Paris is a magnificent city to visit, it has a mixture of the modern architecture, some historical sites plus some greenery too. Thumbs up!
The Sacre Coeur Basilica
There are a lot of gypsy in front of the Basilica, all the way up. Some are selling some hand bracelet made on the spot, while some others are selling little souvenirs like miniature Eiffel tower key chains. Try not to be rude with them even though you are not interested in the service they are providing, else you might get into trouble. You can actually bargain with them on the price of the little souvenirs. I’m not sure about the quality but the Eiffel Tower Key chains sold here are cheaper from the ones at souvenirs shop, especially if you bargain.
The Louvre Museum
The Louvre, was originally a palace but now it is one of the largest and most visited museums in the world. This place is a must-visit for anyone with a slight interest in art. Some of the museum’s most famous works of art are the Mona Lisa and the Venus of Milo. The main entrance of the Museum is from the transparent pyramid. This glass pyramid allows natural sunlight into the underground floor. The Museum is huge, so do plan your trip well.
Well, this is the no.1 place everyone re-call when Paris is mention. What a beautiful architecture this is! You can actually go up to the top of the Eiffel tower to enjoy the City view ( and the strong wind). There are a few options when u purchase you tickets, you can get the tickets by stairs (Gosh! that will definitely be tiring!), or by Elevator. You can also choose if you would like to go to the top of the tower or just the second floor observatory. If you are not in a hurry, do stay back till night time to watch the tower glow. During summer, the tower only lights up around 9pm, when the day turns dark, plan well if you would to have a night view of this romantic tower.
After all the visiting, its SHOPPING time! 🙂 Personally I felt that LV the most visited boutique in Paris, especially to those tourist from China. I’ve witness a terribly long queue in front of the LV main boutique along the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées. And to avoid the human jam I’ve opt to do my shopping at the LV boutique at one of the alleys. Good thing to know of it! While I was walking by the street there was two Chinese lady (From China), who approach me to help them purchase some LV bags. They commented that the promoter refuse to sell them their LV handbag as they bought too many already. She then handed me over 3000euro and told me to buy whichever I prefer, of cause she did told me a few designs that would be a good choice. We went into the boutique and shop for some bags, when we want to make the payment, we were told that they do not accept CASH today! Surprised? Yes, indeed! All my life I only know there are shops that does not accept credit card etc, but never have I encounter shops that does not accept cash. Without much thought, I ask the salesperson why is cash not accepted? and they told us that they do not accept cash as they got to know that there are fake notes around, plus there is two girls outside the street that is trying to purchase their bags in bulk. Many question pop in my mind, as in are the 3000euro in my pocket fake notes? if its due to fake notes, shouldn’t the boutique just scan through every note that they accept and ask for the cops assistance in case of money laundering instead of not accepting cash? It probably a good idea just to get our bags by credit card and then return the possibly fake $ back to the ladies waiter at the corner of street, and we did just that.
Summary of Tips:
1) If you happen to bump into people who ask your help to purchase bags, don’t do it. You might get into trouble , and being accuse of money laundering. Always be alert!
2) Plan your destination well, Train tickets can be bought in bulk which is cheaper than buying them separately. For example, the subway ticket cost 1.75euro one-way, but when bought in bulk of 12 tickets, it cost 1.25euro one-way.
3) Stay away from the gypsy, if you can’t since they are everywhere as usual, try not to provoke them as they might not be as welcoming as you thought.
4) Plan your trip well if you need to get souvenirs, most shops close early, and there isn’t much to buy from the airport. (unlike in KLIA)., even shops in the airport close by 8pm.
5) Identify the malls/boutiques you would like to do your shopping in advance. Have some buffer on your shopping time too! you’ll never know how long the queue will end up to be like. Thus, it always good to know some alternative boutique nearby, sometimes they do have two same boutiques walking distance away!
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