Walking down Champs-Elysées

I thought it was pretty cool that I managed to see this pretty awesome Occupy protest, or at least its signboard.

It also happened to be the day of Fête de la Musique (June 21) so everyone was out playing music in full swing.



Mandatory visit to Sephora.


It's like Paris built the little centre divider in the middle of the road just for tourists to stand there and take beautiful symmetrical pictures of the Arc de Triomphe!

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A journey into the Louvre

Whether you know it from art history class or the Da Vinci code, there's no denying that the Louvre is one of the most famous buildings in the world. The contrast between the modernity of the famous glass pyramid and the hundred year old building that surrounds it is the recipe for 'iconic'.

The central staircase into the Louvre, from the glass pyramid entrance.

The Louvre is famous for two things: Their ancient Egypt collection - which is one of the best in the world, with real mummies and all that sort of good stuff - and of course the Mona Lisa, or La Joconde as it's called in French.

First think of the person who lives in disguise, Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies. Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend, The middle of middle and end of the end? And finally give me the sound often heard, During the search for a hard-to-find word. Now string them together and answer me this, Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?

Yes, it is a Harry Potter quote. I'm a fan :)

I don't read hieroglyphics, but this probably says something like "All hail the mighty Pharaoh" or something of the sort. 

Eventually I arrived at the Mona Lisa, which is famously underwhelming in real life. I was more interested in the crowds clamouring to take selfies in front of the Mona Lisa.

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Quirky Paris

Perhaps one of the most striking things that you notice about Paris right from the very get-go is just how very grandiose it all is. After all, there aren't many cities in the world that conjure up an image quite as vivid as Paris. Paris is a city that is, for lack of a better way to phrase it, iconic.

The Basilica de Sacre-Coeur, Montmartre.

Like any big city, a traveller here would do well to watch their belongings in case of pickpockets - although I found it funny that here, warning tourists against pickpockets was a little more explicit than usual.

Any visit to Paris wouldn't be complete without going to see the Louvre and its famous glass pyramid, prominently featured in The Da Vinci Code (protip: students in the EU get entry for free, and you don't need to be on a Holy Grail-hunting mission either).

Croissants, because, y'know. France.

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Une semaine à Paris

If you're into Game of Thrones (and if you're not, you really should be) then you'll be looking at that photo and wondering where Jon, Bran, and Robb are.

It seems that they might have traded the North for a clothier life.



There are some very iconic things about Paris - always the Seine, always the Eiffel Tower, always the Louvre and Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs-Élysées.

So I suppose it's only right that I put a mandatory photo of the Notre-Dame here.



I have to admit that despite having been to a fair number of countries, I hadn't done a Sandeman's Walking Tour until going to Paris. These free walking tours are pretty cool - they take you around the city and are great for freshie orientations, and at the end of it all request a tip instead of a fixed price for the tour.

Since Paris is pretty big, I decided to give in to the walking tour and get a head start orienting myself.



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="900"] Le Musée d'Orsay.[/caption]





[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="900"] The Eiffel Tower, all the way from across the city.[/caption]

This is Paris, so of course there are going to be a ton of street artists and musicians around. It's what the city is known for, after all - isn't it?



Did you know that the musical The Phantom of the Opera (as it was written by Gaston Leroux) was set in the Opéra Garnier in Paris? Being a POTO fan - I've been in love with the musical since I was 8, and yes I am totally a sell-out - there's no way I could miss seeing the real-life Opéra Garnier.





More iconic Paris sights - the Basilica de Sacre-Cœur from across the city.



This is the Montmartre area.



The Montmartre area is known for being the indie, artsy part of Paris, which probably explains why the street art here is so darn awesome.



I started out thinking Paris was overrated, but slowly the city grew on me. It's not too bad, even if the RER does smell like pee.

Stay tuned.

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A Very Harry Behind-the-Scenes

When we watch completed films on the silver screen, it's very easy to forget that they actually take a lot of effort to get there - makeup teams, CGI teams, special effects, props and costumes... The work that goes into a film as big-budget as the Harry Potter ones is pretty astounding!











[caption id="attachment_1943" align="alignnone" width="900"] Paper models of the Hogwarts interior.[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_1940" align="alignnone" width="900"] The amount of work that went into this is amazing![/caption]





[caption id="attachment_1937" align="alignnone" width="900"] More paper mockups, although if this is supposed to be Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade I can't tell.[/caption]

And then, before you know it...



It's freaking Diagon Alley y'all. The magical first step into the wizarding world, with a ton of apothecaries and owleries and Ollivanders and Flourish and Blotts and can you totally tell that I was one of those kids who was eagerly awaiting her owl to Hogwarts on her 11th birthday?





[caption id="attachment_1934" align="alignnone" width="600"] Because Gilderoy Lockhart is awesome, don't you know.[/caption]













So I guess my day out to Leavesden really was a lot like my entire childhood revisited, and time completely flew by - in between the incredibly detailed audio guide and soaking in the atmosphere, I somehow managed to spend an incredible seven hours at Leavesden.

There's nothing better than reliving all those childhood dreams.

 

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