Paris .... the city of lights ...

Even the thought of going to paris .. brings up a good feeling. Lots of things come to mind ... a beautiful place...eiffel tower....museums ... coffee shops ....
So i started my journey to paris with lots of expectations.

As i got down as Charles de gaulle airport and moved out .... the first thing which came up was language barrier :(. English is not a widely used in paris and majority of people know broken english. But still, although u have to make a little bit of effort ... u can find the information.

Before starting my journey ... i was told by people that the best way to travel paris is by metro train.... its cheap ..widely connected and comfortable. And it was so true.... metro network comes right up to airport. So i took metro pass along with map of metro train network [this map proved to be very useful] and entered the metro train. As train started from the station ..... i saw something i never ever expected in paris ..... 'beggars in train!!' .... and for a moment i was wondering if i was really in france ;).
Metro journey was good but if u r carrying lots of stuff with u then then its bit of trouble as most of metro stations dont have escalators.
Train journey was over and it was time to locate the hotel. . I was carrying 3 heavy bags .... and as i asked one lady about the address ... she not only told me the way but also lifted one of my bag to some distance to help me out. Well .. i must say people of paris are not just good looking but very helpful too. Whenever i needed any help ...people were very much forthcoming and greeted with a smile. And within few hours i was begining to feel very comfortable there.

I reached my hotel .... but didn't liked the hotel .... it was a lil expensive and very small...as we call in hindi kabootarkhana ...... all facilities were there but very less space ...

i took some rest and then moved out to explore paris ..... there were lots of road side shops and you can buy anything u want easily . I was looking for a calling card to call back home and easily got one but again language problem [:(] .... all instructions were written in french..phew!!
but as i said earlier french people are extremely helpful [:)] ..... and this time i got hold of a policeman[luckily he knew some english] and he helped me out ...so i was able to call back .....

First impression u get about paris is looots of roadside coffee shops ..... so even if u r vegetarian u will not have much problem ...u can always get something to eat. It gives an impression of some posh market in south delhi ... but much more organised.

It was night time ...i was getting ready to see wht i have been waiting for 'Eiffel Tower'. So i took metro and got down at Torcadero station .... and the first time i saw Eiffel tower .... well it was unbelievable ..... really couldn't believe it was in real. It was an awesome view [if u want to watch Eiffel tower then always approach from tocadero side .... u will remember the view for life]..... i started clicking photos as many as i could [:)]. There is a lil pop corn shop on left as u approach eiffel .... so i took my pop corn packet ...moved closer to Eiffel ....
There are lots of fountains and small parks ....also a little river just before eiffel ....and most importantly no big buildings anywhere near it ...... which makes the view so wondeful.
Now if u want to go to the top of eiffel u will have to spend some money ..... they have divided eiffel into 3 levels .... and cost goes higher with each level. But one must go to the top of eiffel even if it means lil more money. Everything looks so small from there and u start admiring this wonderful architecture .... and just wonder...how someone created this.
It was well past 12 and time to go back to hotel .... luckily metro was still available. It was a wonderful first day of my journey ..... :)

Next day i took a train to go to 'Nice' to get a feel of French sea beaches ..... well i would say it was ok ..... not upto my expectation . But the best part was train journey, TGV took just 4.5 hours to travel from Paris to Nice i.e a distance of around 900 km !! Amazing!!

I don't like to see museaums and all but if you like them then Paris is heaven for you especially Louvre museum. And Don't forget to meet Mona Lisa in Louvre she is pretty :) ......

other than that you may go to Moulin Rouge .... visit church or hang out.................

Paris trip was a good experience and best part is you wont get bored even if you are alone.

If found it quite safe place but dont do lots of shopping or your pocket might get empty ;) ....

Hyderabad ki shaan..... " Shared Auto "

When i reached hyderabad few years back, i had lots of things running in my mind. People had told me a lot of things like it will be very hot there .... lots of poverty .... and most of areas will be like chandni chowk of delhi.

I got down at Nampally station and guess what i saw ...a crowded place outside just like another chandni chowk [things told me were coming true] but as i moved on i realised there was lot more to hyderabad than what was told to me .... theres were many beautiful buildings ... big parks .... posh areas but one thing caught my attention the most in first few days .... crowded auto rickshaws which can give cars some competition when it comes to filling up people in it. Can you imagine 11 -12 people stuffed into an an autorickshaw..... if u find it tough to digest then just read on , i will tell u first hand experience of travelling in shared auto [;)] ......

So here i was in hyderabad all set for the first day of my job. I dressed up nicely in my formals and along with 3 other friends started from my place and reached bus stop but as always bus didn't came;) and it was time to hire an auto. Now this was not a shared auto :) ..it was normal hired auto, so journey was good. We reached office and after completing intial formalities and meeting my team it was time to go back and this time i was alone.

As i came out of office somebody suggested to take shared auto as it will be cheaper and so i started waiting for a shared auto. An auto came with driver shouting Ameerpet..Ameerpet..Ameerpet and crowd rushed towards it within 10 sec auto was full . By full i mean 3 were sitting at the back and 2 on front seat along with driver!! and i was lucky enough to get a seat at the back. It didn't look menacing but i didn't knew tht this was just the begining;). After travelling a km, auto stops and auto driver again says those magic words Ameerpet...Ameerpet...Ameerpet and guess wht happens three more people fit into the auto and now seating arrangement was like this 3 were seating along with driver in front seat , 4 at the back seat and one hanging outside. Auto driver looked like a fighter pilot stuffed into the cockpit of his jet fighter!! and my heart was beating faster as auto driver could hardly move his neck and balance of auto could go haywire anytime. We would have moved a km more and our auto stops again and 2 guys come running and hang outside the auto. Would you beleive it 10 people in an auto!!!!!!!!!! [11 including driver] and except one person everybody in the auto was smiling as if it was a daily routine to travel like tht but i had enough of it, i didn't want to make my first day in office more eventful. So i immediately got down there and paid arnd 3 rupees for this unbelievable journey [not bad though .... in amusement parks i would have paid arnd 100 buks for such a ride;)]

Within few weeks i realised this is a norm in hyd. ... autos with 10-11 people don't surprise me anymore but still i opted for safer option went for a bike [;)] ......

I always felt that Michael Schumacher was best driver world has ever seen when it came to overtaking and fast driving but my thoughts changed after coming here ;). Mr. Michael you can't beat these auto wallas ...I can bet on it :) ....