My Trip To Paris - Day 4: A Last Day Sprint to Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur

Shout out to  for sending me to Paris!

I saw this funny sign on a power box in the metro station.

GOD SHALL SMITE THEE!   XD

They sell condoms from a dispenser in metro stations. Lots of people in Paris having a 'fun' time?  =P

There are lots of signs like this too. So lucky we didn't come across these people. *Phew*

*yip yip yip yip*  The pom pom is so cute!!   X )

Saw this 3 wheel motorcycle. 

Shakespeare and Company

So today is the last day and we didn't have much time left. My friend told me about this famous bookstore called Shakespeare and Company. She wanted a book and a bag from their store, and if you buy a book, you can get their Shakespeare stamp in the book. When I was researching the place, I found that it was near Notre Dame so it was very convenient to go there. The problem was looking for the place. I knew the general location of the place but I walked a long way to find it.

We took the metro to Saint-Michel. We passed by the Fontaine Saint-Michel.

Walking along the row of shops, I saw this cute little restaurant called Le Petit Chatelet. I love this kind of rustic French designs and had to take a picture of it. Right at that moment, I was wondering where the heck that bookstore could be because I walked a long way and still couldn't see it. And then I noticed that the bookstore was just next to the restaurant. *facepalm*

It was still closed since it was still early in the morning and the store only opens at 10am. I did go back to buy the books after climbing up Notre Dame. It was really crowded and it was such a small space that it was difficult to move around inside. I wasn't allowed to take pictures so I can show you guys what it looks like inside, but all you bookworms would love this place. And surprisingly, the poeple working there were British. I didn't expect that, but maybe I should have since it's Shakespeare? *shrugs*

 Up up up to the top of Notre Dame

And we're back at Notre Dame. It was a Saturday so they were having mass inside.

Mass at Notre Dame

This is a diagram showing the stairs up to the top of Notre Dame.

MORE SPIRAL STAIRCASES! My brother nearly literally white-out after climbing up to the top. 

Care to guess how many steps we had to climb? 387 steps! *faints*

Once we reached the top, I saw this cute little door. For Quasimodo?  =P

I decided to have a look inside through the glass. 

And I saw...

* cue music from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame *

... the Bells of Notre Dame ~ ♫

Gargoyles atop Notre Dame.

View from up on Notre Dame

Montmartre and Sacre Coeur 

We took the metro to Anvers and made our way up to Sacre Coeur. We passed by a lot of lovely houses on the way.

I saw this on the wall. Kermit for President anyone?

I love windows with wooden shutters.

Single seat smart car. This is just too cute.

Have you seen this missing parrot?

At the top, it's really happening and the place looks a little like a carnival because you see lots of colourful stuff, souvenirs, and people busking. There were some who were singing, playing instruments, painting, etc. But you have to be careful here since this is one of the places where most pick pockets are because it's a really crowded street. So if you want to avoid all that and especially if you rushing like us, my advice is DASH, DUCK & DIVE!  XD

All over Paris, I'd been looking for something like this. Street performers! The french type too.
Her name is Arlette Denis and I think she's brilliant! I loved her performance so much.

Behold. It iz zhe Sacre Coeur!

When you turn around, you can see a spectacular view of the city. Down below are some steps and there's this guy that does some tricks with a soccer ball. Apparently he's really popular there.

After Sacre Coeur, we made our way back to some places to buy some souveniers we didn't dare to buy earlier because we were afraid that we wouldn't have enough cash. It took us a while but we made it back to the hotel and to the airport on time.

Security check at the airport is extremely tight. Even after my backpack was checked by a security personnel in the front and then sent through the x-ray machine thingy, another person decided to open my bag for another check. So while I'm putting all my things back into my bag and waiting for my brother (he had to take off his shoes, watch, wallet, etc. A different security personnel calls me over to have my bag checked. Again! Do I look dangerous?? I only had a bag with a DSLR camera, my ipad, a box and a teddy bear. They started shaking the box and even though I told the security to be careful with the box because inside it was a miniature notre dame which was breakable, they gave me a really weird look. Hello? If something is breakable, of course I wouldn't want you shaking it like that!  >_<   And she was even holding up my teddy bear like it had a bomb inside. I get that security is important and all that, but they just made me feel uncomfortable, pissed off, and almost late for my flight! Do you know how troublesome it is to take everything out and place everything back in 3 times? Geeze...

Overall, I guess that the airport security was the only thing that dampened my mood for this whole trip, otherwise, the whole trip was a wonderful experience.

And we're back on the plane from Paris to KL.

Au revoir Paris!

Thanks to  again for sending me on this trip. It was a wonderful experience and one that I will never forget.


If you guys want to see the rest of the trip, check out the links below:

• My Trip To Paris - Day 1: Discovering Iconic Destinations of Paris
• My Trip To Paris - Day 2: A Full Day French Baking Class And A Night At The Louvre Museum
• My Trip To Paris - Day 3: Notre Dame, The Mona Lisa, Saint Chapelle and Luxembourg Gardens

If you wanna find out how I won this trip from Delifrance, check out the link below.

• Planning A Trip To Paris, France thanks to Delifrance!

*~~~~~ ʕ￫ᴥ￩ʔ ~~~~~*

My Trip To Paris - Day 3: Notre Dame, The Mona Lisa, Saint Chapelle and Luxembourg Gardens

Shout out to  for sending us here!

The Louvre Museum

We woke up bright and early today. Not gonna waste a moment with the little time we had. We stopped at the nearest metro to the Louvre and took some day time pictures of the Roue de Paris and Fontaines de la Concorde.

It was another cold morning. I was literally walking on thin ice that morning.  XD

There was frost on everything. Guess this is the closest I'll get to seeing snow for now.  *pouts*

The surface of the water was partly frozen too.

There's no line!!  =D

This is the lower level of the Louvre.

We saw someone re-creating a painting on canvas inside.

This is one of the awesome ceilings inside the Louvre.

The Venus de Milo

It was really crowded inside the Louvre. And this is another awesome ceiling.

Another awesome hallway!

Our main reason for going to the Louvre. You can't go to Paris and not see her.

The Mona Lisa

From the Louvre, we walked towards Notre Dame. We stopped by the "Love Locks" bridge for some photos. If you thought that romance was passe in Paris, all you need to do is look at this bridge to see it being displayed in full force.

A popular thing to do here is for a couple to write their names on a padlock and lock it onto the bridge. They then throw the key into the Seine River as a symbol of their undying love.

Saw this nice looking restaurant on the way.

It was 3-5°C and there are police training swimming in the river!  *Brrr*

Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris

Our most favoured place to visit in Paris, the Notre Dame Cathedral. The full glory of Gothic architecture.

Prepare for lots of photos. 

Inside the halls of Notre Dame.

At many famous tourist locations, you can find machines like this where you can get coin tokens as souveniers. Each location has their own coin(s).

Holy Water

The stained glass windows of Notre Dame

The line to go up to the top was really long, like an hours wait or something. So we decided to put it to the next day, early in the morning, hoping that there would be less people. So we went around Notre Dame to take more photos.

When we returned to Malaysia, we looked up Gothic Cathedrals on YouTube. It's fascinating how these cathedrals were built.

Sadly, we didn't even bother going to the Pantheon after seeing the scaffolding. We didn't really have time either.

La Sainte-Chapelle

Another tourist destination for Catholics and those who appreciate fine architecture. This is another Gothic chapel but with some high security to go into and you have to pay to go in. I don't feel that it's really that worth it to go in since it's such as small place compared to Notre Dame ( where you can go in for free) , but if you want to look at the Gothic designs, then go ahead.

Inside Sainte-Chapelle

Just outside is the Palace of Justice

Jardin du Luxembourg

We made our way to Jardins du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens). I heard about it many times and wanted to see it. But I guess you really have to go there during late spring or summer. =/

We headed on over to the Centre Georges Pompidou, which is a famous museum of modern art and frequent exhibitions. One other reason it's famous is because of its bizarre architecture, with all the pipes, vents, and elevators on the outside of the building. 

We got lost trying to find our way back to the metro, some guy who was standing outside a store next to us helped us out by giving directions. Which leads to this next part.

French people are nice!

I bet that we've all heard that French people are rude, especially to tourist who can't speak a bit of French. But I don't think that's the case at all. Except for some of those working behind a customer service desk maybe. They were pretty unpleasant to talk to. But this situation happened that made me put my foot down on those who say they're rude. No matter where we are in the world, there will always be people who are rude, but there will also be people who are kind and helpful. Don't stereotype! 

My brother and I were wondering what to eat for dinner and we decided to try and get some French food into our stomachs. We didn't lunch earlier and the first day either. So we really thought that we needed to try some French food. There was a small place next to the hotel and we were looking at the menu outside but it was all in french. I only knew a few words like Tartate de boeuf, pommes and a few others but I still didn't know what most of the items on the menu were. So we just decided to randomly order and went inside. It was empty except for a couple who was talking to the owner. The couple were leaving when the owner spotted us. We asked for the menu ( in very poor French) but she responded by saying "No food". We were kind of confused because they had a menu, but she said no food. But the couple that was leaving came to our rescue! The guy talked to us in English and we told him that we were looking for some French food to eat. He recommended this pub nearby and told us which way to turn. He then offered to bring us half way since he was going in the same direction. Isn't he nice?! We exchanged pleasantries while walking and once we got to a junction, he told us where to go from there. It made me feel really happy to have met them.

So once we spotted the place that the couple mentioned, we were looking at the menu outside which was in French too. We were pondering on whether to go in or not when a customer that was outside asked us if we needed any help. We expressed our concerns that we were not sure if the waiters were able to speak in English. He basically went in and asked one of the waiters for us. Thankfully, someone did know how to converse in English. To have encountered so many nice people in a day, it really lifts my spirits, especially since I was really exhausted and my feet were aching. The waiter was a great guy too. He explained the menu to us, recommended some items for us to choose and he came to our table once in a while to make sure that everything was fine. The service we got from him made us feel really grateful to him that we tipped him extra.

This place is called Le Comptoir de l'Arc. It's nearby our hotel and the Arc de Triomphe, and I really do recommend coming to this place for some good food. It's not fancy or anything, but the chef does a good job. The waiters are really cheerful too. Always having smiles on their faces. 

Meeting so many helpful people made me feel extremely happy. I couldn't stop telling friends and family about them.

This is the menu we saw.

My brother had the Pave de Rumsteak Rossini, puree ( steak with foie gras ) and I had the Confit de canard persillade, pommes sautees ( duck with friend potatos ). The food was delicious. I didn't really expect the food to be this good in a place like this. What would you call this place? A bar? A pub? A tavern maybe? But anyway, the food is good. You have to come here.

After dinner, we returned to the hotel to have a little rest before deciding to go to the Eiffel Tower. We walked around in the pouring rain trying to find our way to the Eiffel Tower from the metro. It's a good thing we bought those small umbrellas before the trip. It was a cold night and it was raining cats and dogs. I think I was wearing 4 different shirts inside and my two jackets on top. I must have looked puffy.

So the Eiffel Tower is lighted up like this during the night, and I think that every hour, it sparkles? The lights, that is...

Check out the links below to see the rest of the trip:

• My Trip To Paris - Day 1: Discovering Iconic Destinations of Paris
• My Trip To Paris - Day 2: A Full Day French Baking Class And A Night At The Louvre Museum
• My Trip To Paris - Day 4: A Last Day Sprint Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur

If you wanna find out how I won this trip from Delifrance, check out the link below.

• Planning A Trip To Paris, France thanks to Delifrance!

*~~~~~ ʕ￫ᴥ￩ʔ ~~~~~*