Paris!! Again!! Revisiting the Notre Dame

Having done the typical sights on my first trip to Paris, there was ample time to dilly-dally rather than follow a strict tourist itinerary. One of the things I didn't get to do last time was go up inside Notre Dame. Now there was plenty time to wait in a queue. Like many other churches in Europe the stairwell was narrow but it was a relatively easy climb when compared to the Basilica in Rome.

It wasn't a crowded climb either. The good thing is only about 30-40 people are allowed through to the viewing platform at any one time, hence the long queue. Patience my friend, patience!

Gargoyles to the max.

Moo and I impersonating each other again. Pointing to the Eiffel Tower now.

More gargolyes.

What? More doppleganger posing.

The view of Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre.

A small food festival had set itself up at the front of the church and the wafting smell of baking bread brought Moo and I inside the marquee where a makeshift bakery had been set up.

Bakers oblivious to all the tourists inside.

Some fancy looking bread before and after baking.

Mooey had one more thing to tick off her list - eating Berthillon ice cream. The actual street where the original store is situated is flanked with other Berthillon-stores which were just cashing in on the name.

The queue outside the store. I chopped off the heads.

Us and our ice cream. Yay!

Well, that's it from my second time in Paris. I might go back again soon... it's so close to London!

Paris!! Again!! Château de Versailles

The main reason for going to Paris again was to see the Palace of Versailles, the former residence of many Frenchie royals and as high school taught me especially so, where Marie-Antoinette lived. If I left Europe without seeing Versailles, I would somehow claw my way back here just to tick it off my list.

Moo and I had to stay in separate hotels as my latching onto her trip meant that I would need to sleep on a floor, which hmmm I did last time and wasn't too keen on doing so again. Whilst my hotel had that old Parisian charm and it's proximity to the President's residence and the Champs was enviable, the bath-only arrangement was just weirdly inconvenient. A handheld shower head was present but it was of little point when there was no shower curtain, nor a shower head holder. I think they were hinting to me to take a bath.

Having our French not-sure-how-we-are-related-so-we'll-call-you-cousin with us proved super helpful as his ticket ordering skills were put into use for getting our train/chateau combined tickets.

Moo enjoying the cupcakes from yesterday. Yes, cupcakes for breakfast.


The entrance gates to the Chateau. Imagine horsies pulling royal coaches to the palace! *neigh!!*


Posing with the Moo cardboard cut-out.


This was pretty much the view most of the time inside the palace. Hmmm... interesting.


Moi in the Hall of Mirrors. This is what I really wanted to see. Too bad it was ruined by the presence of other tourists (including myself!). It would've been very sparkly in it's heyday.

Having already been to Schonbrunn in Vienna, Versailles reminded me much of it's Austrian equivalent... but yeah, of course, duh, because Schonbrunn was modelled on Versailles... duh.

Umm, I think that is Marie-Antoinette's bed (otherwise I have no idea why I took that photo).
Of course, the grand gardens and fountains for which Versailles is famous.


Rowboats on the water. Marie Antoinette's hangout, Le Petit Trianon which was unfortunately closed for renovations :(


Lunch was at a nearby cafe where dear Frenchie cuz recommended we have apple cider in a bowl. Supposedly a French thing. Maybe he was pulling my leg. My crepe with.... stuff in it.

The rain signalled that it was time to leave. So bubbai to Versailles!

Moo and I had dins near her hotel, Cafe Hugo. I had a nice glass of Rioja and Moo had a nice steak. Food was pretty good, I would go again! It seemed popular with the locals. Service, was not bad, but the cramped seating certainly didn't help.

Paris!! Again!!

Yes, yes I'm in Paris again! Having the Eurostar now at King's Cross certainly makes it convenient to travel after work on a Friday. Mooey already left for Paris and it's kinda boring sitting in terminals alone, so I treated myself to some Peyton and Byrne cupcakes. No photos , I couldn't be bothered taking out my camera. But I do like the cupcakes here. Mmmmmmm cupcakes!

Paris part deux - here I come!

Hampton Court Palace

Ever since I did a bit of research for the Tower of London, I put Hampton Court Palace on my list as one of those places I needed to visit before leaving this place. Why? It's a fairly unknown tourist attraction when compared to Big Ben, The Eye and all the other London-y stuff. However, this palace is the former residence of Henry VIII and having been brought up in one of the youngest countries, it still bewilders me that "Wow! I'm in a really old palace! Wow! I'm where that big, fat, orange-bearded English King with the 6 wives once lived!" Relatively speaking, 500 years is not all that long ago but yeah, I'm fascinated by old stuff in general. Geek.

We managed to suck Kt into coming with us. Well I guess it was more like she didn't have anything else to do today and decided to give 'culture' a go. Lunch was planned for Borough, which may have swayed her too.

Moo being a cannibal.

The best summery conditions were turned on for us and after a short-ish train ride to the outskirts of London we reached our destination. We were all a bit surprised at how quaint and picturesque the whole Hampton Court area was. Where was the smog? Where were the crowds? Where were the knife stabbing gangs? A walk over a stone bridge brought us to the path of the palace. It's not terribly statuesque or pretty but it has the red-brick charm.

Must...do.... audio tour.... touristy stuff......

The fake pies in the kitchen. The fake pot full of fake pie filling.

The palace gardens are free to public entry and were so well manicured, just the perfect place for a picnic or a book reading session. If they had wifi, I could sit here and blog too.

The gardens are meant to have some similarity to those in Versailles. We'll see when I go next week! Look! Triangle trees!

My tulip patch.

Oh that's right. One of the drawing cards to Hampton Court Palace was the garden maze. Don't go out of your way for it. I wanted to go cos it was a childhood fantasy.

Moo and Kt making their way through. Moo attempting to get to the centre more quickly.

We're at the centre! Moo and I doing impersonations of each other.

An ice cream cart was conveniently located outside the palace grounds on the way to the station. You betcha we stopped for ice cream treats.

Frozen Ribena. Really, I could just make that at home. But if it's in a tube, alright, I'll give you some cash.

Kt couldn't even stop for one last pose with the Thames without Frozen Ribena.

It's definitely not an essential on the London To-Do list but if you don't mind the travel, want to see a different side of London or just feel like being 'English', pop down to Hampton Court Palace. I wish I had a dog; I would walk it here!

Mooey's Here! (again!)

Following her travels to the big ol' U.S of A, Moo is visiting me again in London. I mean if you're gonna fly all the way to Florida and NYC, you might as well skip over the Atlantic to the British Isles. Especially if you can freeload accommodation.

I'm gonna force her to do a few things with like visit Hampton Court Palace and we'll also have another hang in Paris. Instant travel buddy!

Barcelona: Day 3

To go to Barcelona and to not visit La Sagrada Familia is unspeakable. It's kinda the symbol of city peeps! It's in view from all angles of the city; you can't escape it like how you can't escape the Eiffel Tower of Paris, the Harbour Bridge of Sydney and the trannies of Bangkok.

Church after church in Europe - they all start to look the same. But not Gaudi's church; he's a Gothic architect extraordinaire! The 'bony' appearance of the building is his signature but you know, this isn't an essay and I'm not going to bore my myself nor anyone else about style, structure, symbology blah blah blah blah - I gave you a link above! Though, I do have to say the mathematical precision achieved by simple methods was pretty impressive. The inner nerd strikes again!

Who's a happy tourist with the audio tour? The exterior of the front entrance.


Yeah, it's the interior.


Back of the church. Fruits topping the side naves.

I could post more photos up but this would just get boring and anyway, photos don't really capture the atmosphere of the place. Well, at least not my photos. There's a bit of tragic story about Gaudi. He got a bit down and died before the church's completion.... which is planned for the year 2026. Yep, that's right, they're still trying to finish it.

Being in a Gaudi mood, we made our way to Park Güell, the site of many Gaudi works and his own house.

Someone not looking very happy about the imminent steep trek. My view of fellow trekkers.

Having escalators up that hill certainly helps.


The view from the top of the hill with Barcelona's own Gherkin.

Time was not our friend today and by the time we completed the ascent (it didn't that long, really) it was evident that planes would be missed and friendships destroyed if the descent to the park was made.

Here is my 'so close yet so far' photo of the park. One day, I shall return!

Tummies needed a final feed before boarding our respective flights and the La Boqueria market was the choice venue. Even though it was the Spanish lunch time, for some reason a lot of the market stalls were shutting up shop :( We ended up at a tapas restaurant that was probably more tourist trap than genuine fare.

Market entrance

Snacks galore


I nearly dropped a croquette, hence Kt's face - really!


Freshly squeezed juices. Hard to come by in London. For dessert, I opted for fruit rather than add to the ice cream tally.

My souvenir. White chocolate with dried strawberry pieces. Yum!

Well, my backpack and I were left to our own devices as everyone deserted me for their earlier flights. Damn Ryanair and their one-flight-out-of-Girona schedule. In that time, I wandered the streets and bought a few tacky magnets.

One more rumble on La Rambla.

In my solidarity I also stumbled into Barcelona's Chinatown. Us chinks always manage to find each other somehow. What I was actually looking for was the Arc de Triomf; the Spanish, Moorish lesser known version of the Parisian Neoclassical counterpart. Maybe not worth a special trip to visit, but it is located at the end of a long pedestrianised boulevard where one can enjoy a good ol' book on a park bench.

Yeah, there are a few things Barcelona does in the way of Paris but with Spanish flair. Maybe that's why I like it so much. If Paris and Barcelona were sisters, I'd wanna hang out with them! Paris would be the pretty, refined, elegant, older sister while Barcelona, though not much younger would be the sexy (but not slutty sexy), relaxed, funky younger sibling. I will return one day!

The flight back to London was as painful as the arrival except I ran into some people I knew and at least had some company on the Stansted Express..... which got cancelled and we had to board a replacement bus service instead..... ugh!