After some good night rest I meet Chris at the breakfast table, where we talk about what we’re going to do today. Both of us want to see the main sights, so decisions are made pretty easy. We are going to see sights like the Eifel Tower, Notre Dame, the Sacré Coeur, Arc the Triomphe etc. So it’s going to be a full scheduled day, but we’re sure it’s going to be a lot of fun. 

Since it’s still early we decide to start off with the Eifel Tower. This is of course the must visit of Paris, and apparently we are not the only ones that decide to visit this sight as early as possible. There is a wait of 2 hours to go to the top of the tower, can you imagine what it is at mid-day? And besides that it’s quite expensive too, 13 Euros each, that about 20 dollar! Well we decide not to wait and just make some pictures and leave again. It’s way too crowded over here anyway. 

We hope that we have more luck at the Sacré Coeur. Thankfully Paris got an excellent metro system so we don’t have to walk that far. Even though we can imagine something worse then walking through the beautiful Paris. When we arrived, there was an unpleasant surprise, 237 steps up the narrow staircase. We could take the ‘Montmartre funicular‘, a little railway. Though of course this is big business and so it’s pretty expensive, so we start walking. When we arrived on the top we decide to just sit for about 20 minutes and enjoy the beautiful view on Paris. 

Chris and I always thought the Sacré-Coeur was a quite an old church, well and it is, 100 years is still old though we expected it to be older. It was built for the almost 60 thousand victims in the Franco-Prussian war which ended in the late 19^th century. We also would like to see the church form the inside and we pay a fee to get in. You’re not allowed to take any pictures and you should be quiet, after all it’s still a church. We light a candle in front of one of the several altars and someone asks us to leave the building, because the service is going to start in a few minutes. 

The Sacré-Coeur lies on top of the hill Montmartre, which is also the famous artist district. Artist like Vincent van Gogh, Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso used to work here, though nowadays it’s, shamefully, more focused on the tourist industry. Though to be honest it’s still nice to walk around even though they try to rip you off and you should watch out for pickpockets, as you should in every big city! Even though we are pretty hungry we decide not to eat yet, because Montmartre is a really expensive lunch place. 

We take the metro to a station close to the Notre Dame though not to close because we would like to eat something cheap and easy. We find a nice little restaurant a few blocks from the famous church. After relaxing a bit we visit the Notre Dame. The Notre Dame de Paris, which means ‘the old lady of Paris’, is a Ghotic style Roman-Chatolic church that was completed in 1345, even though they started building in 1163. We decide not to go inside because there is a really big line up before going in to the church. But what do you expect with 14 million visits a year, which is an average of 40.000 a day! Well, and now we do not get inside we can’t break anything either, in 1990 someone removed a candle without authorization, a crime that can lead up to 20 years in prison! Isn’t that insane?

 We visit the Arc de Tiomphe, which was nice though the roundabout was pretty busy so Chris and I were not really able to talk properly. After this we walked together along the famous ‘Avenue des Champs-Élysées’. Because it’s already pretty late we decide to go back to the hotel to eat something. The hotel got a nice French menu, which includes the famous Beef Bourguignon of Julia Child. That’s also the course I ordered, with of course a nice red wine. While eating I talked to Chris about the wonderful day we had, unfortunately Chris goes back to the UK tomorrow, so I will be alone again. After dinner I decide to go to the Louvre, I ask Chris if he will join me though he has to pack for tomorrow. 

The Louvre, the world most famous museum, is wonderful picture at night. The museum has a really good collection which includes painter like Rembrandt van Rijn, Leonardo da Vinci, Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer and Rafaël Santi. While reading da Vinci you of course though of the Mona Lisa, and believe me that was also the main reason why I came to visit the Louvre. Thankfully it’s already late in the evening and it isn’t that crowded anymore so I’m able to walk properly through the popular exhibitions. 

Though I’m also pretty tired after the busy day and decide not to go to bed that late. I also decided that I’m going to leave Paris tomorrow. There is so much to see that I can stay forever in this wonderful city, though I feel that it was enough for this time. Tomorrow I’m going to the West, but not before I visited the palace of Versailles in the morning!

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Even though I was really looking forward to this day, I wasn’t that happy when my alarm clock went off at 7 AM. Though a nice shower and a good breakfast at the lobby of the hotel made everything better. While eating I looked at my guide for something alternative things to do in Paris, of course I will visit sights like the Eifel tower, the Sacré Coeur and Montmartre. But why not showing you some of the less known sights of Paris.

This time the train ride was a bit rough, and I kind of feel my back even though it lasted only a few hours. I decide to do something relaxing and I went to ‘Jardin du Luxembourg’ the largest public park in Paris. I wonder why they name it Luxembourg, they even named the metro station where I had to get off the metro Luxembourg. Not that it does matter, but it’s kind of weird, don’t you think?

In the park you can see the original model of the ‘Statue of liberty’, a small size version of course, which is made by the Frenchmen Frédéric Bartholdi. But that’s not the only sculpture in the park, there are lots of them. It’s really nice to see, though after like ten or so many wouldn’t be really interested in them anymore. Including me, so I went to a nice looking restaurant to take a French lunch. In France the lunch is the biggest meal of the day and they spend quite some time on it. So I decide to do the same, I order the salmon with a Caesar salad. For dessert I take a simple ice cup. And of course I drink some good Bordeaux red wine to make my lunch perfect.

Next on my schedule is a visit to the ‘Musée Guimet’ an Asian art museum. It might not be the first choice of everyone though I’ve always been interested in East-Asia so a visit to this museum is for me a logical choice. The collection offers a lot of beautiful sculptures and utensils like vases. When I visited the museum there was also a special exhibition the ‘the dragon gift – the sacred arts of Bhutan’, to see al this art was fascinating an informative because I know so little about this country. For the ones that don’t know; Bhutan lies next to Nepal.

After the visit I decide to take the metro to the hostel I searched up in the train. Thankfully they still got place for me, sometimes it’s hard to find accommodation in Paris definitely in the summer. The hostel I picked is ‘St. Christopher’s Paris’ and lies close to ‘Parc de la Villette’.

In the evening I met Chris from the UK who is on a weekend break in Paris. After the evening chatting about all sorts of topics we decide to explore the main sights of Paris together. The good thing is that he has been here before and he even speaks a bit of French! It’s already late in the evening when we decide to go to sleep and meet each other tomorrow morning at breakfast.

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Finally it’s here, the first day of my road trip. After doubting for a long time I decided my first city to visit is going to be Antwerp. Why? Well, I don’t know. I could go to Paris in a few hours, though it would be a shame to miss the beautiful Belgium in my trip.

So this morning I took the Thalys from Amsterdam Centraal to Antwerp. I’ve always wanted to travel with the beautiful red Thalys. Fortunately the distance wasn’t that long so I arrived in Antwerp late in the morning. After arriving at the station, which is also a worthy sight, I took the tram to the ‘Grote Markt’ this is the main square of the city. It’s absolutely a must visit when you are visiting Antwerp, and most main sights are on walking distance from this square. On the square you can see the big city hall, which is actually on the world heritage list of UNESCO. Besides that you can see several 16^th-century guild houses, familiar to the ones in Amsterdam.

After seeing the ‘Grote Markt’ I decide to lunch at one of the over-priced restaurants and the borders of the square. While eating I still can’t take my eyes of the beautiful city hall, I just can’t wait till I can take one of the free guided tours that they offer. Though because it is quite crowed I decide to take one later on the day.

I took a look at my guide and they gave me the advice to visit the ‘Royal Museum of Fine arts’ because of the paintings of the Belgian and Dutch masters from the 16^th century. Though this is also something that I can do in my home country so I decide to take another look at my guide. It says that Antwerp was once the silver capital of the world and that they even got their own Silver museum nowadays. Ok, on first look it doesn’t really excite me, though why not take a change, who knows it might be a lot of fun. The museum lies a bit in the outskirts of Antwerp so I have to take the bus. After visiting the museum I wouldn’t say that it is going to be my high light of Antwerp, but I had certainly quite some fun to see all those beautiful silver objects.

After a look on my watch I realize that the afternoon is ending and that I still need to take a guided tour in the city hall. Thankfully the public transportation in Antwerp is good, so I’m in no time in front of the hall. I decided to keep it simple for one more day and I take the Dutch tour, my native language. There were only a few people taking the tour which gave us the opportunity to ask several questions, and surprisingly enough the guide had an answer for all of them, like every guide should. After all the guide determines if the guide is successful for the visitors.

Because of all the fun I’m having I almost forget that I haven’t booked accommodation for tonight. Thankfully I got my laptop with me so I can check some nice and cheap places in the city center. Though I’m a bit doubting if I will sleep in a hotel or hostel, but I decide to sleep in a cheap hotel just to start my trip with a bit of luxury. Of course there are no cheap hotels in the city center of Antwerp, so I end up a bit north in the ‘Best Western Hotel Docklands’ where I will eat my dinner.

In the evening I decide to stay on my hotel room and just watch a film on the television. While watching I can’t stop thinking about tomorrow, will I stay or will I go? I decide to leave Antwerp and go to Paris. Ok, I agree that this is not really original though what is a road trip without spending a few days in the romantic city of Paris?

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