We took the Etihad Airways Flight and reached Paris Airport
at around 2:30 p.m. And the pre booked cab was not there. I think you don’t need
the pre-booked cab to reach where ever you want to reach. There is a good Metro
Connectivity and even if you have enough luggage then also it is very
comfortable to travel inside the city. Here is a quick tip for you guys don’t
ever travel more than one check in bag and one hand bag for what so ever
travel duration you have. You should only be carrying some snacks and some clothes. Don’t overburden yourself too
much. You will be able to find good clothes everywhere at not so costly price
and anyway there no one cares what you are wearing unless you are going to
places which has a dress code. If you want to take a cab then it will cost you
around 45 Euros and the pre booked cab took us more money than this. We were
staying a bit far north side in the quaint town of MontMarte so it took us
around 40 mins to reach there else if you are staying in the central part of
the Paris then it will be much faster and easier. If you want to take the
public transport then there is a metro called as RER which is having
different colored lines. And the metro stations are marked in a very well defined
fashion. The Tickets are also very cheap. If you know that in one day you are
going to travel greater than 4 times in the metro then buy the day pass costing around
11.2 Euros which will be cheaper than buying one side metro ticket for every
travel. The website http://parisbytrain.com/paris-metro/
has all the information. All you need is a sim card having good internet
package. Coming to the Telecom vendors in Europe there are few Matrix, Orange,
Lyca etc. out of all these, people think that Lyca is cheap which it is, but do
not buy it from store Owned by immigrant people. They will take good amount
of money and for no good. There is no SIM which runs in all over Schengen
Countries. Anyone who is telling you that one sim card will work in all the
countries then he is telling the truth but what he is hiding from you is the
fact that there are huge roaming charges and you won’t be able to utilize any
sim card from one country to another. Therefore it is much better to buy SIM
card in every country you visit. Trust me it is not at all difficult to buy SIM
card. Lyca stores are there at many places. At paris airport there is none,
there is an option of buying SIM card with calling facility and without it. We bought
it with calling facility and it was of no use. It costed us 30 euros and
another SIM which was having only internet costed us 20 Euros, we were
definitely conned by the Bangladeshi guy in MontMarte. He will definitely ask
you your passport number and will officially register you on Lyca website, if
he is not doing that then he is not doing it right. On Paris Airport there is
no Wi-Fi, the only place is McDonalds. You don’t need to buy anything from
there to use it. Just sit outside and it will connect automatically and you can
easily browse and find your way. At Bangalore airport also you will find the
Matrix store in which they are selling pre activated SIM cards but then no use,
they are much more expensive.
Finally after an hour we found our driver and we reached our
Hotel Gaston. This hotel is very beautiful and creative. The downside
is the size of the rooms. The rooms are very small. The breakfast is just fine.
If you are going on honeymoon and you want to experience the serenity of the city
then do come here and stay. The staff is very courteous and helpful. The check
in was smooth and the free WiFi is really nice.
We just searched Moulin Rouge
and went on foot to explore the town and really loved the place. We enjoyed the
street music and clicked pictures near Moulin Rouge and other stores nearby and
came back.
The daylight will be there till 10:30 p.m. so not to worry. Paris is
not safe post-midnight so make sure you reach back before that.
Next Day we had
Louvre museum tour. Our tour company got the tickets delivered to our Hotel on the day
before. The ticket didn’t have time on it. We decided to take a Free Tour
through Sandmans (http://www.neweuropetours.eu/paris/en/home
) and once they reach Louvre museum cordially end the tour for you with some tip. They
start just at the Fountain, St. Michael and lot of people take this tour and
all the guides are good.
They work on tips so you might end up paying them 5-10
euros. We took the tour and he showed us lot of things like Notre Dame Museum, the outside wall of Louvre Museum, Latin Quarters, Petit Palai (from outside) and many more stories about how Paris has developed over the years.
We finally entered
Louvre museum at 1:30 p.m. Which is actually very late for such a big place. We
missed the 10 a.m. tour that is why wasted an hour of our time there at fountain
but if you want to do the free tour and Louvre on the same day then reach at
the fountain at 9:50 sharp.
The Louvre museum is magnificent and a experience in itself to explore. There are restaurants and café inside it, a bit on the
expensive side but then it is good to eat regularly and eat and drink to roam
around such a place.
There is a Louvre museum app also but then do not buy, it
is useless and not handy also during the tour.
You can buy an Audio Guide or roam around yourself. Even if you do not take you will be walking
around that place for hours and still you will find yourself so busy.
The
museum closes at around 6:30 p.m. and then you can find yourself eating a nice
meal at either McDonalds or there are many restaurants to eat.
Next Day we had our morning free so we went to the church in
MontMarte where you will find a very nice view of the whole city and the church
is so amazing. The street leading to the church are so lively and beautiful
that you will want to spend the whole day there. We came back by evening and
got ready for the gala event of the evening – The LIDO Show.
It is my strong
suggestion that you do watch LIDO show, it is a visual treat for everyone. The
welcome, the stage, the performers, the story everything is so fairy tale that
you will fall in love with each and every moment. You can book your tickets online
through their website through your pre-paid card of HDFC. We had a poor
experience with the card but then it is as equally bad as any other bank but cheaper. Quick Tip would be to have cash of around 70 euros for each and every
day if you are not a luxurious traveler and some 500 euros in your card. The
card conversion was 4rs. Per euro than the card. The card was also not pin
protected therefore my suggestion to have cash in hand less in card. We took
the option of Champagne and Show but then you should take dinner plus the show
as it will not cost much extra and you will get better seats and you can enjoy
the whole show eating and drinking. Though when you are watching the show you
will not want to take away your eyes off for even a min.
Next Day we had Versailles tour. We were actually a bit late
so booked an UBER till the meeting point. To our surprise UBER was less costly
than the Taxis and just a bit more expensive than the metro. So you can
actually delete the app from here and have a backup Gmail ID created. Once you
reach there you can actually register again and enjoy your first free ride and
refer to your friend and enjoy one more. The Versailles tour guide Jack was
simply amazing. He told us the facts in a very interesting way rather than just
telling us the year in which the Loui XV was born and died. The gardens are
actually very so he took us to the gardens first and then dropped us of at the
entrance of the palace with audio guides and a train ticket back to Paris. Versailles
is like 15 km away from Central Paris but then the metro is easier to travel and
much faster.
On the same evening we had the Eiffel Tower and Siene Cruise Tour
through Julia Travels. To our surprise we also had the bus tour which is
useless. You should only take the boat ride and Eiffel tower tickets if you are
booking through any Travel Agent.
In case if have not booked through a travel
agent then also you can just go their office and buy the ticket. The cruise is
just fine, if you have seen all the places before taking this tour then good
you will be able to connect if not then it will be a pleasant surprise.
Once
the boat ride is finished you can enter Eiffel Tower and go to the 2nd
floor or the Top Floor depending on your ticket.
We had 2nd Floor
ticket and the view was amazing but then personally not that impressed with
Eiffel Tower Itself.
We came down through stairs and then realized that it was
way too high. Every hour they have lighting on the Tower, we saw the 11th
Hours from 2nd floor and midnight one from the ground. It is nice.
Came back through UBER and it was just fine.
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