I am back from Paris!
Yeap! Paris, the city of love/romance or whatever. The city that makes girls go gaga. The city that most girls would first blurt out when asked where they'd like to spend their honeymoon. Besides that, I know more about Paris as compared to other European cities when I first came to Europe. Haha, well I don't know this city very well either. Just 2 FAMOUS landmarks, i.e. The Eiffel Tower and also The Lourve. END. LOL. Tell me to name a landmark somewhere else in another city I'd most likely only end up with one or none.
My initial image of Paris was streets lined up with lovely trees, fresh air, peace, friendly people, buildings with beautiful architecture. At night, it'll be laying down on a spot nearby the Eiffel and just staring, or a wonderful French dinner. Plus all the hype that makes Paris such a popular city amongst the people I know, I was definitely anticipating a lot.
The Arc de Triomphe. The roundabout around it was sick.
Its like a 5-lane roundabout with no road lines!I have to admit there is something magical about this place. I am starting to have the thoughts that I am missing that city! My take on whether something/somewhere/someone is good is when after a few days you miss/crave about it. Then you know, that was something. This is how I feel about Paris right now. Same goes as food. I wouldn't know how to rate the dish, until after a few days. I know the dish is something good, if my brain goes "I wanna eat that!". If there weren't any thoughts, the dish is not something at all. That's how I judge stuff. Weird? Hahaha..
Honestly, my first thoughts on Paris when I was there was it was an overhyped city. Romantic? I do not think so. How could it be possibly romantic if you had to walk with ur eyes fully fixed on d grounds ahead, so that you would not step onto any shit(yes, bird or dog shit) all the time. Not to mention the smell. That's one. Heck, I even saw someone pee in public. Heh. Talking about class. Metros(Paris's version of MRTs), are not very pleasant. You can always smell the stench of urine around in the air.
My initial thoughts of stopping by the base of Eiffel and marveling and appreciating this humongous, unique-looking structure couldn't be fulfilled satisfyingly. Why? One, I was constantly harassed by people selling fake/stolen souvenirs every 30 seconds or so. Some are so aggressive that you can certainly feel intimidated. They were sold not by 11 yr old half-ur-height kids, but by grown-up black adults whose a head taller, large in frame. Luckily I wasn't a victim to any of them. Haha. Two, there are just so many people at the base, you just gotta be extra careful of ur valuables. Not only that, you have to be aware of the loads of people taking pics too so that you would not be in their way. Hahaha. Its like standing in the middle of the Gadong Fish Market on a Sunday morning. So how could one possibly be at peace and appreciate Eiffel? I dunno. By going up? I don't really know what's the hype of going up high either. One would most likely barely know what is below/around you at that high. Which buildings are significant. Why? Etc Etc.. Even if one would, would he/she spot that particular landmark. I seriously couldn't see anything at night except lights. The mornings I remembered were haze-filled. There weren't much one could see at the time I was there. LOL. My apologies for being that negative. Just an opinion.
See.. How hazy..Besides the above points, as roughly predicted beforehand, is an overpriced city. Everything is just so expensive!! I spent roughly the amount that an average office clerk in Brunei would had earned over a month in the course of 4 days. I roughly know what you'll be thinking. And no, I did not come back with a LV designer handbag nor anything of designer material. Hahaha. Those who know me would roughly know what I've spend a large portion to it to. FOOD! I couldn't resist experiencing dining in a French eatery. The FOOD there is sickeningly expensive. A dinner set meal could easily run up to BND $100. That is not even 'fine dining' level yet. Just a random cafe. LOL.
Proof:
Although the price, I appreciated the experience nonetheless.Ohhh... Throughout the days in Paris, I still couldn't find the answer to why Paris is romantic. I had discussions with my male friends, trying to unlock and find the reason. Hahaha. Some say its coz of the tons of designer outlets. Some say the Eiffel. I couldn't get the link of these stuff with romance at all. Hmm.. Which means OH NO!!! Must be a problem of mine???? Then why people still go siao over Paris??? Think.. Think.. Tell me my girl friends!
Here are roughly 6 reasons why Paris
WOULD NOT be a good honeymoon destination for me. Hahaha:
1) I don't want my honeymoon to be filled with memories of walking on walkways filled with shit or pee.
2) The people! Too many people. With people, comes noise, insecurity, queues. I guess its the norm for cities. People like me from our peaceful abode back home are still not used to this.
3) I'd be dead if my other half told me to accompany her to the 3rd level of Eiffel. I was already shitting myself at just the 1st level! I wanted to send postcards from the 2nd lvl. But shops above were closed already nonetheless.
Proof! I made it!! (till the 1st floor. hahahaha)4) I don't want my meals to be only home-made peanut-butter sandwiches nor Digestives biscuits. Hahaha. Food is too expensive.
5) I'd be dead too if my other half wanted a designer product. Id comply if I had a really really stable job with a 5 digit monthly salary. LOL. It seems such a far cry when I saw a watch that was labeled more than 10000 Euros!!! We could get a steady saloon car back home already with that!
6) There are just too many pretty ladies around! Glasgow's pure peanut! Hahaha. How to focus? LOL
I'd had to say the highlight of my trip would be the PARKs! Yep the parks! The parks in Paris were really really really beautiful. Its like an image from a fantasy novel. Hahaha. The Luxembourg Park and the one behind the Chateau de Versailles(Palace of Versailles) were really pretty. The size of the garden at the Chateau is certainly beyond one's imagination. No joke! Google it up. LOL.
The Hall of Mirrors inside the Chateau of Versailles -
The place where the Treaty of Versailles was signed!! 
The Luxembourg Park
The gardens behind the Chateau de Versailles.
See how far it stretches. Its not the end somemore. It goes on further!Besides the Eiffel, the parks and the palace itself, I also visited a few other places such as needless-to-say the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral and Disneyland! The Louvre was so-so for someone who doesn't know a lot about arts. I tried to understand and comprehand the displays and sculptures nonetheless. I wasn't that successful I guess. The place was really really large. Mona Lisa, the painting that everyone knows about yet don't know anything bout it, was disappointing. You could only see it from about a distance of a few feet. Not to say, so many people were crowding around it, I could not get a good view. The painting itself was very small when compared to the others. Once I did, I saw the fading colours of Mona Lisa. The colours on her was really gloomy and dark. It ain't like in the pictures. Some say it is due to the age of the painting. Sad thing. Other paintings were far more impressive like the 'Wedding Feast in Cana'. Damn it was huge! A few art students were doing replicas of the paintings on display too. Wow, really impressive. I couldn't spot the difference!
The popular pyramid entrance to the Lourve
Notre Dame Cathedral - Seriously nothing spectacular inside and outside.
Disneyland - Place I wouldn't go unless I have kids along with me.
I spent more time scouring for souvenirs for my lil cousin instead of sitting rides. lol
I couldn't resist taking a pic with this cute cartoon.
I reckon he was the cutest among the lot from the parade! HAHAHAAlthough the loads of negativity above(Maybe it is due to the high expectations I put forth on this city), I am starting to miss this city! (As I mentioned above). There is something. The food maybe? I miss the duck confit. I miss French wine. I miss the pretty ladies.
Leong and
Keong would go nuts if they were here. I miss the friendly French people. They were so friendly, approachable, well-mannered, respectful, and patient trying to communicate in English with us. I miss the wonderful parks. I miss going about trying to choose from the mind-boggling number of cafes down the streets. I miss the wonderful warm weather.
Thinking back, if there were a list of cities I'd return to in Europe, Paris would definitely be on the list. But first off, I need to have a healthy bank balance first!
Good day people! =)
The first news that the cases were confirmed was in the evening of yesterday. Now the total number of people tested are 23! Aaa! Not only that, the WHO has raised the alert to '4'. Maximum number is '6'. Im starting to get paranoid over this. God bless the world. Please do not let such a thing get serious.
