I woke up early in the morning. My head felt so heavy. Damn, I was having a hang-over. I had had a party with my host till 3 AM or something. And, oh it was Christmas. It was Christmas. And I was in Paris for Christmas. How awesome was that.
I immediately dressed up to pick my friends in the hotel. And then they phoned me like "Ricky, we wanna go to the China Town!". What the heck? You guys were in Paris but you wanted go to the China Town? Typical Indonesian tourists. But of course I took them there. So, we went to Place d'Italie, the Asian district in Paris. Well, not exactly, the real China town is actually in Porte de Choisy, not far from Place d'Italie.
So, we began food-hunting. It was extremely cold. It was about -8C. And, oh damn, no restaurant was open. It was Christmas! But finally we found this Vietnamese restaurant called Le Kok Pho Tong. And yea we went in there and had brunch. The food was not bad at all. I didn't regret eating there. They have warm Pho (Vietnamese dish), and it tasted even better in winter.
After that, we took a metro to Trocadero. What's that actually? It's a spot to see Eiffel Tower! You know, Eiffel Tower is big, and you cannot take any picture if you stand exactly under the tower. The right spot is Trocadero.
You will notice there are so many people selling souvenirs, mostly Africans and Indians (don't mean to be racist, it's the fact). I think they are actually illegal, they are not supposed to sell souvenirs there, but hey the souvenirs are cheaper! What you must do is bargaining. French ability would give you of course some advantages because it will make bargaining easier. The African guy offered us 5 Eiffel key chains for 1 EUR, and we ended up buying 9 Eiffel key chains for 1 EUR.
We went closer and closer to the tower, which is the most famous landmark in the world. It was amazing, but it was too cold. Then we decided to take a boat tour. It cost about 8 EUR for students. We took this Vedettes de Paris. The boat goes from Eiffel Tower to Louvre. People can see the Place de la Concorde, Louvre, the statue of Liberty, and the tunnel, where Princess Diana died. It offers audio guide in French, English and German. The statue of liberty is very charming by the way. I think I ought to see the one in NY as well. The river Seine was so high! I was afraid it would flood.
Then, we went to Cathedrale du Notre Dame. You can take metro to St. Michel. St. Michel is HEAVEN! Well, it is the place for cheap foods. We went to this restaurant Le Depart. I can say it was the best meal we had in Paris. The service was amazing, the foods are not expensive, and the restaurant's easy to be found. It is near the bridge that crosses the Seine. And you can see the cathedrale from the restaurant.
So, there's this menu. 1 main course with 1 dessert or 1 appetizer for 13 EUR. Not bad at all. I ordered no dessert. I ordered escargot for my appetizer and duck for my main course. The escargot tasted much better than the restaurant near Opera Garnier the day before. Another friend of mine had a salmon and a pork as main courses
Then we took a walk to Notre Dame. I have to say it is overrated. I don't see anything so special about this church. Because it was too late, we couldn't get in. Maybe there's something worth seeing there.
We found this small alley with many cheap restaurants! That's the St. Michel. And we found Amorino. The ice-cream is very delicious and it is flower-shaped. Amorino is actually everywhere in France. Besides St. Michel, there's another one in the food court of Galerie Lafayette.
Eiffel Tower is not only beautiful at noon but also at night. This tower is lit up at night and it is gorgeous. We went there again to enjoy the magnificent view.
Some pictures were taken by Gerry Prayogo and Yana Jurnatan. Thanks for the pictures!
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