearby has some nice cafes.

Paris is a city full of cafes, history , monuments and museums. Here are 10 practical tips :
1) Have 4 full days atleast to enjoy the place. Atleast one full day will go in Louvre.
2) Try to make sure that breakfast is included. If not, then buy some bread, ham , fruits and milk and venture out after eating this home-made breakfast. It will save you a lot of money. Maybe you will end up eating such meal as a dinner one of the days like we did.
3) Just venture out at any spot and you will find cafes there. It is fun to explore these hidden popular places. Do what the Parisians do. Sit for hours sipping beer, coffee or wine and watch the world pass by.
4) Try crepes as they are sold in every second shop but stick to the chocolate ones. Crepes are actually ‘Nutella chocolate in dosas.’ I tried ham and cheese crepe but had to throw it as it was too cheesy.
5) The Siene river cruise is a good way of enjoying Paris. The dinner cruise is expensive but good.
6) ‘Hop on hop Off bus’ is a must. There is no better way to see Paris.
7) No point going to the very top of Eiffel. 3rd floor is good enough. You are charged Euro 6 extra to go to very top. You can climb up if you want the view from the very top and the satisfaction of standing on top of 10000 tonnes of structure.
8) Carry a lot of money. Everything costs a lot of money including visits to Museums.
9) Be prepared to click, click and click more photographs. Take a 2 GB SD card atleast.
10) If you plan to go to Louvre, make sure you have enough time on hand. Its not a place to be hurried.

I would say to enjoy Paris, you have to leave hurry behind. You have to enjoy its leisurley pace and melt into that pace. As far as rude Parisians are concerned, to get the record straight, I have been to Paris twice and no one has been rude to me. Infact, they have been helpful when I have had language problems.

As I said earlier, I don’t know whether Paris is the most romantic city or not but I could see many people feel it is. Not only is romance evident from hundreds of smooching couples, but I have never seen so many young men proposing to their dear ones in one day. Were they proposing ? Being down on one knee , a blushing companion, a romantic setting- I am sure they were !

Leaving Paris was painful. No-not because of the good time we had there but because of the serpentine queus at the airport for security. They deprived me of shopping at the duty free as it took 2 hours to clear the security. No problems on this account as I found cheaper booze in USA.