Art, Faith & Fashion Trip – Paris

This is the fifth and final post of the series. Paris – City of Romance, Fashion, Art and illustrious history.

We started early morning as planned and reached Rome’s Ciampino Airport well in advance of departure time. We took Ryan Air flight FR9631 at 6.35 AM which reached Paris Beauvais airport at 8.45 AM. On landing the first thing we noticed was the weather. The sky was overcast with strong winds blowing and the forecast was of rains. But that could hardly dampen our spirits. From the airport we took a shuttle to Paris’s Porte Malliot . You can view the timetable of shuttle from here.  We were to reach 13 Rue Auber for L’ Open Tour (Hop on Hop off tour of Paris). We almost lost our way inside the maze of Paris metro and RER trains. We could reach our destination with help from some kind hearted Parisians. We had six hours approximately to see Paris so we felt the best way make most of it is pre-book the one day Hop on Hop off tour and try to see most of Paris. The L’ Open Tour has four tour routes which covers the entire Paris. The routes are:

1. The longest tour, the Paris Grand Tour lasts 2 hours 15 minutes and shuttles visitors around many of the city's most popular sites, including the Louvre Museum, Eiffel Tower, and the Arc de Triomphe.
2. The Montparnasse tour lasts about an hour and covers some of the left bank's most storied places, including the Latin Quarter, Montparnasse and the Invalides.
3. The Montmartre Tour lasts a little over an hour and gives visitors a good overview of the edgier, more modern right bank, with notable stops at the Sacre Coeur basilica, the Moulin Rouge cabaret, the Saint-Martin canal area and classic Paris department stores (Grands Magasins).
4. The Bastille tour lasts around an hour and gives a good glimpse of Paris' dynamic center and Seine-side attractions, including the Centre Pompidou, the trendy Marais district, the Ile Saint Louis and Picasso Museum.

As you can see to do all the four tours it would roughly take six hours. However, due to our severe time constraints we decided to do only the Paris Grand tour, which would cover the most famous landmarks of Paris.

After reaching the tour company’s office we boarded the first bus that was waiting there. We were quite excited that we would soon see the iconic Eiffel Tower. But as I listened to the commentary I realized that we got into wrong bus it was the Montmartre Tour as we were in front of the famous Moulin Rouge. You should have seen the reaction on the faces of my friends when they realized that we were on the wrong tour. Well some pictures from the tour.

Palais Garnier Opera house

Streets of Paris

A black beauty

Moulin Rouge

Élysée Montmartre

Gare du Nord

Gare de Paris-Est

Musée Grévin

Another Beauty

One of the cafes of Paris

The bus then returned to the starting point and we waited for the right bus. This time before boarding we confirmed with the driver where were we going. The tour was quite long winding through the busy streets of Paris. It took quite some time to reach Eiffel Tower. Some pictures from the tour. You can get a glimpse of the dull weather as well.

Palais Garnier Opera house from other side

Hotel Du Louvre

Louvre Courtyard

Louvre Museum

Pont des Arts bridge on River Seine

An interesting news article in NY Times relating to flip-side of love locks on the bridge and bids to discontinue the tradition.

Notre Dame de Paris

Palais Bourbon (seat of the French National Assembly)

Champs-Élysées

Arc de Triomphe

La Paix de 1815

Finally when the bus reached the west pillar of Eiffel Tower we were ecstatic. We rushed down to lawns below the tower for photo session. After all it was one of most iconic monuments of the world and we needed proof that we were actually there. After clicking pictures to our hearts content we picked up few souvenirs from a stall near the tower. We found people sitting and relaxing on lush green garden across the street. We decided to give some rest to our weary legs. I sat on lush green grass and gazed at the wonderful piece of architecture in front of me. Couldn't help but take a moment to thank the universe for granting me the opportunity.

Looking at pictures you might have understood that this Paris trip was just about getting a glimpse of city from a distance (only place we got off the bus was at Eiffel tower). What else can you do with just six hours in your hands? As we were leaving Eiffel tower the Parisian sun which was elusive all day started smiling indicating that probably it was not our lucky day weather-wise.

From the west pillar we took the tour bus to take us back to its starting point. From there we took RoissyBus (a bus service that connects Paris-Opéra with Charles de Gaulle airport). Time was ticking away for our Air Baltic flight BT694 / BT325 to Helsinki which was to leave at 18:35. We were holding our breath as the bus was winding its way through busy streets of Paris. In the end the bus took a little more than an hour to reach airport. On reaching the departure gate we realized that we did not have a proper meal through the day and would need some dinner to survive the rest of the journey. The day eventually turned out to be a very long day as we crossed three time zones without any sleep for more than 24 hours. When we reached our apartment in Pori, Finland we were completely drained out.

Looking back at the whole trip I felt it ultimately turned out to be a memorable one. We had covered so many iconic places in such a less time. However, ideally it should have been a nine days ten nights trip instead of four days five nights one. But in life rarely things are ideal.

Overwhelming Stockholm- Part I

Before, I begin let me warn you, as I always do. This is the first of the four part series of long posts, about my trip to Stockholm, Sweden.

The beginning and the plan.

From the time we had come to Finland, we were planning a trip during the Easter weekend (long weekend). The names that came up was Lapland (Northern Finland), Stockholm, Norway and Switzerland. But almost all of the trips got dropped as they were turning out to be way off budget. Then we got the news that one of our friends from Bangalore was in Stockholm. The fact that we did not require to pay for accommodation made the trip lucrative. Coupled with it was the prospect of travelling to Sweden by cruise ship made the trip irresistible. So, once the mode of transport was decided, I began searching for cruises to Stockholm from Finland and found that there were only two competing companies, who operate between these destinations. Looking at the pros and cons of both we decided to try both the companies. That is go by one return by the other.

My friend in Stockholm, requested me to chart a tour plan for the 3 days that we were supposed to spend there. While I was researching, the first fact that overwhelmed me was, Stockholm has more than 80 museums and places of attraction. This made my job extremely difficult (I think you can imagine). Let me tell you that, for visitors, there are a lot of tips, accurate and official information about Stockholm available online. This helped me in getting a meticulous plan in place. After all the parties agreed to the plan we were ‘ready to go’.

The journey to Stockholm.

We are in a city called Pori and nearest city from where we can get ships to Stockholm is Turku. And as per plan we were to take the Viking Line ship M/S Isabella to Stockholm. We reached Turku harbor about two and half hours earlier. After a quick check-in we were waiting at the terminal. As we were hanging around in the lobby I spotted a huge, humungous ship approaching the terminal slowly. As it came closer we spotted its name. It was Viking Line M/S Isabella, our ship for the night. As the ship docked we got ready for boarding. Thirty minutes later they started the boarding process. On the entrance to the ship a boy and girl were performing Caribbean dance. Oh! Did I forget to mention that Viking Line was celebrating Cuba festival in all their ships? Yes, they had given everything from food to entertainment a Caribbean touch. After we were inside our cabin, we freshened up a little bit and then headed for the dinner. We had booked buffet dinner, which was a grand affair, with a wide variety of fish, chicken, ham, game meat (reindeer), desserts, ice-cream etc. My long time wish for tasting deer meat was finally fulfilled. After the sumptuous dinner we went around the ship to explore different sections like restaurants, tax-free shops, club, disco et al. Then we moved to the ‘sun deck’, it was dark and nothing much was visible outside. Yet the mild sound of ship’s engines, the view of the ship chipping through sea and the chilling winds created an out of the world experience. Though the night was still very young, actually it was just beginning, we decided to retire into our room. We were told that most of ship’s passengers would be youngsters looking to ‘have fun’ on the ship. I must admit it was quite correct. So, if you are travelling with your family it may be little disturbing at night. Next morning we were up early and quite excited. So, we walked up to the ‘sun deck’, to greet the morning sun but to our dismay, the sky was overcast with light showers washing the deck. One gentleman, let out the last puff from his cigarette and said ‘It’s going to be like this the whole day’, shaking his head with disappointment. Yes, the weather looked really annoying. The ship was entering the harbor and all the passengers were requested to proceed to de-boarding area.

First Day in Stockholm.

After reaching the harbor, our friend instructed us to reach Slussen the nearest T-Bana (Metro) station. We had to take a bus to city center (a service run for the benefit of passengers using Viking Line) that went via Slussen. He said he would come and pick us up from Slussen. After waiting for a while, our friend came and we went to his house.

Stockholm’s T-Bana (Metro)

The original plan for the day was to take some rest and have breakfast at my friend’s place. Then go to Stockholm tourist center for the Stockholm Card and other queries related to various places of attraction. From there, we were to take the 3-hr Archipelago tour conducted by Stromma. Like, I mentioned earlier the weather that day was really dampening. So we had to drop the plan of the Archipelago tour and reserved the day for shopping and going around in general.

As per the revised plan, we had brunch and set-off for the tourist center. Now let me mention here, the tourist center is near T-Centralen(Central Metro station, it’s here all the metro lines cross each other). It's little difficult to find the place, as there are no signs or markers for tourist center in T-Centralen. But, if you ask around, the friendly staff and stall owners in that area would guide you. So, after asking around we reached the tourist center and got quite good amount of information. And let me mention that alongwith Stockholm card, you get a map, a book of information about the various attractions and list  with opening hours for all the places of interest. Rest of the day was spent going around different places for shopping. Like Kista (on blue line metro towards Akalla) a store named Kista Grossen for Asian/Indian grocery, then largest IKEA store at Skärholmen for furnishing items etc. After shopping bags full, finally we end the day by returning to my friend’s apartment.

Few words of advice: 

If you are having more time, like 2-3 days in Stockholm then getting a Stockholm card would be a very good deal. It gives free access to all major museums and attractions, free access to public transport and much more. Otherwise you can take hop-on hop-off-combi bus tour conducted by Stromma. As I mentioned earlier you can plan your tour around Stockholm with precision thanks to the website of SL, the public transit system of Stockholm.

Some useful website links:

 Stockholm tourism related information http://www.visitstockholm.com/en/To-Do/ 

Stockholm tourist map http://www.visitsweden.com/Global/Map/Map_of_Stockholm_SVB.pdf 

Stockholm metro map http://sl.se/Global/Pdf/Kartor/vTub_karta.pdf 

Viking Line http://www.vikingline.fi/index.asp?lang=en 

Tallink Silja Line http://www.tallinksilja.com/en/

Additionally you can click on the hyperlinks in the post to learn more. This is certainly not the end of the series; please wait for more in following posts….

Overwhelming Stockholm- Part II

After a dull and damp day, weather gods showed some mercy and let sun smile brightly on our second day. We had a number of places to cover as we had lost a day. So, quite naturally the day was packed. The plan was to first visit Gamla Stan(the old town) and visit the Royal Palace and witness the changing of guards. Then have lunch at Govindas (a pure vegetarian restaurant run by Hare Krishna Society of Stockholm) and finally view the entire Stockholm city from top of Sky view.

Gamla Stan, Royal Palace and Changing of Gaurds.

As per plan, the first stop of the day was Gamla Stan. So, we reached Gamla Stan via metro (All the green and red lines cross Gamla Stan) by 11.30 AM. The changing of the guards generally begins at 12.15. As we had time, we started strolling along the narrow streets of the old town (one of its kind medieval city center where the city was founded in 13th century) looking for Storkyrkan (Stockholm Cathedral), Nobel museum etc. Walking through those alleys with warm sun peeping through the building we were transported to the 13th Century. Would you believe if I say I spotted a real Viking? But he was gone before my friend could take a picture, so…. Anyway, the architecture of the old buildings was breathtaking and picturesque. My vocabulary is not good enough for describing the beauty of the place. Let me allow some of the pictures to do the talking instead...

The oldest thoroughfares of Gamla Stan

View from the harbour of Skeppsbron, the eastern waterfront of Gamla Stan

We reached the outer courtyard of the Royal Palace around 12 noon and the authorities were preparing the place for the changing of guards. Just in time so that we could grab the front row seats (I mean literally, as there is no real seat, you need to stand and watch). At around 12.15 the spectacle began with music of marching band and a marching column of soldiers. In next 45 minutes we witnessed one of the best changing of guards’ ceremony.  Again I’ll let the pictures do the talking...

Outer courtyard of The Royal Palace

Changing of Guards @ the Royal Palace

Lunch

After the ceremony we were quite hungry and it was time for lunch. So we proceeded to Fridhemsplan (from Gamla Stan you can take any of the green lines towards Alvik/Åkeshov/Hässelby Strand) for Govindas. But when we reached the restaurant we found a notice on the gate which said the place was closed for entire Easter weekend. My friends looked at me for a back-up plan which to their utter dismay I didn’t have. We began a frantic search for a place to eat. I remembered having read about some Indian place at Rådhuset which was one stop away on blue line towards Akalla/Hjulsta. After reaching Rådhuset we asked at the ticket counter for directions and realized that I had got name and address wrong. We were directed to another far away station on another line. Then lady at the counter told that us there was another Indian restaurant just outside the metro station which we may try if we like. We may try? I almost rushed out of the station and found a place named Indian Khusboo. The food, ambiance, prices were quite nice.

Sky View

After a delicious and filling meal we headed for our next and final destination of the day, Sky view, which is at Globen on green line towards Hagsätra. In the words of their website “SkyView is one of the most remarkable attractions in Sweden, and an experience far above the ordinary. A gondola made of glass takes you up along the outside of the Ericsson Globe - the largest spherical building in the world”. But when we reached the ticket counter we were told tickets for that day were sold out and we could only book for the next day. It was the second disappointment of the day. Nevertheless, we booked the tickets for the next day. With that we called it a day and returned to my friend’s place tired yet contended. Again this is not the end of the story, I have got more….