France Day 1 (Logan style)

Day 1 Paris UPDATE from Logan

Subject: Paris Trip Day One!!!

Hello all!! 

Today was the first day that the AIS Paris adventure week group spent in Paris =P

It all started pretty much the moment we got off the plane, as it was raining and the air was smooth and beautiful, both rather wet and cold but welcoming at the same time, bringing us into another world outside of what we experience in Hong Kong. (especially since all the people that helped us shuttle off from the airplane were speaking French!! :D)


After we made it through baggage claim and immigration we met our wonderful guide Ms. Eva.

Ms. Eva took us to the Arc de Triomphe, the beautiful and gigantic building in the background in the picture above.

Here we are on top of the Arc de Triomphe^^

While we were there, before we went up to the top, through an extremely long series of stairs, we saw a burning torch representing all those un-named soldiers who died during battle. The torch burns constantly and is never supposed to burn out.
As far as the Arc itself is concerned, apparently it’s called the arc of triumph because Napoleon ordered it to be made as a symbol of all his wins, a kind of celebration of French triumph and a physical representation of French nationalism too I suppose.
Ironically, when the Nazi’s took France during World War Two they paraded around in the Arc de Triomphe to celebrate their victory over France.

Here is a picture of the view from the top or the Arc, in it you can kinda see a huge roundabout that is uber chaotic due to the right of way being reversed in this roundabout, if I recall correctly. (When considered to how we do it in Hong Kong and other nations)

We also took a bus around Paris, listening to commentary on the various historical backgrounds of the places we saw, such as the Eiffel tower, all the while fighting the rain.
(It was fun, but since we were on the open roof of the bus for optimal sight-seeing we were pelted by the falling rain xD)

Last but not least, we saw the marvelous and intriguing Musee Grevin, a museum of over 450 wax figures!! (Including Gandhi, Elvis, Einstein, and of course the French Revolutionaries!)

We ate lunch at a nice café, which was the first time I really fully realized I was in France, as the menus were all in French alone, and I got to eat a delicious sandwhich and drink some awesome hot chocolate!! :D


For dinner we ate at the Café de Cluny, on Boulevard Saint Michael.
We ate delicious Pizza and were able to get some sort of tasty desert as well.

We did a ton of walking throughout the day, and we got to take the French metro quite a few times. It is similar to Hong Kong’s, but smaller and more antique.

All in all the day was a huge success in my eyes, as we did everything we set out to do and we saw so much of the beautiful city of Paris!!
The best part of the day in my opinion was going around Paris on the bus, because it was extremely fun and breathtaking at the same time.
The worst part of the day… I would have to say that there wasn’t really a worst part of the day, just that perhaps we ate breakfast/brunch later than I had expected!! xD
(not really late, just jet-lagged stomach I suppose lol)


This sums up day one of the Paris Adventure week!! :P
I’m sure I missed some things, but this is just a recollection of my experiences.

Thank you for reading,

Sincerely,