Arc de Triomphe

After saying "Hello" to the Eiffel Tower, we hopped on the Metro once again to get to the Arc de Triomphe. Having arrived in Paris from Asia in the morning, we were able to have an incredibly long day as a kickstart. The excitement had definitely fueled us till we collapsed to our bed rightfully at night, already in Paris time.

This was a free and easy trip which meant we were at our own pace. We could choose to linger wherever we want, take photographs to our hearts' content and not to force ourselves to listen to a tour guide's spiels, which more often than not, is about what time you need to get back to your tour bus. (Speaking from experience...)

It was our first time in Paris and it is I think, forgivable that we stopped by at the famous landmarks even though the tourist crowds dominate these places. (But hey! We are tourists alright.)

Checking in and out at the Eiffel Tower

Excuse my ugly short fingers... ruining the Eiffel Tower view.

When we were finally settled in our lovely room in Paris, we quickly refreshed ourselves, hoping the arduous long-haul flight won't take a toll on us and make us give in to our brightly-colored bed, which was very tempting. Jet lag was yet another foreign concept to us that time so, we made our way to the Metro that got us to Trocadero, giddy with excitement. Trocadero is famous for having a great vantage of the Eiffel Tower.

Why straight to the Eiffel Tower, you may ask? Well, there is that perennial joke I always hear when someone is new to a place, one has to bow and kiss "something" in that new place. But I never saw anyone actually doing it but it makes a good guffaw every time. A conniving excuse to pick on someone, really.

And NO. We did not kiss the ground in Trocadero because it would be icky given the multitudes of people that were there. The Eiffel Tower was a reassurance to us that we were not just dreaming when we got on a plane and landed in a different continent.

Finally Hotels in Brussels and Paris

Hotel de Ville de Bruxelles (Brussels Town Hall)

No, we did not stay in this historic building that looks very grand, because this is Brussels' Town Hall. And that's a real sky right there. The blue sky looked magical at night, and that it was almost unreal, like a stage backdrop for some Gothic play.

Anyway, I don't have photos of our hotels again save for one or two. This explains why I am posting filler photos to make this a little more decent. lol

Hotels! Yes at last, we stayed in hotels for our last three nights in Europe! Hotels wherein we got our own bathroom, all to ourselves! Yay! Both our budget hotels but still...

Amsterdam Hotelboat

Our hotel boat in Amsterdam, aptly called Amsterdam Hotelboat.

When I was looking for a place to stay in Amsterdam, topping the search list are hotel boats. Of course, I was searching for affordable ones and by that I mean, €30/night/person or less. Lumping many countries (which in our case was 6) in one trip can be expensive because one would need to transfer from country to country. However, cross-country trains can also be cheaper if booked well in advance and it's now the era of budget airlines so, frugality can still be a way to go.

But then for us, mere employees who get our dough entirely by working, cheap train and airline tickets will still be congruent to affordable accommodations.