My journey to Paris from Rome began at about 7:00am when I went down to Tuscolana to board a train to Fiumicino airport. I did the 10 minutes walk from my hotel to the train station. As usual, you would be told “it’s about 10 mins walk so no need for a bus or cab”. By the time I got there, it was almost 30 minutes. Lol.
As I got to the station, I missed the 7:35am train and had to wait for the next train going to the airport, which was for 8am. Finally, i got to the airport in good time for my flight to Paris and proceeded to check in.
We got to Paris in an hour. I was so excited to be in Paris for my birthday. I got out of the airport using the train, found my way out of the ‘confusing’ Gare du nord station and located my hotel nearby. I checked into my room and reunited with my friend Angie who arrived from London to join me for the Paris tour.
Our first stop was Sainte Chapelle, then La Conciergerie and Notre Dame Cathedral. We walked around the streets of Paris, did some shopping and took beautiful pictures.
We returned to the hotel’s help desk to get directions to somewhere else we could visit that evening. We were informed that Basilique du Sacre-Coeur (the church on the hill) was just 20 minutes walk from the hotel. After walking for about 30 minutes, we finally arrived at the foot of the hill. At this point we were tired but we were determined to see what was hidden on the hill top. So, gently we started climbing, we kept going and panting all the way while taking amazing photos. Finally, we arrived at the massive Catholic Church.
From the top of the hill we had a good view of the city at night and the great Eiffel Tower could be seen emitting its light. We took a tour around the edifice on the hill top and other buildings in that vicinity. There were lovely architectural designs to explore and a big tourist register where visitors could pen down something. It was my birthday eve and I was already feeling the birthday aura and fulfillment from the trip. As we walked down the hill, I counted the stairs and it summed up to 144! After the long walk, we retired back to our hotel room.
The next day being my birthday started on a good note. We set out to Disneyland. We explored the city and did some shopping. The next stop was Le Louvre. We took some pictures around the Louvre and proceeded to have my birthday lunch.
We visited Arc de Triomphe, got our tickets and climbed to the top to see the city of Paris. We spent some time there waiting for night fall so we could visit the Eiffel. Then we got to the Eiffel tower and I was wowed by this magnificent tower that had lights all around it. In one sentence, IT IS BEAUTIFUL. Unfortunately, the long queue discouraged us from making it to the top, so we relaxed under the tower, got some snacks at the shops and just enjoyed the view.
The next day began with a visit to Forum de Halle where we indulged in some shopping and site seeing before visiting the historic Catacombs. We got to the Catacombs, bought our €10 ticket and went underground. We walked for about 30 minutes before we arrived at the site. We met a tour guide giving instructions to a group of tourists and we joined them. He urged us to remember that we were in the resting place of dead soldiers, therefore it was important to show some respect. We moved on and saw a long stretch of human skulls and femurs arranged in caves. It was scary at first. There were over 3,000 human skulls of prominent soldiers neatly stacked. We noticed some spaces in between some bones and the guide informed us that tourists actually steal these bones. Lol. At the exit, there were security officers at strategic corners carrying out routine checks to ensure no one left with any stolen item.
Our next stop was Champ de elysees where the big brand stores are located. We had my birthday dinner in an exotic restaurant by the seine river before proceeding to the jetty to board a boat for our seine cruise tour. We sailed through the seine river for one hour, seeing the city of lights in its totality.
It was amazing.
Great experience you had there Emma, my female namesake. I would be in Paris for a conference by June, and I’m sure going to check these places out.
Could you recommend a good hotel for me?