Paris on my mind: Eiffel Tower

It was a dream come true to be able to visit this fabulous city in Europe. It was in 2018 when I did my solo adventure in the capital city of France.

Yes, summer and it was hot when I visited. But let me start with the visa fiasco I experienced with VFS Global, yes I am saying their name. I honestly think that they screwed me over with the visa application I did with them. On top of that, the reimbursement they promised did not happen. I experienced 14 days of passport delay. Plus the UPS played a huge part with it as well. That could be a separate post, but I did not let their ineptness ruin my trip.

The minute I received my visa in which I demanded the UPS driver to come back after they have said that I did not have a buzzer and decided to leave. Take note that I have only missed them 10-15 minutes because I went to the washroom wherein I have already informed them that they need to call me on my cellphone when they are at the door. I literally blew up on the UPS phone line to demand that they come back to bring me my passport that I do not care whether there are other people that they need to serve. You screwed me once; you are not doing it again. So the minute I got my passport on August 2nd, I changed my inbound flight to Paris since Expedia will still honour my outbound flight. So I did a red-eye flight to Halifax which was amazing with a 10-hour layover in which I soaked in the east coast sun and then off I went to Paris in the evening.

Eiffel Tower at 0630

I arrived in Paris August 4th at around 1000 in the morning. The immigration line was not so bad but that airport was busy. I managed to do some research prior to my trip. I know the areas I wanted to see. I made it to the RER train station from CDG. It was a sunny day when I arrived in the city. I ended up to Rue Menilmontant where my hotel was Hotel de l' Horloge. It was not fancy, but it looks clean and safe. The area was very close to the train stations which I needed especially when I had all these lists of places to go to. I made it to my hotel at 1305. I badly needed some sleep, so I left that afternoon after that lengthy process of check in.They had to take a copy of my passport, my driver's license, had to verify this and that before I got my keys.The receptionist was very nice and gave me all the pamphlets that I might need on my travel. It was mega hot in that room and it very shoebox like. I am not really picky, I just need a bed. I got up around around 5 pm. I took the train from Menilmontant station to Champ de Mars Eiffel Tower station or Trocadero Gardens. I have learned later on that you can take the St. Maur station to Eiffel Tower. I find that getting off at Trocadero Gardens station was way easier and straightforward.

Eiffel Tower

Paris is overflowing with beauty. There is a ton of places to see from Eiffel Tower, to Sacre Coeur, Luxembourg Garden, and others. The transit system was very good as well. Back to Eiffel Tower, day 1 for sure is very classic Paris. A visit to this massive structure. According to wikipedia, " is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel."It is definitely the tallest structure in Paris. It was a busy early evening there. Knowing that the sun was up. There was a lot of people there wanting to have their photo taken. I used my charm to ask someone to take a photo of me. It was not a perfect photo but you get it, I was there. With not enough sleep I was very happy to be there. The best time I find to visit, is early in the morning. The sunrise was just a beauty. Although the evening boasts its own dazzle, as well. Around, at dusk the Eiffel Tower lights up from sunset to 1 am. There is also that ten minute show of glimmering and majestic lights during the first five minutes of each hour on the hour.

Paris, I hope to see you again.

As I said earlier, Trocadero Garden is one of the best places to witness the "light show" (I know it is not really a light show.) and also to get up close and personal with the Iron Lady. In the early morning, you can be ballsy, too if you want to see it front and centre. You can go to the water cannon area. Make sure you know the times they will be on or else you will get wet. I crawled into that area around 6 am just to get the shot of Eiffel Tower. I was not sure if I was allowed to do that but I sneaked in. I had the most fabulous view of the city with the Eiffel Tower saying hi to me. It was a zen moment for me, with the sun and the blue sky. It was stunning just waiting for the sun to come out.

This is only Eiffel Tower and I am so excited to be able to share my travel experience. More to come...