J'aime Paris - Chapter 2

While it's not necessary to know much French Language before you land in Paris, the French do appreciate being greeted in their language (as anyone would I guess)... Beyond that, thank GOD English is global enough to go by... As a consequence there isn't much French I picked up during this trip except what I learnt courtesy my BlackBerry Application.

'Bonjour, Je ne sais pas Francais, Pouvez-vous parler Anglais? Merci'

Good Morning, I don't know french... Can you speak English? Thank you

BlackBerry Travel Tip: FancyTran is perhaps one of the most highest rated 'free' translation applications on BlackBerry AppWorld. You do need to be connected to GPRS or Wifi but it comes in mighty handy when travelling to a non-English speaking country...

Paris Day 2

Second Day in Paris, started almost mid morning given our 'very' late stroll across the streets of Latin Quarters and Marais the night before. Now wiser since our near heat stroke the day before, we had checked the weather (which was fortunately cooler than the 34 the day before) and paced our day to accommodate an art lover who wanted to absorb all, a pregnant woman who couldn't walk too much and a poor fresh graduate who had the misfortune of being stuck with the above two.

Paris Tip: For most part you'll find Paris to be overwhelming, there is so much to do and see that it was almost impossible in the four days that we were there... If you are in Paris for less than a week, do pace yourself, spend sometime with lonely planet or trip advisor trying to figure out what you're interested in and plan your itineraries accordingly... you CANNOT seeing everything in Paris :))

Day 2 was therefore divided into 3 parts, the Antique Market in the morning (mid morning) which was my whim, Pompidou in La Marais which was something Zub wanted to do and a visit to Sacre Coeur in Monmarte again something I wanted to do (poor Harry didn't have much of a say in the matter).

Antiques Market:
We took the Metro to the Clignancourt Station fairly confident that as soon as we'd come out of the station we would be surrounded by Antiques and Artifacts... Unfortunately, while the way to the Antiques Market or Marche aux Puces St-Ouen de Clignancourt as it is officially known you may (as we were) be a little thrown back by the very Thai Style flea market one has to cross to get to it.

View The Paris Trip in a larger map

The world's largest Flea Market is in fact made up of 15 smaller Markets and stocks items from Vintage Clothing, to Paintings, to Furniture, to Retro Electronics, to Books, to Photographs... Basically YOU NAME IT. Everything is there. While I was specifically hoping to find a Ceramic Plate (long story why, will tell some other day) the Market itself is an absolute joy to visit and can be covered in as little as a day or as much as weeks. The prices range from as less as 1 Euro to thousands of Euros for the Artifacts.

Antiques Market Tips: Unlike us, start early as a lot of shops close around lunch time, if you can (especially if you're intending on shopping) take a guide or a tour with you. Interestingly, Discover Walks has a tour designed for the Market also...

Pompidou:
Out next destination was Pompidou in La Marais, The Museum of Modern Art. The Museum houses over 60,000 works of art spanning 20th and 21st Century... And I can shamefully admit to seeing ZERO. Hello, blame it on the bump. I was so tired from our walk in the Antiques Market that I chose to Que up for photography exhibit going up which required a two hour wait to get your picture taken which will someday soon be a part of this modern art collage. Yes, yours truly conveniently skipped a good 180+ paintings by Picasso and a fair amount of Kahlo to get a Digital Print of herself.

I will therefore have to quote Zub's account of the Museum mostly with sprinkles of my own and the highlights are:

• The view from the top floor is amazing!
• The building itself is a piece of modern architecture worth a visit from outside even if you're intending on being sluggish like me
• If you're into modern art, there is no better place you can be.

I hope I can share some of Zub's original images from her trip into the Museum in the coming days... once she gets back from Germany and I from London.

Sacre Coeur, Monmartre:
The third and final stop of the day was Monmarte in search of Sacre Coeur. By the time we got there, it was evening and way beyond the typical tourist hour... what therefore awaited us was an absolute delight! While you may feel I am being a bit melodramatic here, you can feel God in Sacre Coeur. Unfortunately, photography is prohibited inside the church so the database of images I have is severely limited...

Sacre Coeur Tip: Do check time timings for the Mass before getting to the Church, no matter what faith you're from, you do not want to miss the Mass at Sacre Coeur.

Stepping out from Sacre Coeur, one can enjoy beautiful views of the City of Paris. After admiring the city for a good while from way up on the top, we slowly made our way down from the Hill and entered the Streets of Monmarte to have dinner... While the choice for food here is not as extensive as that in Latin Quarters and St Germaine, Monmarte Cafe's have their own charm and you will surely find something to please your palette here.

As the evening came to an end, we slowly strolled further down to the more 'nortoriously' famous areas of Paris, the Red Light Area and Moulin Rouge. Honestly, there isn't much to do here unless you're booked for the Moulin Rouge show itself which smartly enough, we WERENT. The line is horrendously long to even bother trying to stand in it... Prebooking for the show is highly recommended and the show costs start from 80 Euros for just the show going to more premium dinner and champagne packages.

In case you missed >> J'aime Paris - Chapter 1