08/09 Aug 2008

I can’t believe today’s the day. I’m still going to work on the day I’m suppose to catch my flight for a 3 week vacation. Bundled together would be my whole year’s backlog of exercise. It’s going to be walking, seeing and hiking on a shoestring.  It so happens that LG is also going to work today as well.

The feeling didn’t sink in until the plane took off. Finally, a well deserved holiday.

I wasn’t too excited about the disgruntled baby on board the plane though. My hypothesis that every plane must have an angry baby is proving itself time after time. What I’m excited about, is the hot girl sitting next to me who looks very much like Mariah Carey.

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A showcase of Parisien charm, architecture, and superb parking skills.

I didn’t realise that the plane has landed, owing to the thick blanket of fog outside the window. What happened to the European cheery and bright summer afternoon? No matter, nothing’s going to wreck my vacation and if it’s going to be cold, all the more better for this tropical person here. LG and I knew what to do instinctively, got out of the airport, and straight to a budget hotel.

Strangely enough, the budget hotels in Paris costs as much as the hostels. Not only did we get a private room this time, we’ve got a TV to watch the Olympic games (together with other dodgy French shows), an ensuite bathroom, but most of all, LG was thanking the entities for a bedbug-free bed.

The place I didn’t get to visit on my previous visit to La Ville-Lumeire is Les Catacombes. I should have given a miss on the second time round too for all I saw in the almost kilometer long stretch of underground tunnel was this:

Yikes!

The only interesting thing that happened during the two hour wait to see the carefully placed bones of millions of Parisiens was this talkative Hungarian dude that kept asking about Singapore and the region. He was really excited about Asia and clearly neglected his girlfriend in the process. I felt bad for her. She was yawning away most of the time during the two hour wait in the queue.

Not quite what I expect from outside a dungeon of bones.

Oh wait! There was another interesting encounter at Les Catacombes. My first (and sadly, only) encounter of the snobbish Parisien! Of all people, the ticket counter lady. She mumbled something under her breath.

“mfef…krr….arrr….zschhh…..QUEL L’AGE?!”

I know it was rude but I just couldn’t contain my laughter at pissing off a stereotypical Parisien. That being said, all the other Parisiens I met along the way are much more friendlier than the most people I see on the Singaporean MRT. Oh! The joy of being amused by a grumpy French frau.

The mid afternoon sun was quite glaring and we needed some place to shield our eyes in some muesum. After all, what can be more comforting than the comfy Cite de l’Architecture where I get to see Le Corbusier artefacts up close. There were also other spiffy architecture designs that I grew to appreciate after taking quite a number of architecture modules in University.  The fact that the museum’s right next to the Eiffel Tower is great too.

The obligatory picture of Paris. But this one’s has stars on it!

Today’s meant to be an re-orientation back into the European way of life and style but it seems like we have almost covered the essentials of Paris after completing these, Arc de Triomphe, a walk up and down Champs- Élysées, and a visit to a great restaurant on the famous street opposite Louis Vuitton’s flagship store. We had some of the most delicious mussels and a huge bill to gawk at a good hour later.

I still quite like this photo

By the time night fell, there is only one thing left to do. Either we go up Eiffel Tower like all American and Japanese tourists do, or we go the unbeaten path to see Brazilian she-males at Boi de Bologne. This latter piece of info was kindly sponsored to me by my ex-roomie, Frida Kaing. (Nicely done!) While the obvious choice was to ditch the plan and go see some transvestites in action, our weary jet-lagged bodies told us it was time to go to bed. And so we did.

BUT NOT BEFORE WE SAW THIS!