Paris Encore!
I've had enough of my work and all that "project happy feet" shit so I'm going to do something that I enjoy doing. That is, picture post!
So I realised, I haven't even finished posting about my Europe trip in spring, how to post about Bali? I have a strange habit of doing things in chronological order, I don't even understand why.
Anyways, let me try to remember what was done in Paris. There were 5 of us so we booked an apartment with Yellowstay and got ourselves a duplex penthouse in Marais district, location is excellent, just 8 minutes walk from Centre Pompidou. It took us quite a while to figure our way to the apartment from Gard du Nord. Taxis are expensive, metros too troublesome with large suitcases so we took a bus. The bus driver was lovely, not those sort of snobbish toads but a very warm and helpful guy! He waited for us to lugged our suitcases up the bus, sounded the bus stops in English for us and even said "anything for girls with smile like yours". I'll marry him without a doubt if he looks like Takeshi. We still managed to take a few pictures while looking for our apartment.
Those lovely, lovely cupcakes! *slurp*
After we dropped our bags, it was already after lunch time, hungry like crazy. We hunted around for some eating place that doesn't serve baguettes (every single cafe sells bread!) and found a crepe place.
Sparking juice for first day indulgence.
Yum, yum, ham and cheese crepe. This is really good!
I love the way the name of this metro station is pronounced. I think we were taking the metro to Pont de l'Alma.
Aiya, what else. Took this on the Bateaux Mouches cruise. It was crazily cold that day. We took the upper deck, got wind-chilled. Ran down to lower deck. Couldn't see anything, went back up again. It was drizzling, sub zero temperature plus drizzle plus condensation is killer.
Valentino at Avenue Montaigne.
The Gucci boutique which we spent shit loads of time in. Colleague bought a boston bag and they had selected stuff at 40% off! IIRC, they are the pastel green and blue nappa leather stuff; which are great deals considering the quality of the leather. But colours and style don't catch my fancy. Was tempted to get the wallet though (at less than S$300) but didn't like the zip (looks cheapish).
The not-to-be-missed.
I love how I always managed to catch a service and be able to immerse myself into the eeriely beautiful music.
A huge model of the cathedral.
<3
And we were off Il-de-la-Cite for lunch and went back to go to Sainte Chapelle, which I've never stepped foot in. I even spoke French to the ticket seller and I was so darn proud of myself!
Ground floor.
This place is AMAZING. Pictures don't do it justice. I gasped when I stepped in. It is a must go!
The stained glass windows lined around the chapel tell the story of Jesus I think. Or Moses. I think there are ten stories in all.
Ahhh, I love this pic. And no, didn't see Mona Lisa (again).
This is one damn amazing french onion soup we had at a cafe just outside the apartment. After this, I was full.
This was my main after that. I was horribly stuffed.
Another day, 3 of us went to Versailles! I finally went there and guess what happened? My camera battery went flat shortly after. -_-
I think this is the main gate.
Or maybe this bright yellow gate was the main gate to the chateau. It was just restored and was gleaming under the sun.
The royal chapel.
I love their wallpapers. If I ever have my own home I will wall up the whole house like the chateau.
This painting is HUGE.
The king's bed.
One of Marie Antoinette's famous painting.
Guess where? Hall of Mirrors.
Queen's bed where she gave birth publicly.
A very small part of a very vast garden.
Sigh... My grandmother would have love seeing this.
The famous painting of Napoleon's coronation.
Look at the amount of marble used!
Chateau from the garden.
The canal. Which is 1km I think.
I cannot resist taking this pic at Champs Elysees.
Andy Warhol at Grand Palais!
I think I took this in the shopping mall connected to Louvre. I was looking for the toilet and found this "boutique toilet".
Popped by Galeries Lafayette because I read that there is a terrace which offers a view of Paris.
Jaw droppingly beautiful. Of course, I squeezed in some window shopping of Miu Miu and Longchamp.
Well, at the terrace, not the most impressed.
At least, it was a pretty sunny day up in Montmarte and I get to see the Sacre Coeur. Had to slap myself for not joining colleagues there. :(
I like to do finger things.
Old lift system in Galeries Lafayette.
After that, I went to Latin Quarter to see Sainte Sulpice, hoping the restoration works are completed. The last time I went, it was till hoarded up. And it is still hoarded up.
BUT, this time, I was able to get into the church because there was no service. And I get to step on the Rose Line! Nyeh nyeh.
I love Latin Quarter. It's quirky, abstract and it has lots of bookshops!
From there, to the Luxembourg Garden.
Le Palais.
Le Pantheon.
Another amazing architecture.
I forgot what is this. Apparently it's been there for many, many years; like a century or something, and still remains quite accurate. A pendulum or measure gravity... Something like that.
That's Jesus up there.
Many famous people are interred at the crypt of Pantheon.
Among them were Victor Hugo,
Alexander Duma,
and, Emile Zola.
In the urn contains the heart of Gambetta.
Cross-section of Pantheon.
This is the church of Sorbonne University I think.
In the courtyard of Musée national du Moyen Age, where you can find The Lady and The Unicorn tapestries.
I was too late, they refuse to let me in.
Look at the lingerie hanging inside! I had wanted to have dinner there but we made reservation at another place already.
I finally found Shakespeare & Co. How can I miss this place!
This place totally deserves a separate post by itself but would you want to see these pictures again? I can keep looking at these pictures for the rest of my life I think.
Cute stuff outside Notre Dame.
Hotel de Ville.
Our last day in Paris was Mayday. Everything was closed except for the church. After hearing my raves about Latin Quarter, colleagues decided to check out that place and I thought I could visit Musee Carnavalet but it was closed. Oh well, did some random walking and popped into this church.
After the church, I hung around Marais a bit because I don't want to lose my way and be late for the airport transfer.
Now. I feel accomplished. And I actually feel a bit better!
Arghhh... back to work. Been unproductive for the past hour. :(
So I realised, I haven't even finished posting about my Europe trip in spring, how to post about Bali? I have a strange habit of doing things in chronological order, I don't even understand why.
Anyways, let me try to remember what was done in Paris. There were 5 of us so we booked an apartment with Yellowstay and got ourselves a duplex penthouse in Marais district, location is excellent, just 8 minutes walk from Centre Pompidou. It took us quite a while to figure our way to the apartment from Gard du Nord. Taxis are expensive, metros too troublesome with large suitcases so we took a bus. The bus driver was lovely, not those sort of snobbish toads but a very warm and helpful guy! He waited for us to lugged our suitcases up the bus, sounded the bus stops in English for us and even said "anything for girls with smile like yours". I'll marry him without a doubt if he looks like Takeshi. We still managed to take a few pictures while looking for our apartment.
Those lovely, lovely cupcakes! *slurp*
After we dropped our bags, it was already after lunch time, hungry like crazy. We hunted around for some eating place that doesn't serve baguettes (every single cafe sells bread!) and found a crepe place.
Sparking juice for first day indulgence.
Yum, yum, ham and cheese crepe. This is really good!
I love the way the name of this metro station is pronounced. I think we were taking the metro to Pont de l'Alma.
Aiya, what else. Took this on the Bateaux Mouches cruise. It was crazily cold that day. We took the upper deck, got wind-chilled. Ran down to lower deck. Couldn't see anything, went back up again. It was drizzling, sub zero temperature plus drizzle plus condensation is killer.
Valentino at Avenue Montaigne.
The Gucci boutique which we spent shit loads of time in. Colleague bought a boston bag and they had selected stuff at 40% off! IIRC, they are the pastel green and blue nappa leather stuff; which are great deals considering the quality of the leather. But colours and style don't catch my fancy. Was tempted to get the wallet though (at less than S$300) but didn't like the zip (looks cheapish).
The not-to-be-missed.
I love how I always managed to catch a service and be able to immerse myself into the eeriely beautiful music.
A huge model of the cathedral.
<3
And we were off Il-de-la-Cite for lunch and went back to go to Sainte Chapelle, which I've never stepped foot in. I even spoke French to the ticket seller and I was so darn proud of myself!
Ground floor.
This place is AMAZING. Pictures don't do it justice. I gasped when I stepped in. It is a must go!
The stained glass windows lined around the chapel tell the story of Jesus I think. Or Moses. I think there are ten stories in all.
Ahhh, I love this pic. And no, didn't see Mona Lisa (again).
This is one damn amazing french onion soup we had at a cafe just outside the apartment. After this, I was full.
This was my main after that. I was horribly stuffed.
Another day, 3 of us went to Versailles! I finally went there and guess what happened? My camera battery went flat shortly after. -_-
I think this is the main gate.
Or maybe this bright yellow gate was the main gate to the chateau. It was just restored and was gleaming under the sun.
The royal chapel.
I love their wallpapers. If I ever have my own home I will wall up the whole house like the chateau.
This painting is HUGE.
The king's bed.
One of Marie Antoinette's famous painting.
Guess where? Hall of Mirrors.
Queen's bed where she gave birth publicly.
A very small part of a very vast garden.
Sigh... My grandmother would have love seeing this.
The famous painting of Napoleon's coronation.
Look at the amount of marble used!
Chateau from the garden.
The canal. Which is 1km I think.
I cannot resist taking this pic at Champs Elysees.
Andy Warhol at Grand Palais!
I think I took this in the shopping mall connected to Louvre. I was looking for the toilet and found this "boutique toilet".
Popped by Galeries Lafayette because I read that there is a terrace which offers a view of Paris.
Jaw droppingly beautiful. Of course, I squeezed in some window shopping of Miu Miu and Longchamp.
Well, at the terrace, not the most impressed.
At least, it was a pretty sunny day up in Montmarte and I get to see the Sacre Coeur. Had to slap myself for not joining colleagues there. :(
I like to do finger things.
Old lift system in Galeries Lafayette.
After that, I went to Latin Quarter to see Sainte Sulpice, hoping the restoration works are completed. The last time I went, it was till hoarded up. And it is still hoarded up.
BUT, this time, I was able to get into the church because there was no service. And I get to step on the Rose Line! Nyeh nyeh.
I love Latin Quarter. It's quirky, abstract and it has lots of bookshops!
From there, to the Luxembourg Garden.
Le Palais.
Le Pantheon.
Another amazing architecture.
I forgot what is this. Apparently it's been there for many, many years; like a century or something, and still remains quite accurate. A pendulum or measure gravity... Something like that.
That's Jesus up there.
Many famous people are interred at the crypt of Pantheon.
Among them were Victor Hugo,
Alexander Duma,
and, Emile Zola.
In the urn contains the heart of Gambetta.
Cross-section of Pantheon.
This is the church of Sorbonne University I think.
In the courtyard of Musée national du Moyen Age, where you can find The Lady and The Unicorn tapestries.
I was too late, they refuse to let me in.
Look at the lingerie hanging inside! I had wanted to have dinner there but we made reservation at another place already.
I finally found Shakespeare & Co. How can I miss this place!
This place totally deserves a separate post by itself but would you want to see these pictures again? I can keep looking at these pictures for the rest of my life I think.
Cute stuff outside Notre Dame.
Hotel de Ville.
Our last day in Paris was Mayday. Everything was closed except for the church. After hearing my raves about Latin Quarter, colleagues decided to check out that place and I thought I could visit Musee Carnavalet but it was closed. Oh well, did some random walking and popped into this church.
After the church, I hung around Marais a bit because I don't want to lose my way and be late for the airport transfer.
Now. I feel accomplished. And I actually feel a bit better!
Arghhh... back to work. Been unproductive for the past hour. :(