The brilliant news is that my prayers have been answered by a group called Soundwalk who have taken over not just Paris but cities all over the world.  It’s a bit of an individual event but also allows you to take a tour without anyone around you knowing what you’re up to.  So bloody clever.

Soundwalk is a one hour tour of chosen Parisian neighborhoods that you can download onto your Mp3 player (for 99 cents each) and take part in whenever you have the time.  That’ right, ‘take part’.  The audio tours are not your typical ‘monument here, famous thing happened here’ guides but an interactive story that takes you through each ‘hood in a very unique way.  For the Marais tour, you’ll have a coffee at a local cafe while Isild, a singer/actress, introduces herself and her neighborhood to you before you embark on a tour to find her lost Walkman, stopping along the way to peek into courtyards and learn about special restaurants, shops and monuments that you may otherwise walk by.  Paris tours include the Marais, Belleville, Palais Royale, Pigalle and St. Germain des Pres.

Learn more and download at www.soundwalk.com.  Other city tours include NYC, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Ibiza, Varanasi and even running tours of Berlin, London, NYC and Paris…almost makes me want to put my sneakers on and hit the dusty trail. Almost.

Also, check out my guest post at Paris Cheapskate where I talk about Soundwalk and my other cheap (but super fun) finds!

Well what is more amusing is that Jang Keun Suk’s fame has spread as far as Europe and maybe even beyond. It is quite common for K Pop idol groups to be well known in the western countries because of their periodic concerts. Many idol groups like SNSD, Wonder girls and more have officially debuted in American and European countries and released albums. So it is not surprising if they are well received in the western entertainment industry and among  non-asian fans.

But Jang Keun Suk is someone who has not debuted in western countries and has not carried out any world tours or shows/concerts. He is not a full time musician and has recently released one full length album and a mini album in collaboration with Big Brother Kurt. So Sukkie is not the ideal Idol boy band group member. He is more of an actor than of a musician!

So it was a major surprise on seeing him receiving a warm and exuberant welcome at the airport when he entered Paris last monday.

Sukkie embarked on an unannounced visit and just tweeted suddenly that he was on his way to Paris! Viola!! But many fans eagerly gathered at Charles de Gaulle Airport to welcome him. Airport authorities were not informed that a little fireball from Korea was arriving *sadly airport officials dont follow him in twitter teehee* and so was unprepared to assist him and so there was a slight hassle.

But Sukkie was amazed by this gathering and so were many others! Asia Prince Jang Keun Suk has reached this high level of recognition with his dramas and as an actor. I cant imagine how popular he will become once he debuts officially!

And the fawning attention by Eels did not stop at the airport. The Eels kept following him around to Hotel, Shopping Malls, Tourist spots and more to get autographs and photos which Sukkie gave willingly!

Truthfully Sukkie has made his French fans to fall in love with him more and I wonder if this swooning effect is just a stepping stone for his securing the ‘World Prince’ title soon!

Here are some shots of Sukkie on his way to France, at the Paris Airport, with Fans in the streets and shops of Paris!

There are many more photos but I have selected those which he personally uploaded in his twitter!

Credit: @AsiaPrince_JKS

Besides as pointed out by Fans at the rate he has been shopping in the past few days in Paris it is clear that European economy needs him. Keep shopping, Sukkie!

I asked a lot of people around for directions to the Eiffel tower but each one had a different route or maybe I got them wrong because none of them spoke Anglais. Mostly people told me to take an RER and a few thought bus was better. You have variety of options – Metro, RER which is also a train, tram and bus. I first went to the bus stop but there wasn’t any bus for 15 min. So I walked back and opted for RER. The lady at the ticketing desk was rude and dint tell me to which station to get the tickets for as Eiffel doesn’t have direct connectivity from the airport. Then another lady told me to take the Paris ticket. 9.25 Euros. But no platform mentioned. I went into one and there was no one in the platform. So I exited (mind u it is all automated so I swiped in once and swiped out too). As I exited I saw the station master and he told me to go to platform 11. Now, my ticket was not allowing me to get in because I have completed my journey by entering and exiting a station! What do I do? I tried it again in the next gate, no luck.

Thennnn, there was a girl who was getting in with an extra-large bag. She swiped and as she was entering the bag got stuck. This gave me a brain wave. I popped in my ticket and I thought of entering along with her because the gate’s stuck. Tail gating, as we techies call it! The gate was closing already and the bag almost thro. I tagged along close by and I got thro. Voila! But, my bag pack got stuck midway. Oh dear. The guy behind me forced the gate open a bit and the bag came thru, Merci Monsieur! The train came immediately. I asked 2 girls standing near the door of it will go to the Eiffel and they said “hop in”. They took out a suburb map which had the route of all transportation in Paris. They told me it’ll take up to 45 min to reach and I’ll have to change the train mid way. They told me where to get off and which one to take next. So I looked thru the window anxiously as the train got crowded with each stop. I had taken out a few currency notes, the credit card and the camera and placed them safely in my jeans pockets. The passport and the wallet were wrapped in my sweater and placed in the bag. Changed train in Notre Dame. The tour Eiffel stop came and I alighted.

Now will the ticket which didn’t allow me to get in allow me to get out? I never thought of the implications of my actions, did I? How do I get out? What’ll I tell the non-English speaking station guy? I decided that I’ll try once and if unsuccessful go get another lowest value ticket for getting out or find the station master and ask him to let me out by telling my story of swiping out by mistake. But come on, I wasn’t cheating and I was just ignorant and god knew it too right. So when I tried getting out, no no he dint open the gates – technology works correctly, he sent a guy again! The one behind me swiped and asked me to get out with him quickly before it closed. Heard of the saying “when you fall from the hill-top god might not catch you but he might give you wings to fly”.

There I was straining my neck upwards to get the full view of the towering Eiffel. Looked close by but was a good half a km away. They girls on the train had already told me that if I wait for the lift to the top, it would take at least 2 hours as most people opt for it. The line was very long. On the right the queue for taking the stairs to the top had hardly a dozen people. I joined them as instructed by the girls before. They were saying that it might have 1000 steps. And I braved it and went ahead. 1 full ticket adult -10.5 Euros. Full ticket by itself means adult right, redundancy I thought. I did not count the number of steps and I was heaving when I reached the first level. Maybe there were 300 to level 1. The view was awesome. A guide was explaining the various buildings to a group of people and I was happy that I got to see most of the famous ones from there. I couldn’t see the Louvre though. After a few photographs I started climbing to level two. Another 300 perhaps. The view was again good. I regretted for not buying a bottle of water before entering the tower. I was panting. After a few min of rest I walked around the level and there was a restaurant. Great. Grabbed a large glass of coke and I was ready for the next and the final level. The tower top. As I showed the ticket for the next level the security told me that since I have got the full ticket I can take the elevator to the last level. The last level is not allowed by foot and people who don’t want to go to the last level get a half ticket. So, it wasn’t redundant, ara (Tamil word) ticket does not mean a child’s ticket after all  Good.

Eiffel Tower

The view from the top was breathtaking. The river beside, chill air blowing thru your face and pictures being clicked all around. I spent some time and enjoyed the feeling and then descended, in the lift till the level 2 and stairs from then on. I need to Google the number of steps I took now

View from the top

The next most important place was Arc de Triomphe. The security at the tower gave me the directions and told me it would take 12 minutes to reach by walk and asked me not to take the bus if I wanted to look around Paris. I followed the route and saw some awe-inspiring buildings, picturesque locations and a variety of people. Japanese, Indians, Muslims with burqa (this gets a special mention because there was agitation a while ago about the ban on burqa in France), smokers at the road corners watching people go by, a caricature artist, boat cruisers, cyclists, skaters, many men in blazers, hot girls, souvenir shoppers, and road rules abiding drivers and pedestrians. I also saw many three-wheeled scooters which could attain good speed in a jiffy. I thought I covered more than 15 min and asked a police guy for directions again. He told me to proceed further. Another two min and still the arc was not in sight. I asked a lady again and she told me that it is pretty far still and asked me to take the metro and reach. I was a little skeptical, so far the route given by the Eiffel guy was right and so I felt it wouldn’t be so far from there. So I continued walking and in about 4 -5 min I saw the arc.

Arc de Triomphe

It was like our India gate with sculptures of Greek gods. Was huge. And again you could climb to the top. I wasn’t very keen as the view from the top would mostly have only the roads around. 12 roads connecting and was one of the biggest in the world.

Got a picture clicked by a Tamil guy in front of it and looked around for the bus stop.  I knew that there was bus to the airport as this was the way to reach Eiffel if I had taken the bus. It was about 1 p.m. and I thought it was better to get back instead of wandering more. I asked for the bus stop. 10 min walk they told. As I was crossing the road, a Hindi speaking family came along. I asked them again for the way to the bus stop. They said that bus would take very long and it is better to take the train. On my suburb map they told me to first take a metro for 3 stops, a RER for the next 1 stop and again another RER for the airport. Even with all the changing I would reach in less than an hour they told. Also the station was right there. So I went down the stairs and reached the ticketing kiosk. It did not have an option to change the language to English as the one in the airport. I asked a gentleman in the next machine if he could help. He readily obliged but my credit card dint work. Again, this same card worked at the airport. The gentleman said he has extra tickets and he gave me one and he told me a different route which involved changing only one other RER. The ticket was valid till the airport. He refused to accept money from me for the ticket. He was like, just 2 Euros, forget it. Just! 140 rupees for me! He said he is from Belgium and runs a company in Paris. I swiped in and went along with him to the platform. We got down in the second station. He guided me to the next platform and left. I got my train to the airport in 4 min, timetable followed on dot. I recognized the next station as I had passed thru it earlier in the day. At that stop an announcement was made that from then on it will be a nonstop one to the last stop which is the airport. So I reached a little quicker and now again the way out was blocked. This time I dint know what the problem was; it worked right at Arc de Triomphe, dint it! But the impatient guy behind me swiped out and said tag along! Tail gating everywhere, thanks to people in a hurry to get out, worked to my advantage thrice!

It was 2 p.m. I had 3.45 hours left. I grabbed a sandwich and roamed around the duty-free shops. Went thru the security check and sat near the boarding gate at 3. Even though I was in early I dint regret it; maybe I would have been stuck at the station with the card not working and no one to help. It happens for good.

That’s another reason why this one’s so lengthy; I had nothing but time to write it out. The day had a bit more excitement than usual because the Paris tour was a planned detour. I was flying to Amsterdam for work for 2 weeks. There isn’t a direct flight from Bangalore and got to connect in Paris. Thursday 2 a.m. Bangalore, 8.35 a.m. Paris, 10.30 a.m. connecting flight to Amsterdam and landing at 12 noon. This is how my other colleagues went and I would too. But wait a minute, I am anyway not reporting to work on Thursday, then why reach early? Why not spend time in Paris? So I requested the office travel ticketing guy to book the connecting flight in the evening. Who knows, this might be my only chance in life, you never know. He obliged and that’s how I got to spend some time here. All alone though, without Ashok in the city of romance. A solitary wanderer.

So far so good, I can pat myself on my back. But will my decision still be right in the end? From 4 it started raining heavily here and a flight got delayed. Now, will I reach Amsterdam on time? Will I reach the hotel correctly if it is late? I should have booked the 4 pm flight, goddamn at least here it was iconic structures that I visited and everyone knew the route but there no one would know the hotel and it’s going to be tough alone. Like an idiot I left the hotel’s number in my office pc. And no one’s at office. God save me. I was banking on only 1 thing, it doesn’t get dark in Amsterdam till 10 p.m. Please let that be true today. At 5 the rain stopped, the skies cleared. I was overjoyed but only to find that the storm has moved northward and that’s where I am headed. My flight, after boarding, got delayed by 45 min. So that means I’ll reach only at 7.45 and what if there aren’t many people at the station? I fear taking a cab at unknown places because we don’t know the route, all alone in an unknown place and the cabbie can take you anywhere. So it is safer to stick with public transports.

Another 15 min went searching for a free runway making the delay an hour. I got reassurance from a fellow passenger that it would be bright till 11 p.m. But the rain was bound north, the flight’s having a lot of turbulence and was shaking badly; even the stewards weren’t able to stand still. And if it’s raining in Amsterdam it’s bound to get dark. Again a silent prayer, I should reach safe and sound.

There ends the one day story, length of maybe a week’s story! Signing off from Paris, see ya with the next update in Amsterdam. God save me!

The necklaces were worth some $200,000, his talent was estimated to be worth $5 million.

It happened after a concert in Paris.  Rumors are circulating that Guns N’ Roses former guitarist, Slash, was in the area at the time.   But Slash told WWN, “Why would I steal his necklaces?  And his talent… that was gone long ago.”

A Paris police spokesman said Wednesday that the lead singer of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted band was fuming after the theft during a private gathering after the band’s show at Bercy stadium the previous night.

Axl thew a tantrum and caused over $500,000 worth of damage – according to unconfirmed sources.  ”He was a big baby about it,” said one Paris fan.  ”He was cursing out everybody and just started punching the walls and throwing brie everywhere.”

Axl and his crew have had a rough couple of weeks on their overseas tour. Some of the tour low-lights include Axl injuring his leg and then falling off stage just days later.  He also forget the lyrics to “Welcome to the Jungle” and kept singing “Welcome to the Jingle.”

He was also upset that he did not have enough groupies backed stage in Paris and intended to sue the concert promoters for not providing him enough of them.

Fans have been walking out of his shows due to their usual late start times and the band was even pelted with stale baguettes during their Paris show.

Axl is heading to his next show in Moenchengladbach, Germany.  Already fans are lining up, getting ready to jack Axl again.

His concert tour ends in Israel, where Axl hopes to sing at the wailing wall.

Paris today maintains its importance, character, and charm, though its appearance is being transformed by structures such as the BEAUBOURG and by the ambitious grands  projets building program carried out under the presidency of François Mitterrand. In addition to the La Défense arch and the Bastille Opéra, Mitterrand’s projects have included the renovation of the Louvre by architect I. M. Pei, the La Villette complex on the northeastern edge of the city, and, in the southeast, the Bibliothèque de France, a great computer-age library.

Planning for Paris and the Paris Basin region includes consideration of large land areas in the Seine River valley all the way to the mouth of the river. New towns, parks, industrial locations, and expanded functions of existing towns are contemplated for this corridor on both sides of the Seine.

Places to visit in Paris

Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel)

Eiffel Tower is the symbol of Paris and likely the most recognizable landmark of the city. It was built by Gustave Eiffel for the World Exhibition of 1889 and it was never meant to be a permanent addition to the city’s skyline. Initially the artists and writers of Paris expressed their strong disapproval in regards to the tower but later generations commended it. The figures are impressive (like the fact that it weights 7000 tons) but forget about them and try to enjoy the sight (you’ll forget the numbers soon but you’ll always remember the tower’s profile on the Paris sky). Everyone wants to visit this landmark so expect the lines to be long (or arrive there early).

La Conciergerie

Located by the Seine on Ile de la Cite, La Conciergerie was originally part of the Royal Palace. It first became a prison at the end of the 14th century and today it is better known for the role it played during the French Revolution (18th century) when it housed over 4000 prisoners including Danton, Robespierre and even Marie-Antoinette. From here people (including the three mentioned above) were being sent to the guillotine. The name of the building comes from the superintendent of the palace (concierge) which was in charge of renting out shops and gathering taxes. Some highlights not to be missed include the impressive Salle des Gens d’Armes (Room of the People at Arms) a vast Gothic room that was used as a banqueting hall and Marie Antoinette’s cell.

Musee d’Orsay

Musee d’Orsay opened in 1986 in a beautiful building which served as a train station until 1960′s. The museum is devoted to the period dating from 1848 to 1914 providing a bridge between the classical Louvre and the modern Centre Pompidou. The main attraction of the museum are the Impressionists with numerous paintings by Renoir, Monet, Manet (which is considered a class of its own), Pissarro, Sisley. Included here are also the post-Impressionist Cezanne, Degas and Vincent Van Gogh. I enjoyed a lot my visit here; the collection of Impressionist art is truly impressive and Musee d’Orsay is one attraction of Paris that is well worth a visit.

6th June – 9th June

12th June – 16th June

30th July – 4th Aug

* Our schedule is flexible and any suggested destinations would be considered, please discuss with us!

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact, info@rorychuphotography.com

There’s an online or mobile guide to the best fashion shops in Paris that lets you tailor a shopping itinerary to your style. It makes it easy to navigate through Paris by choosing neighborhoods that are geared for walking while shopping.  The shop information includes the store specialty, address, phone, website, and hours of operation. Users who log into TravelWithCarnet.com are in control of what they pick to be printed onto their personal city shopping map, or accessed from their iphone, ipad or other smart mobile device and relieve yourself of carrying around countless books and guides.

Travel with Carnet.com offers users a free account to browse, store and print your favorite stores from contemporary up-and-coming boutiques, to hidden treasures and luxury flagships. This site feature is called the “travel carnet” and resembles a personal agenda or as the French would say, a “carnet”.

Online Paris Tour is a website offering a complete guided tour of Paris. Basically, what you only have to do is follow an online guide which will make you visit the city and its 10 most famous monuments in a very easy way. Here, you won’t have to worry about the transportation or the journeys: everything is clearly indicated, and that will make your stay in the capital less stressful and more enjoyable.

The content basically consists of texts and photographs. This is accompanied by comments regarding the history of Paris and a few anecdotes relating to it. You only have to read the text and follow what the guide tells you. The photos are here to help you get bearings. Arrows and names are added on the photos to make it even clearer.

The Paris tour, in itself, is made up of 10 steps. Each step is a famous monument: The Eiffel Tower, The Moulin Rouge, The Cathedral of Notre Dame, etc… All steps are linked to each other (by subway lines) and if you want to get from one monument to each other, again everyhting is fully explained in details. I tell you how to get to the closest subway station from where you are, what subway to take and what station to get off at, and finally how to get out of the subway station to go to the monument by the quickest way possible.

Therefore, if you follow this guide, what you’ll get is a full visit of Paris and all its famous monuments, explained by a local guide that you won’t have to pay. It’s totally free! What you only have to get is your I-pad or smartphone and follow the visit once you are in the area.

The idea came to me after a couple of travels around the world that I had the chance to make. I’ve been in north american cities such as Miami or San Diego, but also in England where I spent over 6 months for my studies and in other european cities like Barcelona, London or Brussels.

Each time, I realized that eventhough I was very motivated and eager to start visiting the city, there were generally too many thing to see. Things that I had heard about before and that had to be visited by no way. This put pressure on me, because I didn’t know where to start, I didn’t know how to get to the monument I wanted to see and eventually I didn’t know what to do. Quite frustrating when you come to a city with lots of hope and happiness. Not to mentionning when you are with somebody else who doesn’t want to get in the same direction.

And then I thought of Paris: What about the people coming into this city and who want to see the tons of things the city offers? And I also saw, in the mean time, all those Paris tour buses drinving through the city all days long to give people a chance to visit (or to see) the monuments in one day. How much are those people paying? An awful amount of money, certaily. For something that I could do for free as many times as I wished. Here came to me the idea of being a guide, sharing my knowledge and my passion of the city to all those people. As Ipads and other Iphones where getting more and more popular, I thought that creating a full Paris Tour in 10 steps on the internet could be a good idea. And there came the idea of my Paris Tour.

If you want to have a look at the website, you can follow this link: Online Paris Tour.

I hope you’ll enjoy!

The railway network of Spain has many different routes which serve many areas but still do not cover all the areas. The Spain trains are indeed cheap and quick but that does not mean that they would serve always quickly. It requires that the people must go through all the timetables and routes of the trains of Spain. There are numerous websites which can guide you in this criterion.

The train tours of Spain are undoubtedly cheaper and affordable for the tourists and also for all those who are looking forward to Spain train tours as they are immensely popular nowadays. As compared to the other countries the cost of traveling through a train is half than the other country. Train travel in Spain is simply outstanding and fun enjoying after all who would like to miss this exciting train trip and that too in such cheap prices. If the tourists want to have a lavishing and luxurious train tour in Spain than they can experience it on the journey of La Robla train tour also from Bilbao to Leon. The train packages can be availed by the tourists and can choose the best luxurious packages as per there need and want.

Train travel in Spain are really very fast and takes less time in comparison to the trains of other places and especially on the Madrid-Barcelona AVE and Madrid- Seville Road. The fascinating inter rail pass makes it a less expensive train tour. The huge offer and discounts are given by Spain trains and the mesmerizing amenities they provide are superb. But a suggestion is that be a little wise and choose the best one for you.

Booking tickets is not a difficult task they are as easy as booking the tickets of a bus. Less time consuming process because there is only one main organization that caters these kind of services so here you would not need to roam here and there for these services. These trains also have some exquisite amenities which attracts the attention.

The tourists can go through the interactive map which would guide you better about all the train routes of Spain, specifically about Europe. Europe is the only country in the whole continent which offers a cheap rail transport. The maps can give you a best advice as to which route should be taken and through which train to enjoy the trip.

During your trip to Europe and Spain make sure that if you do not catch the wise way you may lead to a complicated direction which would result in wastage of time as well as money.

I was planning to visit some places today in Berlin, but because of that incident, you know, the national strike in Paris, I had to change my plans. So, I’ll try to go to some pub or something like that when I get in Berlin. Actually, I have no sure, you know, to wait at the airport for almost six hours is tiring.

Let’s talk about yesterday. My day in Paris was a little different of the other days. I had the opportunity of enjoying an open tour around the city. We bought tickets for an open bus in a sale point in front of the Notre dame Cathedral. The ticket was valid for one day, enough time to visit the entire city . The buses follow four different destinations around the city and it’s possible to see the most famous sightseeing in Paris. I loved it. It was a little expensive, 29 Euros per person, but it was worth. During the tour, I took more than three hundred pictures.

I was forgetting to tell you about the boat tour. In my fifth day in Paris, we took a boat on the foot of the Eiffel Tower and we spent one hour navigating on the Seine River. It was really exciting and romantic. The tour lasts one hour and cost only 13 euros per person. I’ll post some pictures of this tour here.

So, my computer’s battery is ending up and I have to wait for two more hours.

Thanks for reading it. Hope you enjoy my trip diary.

Bye

In my entire life, I think I’ve never walked so extensively and enthusiastically as in Paris. I’ve walked and walked until I didn’t realize that it was close to midnight and the temperature started to drop bitterly cold. But it did pay off in the end. Apart from my aching feet, I felt satisfied and almost get charmed by this city.

Another wonderful experience while in Paris was a chance to join free tours around the city and the unique thing about this tour was that you get the local – Parisians as your personal guide. You can find their information here, in their website. This slow paced tour was so enjoyable, informative and extraordinaire. I felt as if the guide was my own friend taking me for a joyride around their own backyard and many hidden jewels of Paris. I highly recommend this tour to everybody visiting Paris.

Not visiting Eiffel tower while in Paris is just like having a plate of roti canai without teh tarik. Incomplete. This iconic architecture is really a beauty. When I arrived at the foot of this gigantic structure, there were already a huge crowd and the queue for ticket to the top floor was already very long. Beware of the many ‘mat hitam‘ from Africa that kept pestering visitors for their counterfeit wares. As stated by 3yearshousewife in the previous entry, one has to be very cautious as pickpocket was also notorious in this area. And the ‘mat hitam‘ were quite photo unfriendly. I saw a tourist who unassumingly took a photo of one of those vermins, who was later asked to delete the photo from his camera by one of the mat hitam.

The magnificent view from the second floor of the Eiffel tower was breathtaking and worth the 40 minutes queue. If you look carefully to the horizon, there was hardly any skyscrapers in the city. The third floor (the top of the tower) was closed at the time of the visit.

I waited 4 hours to get this night shot of Eiffel tower. Taking a night shot without the camera best companion- a tripod (plus a cold drizzle and shivering hands), was quite a challenge. This was a view from Palais de Chaillot near Trocadéro .

Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre with its 21 meters high glass pyramid in the courtyard. You don’t need the Da Vinci code to enter this building but a few euros will do. The security was quite an issue here and very obvious with the present of armed personnel in the vicinity.

La Colonne Vendôme at Place Vendôme to commemorate the battle of Austerlitz by Napoleon I. The column was made up of 1000 bronze cannon balls (the oxidation was quite clear), shot by the enemy in the battle.

Opposite La Colonne Vendôme and next to the Ministry of Justice is the famous Hôtel Ritz. With the price of a one night stay reaching to up 10,000 euros, this hotel is considered the most expensive hotel in Paris.

Not far from Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre is Opera Garnier (the right building). It is regarded as one of the architectural masterpieces of its time. I was told the front of building (the road) was originally a big swamp. There is an underground lake in the basement . Le Fantôme de l’Opéra probably lurking somewhere in the basement too .

On my way strolling leisurely on the Avenue des Champs Elysees toward Arc de Triomphe, I came across this interesting sight. People queued to enter one of the many high end boutiques as entry is only limited to a certain number at one time.

Engraved on the interior walls of the two lesser arches, on both sides of the main arch, are the 558 names of Napoleon’s generals. The ones that are underlined are those who died in battle. There is an admission fee if you want to get to the top of Arc de Triomphe – for another cool view of Paris.

If you feet is getting tired and started to become wibbly wobbly, then a day pass ticket by Paris Metro and RER is another good alternative to explore Paris. With only 8.70 euros, you can hop on and hop off at any place of your interest, for the entire day.

If you like cycling, then the velo or city bike is a good way to get around Paris. You can find this bike stationed on many streets ready for rent.

…or this freaking colorful taxi…you will get romantic musics on board for free…

This college near La Sorbonne (formerly know as Université de Paris) offers free education. You can register here for free provided your permanent address is in that area and you are taking courses that is not offered in any other universities. I am still wondering what courses are that?

My first 2 hours free-walking tour was with Augustine (pink vest). He covered the left bank area. He didn’t give us a history lesson, but introduced us to their home city of Paris. This really made my trip to this place so much interesting because of his knowledge and insider’s tips. The walks were informative, relaxed, full of humour. Highly commendable.

Regardless of the weather, the free-walking tour local guide will be there for you. That was what happened on this second tour with the charming Pauline (red vest sitting in the middle) on the right bank for a ‘landmarks tour’. Even though it was drizzling intermittently that afternoon, I found her waiting on the stair of Opera Garnier patiently for us. I am not sure what got into us with those interesting pose to end the tour, but the acid rain probably has some effect on those peculiar behavior. Great tour. Merci for both of you, Augustine and Pauline.

We recently got back from a perfect Paris trip and felt it was only right to share the gems we discovered. Covering the best vegetarian-friendly food, sweet shopping, comfy hotel accommodations and the not-so-touristy frolics, here’s what we came up with. 

HOTEL
Paname Hotel Bastille – This place was recommended to us. It was somewhat affordable (for Paris) and quite cozy. The staff was friendly & we felt like we were really situated amongst other Parisians instead of tourists.

FOOD (for vegetarians!)
It’s not very easy being a vegetarian in Paris. Cafe menus weren’t as varied as some of those in NYC. That said, we ended up discovering some of the best vegetarian friendly food we ever tasted!

Best Croisssant
Au levain du marais: The BEST croissant, baguette and au pain chocolat in Paris. Pick up a few of these in the morning and frolic around the neighborhood. (28, Blvd Beaumarchais, 11e)

Best Vegetarian Breakfast
Les Philosophes: Get the regular Paris breakfast – includes a gorgeous plate of the best croissant, fresh fruit, creme fraiche, jam, butter, OJ, tea/coffee. YUM. (28 Rue Vieille du Temple 75004 Paris, France)

Best Vegetarian Lunch
Le Potager du Marais: Visit the Pompidou Museum in the morning but don’t bother eating their shit cafe food (we tried). Instead, head over to this vegetarian place for lunch. Must Get: quinoa encrusted veggie burger with freshly grated beet and carrot salad and puree cauliflower. A much needed treat for a veggie in Paris! (22 Rue Rambuteau 75003 Paris, France)

Best Vegetarian Dinner
Soya: We heard rave reviews about this vegetarian restaurant before even setting foot in there. And surprisingly, both the atmosphere and the food fulfilled our high expectations. Their website says they close at 7pm. This is NOT true, dinner actually starts at 7pm.  (A little difficult to find but well worth the walk – 20 rue de la pierre levee, 75011 Paris, France)

Best Dessert
Les Philosophes: Creme brulee (28 Rue Vieille du Temple 75004 Paris, France)

SHOPPING
While shopping wasn’t my main focus in Paris (screw the Euro!), we did venture to a few great shopping spots. They are not hard to find. In fact it seemed as though everywhere we walked there was a cute row of shops.

Best Shopping Street
Rue vieille du Temple became a favorite street of ours to stroll down and window shop.

Best Expensive Boutique
Tsumori Chisato: Cheap? Non. Authentic and inspiring? Oui. ( 20 rue Barbette, Paris, France)

Best “Affordable” Paris Boutique
Sessun: I recently blogged about this shop. I love peeking at their online winter collection and I loved visiting their shop in person. (34 rue de Charrone, Paris, France).

Best Unexplored Shopping Area
Rue de Charrone, near Sessun, was a cute area we wanted to explore more but didn’t have time to.

THINGS TO DO & SEE
I have only a few actual site recommendations beyond the usual Louvre, Notre Dame and Centre Pompidou, because besides those visits our days were mostly filled exploring the city streets, across the Seine, through the cobble stone, into the cafes and patisseries, onto the gardens, etc. etc…

Best Walking Tour
While I know it’s obvious to go to the Louvre, Notre Dame and Centre Pompidou, it’s also pretty fantastic. And what we did, was download Rick Steves’ Paris Audio Tours. The Historic Paris Walk, which included Notre Dame.

Best Book Store for English Speakers
Shakespeare and Company: A small and special place with 3 rikity floors of books, an old piano for anyone to play and a typewriter to create your own “old fashioned” letter.

Best Recommended Site We Missed Out On
Promenade Plantee: This is supposed to be a beautiful pathway which was actually the source of inspiration for the amazing High Line in NYC.

The truth is that although I imagine a thousand times knowing the Eiffel Tower, I could see in photos or videos, the opportunity to virtually visit from heaven, is a sort of virtual tourism experience that I loved.

This is a virtual tour composed of experts and views taken by professionals, representing a motion simulator, which show us some sites without leaving our home. The high-resolution photographs that allow us to know Paris and other cities of the world are by photographer Gilles Vidal, and the experience of flying over Paris is something that no one will miss.

You can see perfect streets, buildings, majestic buildings and blocks, we can leave the top of the tower and watch the River Sena in just a couple of seconds, taking command at the top of our computer mouse. Travelers can do this online through a virtual adaptation 360 sideways, with the possibility of up and down, looking at the ground or the sky, and zoom to see details up close more valuable.

About Author: Gray is an expert writer who specially writes about famous Europe Destinations. If you are traveling by London to Paris Chunnel then London to Nice Train is the best option for you.