i know, i know i've fallen desperately behind on posting about europe but i kept procrastinating, not for a lack of time but for a few personal reasons and now, when i want to resume it - memories are as memories do, they are getting a little blur around the edges but i shall try.
future posts will not be in chronological order i'm afraid but the order of which is determined by my flickr page.
i hope to be able to blog about at least one more destination this year.
it seemed like just yesterday when he suddenly turned to me and said, 'can you believe we're in paris?' and of course, i said no.
so it is with a very heavy heart that i will do a last tour of the city, some last minute shopping at galleries lafayette, have a last breakfast at
paul and a last dinner at
hippopotamus.then i'm grudgingly homeward-bound. i'll be desperately praying for a 10 day flight delay. should have asked the pope for some divine intervention when we were within metres of each other but maybe the nuns would have trampled me to death before i could even get nearer. ok definitely more on the later, let me e-sulk somemore.
isn't it particularly cruel when you feel most for what you set out feeling the least for?
i saw more places than originally intended, ate and spent with abandon and tried to drink in everything i could. it wasn't perfect nor trouble-free but i wouldn't trade this for anything.
the person i have to thank most was the unfortunate one stuck with me for two weeks straight. oh the horror. thanks for being my compass, always. and sometime bag-carrier.
not dead yet. literally just back from roma and venice.
saw the pope at a service in rome and saw snow for the first time.
more soon-ish.
we're back after a whole day in amsterdam and i'll expand on that in the next entry perhaps, this is just a quick one to say hi to everyone who's reading and to show off how i have survived like a cockroach in insane temperatures.
my best friend, Google, had just revealed that the temperatures in amsterdam AND den bosch, the town we're staying in are both between -2 and -4 deg celcius.
for the unimaginative, this isn't the kind of weather you want to trifle with and since i have lived to report the meteorological happenings in this part of the world, i will never ever whine 'soooo cooold' in the way i know sam and ming are imagining right now, when i come back. IF i make it back. yes, it's that bad.
and since someone is still hogging the shower, here's a little about den bosch.
the town is an hour's train ride away from amsterdam and a 4 hour drive away from paris. comparatively speaking, if paris is the kind of place that makes you want to feel fabulous and have torrid, heart wrenching, passionate affairs with scruffy tortured artist types then den bosch is the kind of place that just makes you happy and comfortable and really upbeat [despite how i look in pictures]. everyone greets everyone in lifts, something which i really like; even though in the mornings i feel more sociopathic than care bear. everywhere is accessible by foot or bicycle and the buildings are cute; low, squat, solid fellows but if i make it seem a bit enid blyton-ish then its my mistake because its anything but. there is a h&m and zara and plenty of little shops that i regrettably might not get the chance to explore.
ok finally i can shower and have to wash my socks. no need to tell me how glamourous it all is.
There is still an inordinate amount of show and tell to do but we need to sleep because... we're going to Netherlands tomorrow morning!
We'll be headed to a beautiful little town called Den Bosch with Uta, Alex's sister, via car and that is the town she is living in and also, the both of us will be seeing Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague there, all in the span of 3 days. Adventurous perhaps, but I can't wait.
Bonne Nuit!
Laduree
We chanced upon the inimitable Laduree on Champs and the interior was beautiful beyond description, looking like a tea room for Marie Antoinette and her BFFs. Expectedly, long queues were formed in the store, which has a proper menu with rather afforable prices and Laduree hawks merchandise as well such as candles and even perfume, with of course, beautiful packaging.
Dusk at Champs-Elysees
Walking towards and at Champs-Elysees, we encountered countless beautiful architecture and a lot of shops we didn't expect to find.
On the stretch, we saw the Sephora sign and made a beeline for it, only to see a crowd gathered in front of the shop as we approached and drawing closer, we heard strains of Womanizer and we saw the Sephora staff stand in two rows flanking the interior and clapping to the rhythm of the song so anyone who walked in couldn't avoid walking down the makeshift catwalk and unfortunately we were too amused to take any pictures but i hope i've painted an adequate mental picture of the scene. Apparently, this makeshift catwalk takes form about 5 times a day to different songs and the even the cashier's counter which was deeper in the store participates in this routine with the cashiers standing on the counter and dancing. Never thought such a thing would happen in Paris huh?
Arc de Triomphe
Of course, the arc needs no introduction. Bathed in the soft lights of dusk, its sheer size possessed an almost delicate, ethereal quality. That is, if you ignore the hordes of tourists freezing themselves at the very top of it.
Paul
Our first day started beautifully with the invigorating cold [no i'm not being sarcastic] and a great breakfast at Pauls, a chain boulangerie/cafe which puts delifrance to shame. Delightfully, there's a Paul just a 5 minute walk from home to the mall, Arcade.
The fantastic breakfast set at Pauls, the chocolat chaude so thick you can almost stand a spoon in it, with tarte sucre and gourmandises, which is like a long pain au chocolat. Gourmandises means greediness so its not hard to guess who had what that morning.
View of Paris
A view of Paris from the 17th floor of one of the residential buildings in Noisy. What cannot be seen is the Eiffel Tower in the distance, as well as the squalor. Pity.
Noisy Le Grand
This would be the neighbourhood of Noisy Le Grand, where i call home for two weeks. The part that we are living in is called Le Theatre and used to be quite the tourist attraction for its architecture and every part of the residences is very differently structured, with different names too but unfortunately over the years, it had let itself become a little bit squalid and the shutters ceased clicking. Nonetheless, i still think its quirky beauty still outshines its slightly squalid condition and it was a pleasant sight to be greeted with after 13 hours of flight and not able to see any sights as we touched down at night. Interestingly, nearby are two round buildings that serve as residences, called Camembert.
Also, please see the previous post for an edit.
Sunrise somewhere over the world
It was incredible, after more than 5 hours of being forced to close the shutters from the blazing sun outside, to open them and see the sun and its rays reaching further and further, illuminating the clouds we were above, highlighting the grooves and ridges.
edit : the flight was semi-eventful. just before boarding, we could see that the flight was definitely not going to be full, but a guy, alex's comrade, had taken a seat next to us and even after the seatbelt sign had been switched off, he never budged, despite being able to have his pick of seats all over the aircraft. after a while, i mean 4 hours later, we upped and moved ourselves to a 3 seater row and were much happier. sam and ming, you would be surprised to know that i slept like no tomorrow, albeit fitfully, throughout but still managed to fit in 3 movies and some reading. and then, 50 minutes before i landing, one of those airsick bags came in handy.
no prizes for guessing where this blog will kick off in!
hello hello from errr... t3. yes we are still on singaporean terra firma. i love t3! unfortunately, ming, the seat beside us is taken already so no chances of blocking it. we are hoping the third person to join us will be a hot guy or girl and we change seats accordingly. that will might exponentially increase my chances of joining the not-so-exclusive mile high club since my travel companion is determined to sleep throughout. i have no words to describe how good it feels to be behind so many panes of thick glass when it is sweltering outside. to my left is the big gleaming white sq plane. love it. boarding in a few shakes of a lamb's tail. have a good lunchtime my friends!
