[L.E.P.A.K series: Paris] Chap 13: An Afternoon in Paris

Our next itinerary for the day was a walk down Champs-Elysees. Now we could have begun our walk right from Notre Dame Cathedral but decided we had a long day ahead of us. So we opt to cut our walking time short by riding the RER to Invalides stop.

This time we got a ride on a double decker train instead!
It was a first for Cik Anai as she merrily took multiple shots of the train. I myself have came across such trains during my travels in Japan. However, I still shared the same excitement in riding it. You see, even though I saw these trains in Japan, I did not had a chance in riding them.

So naturally, we camwhore like nobody's business. There were not many commuters on the train anyway as seen in the photo above. I guess it's because we were there on a weekday and most people were already at work during these hours.

While on the train, our stomach growled and we were reminded of our lack food since our 'junkie' breakfast. So upon arrival, we attempted to make our first purchase in Paris sans French.

We stared at all the yummy looking pastries and was drooling over the Pain au chocolat except we had no idea how to go about with our order. You see as much as we read and knew about it, we had no idea how to pronounce it correctly in French. Was 'Pain' pain? *frowns* We were all set to offend the bread lady with our ignorance when a helpful
Mr Black who was making his own purchase beside us, kindly asked us
"What do you girls want?"

OUR LIFESAVER!!

We promptly pointed the pastry of our choice and he ordered them for us. A very short conversation ensued as bread lady wrapped our pastries. Turned out he's not a local himself and is studying in Paris. We thanked him for his help and he wished us an enjoyable holiday as he went his merry own way. We on the other hand, proceeded to move ourselves to a corner to....

...take a photo of our yummy pastry!!
Hahaha. Cute right? The two choco dots made the pastry looked like
some funny muppet character.


As we climbed up the stairs and stepped out into the open,
we were surprised to find ourselves right under Pont Alexandre III.


Our photo-taking mode started to kick in. With one hand already pre-occupied with our dear pastry, we tried our best to take some good shots of the luxurious looking bridge.


And then we looked up the flight of stairs...
Wow! One more shot. :D

That's me and my yummy Pain au chocolat at Pont Alexandre III.

And that's Cik Anai with her yummy Pain au chocolat
already nicely tucked away in her stomach. Hehe.

We passed by lots of beautiful architecture along the way. From the modest statue of General La Fayette to a not very Grand Palais to what seemed to be a more lavished Petit Palais. It's not hard to guess which of the three is the one behind me.

Not to mention, very very scenic views one after another.

And another! Heh.

Tham-Chiak Girl in action!

Because let's face it. It's a little crepe stall. C.R.E.P.E. It's another must-have in Paris except it was probably not the best crepe in town. I wouldn't know since it's the only crepe I had that day but it was still an awesome experience standing there waiting for my crepe to be done. =P

Now how did we order our crepe this time without helpful Mr Black?

Well, lookie! An Asian girl helping out. Yay!
Except she doesn't speak a word Chinese and she seemed reluctant to even speak English. Woot?!? Not exactly what I called friendly but we managed to place our order nonetheless.
I had no idea how we concluded in chestnut flavour though. Hmm..

A happy me with our crepe.

The crepe was shared between us since we were still filled with our Pain au chocolat. The crepe was good in the sense that it was filled with warmth and was simply lovely to enjoy on a chilly afternoon. The chestnut though reminded me of sweet Azuki (Japanese red bean paste) which I do not exactly fancy. I love nuts. I adore peas. But I do not fancy beans. =P

Wow! This post is loooong and we're not even there yet!
Alright, it's break time!