Day 2 - Part II (”The hunt for the Arch de Triumph & Palais de Gaulle”)
"The hunt for the Arch de Triumph & Palais de Gaulle"
The subway is good, but we knew we missed a lot of Paris sceneries when we travelled by RER compared to the bus system, and to be frank, I like the open-air better.So, it’s the first time we’re going to travel by bus, so we studied the bus system. Around mid-day, we decided it’s the best time to visit the world-famous "Arch-de-Triumph".And while Atak and Izwah were studying the bus schedule and route,I was studying the "bus system passenger’s code of ethics" –> direct translation from French…and here I would be very happy to list some of them:-
1.Do line up at the bus stop, and give priority to the elderly and children
2.Wave / give sign to the bus driver that u wish to board on the bus, or else, it wont stop
3.Enter and exit using the appointed entrance
4.When u on board, remember to punch u’r transportation pass
5.Priority seating to elders and children (and women)–> why guys should always be the last?
6.Keep your voice down, not all people like noise –> oooppss…I cant help it..
We stopped at around 300 m from the Arch de Triumph, so we had to walk there. When we arrived, its around 4.30 pm, and the view of Arch de Triumph, with the sun setting to the west as it background was simply breathtaking. I wish I could go right under the Arch and touch its grand pillars, but it is located at the center of the busiest Paris roundabout…after calculating my survival chance (which is less than 5%) in case I would be hit by the buses, I decide to drop it off….no regret, I got a 16x optical zoom equipped video cam..this is when technology really help people 
And, starting from the Arch de Triumph, the Paris main road lain down in front of us, dragging to no less than few kilometres long, embraced by hundreds of shopping lots along it. Well, its the "shoppingthon-shopping+marathon" for us (Atak especially). Hundreds of boutiques (Gucci, Zara, UCB, and what not..) with each of them offering discount (fr. Soldes) up to 70%!!! It was so intimating!!! Well, I guess it’s too intimating when Atak end up in a Mercedes-Benz show room…ok, there’s discounts available, but we are way too far from even renting a car, left alone buying one. And while Atak with his travel gear entered into the showroom, we couldnt help it anymore, and burst into big laughter imagining how the people in there gonna react with Atak presence…and just like we guess…yes, no reaction.. no one would believe someone wearing shorts and sandals could walk in into a showroom, point to the latest model car and voila!! cash on the desk!!! …….ok., thats the joke of the day
I guess I knew why most "mak datin" gain up some weight. I got up with a new fact..SHOPPING IS TIRING..and several hours later, all three of us ended up in the sidewalk Le McD …not much to talk about this place, except we had a chance to see a couple in the opposite table do the popular french-kiss..(and they’re helpful enough to help us taking some pictures), and the incident when Izwah almost knock off a flower vase while trying to take a picture of me and Atak. oh..and another thing..we cleaned up the mess we did by ourselves.That’s the "Ethiques au Le McD"
We walk and walk and walk…until we can walk no more..we thought we could finish the main road, but we finish only half of it..our last stop is the Obelisque. It is a big beautiful square with and Obelisque, and 4 statues of women sitting on a chair (which representing the European unity..dont know why 4). Its already sunset, and we decided to head back to our hostel. And while we searching for the nearest metro station in our guide book, ..voila!!!..
Honk! Honk ! a guy in a stylish looking car signaled us to come to him
"Hi !! are u from Malaysia?" he asked with his not-very-crisp English
"Yes we are"
"Oh..I love Malaysia!! Kuala Lumpur!! I’ve been there.." and the blah-blah-blah continues
The guy presented himself as a Fashion designer for the Ferrary F1 Team, and by the way, he was actually heading home to Italy, unfortunately, his credit card got some problem, and he had no cash to fill up his tank. So, he offered us two prototype leather jackets, convincing us that it is not in the market, as it is a prototype for the next season F1 ferrary models or somethin’ like that…he offered us both 2 jackets at a price of 100 Euro…
ok, what do u think??? was it a made-up story ? or it’s real?
I almost believe him, and already reaching up to my wallet (perhaps I was too stunned by the facts that all Frenchmen are nice)..but to my luck, Atak and Izwah talk us out of it…they didnt believe one single shit out of him..
soon, we left the square ,..behind us, the Eiffel and Obelisque stood in the middle of quiet Parisian dusk.While we lead ourselves downstairs to the subway, I couldnt help but thinking again and again bout the guy…what if it is REAL?…….well,who knows?? I smiled to myself
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we arrived quite late at night, most of the shop around our hostel had already closed, so we decided to have our dinner in the next-door restaurant. I bought a nice baugette sandwich, and Izwah end up ordering rice and chicke..all and all..its not bad.
we decided to head to bed quite early that night, cause tomorrow we need to wake up early….yes!!! it’s gonna be Disneyland tomorrow!!! I must’ve been very tired, cause that night, I drifted to sleep without setting my alarm-clock first…..
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p/s: during our walk in "Day 2-Part 1" before reaching the Le Bon Marche, we did went to "Hard Rock Cafe:Paris" , a "Disney shop" where we purchased our ticket for Disneyland, and "National Music Academy"..but there’s no interesting story to write about it, so I must have been accidentally left out the details, sorry
