PARIS 🇫🇷 & AMSTERDAM 🇳🇱

I wasted no time and immediately hailed a taxi to Boulevard de Grenelle to meet one of my best friends and frequent travel companion, Sabrina, who has been traveling Europe for a month already. It’s funny looking back that we initially planned this trip together, but later became an afterthought. One night over dinner, I mentioned that I will be pushing through with it, but with my mom instead. She told me she had also made plans with her sister. Surprisingly, our dates for Paris coincided. Another friend, Criselle, who happens to live a few blocks away, decided to drop by to give us a warm welcome.

Although unplanned, it is but fitting for Saint-Étienne-du-Mont to have the distinction of being the first church in Europe I ever have visited, specially since it contains the shrine of St. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris. Beautiful inside and out, it is unfortunate that people tend to overlook this church in favor of its more famous neighbor, the Pantheon.

Originally a church, the Pantheon is a shrine honoring France’s greatest men (and two women). During our visit, restoration work was going on, so it’s big dome (modelled after the Pantheon in Rome) was covered in tarpaulin. Also, the interior’s floor was covered with a thousand portraits which made for some interesting photos.

Admission and How To Get Here. €8.50 but free with Paris Pass. Metro Station: Cardinal Lemoine, walk 550 meters.

The world’s largest museum housing some of the most important art collections in history, the Louvre Museum is a must for anyone who is visiting Paris. As it tends to get very crowded, we opted to visit at night. It was a much more pleasant experience wandering through the galleries as there weren’t very many art enthusiasts or tourists that visit during this time.

Admission. €15 but free with Paris Pass.

Alternate Entrance. From the Metro, get off at Palais Royal Musée du Louvre. The underground shopping mall entrance of Le Carrousel du Louvre is the better option to use as the line here is never as long as the main entrance Pyramid line.

Best Time to Visit. Wednesdays and Fridays, between 18:00-21:45. Every first Saturday of each month the museum is open 18:00-21:45, admission is free.

From the outside, the Musée d’Orsay looks like an old railway station, simply because it was - until it was converted into a museum back in the 1970s-1980s. Home to an impressive collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings by artists including Degas, Van Gogh, Monet, and Renoir, the museum is quite an inspiring and exciting, if not overwhelming place to visit.

Admission. €12.40. Musée d’Orsay is NOT included in the Paris Pass.

How To Get Here. Metro Station: Solferino or Musee d’Orsay on the RER C.

One of the world’s most recognizable structures, a visit to Paris wouldn’t be complete without seeing the Eiffel Tower. cliché as it may sound. The impression you get once you are at the foot of (and up) the tower is really overwhelming.

The reason we did a day trip to Amsterdam was to see a Jofelle, a friend of mine who lives near the city. We planned on meeting up after our visit to the Anne Frank Huis, however, it took us a long while to walk to the site, hence we missed our timeslot to enter the museum.

Marking one of the boundaries of the notoriously famous Red Light District and a part of the city’s China Town, Zeedijk is one of Amsterdam’s oldest streets. While walking we saw Louise and her twin sister Martine, reputedly Amsterdam’s oldest prostitutes turned tourist guides.

Before going back to Paris, with Mom and Jofelle who showed us around

Late night out with Criselle

Rue Dénoyez is a small street overtaken by graffiti and street artists, one of the few areas in the city where street art is legal. Here it is not uncommon to pass an artist hard at work. It is also worth mentioning that France’s most famous singer, Edith Piaf, used to perform at Café aux Folies, one of the most iconic cafés along the street, early in her career.

When I saw first saw wall murals by famous French artist Julien Malland aka Seth GlobePainter at Parc de Belleville, I immediately fell in love. His vibrant renditions of children staring into or being sucked by colorful voids has become popular the world over. He continues to be one of my favorite contemporary artists to this day.

The View. Parc de Belleville is "Montmarte without the tourists" as it offers magnificent views of the Paris skyline with the Eiffel Tower.

The Sacré Cœur is everything you expect from a lavish European basilica. The steps and "terrace" of the church, which in my opinion, is very reminiscent of the Ruins of St. Paul in Macau, provides remarkable views of the Parisian skyline, where many of its most iconic monuments can be spotted on a clear day.

How To Get Here. Take the Metro to Anvers or Pigalle (Line 2); Jules-Joffrin (Line 12); or Abbesses (Line 12). Either climb the 270 stairs to the basilica, or take the funicular (€1) after a short walk from these stations.

I am not one to travel to some place just to see a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but if there is one nearby, I do check it out. The Banks of the Seine from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre, is one such site. How could it not be when Paris’ history and evolution can be seen from the Seine? During a morning walk along the banks of the river, was when I decided that I would come back to this city again.

The stuff of legends thanks to Victor Hugo’s novel, if Notre-Dame de Paris did not burn down a few months ago, I would have written something different about it. I guess for now, I just consider myself lucky to have seen and experienced going up the tower of this gothic masterpiece.

Capping off my morning walk of Ile de la Cité with a cup of coffee

Back in the 90s I had a pen pal (so old school) from Slovenia (then a part of Yugoslavia). When Barbra found out that I was going to Europe, she booked a flight to Paris in order to spend the afternoon with me. We both decided onShakespeare and Company, as it seems to be the perfect place to meet up for the first time and celebrate 3 decades of friendship. It was even so funny that we ended up buying the same book as a gift for each other.

We treated ourselves to a relaxing afternoon watching various street performances such as break dancers, musicians, jugglers, and yes, mimes near the fanciful fountains of Place Georges Pompidou. As for the building itself, Pompidou Centre, with its exposed skeleton of brightly colored tubes, is very interesting.

The life-sized replica of the flame of the Statue of Liberty

The Flame of Liberty became an unofficial memorial for Diana, Princess of Wales, after her death in the tunnel beneath the Pont de l'Alma in 1997

So it’s our last night in Paris. This was the only time I got a glimpse of Avenue des Champs-Élysées and Arc De Triomphe. So if you asked me if I had experienced both sites, I would have answer "not really". Maybe next time.