Paris in 6 Days (Day 2)

Day 2
21^st Dec 2009

This is an exciting day! With so many interesting attraction lining up back-to-back, I can’t wait to get started. I have make and paid for a dinner reservation for two at the Paris Hard Rock Café via Viator so the evening is taken care of. For the day time, we headed to La Defense to have a look at one of the many places in France that was featured in the movie “Mr. Bean’s Holiday”. The location is easily accessible as it is the last stop of metro Line 1 (Yellow line). I have also purchased a Louvre Museum ticket via their official website here (http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocale=en) but the collection point is at any Auchan (Which is like the Sistic counter in Singapore but with exception that the Auchan is also a French MNC retailing giant) and so happens that there is one in La Defense.

Arc de Triomphe fade to gray

Auchan at La Defense

The Grande Arche at La Defense
Sandwich lunch at the foot of the Grande Arche

Overview of La Defense from the top of the stairs of Grande Arche

After doing some shopping in Auchan, taking snaps of the iconic La Defense Grande Arche and having our lunch on the stair case of the Arche, we headed to Trocadero whereby you be greeted with a direct view of the Eiffel Tower on top of the beautiful Palais de Chaillot. There are many immigrants (Mostly from the African region) selling souvenirs of Eiffel Tower e.g. key-chains, mini replica of the Eiffel tower, etc. The souvenirs are fairly cheap at €2 for 5 pieces (Combination of either silver, gold or bronze) of Eiffel tower key-chains. The same product was sold at €1.50 - €2 per piece in regular shops! Although these “merchants” offer a cheaper alternatives, they can become a nuisance through their touting.

Yours truly bidding the year of the bull "Goodbye"

Moi wife checking out whether the ice formation is strong enough
to take her weight... it was not!

One of the many Christmas stalls selling chocolate and hot wine

Next, we headed to the Eiffel tower itself, which is a stone’s throw away from the Palais de Chaillot. My initial plan is to take the lift all the way up to the top of the tower but decided against it after accessing the weather condition. It is 2-3 degree Celsius down here… imagine what it would be like up there? But once back in Singapore, I realized that it is pretty stupid to think of that as the French must’ve thought of the extreme cold up there and would have built an observation deck up there right? Duhhhzzz! Oh well, all the more reason for me to want to go visit Paris again.

The Eiffel Kiss

Tour de Eiffel from across the bridge

We ended the day with a dinner at Paris Hard Rock Café. I have reserved a table for the two of us to dine there via Viator. This booking is supposedly meant to allow booking customers to jump the queue and all but during winter, there are not really that many people queuing up so I guess its not so smart to make the reservation in advance. The booking and dining bill came up to US$32+ and you are given an option of the following:

• Creole Chicken Pasta served with garlic toast
• Half Rack of Bar-B-Que Ribs served with fries, coleslaw or BBQ baked beans
• Bacon Cheeseburger served with fries, lettuce, tomato and red onion
• Herb Grilled Chicken Breast and Garlic Smashed Potatoes served with gravy and fresh seasonal vegetables
• Veggie Burger served with side salad

Bacon Cheese burger for the lady

Baby back ribs for the man!

Too much for the typical Asian dinners

The food is not fantastic… a little mediocre. To my surprise, my rack of pork ribs is really half a rack whereas the ribs item in the regular menu is a full rack, thus making it cheaper and more value for money to order ala carte. I felt kind of ripped off but then again, I was pretty full after the meal and appreciated that I only got half a rack. Unfortunately though, a rude waiter in the eatery spoiled what would otherwise be a perfect end to a perfect day! I am not into racism but the waiter of African descend that served us (I reckon he is a French) was truly pissing me off. He spilled my wife’s hot beverage on her jacket but didn’t make any effort to apologize as though that it is not his concern. Although he did give my wife several serviettes to clean the mess, having offering no apology is a total NO-NO! My wife was containing her disappointment so that the both of us could have a good end to the day, so seeing her being such a sweet heart I tried not to do anything stupid. My wife then asked the waiter whether there are any discounts for purchases made at the HRC boutique and the waiter replied her in a somewhat sarcastic manner “Why should you get any discount?”. I was like “WTH??” do we need such sarcasm?? Can’t you just tell us a straight “YES” or “NO”???

I felt racism in this guy’s attitude and having this thought makes me even more boiling. One would have thought that the Africans have endured such great discrimination and hardships throughout the course of history to reach their point today would have understand to NOT do the same thing to others. This dude really needs to be taught a lesson but no, it is not something that I would or could do… I have a divine vindicator and I am sure He will right all wrongs in His time.

Let me just sleep my disappointment away in my comfy bed in the hotel and all will be well tomorrow.

Eiffel Tower at dusk

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