Paris, France Dec 28-29

Paris, France Dec 28-29
First things that struck me abt Paris---it has a complex, efficient and fast metro system (train) and that Paris is a huge city in contrast to all other cities Ive been to! Most of the world famous museums and monuments live here. AND…Parisians are rude. No one is going to help you if you don’t speak french! I did have a hard time communicating (my friend did all the communication).

We had 2 days in Paris….off which I spent one day sleeping…I was terribly ill you see…The second day..we headed to the much hyped Eiffel tower. And what a bummer it was! We had to wait nearly 3.5 hrs to go up the tower. We chose to go all the way to the top (11.80 euros)!
While waiting in the cold winter morning…we were approached by several people selling key chains etcccc in TAMIL and Hindi!! Tamil is the last language I expected to hear in France! Evidently no…I was approached by Bosnian refugees, mostly girls, asking for money obviously. My heart goes out for them (if they are indeed Bosnian refugees). They have been through a lot, displaced from home and begging in Parisian streets.

So after this long annoying wait, we finally go up. It was a great view of the city…But at this point..I was more annoyed abt the wait in the cold than enjoy the view. I think Eiffel Tower is overrated. View from La Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona was much better I thought…Nevertheless, the river Seine, peacefully flowing by, with boat rides was quite a sight from the top. Once done with the tower, we walked along Seine (yes, it was biting cold, for me atleast), Place de la Concord and the much famed Champs-Élysées. Paris is very beautiful...and night was even better. Everything on the street-trees, buildings was adorned with lights.