SUNDAY 10 | DECEMBER 2017
My best friend got married and moved to The Netherlands last year. Once when we were talking about how long distance friendship is quite the struggle at times, she asked me to plan a trip to visit her (and her husband, of course!) This particular thought began to slowly take shape, and I thought to myself, “Why not? Maybe this is the perfect gift to my 25-year-old self !” My parents were on board with this plan from day 1, and having travelled to many countries himself, my dad took upon him the task of sorting out all the intricacies of my trip — tickets, visa, etc.
All three of us planned the trip together. I was spending 17 days in Europe, and we decided to utilise all the time we had on hands to the maximum. With our base in Rotterdam, my entire trip covered four countries — The Netherlands, France, Italy and Switzerland.
We drove down to Paris from Rotterdam. A four and half hour car journey via Belgium, we entered Paris early afternoon to the sights and snarls of traffic. Having checked into our service apartment via AirBnB in Bastille our first stop in lovely Paris was to grab some vegetarian French lunch at a nearby bistro. The nightlife in Paris is much talked about. And we decided to do just that on our first night. We hit the Latin Quarters (one of the popular party streets) and hit some interesting nontouristy pubs to experience some French culture. On our second day in Paris, I was quite eager to visit the entire popular city sights — we went to see Mona Lisa at the Louvre, visited the mighty Notre Dame and boarded the Bauteaux Marches for a beautiful boatride down the Seine that takes you right upto the Eiffel Tower! After grabbing a quick bite at La Fayette, we decided to pay a visit to the Arc de Triomphe. I went up the swirly 284 steps to be greeted with the most breath-taking sight of all — Paris at night! The well-lit roads and lovely Eiffel Tower in all its glory truly blew my mind away. A walk down the fancy Champs Elyssees, with a bite of Laduree’s yummy macaroons, we headed towards the Eiffel Tower. Trust me when I say this, the best time to visit the Eiffel is at midnight. We were the last group to go all the way up; and the view left me speechless!
On our last day in Paris, we decided to go to Roland Garros. We made this trip all the way here because my dad is a huge tennis fan and I knew he’d love something from there.
Unfortunately, their website gave us some wrong information and they were under renovation. Quite a dampener that was! Our final stop was at the Sacre Coeur, another astonishing church atop a tiny mountain. Sometimes, I wonder if all these words can even explain the beauty that was Paris. One must truly experience it to understand what I mean. >> Continued on page 11