Paris - Venice - Monaco - the mountainous Roya Valley - Cannes - winetasting in Provence, taking almost all modes of transport:  plane - boat - train - car - even a funicular!

This was their first time in Europe and coming from Dubai where the landscape is that of desert, sea, high rises and artificial resorts, what a big surprise for them to see so much natural beauty and staggering architecture Europe is famous for,  art and culture everywhere they went and the open society which is the opposite of conservative Middle East.

So how do I start?  I guess, if I share with you how we profited so much in those 12 days, then you might be able to get some idea how to enjoy  Europe in a whirlwind!

Day One - Arriving in Paris

Paris rooftops: the zinc roofing and the orange chimneys Paris is famous for. 
Taken from our apartment window.

For a party of four adults and one child (my husband and I joined them), we needed a comfortable spacious place to stay where we can cook, do the laundry and gather around for some chat and aperitivos in the evening.  A simple hotel room  would not be appropriate so I booked a two-bedroom apartment at the 16th Arrondisement, walking distance to the train and metro stations.

Our apartment building is just opposite the house where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his mother stayed in 1778, and where he died the same year.

Day Two - Paris sightseeing

We walked, took the sightseeing bus..all these to explore the City of Romance, Love, Fashion, Art….

The savory display at Stohrer, one of the oldest patisseries in Paris. Nicolas STOHRER was the personal patisserie of King Louis XV.

Patisserie Stohrer which opened in 1730 is classed as a historic monument because of its facade and interior decors.

 
The domes of Paris

 
The Eiffel Tower seen from Pont Bir-Hakeim

Hotel des Invalides
By order of King Louis XIV, this building was built in 1670 to house and treat the aged and injured soldiers. The tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte is on display here.

 
The Baroque-style Opera de Paris, designed by Charles Garnier for Emperor Napoleon III.  It now houses the National Academy of Music.

A boutique’s window display at the Champs-Elysees

A window display in Avenue Montaigne, one of the most expensive streets of Paris

A pooch, a slim lady and a cigarette - that’s a real Parisian cliche!

Painted stairs at the Abbesses station, the deepest of all metro stations in Paris.

Basilica du Sacre-Coeur at night

Treated to a nice Edith Piaf musical evening at Chez La Mere Catherine in Place du Tertre, Montmarte. This restaurant is one of the oldest bistrot in Paris, founded in 1793.

Getting one’s portrait done in Place du Tertre (50euros for half an hour sitting)

Day Three - Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris has never been part of my Parisian travel itineraries.  I thought it is only for the under 10’s.  I was only forced into it when my brother-in-law insisted that I must join them, if only to deal with everything written and spoken in French.  Thank goodness of this opportunity.  I actually like it and I intend to go back - on my own - so I could do a lot more photography.  There’s a great deal of photographic opportunities out there!

The 5-star Disneyland Hotel, Paris

Disneyland is like a fairytale land full of little girls in Snow White and Cinderella costumes

It’s the place where you earn the right to look like a child, wear funny things and it would still be okay.

Day Four - Opera de Paris, shopping

One must not leave Paris without seeing the ornate interiors of the Opera.
I originally planned a trip to Versailles for my guests but since they didn’t have the luxury of time, I decided to take them to the Opera Garnier or simply known as Opera de Paris. This historic monument of the neo-Baroque style is regarded as one of the architectural masterpieces of its time.

This part of their itinerary was a winner!

An ideal Parisian souvenir that can be found at the Opera Garnier bookstore

Stumbled upon this huge IPad store next to the Opera. This was a chance for my sister to buy this revolutionary tablet computer from Apple. She couldn’t buy it in Dubai as it was always out of stock.

This new Apple showroom has just opened recently and it’s interesting to note that the building used to be the Bank of Portugal.  We wanted to look at their IPhone/Ipad accessories and the bilingual French sales assistant took us downstairs to what used to be the vault of the Bank and has now been transformed into a boutique.

Notice the thickness of the iron door and the grills securing the vault.  I had to ask permission if I could take photos as I could see through  my peripheral vision some bulky security men hiding in corners.    Indeed, I got my wish!   Even if I was a gazillionaire, I probably would have no chance to take these photos if Bank of Portugal, Paris Opera branch did not shut down!

Shopping at the world-famous Galeries Lafayette

The Byzantine Dome is 33 meters high and constitutes 10 columns of stained glass reinforced by a richly carved metallic floral motif. It plays a great part in setting up a scene where the customer will feel so great stirring up a strong desire to buy.

We were not able to get inside the Notre Dame Cathedral that afternoon because a stupid promotional balloon of some telephone company was about to be released - of all places - at the grounds of a historic and religious monument! 

 
Paris by Night via the Bateaux Moche - the Pont de la Concorde (Concorde Bridge, 1790)). 
The stones used on this bridge came from the Bastille prison when the latter was demolished during the French Revolution.

Paris by Night - the Eiffel Tower

Day Five - Louvre Museum

The Glass Pyramid at the courtyard of the Louvre Museum.  This is the biggest, serving as entrance to the museum, and is surrounded by three smaller pyramids.  A Chinese architect, I.M. Pei, designed it by order of then President Francois Miterrand.  It caused wide controversy as many people felt that this futuristic structure is out of place infront of the country’s most historic museum.  Now, after 26 years since its construction, it has become one of Paris’ great icons.

The most-visited artwork in the Louvre, and the most famous painting in the world, is Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, Monalisa.

Another famous artwork - Venus de Milo

Inside the Louvre

The painted ceiling of the largest museum in the world

(to be continued)

When it rains, it pours! 

There was a time I have given up on the hope of seeing Venice in my lifetime. But one day, in 2007, it happened! Then in 2009, it happened again! And this year, next week to be exact, I am going to see it for the 3rd time! I will be playing the role of a tourist guide to my sister and her family for a 14-day visit to Paris, Venice and the Mediterranean coast of France and Italy and I would like to take this opportunity to say I am going to disappear again for 2 weeks. Don’t worry, I’m coming back with more photos so watch for it!

Meanwhile, here is a preview of what I am looking forward to doing in Venice:

Get inside the Basilica and be awed by the splendour of the interior and the gold mosaics that decorate it

Find the first ever female gondolier, a job exclusively reserved for males for the last 900 years

Check how really “crowded” Venice is, in August, August being the peak of the high season. After all, this city is always crowded whatever time of the year.

And many more “tourist-cliches” photographs! Until then, bye-bye!

Architecture interests me a lot; the landscape, the food, the local culture,  moreso, observing  the locals going about their daily fare.  But nothing tickles me most than surveying how tourists behave, how they dress, what they carry with them, who are they travelling with.  Certainly it forms part of my learning process that no book or “theories on travelling” can teach me.  Luckily, I am always surrounded by tourists and even luckier to live in the topmost tourist destination in the planet.

So what are the types of tourist cliches and which one you belong to? 

The Carefree Traveller.  She is comfortable with her clothes, she doesn’t concern herself with bags or knick knacks, not even a camera. 

The Vigilant.  He is always suspicious of the people around him so he makes sure that everything is tightly held.

The Travel Buddies.  They cannot travel alone.  For them, travelling is much more fun when shared with friends.

The Package Tourist.  Planning an itinerary, accommodation and transport is a headache so to make it simple,  join a packaged holiday.  It’s a good way to make new friends anyway.

The Gadget Freak.  Not content with one but two mobile phones, that’s travelling in the 21st century.

The Romantic

Me-and-My-Pet Traveller.  Either she cannot find a reliable dogsitter or she finds travelling  much more fun with her pooch.

The Mystic Traveller

The Artistic Traveller

The Artistic Traveller (2)

The Japanese.  Well, it’s not really a cliche but her hat is a Japanese cliche!

The Budget Traveller.  She lives on cheap snacks, stays in cheap hostels so she can see more of the world for less money.

The Souvenir Hunter.  He buys souvenirs not just to gather dust at home but something he could wear.

The Guidemap.  She sticks to the “tourist route” drawn on the map.  She doesn’t realize that the real adventure is found in the offbeaten tracks.

The Snapper.  She carries a camera that looks like the hubble telescope and cannot go anywhere else without it.

The Poser.  She doesn’t care if she falls and get broken bones, as long as she has lots of photos to take home - but usually, there won’t be  a single sign of the city she posed from as they all would be facial and body shots of her. 

The ”I’ve-been-there” Poser

As opposed to the Facial and Body shot Poser above, others would like to have proof that they were actually there!

The Window Shopper.  Whatever age, whatever interest he has, as long as he has time to look at the latest arrivals.

That if you are planning to do business or make an appointment with a Notaire* or even reserve a seat in your favorite restaurant, chances are, you will be disappointed because nobody is there.  Your business contact in the Champs Elysees is off to the south of France;  your Notaire has taken his holiday in Corsica and your favorite restaurant’s answering machine is saying “Sorry, we are closed for our annual holiday.  We will be back early September. Please call again later.”

And you know what -  the only people running the city (literally) will be the tourists.  Oh yes, in August, Paris is almost deserted except in tourist spots where throngs of tourists mill around. 

I wanted to experience more how August is like in the capital so I scoured  two areas of Paris the other day -  one,  frequented by the locals and the other, by tourists, and here’s what I found:

Most shops and restaurants are closed for their annual holidays

“To better serve you, we are renovating our offices.  We are closed from 3 to 31 August 2010.” (A Property Agency)

“On Holiday.  We will re-open on 24 August 2010″ (Boutique)

“The restaurant is closed from 25 July to 22 August 2010″ (Restaurant)

“Closure of our Shop, Saturday 17 July 2010.  Re-opening early September.  Wishing you a good holiday.  Till then….Sylvie” (Boutique)

“Operation Peaceful Holidays” (Notice from the Brigade de Gendarmerie and Police Nationale)

Because most houses and shops are empty in August, the police has to do some extra patrolling jobs.  In order to benefit from the scheme, one has to report to the Police Station of his absence so his house could be put under closed watch.

This regional train in Ile de France is almost bereft of passengers in August.

Even metro stations outside of the tourist spots look haunted

Where have all the cars gone?

Place Monge gets very very quiet without the Parisians

Normally,  Parisian employees would be queueing up to this sandwich shop in rue Mouffetard at lunchtime

A narrow street off the Sorbonne at this time of the year could be a good place to play badminton

Now, I tried going to a tourist spot - The Sacre Coeur in Montmarte and here’s what I saw:

Looks like there’s a stampede!

The road to the Basilica is packed!

Even the funicular is packed!

A couple can barely kiss each other because of the moving crowd

Never have I seen these steps to the Sacre Coeur packed like sardines

These steps are converted into an auditorium to watch street performers

Souvenir hawkers such as this vendor are normally ignored by passersby, but in August, they make brisk business

And the foot of the Eiffel Tower in August

Just outside of Paris, this town of Limours is haunted

*Notaire - a public officer who performs similar functions as a solicitor

Ile-de-France is that region surrounding Paris which comprises of 12,000 sq.km of suburbs interspersed with chateaux, farmlands, forests and historic towns and villages. (see website)

It’s been nearly two months since we made Ile de France our home but we never really had a chance to do serious exploring because H and I seem to be eternally busy working:  he - to make money and I - to  look after him so he can keep on making money.  Even our sacred weekends are  full  just by puttering around the house, doing renovations and improvements so our new life in this quiet hinterland of the capital is comfortable. 

But the picturesque countryside is all around us.   Just driving to the supermarket or searching for DIY shops or going to a Sunday vide grenier leave us completely overtaken by awe and admiration.  It’s like driving through history where the only sight lacking are the horse-drawn carriages with their duke and duchess-looking passengers,  and on the side of the road are peasants in their farm clothes carrying baskets of produce, and of course, knights in their shining armour coming out from every corner - huh, my imagination is getting mixed up!

Here are some pics I’ve taken mostly from our moving car:

St Cyr sous Dourdan

Fontenay les Briis

Clairefontaine

A Gite (bed and breakfast) near Dourdan

A roundabout in Dourdan

Another roundabout in Dourdan

France has a big budget on street maintenance and that includes flowers and gardens that change every season

wheatfields

stopping by to buy fruits and veggies

The vendor has a comfortable accommodation behind the curtains so selling on the road is not a big deal.  By the way, the peach and the plums that we bought that day were extremely good! 

cornfield

These 3 motorcyclists decided to spend the night on the side of the road - a kind of “Tent and Vroom Away!”