A Pinay in Europe

This post is dedicated to those who are going to Paris for the first time. Just the very basic words that you should learn to get by:

Let’s begin:

Bonjour!…..Hello/Good morning…..pronounced “bon-joo“. You say this to everybody you would come across with (waiter/shopkeeper/bus driver/hotel staff/etc). It’s considered rude if you don’t.

Bonsoir!…..Good Evening…………pronounced “bon-swa“. You say this after 6pm

Merci!…….Thank you…………..pronounced “mer-si“.
Like in English, you say this everytime someone has done something for you like a waiter giving you your order, or even in cases where someone lets you enter a door first, or after a bus driver hands you your ticket. As above, it’s considered rude if you don’t.

Au revoir!….Goodbye……………pronounced “au-vwa“.
you say this to anybody whom you have just dealt with and you are about to leave:
example: to the waiter when you leave the restaurant (if he’s there), or to the shopkeeper, after paying your bill, or to the bus driver before getting off the bus. It’s a natural thing to say.

S’il vous plait…..Please……….pronounced “sil-voo-plaeh“.
when buying a bar of chocolate, for example, you just say the number + the thing + “s’il vous plait”.
“Un snicker, s’il vous plait!”,
“une baguette, s’il vous plait!”,
un sandwich, s’il vous plait!”,
“un ticket, s’il vous plait!”

So, the order of things should be:

Bonjour! —une baguette, s’il vous plait! —-Merci —– Au Revoir!

Voila! Have a nice trip in Paris!

No Comments yet »

I stumbled upon the receipt of a German campsite we stayed in during our Castles of the Rhine tour. I thought i should share it with you because it is so damn cheap as opposed to staying in hotels.

For 2 persons: 5euros x 2…………..10 euros
car: 2euros…………………………… 2 euros
Rubbish: 1euro………………………..1 euro
Total……………………………………13euros

Use of facilities: toilet/shower/dishwashing area included
Cooking is allowed. We have our own gas cooker.

Optional:
Electricity would probably cost 2euros per night but we didn’t need it because we have our own battery-powered lamp
Tent: pitching a tent would cost another 1 euro, but we didn’t need it as we slept in the car

If we stayed in a hotel, we would have paid minimum 70euros per night for a double room.

No Comments yet »

In one of our car journeys back home from H’s foreign assignment, we stopped by Strasbourg to spend the night. We chose it simply because it is highlighted in the map as a place of interest. What a big surprise to see this amazingly beautiful city! And Petite France, the island of half-timbered houses, simply blew us away!

Strasbourg borders Germany and only the Rhine river separates the two, hence, a strong German influence especially in architecture and food.

They speak two languages: French and German

A must-do when in Strasbourg is a ferry ride along the river where you will be taken to Petite France, a Unesco world heritage site

No Comments yet »

French chic

French chic

A Harley-Davidson festival is going on

Until the sixties, St Tropez was a sleepy fishing village quite inaccessible to tourists because it was hidden between the sea and the hills. Then one day Brigitte Bardot went to live there and the village became an internationally watched town. Now it is a jet-set haven where millionaires built their palaces…and cost of living went along with it!

BB put Saint Tropez in the tourist map

She is the symbol of Saint Tropez

Dream calendar, for sale in Saint Tropez

Art expo in Saint Tropez

Guess what’s inside..

No Comments yet »

Dandelion in bloom

Dandelion- seeding stage

Fact:
Dandelion leaves and roots have been used for centuries to treat liver, gall bladder, kidney, and joint problems. In some countries, Dandelion is considered a blood purifier and is used for ailments such as eczema and cancer. Dandelion has also been used to treat poor digestion, water retention, and diseases of the liver such as hepatitis.

No Comments yet »

We always wanted to visit the wine cellars of Château Sainte Roseline: one, for the wine-tasting and two, because we just love visiting châteaux!

This morning was our chance. The Fete de la Rose et du jardinage (Rose and Gardening Fair) is being held there and hopefully, if their restaurant is open, it would be the perfect place to celebrate H’s homecoming.

And just as we expected, the gardens are exploding with roses of different types and sizes. What a shame that it was continuously drizzling, not ideal to take out the camera lest it will get damaged, but i did get a few taken in the shade.

[Show as slideshow]

Château Sainte Roseline dates as far back as the 10th century when it used to be an abbey. Its namesake, Roseline, was the mother superior of the abbey from 1300 to 1329. She made a lasting impression to the local community that when she died the property was named after her.

In the 14th century, the grounds were transformed into a vineyard. Today, Chateau Sainte Roseline is a legend, not only for its wine but also for its chapel where it draws pilgrims every year to pray over the preserved body of the saint which lays in a glass case. As this may sound gory for you, and for me, there is a mosaic artwork of Chagall entitled “the Meal served by Angels” which you could look at instead.

The lady guide, narrating in both English and French, started with the figures: that they produce nearly a million bottles of wine each year, 15% of which goes to Canada, their biggest importer.

She then took us to the different rooms showing the different stages of wine production, from the time the grapes are delivered by trucks to the time they are picked as bottled wine for distribution all over France, Europe and the world.

No Comments yet »

Here’s a bit of Ampus, the village i went exploring to today. Goodness gracious, it’s like, everywhere I turn, it’s an explosion of flowers! Not only that, I had my fix of provençal scenery today..I needed that.

No Comments yet »

France observes the feast of Pentecost for two days - Sunday and Monday. It is supposed to be just a Sunday event but it would be unfair to declare a no-work day as a non-working holiday so to make everybody happy they extended the commemoration till the following day, Monday.

And so it’s holiday today…and the expression “the merry month of May” verily holds true in this country. Not only that they are spoiled with all the 12 non-working days this month, there’s also the film festival which kicks off in Cannes next week (14th to the 25th). I know it’s daft that my last festival visit was in 2000 considering that it’s just a 40-minute drive from home. But if we do decide to go, we will definitely take the train as this town is “the traffic capital of the south of France.

It’s not so much the desire to see Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in person, that’s asking too much, although we would have a greater fill of them when they get married, when Angelina gives birth to her twins and when they buy a house (not necessarily in that order) HERE sometime this year.

No, not just that. Moreso, it’s the glamour and the “fame and fortune” feel in the air.
Both H and myself have been starved of a good day out together for a month, he, practically a prisoner in a luxurious hotel in Sri Lanka and me, alone in the midst of Eden (that’s what my garden looks like at the moment). And now that he’s due back in few days, a trip to Cannes would be an interesting way to break the monotony!

No Comments yet »

It’s not only Labour Day that the French are observing every first of May, they are also celebrating La Fête du Muguet (Feast of lily-of-the-valley).
This is the day when bouquets of lilies-of-the-valley are sold on street corners or on roadsides and people are buying them to give to their loved ones or to those they care about as a sign of good luck and to celebrate the coming of spring.

I received a tiny bouquet today (the tiny white flowers above) from a dear neighbour who, despite recently losing his wife of 40 years, has to go on with this muguet-giving tradition and to be a recipient of one, buoyed my heart with joy!

But the word “buoy” is an understatement, because when i went to have a coffee chat and i saw his garden, it almost knocked me off my feet!
Who wouldn’t when right before your eyes, you are surrounded by an array of purple irises, burgundy tulips, golden daisies and…and..and..!!

And I must also mention here the garden of my French/Dutch couple friends of last night, it practically cracked me in tears upon seeing their Eden of yet more purple irises, clumps and clumps of them everywhere, about one meter high!

Look how tall they are (on the right)!
They’re twice as tall as my own (the two above, in violet). The chair serves as scale.

Like art in its various forms, a flower perks up the soul! It inspires the mind to think positive things, even great things.

Epilogue:

When I mentioned above that the garden of my French/Dutch couple friends nearly cracked the tears out of me, I was not exaggerating. My Dutch lady friend must have seen my excitement so that she surprised me today with 3 bunches, rhizomes included, of those purple irises.

No Comments yet »

Well, the ongoing Queen’s Day in Holland has been spilling into our town since yesterday! Some people, presumably Dutch, have been wearing orange clothing and orange accessories. I was hoping I could come across someone wearing that ridiculous orange joker hat so I can take a pic and post it here 

And tonight, I had dinner at a French neighbour’s house whose Dutch girlfriend was also wearing an orange attire and we had to make a toast “to the Queen of Holland!”

Whereas that was a free dinner for me, I can just imagine those dining at restaurants in Amsterdam now would still be paying Dutch treat!

No Comments yet »