French-Kissed by Paris…

Not Hilton… FORTUNATELY… but we were not just pecked on the cheek by Paris, but given some unforgettable tongue along with it. Left with a deep impression of the place, Paris was almost like a unique combination of all the cities we’d seen… like fun Amsterdam, picturesque Lucerne, architecturally sound Venice (and some Italian flamboyance as well) and historic Munich all rolled into one.



As soon as we hit Paris, and checking into the Ibis Hotel at Port D’Orleans, we were taken on a bus tour of the city, so that Anna could briefly show us the areas we could head to on our free & easy 2nd day in Paris. Our targets were places like the Louvre, of course, and Notre Dame. We also did our research on where to eat (yums) and drink of course. *Muahahahhahahaha* (in French)

I would, at this point in time, love to post a pic of us and the Eiffel Tower… BUT I seem to have a problem rotating all the vertically-oriented pictures (Argh)… and ummm… the Eiffel Tower is meant to be taken in that orientation anyway… Oops! But do log on to www.facebook.com/jackandrai for a glimpse at some of those photos.

So after our bus tour… we dressed up and headed out to paint the town red! Decked in our suits, and Jack’s wife a nice evening dress (Duh), we headed to the Champs-Elysses area for food. Being the main shopping district… we couldn’t resist buying a pair of Ray-Bans each… as they were going at pretty good prices!









The restaurant was ‘Le Chiberta’ which was opened as part of the Guy Savoy group of restaurants… food was fabulous *drool*. To be honest, I really didn’t wait to find out what exactly I was eating… I just dug in as soon as the dishes came and wasn’t disappointed. It was a wine-paired degustation menu that we had, and definitely worth the money.

And of course, after a nice dinner… we decided to head to one of the bars in Paris… known as THE place to be seen… Hotel Costes. I’ve always been a Hotel Costes fan only because of the CD compilations done by DJ Stephane Pompougnac. Go check it out, some really chic ear-candy in those compilations. So had to visit this place. It was small, lush and cosy… a combination of a restaurant, situated in a big courtyard, and the bar which was a smaller room indoors.





The next day was gonna be a day of history… an exchange of culture and knowledge… Singaporeans absorbing French art, architecture and history. After a quick visit to a perfumerie… I only have one word… ‘Louvre’… and I’m not talking about windows here. I can safely say… I spent 5 hours in the Louvre… and still didn’t finish viewing what it had to offer. I saw Spanish art, French art, English art, Greek sculptures, Roman sculptures and many exhibitions from various ancient civilisations. IT’s HUUUUUUGE!





We really had to fight through a big crowd inside the Louvre itself…



To see this!



It sure was a lot smaller than we expected… but such a crowd came to see Da Vinci’s very famous Mona Lisa… I wonder if it’s the original.. or maybe the original is hidden in a secure safe somewhere…. hmmmmm…. feeling very Ocean’s Eleven… =P

A short walk from the Louvre is the Notre Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris). This is a huge cathedral of Gothic architecture… and took between 1160 and 1345 AD to fully complete… a 195 year work of pure art.







After a good 7 hours of walking around the streets of Paris… we rested our weary feet for a while before heading out to dinner! This time we chose a tapas-style place called ‘Pinxo’.





Ummm… we finished dessert before I could snap a photo of it =P



What’s a dinner night without a drink!?! So we adjourned to Buddha Bar, anther nice chillout lounge with a 2 storey Buddha sitting up against the wall. Dim lighting and a comfy, intimate atmosphere made for a nice night to round our stay in Paris. Even met a waitress there, who was working in Singapore for 6 months before moving back! Anyone know a French girl named Stephanie who did events for a while?



The next day was our trip back to London… sigh the end of our 9D Contiki European Magic tour…



But there was one thing we desperately needed when we reached London… and that was a taste of Asian food!!!! Hahahahahhaa….. we ate at a Cantonese place in Chinatown, where we had some pretty damn awesome Roast Duck… man these English/Scottish ducks rock! Nice, juicy and fatty… *Yummmmmmm*



Well, we hope you’ve enjoyed our chronicles of our Contiki 9D European Magic Tour… as much as we had fun running around doing our thing in Europe. Thanks Contiki Holidays, for an itinerary that gave us a good glimpse of Europe, and some time to run around by ourselves.. as well as a fun tour group of people from so many backgrounds. And a big shout to Anna and Thierry for being a very efficient pair, who gave us lots of insight into every destination… and safely got us from place to place. Jack & Rai signing off, till the next entry!!!!!! Lots of things happening for us… will update soon!