Yet another Lovely day in pAris!

Our "things to see list" on the second day was short and straight-forward,

1. Eiffel Tower
2. Notre Dame
3. The Louvre

If we get to see other buildings that were in close proximity to the names above would be bonus. We didn't want to be over-ambitious, knowing that it was impossible to 'touch n go' every recommended point/place with two young children.



Deep down, you knew you could stretch your children and get them follow your wish. But we didn't have the heart to put them in that situation. After all, we wanted a stress free holiday so we tried our best to 'entertain' them as much as we can and avoid any tears rolling.

Our first stop that morning was Notre Dame. Mind you it was on a Tuesday, but the amount of people there was unbelievable. I will not put up the photos at Notre Dame as I have published lots of them in my previous entry.

From there, we had to find a Metro station which all just reminded us of platform 9 3/4 in Harry Potters series. They were almost invisible! While searching, we saw Le Conciergerie and Sainte Chappelle; two beautiful architecture next to each other.

We finally found an underground Metro station and got on a train. Next destination was Eiffel Tower. We had to pass by a sanded garden by the river to reach the Eiffel Tower. It was quite a walk but we managed to get a full framed photo of the Eiffel Tower from the distance.

I was quite anxious to see the Eiffel Tower during the day, because I remembered a remark (from a forgotten source) saying there is nothing special about the tower and why should one want to see 'besi buruk'?

Honestly, I was expecting rusty old building, with some crumbly parts coming off the structure. Our guidebook however, claimed Eiffel Tower as one of the world premier tourist attractions. I was definitely intrigued to witness for myself whether it was really a hideous-tower or otherwise.

I am glad to say it was painted in bronze sort of colour and as far as my eyes could see, it was very well maintained and no sign of rust!

We didn't intend to go up the tower. Not only because of the long queue, but also we were too "gayat" to be on certain heights. And just not a good feeling when you can see through the mesh-wired floor too. Definitely not very helpful when you were like hundreds of metres above the ground level. I wonder if they have toilet up there?

After spending quite some time at Eiffel Tower, we headed to our final must visit destination: The Louvre. (Photos of the building can be found in my previous entry) We were lucky that there were quite a few interesting spots near the Louvre. We managed to see Place de la Concorde, Palais Royal and Musee d'Orsay. All quite near to each other. For those who are more adventurous, they could walk along Champs-Elysees to see Arc de Triomphe. Both have excellent night views for avid photographers.

We spent the longest time at Jardin des Tuileries. You will find the history here, and see for yourself how it is related to the Louvre. Tuileries gardens is one of the oldest and most beautiful public gardens in Paris.

Sarah and Amar have enjoyed themselves at the garden very much. We unstrapped Amar from his push chair to enable him "menjejakkan kaki" di bumi Paris for the first time. Sarah, the anti paparazzi girl, gave Babah some special poses. While Amar, the saintly son, ran around the garden non-stop; celebrating his freedom like a "lipas kudung". Here are the photos of the happy children.

SARAH

"The Latifah Omar" pose

"What about like this Babah?"

Meleleh style

picture this

"ok, no more photos please. It's ice-cream time!"

AMAR

"run! run! run away!"

"Catch me if you can, Mama"

"I want to go back to the Eiffel Tower"

"What shall I do next?"

"not the push chair again, Mama?"

Back in the hotel:

We made our way to the hotel immediately after a long stay at the Louvre and Tuileries Garden. It was a pleasant day out with the children. And we were happy to score a few bonus points too, not only we saw the three items in the list but a lot more.

Our dinner was again simple but filling. Babah, as always intrigued to try French famous pastries, bought a couple of desserts from a Halal patisserie.

Tarte Aux Fruits Melangees

Pate a choux

Post-dinner:

Where did she get the energy from? I can almost guarantee that she didn't eat any of the desserts bought by Babah. I guess I just have to admit this favourite past time of my daughter - melompat!

Babah encouraged Sarah for this sort of activities! Sorry Babah. But you would have asked her to stop rather than taking the photos above, right?