Eurotrip 2023: Day 9 – La Tour Eiffel and a bit of shopping

The following morning, we woke up quite late. It was safe to say I no longer had any jet lag.

It was our first full day in Paris after a wonderful preview the night before. We were all looking forward to getting up close to the Eiffel Tower from the Place du Trocadéro.

I even used my Trocadéro just for that. LOL

Ikle went first to our AirBnB, as we’d all be going there at the same time.

It didn’t feel like it would rain, but it was cold. We were all bundled up, especially Mama and Papa who were likely going to be easily affected by the cold weather.

The Parisian weather was a lot different than Rome that I immediately knew my shorts would not see the light of day there.

One wonderful thing about Paris was Ikle’s presence. It meant less navigation from me, as we would just basically follow her around. I did not even open Google Maps that much in Paris.

As soon as we exited the train at Trocadéro, there was already a huge crowd of tourists who had the same mission in mind.

From the that turn at the back of Palais de Chaillot, it was a slow surprise to see the Eiffel Tower appear from that corner.

I had a glimpse of the tower the night before, but it was a totally different thing to see it from Place du Trocadéro.

Mama and Papa were also grinning very hard seeing it for the first time. They even called our family home to show they were in front of the tower.

Of course, it was a tourist hotspot, with a lot of souvenir vendors and peddlers of wares around. I was also sure there were pickpockets pretending to be tourists.

But one thing I learned since our time in Rome was not to let our bags out of sight, and have our wits with us and then we’d be all right.

We only spent around 20 minutes there, before we decided to have lunch somewhere in Trocadéro.

I was also in touch with a friend and teammate from college, Sam, who was with her family on a trip from Spain. They were also staying in Trocadéro but about to fly back to Manila, yet we agreed to meet quickly meet to say ‘hi’.

We eventually ended up at Le Malakoff as we didn’t want to stray that far from the metro station.

It was likewise a special day for Mama, and we ordered our first ever set of French food for lunch. (We had Vietnamese the night before for dinner).

We were just chatting and chatting before we realized it was already quarter to 3:00 pm.

We already had a routine with Mama and Papa, as we we had to go home for their afternoon nap, so they’d have the energy they need for the evening’s stroll.

Sam also unfortunately had to cancel, as they were not yet done packing before leaving later in the day.

We took the train back to Bonne Nouvelle from Trocadéro, but Mon, Ikle and I would be stepping out again after we left Mama and Papa at the AirBnB.

Mon and I did not bring that much jackets, as we only considered Rome. We thought that what we packed for Rome would also work in Paris, but we were wrong.

The temperature was consistently colder, and we needed at least one decent jacket to use for the remaining days.

So off to Galeries Lafayette we went.

We passed by Opéra Garnier, which was disappointingly covered by a giant Chanel ad.

We were not too sure if these were routine renovations, or major prep for the Paris 2024 Olympics. First was Pont des Arts, and then Opéra Garnier. It felt like an open invitation for us to return soon just to see all these open again.

After a couple of meters, we eventually ended up at Zara. I was hoping there were decent jackets on sale and found none that were not flashy at all.

I almost bought this jacket with Chinese collars, but it was 2 sizes big. I ended up buying a multipocket black jacket in heavy canvas.

As for Mon, he bought a long nylon jacket that you can change the length if you remove the lower half.

I thought the 2-for-1 was genius as he could easily change the jacket’s look just by unfastening the long zipper.

After paying for our purchases (sadly no discount), we headed back to the AirBnB but not without a quick photo outside Galeries Lafayette.

We eventually returned in Bonne Nouvelle around 6:30 pm. Then around 7:30 pm, we  went out to have dinner at the Quartier Latin,

Although Bonne Nouvelle was very near us, it has no direct access to the Quartier Latin. We had to go to nearest Strasbourg Saint-Denis instead.

That also meant we had the opportunity the pass by Porte Saint Denis. Mama looked at it, and asked if it was really that size. I was initially not sure, when it dawned on me that she was referring to the Arc de Triomphe.

I clarified that it was a different arch, and the Porte Saint-Denis was one of Paris’ 4 triumphal arches. We’d visit Arc de Triomphe in the coming days.

Once we got out of Saint-Michel station, we immediately loved the vibe. It was already 8:00 pm but the sun was still up.

We could tell how this area would look amazing once the lights are on.

As with most dining arrangements, we just played it by ear. I personally just decided based on how quaint the options were from the outside.

We eventually chose Café Latin.

While most of us opted for traditional French bistro dishes, Papa had to (of course) opt for rice. We were at the point of the trip where we already accepted that rice options (whether risotto or any rice-based dishes) were the only one for him, unless there were no alternatives.

Ikle also had a crush on the staff waited our table. LOL

While the dining culture in Italy and France was generally ‘take your sweet time’, we on the other hand were done eating within an hour. We had limited time in Paris, we cannot be spending a long period seated just because.

From Café Latin, we then went next to the Fontaine Saint-Michel. While it is distinctively very Ginebra for Papa (LOL), it was the image of Mindy in her busking gig at ‘Emily in Paris’ for Mon and me.

There was also a night market of handmade products and local produce at Place Saint-Michel.

From Place Saint-Michel, we then headed to Île de la Cité via Pont Saint-Michel, where we got our first glimpse of Notre Dame.

We debated whether we should drop by, but eventually decided not to.

It was closed anyway, and Papa and Mama were okay not getting that close to it.

We were all enjoying the leisurely walk with the cool weather, as the sun slowly sets in Paris. Everything was slowly lighting up, from the street lights to the bridged and the buildings.

At Île de la Cité, I also had the opportunity to drink in one of the public water fountains. I was straddling like a giraffe, though, as clumsy me was afraid to accidentally get my shoes wet.

From boulevard du Palais, we then walked until Pont Notre Dame. We stayed there for a long time, as we waited for sun to finally set at around 10:00 pm.

Mama and Papa were also very delighted to see the Seine, with its bateaux-mouches and the people promenading the river bank.

It was very cold at 10:00 pm, but it was magical for my parents to be by the Seine, which they were seeing for the very first time. It was a moment to remember.

We waited until the lights were on at Palais de la Cité, before we started walking again.

From Pont Notre Dame, we made our way to Hôtel de Ville de Paris. It was quite near but we were moving very slowly.

We just took a couple of photos from the outside (as it looked gorgeous), before we decided to go to the Hôtel de Ville station.

Upon seeing where we had been in the night before, Mama and Papa would usually ask to visit these places too.

They saw our photos when we met Pat at the Louvre, and they requested we go there as the last stop in the evening.

Mama has seen ‘Da Vinci Code’ several times to recognize the pyramid. She was also excited to be inside the Louvre and see the Mona Lisa.

We just sat by the Louvre Pyramid for around 30 minutes, as we were just chatting on the most random topics we could think of.

Compared to Rome, Papa and Mama finally got their groove in Paris and were able to cope with the schedule that worked for them.

That meant we could step out first thing in the morning, then we go home after lunch, Mon and I (and Ikle if she were available) would go somewhere else in the afternoon at they nap, then we’d go out again in the evening for dinner and a stroll.

It would allow them not to miss out of the city lights, as these cities usually transform in the evening. Good thing they managed to do that on our very last evening in Rome.

From the Louvre, we then went out of quai François Mitterand to cross Pont du Carrousel.

We didn’t stay long there except for some photos, as it was already close to 11:00 pm.

We were to originally take a FreeNow vehicle from by Place Justin Godart. However, the driver decided to troll us.

He was already at Beaux-Arts when he accepted the booking, then he was at Musée d’Orsay. We thought he was just making a turn at Pont Royal then to Pont du Carrousel to reach us.

However, he suddenly appeared all the way at Arc de Triomphe.

We already lost 20 minutes of our time, and it was clear he wanted us to cancel instead — which I did, and I was € 12,50 that I instead to dispute a day after.

We took the bus instead, even if it meant we would have to walk a long way until rue Poissonnière. At least we got home eventually past midnight.

Steps: 18,059