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!

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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.

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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

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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..

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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.

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