Frustrated Pilot

Today, we visited the hidden gem that is Sainte-Chapelle.  The ‘holy chapel’ is often overlooked by most tourists though it’s just a stone’s throw away from the Notre Dame Cathedral. One interesting fact about this chapel is that it used to store Christ’s Crown of Thorns brought by King Louis IX of France during the 13^th century. But apparently, it’s not there anymore. The exterior of the chapel looks really boring but when I got inside, holy mother of God (you see what I did there?) I can’t believe my eyes. The stained glass windows are absolutely amazing. Definitely the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. The question is, how the hell did people back then build that? Aliens. 

 

Morning bike parade

Next stop, Musee d’ Orsay! Not another museum...  Now, now, calm down arts aficionados.  Before you call your curator mother, I want you to know that I just visited the Louvre the other day so I still got a bit of “hangover”. Maybe I just needed some time off. 

Musee d’ Orsay used to be a train station but eventually turned into a museum. Inside I saw paintings that I never thought I would see in real life.  I saw works by Monet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne and of course, Van Gogh. It actually felt weird seeing those paintings in person. Exactly a year ago, my arts professor showed pictures of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings for us to study. While I was analyzing them, the thought of seeing the actual paintings in Paris never really crossed my mind. And now a year later, I’m staring in front of them while I chew Haribos. I know eating is not allowed in museums blah, blah, blah.  But if you haven’t realized yet, eating Haribos while inside a museum is a thing of ours. No one can take away our Haribos away from us. Not even Van Gogh. 

We came out of the museum really hungry so we all decided to eat. We were craving for rice (Filipino staple food) so we looked for a Chinese restaurant. Luckily, we bumped in to a Filipina OFW and she offered to bring us to Lao Tseu Chinese Restaurant. Lao Tseu is packed inside when we got there so we ate al fresco. Besides why would you eat inside when the sun is gloriously shinning? It was very Parisian actually. We sat outside, went people watching and enjoyed our meal. Our table is right next to the chestnut tree lined Saint-Germain Boulevard. Everytime the spring wind blows through the tall chestnut trees, hundreds of tiny white flowers shower the busy road. It was like a movie scene.  We really enjoyed it. Until one by one, we started coughing. We all couldn’t breathe.  We were chocking on pollen. We couldn’t drink our water because it’s full of those goddamned flowers! That explains why everybody ate inside. 

I used to play Geo Challenge a lot. It’s a geography game on Facebook where in you have to guess the different countries’ flags, geographical shape and identify and place tourist attractions on a world map as quickly and accurately as possible. In case you didn’t know, I am a geography buff. When I was a kid, I always asked my mom to bring me to National Bookstore so I could browse through the latest World Atlas and World Almanac for Kids. My interest with geography is the reason why I love traveling. Back to my story, the Sacre Coeur Basilica is one of the tourist attractions I had a hard time placing on the map in Geo Challenge. I didn’t know about it until we visited it today. 

After lunch, we took the metro to Montmatre where Sacre Coeur is located. It started to drizzle as we exit the metro station of Anvers. The droplets were so cold that it freaked out my sister. She said, “parang yelo naman yung ulan dito” (why is the rain here cold as ice). I saw a white thing on her black coat and I touched it. It was indeed ice! Another bucket list item ticked off.

Sacre Coeur Basilica or Basilica of the Sacred Heart is on top of a hill in the trendy area of Montmartre. It’s a marvelous piece of architecture. Its white color contrasts the clear blue sky on the background. My mom told us to ask for a wish when visiting churches we’ve never been before so my sisters and I knelt on our knees, ask for wishes and prayed. My concentration was broken by a weird low buzzing sound. Apparently, the man beside us, a beggar, was snoring. With his hands clasped and all, he really looked like he was praying. But the snoring gave it away.

Before we went back to our hotel, my sisters and I bought food for our planned sunset “picnic/party” by the river Seine later that night. The day before this, we witnessed how Parisians hang out and chill at the riverbanks and we thought it would be a good idea to experience it as well. Most of the people we saw yesterday brought wines, cheese, and chips so we also brought wines, cheese and chips. We were really excited on our way to the river.  You know that feeling when you were about to enter Disneyland? That’s how I felt as I walked with my two sisters while I carried the plastic bag full of our picnic stuff. I remember feeling cool ‘cause how many people can claim that they’ve partied along the river Seine? Exactly. 

However, when we got there the place was deserted. The riverbanks are empty with people. No people partying. No people chilling. Nada. All we saw were few suspicious looking men doing transactions under the trees. Suddenly, everything becomes cold and scary. It’s like being invited to a party that never existed. You know in the movies where the loser was given the wrong address so he can’t join the cool kids’ party? Yeah, that’s us.  So we walked back at the hotel with our heads bowed down. Hey, what’s that on the floor? Our dignity.

The famous Notre Dame

Gare du Nord

St. Pancras International Station is just a few bus stops from our hotel.  So going to the station was a breeze.  We arrived at the train station an hour early (our train to Paris leaves at eight in the morning). We decided to look around first and find something to buy to get rid of our coins since we will be dealing with another currency later, the Euro.  We didn’t check-in yet because after immigration, they might restrict us from getting out of the boarding area.  The station is huge.  They have managed to combine modern design and its original Victorian architecture.  It’s beautiful.  It looked five times better that our airport in the Philippines considering it’s a train station.  

Our last bus ride in London

I'm gonna miss the architecture!

Gates of St. Pancras Station

My sisters and I went up the second level to search for British cool stuff.  I bought a big map of the London Underground from a bookstore there.  Expensive, but it’s worth it.  I planned to frame and put it on my  wall.  We saw this massive Olympic Rings near the train platform and took some photos of it. 

Olympic Rings welcoming visitors

My sister Nicole

Me

In the middle of our photo-shoot with the giant Olympic Rings, Nicole checked the time.  It was already 7:30!  We immediately ran to the boarding gates and were surprised to see so many people hurrying to get inside to catch their respective trains.  It was the complete opposite of what’s the situation fifteen minutes earlier.  The lines were sooo long.  I was so scared that we might miss the train especially when  it was my idea to buy last minute souvenirs.

Everything's gonna be okay... right?

Before we can ride the train, we need to get through ticket inspection, baggage inspection, and immigration!  We were all standing in the line panicking.  Luckily they opened a fast lane to those passengers bound for Paris.  We were almost finished with the baggage inspection when the inspector specifically asked for my sister’s rucksack to have it checked again.  He poured out all the contents of it and opened my sister’s cellphone and iPod. We were like, WHAT THE HELL?! Why now? He then swabbed the whole inside of the bag, god knows why.  He knows we were in a hurry since we were from the priority line but no, he swab the damn thing like swabbing was a form of art.  It’s like he was doing it on purpose.  I don’t have problem with random checks (hopefully that was a random one) but that guy is an ass.  

We got at the platform at 7:50 and fell in line at the nearest queue that we saw.  We were so relaxed by then. Hurray, we made it!  In your face, inspector! We were already reminiscing what just happened and laughing about it.  When it’s our turn to board the train, I noticed that it was the wrong coach number.  Ours is coach number 16 located at the other end of the train.  The fear kicked in again.  By this time, we were frantically running like morons.  I wish we got that on tape.  

Anyway, we made it.  But the whole thing was exhausting.  It felt like an Olympic marathon.  Paris better be good.

Paris week will be posted next week :) 

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Tips:

The place is still under construction.  A lot of buildings are not yet finished.  But the main stadium I believe is almost done.  The buzz of the town is all about that red tower.  The mayor of London wanted a structure like the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty built to symbolize the city.  The result is the ArcelorMittal Orbit.  I read in the local newspaper that the people are pretty upset with its design.  They said that it’s just a waste of money and that it looks like “rubbish”.  Well, it’s hard to argue with that.  They could’ve added a roller coaster on it to make it interesting.  That would be fun.

ArcelorMittal Orbit

After having some few pictures with the stadium, we took a bus to Westfield Stratford Mall, the biggest mall in the UK.  We spent the day inside that black hole and the rest of the night in Oxford Street.  We were so busy shopping that we forgot to eat dinner.  Believe it or not, we only felt hungry when we arrived at the hotel.  “Hunger is for the weak.  It’s all in the mind,” that’s what my sister always says.  Apparently, it's true. Take my word for it.

Want more? Read our train mishap in London Day 7!


Tips:

1. UK's largest mall: Westfield Stratford Mall.
2. Visit Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park: click here.