Short weekend in Paris - Day 1

Heidi flew in Saturday morning and shortly after her arrival, I stuck her on a train into Paris! We arrived early evening of Saturday and checked-in to our hotel at the Emeraude Lodge du Center near Gare du Nord.

taken from the farthest corner we could get to..

crazy old-school blow dryer in the bathroom

Although it was expected, but we were still quite amazed how teeny the elevator to the hotel room was as Heidi and I, with our carry on suitcase, pretty much filled up all of the elevator. Then, there's our hotel room that is maybe around 100sq ft at most.


We spent 3 nights and 2 days in Paris and were determined to visit as many places and do as many things as possible. Heidi came off her flight looking so worn from school and work, and I was eager to just have some time off away from work. Paris was indeed the perfect trip!!!

It rained throughout the first day in Paris. So we spent majority of the day on a hop-on hop-off bus tour of Paris. We didn't let the rain stop us though as we came out for more crawling by night time.

Built between 1163-1334, the Notre-Dame Cathedral was plundered during the French Revolution and rededicated during the cult of Reason. The movie, Hunchback of Notre Dame, helped campaigned for its restoration. This is also where the center of the city of Paris is precisely located.

Here's a view down the Seine river that runs through Paris.

 After a cold and wet day of treading through the city of Paris, we went back to our hotel for a hot shower and came back out to a stand-only wine bar we found.

Good thing we came early enough and made it in there. The place is so small you could probably only stand 15-20 people inside.

We started off with a glass of red wine for each of us (house recommended). A plate of pork fat and  foie gras. Everything was seasoned to perfection and just tasted so fine with the wine!

I then saw some French guys with a plate of meat, so I said "un plat du jambon si'l vous plait!" Should have ordered it with some sauicisson as well!!!  :-)

Next, we ordered today's special with Squid (seasoned with capers, caramelized onions, and some incredibly mysterious but delicious sauce) and a plate of Tuna Tartare. (seasoned with cheese, scallions, and fish roe)

Along with all this was some proper all-you-can-eat french baguette. So plain and so simple with butter but just such great bite and texture! On a full stomach, we needed to walk off and continued the rest of our tour visiting some of the most notable places in Paris.

Here's at the Arc-de-Triomphe. Napoleon ordered for its construction in 1809 as a monument for the achievement of his armies but it didn't complete until after his death.

We also took a trip up to the top of the Eiffel Tower!

Up-close at the Eiffel Tower

 After spending time up the Eiffel Tower, we were exhausted. We got back to the hotel at like 12am. We showered and just passed out for the night! Great productive day we had despite all the rain.