I went out at around 8 am, took metro line 13 to Saint Denis-Universite. I reached there at 8:30 am. The metro ride was only 20 minutes from Saint Lazare to the Universite Paris VIII. As I alighted at the station, I have to admit that the place is really different than the city centre area. It is a little quiet in the morning. Then, suddenly two asian guys approached me and asked where the University is. From their attire, I guess that they are going to the same venue as I am. Actually, I wasn't sure the location at that time, but, I saw "Universite" sign at the building opposite the metro. So, we walked together to the conference venue. Later I found out that the two guys are from Taiwan. Even the University area doesn't look safe to me. It was still early, and I think no school activity is going on at that time. I believe it's because of summer time (holiday?).
The session goes on for half a day (it was close to 12:30 pm), and unfortunately quite a number of participants don't show up. I believe some of them may have visa issue to enter Europe. We were given a lunch coupon which we can redeem our meal in the canteen. Below is my lunch for the day. I had rice (I think it's risotto) with fish and some kind of sauce, a chocolate eclair, and rice pudding (I think). The packaging is written in French. Taste is pretty ok.
Of course by the time, I have made more friends, and I met one colleague. He is from other department in the company. I always see him around, but, never talk at all. So, we had a chit chat for a bit. I think people become more friendly when they are away from home.:D
I did not have plan yet in the afternoon. So, I joined the Taiwanese guys. They planned to go to Galeries Lafayette to walk around, then to Eiffel Tower. Yes, I want to go to Eiffel Tower! It was nice that I have friends to go with me now. I heard from one of the conference attendee ( a malaysia guy) that, his friend lost his wallet in Eiffel Tower the day before. It's a bit scary. Well, that's Paris...
So, I met them up at the Lafayette. The interior of the shopping mall is very beautiful. There are a lot of people, especially tourist. You may find people queuing in front of LV, Chanel, Longchamp stores.
From Lafayette, we decided to walk to Eiffel Tower. Below are few pictures that I took a long the way.
We were getting closer to Eiffel Tower.
Finally, we were there! Isn't it beautiful? The weather was nice that day. Slightly hot though, as we queued for almost an hour to go to the top of the tower.
Finally, we were at the top. First we took lift to second floor, then change lift at third floor to get to the top. They have head count system, in which there are a maximum number of people who can go up to the top. We were lucky that, by the time we got into the ticket counter, the top floor was open. The ticket costs 15 Euro to go to the top, and 9.5 Euro if you just want to go to second floor.
We were very exhausted after a long walk, and a long queue. We went back at around 7:30 pm. I walked with the guys, and eventually took metro back to my hotel. By the time I reached my hotel, it was 9 pm. But, the day is long during summer time in Paris. So, it wasn't dark yet at that time. I chose to have dinner in the room. I brought "Mie Sedap" all the way from Singapore. Haha, yes, yummy, and I only eat instant noodle when I am away from home, otherwise I usually ban it from my meal list.
I guess, nothing more for the day. It was indeed a tiring day.
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