We booked the Thursday 10PM Continental red-eye flight that was scheduled to arrive in Paris CDG by noon Friday. It would have given us an opportunity to sleep on the plane and spend half the day of Friday to explore the city. But as our luck would have it, our flight was delayed by 3 hours. I slept almost the entire duration of the flight though so I didn't really notice the travel time. Poor Lex wasn't as lucky... he was plagued by his Spring allergies and it kept him awake most of the time =(.
We arrived at 2:30PM at the CDG airport and took the Air France city shuttle to Porte Maillot. The bus stop was just across the street from our hotel so it was really convenient to get to and from the airport. We stayed at the Le Meridien Etoile. The good thing about the hotel is that its location is very ideal. Aside from the airport shuttle stop is just across the street, major sight-seeing locations are within walking distance. The Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysee and Louvre Museum are just a stone throw away. The extensive Metro subway and RER trains have stations there too. However, our room leaves much to be desired. It was advertised as a 4-star hotel but I think it is just a 3-star at best. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.
After freshening up and changing out of our soiled clothes, we are eager to start our Parisian adventure. First thing on our itinerary was to eat at a local cafe. We were famished! I had the Croque Monsieur (nothing fancy, just ham and cheese sandwich) and Lex had Saucisse (sausage) and the ever famous french fries. We then headed towards the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysee. Arc de Triomphe was majestic and we spent a good time having our pictures taken at the landmark. We decided on going up the monument at a later time.
Walking down the Champs Elysee reminded me of the 5th Avenue in New York. High-end boutiques and cafes lined up the famous avenue. It has a different feel to it coz you'll know that you are in a European country just by the architecture of the buildings. It has more character, personality and history to it as most are centuries old. In New York, most buildings are relatively new and modern.
By the time we reached Place de la Concorde, it was already drizzling. We decided to explore the plaza another time and instead take the metro to Galeries Vivienne and Colbert. There's nothing much to see there since the shops were already closed. It had beautiful mosaic floors though that we couldn't resist taking our pictures with it.
Nearby is the Palais Royal gardens. The Columns of Buren and the Fountains of Bury are very picturesque.
Playing on the Columns of Buren
Metal spheres of the Fountains of Bury
It was raining in earnest so we decided to call it a night. We were hoping and praying for beautiful weather tomorrow. We were happy that we were able to see as much as we did today given our delayed flight and uncooperative weather. Not bad for a first day.
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