Raj and Radhika's Europe Trip - June 2006 - Part 2

Day 2
Day 2 started quite lazily with us waking at close to 10 am. We went down and grabbed a breakfast and then returned to the room to freshen up. We finally got ready by 1pm and went down to the Madeleine where we boarded the 'le open tour paris' hop-on hop-off bus. We also bought tickets for a seine river cruise. The first hop-off we made was at Pont Neuf or the new bridge, which is the oldest bridge over the seine. We then grabbed some lunch (hard bread with cheese and tomatoes) and then headed for the Notre Dame. After touring the beautiful church, we boarded the bus again and went to the Musee d'orsey. This is a former station that has been converted into a museum. After some time there, we boarded the bus and got down on the Champs Elysee about 1km from the Arc De troimphe. After grabbing a couple of scoops of haagen daz, we walked down to the arc de troimphe. We then bought some paintings and then set off for the eiffel tower. We reached there around 7 pm. We then waited in a long queue and took the lift to the 3rd level, 350 metres above ground. The views of paris from there were wonderful. Next, we headed out for the seine river cruise, which started at 9 pm. We went under over 20 bridges, each of which had its own history, and took in lots of wonderful views. It was quite amazing, seeing people lazing along the various quais on the riverbank. The tour ended at the eiffel tower around 10 pm, after which we cabbed it home. Our taxi driver was a loquacious Lebanese, who thought Indian women esp sushmita sen were the most beautiful in the world. We reached the hotel to find dinner was over - fortunately we had some bread and fruits with us which we had.

Today morning, we woke early (around 730), had breakfast by 930 and then headed out for the louvre. Focused on the renaissance paintings (french / italian) and the egyptian artifacts section. The museum is huge - it has 3 wings with 4 floors each. Out of the 12 possible floor-wing combos, we covered only 3 in about 6 hrs before we got tired and returned to the hotel. We saw the Mona Lisa, which is surprisingly small, the Madonna of the Rocks, the sculpture of Venus de Milo, a mummy and several egyptian sculptures et al. After dinner, headed out for paris est and are now waiting for the train. Tomo morn, will be at Zurich at 630 cet
Ciao
Raj
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