[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 20 July 2015]
5 November 2014, Wednesday
After four days in Switzerland, it was time to move on to Paris, the last leg of our trip. I had visited Paris once before – in October 2009. At the time, my good friend QM was working in Paris and he had an apartment, so together with our friend KP and another mutual friend TH, we bunked in at QM’s apartment. It wasn’t exactly a huge apartment so it was quite challenging to fit four guys inside, but we survived. We had a great time and I have loved Paris ever since.
For this trip, when dad expressed interest to revisit Paris (he and mum had visited some 30 years ago), I didn’t have any qualms to include it in the itinerary, even though I have already been there before. Simply put, I love Paris. I think it is one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world.
After checking out of Hotel Montana, we went back to Zürich HB station and caught the TGV Lyria 9210 train for the 4-hour 3-minute ride to Paris. The fare was 65 Euros (approx. S$105) and it was our last long train ride for this trip. We had taken many trains over the past two weeks. At around 1:40pm, we arrived at Gare de Lyon terminal in Paris. We then hired a taxi to take us to our Airbnb apartment in the 2e arrondissement.
FYI, the word “arrondissement” can simply be translated to “district”. Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements, starting from the middle of the city and spiraling outwards in a circular manner, like a snail’s shell. As the River Seine runs through the city, the area to the north of the Seine is known as Right Bank, while the area to the south is known as Left Bank. Parisian postal codes comprise of five digits, starting with ‘750’. The last digit(s) will indicate which arrondissement it is. For example, for my Airbnb apartment, it is located in the 2nd arrondissement (2e), hence its postal code is ‘75002’.
For Paris, I chose an apartment that was quite centrally located, or as centrally located as it can be (2e arrondissement). As the landmarks and sights are all quite spread out in Paris, it was difficult to choose a really centralised location. Ideally, the apartment should have a view of the Eiffel Tower (like QM’s apartment in 2009 – so lovely waking up to a view of the Eiffel Tower every morning!), but the apartment I eventually settled on did not have such a view. However, I chose it because it was big and it was a duplex loft unit. I love apartments with two levels! It was also within walking distance to the Metro station and the Louvre.
Somehow, I forgot that the host had already informed me about the pin code to open the door on the street in order to gain entry into premises, so when we arrived, we were quite lost and we stood outside the door with our luggages, looking like fools. After about five minutes, we finally sought help from one of the staff in the shop opposite the apartment and thankfully, she knew the pin code for the door.
Airbnb apartment
Address: 50 Rue d’Aboukir, Île-de-France 75002, Paris
Host: Pascale Vedere D’auria
Rate: S$721 for 3 nights, for 3 pax
The apartment looked exactly as depicted in the pictures on the website, and it was very big. There was a king-sized bed on the second floor but the ceiling was rather low, and mum and dad weren’t too fond of it, so I ended up having the second floor all to myself, while they took the sofa bed on the lower floor. The apartment was well-equipped with utensils and cutlery, and there was even a hi-fi set with DVD player and a large TV. Felt like home!
After consulting the useful guide that the host had put together, we headed out in search of lunch. Just around the corner of our apartment and a 3-minute walk away was Rue Montorgueil, a lively pedestrian street with lots of restaurants and food shops. We popped into a random restaurant and ordered a lamb dish, baked fish and salmon tartare, topped off with red wine. We felt totally relaxed and happy to be in Paris.
By the time we finished our lunch, it was around 3:45pm. We decided to visit Forum des Halles, a massive shopping centre located near our apartment, at the 1e arrondissement. It is built largely underground and it is directly connected to the RER and Metro train lines at the Châtelet-Les-Halles hub. RER (Réseau Express Régional, or Regional Express Network) and Metro (Métropolitan) are two different train lines serving Paris. Apparently, 150,000 visitors pass visit the mall every day. It was a good place to shop, with all the major (affordable) brands housed in one location – H&M, Zara, Muji, and my favourite – FNAC, a megastore selling music, movies, books and electronics. I spent a good full hour in FNAC!
After shopping, we decided to pop by Musee du Louvre. During my last visit in 2009, I didn’t manage to see the night view so this time round, I wanted to see how the glass pyramid looked like at night. It was only a 10-minute walk from Forum des Halles. We reached Musee du Louvre at around 7pm, and there were still people queuing to enter. The museum opens till 9:45pm on Wednesdays and Fridays but only till 6pm on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. It is closed on Tuesdays.
