Paris paradis

Hi everyone! A continuation of my adventures in beautiful Paris ^^ One of the reasons why I was excited to go to Paris is because I learnt French last semester and I am eager to put it to use! Recognizing simple words like exit and being able to read certain signboards just makes me happy. Super cheap thrills, I know. haha

Day 2
We woke up early and headed down to the Bastille Marché. We had trouble finding the marché as it was hidden away somewhere and weirdly the shop owners around the area had no idea where it was either. Lucky for us, we met a few locals on the street who kindly pointed us in the right direction and we finally reached our destination! Bastille Marché was bustling with people and it offered a great variety of local cheeses, free range meats, vegetables, fruits and so forth. Here are some snippets I took of the place.

We were so full when we left the market. The portions were huge! We ordered falafel, crepes, drumsticks and strawberries. nom nom nom. Next on our checklist is the famous Château de Versailles where King Louis XIV transformed and expanded his father's hunting lodge and moved the government of France to Versailles. We took a double decked train to the outskirts of Paris and I thought the train was pretty cool as it was double decked. lol

We are such cam whores :)

Sitting on the upper deck of the double decked train

Just a poster we saw on our way to the palace

The gates of the palace

This is probably one of my favorite palaces that I have visited and it reminded me of the mansion that Mr J. Gatsby lived in the Great Gatsby movie. I love that movie so much but many of my friends found it a little boring :/ Anyhow, Château de Versailles is ginormous! The garden was stunning. Pity that my camera battery died after stepping into the garden for just a few minutes and my iPhone doesn't do it justice :( 

A painting of the whole palace. It's huge!

Grand apartment of the King

Hall of mirrors 

gorgeous chandeliers  <3

Just a very small part of the ginormous garden

This room reminded me of the Lourve museum

More pics of us ^^

Finally time to head out and step into the beautiful garden. Oh and heads up for those who are planning to go to the Palace of Versailles, the Palace and the garden are two separate sections! This means you have to pay twice. Hl and I thought the palace tickets would include the garden as well but it didn't. And the garden is a must-go! If I am not wrong the price for the palace is 15euros while the price for the garden is 10euros. The garden was breathtaking and a great place to have a picnic. The greenery, fountains, statues and lakes create such a magnificent view. I wish I can wake up to a view like this everyday. Simply amazing :)

Trying to imitate the statues

Just posing like a goddess

What a beau

After spending several hours sunbathing in the gardens, we headed over to our last stop of the day, Notre-Dame Cathedral. This cathedral is widely known for its French gothic architecture as the naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture. However, we arrived at the church after the sun had set so we weren't able to see those exquisite stained glass :( but nonetheless, Notre-Dame is another beauty as well. 

Just another pretty bridge in Paris while we were walking home

Day 3
Today was a food day whereby hl and I travelled around Paris to try their speciality shops! We were also craving for Asian food so we decided to head down to the Chinatown in Paris to have dinner there.

All hyped up to try the delicious parisian food

First up, we headed to la maison du chocolat (recommended by trip advisor) where we tasted yummy and delicious chocolates. We ordered 6 chocolates, a chocolate cake and a tub of caramel ice cream. I can't remember how much we paid but I would say it wasn't cheap. haha. The chocolate cake was a a bit of a let down but the caramel ice cream was fantastic! 

After satisfying our chocolate cravings, it was time to indulge in macarons from Pierre Hermé ^^ The macarons were super yummy! Especially the milk chocolate & passion fruit macaron! We also ordered the citron tart and it was amazing! I wish they would open an outlet in Singapore soon. haha I would definitely patronize them frequently. 

yummy macarons

We walked about the city and randomly saw this church and decided to just go in. Seriously, almost every building looks monumental or has certain history to it. gee. I love Europe :)

After wandering the city for a few hours, our stomachs started growling and we decided to head down to Chinatown for our dinner. We found an appealing Thai restaurant on Timeout and decided to give it a try. I ordered Pad Thai while hl ordered the chicken curry and we shared a bowl of Tom yum soup.

Pad Thai

Tom Yum soup

Chicken Curry

Dinner was delightful but I thought the soup wasn't spicy enough. One thing I dearly miss from Singapore is chili! There's no chili here in UK or Europe :( Eating MacDonald's fries without garlic chili is terrible. Lucky for me, my mother packed sweet chili and sambal chili into my luggage! Thank you mumsie <3 

Here's a video to conclude my post on Paris! Greece and Italy will be coming up soon! Till then.

Love,

Sam