Sunday, April 17, 2016

Europe - Tour Eiffel and Champ Elysees, Must Do!

Leaving Montmarte, we were bound for the main attraction in Paris, The Eiffel Tower!

I did my research beforehand and a lot of people suggested to go by Jardins du Trocadero instead of by Champ de Mars. It is said everywhere that the best spot for taking the photo of Tour Eiffel is from Jardins du Trocadero. The reason being is that all the group tour will take photos from Champ de Mars and it is essentially further from the tower.

Therefore, that's what I planned, we were supposed to start from Jardins du Trocadero and continue walking till Champ de Mars to get both experience. However, we were so absorbed taking photo from Trocadero we did not have time to walk all the way to the other end.

Jardins du Trocadero is located right outside Trocadero metro station. We found the place easily. We just walked straight to the direction of the tower and there was a plaza there. Unfortunately, some of the spots were undergoing renovation and the place was surrounded by hoardings all along.

Walking towards Tour Eiffel
The other side of exit of Trocadero Metro Station
The Ellegant Lady, Tour Eiffel, amidst the gloomy sky
Moving forwards, there is a great spot
Spot 1
Spot 2
Spot 3

We took photos at quite a number of spots before we realized that we ran out of time. And the winds were getting much stronger when we crossed the river towards the bottom the tower.

Seine River from Pont d'lena
Tour Eiffel Steel Structure
What a strange thing to see rickshaw here, I thought it can only be found in Asia

We walked into a restaurant at the bank of the river but the receptionist rejected us due to 'no reservation'. So, we walked out disappointed and we finally asked a random tour guide for a guidance on where to eat. She told us to go to Avenue de la Bourdonnaise for a street full of restaurants.

Walking towards Avenue de la Bourdonnaise

We then found the street and chose a restaurant which was quite crowded called Cafe Gustave. The waiters were not friendly enough he did not attend to us immediately even though we had been standing and calling him.

So after quite a painful attempt to get his attention, we were served by the lady boss of the restaurant and got our seat indoor. It was past 1:00 pm and we were extremely hungry. We ordered the main courses, waited for about 15 minutes for the food to be served and finished everything in the next15 minutes. The cost of each portion of the main course is about EUR 20 (~SGD 30)

Despite the humongous portion, we made it!

The foods were excellent, especially the pork ribs, salmon, and duck confit. And the lady boss was so nice, she showed us the way to walk to Arc de Triomphe and Champ Elysees even she was busy with her business.

We walked towards Arc de Triomphe. It was not an easy walk due to the wind but we made it after 20 minutes of strolling.

Pont d'alma
Finally, the famous Arc de Triomphe
Family picture, yay!

The construction of Arc de Triomphe was initiated by Napoleon I in 1806 to honour the success of Grande Armee that conquered most of Europe during that time. However, the construction was stopped due to the abdication of Napoleon in 1814 and continued in 1826. The arch was completed in 1836 and the names of 128 battles of the first French republic Napoleon's empire was written on the wall.

The Arch of Triumph
The 128 battles on the wall

We did not choose to climp up to the top of the arch. Instead, we walked along Champ Elysees, the famous shopping street of Paris, the Singapore Orchard Road of Paris.

Champ Elysees
Wide pedestrian walkway, many shops

We strolled along the road until we realized it was about time to move on. We found a metro station and went to our next destination.

Next - A Windy Seine River Cruise

Love is in the air,
Little Feet

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