Paris Day 4

Last day in Paris.

At this point, some things are especially clear to me. While touted as the most romantic city on Earth, Paris is also quite dirty, the metro is dodgy looking with buskers playing on them (some of them are actually quite good though), beggars can be seen along Boulevard Saint Germain and less touristy areas, the unmistakable stench of piss fills your lungs when you lease expect it (metro stops,stairways,bridges, street corners, even at Palais du Lourve?!?!?!) and there are plenty of smelly people. Charming indeed!

But I shall not dwell on that and instead celebrate one of the finest institutions in Paris, that is Laduree! Famed for macarons of every kind, some more exotic than others, we decided to indulge ourselves for breakfast!  Everything is closed on Sunday, much to the disspointed of the girlfriend :( who missed out on going to her fave French boutique, Louboutin and Lanvin.

Au revoir Paris!

Paris Day 3

Paris Day 3

Drunk frenchman who slept in his own filth and on the floor of the metro. Ewww...

We started the day a bit late as most of us had a bit of a sleep in. All of us trying to adjust to the longer days than night. Lez wanted to go see the grave where Oscar Wilde was buried (Pere Lachaise), to pay homage to her fave author. Shes been talking about it for the longest time, ever since we were in our teens so I'm very happy that she could finally fulfill it. The cemetary is very famous and a lot of legendary musicians/poets/authors, whoever who was anyone in France were laid to rest here. Jim Morrison was also buried here.

It is such a shame that Oscar's grave was covered in graffiti whereby it used to be only covered in kisses/lipstick marks. Clearly, he has some crazed fans. 

In comparison, here is a photo of Dita Von Teese at the grave before it was covered in filth.

Pere Lachaise is situated in the 20th arrondissement of Paris and compared to other cemetaries, is actually very tranquil, picturesque and while this might sound weird, is actually a nice place to have a walk on a beautiful Spring morning.

Next stop, The Lourve.

Not much to say about this place that you wouldn't already know. I am happy that I got a chance to be there. While I'm not terribly cultured in the arts and things, its definitely eye opening to be surrounded by so many great and amazing things from all around the world that you only read about. Of course it was impossible to see everything the Louvre has to offer ( you would need to be there for 6 months at least ). Here are some random shots that we took.

Yes thats the REAL Mona Lisa in the background. I am not convinced that it is actually the original.

Paris Day 2

Paris Day 2

We had breakfast at the legendary Cafe De Flore. While it was quite pricey to eat there, Lez and I probably had the best cheese omelette of our lives EVER!!! Their hot chocolate was quite famous and it was rich and creamy much like drinking melted chocolate (as experienced in Paul as well. This must be a French thing because we had the same thing in Laduree as well! )

And next door was the equally legendary Les Deux Magots

Today is also Shanan's birthday! Happy Birthday Shanan!

Locked chains/padlocks/lovenotes just outside of Notre Dame.

 At Saint Michel

At Notre Dame Cathedral

After breakfast we went for a bit of a wonder around Sant Germain des Pres and Notre Dame Cathedral before walking over to the 1st arrondissement for more sight seeing (Place Vendome, Palais Royal, Musee du Lourve,Tuilerries...).

 

After a full day of sight seeing, we rested our tired and weary legs for a few hours before greeting the most famous landmark in the whole of France.