France Trip: Sunrise at Sacre-Couer and Strolling to Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower

In our last day in Paris, we decided to enjoy the sunrise above Paris city at Sacre-Couer. Sacre-Couer or also known as Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris is located in on summit of Montmarte mound, the highest point in the Paris city.

We took metro from Ecole Militaire station to Anvers station, then continued by walking to the Sacre-Couer. Actually we didn't know that there's a funicular car to the top of the Sacre-Cour, so we took the long stairs to there.

taking pictures before climbing the stairs

Sacre-Couer's stairs from above

When we arrived at Sacre-Couer, some peoples already arrived earlier than us, but since the sun has not rise yet, so we sat on the stairs while waiting for the sun to come up. After a while, the beautiful sunrise come up. Many people taking some pictures while enjoying the serene moment.

me with the sunrise

We didn't intent to enter the basilica, so after the sunrise moment done, we took funicular car to get down from Sacre-Couer. We didn't need to buy any ticket for the funicular car since our Paris Visit Pass already cover the Montmarte Funicular.

We continue our journey from Anvers station to St-Michel Notre Dame station. Yes, we were visiting Notre Dame Cathedral, but due to limited time, we decided to just taking some pictures from the front of the cathedral.

in front of Notre Dame Cathedral

The building on the left is Police Station which located in front of Notre Dame Cathedral

Last but not least, we came back to Eiffel tower since we haven't visit the tower during daylight. From St-Michel Notre Dame station, we took metro to Trocadero station so we can directly arrived at Palais de Chaillot. I always love to see Eiffel tower from Palais de Chaillot, because sometimes you need the higher place to see how majestic the full picture is.

Eiffel tower from Palais de Chaillot

From Palais de Chaillot, we took a walk to the Eiffel tower and continue the walk until we reached to Prince hotel.

resting on a bench before continue to the tower

under the Eiffel tower

the south pier ticketing office

the official souvenir shop

Eiffel tower view from Champ de Mars

we can see Mountparnasse from Champ de Mars

the "not-so-official" souvenir shop

take me back to Eiffel please

Before coming to Paris, my friend told me that there are plenty scams in Paris. Usually the scammers acts like somebody who's asking for petition, then his/her friends will take your wallet when you don't aware.  Since I've heard such things, when I saw many young girls asking for petition around the Eiffel tower, I directly walking away from them.

The Prince Hotel

view from my room

After packing our baggage, we checked out from the hotel and then took metro to the airport. We planned to take a short flight using Air France to our next destination, Barcelona. Before leaving, I didn't want to miss the chance to buy my favorite macaron, Laduree, at its original country.

Laduree store at Charles de Gaulle airport

just a view of CDG terminal 1 from TGV train

I enjoyed the flight using Air France. The meals were so tasty, even just for a simple brownies. When we were flying above Switzerland, I looked to the plane window and saw the beautiful Swiss Alps from above. I love it. Hopefully someday I can have a real trip to the Alpine region.

Swiss Alps from above

XOXO,
The Tourist

France Trip: Moulin Rouge Cabaret Show

Our trip in Paris will not be completed without visiting Moulin Rouge show. It is a cabaret show where all the women dancing in topless. Lusty? Sexy? Well, get rid that thoughts of your mind before watching this show, because this show offers more than meets the eye.

There three show times during the the night, 7 p.m., 9 p.m., and 11 p.m. The later you watch the show, the cheaper the entrance ticket.  Actually we planned to watch the 9 p.m. show, but since the tickets were sold out, so we changed to 11 p.m. Waiting untill 11 p.m. was not an easy things to do, because most stores in Paris are closed at 9 p.m. At first we wait at the Starbucks in front of Moulin Rouge, then we have to leave at 9 p.m. because of its closing time. Then we took taxi to Hard Rock Cafe to buy some souvenirs, then to spend more time, we took a walk back to the Moulin Rouge. We arrived at Moulin Rouge at 10.30 p.m and we saw many people have already queued to enter the show.

me before entering the show

It took us about 30 minutes queuing until we can enter to the show. That night audiences were mostly mid 30s-40s couples, a group of 20s women or men, and Asian tourists (like us! LOL).  It was nice to see how people dress in Paris, they're so fashionably chic, even for the 40s couple.

Finally we get our seat. When buying the ticket, we already booked the seat as well and you can choose to book with drink or not. We choose not to book with drink. The couple besides us looked at us with pity and offer us their drink, but we said thank you and refuse to drink because that's what how we booked the seat.

Then the show started. It was musical show with lots of dances. The show are using french language, so pardon for my misunderstanding. From what I saw, it told the stories from the early age of Paris city to the current year. The dress and properties of the stage already described them all. Actually the singing were lip-sync, but still enjoyable. To make the story more colorful, they add some variations like circus, swimming with snakes, and my most favorite, the pantomime.

During the pantomime, the mime picked 4 audiences to go on the stage, and after walking around, he asked me and my travelling partner to go on stage! At first I said no, but because he insisted, so I decided to go to the stage. We were asked to have role-playing which was directed by him. Everybody got their own role. I became the clapperboard technician, and my travelling partner became the Asian tourist who flirted with somebody else's girlfriend. It was really fun.

Unfortunately the audiences weren't allowed to take any picture during the show, so the playful part of me and my travelling partner at the stage of Moulin Rouge will only be cherished in our mind as our best moment in Paris. The songs they sang were also catchy, especially the Féerie song, until now me and my travelling partner always remember Moulin Rouge whenever we heard similar tune in somewhere else.

after the show

The show finished at 1.30 a.m. Once the show finished, we rushed ourselves to the exit door and directly looking for taxi. We did that because there will be many people looking for taxi as well and the metro has already stops at 00.30 a.m.


XOXO,
The Tourist

France Trip: Strolling from Arc de Triomphe, Champ Elysees, to Palais du Louvre

After spending our morning at Versailles Palace, we continue our journey to Arc de Triomphe. We took a RER from Gare de Versailles Château Rive Gauche and then continue using Metro to Charles-de-Gaulle-Etoile station. Once we get out from the station, voila, we can see the amazing Arc de Triomphe upon our eyes.

Arc de Triomphe

At first we confused how to get to the monument, should we cross the street? cause the around Arc de Triomphe is closed by fences. Then we found out that there is a tunnel that can lead us to the entrance of the monument. After arriving at the monument, we saw a huge French flag is put under Arc de Triomphe and a slab with inscription "Here lies a French soldier who died for the fatherland 1914–1918" lying on the ground with eternal flame above the slab.

under Arc de Triomphe

Here lies a French soldier who died for the fatherland 1914–1918

We didn't have to queue for the ticket since we already have the 2 days Paris Museum Pass, so we decided to go straight to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. We had to take the stairs to the top of the building. The circular stairs look like a shell from above. I had to stop once, because the stairs was so high.

looks like a shell from up here

After climbing the stairs, we enter to the first floor of the monument. There was a huge sculpture that really eye catching in there, it was the statue of a soldier. I really curious who is the person described by that statue.

the head statue

After taking another stair to the top of the monument, we finally arrive at the top of Arc de Triomphe. It's really high, and you can see 360 degree of Paris view from up there. My favorites views are Sacre Coeur, Champ Elysees, and of course, Eiffel Tower.

Sacre-Coeur from Arc de Triomphe

Champ Elysees

Eiffel Tower from Arc de Triomphe

Done with Arc de Triomphe, we continue our journey by walking along Champ Elysees towards Palais du Louvre. We came there on December, so Christmas attributes were all around the corners. And there are some bazaars that are being held alongside the Champ Elysees avenue, mostly they sold beers and snacks.

bazaar alongside Champ Elysees avenue

At the end of Champ Elysees avenue, we arrived at Place de la Concorde. From the information I read, Place de la Concorde is the place where Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette were guillotined in 1793. In here, we can see the Luxor Obelix and The Big Wheel.

Place de la Concorde

After crossing Place de la Concorde, we arrived at Jardin de Tuileries. Inside the garden, there is a huge pond where many peoples are sitting and enjoying afternoon around the pool. In Paris, you can see many people smoking all around the corners, which made my travelling partner can't resist to do the same thing, "just like the Parisian," he said. LOL.

smoking at Jardin du Tuileries

Finally after walking about 3.8 km, we arrived at Palais du Louvre. There are so many African sellers coming to us offering cheap souvenirs like 5 Eiffel key chains for about 1 euro, but since we intended to bought souvenirs from the official shops, so we ignore them and continue the walk to the famous pyramid of Louvre.

Palais du Louvre

Louvre Pyramid

inside the pyramid

After taking so many pictures, then we entered to the museum. We use the Paris Museum pass to get into the museum. Just like many other tourists, our main goal was to see the famous Mona Lisa painting.  I guess because it was the main goals for most people, the museum put lots of directions to Mona Lisa painting, and we just need to follow them. Unlike many other rooms in Louvre, the Mona Lisa room is really packed with peoples. Of course we didn't want to miss a chance to take a picture with the painting as well.

Mona Lisa painting

Among all collections in Louvre, my most favorite collection is the David and Goliath painting. This painting has two sides, so you can see what happened in the front and the back of the battle between David and Goliath.

David and Goliath front side

David and Goliath back side

I wish I could spend more time in there, because the museum is so vast, and my feet has already tired due to taking the long walk during the day. When we walking out from the museum, we arrived at the Carrousel du Louvre shopping center, in there you can see the reversed side of the Louvre pyramid.

the reversed pyramid

My friend suggested me to buy the Mona Lisa Swatch watch if I went to Louvre because it only sold in there. But since the watch was too colorful for me, I decided to spent my money in other stuffs in Pylones store. Really could not help my self with adorable things in that store. LOL.



XOXO,
The Tourist

France Trip: The Palace of Versailles

After taking some rest, we started our second day in Paris by visiting the Palace of Versailles. I wanted to go there because this palace was mentioned in my high school study book and it said the palace is extravagant and beautiful, so i wonder how it actually look like.

We took metro from Ecole Militaire station then change to RER to Gare de Versailles Chateau Rive Gauche station. The RER train has two stories. I guess because the train is ended at Versailles, so it use beautiful flowery theme which similar to Marie Antoinette room theme.

the flowery theme train

Since it was early morning, we decided to have breakfast at McDonald which's located across the station. After fueled up our energy, we continue our walk to Versailles Palace.

in front of Gare de Versailles Chateau Rive Gauche station

When we arrived at the palace, we were welcomed by Louis XIV statue. Since we have Paris Museum Pass, we didn't need to buy ticket anymore and just enter the palace.

Louis XIV statue

the golden theme gate

after passing the gate

getting closer to the palace

After entering the gate, I took out the tripod and planned to take a picture, but then an officer came and told me that i wasn't allowed to use tripod. So I folded the tripod and put it inside my bag. The collections inside Versailles Palace were amazing, mostly consist of statue and paintings. My favorite is the first floor or also known as the Grand Apartment. in the Grand Apartment, I was welcomed by the amazing Hercules Drawing room and the King's chamber.

The Hercules Drawing room

The King's Chamber

After seeing the King's chamber, then I walked into Hall of Mirror. This hall is magnificent because it has lots of chandeliers in it.

the stunning Hall of Mirror

Finished with Hall of Mirror, I continued the walk to the Queen's chamber. The room is so lovely with flowery theme. By having some walks inside the Versailles, I just realized I have a new interest in sculpture and statue, especially the one with lots of details.

The Queen's Chamber

look how flowing this statue's clothes!

After amused with the Queen's chamber, I walked into the Gallery of Battles. In ther, there are lots of humongous historical paintings all over the walls.

enjoying the Gallery of Battles

Finished with the palace, I walked to the backyard and see the amazing garden. The garden is so vast, so in order to preserve the health of our feet, we decided to take Petit Train for 7.5 euro to get more view of the garden.

at the back of the palace

I bet this garden will look better during the spring

our Petit Train tickets

view from inside the Petit Train

There are three stops during our trip using Petit Train, the first stop is at Petit Trianon (Estate of Marie Antoinette), then Grand Trianon, and Grand Canal.

Estate of Marie Antoinette (Petit Trianon)

hungry, anyone?

Another thing that I noticed in here was there's always armies with guns that patrol around the palace. Well, I visited Paris not long after the Paris attacks, so no wonder they're still worry about the security of the country.

the armies

XOXO,
The Tourist