When you think of this “City of Lights”, you think of romance, arts, delicious French Cuisine, and for some – it’s the place to fall in love. While many might say the city is “overrated”. Well, I think the city is very well lives up to its reputation. It’s one of a kind city.

Paris, as many of us know, is full of attractions – the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and Notre Dame are just a few examples.  Sure, when we travel, we want to see the most talked about destinations but what funny is most of the times, we are mesmerized by the lesser known, hidden spots.

The fact is there is so much to see that sometimes visitors tend to overlook these great details about Paris – the places, which in my case, made my top 3 best Paris experience.

The Museums

You can be a fast traveler, but the truth is one simply can’t visit Paris in one day. Museums such as the Louvre and Musee D’Orsay can easily takes a day to enjoy. True, most visitors do go to these museums, but the “go” they’re talking about is to just take pictures from the outside.

Believe it or not, this is actually a pretty common mistake. First and foremost, the point of these wonderful museums is for everyone to see the world class arts – from up close. However, if you happen to have a time constraint and able to be in the city for only a couple of days, try this: go to the Louvre if you have a deep interest in arts reflecting in Medieval, Roman, and Renaissance history.

Also home to the world-renowned Mona Lisa painting, the Louvre contain more than 35,000 works which means you might want to start prioritizing which ones you really love to see from the rest.

On the other side of the Seine, Musée D’Orsay, a train station turned museum, covers the whole spectrums of arts from Impressionisms, Neoclassical, Art Nouveau, Naturalism, photography, cinematography, to urban planning and more. If you are a big fan of Monet’s paintings, this might just be your heaven.

Montmartre

Being a lovely artistic area outside the Paris’s center, Montmartre is home to the beautiful basilica, Sacré-Cœur. This is where one of my best Paris pictures was taken – it was on the steps in front of this stunning place on a sunny day.

To get there, take a metro to Abbesses station and walk alone Rue Yvonne le Tac and Rue Tardieu, then walk up its steep steps. Please note that this is not the closest route but it gives you a chance to appreciate Montmartre and its surroundings.

Interested in having your portrait drawn by a local painter? Look for an artist who actually has the works showcased in their own shop and pay more for the painting, instead of letting a passerby asked to paint your picture for 30-40 euros (or more!) because you will simply end up paying ridiculous amount of money for a drawing that your 8 years old niece could probably do a better job at.

Paris Dinner Cruise

Though many guidebooks suggest a Paris architectural cruise as part of the day time sightseeing, I, on the other hand, think the Paris dinner cruise has everyone’s heart. The cruise we took was run by Bateaux Parisiens. They offer different types of tour, though the Paris Illuminations is the one not to be missed.

What is a better way to see Paris at night than to hop on board of a glass-encased boat, sampling traditional French Cuisine, listening to live music while this gorgeous city is just outside the window? At approximately 8:30 pm, the cruise departed the dock near the Eiffel Tower. From there, it will pass Les Invalides, La Cathédrale Notre-Dame, L’Hotel de Ville – just to name a few.

This is truly an amazing way to see Paris transform from day to night. As the matter of fact, Bateaux Parisiens’s dinner cruise was my best Paris experience. My suggestion: take the cruise, and you will dicover why this metropolis is nicknamed the “city of light”.

Other notable places worth visiting: Place des Vosges, Jardin du Luxembourg, and Latin Quarter.

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It has been about 10 years since the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Even though its been ten years, Ground Zero has not been forgotten and continues to move forward. Proposed in 2006, New York City is building the Freedom Tower, which will be the city’s new commercial building. The building is not suppose to replace the twin towers, but instead it is built for remembrance of those who lost their lives and it is a symbol of the power of America. With an estimated completion in 2013, the World Trade Center will now consist of five different buildings and areas with the hopes of creating an economic boost for the United States. There will be five new skyscrapers, a September 11^th memorial and museum, a transportation hub, retail complex, and a center of performing arts. The site will be built with some of the worlds most famous architects including; David Childs and Santiago Calatrava with hopes of creating a substantiate and safe World Trade Center.

The first tower will soar over 1, 776 feet over New York City, making it Americas tallest building. It will be known as the Freedom Tower and will be the main office space of the new design. The second tower will be 1, 349 feet and will be composed of the Performing Arts Center topped off with an eighty foot antenna. The last three towers will all rise around 900 feet with restaurants, memorials, and more. Besides the Freedom Tower, the memorial for September 11^th will be the most significant of the project with two pools that will stand in place of where the twin towers use to be. It will have two waterfalls, which will soon be the two biggest man made waterfalls of all time. All 3,000 lives that were taken on the attacks will be engraved around the edges of the pool. This will recognize the lives lost from the trade centers, the pentagon, and the plane crashes. Any visitors of the memorial and museum will go through a series of experiences in order to get the full effect of the tragedy.

“The design strives to make visible of what is absent,” stated Micheal Arad, one of the architects on the project. He stresses the main goal of the new World Trade Center is the remembrance of the lives lost. Even though it has been over ten years, and with the recent passing away of Osama Bin Laden, fear is still a factor in terrorist attacks in New York City. The World Trade Center’s other main goal, because of this, is safety. Some of the primary safety precautions of the new site include; fireproofing, structural stability, chemical air filters, wider staircases for evacuating, safer elevators, three feet deep concrete walls for refugee in case of attack, and an extra staircase for fire fighters. The site developer, Larry Silivstein, states that it will be one of the biggest and most expensive projects that America has ever seen, with hopes of healing the agony the terrorists left on the United States. The project is estimated to cost over two billion dollars, using some of the most expensive materials and designers.

Ten years ago, the largest tragedy hit the United states and now, ten years later, the largest memorial will be built. The new World Trade Center project could never and will never replace the twin towers. Instead, it will keep the lives lost remembered and honored. Wars, attacks, and millions of lives lost have been working towards this goal for years. The Freedom Tower will become a new symbol for the United States just as Lady Liberty has become. The new tower represents our country’s ability to move forward and to overcome all evil.

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If you are a museum junkie like I am, then you’ve probably come across countless museums, where some are alright and some totally blew your mind. From my experience and good quality of research, there are also many to-the-extreme museums. India’s much talked about Toilet Museum or the America’s upcoming Parasite Museum are such examples. As for today, we are going to keep it PG 13 and explore museums that are fun, yet not disturbing. And if many of you have already gone to art museums multiple times and are now looking for a change, read on.

The following museums are worth checking out, not only for their uniqueness, but also for our education and one of a kind experience:

Experience Music Project, Seattle, WA, USA

The idea behind EMP is to let visitors explore the world of music, from learning about its rich history to playing various instrument in the practice room.  “This is certainly the type of place you bring along friends. Lots of friends.” said Anne Lindt. “It’s the museum for music lovers and rockers. This is where you learn about the music evolution, iconic artists, and how one genre of music influences another”. Moreover, you can watch artists’ take on music interviews, or browse through multiple collections of memorabilia which ranges from broken guitars to original copies of composed songs and notes.

National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC, USA

One of the many good things of visiting this US capitol is a lot of its museums provide free entrance. Fortunately, NASM is also part of the deal. With two locations in the city, NASM owns the largest collection of both historical spacecraft and aircraft in the world. A few iconic flights displayed there include the Apollo 11, Charles Lindberg’s Spirit of St. Louis, 1903 Wright Flyer, and many more. In addition, NASM is home to Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, where many subject related research are being performed.

Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum (Chocolate Museum), Cologne, Germany

From the day I was born until now, I can count how many people dislike chocolate. Let’s just say very rare. Even though there are several museums dedicated to this beloved sweet, Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum tops off other museums in terms of how much information they are able to present.  For true chocolate lovers, take a standard tour where a knowledgeable guide will walk you on a long journey of chocolate production, from start to finish. Here, you will watch films, taste raw cocoa beans, and of course, sample chocolates.

Not enough for you? Go on A Little Choco Secret tour where you can sample important ingredients in chocolate making.

Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland

Although there are quite a few places around the world displaying objects and telling stories related to the Olympics Games, but the official one with the largest collection is in Lausanne. Sitting on Lake Geneva, the museum not only features a beautiful view of an impeccable nature, but it also generates stories of athletes and everyone else who has contributed to the Olympics, in every aspects. What I love about this museum is that most of their exhibitions usually send out positive messages to communities around the world, mostly to promote participation in sports. The permanent collection not to be missed? Definitely got to be the torch room, where torches from the past Summer and Winter Olympics are showcased. With the ceremonial clips playing in the background, you will surely get goose bumps.

Tao Heung Museum of Food Culture, Hong Kong, China

This museum was built to stimulate people’s interest in food culture. With the size of 5,000 square feet, the museum is divided into 5 zones: Nature Zone, Fun World Zone, Rice Zone, Seasoning Zone, and Tableware Zone. With the emphasize on Chinese Food Culture, you can view a typical table set up for traditional Chinese restaurants to seeing how a table of an Imperial Feast would look like. One of the best exhibitions here is the contrast between Eastern and Western food culture and wedding banqueting.

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