Paris, France

All right, so due to the massive traffic jam, we arrived in Rouen about 2.30 am? Finally after about 4-5 hrs, we reached there and it was so nice to see a familiar face in this French speaking country.  To my beloved cousin, thank you! He even made supper for us: ‘rolled apple puff pastry’. The first misfortune for mom: somehow she managed to slide down the stairs from the top to the floor and landed on her bum. Ouch! We fall asleep as soon as we hit the bed…

Woke up the next morning and cousin already bought croissants for us. How good is his hospitality? You really cannot complain at all. After that we went to Paris (1 hr drive) and the first stop is the Eiffel Tower, the icon of France and the tallest building in France. There were so many tourists there and it was actually quite difficult to take a decent picture. I have to mention that there were two groups consisting of blacks and Indian selling souvenirs such as miniatures of Eiffel tower or key rings. My cousin told me that the Indian have been ‘ousted’ by the black and have to sell their products on the bridge. Besides that, tourists need to be careful because apparently they will approach you and quickly tie your wrists with strings and ‘force’ you to pay them to release you. Is it true or not? I am not sure but I wouldn’t want to experience it.
Mom and me, Eiffel Tower


Next stop: Notre Dame de Paris


After having crepe for lunch we went to Notre Dame Cathedral. It was starting to snow… I remembered walking past an old man hugging two cute dogs sheltering himself under an umbrella. I felt quite sad, the dogs were shivering and looked undernourished. I donated 50 cents (yup, that is probably insignificant…). My cousin later told me that they are probably using the dogs trying to get people empathy especially people like me! 
Notre Dame Cathedral

Inside of the cathedral
Brother and cousin queueing outside LV shop


Following stop: Shopping time! Actually more like window-shopping… in Champs Elysees! There is underground parking and wow, you can really see all the expensive cars parked there. And they have one of the narrowest spaces I’ve seen (luckily I wasn’t driving that time). 


Well, what’s Paris or shopping without going to Louis Vutton (LV) shop? It seems like it is the cheaper to get LV products in Paris compared to other countries. This is definitely not my thing. There is even a queue to enter the shop! Mom just bought a purse for her sister. After that it is my turn to satisfy my cravings! Not bags though but macaroons and chocolates!
Champs-Elysees

The other end of Champs-Elysees


Laduree Macaroons! There was actually a queue inside the shop!  The shop don't allow people to take pictures but luckily i managed to take this shot before they say 'No!'

The packaging

15 different flavours: orange, green apple, pistachio, chocolate, lavender, coffee, vanilla and .... (i can't remember the rest).  I did not buy ginger and liquorice flavours.

Arc de Triumphe (me, brother and cousin)

Louvre pyramid

There was Christmas stalls set up further along Champs Elysees. It was actually quite nice. After that, we went to the Louvre. After reading and watching Da Vinci Code, I told my cousin that I want to go there. Sadly, we don’t have a lot of time in Paris and I just took pictures outside the Louvre palace and pyramid. One day, hopefully I will be back and have the opportunity to enter the museum to see Mona Lisa and other stuff too. *Wishful thought* 

Later, we drove up the hill or a peak to see another church. Too bad I can’t remember what’s the church name now. Finally, we return to Rouen (I fall asleep in the car). Got home and quickly try the macaroons while enjoying a glass of champagne. Since we got different flavours macaroons, I quartered each of the macaroons so that we can all taste the different flavours. Sorry, just typical of me that everything needs to be fair! I was quite sad that this is going to be the last night in France…

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