Lightly Toasted

Wish we had taken more videos when in Paris but 2 is better than none yeah?

Ice skating on top of Hotel de Ville Metro

As we got off the metro and came up on ground level we discovered the ice skating ring on top of Hotel de Ville station. There were plent of people in there skating and having a good time. If you look closely one of them falls and they boo at him It was fun watching too.

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View of Paris from The Eiffle Tower

This is a short video of how Paris looked very early on a February morning in 2008. The temperature up there was surely below zero and we literally froze but it was a fun experience. The top most viewing tier was closed for renovations but this was high enough for the vertigo me!

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We followed down the historic Seine river for a few minutes and a couple of turns in and out and suddenly I spotted the monumentous Eiffel Tower standing in all its glory… What a masterpiece… I noticed the driver look in the rear view mirror to catch a glimpse of my elation…I curtailed my jollity for the moment and reclined back on his leathery upholstered back-seat… Ahhh I sighed like a grown up with contentedness and relief now that I had finally witnessed it with my own eyes. The excitement and the joy was so overpowering it was hard to bottle up, but I did very well even if I say so myself :). we’re at long last in the fashion capital of the world, we were indeed in the country of Ratatouille, the city of Musée du Louvre, L’Arc de Triomphe, Moulin Rouge!

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And soon we were boarding another British Airways aircraft. This time the flight was going to be a nice and short 40 minutes! In my humble opinion Terminal 4 at Heathrow is too congested. Both for take off and landing. We taxied for a while till we got out close to the airstrip and waited our turn to take off. There were flights taking off almost every 45 odd seconds at 9 on a Sunday morning! Finally, we were air-borne having a lovely bacon sandwich with café au lait flying over the Queen’s Windor Castle and then over the English Channel and soon we’re in the French air-space. The aircraft was starting to descend and I was craning my neck from my window seat to spot the Eiffel Tower even though we were miles away. I was passionately curious.

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I cannot even begin to tell you how excited we are for our upcoming travel. If you aren’t sure what I am talking about here is a little recap to Bonjour Paris! We are anxiously counting down the days till we take off. Its not going to be a short flight, but having travelled Sydney to San Francisco to Washington DC to Raleigh all in one day with no stopovers… I’m imagining this Sydney to Paris, Charles de Gaulle International Airport via Bangkok and London isn’t going to be too far from my American Adventure.

Silhouettes on Paris

I’ll be wide-eyed most of the time in fantasies of what France will hold. Lovely winter, grand avenues, atmospheric little backstreets, exquisitely designed gardens, cosmopolitan, botique, the chic and their hauteur, the historic pillars of the ancient times, the church of Notre-Dame the royal palace of the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, legions of art galleries and museums, the Pompidou Centre the royal palace of Versailles, Champs- Elysees, the cafes around Marais, St Germain, the walks around Quartier Latin, Montmartre… there is so much to see and so much ambiance to soak up.

Time is running out and there is still a fair bit to be done… It would be so nice to watch Audrey Tautou’s Amélie all over again to get us in the mood if only time wasn’t a constraint. But despite the long flight there is a lot of joy to be had in anticipation of this great sojourn in gay Pari. Truly, Bonjour Paris! Here we come.

carrousel de paris

The lovely-lovely D has won us a fully paid ticket to Paris for two for a week. This also includes a stay at the Accor group of hotels in Paris for a week. GRATIS!!! Oh My God! We’re so ecstatic. I can’t even start to tell you… there’ll be more updates soon. The only pressing need is that we need to avail it by the end of this calendar year and we’re both extremely busy but hey you can never be too busy to take a free luxury ride to La Pari!

Bonjour Paris! Here we come.