Au revoir, Paris, hello again, London!

Day 10 (Wed, 11 June 2014)

All too soon, our Paris holiday had come to an end and we would be taking the Eurostar back to London this morning. But before we left, we squeezed in another very French meal - croissants for breakfast! These were bought from the local boulangerie (bakery) a few doors down from our hotel. They make their breads fresh every morning and open shop from 6am.

If you buy croissants in France, go for the croissant au beurre, which is a croissant made from butter. I can't tell you how good the croissants are in Paris. Even though this is no famous bakery, the croissants are light, flaky and the inside extremely fluffy and buttery. So much yum for just €1 (S$1.70). We're really going to miss French food.

Just for a treat, we also bought a French meringue from the same bakery. A large cloud of happiness.

Finally, time to leave. We dragged our suitcases across the street to Gare du Nord. It's an easy ride up the escalator to the London-bound station.

Gare du Nord, like most old train stations in large cities, is very picturesque. There's a large departures board which gives the station an old-world charm. If you've watched the movie Hugo, you'll know what I mean.

Before coming here, I'd read all sorts of horror reviews online about the state of Gare du Nord, how it's dirty, rife with pickpockets and a slum compared to London's five-star St Pancras. I found it all completely exaggerated. Sure, it's a tad shabbier than London but the check-in area was clean, with plenty of seats and little shops. The process was smooth and pleasant, and the customer service staff polite. I don't think it's any more dangerous than your typical big city train station.

Which brings me to the topic of safety in Paris in general. Again, I'd read all sorts of scary news reports online about how the Chinese were being targeted by criminals and I'd imagined there were pickpockets at every corner waiting to steal from us. The reality was, we experienced nothing of the sort. We were warned about gypsy children but we never saw them once. In fact, after a few days, Andre asked, "What do these gypsy children look like?" lol.

I'd also heard about the survey ruse, where people come up to you asking if you could do a survey and then pick your bags when you were distracted. We were actually approached by a group of teenagers near the Paris Opera House, holding what looked like survey papers. The girl who come towards me was blatantly staring at my bag! However, I was instantly on alert mode and waved my hands, saying "No, no!" very loudly. They immediately walked away and gave us no trouble. I'm not saying that pickpocketing doesn't happen. I'm saying that because we only hear of cases that get reported, they tend to be magnified in our minds and blown out of proportion. Just stay alert, keep your bags in front of you if you can (mine is constantly strapped in front of me) and don't do silly things like leave your bag unattended or flash expensive equipment or jewelry. I guess it also helped that we were in Paris in Summer where the sun only set at 9.50pm. Naturally, you should be more careful after dark.

We said goodbye to Paris and took the 2.5 hour trip on the Eurostar back to London.

Andre enjoyed the last croissant he had saved on board.

During this trip, I found the Parisiens much friendlier and more courteous than 15 years ago, especially the service staff. At no time did I encounter the stereotypical uppity Parisien with their insistence on not speaking English. In fact, we met quite some French folks who tried to speak a few words of Mandarin to us!

I asked Lesley-Anne whether she preferred Paris or London. Her answer: she likes London for its functionality - the trains are cleaner, the city feels safer, things work better. But she prefers Paris as a city because it's more artistic - everything from its architecture and exhibits to its culture and people. I would describe Paris as the soul of an artist. Temperamental, gritty and not the most sanguine company. But it's bursting with character and poetry. You just can't help falling in love with it. I ♥ Paris.

We arrived back at St Pancras International and changed at the Tube station to go to Earl's Court.

Our next accommodation was in this lovely residential area.

We checked into this two-bedroom apartment that I found on airbnb.

It's a fantastic rate considering it has two bedrooms and a large living area. It comes with a kitchenette and all the amenities we could possibly need, eg washer and dryer, stove, dishwasher, fridge, oven and microwave. This is the main bedroom with a tv:

Second bedroom:

Living room. We can watch the World Cup on the big screen and at sane hours!

Kitchenette:

The host Peter, loaded the apartment with all sorts of conveniences - coffee, tea, sugar, milk, bottled water and a pack of chocolate cookies. Towels and toiletries are provided, even a bookcase full of books and DVDs!

There are two disadvantages I thought I should mention: 1) the apartment is three flights of stairs up, which was a little tough, especially with our luggage 2) it has no air-conditioning which means it can get very warm on hot summer days, even with the windows open. I think it's probably comfortable up to 25 degrees celcius. But the pros far outweigh the cons: the apartment is less than 5 mins away from two Tube stations - Earl's Court and West Brompton. It's in a central location close to many shops, supermarkets and restaurants, yet only about 20mins from the city centre. It's very spacious and best of all, it has super fast free wifi!

Having checked in and dropped off our luggage, we took the Tube to Piccadilly Circus. First stop - M&M's World! I know, I know, it's just a large chocolate shop. Four storeys of it. We weren't looking to buy anything, we only went in to gawk, for the heck of it. .

Next, we were ready for a late lunch and that was at Burger and Lobster at Dean Street. There is no food menu here because there are only three items, all £20 pounds each: 1) A whole lobster 2) Lobster roll 3) Beef burger. We came here because it had great reviews. We were there at about 2.30pm and the place was packed. Funnily enough, the customers were mostly Asians!

This was one of the splurge meals for us. We ordered two lobsters (one grilled, one steamed) and one lobster roll to share (I was wondering why anyone would pay £20 for a burger). The lobsters were, how do I put it, freakin' fantastic. Huge and fresh, served with butter sauce, fries and salad.

The lobster roll may not seem like your money's worth but it was stuffed full of lobster meat and that brioche roll, gosh, it was crumbly, slightly sweet and had a melt-in-your-mouth quality. You can also drown it in the same butter sauce.

A very, very enjoyable meal. Wish we could have more!

The rest of the afternoon was reserved for shopping and window shopping. We walked down Regent Street to Hamley's, the world's oldest and largest toy shop. Founded in 1760, it features seven floors of toys for all ages.

Of course there's a section for Paddington Bear from the beloved British children's book.

The top floor is dedicated to Lego. Check out the royal family made entirely from Lego bricks!

And this classic phone booth, also made from Lego.

Strolling down Oxford Street.

Stopping for a ice-cream cone.

And because we now have a kitchette at our disposal and were too tired to go out again, it was tv dinners from Marks and Spencer's for dinner. Cheap and not half bad.

From modest Sacre Coeur to opulent Versailles

Day 9 (Tues, 10 June 2014)

Our last day in Paris and we had another full itinerary planned. First, we made our way to Montmartre for our breakfast destination - Coquelicot!

A short walk from Abbesses Metro station, this very French bakery bakes its own traditional French pastries everyday. Baguettes, brioches, croissants, etc.

Apart from the bakery, they also serve hot breakfasts. One of its specialty drinks is the hot chocolate in a bowl. That's one humungous bowl! The hot chocolate is better than the coffee. For some strange reason, I can't seem to find good coffee in Paris.

We ordered the croque monsieur, which is two thick slices of bread with ham and a truckload of cheese in between, grilled to perfection. The king of grilled ham and cheese sandwich! I ordered it once at Tiong Bahru Bakery and it was a sorry imitation of the real stuff.

This one was full of gooey, cheesy goodness in every bite. And only €4.50 (about S$7.60)! We're finding food in Paris to be very affordable, especially in comparison with London. You can frequently get prie fixe (2 or 3-course set menus) at brasseries from as low as €10, especially for lunch.

Andre had the croque madame, which is the croque monsieur topped with a sunny side-up egg.

We sat outside, enjoying the bracing fresh air.

After breakfast, we set off for Sacre Coeur, a Roman Catholic basilica that sits on top of Montmartre. You can walk up the steps or take the funicular.

Sacre Coeur sits on the highest point of Paris.

Admission is free, unless you want to climb up the dome. It's small compared to Notre Dame but like most cathedrals in Paris, it's exquisite inside.

We couldn't take as many pictures outside as we wanted to as it was raining in earnest. There are gargoyles outside the building and with the rain, it looked like they were drooling. Lol!

We walked around the back of the cathedral to Place du Tertre, where artists hang out. At one time, Montmartre was the centre of modern art. Picasso used to live here when he was penniless. Today, it's a tourist area so it's more commercial and word has it that the real artists can't afford to be here. Ah well. There are still plenty of amateur artist hopefuls. Cobbled stones and narrow winding paths, interspersed with cafes. Quaint and pretty place. If you have time, you can sit outside a cafe and people watch while sipping your cafe au lait.

We had booked a half-day trip to the Chateau of Versailles, so we took the Metro to Pyramides station where our meeting place was.

20km southwest of Paris, Versailles was created in the 17th century by King Louis XIV.

It seemed like half of Paris was at Versailles on this cold, wet day. The past few days in Paris were dry and hot, so we weren't quite prepared. Andre was in a dry-fit t-shirt and bermudas, and froze in the 18 degree weather.

We were glad to go inside. The interior of Versailles is eye-popping. Imagine the most opulent display of wealth and pomp you can think of, and multiply that by 1,000. Every room was designed with majestic architectural forms and furniture, as well as dressed with paintings on the walls and ceilings.

This is the famous Hall of Mirrors which served as a ballroom and where King Louis hosted major events.

This was King Louis XIV's bed. It was made from embroidered gold and wasn't too comfortable so he couldn't even sleep in it. Go figure.

This was Queen Antoinette's bed. Queen Marie Antoinette, by the way, lived in such luxury that she was oblivious to the poverty of the people. When told that the people had no bread, she famously uttered "Let them eat cake." The people were not having any of that and revolted. She was eventually publicly beheaded.

The Versailles gardens are of equal magnificence to the palace. They've been mostly kept unchanged from King Louis' time. Thankfully, when we came out, the rain had retreated and bright sunshine greeted us. What a blessing!

We were told that there was a musical fountain show in the gardens that afternoon and we imagined it to be something like the Sentosa musical fountain. However, 3.30pm rolled by and we didn't see any show. After a while, it dawned on us - the show was basically the fountains being turned on! Classical music was being piped throughout the gardens.

By 4pm, the fountains were turned off, which diminished the grandeur of the pools somewhat.

Not to take anything away from Versailles, the gardens are truly gorgeous. Definitely well-worth a visit.

We had had a long day and upon returning to Paris, we took the Metro back to Gare du Nord and went to the restaurant we'd wanted to have dinner at a couple of days ago. It's La Brasserie Le Bouquet du Nord and this time, it was open. Hurray! Online reviews say that it serves great homestyle French cooking.

Incidentally, Gare du Nord area is in the 10th arrondissement which has become a hip place with independent cafes popping up every other week. We ordered four steak-frites (steak and fries, a French classic). Grilled in Bearnaise sauce and pan-fried in pepper sauce.

All were delicious. If you don't like the charred bits on grilled steak, go for the pepper steak. The bread Paris restaurants serve with the meal is from a baguette and it's unbelievably delicious. Crusty on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside.

A satisfying end to a fabulous Parisien holiday.