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My first stop in my second visit to Paris. Of course I really wanted to come inside, and it's free after all. There was a very long queue line, though, that made me think twice. Thankfully my friends let me go while they were waiting for me outside. Although the line was long, it didn't take long for me to finally be inside the church.




The highlight of the church is the candles. Among other churches I've visited, this is the one that has candles the most. I love it that they are lit beautifully.


Beautiful chandeliers

The confession room


There was a mass when I came. I had no idea what mass it was since it was Friday and it wasn't first Friday of the month either.



Overall, the cathedral looks more like a castle than a church to me.
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Bonjour, Paris! Yes, I came to Paris for the second time. A 2-hour flight from Madrid felt so fast. I forgot what was the exact time I arrived, it was around 1 or 2 pm I guess. There were five of us. We had already booked a minivan and we saw the driver waiting for us. We directly headed to Novotel La Defense Hotel. The location is a bit far from city center on the west. Somehow, even though it is a bit quiet, I like the neighbourhood.



Since we didn't have much time in Paris, only 2 days.. 1 and a half day to be precise, we had to do sightseeing immediately, visiting Paris' main attractions. Our first destination is the Notre Dame. I haven't been there before so I was excited to explore the place.
Getting out from the station, my eyes were already fascinated by the view. Buildings, river, bridges, and the Parisians. I enjoyed walking around that afternoon.


I was starving and accidentally found this street that is full of food! I was looking for something savoury, big, and fulfilling but unfortunately didn't find any so I ended up having a small bread, just enough to get rid of my hunger for a while.





Then we found the Notre Dame! Read the post here. There were many eating places around it that looked very interesting. I wanted to explore so much but we had to move immediately.




St. John Paul II statue
The station where we arrived was only for exit. As we were looking for another station, we passed this pretty garden and beautiful bridge at the end. We were so happy we found the love locks! People-watching here is very enjoyable. The downturn was the sun, it was a bit hot. More bikes pass the street than the cars.






A refreshing mango ice cream





We wanted to go to the Louvre after that. We were a bit struggling to find the place. Somehow we arrived at this underground mall and spend time there around while looking for the exit and enjoying the cold air-conditioner inside (we were sweating). 
I was happy when we got out and could already see the Louvre. On my first visit, I didn't get the chance to actually take picture in front of it, I only passed it and took the picture from the bus.
Louvre
There was a small box where we can get up onto it. It was fun looking at these people trying to make illusion pictures and we even became one of the first-liners.


Next one is, the famous Eiffel Tower! A trip to Paris is incomplete without taking picture with this tower. Just like my first visit, there were many people and souvenir sellers who know a bit Indonesian. Unfortunately, there was a renovation which took some space for taking picture. However, I really love the pretty cotton candy-colored sky at that time! The view was just amazing.
We were tired and walked downstairs to find a seat. We rest ourselves for a while and took more pictures. Suddenly, I didn't feel well. When the sky turned dark, we looked for something to eat and went back to the hotel.


The next day, I was planning to get up early and go to Disneyland Paris by myself. But as my alarm rang, my eyes were very heavy and I felt weak. Then I decided to sleep again. We were all then woke up late. Guess I just lacked of sleep, I felt better after that.

One of us wanted to visit Palace of Versailles. The journey was quite long and there were many train interchanges. As we arrived, I had a different feeling with the area. Although it was crowded, it wasn't as stuffy as I felt in the city centre. Our time was very limited. Most of us had to buy stuff for our moms at Galleries Lafayette. It was Saturday so the mall close early. We really need to catch up so we didn't have the chance to go inside the palace. I was very curious, though!








Love this station design!
After hectic shopping in Lafayette (yeah, I met many Indonesians), we went separate ways and I walked in two with my friend around Champs-Élysées, the street of entertainment in Paris. Here you can find theatres, cafés, and shops. It's a very nice street for sightseeing and I was excited to be able to walk around here from bright until dark. It gets more alive at night. And that's how I spent my last night in Paris.




Spotted many people having this ice cream and decided to try one. So good!




Arc de Triomphe

The lowdowns
The city might be attractive and romantic on the ground. This is my first experience exploring Paris by metro since I was always getting around by tour bus on the first visit. I was very surprised that Paris underground life is not as pleasant as on the street.
I spotted many people tried to jump across the ticket machines so they didn't have to pay. The crowd is just massive I got overwhelmed. At one of station interchanges, I passed a long alley that has open water drain and it was very smelly along the way I couldn't help it. Most of the ceilings are also moldy and the walls are full of improper graffitis. I though it was kind of bronx and the atmosphere doesn't make me feel safe. Talking about the train, it wasn't too comfortable either. Some chairs are damp and again, there is another disturbing graffitis.

Among these things, I also feel some things don't make me enjoy Paris that much. I don't know what it is, but something doesn't make me comfortable. I'd like to go there again though, only to experience Paris Disneyland and enter the Versailles Palace.











Related story:
Euro Trip - Paris
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In the morning, we mainly took pictures at Arc de Triomphe and a building I forgot what it's called.



Then I can have overall view of Paris at 56th floor of Montparnasse Tower. At this floor, we are surrounded by glass. I'm not too interested with rooftop views, I think I could enjoy it more at night.


My view from the tower

We were taken to a duty free shop. I didn't buy anything because after that we were going to Galleries Lafayette! There, my dad gave me some money and I went around alone *evil face*. We had meeting point at certain time. My cousin in Jakarta asked me to buy Longchamp bag, so I decided to find it first. Oh my, Longchamp was on sale and we had to wait in queue line to get in! Change of plan. I walked further inside and looked around upstairs. Even window-shopping already made me happy. There was still enough time so I went back to Longchamp and joined the line because I was actually curious. It wasn't that bad so I didn't have to wait long. It turned out that it wasn't the only line I needed to get through. Inside, I had to wait in another line to get the bag. The bag that my cousin wanted wasn't available so at the end I got one for myself! Haha. Then my dad and brother came, we needed more luggage so we bought two. They were also on sale, we were lucky!

It was time for dinner. We went to the restaurant by walking with our shopping bags including the new luggage, ugh. We were passing this street between two buildings that wasn't crowded at all so we could see anything clearly. I was strolling the luggage. My dad suddenly called me and said my bag is opened. I was wearing backpack that time. I was panicked because I was paranoid with pickpockets. I didn't want every single thing inside my bag stolen. I saw two girls behind me who were holding a big map that covered their face and suddenly they turned backwards. My dad said one of the girls touched my bag but he didn't see it clearly then he saw my bag opened. I believed they were just pretending to be tourists. Thank God my father saw that so I didn't lose anything. I became more careful and aware after that. The pickpockets got so many ways of stealing.

Then here comes dinner. For starter, I didn't expect that each of us would be given a plate of six escargot. Wow, LET'S EAT THIS! I was having escargot in France! From the picture you could see that they look very plain, but all the goodness is inside the shell. The good thing is some of us don't like escargot so they gave it to me. More and more plates came to me. Heaven! For the main course, I had beef steak which is well-cooked and well-seasoned, and a nice apple pie for dessert. I really enjoyed my dinner and it was one of the best dinner I had in this trip.



After having a very nice dinner, we were heading to the famous Eiffel Tower. On the way there, we spotted some popular tourist spots. Too bad we only could take picture from the bus. There's another story. Our bus stopped on the street waiting for the light and suddenly a car hit our bus from left side. We weren't too panicked but John, our driver looked very depressed by the accident. So we moved to the side. John, accompanied by my guide talked to the police and the car driver settling everything. It took quite a while because of language barrier. John is not French and he can't speak French either.
Louvre




Here we come to the famous Eiffel Tower! I could watch the beautiful light transformation from the tower. People said this is one of the romantic spots but I didn't feel anything special. Weird. It's different from Verona where I can still feel the romance. It was a bit windy and started to rain.


The journey hasn't ended yet. I really didn't expect we still had to go somewhere because I was already tired and sleepy and I believe the others were too. We had canal cruise tour. I couldn't believe that I actually enjoyed it. Now I can feel the romance. Paris at night is so beautiful. The light comes from everywhere, especially from the Eiffel Tower. There are lots of people chilling by the sides of the canal, couples and friends. I spot some, no, A LOT of couples kissing. I smiled, felt their love and happiness :). And as usual, I imagined myself being here with my future lover someday. There was even a party! I didn't expect that could happen on a side of canal. People sang and danced. I wanted to get off from the cruise and joined them. They were having so much fun! Then the cruise turned back. I know I was going to have same view again. The wind that blew was very cold so I went downstairs and sat inside. There were some brochures for tourists that were interesting to look at. I closed my eyes for a while and that's the end for today.



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