PARIS Cheat Sheet in 4K UHD! - Finally Landed - Part 2

If you haven’t read how it all started, please click the hyperlinks below

1.The Preface link - Touring Europe – A Flight of Fantasy - Covers the drama of how we booked our flight to fantasyland - Paris

2. Europe Cheat Sheet! – Here Comes PARIS! - Part 1 Link - Covers the drama of how we almost didn't make it even though we were 4 hrs ahead of departure.

FYI: This post is twice as long as the usual ones &

took four times longer to write & compose the pics.

It felt like I literally re-lived the trip.

Hope you'll enjoy just the way I did penning it...

because Paris is Parfaite!

After all that not-so-believable-YET-oh-so-true drama, we finally landed in Paris!

Our touchdown was at 8:15a.m, exactly as per our ETA. Hotels in Paris have extremely strict check-in check-out policy. So, we had pre-booked a studio apartment with a fully equipped kitchen close to Metro through Airbnb.

12K/Night!

12k/Night seems a lot? IT IS A LOT!

But, Paris is pricey like that especially when you want a cozy apartment with an equipped kitchen! The studio was like this ALL IN ONE living cum bedroom cum dining cum kitchen cum foyer space! ALL IN ONE yet segregated OH-SO-CLEVERLY! What can I say? Such an efficient and thoughtful space planning is never seen or necessary in India! They managed to have a recliner near some tall French style windows too - a study corner! - Unbelievably Efficient! - Slide to see the pictures.

But, let’s come to the first big question -

1.Why did we carry a 2L cooker to our Europe Vacation????

[Clash of the Titans]🤜🤛

FLASH BACK TO INDIA

[Mr.Husband & I frantically packing & weighing IN REPEAT MODE]

Me: We still haven’t reached our baggage limit, let’s carry a cooker, maybe some raw rice you know… just in case… I don’t know … we can’t survive 2 weeks without any rice! (TYPICAL SOUTH INDIAN ME!) 🤔

Mr.H: 1. Baggage limit is not some “Target” for us to reach! AND 2.When saying “We can’t survive”, you actually mean “You cant”, Isn’t it?🤨

Me: Well,… YUP 🤓

Mr.H: BIG NO! That is a lot of unnecessary baggage! Just because we have allowance, we don’t need to max it AND that bag of rice will anyway be tossed at customs! 🤷

Me: Commm'on! It’s not Aussie! 🙄 Paris will allow Rice!

Mr.H: Seriously? Even if they “Allow”- which I genuinely doubt - are you asking me to BELIEVE that YOU are actually going to COOK DURING OUR EUROPE VACATION??? 🤨

Me: Hmmm… good point… maybe I’ll…maybe not… It’s not like I WANT TO COOK… but … but…

Mr.H: BUT What??? NOWAY you are going to COOK! Am not gonna carry an empty cooker all across Europe!

Me: Please??? Having the cooker and rice would just make me feel mentally comfortable…

Please… Please… Let’s just take the mini cooker-2L, Deal? 😬

Mr.H: On one condition, you put the cooker & rice bag in your suitcase!

Me: HUH!!?😠Then I'll only eat everything myself!! Nothing for you!

Mr.H: ABSOLUTELY OK! 🙄

Me: Seriously??? 🤷

Mr.H: YES! BECAUSE, I KNOW YOU ARE NOT GOING TO COOK!

Me: LET US SEE!

BACK TO PARIS

On day 1 the kitchen really didn’t seem to matter, we had classic French style croissant, feasted on some delicious pastries, crepe etc. But, on day 3, I was sooo craving for Indian food! I made steaming hot Jeera Rice & Dal for Dinner. It felt so soulful. Mr.Husband had to agree on dragging the cooker & rice in his suitcase for the rest of the trip to eat it. He agreed without any second thoughts! It was soooo worth it! YUM!

We travelled around Europe with a 2L cooker + Bag of Rice + Bottled Tadka (Customs allowed that too! YAY!) & it was the best decision for us!

2.How NOT To See Tour Eiffel?

Everywhere you look and google how to see Tour Eiffel, it'll suggest to get down at Bir Hakeim Station. Obviously because that’s the closest. Even Hop on-Tours take you to the mouth of the entry – So convenient! you may think!

[Bir Hakeim Station]

Mr.H: Let's get down.

Me: NO!!

Mr.H: Don't you see the sign?? Wear your glasses!🤷 (Pointing at 72 FONT size signage prompting to get down)

Me: No thanks! I can read! JUST DON’T GET DOWN!

Mr.H: WHY??

Me: Remember the 7 wonders of the world song from movie Jeans ? We are gonna see Eiffel in Jeans Style.😎🤩🤓

Mr.H: Oooooooooh! 🤭 Dancing like Aishwarya Rai ???🤣😁😂

Me: Not funny! 😏😏😏

Awesome! Right?

Ofcoz it won’t be empty like this! Paris ALWAYS has PEOPLE!

Consider yourself LUCKY if you manage to take your family picture with just 5 other strangers. NO KIDDING.

If you want to see Eiffel like how it is portrayed above, viewing from the "Square" & "Promenade", this is what you must do!

Get down at the Trocadero Station which is one station further to Bir Hakeim station (The one marked for Tour Eiffel) and walk down the pedestrian promenade from Trocadero station to Eiffel. THAT right there, offers the BEST VANTAGE VIEW of Eiffel.

So, please close your eyes & blindly follow what I just explained and REMEMBER to thank me later.

We walked towards Eiffel Tower

Wrought-Iron Lattice Base.

It was Soooo Intricate!

Before... I always used to wonder...

Why Paris is called City of Love?

At the Base

We Just Stood

Mesmerized

What's NOT to Love???

+ Buy Eiffel Tower Key chains just outside. That’s the most worthy looking, cost effective souvenir out of all souvenirs you’ll ever find in Europe I suppose.

+ Don’t miss the Sparkling Diamond Lighting for few mins at the stroke of every hour from 6p.m. Try to catch it after dark, check the day light savings, Paris was bright & sunny at 10.p.m in the night when we went.

+ Get the Eiffel Entry ticket to "THE TOP" from the Official Website Link well in advance. That's THE cheapest option. Getting from operators would cost a bomb.

You'll be lured with so many combo offers which are "seemingly" irresistible. But NO, just stick to the official website if you don't want to be tricked.

Again, most welcome!

Tour Eiffel requires dedicated 4 hours slot when you plan to view it starting from Trocadero Station.

Can't you spend 4 hours for 1 of the 7 wonders of the world?

Ofcoz you can! Needless to say its UNESCO World Heritage. You ought to see it well!

3.To be MUSEUM FRENZY or NOT?

[LOUVRE MUSEUM]

Mr.H: Where are the entry tickets ? Me: I haven't bought.😎 Mr.H: Why??? There is gonna be a HUGE Q now! We will be wasting time waiting.🙄🙄🙄

I'LL GET EXPRESS TICKETS, THAT Q IS LESS. Me: Take a Chill Pill! We are not gonna enter. Mr.H: What?????😳😳😳 I wanna see the glass pyramids! Me: Ofcoz! Me too! We will see!

Mr.H: How???🤷🤷🤷

Believe it or Not! - We enjoyed Louvre Museum for 3+ hrs WITHOUT entering. Trust me! It’s a really really big complex having FREE ACCESS to so many zones ( except where they have Monalisa & all the articrafts). Neither of us were artists to appreciate those! We were there for the brick, mortar & glass ! HAHA!

BTW, The OH-SO-SPARKLY Glass Pyramids are accessible BOTH Outside & Inside WITHOUT ENTRY TICKET! YES! Everyone assumes one must get entry ticket to see these structures & get tricked into buying express lane tickets & what not, well… its just wrong assumption.

The glass pyramids really looked like crown Jewel!

Seriously, we dint step into a single museum in Paris and yet we SAW quite a few Museums in Paris! ALSO, if you really must enter, download the Museum Calendar which shows on which days which museum has free entry for anyone. Pick the museum that’s marked free & walk in!

Unless the very purpose of your visit to Paris is to see what’s inside museums, just don’t bother to enter them. There is so much to see in Paris anyway!

4.What's the NOT-SO-FAMOUS BUT OH-SO-DAZZLING structure you must visit?

Its Sainte Chapelle. At least, I haven’t seen this Chapelle being covered in any usual operator itineraries. It was absolutely a fluke find for me. I do not remember reading about it in history either... We had to walk quite a bit to even figure out the entrance!

[Mr.H was annoyed]

Mr.H: Where is the entrance? What's there in this Chapelle? We will be late for the river cruise, let's skip it!

Me: Am checking, wait... We need to buy tickets too...

Mr.H: What ?? ARE YOU SERIOUS?? Let's definitely skip it!!

Me: PATIENCE MR!!... There you go... Found it... 10 blocks to the right.

We waited while Mr.H got the tickets. It was a small queue (Thankfully!)

Mr.H Shrugging-ly Entered... We followed...

Mr.H: OH MY GOD! 😳

Me: OHH MYY GAWWDD!!! 😳

SON: IS THAT SOME KINDA "LED" SCREEN WALL MOMMY???

Me: No! They are JUST Windows!

SON: WHAT???😳

It was more eye-popping than anything we saw in Paris!!!!

Most Stunning 15 UNIQUE 15M HIGH

Stained Glass Windows...

Those Make Believe LED Screens,

REALLY TOOK OUR BREATH AWAY!

The Orientation of the chapel is done such a way that light literally glows the place both in the morning & evening. We went in the evening, it was spectacular.

These pictures don’t do any justice! I Swear! We simply couldn’t take our eyes off these artistically made windows. Imagine, doing those in that century! Simply Stupendous!

5.What's everything that’s French Gothic?

It's NOTRE DAME. What can I say?? It looked like a perfect Text Book Example of French Gothic Architecture. No No! It’s not some figure of speech! It’s LITERALLY THE TEXT BOOK EXAMPLE from Sir Banister Fletcher’s 'A History of Architecture'.

YES! AND THAT BOOK in biblical terms is the "Bible" for architecture students.

Also, I feel the author having a "Sir" somehow made it more "Sacred".

Sir Banister Fletcher! Sir, Yes Sir!

I cannot even begin to explain the level of details that was captured in that book!

Am pretty darn sure NO Architect in the entire world would have NOT seen it.

Open Challenge!

Errr...Let's get back to Notre Dame.

Mr.H: So, that's YOUR "Flying" Butt-Ress???🙂 Happy Now?? 🙂🙂🙂

Me: YES! That's MY Flying Buttress, Pointed Arch, Ribbed Vault & Rose Window. Am 4 times Happy 🤩🤩🤩🤩

Mr.H: Haha! I know you are crazy, didn't know you were THIS crazy! 😂😂😂

Me: 🤓🤓🤓

Lemme take the liberty & just say it.

It was an OH-SO-GORGEOUS-DAME-ANYONE-WILL-FALL-FOR!

(DAME - A woman of honour)

15th April 2019

Mr.H: Hey Look at the news! It's YOUR Notre Dame! It's on Fire!

Me: WHATTTTT???? We just saw it few days ago!!

Mr.H: I know! It looks pretty serious...

Me: GIMMMEE the phone!

"...a fire at Notre Dame caused extensive damage to the vaulted roof & the spire has collapsed..."

Mr.H: Can't believe we are among the last few to see it in all its glory...

Me: MY ROSE WINDOW!!! MY GOD! 😔😔😔

One year after the fire, from an estimated 320,000 contributors, close to €1 billion had been received for the cathedral's reconstruction - says Wiki.

€1 billion! - Imagine its significance in our history! - Its UNESCO World Heritage Site.

6.Mathematically, what's the cheapest way to get around in Paris?

The hop-on–hop-off tours makes you run around like chickens, even before you grab a few moments, it would be time for the next attraction. The biggest issue with most operator driven tours is covering too many places in too short a time. We really dint want to opt for those.

ALSO, had done the math, there is absolutely no way you can get value from any tourist/city/metro passes(€25+/day)/hop-on-hop off tours(€45-100+) unless you visit attractions like clockwork in Paris. That defeats the whole point of savoring the “Paris Experience”.

What did we do?

We got a bunch of Carter 10 t+ tickets(€1.3/ticket - google it) instead of the usual passes and saw the city VIA Public transport (Bus/Tram/Metro/RER) at our pace.

These tiny SINGLE USE tickets are valid in Zone 1 & worked like a charm for us!

7. Other IMPORTANT POINTS

1. Visit Disney Land at your own discretion. BTW, am an amusement park fanatic, that’s the first thing I look for in any city I travel. But, I found Disney Land to be absolute waste of time. It had ridiculous wait times (120 Mins) on a weekday – offseason!

[Update after son reading the post]

SON : Mommy ! Disney Land was good! I liked it + there was icecream! Yum!

2. PASTRIES & PARIS are synonymous! feast yourself with pretzel, croissant, crepe, macaroons & the likes.

3. PICK-POCKET & PARIS are also synonymous! A Commuter tried to rip Mr.Husband’s pocket in the metro. It was a near miss incident for us. So, be vigilant!

4. Go on the night cruise in Seine river, it covers many attractions with a relaxed Zoomed out viewing experience of Paris. People dance on the streets along the river, the night life is quite merry! We saw the diamond lighting of Eiffel Tower which happens at the strike of every hour during our night cruise. Needless to say IT WAS SPARKLING! 🤓🤓🤓

We did a few more things but opted to cover only the key highlights in this post.

HAPPY NEW NEWYEAR 2022!

Disclaimer: These attractions are NOT meant to be the best picks(even though they are 🙂) This post is meant to help you curate the trip, your way 😎😎😎