European Holiday Highlights 3 - Paris

I didn't fall in love with Paris like everyone else did. But I had a good time none the less.



^ If you think the MRT is impressive, Parisien one is surely 10 times greater. You can get to every corner of Paris with its service.



^ A restaurant Vince took us to! We all felt guilty after the big lunch! The food was too great, especially the duck!



^ Palace of Versailles. Everything was closed when I was there. The place looks a lot greener and prettier in Summer so I heard.



^ Palace of Versailles.



^ La Défense. The business district of Paris.



^ The Eiffel Tower, what else.



^ The picture was taken before I saw the real snow. You can't really blame me, can you.



^ Montmartre, the romantic place to be for couples.



^ Now that's the real snow.



^ Place Pigalle. This is where all the prostitution takes place, you get the idea!



^ Cafe Des 2 Moulin. The cafe where Amélie works in the movie Amélie. It took us a really long time to find it, thanks to JJ. Such a good guide!



^ Moulin Rouge.



^ Vince's beer collection.



^ It was still snowing the morning we left Paris. Beautiful.

European Holiday Highlights 2 - Saint-Emilion & Biarritz

Two of the places I fell in love with in France, they are absolutely beautiful.



^ The ruin in Saint-Emilion.



^ The place we visited where we got to do a 'brief' wine tasting.



^ The view of Saint-Emilion from the top of a building. For me, this is a dream town to live in.



^ JJ's artistic attempt which I find quite interesting :-)



^ Biarritz/Basque Country. Almost all the houses look the same in Biarritz. One of the reasons that makes this place so beautiful.



^ The solar clock.



^ Statue of Virgin Mary on the rock in Biarritz.



^ A house painted by the fans for a well-known rugby player.



^ The sea looks just like a layered cake :)



^ Our ultimate guide Robert. Special thanks to him as he took us around all day long from Biarritz to San Sebastian and got everything planned out so perfectly. Merci Robert!

These are the two places I'd highly recommend for anyone who plans to visit France. If you love nature, then you'd definitely enjoy them.

European Holiday Highlights 1 - Bordeaux

As it is impossible to write all about my adventures in Europe, I'll do a series of highlights by pictures instead. First stop, Bordeaux.



^ First day in Bordeaux. Many vineyards along the way, beautfiful landscape.



^ Dinner at David's. The guys are totally addicted to Guitar Hero.



^ Rue Sainte-Catherine, the main shopping street in Bordeaux.



^ Lunch with Julien, the most famous guy in Bordeaux according to his friends. And I have no doubt about that.



^ One of the best things I discovered in Bordeaux, the Texane pizza. I swear pizza never tasted sooooo good! I refuse to give my suppport to any pizza chains anymore!



^ Gala Dentaire. I had so much fun that night, and I love French parties!



^ The Great Dune du Pyla. The largest sand dune in Europe. I nearly lost my breath walking up the dune, but the landscape was breathtaking!



^ One of the 'French' games we played. Alert, never fall asleep during French party!



^ Bordeaux Central. What a beautiful place.



^ Bordeaux Central



^ Bordeaux Central. The local tramway.



^ One of the few ruins in Bordeaux.



^ The fountain was not working in winter. I shall go back in summer!



^ The restaurant we went, the artist just came in to perform. The atmosphere was nice. Something you can't find in Singapore, for sure.



^ David's housewarming. I think this is what we miss in Singapore. You never really get to throw any party like this, what a shame. Cultural difference eh?


Just wanted to say I had a blast in Bordeaux. The people, landscape, food and pastries all make me want to go back NOW!

French – Forethoughts & Afterthoughts

A few days before I flew to France, I had already planned the worst that’s going to happen during my one-month visit. The reason being -- I do not speak French. Call me a stereotype but I have heard million stories about how cold can French people get when you don’t speak their language.

Everything was negative until I stepped onto the Air France flight. I was seated next to two English speaking men, that was such a relief! I started talking to this old man next to me asking if I need to fill out any entry form to enter France. He suggested that I’d better approach the flight attendant. So I did. There came the flight attendant. ‘Bonjour.’ So I said. ‘Bonjour’, so he replied and started talking to me in French. I believe he asked if I could speak French so I immediately came up with ‘Je ne parle pas Francais’. He then smiled and the conversation switched over to English right away. He was kind enough to provide me all the information I needed. And on top of that, he got his colleague who was gonna go on the same connecting flight as I would take to Bordeaux to lead me the way through Charles de Gaulle airport as soon as we got off the flight. That was really nice of him. And at that moment I thought, French people aren’t that cold after all, are they?

During my stay in France, I met a lot of French people who do not speak English. I was lucky enough to have my friend as my translator or it would have been difficult for me. There were some downtimes too though. I must admit that it frustrated me a lot when people were conversing in French, which I absolutely had no idea of. I felt totally out of place. As much as I wanted to join the conversation, it was only limited as I do not speak French. I could only have myself to blame though, as I didn’t learn proper French before my departure to France.

I wasn’t really eager to learn French then as I thought it wouldn’t be much of a problem since I would only stay for a month. Oh boy I was totally wrong. It is the key if you want to meet new people. But I met some really nice people none the less. They can be really nice if you get to know them. So I’m determined to learn French this time around. I want to be able to speak the language when I visit next time as well as getting to know the people. La France, a bientot.

Intro

The title may suggest that I'm new to blogging. In fact, I am not. I have been blogging for some years. The previous blog was all about random stuff though. But nevermind that, I just needed a place to rant. And now I've decided to start one about my life and travelling experiences instead.

As I just got back from France a couple of days back, I'm pretty much still suffering from jet-lag. I will start posting as soon as I get over the jet-lag as well as post-holiday blues!