Paris Vacation Itinerary - Part 5

Itinerary: Paris (Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bys9H9hPgFspMVZaNGZPdUYxbE0)

Eiffel Tower 

My vacation in Europe was almost over and that day was my forth day in Paris. The tour started with Eiffel Tower as I stayed near the area. I had seen the Eiffel Tower closely during the night the last two days. Therefore, I would like to see it during the day time. I did not go up since I went to the Montparnasse tower the day before and I could see Paris better from there. 

The Eiffel Tower is open everyday from 9 a.m. to midnight from mid-June to early September, from 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. during the rest of the year, At Easter weekend and during the Spring holidays : extended opening hours to midnight.

Basilique du Sacre Couer from Pont d'Lena

 

Gallery Lafayette

I scheduled my trip today mainly for shopping. I shopped mainly at Gallery Lafayette and in there, you can directly request for your tax refund in cash as there is a Global Blue office inside the shopping center. The shopping center is divided into two building, one building is mainly for men style and the other building is for women style. The customer service and Global Blue office are located at the women side. While I was walking to the Galeries Lafayette, I saw several people on top of the roof with cameras. I realized that there is a terrace on the 7th floor that anyone can go with a spectacular view of Paris. The terrace is open from 9:30 AM to 7:30 PM.

 

Copyright @ Galeries Lafayette

Copyright @ Galeries Lafayette

Copyright @ Galeries Lafayette

  

Place de Vendome

Another popular place to shop but mostly high end or designer & branded stores is Place de Vendome. Since I shopped mostly at Galeries Lafayette, I only did window shopping here. Near the area, there is one popular bakery and I recommend people to try it. The bakery is called Eric Kayser. You can find macarons, cakes, sandwiches, bread, pudding, etc. I tried the cakes and it was amazing. 

 

Place de la Republique

As that day was my last night in Paris, I went to Place de la Republique to pay a respect to the victims of the Paris attacks two weeks before my arrivals. 

Paris Vacation Itinerary - Part 2

Itinerary: Paris (Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bys9H9hPgFspMVZaNGZPdUYxbE0)

It was a long walked yesterday from L'Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoille to Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris. Day 2 in Paris was coming. I woke up early to catch a train to Chateau de Versailles. It was another lucky day for me. Due to the COP21 Climate Change Conference in Paris, all the public transportation are free for two days. The fastest way is to take RER C towards and exit at Versailles - Rive Gauche C5 on Maps. This exit is located at Zone 4 and therefore, if you have a Paris Pass metro ticket, you have to buy a separate ticket to get there. For information regarding the Paris public transportation, I use ParisbyTrain site and it helped me a lot. For detailed on how to go to Chateau du Versailles via RER C, you can check this site. 

Chateau de Versailles

I reserved the ticket online and it costs me €18.00. You can also book the metro tickets with it but I planned to buy it while I was in Paris and it is free for me during my visit. As I arrived at the Versailles-Rive Gauche station, turn right as I exited the station and walked towards Avenue de Paris, then turned left and walk straight all the way. You will see the Chateau de Versailles square from there.    

I arrived around 8 AM and there had already had a long line. I heard that the day I went was not as bad as the other time due to the Paris Attack Incident. At 9 AM, the entrance opened and everyone started to go in. You will go thru the security and check the ticket. Then, the worker inside will ask what language for the audio-guide. There are a total of 10-available language audio-guide: English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Korean, Russian, and Italian.

Entrance to the Chateau de Versailles (Copyright @ BruisedPassports)

After I finished walking all around the palace, I exit and walked toward the garden. The garden was huge with amazing view. I only walked in the middle towards the Grand Canal and back and around the Bassin du Dragon.

Bassin de la Pyramide

Statue around the Bassin du Nord and Bassin du Midi

Escaliers de Latone

Statue around the Bassin du Nord and Bassin du Midi

Le Char d'Apollon

Eiffel Tower

From Chateau de Versailles, I went back to the hotel, grabbed my luggage, and checked-in at another hotel. I just stayed in my room until dinner time and went to Eiffel tower to see its beauty and grabbed some quick food. That day was the first day of COP21 Climate Change Conference. Therefore, the lights at the Eiffel Tower was changed to darker color with a story around the electricity, water, lightning, etc.