Tour de Paris

A view of Paris with the La defense in the background

Paris is often called the most romantic city in the world. Also known as the City of Lights, Paris is home to some of the world’s most beautiful architecture, art and monuments. From the iconic Eiffel Tower sparkling in the night, to the magnificent Versailles chateau, to the tree lined Champs Elysees, the crooked streets of St. Germain loaded with delicious patisseries and boutiques full of beautiful shoes, to markets overflowing with fresh produce, brightly colored scarves and fresh cheeses, Paris is one of the most beautiful, bustling and alive cities in the world.  

Hurtling through the motorways of Belgium and France, there we were, headed to Paris! Early morning, we entered the sleeping city and Paris looked beautiful under the low light. The buildings showcasing their timeless magnificence and the city, beautifully planned. Our bus finally stopped at the Eurolines bus bay at Gallieni, a huge garage of the Eurolines bus service. From the metro station which was right below, we boarded a train headed to the St. Michel station at the heart of the city, closest to our hotel. As we emerged from the station, the cool early morning air greeted us and we found ourselves next to the Seine river. From one of the numerous bridges across the Seine, we could see the Eiffel tower looming up in the distance, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame rising silently behind, an imposing structure and below us flowed the glassy calm waters of the Seine. Walking down to the famous Boulevard St. Germain and it's bakeries and boutiques, we found our hotel on a parallel road, a minute's walk away. It was a 17th century mansion, turned into a hotel, where everything was antique, the cloak cupboard, the reception desk, and all the crockery, as old as the hotel itself! It was a nice place and I added it my unique hotels list!

One hour later, refreshed and ready to take on Paris, we were headed to the Musée du Louvre. The most famous art museum in the world with about 35,000 pieces of art. Longer than three Eiffel towers laid side by side and with a million sq.ft of open space between it's wings, it is the longest building in Europe. As we entered the plaza, the warm honey coloured marble of the Louvre surrounding us, the main entrance of the Louvre was visible. La Pyramide. The controversial glass pyramid which had become as famous as the Louvre itself. We descended into the new subterranean lobby of the museum, 60 feet below the ground and covering a 70,000 sq.ft. Passages ran in all four directions, the Denon wing, the Richelieu wing and the Sully wing with the fourth going to the famous La Pyramide Inversée. We opted to visit the Mona Lisa first and took the Denon wing.

Me, the Louvre and the la pyramide!

Once a Renaissance palace, The Louvre is now the most famous art museum in the world with about 35,000 pieces of art. Longer than three Eiffel towers laid side by side and with a million sq.ft of open space between it's wings, it is the longest building in Europe. As we entered the plaza, the warm honey coloured marble of the Louvre surrounding us, the main entrance of the Louvre was visible. La Pyramide. The controversial glass pyramid which had become as famous as the Louvre itself. We descended into the new subterranean lobby of the museum, 60 feet below the ground and covering a 70,000 sq.ft. Passages ran in all four directions, the Denon wing, the Richelieu wing and the Sully wing with the fourth going to the famous La Pyramide Inversée. We opted to visit the Mona Lisa first and took the Denon wing. 

The Grand gallery. 1500 feet long and wide enough to contain 4 cars laid side by side, the Grand Gallery is known to contain some of the finest Italian art. Taking in the masterpieces of the Italian masters and trying to make out the complex geometric design made by the diagonal oak panels on the floor, we made our way to the Salle des Etats. In her own private cell, behind a thick layer of plexiglass hung the most celebrated painting in the world.





The Mona Lisa. Her mist filled, supernal atmosphere is a tribute to Leonardo Da Vinci's mastery over the sfumato style, in which forms evaporate into one another. Her smile intrigued me, a knowing, secretive smile leading me to believe, as well as many others, that Da Vinci had imbibed a secret in her. But her size was even smaller than expected, smaller than her posters in the Louvre gift shop. The Venus de Milo, The Winged victory, Madonna of the rocks and The coronation of Napoleon were my favourites. The modern, progressive sculptures of the modern world as well as those of the ancient Greeks and Romans were displayed. 

Napoleon's quarters. Located in the Richelieu wing, this area was once the quarters of King Napoleon. Untouched Persian drapes, rugs and crockery, magnificent chandeliers and extravagant furniture cast a majestic aura over whole area that was once quarters of the diminutive king. Our last stop in the Louvre was the La Pyramide Inversée, the inverted pyramid that served as a skylight and the small pyramid below it which featured in the climax of Dan Brown's blockbuster The Da Vinci Code. However the smaller pyramid below is not fixed to the ground, which disproves Brown's speculations.

We continued down to the The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel from where the Musée d'Orsay, the Pompidou center, the Musée du Jeu de Paume and finally, the Musée du Louvre, four of the finest art museums in the world, were visible, on at each point on the compass. We took a walk in the famed Tuileries Garden further down, still unable to take our eyes off The Louvre. The Tuileries Garden is a public space and is an icon of Paris. It is quite a nice place to relax and bask under the sun!

Dazzling! -The Eiffel tower

Later in the evening we commuted by the Réseau Express Régional (RER) to the Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel station. La Tour Eiffel. The Eiffel tower. 1,063 ft tall, 81 storeys high and waiting to take your breath away, the tower was massive and I could feel the 7000 tons of iron on top of me as I gazed up from the bottom. After 2 hours of waiting in line, we made our way to the elevator. The first two levels were accessible by both foot and elevator but the third one was only by an elevator. The ripping wind caught me square as I stepped out on the deck of the third floor. The view was perfect, the skyscrapers of La Défense caught my eye first, far away, the distance did no justice to their size at all! As I looked down below, I appreciated how high up I was. Really high! 





The lights began to come on, The Louvre, majestic as ever, the bright Avenue des Champs-Élysées just opposite it, The towers of La Défense came next, pin points of light in the distance and finally came the Eiffel tower!

It exploded in brilliant flashes, like camera shots all over the tower. The tourists below in the Champ de Mars, the long green space flanking the tower, responding with their own camera flashes. The whole area around was filled with bright flashes. I was dazzled by the lights. Paris was lit up completely! The Seine glowing a beautiful orange colour, the streets a vibrant mix of headlights, tail lights and street lights. The powerful beams from the Eiffel tower flashed above us lighting up the foggy night air. The streets of Paris retain their crooked beauty, whether viewed from the ground, the Eiffel tower or a sattelite!

Four hours sped by and I was sad to leave the tower behind, we pledged to return the next evening to observe the lighting of the Eiffel tower from the Champ de Mars, an event not to be missed at all!

Does it end at all?! -Outside the Louvre

The good old Eiffel tower!

Doll houses?

Splendid! -The river Seine

Champ de Mars with the Montparnesse tower in view 

I Amsterdam

Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, is famous for it's buildings and canals. The large number of canals here have made it the "Venice of the north". Our first trip that summer from Eindhoven that summer was to this European capital.

The first thing we did  that day was to get the I Amsterdam card from the information centre. This aptly termed key to Amsterdam helped us through the day and saved us a lot of time.We hopped on to a tram headed to the Madame Tussauds wax museum.  Trams form an important part of transit here. They are used as much as the Amsterdam metro and more so by the tourists who think travelling underground is a waste of time. True enough, the buildings in Amsterdam are amazing and shouldn't be missed.

Barack Obama, the president of the U.S.A looked twice as life in his waxy form, welcoming us to the lobby of the museum. If I were an unsuspecting stranger, I would have been completely fooled. The first program was a show on the history of the Netherlands. It is of course, known that most of the country is below sea level. Few centuries ago, it was a huge problem. Large areas of land were consumed by water and rendered unusable. People had to find a way to drain it away and make the land worthwhile. Windmills were extensively used for this purpose. Innovations and developments were made to windmills and their efficiency increased. Water was drained away from lakes and the Dutch reclaimed their land bit by bit. The Dutch hydraulic engineers are after all termed the best in the world.

We then met the world's heroes, kings, queens, actors, singers and sport stars. The place was loaded with history! Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, queen Elizabeth, Princess Diana, George Bush were some of the exhibits in the first section. Elvis Presley, David Bowle, Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Cluny, Albert Einstein and Picaso were some of the prominent statues. Just outside, Dam square was quite a feast for the eyes. We were surrounded by century old buildings among which the Royal palace and De Bijenkorf were the highlights. A lively place, Dam square is a favourite hangout for tourists and Amsterdammers alike.

Next in line was the science centre Nemo. Shaped like a huge ship and almost an island, it was a place to have great fun and learn stuff. A spark generator, Galileo's experiment, huge bubbles, 2 hours sped by like a breeze and we enjoyed ourselves. The view from the top of the science centre Nemo is termed one of the best views of Amsterdam and it proved to be true. Canals and ancient buildings stretched out and the the skyline was outline against the horizon.

Being in the "Venice of the north", how could we miss the canal trip? We took to the canals of Amsterdam. 'Every' building by the side of the canal which was a house, was 3 stories high, no more, no less and pre-dated the world war! From the old city, new city to the colourful house boats in the canals and motor boats with extra loud boom boxes. It really was Lekker! The one hour in the canals went by in knots like our boat.

Our last destination for the day was the Van Gogh museum. A modern building with largest collection of artworks by the famous Dutch post-Impressionist painter: Vincent Van Gogh, it was one of Amsterdam's top tourist spots. His paintings were thoughtful, colourful and he did tend to focus on peasant themes. My favourite paintings were the : Potatoes and A woman's head, I had a soft spot for him as we lived quite close to where he used to live!

Our Amsterdam trip ended but 2 more months of Europe lay before me. This, after all was the maiden trip!

Farmstead at the end

Eindhoven station

Looking around Eindhoven, it's hard to believe that it is one of the oldest cities in The Netherlands, established in 1225, Eindhoven has changed a lot since then. The major changes were brought about by the establishment of Philips and co. in 1891.

The main entertainment centre of the city is located opposite the Eindhoven station with plenty of restaurants, pubs and movie theatres. My favourite restaurant there was a Chinese noodle shop named "Wok Away". It was a boon for me as I love Chinese(Original) noodles. The whole of the surrounding area is a shopping spot with dozens of shops displaying a variety of things ranging from boots to lotions to chocolates. This central area is also home to TATA's TCS office! IKEA, the world famous home products company has a branch just outside the city limits and is well frequented by people from the cities nearby. We found IKEA a really useful shop.

Flying pins

Eindhoven as I mentioned was the place where Philips was founded in 1891. From the numerous companies of Philips in Eindhoven today to the statues of the founders of Philips, the city has a lot of reminders of Philips' growth and presence in the city for the last 100 years. The city was heavily bombarded during the second world war, so major portions of the city were rebuilt. The new buildings today rise from where the old ones once stood. So, Eindhoven is home to a lot of contemporary buildings like the Van Abbe museum and new office complexes, but they do not fail to stun, each one being a work of art.  The luckily preserved heritage buildings today stand out in stark contrast to the modern buildings around. Looking upon the carefully preserved, centuries old, huge churches, it is easy to forget you are in a modern city.  Art works like the one below are dotted throughout the city and carefully preserved. One of the greatest artists of the 19th century, Vincent Van Gogh spent two years in Nuenen, a village near Eindhoven and painted 150 of his paintings here.

Houses in Eindhoven

Cycle usage in Eindhoven was tantamount to the usage of cars in other countries. The presence of cycle lanes on all roads further favoured this non-polluting, healthy way of transport, the use of cycles establishes the fact that most of the Netherlanders are healthy and slim. They also tend to eat simple and healthy foods, lots of salads and greens. I especially favoured Ijsbergsla or Lettuce. The oranges there were simply heavenly, I'd been unable to get my hands on good oranges for a few years now and being a orange lover, I was happy for the opportunity and ate to my heart's content.

Eindhoven was a beautiful city and I loved it very much.
       

On the Way!

The fast track taxi guy was waiting for us downstairs and we took one last look of our house, my grandmother and my uncle were to accompany us to the airport. We had a smooth  drive (In Chennai?Ha!) to the Chennai airport, the driver being talkative and having a cool blackberry phone. We arrived 4 hours ahead of our flight and we were bored already, but to our surprise, the check-in was open and we could wile away our time inside. Emirates has a reputation of nice service on board and I confirm that, the in flight entertainment system was just too cool. I could watch movies as much as I wanted. But my mother thought otherwise and I was forced to sleep for half an hour! What a waste of time.

The air hostess asked me if I wanted egg or beef or chicken. I said I wanted the egg. (I don't eat beef and wasn't in the mood for chicken) The egg turned out to be half boiled (I doubt that too).So I had to content myself with a bun and butter :'( . So much for my great expectations.

We landed in Dubai; the Dubai airport was huge, it was an architectural marvel!. I could see endless corridors and boards marked gates 101-300, what?! This airport was so huge! Yet it was maintained perfectly (Should I even mention our Chennai airport?). We had to travel a long distance to come to the main area with all the schedule boards, it turned out that our gate was only a few steps away from where we'd got down. We weren't really sad because we had a chance to see the airport. We were in time for boarding, We had smooth flight and I watched Singam (Yes! Surya's Singam!) The food was yucky as usual (why couldn't they give us a ghee roast?).

The Schiphol airport Amsterdam was not as big as the Dubai airport, but it certainly looked high tech and European. We met my dad outside the gate and we chatted as we waited for the train. (The airport has an underground station) My dad said we were unlucky because the shortest route to Eindhoven was only 105 mins while this train was 180 mins long. But I looked forward to my journey as I love to observe stuff (ahem).
So we arrived in Eindhoven 180 mins later and I got a good look of the place where I would be staying in for the next two months. I thought about school and sighed with contentment, I was a thousand miles away!
(Little did I remember the results were on their way)