Our
journey to Paris started on 14th April 2001 at 7am from
London in a coach arranged by an Indian tourist agency.
All the people who traveled with us were Indians. I went
with 4 of my friends.
It took one and a half hrs to reach Dover,a
port in the UK. From Dover we were supposed to travell
by a ferry. I was under the impression that we would be
taking an another coach from Calais after crossing the
English Channel. But our coach itself was boarded into
the ferry and we were asked to leave the bus and occupy
the passengers' deck. The ferry was huge and it was like
being in a luxury hotel.The ferry had everything - restaurant,
games, and shops. It took another one and a half hours
to cross the English Channel. I was wondering how people
cross the channel by swimming. Journey by ferry was exciting.
We reached Calais, the entry point in France.
The journey continued for another three
and a half hrs to reach Paris by coach.Straightaway we
were taken to the riverside for boating. We spent one
and a half hrs in boating and it covered almost all the
important sites in Paris. Paris, an ancient, historical
city, can never be compared to anything. It's huge and
almost all the buildings are old with exquisite sculptures.
We got the view of Eiffel Tower, the place where Napolean
was buried, and Diana's memorial near the place where
she died, Museum, Opera theatre... The view of Eiffel
Tower and the city in the night was breathe-taking. That
was the end of our first day in Paris.
We went to Disneyland the second day. One
full day was not enough to visit all the lands in it.
I had been to roller coaster rides and fiction shows...
B'cos of heavy rain and sleet the electrical parade of
Disney characters was cancelled. We were not lucky enough
to watch the parade. It was 11pm then and we had to return.
The third and final day started with the
sight seeing trip to Eiffel Tower. I've no words to describe
it. We have been in the queue for nearly an hour and finally
got the lift to reach the top floor of the tower. The
sight of the city was wonderful and every moving object
seemed like an ant from the top of the tower.We spent
half a day there. Our next visit was to the perfumery,
which France is famous for. We were given a brief note
on the history of perfumes and the methods by which they
are manufactured. Then we went around the city and had
a glimpse of the Opera Theatre, the Arch, Louvre museum
that holds the famous painting of Monalisa and the sculpture
by Michael Angelo. We were told that we may have to spend
at least 2hrs in the queue to see the painting of Monalisa
alone and it would take 3 months to see all the paintings
if we spend 30sec for each painting. Our return journey
started at around 5pm. From Paris to Calais by coach,
Calais to Dover by ferry and Dover to London by coach.
We reached London at around 1am on 17th.
I enjoyed the trip the most and I wish I
get another chance to visit Paris for atleast 5 days.
