Day 1 - Paris

25 Feb 2010
We arrive at Paris CDG Terminal 1 at about 6.40am. Immigration clearance was brisk since the queue for non-EU passport holders was relatively short. The trip to our hotel, Holiday in Express CDG Airport was more eventful.

CDG Shuttle
We took the CDG Shuttle to Roissypole (located next to CDG Terminal 3). The CDG shuttle platform was accessible via a lift located at the back of the Information counter at Terminal 1. Initially, we thought it was a shuttle bus, but it's actually an Inter-Terminal aerotrain service, similar to the Skytrain in Changi Airport.

Roissypole
Roissypole itself is not CDG Terminal 3, it is located adjacent to it (about 5 minutes walk) as we found out on Day 2. Roissypole consists of platforms and terminals for RER B trains and bus services connecting CDG airport to the city and beyond. It was a little confusing trying to look for the shuttle bus that goes to Holiday Inn at first and the attendant at the control station was not helpful either (the arrogant bastard refused to speak English). Fortunately, we found some helpful staff from the Roissy bus customer service.

Black Bus
The shuttle bus platform is located on the opposite platform of the CDG shuttle (Look for the sign that says 'Hotel Courtesy Bus'). The bus that would bring us to Holiday Inn Express was called the 'Black Bus'. (Note: That's the name of the bus company, not its colour!).

The journey on the 'Black Bus' to our hotel took about 12 minutes. It was a free service that goes to airport hotels such as Park Inn, Marriot and Holiday Inn. Quite a number of business people took the Black Bus as well.

Our hotel - Holiday Inn Express CDG Airport

To the city
After checking in, we waited at the hotel lobby for the 'Black Bus' to get us back to Roissypole in order to catch the RER B train to the city. We bought Paris Visite day tickets, which costs EUR 18.40 per person, and covers unlimited travel on RER, Metro and buses within Paris zone 1 to 5. The usual return ticket from the airport to the city already costs about EUR 17 per person, so Paris Visite made sense to us.

Note: In my opinion, buy Paris Visite ticket only if you are staying near the CDG airport area or planning to do lots of travel on the metro and RER, otherwise a 'carnet' of 10 tickets which costs about 11 EUR would be a better option to stretch your EUR.

The RER B took about 45 minutes to the city due to some minor delays along the way. We got off at St Michel / Notre Dame stop to have some lunch and visit the Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Lunch
We had a pre-lunch snack at a local bakery that we found by chance when we took the rue Xavier Privas exit from the RER.

Our pre-lunch snack

Lunch was a 3-course set meal at the Symposium Restaurant, located at 29, rue de la Huchette. Our set lunch cost EUR 8.50 per person and consists of mussels, followed by spaghetti or roast chicken and chocolate mousse. It was good, but not great. However, one can't complain when paying EUR8.50 for a three course meal in the heart of Paris. The mussels from Brussels were definitely better.

Lunch @ Symposium Restaurant

Notre dame Cathedral
Notre dame (literally means 'Our Lady' in French) Cathedral is really beautiful and well preserved. We were mesmerized by the beauty of the architecture, both inside and outside the cathedral. Our day pictures would have been better had the weather been on our side. It was gloomy and raining. My good friend Marcel lamented that I bring crap weather wherever I went. I'm beginning to believe his words.

Notre Dame main entrance

Inside the Notre Dame (facing main altar)

After praying in the Cathedral and enjoying its beautiful interior, we headed for Invalides to visit Napolean's final resting place.

Les Invalides
We took the RER from St Michel / Notre-Dame and exit at Invalides. The journey from the train station to the Invalides campus took a while as it was raining cats, dogs and elephants and the cold weather didn't help at all. We thought we could find a covered walkway, but there wasn't any to be found and we lost our bearings a little. Thankfully, the rain subsided a little and we could make our way to Invalides on foot with the help of my brolly.

Les Invalides (background)

Invalides used to be a campus containing a hospice, convent, hospital and factory. Today, the campus grounds is a tourist attraction consisting of Eglise du Dome (Dome church), the tomb of Napolean I, Musee de l'Armee (Military museum) and the Cathedral of St Louis.

Eglise du Dome @ Invalides

The entrance fee to Napolean's tomb and Musee de l'Armee cost EUR 8.50 per person. Musee de l'armee houses an impressive collection of rifles and military outfits used by the French army. We also saw a lot of foreign army personnel, mainly from the Ukraine and Africa, visiting Musee de l'armee.

Tomb of Napolean Bonaparte
Napolean's tomb is located within the orifice of Eligse du Dome. The sarcophagus is impressively large for a small man. Within the sarcophagus are five successive coffins made from tin, mahogany, lead, lead again and ebony. Napolean's remains were brought back to Paris from the island of St Helena in 1840.

Napolean's final resting place

Cathedral of St Louis
The design of the Cathedral of St Louis was inspired by St Peter's Basilica, Rome. While not as grand as Notre Dame, Cathedral of St Louis is beautiful in its own right.

Main Altar of St Louis' cathedral

The dome as seen from inside

Check out our visit to Eiffel Tower in my next post.