pack and go!

paris part 2

destinasi pertama kami di kota paris ni adalah roundabout yang terbesar di dunia di mana terletaknya arc de triomphe. panik gua tengok kereta berpusu-pusu tak berhenti kat roundabout tu. roundabout ni adalah titik temu 12 jalan utama di area tu dan salah satu daripadanya adalah champs-elysees. seeing the non-stop flood of vehicles, i dont think even a madman have the slightest of idea how to cross the road without using the tunnel.

gua suka gambar ni..awan dan langit sangat cantik..cuaca memang baik haritu cuma ada sikit windy la..

and as i said, the only sane way to reach the base of the arc is by using underground tunnel from champs-elysees. dekat atas arc ni, ada platform yang kita boleh tengok view sekitar tempat tu. gua tak naik sebab gua rasa tak berapa berbaloi sangat. mahal pun iya jugak. tapi nak dijadikan cerita, tengah-tengah kitowang seronok tiba-tiba terperasan 2 ahli rombongan dah ilang. perasan time kitowang dah chow dari arc tu ke champs-elysees pulak tu. rupa-rupanya, en lee ngan marwan dah lepas naik atas arch de triomphe tu. hehe!

lepas arc de triomphe, kami menyusur pulak jalan yang sangat famous di dunia, champs-elysees. rent kat sini dikatakan yang kedua termahal didunia. butik-butik berjenama popular berlambak-lambak la kat sini. sebut la apa nak, dior, chanel, lv, ysl, lancome tapi kedai yang gua sempat singgah bersama rakan-rakan hanyalah disney shop sebagai pengubat tak dapat pegi disneyland. jangan tanya gua beli apa. lepas tu masuk pula ke butik mercedes. mau bangkrap aku sepanjang weekend ni kalau beli apa-apa kat situ.

dekat champs-elysees ni punya la ramai umat manusia...mebbe sebab hari sabtu, semua orang keluar jalan-jalan dan shopping sebab ahad kedai tutup. beza betul ngan malaysia, hari sabtu ahad la hari yang shopping mall penuh melaut ngan manusia ye tak?

dari champs-elysees tu, kitowang masuk ke winston churchill avenue. kat situ ada petite palais (istana kecik) ngan grand palais (istana besar). tempat ni bukan istana okeh, tetapi digunakan untuk art exhibition dan sebagainya. these buildings, as well as the nearby bridge Pont Alexandre III, were built for the World Fair in Paris in 1900.

gambar kat atas ni adalah bumbung petite palais. senibina bangunan ni adalah daripada style art nouvoue. jangan tanya gua apa benda tu, sebab tu la yang ditulis dek pamphlet ni. dan gambar bawah ni pulak adalah salah satu statue yang ada kat atas bumbung grand palais. bumbung grand palais ni dibuat dari kaca. gaknye kat dalam tu see through la. bley nampak bulan bila malam ek? motiffff...

dekat jalan ni jugak, ada statue general charles de gaulle. general perancis yang mengetuai penentangan terhadap nazi di paris. dan kat hujung jalan ni pulak ada statue winston churchill dengan his famous quote, we shall never surrender.

lepas seronok dapat tangkap gamba statue winston churchill tu, kami meneruskan perjalanan ke arah Pont Alexandre III. jambatan yang tercantik di paris ni pun berseni bina art nouveou. ia siap dibina pada tahun 1900 dan dinamakan sempena nama tsar rusia ketika itu.

next destination is place de la concorde. tempat ni bukan tempat buat kapal terbang concorde tu atau tempat lahir founder hotel concorde, tapi ada sejarahnya sendiri. kat sinila marie antoinette dihukum bunuh dengan gillotin bersama suaminya. tetiba teringat kirstin dunst. let them eat cake!
the main monument that is in this square is the Obélisque. this is one of two obelisks which originally stood in the temple of Luxor next to two huge seated statues of the pharaoh Ramses the Second (the ruler of Egypt from 1279 to 1212 BC). carved on the obelisk are hieroglyphics which describe the achievements of the pharaoh. monumen ni dah ada kat Place de la Concorde ni sejak 1836, sebagai hadiah dari mesir kepada perancis. kat sini pun roundabout dia punya la besar. eh, ke bukan roundabout? ah peduli le...

dari place de la concorde ni jugak, kita bole nampak arc de triomphe dari jauh. memang cantik view dia. selain dari obelisks, kat sini ada fountain yang cantik yang mana inspired by the fountains in Piazza San Pietro dekat Rome sana.

tak jauh dari place de la concorde ni jugak, resides one of the top attractions in paris..la magdalenae.church ni asalnya dibina atas arahan napoleon sebagai monumen untuk his grand armee and himself. it looks more than a greek temple than a catholic church. the style of the church is in fact of a Greek temple, with its bronze doors and huge corinthian columns. but it is nevertheless a church and also a venue for classical musical concerts.

it feels so good resting on the staircase watching the cars passing by the busy road while stretching our tired feet. straight ahead is de la concorde and a good view of rue royale while eating crispy carrefour's biscuits brought by en lee.

the sun is still shining but its still so cold when we're on our feet again. this time, our destination is to see the famous notre dame, an example of one of the finest gothic style building. i didnt go inside the church but taking my time wandering around the place with the camera. on the pavement by the west door of Notre-Dame is a spot known as kilometre zero where all of the main road distances in France are calculated.

some archeology museum nearby notre dame...

one of the most interesting things about this place other than the church itself is its where you can catch roller-skaters displaying their skills while at the background a bunch of baskers playing some classical tunes. i think its quite far from norm where we usually watch the extreme sport accompanied with some rock tunes but here, its cello and violin, dude! and if you feel like shopping for souvenirs, there are a lot of stalls near the riverbank that sells a lot of stuff.

the famous two towers of notre dame and in the photo below is the famous seine which divided paris into two...
"On September 3rd 1973, at 6:28pm and 32 seconds, a bluebottle fly capable of 14,670 wing beats a minute landed on Rue St Vincent, Montmartre."

remember the quote from amelie? its one of my favorite movie and our next aim is to catch the sunset on the top of montmarte where sacre cour, the most beautiful church (i think) in paris located. a little background about this church begin when two catholic businessmen (who must have been loaded) made a pledge to build a church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Christ (Sacre Coeur means Sacred Heart), should France be saved from the Prussian war. the basilica took over 40 years to build, the foundations are deeper than those of the Egyptian pyramids! i just love the Byzantine architecture of this building. its seems like a perfect building built on a perfect place. right at its place.
as we were walking up Montmartre, we could hear so many different languages spoken, vendors standing outside of their stores promising something different from the vendor next door, smells wafting out of the many side street cafes that line the area, and artists painting the beautiful Parisian scenery. the walk itself up to the basillica is pretty long, but you see so much along the way. however, if you are too tired, there is a furnicular you can take.
and remember the carousel in the film? its still there and well lighted at night! however, beware of street vendors who sells bracelets made of thread. once you give your hands to them, you will never get away without buying it. whatever it is, i still love this place so much.
on top of the hill nearing the sacre cour, you can enjoy the music from street musician. it made the atmosphere felt so alive and with the good view from the hill top, it made your climb worthy. no joke.
its just so sad to leave this place but the journey need to be continued. and we lost marwan again and only after we have some shopping spree at one of the shop there, he was found somewhere in a good condition (thank God! hehe!). another good thing about this place is you can bargain when you shopping!!!lucky us, we have our bargain goddess with us! hehe!

after had our dinner at one of the kfc (guess what, kfc in paris and amsterdam is halal!) we get back to our hotel and this blog will be continued on how do we spend our saturday night in paris...

Labels: france, paris

posted by syik s. @ 4:03 AM