Paris 1 - Place du Concorde

The Obelisk at the Place du Concorde

Taking a short holiday from work is never easy but I managed to squeeze an 8 day personal visit to Paris and Budapest with my wife,May. Time was of the essence as we have 2 teenage and near teeange boys who can get into a whole lot of trouble if they are not supervised even for a day. Thankfully, we have the family support from my brother's family who live next door and my mother who lives 5 minutes away by car. The first day after catching the 'red eye' or overnight flight by Air France was spent checking into our hotel in the Marais district (4) near to the Metro station, Hotel de Ville. When we arrived, we were quite surprised to see that although France is a developed country, it has not progressed in developing many of the facilities for the elderly like ramps, lifts, to accomodate the less mobile who will be on wheelchairs or using walking aids like crutches and walking sticks. Many travelators and trains had wide gaps and if not careful people could and often do fall into these gaps and cause serious injury or death. So within the first half hour, we were moving around finding - with all our heavy luggage -

a) places to change coins for the RER trains (overground)
b) Metro stations leading to our hotel
c) day passes and Metro lines to take (there are 15 !)

Filth, such as rubbish, graffiti,lots of stairs and non- working escalators were all there as we attempted to make our way to the hotel in the heart if the city. It took us about 1 hour about 20 EUROs, cheaper than taking the taxi which would cost about 50 EUROs.

So in my opinion, many developing countries like Malaysia are even far ahead in their hardware infrastructure aspect.


Outside the Hotel de Ville, now a museum.

Once we reached the hotel, which we booked via Internet, we left our luggage and decided to view this famous city of Lights.
Our first stop was the Hotel de Ville, just 5 minutes from our hotel. Now a musuem, it has the Metro station - one of the oldest in Western Europe - after its name.


Place du Concorde with the Obelisk and the Eiffel in the distance

We took the Metro (underground) to the Place de la Concorde, so named to honour the past Concords or Agreements with foreign countries, and there is the famous Obelisk, a gift from Egypt in 1833 to France. The Obelisk with its hyroglyphics still intact symbolisies the warm friendships both countries have had over the centuries. The Place was also the location of many coronations of kings (namely Louis XV) and the beheadings of kings too such as King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Elisabeth etc. This was during the time of the famous French Revolution. At its height, the Revolutionaries beheaded up to 1,300 people PER MONTH after they were identified as imperialists.



Jacques Hittorf's Fountain at the Place du Concorde

The cloudy day did not deter the thousands of tourists at the Concorde or the nearby Jardins de Touleries or Tuuleries Gardens where I ran for 5 km each morning for 2 mornings just to catch the 'air of Paris'. In the early morning, when the city is stripped of its romanticism is where I can take a hard and critical look at its core - while running. The runs gave me a fresh insight of this city which is actually a 3rd world in quality. Dirty, Unkempt and alot of history and baggage tied to it.



Outside Chanel Boutique Shop at Rue St Honore, Paris

Later on in the day we went to Chanel, Hermes and Louis Vitton shops situated at the Rue de Champs Elysee. The mother of all the latest and most modern fashion in the world lies in Paris and the street is the Rue de Champs Elysee. Every star in Hollywood has been to this street make no mistake about that.


My wife, May, with her Croque Monsuier, ham and cheese toast French style

Finally, a post on French food, the Croque Monsuier is a basic Ham and Cheese toast but it did put a smile on my wife's face !