It was one fine evening in Eindhoven, Netherlands when myself and my wife G were planning our first trip. As usual suggestions came from all ends and we decided upon Paris. With the time and budget constraint, we did not have many options to reach Paris and finally booked in Eurolines. And that was the first time, we were making international travel by bus. Although, the testimonials for Eurolines are not that encouraging, our expectations did not drop even a little. In the meanwhile, G did all her research about the city right from various attractions to public transportation to Indian hotels!!! We are all set and ready to go.

The bus to Paris was at 10:55 PM and as usual we reached the bus station much earlier. But we had all the luxury to choose our seats. With few arguments between me and G, we found two seats. Trust me, the bus was not comfortable at all. I expected a lot more than that!!! The bus halted at Belgium for sometime and we alighted to stretch ourselves. Finally, the bus reached the Galleni international bus station, but it opens at only 6 am and the bus had to wait a while before it can enter. The bus station and the metro station were well connected and there was no need to come out at all.
                                                       Below is our itinerary for Day 1.

I booked the Etap hotel but the check-in time was 12 PM. So decided to head towards Chateau Versailles palace. We preferred the 3 day metro pass and it only costed us 20 euros each. Believe me, it was very cheap.
The day started with a negative impression about the city although the feeling was different in the end. The weather was manageable but having come from a tropical place, i would have preferred not to see the sun popping out. Thanks to G, we had all the printouts with complete details on metro and the tourist attractions.

I strongly advise to go well prepared as you save a lot of time. So, without much difficulty, we got down at the GARE RIVE GAUCHE metro station. We spotted a private agent who sells the ticket for the palace but it was 2 euros more than what you buy inside the palace. We did not know then. Never mind. We could see the palace from distance and went rushing as if there was no life without palace. I call it excitement.
The queue was very very long but it moved fast and could reach the entrance in 45 minutes, which is nothing for that kind of a queue. Audio guide was included in the ticket and so did not think twice. Suddenly, both of us were curiously listening to the guide as if we were born historians. We just kept walking!! Remember we came straight from the bus station and we were almost exhausted. Fortunately, the palace was cool and many places to rest. Like a child screaming in joy with the sight of a toy, we were equally thrilled despite tiredness. The palace was good and i must tell you that a DSLR camera would have been very handy. Nevertheless we shot as much we and the camera can. Now we are out of the palace and looking for a place to have our breakfast. Yes, it was home made from Eindhoven.

Its time to check in the hotel.We had to roam around a while before we could locate the hotel. Language was indeed a little bit of a problem but not a concern. Eventually, there was an old man who was generous enough to guide us in the right direction and he came along to a distance. There are 2 or 3 Etap in and around the same place. So be wary. With great struggle, we spotted the hotel and what a sigh of relief. The ideal metro station for the hotel is Porte De Montreuil.

The plan for the evening is a visit to the Eiffel tower. I always wonder that how can a tall iron structure be considered one of the wonders of the world. But the first sight of the structure proved me that i was completely wrong.
Not sure of when we would come back to the place again, we decided to go to the top of the beauty and that made us to wait in the long queue. Worth, worth and worth. The view from the top was not only to see the city from top but also to see that there are things we cant imagine. Am not trying to be philosophical :-). The visit to the history is not complete without seeing it flashing its light. Suddenly there was a chaos when everybody trying to prove that they are CSA certified.

What a way to finish day 1.