Travelogue - France (9th - 12th Sept 2009)

And the journey continues... and we've arrived in FRANCE :D it was close to 6pm and we were stuck in the jam all the way to the hotel.

After we checked in at the Hotel (which was located at Marne-la-Vallée), we took a night drive to Paris around 8pm...

The view of the Eiffel Tower at night - from afar and up close

It was also that night under the Eiffel Tower that Chin Aun proposed to me. But I will not go into that because it's not any of your business. Haha...

10th Sept 2009 - Day 1

We spent the first day in France in the town of Paris going to the local must-sees...

At the Arc de Triomphe:

Up on the Arc de Triomphe:

The view was magnifique

Where Next???

At the Musée du Louvre :

The place was ridiculously crowded and it took us forever to take this photos

And finally... the time that we have been waiting for has finally arrived... Time to scale the Eiffel Tower!!

The man who took this photo decided to add a little artistic flair by slanting the camera...

View from the deck of the second level of the Eiffel Tower...
If I thought Musée du Louvre was crowded, this was even worse!

And since we went all the way to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower, of course we went to the third level! We saw Kuala Lumpur being featured to have one of the tallest buildings int he world standing at 10,433km :)

We spent a few good hours at the Eiffel Tower just taking in the sights and the people before heading to our next destination...

Notre Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris) :

On the Outside of the Cathedral

Inside the Cathedral

I know that I don't have much photos taken of the Cathedral, especially of the inside, but I personally thought it was rather disrespecful to be taking photos inside a place of worship. But I obviously was quite alone in my opinion because the rest of the revellers were busy snapping away with flash and all..

We spent the rest of the day walking around Paris people watching and taking photos... Of course we also went to famed Louis Vuitton shop that was situated on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. No trip to Paris would be complete without that, and NO, unfortunately, I did NOT buy anything. The shop was chock-full with Asians lining up to make a purchase of something LV to bring home.

Tha about sums up the first day we spent in France...

11th Sept 2009 - Day 2

More than half of the day was spent shopping in Marne-la-Vallée. Our first stop was at theVal d'Europe shopping mall followed by several hours of outlet shopping at the La Vallee Factory Outlet. Let's just put it this way... We spent so much time shopping that the only thing we had for lunch was a Ciabatta. But if you ask me now what we bought and what it was that took us so long to shop for, I seriously do not know...

So after the hours spent shopping, we drove to the Château de Ferrières and my word... it was Beautiful!

The best part was that it was closed to the public on that day as there was preparation in progress for a private function that night. However, the nice lady at the reception/entrance admitted us because we travelled so far to see it...

At the driveway and yes, Chin Aun is striking a rather odd pose.. Hehehe

I really love this photo... and I totally fell in love with the place. Let's just put it this way, I could spend hours walking on the grounds of the chateau even though there are no shoes for sale there.

After we left the chateau, we went for dinner and went back to the Hotel to freshen up for a late night drive through the streets of Paris, for some coffee at Montmarte and to go to Hard Rock Cafe of course!

Travelogue - Antwerp (9th Sept 2009)

So, the road trip now brings us to...

ANTWERP!!!

Antwerp - a city that assimilates cultural heritage and modernization

The first place we went to was "Het Steen Castle" (simply known in English as "The Stone Castle"). This place was first built to be a castle and a prison which then was partly demolished for the development of the harbour since Antwerp was Belgium's biggest port. Then it was used as the Museum of Archeology with annexures to house the Maritime Museum. There's also a small section that is used as a war memorial for Canadian soldiers in WWII.

Het Steen

Chin Aun and I in front of Het Steen








Several Views of the Castle on the inside






Heading to the harbour behind Het Steen (with the Canadian War Memorial in the background)

On the Harbour (check out the wind blowing my hair into a mad frenzy)

Gawking at the Lange Wapper Statue in front of Het Steen

The Lange Wapper is legend about a giant to irritates and provokes people and is supposed to be well known and told in Antwerp and other Flemish cities - and truth be told, I did not know that until I came home and googled it

The Anchor in front of Het Steen

After we've had enough of the castle (the Maritime Museum is closed and will be relocated elsewhere so there's nothing much to see except to feel the strong wind on the harbour), we walked across the roads and headed towards Grote Markt (The Main Square of Antwerp).

Heading to Grote Markt

The Cathedral of our Lady can clearly be seen in the background as we head straight towards the Main Square

Grote Markt (The Main Square in Antwerp - translated in English means Big Market Square)

Check out the fountain-statue in the middle of the square - in remembrance of Brabo and his defeat of Antigonus the Giant! If you look at the photo clear enough, you'll see that Brabo is holding the chopped off hand of Antogonus the Giant - poised to throw it into the sea. Apparently, it was from this Dutch Fairy Tale that it was how Antwerp got its name (Antwerp means Hand Throwing in Dutch!).

Chin Aun and I taking photos in the Square

Antwerp Town Hall in Grote Markt

Me in front of the Town Hall bearing the flags of EU

Chin Aun imitating the pose of 'The buideldrager' (The Bag Carrier)

Arbeid Vrijheid means Labour Freedom and this monument is to honour the labour workers and their daily hard work

Horsey ride in the Square!

Also in the square is the Cathedral of our Lady, a Roman Catholic parish church. I can't tell you how blessed we are that we actually got to see this church as it's one of the most beautiful buildings in Europe and is listed on the list World Heritage Sites. Some of the masterpieces of Peter Paul Reubens are found in this church - T"he Raising of the Cross," "Assumption of the Virgin Mary" and "The Descent from the Cross"

Chin Aun and I in front of the Cathedral




Inside the Cathedral

The Cathedral Interior

We didn't stay the night in Antwerp but continued with our journey to Paris... which was around another 400km+ away!

And of course on the way there, we got hungry and decided to go for a pit stop to refuel our tummies. We stopped at one of the rest stops only to find that it wasn't the typical rest stop but was instead a small hotel called Nazareth. I, being penny-wise, told Chin Aun that we should just drive on ahead and stop at the next one to find a cheaper alternative for food (say some fast food and coffee to go??) but he refused because he was too hungry. So, Hotel Nazareth it was!

Nazareth at the rest stop

Fuel for our tummies

Surprisingly, the food was rather affordable! We each ordered some sandwiches and some coffee and the bill amounted to only around 20 euros! Similar pricing structure as some rest stops, I would say. But with better service, better food presentation and cleaner toilets! Hehe...

After the food, we continued with our journey and reached Paris close to 7pm.. I'll post more on Paris in my next blog post :)

Till then~