As the end of the year is drawing near, I started remembering the trip we took to New York and Paris last December. I am so happy that we are going to be with family over Christmas time this year, but I will never forget our white Christmas and my amazing birthday in Paris.
I finished putting up all our New York photos, but never got to the ones I took in Paris. So here are a few of my favourite photos of one of the most beautiful cities in the world...
We finally arrived in France after an eight hour flight and a session on the airport where there were no signs in English and no people speaking English and no way of figuring out where to go. We soon discovered that "Sortie" means "Exit".
This was taken in Antony, a little community in the Southern suburbs of Paris. We stayed at a flat of someone we knew and had to sort out the keys and put our luggage down, before we could go explore Paris at night...
First thing we did - before even fetching our keys, was to buy croissants and eat them immediately. I was laughed at because of how I pronounced "croissant" and wasn't so sure whether I liked French people (who by the way cannot understand any English). Living in Mauritius - now I can actually pronounce "croissant" the right way and will probably be able to say "I want 2 croissants please" and maybe I won't get laughed at if we go again. I must admit, they were delicious and definitely made me forget about the rude lady in the shop.
On the subway and ready for the nightlife in Paris...
I love this photo of graffiti on a building side. We were in Belleville - Paris and a bit surprised by how everything looked - not at all like in the pictures. I was starting to wonder why some people called it the most romantic city in the world... We did start with some of the more dodgy parts of Paris without knowing it following an "Exploring Paris in 2 days itinerary" I found on the internet. I did buy an awesome red coat in China Town as I left my old coat in New York somewhere next to the road.
I love how the entrances to the subway look. So medieval. But as I was soon to discover - a lot of buildings in Paris has that look and feel.
It still didn't look like I imagined Paris, but I thought it was quite pretty.
Montmarte with the
Sacre-Coeur Basilica in the background. We had a beautiful night view of the city on top (after climbing many many stairs) and our first peak of the Eiffel Tower. I was getting a bit more excited about Paris - it might be very romantic after all.
Lots of photo opportunities in the streets of Montmarte...
Moulin Rouge!!!! What an awesome feeling it was to be at this famous theater. I love the windmill on top and we stood there for about an hour just looking at it and taking in the vibe...
One day when we are grown up and can afford it, we will go and watch a show here.
Fun fact: Did you know Moulin Rouge is best known as the spiritual birthplace of the modern form of the can-can dance. Originally introduced as a seductive dance by the courtesans who operated from the site, the can-can dance revue evolved into a form of entertainment of its own and led to the introduction of cabarets across Europe. *
One of our favourite places whether in New York or Paris and something that we can afford (if it is not more than one cup a day)
Back to the subway and ready to go home. We had a lovely first night in Paris... Or did we?
Stay tuned for scenes from Paris Day 2.
#It was a cold cold winters night, with temperatures falling to the minus degrees. Jaco and Charlene had an old mattress to sleep on in what used to be a beautiful home, but was now a student flat with old food and dirt everywhere. Problem number 1: they could not find the geyser to switch on the hot water. Problem number 2: they could not get the internal heating system to work. With 2 dirty blankets and one plastic bottle filled with hot water from the kettle (no coffee or tea or milk) they go to bed for the last night of Charlene's 27 year old life...
*Wikipedia
