Eurotrip : Day 5 - Wet welcome to the Eternal City

We were served coffee and croissants in our couchette while we passed the expansive Italian countryside. The train was running late and it finally arrive in Stazione Termini at 11.40am, almost 2 hours past its scheduled time. Our late arrival was not helped by the wet weather. We managed to find 'The Beehive' along Via Marghera despite the 'blink-and-you-miss' entrance. We were too early for check-in so we had to wait till 3pm; so off we trudged back to the station for lunch. We purchased our Roma pass for 20 Euros each. This pass allows us unlimited transport within the city for three days and two museum passes, so it fits nicely into our plan.

We checked into our shared apartment, which was just a stone throws away from the train station, soon after 3pm. It had 4 big rooms, a kitchen, a common bathroom and even a Mac in the living area for people to surf the net. It was a nice change from staying in a hotel, although Vicky did get rashes on her hands while we were there.

View from our bedroom window

The rain was now down to a drizzle so we decided to do one of the walks. We started with the church just down the street, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, stopped for dinner at a pizzeria, strolled down the dimly lited cobbled streets to the Trevi Fountain before making a final stop at the Spanish Steps. There was a big crowd of tourist at Trevi, each taking turns to throw coins into the shallow pool. It was quite confusing following the hand-drawn map in the guide book, so we made a few wrong detours along the way, one which led us close to the walls of the Colosseum and another to the columns of the Pantheon. This also goes to show that Rome is actually quite manageable on foot, especially on bright sunny days.

Basilica di Santa Maggiore

Trevi Fountain

The Pantheon

The Spanish Steps

Eurotrip : Day 4 - Homage to the Sun King

On our last day in Paris, before we ventured off to Rome, we decided to make a trip to Versailles, to where else but the Sun King's palace. King Louis XIV's royal château was supposed to be the dream palace of every European king during his days. So we parted with 21 Euros each for 'Le Passport' that covered the RER trip, main palaces and the estate of Marie-Antoinette.

Versailles Palace
Equipped with an audio guide, we were definitely going to understand more about this place than the guess-work we found ourselves in at the Louvre. From the minute we entered the King and Queen's apartment, we were treated to a heady mix of opulence and extravagant luxuries. From the hanging chandeliers to the ceiling paintings, and from the dazzling hall of mirrors to the the richly decorated bed chambers, all of it spelt wealth. However we left the château feeling slightly disappointed as we had set our bar of expectation real high. The jarring artwork of Jeff Koon's that stood out like sore thumbs in the palace halls did not help. (see giant balloon dog below)

It was now mid-day and we thought we could wrap up the visit early with only the gardens and the queen's estate. But we were not quite prepared for the scale of the gardens which was easily 20 times bigger than the 'puny' palace. Our walk to the Queen's Estate seemed like ages (around 50 minutes), though it had a country-side feel to it with tall handsome trees on every side. Must be a wonderful place to jog.

The Queen's little hamlet was like a little 'kampung' she decided to built near her royal abode. The place was a picture of calm and quiet, filled with quaint huts, small vineyards, a pond and a handful of farm animals. She must had been a 'Kampung' girl at heart.

Anyway, we underestimated the time and found ourselves brisk walking out of the palace grounds. We reached back to our hotel just in time to gather our bags and head for the Bercy train station. We managed packed some Kebab before getting on the train.

Au Revoir Paris (we'll see in you in a week), Rome here we come!

Eurotrip : Day 3 - From Louvre to Elysees

Today was the day we were finally going to see the smiling Mona. After filling up with McDonald's coffee and breakfast meal, we took the familiar 'pink' metro line down to Musee du Louvre. Flipping through the guidebook, we finally knew how it was supposed to be pronounced - 'loov-ruh', not 'loof' . And Champs-Elysees was 'shahn zay-lee-zay'.

The Louvre
This was one sight that one probably can't cover in a day. But we were no great scholars of art, so other than the famous masterpieces at the Denon Wing, we didn't have much of a clue where to go. So after getting our tickets from the machine, we headed towards the Denon.

Sounds Greek to me ... the French descriptions made recognising the statues much harder

Winged Victory of Samothrace ... still magnificent inspite of missing limbs

The Wedding at Cana ... the other crowd puller in the room

The Mona Lisa ... needed a zoom lens to see the famous smile

Crown Room

Mummy ... they seem to be in every famous museum, probably gotten through threat or trade

In front of Pei's controversial pyramid

Jardin de Tuileries
After walking through the maze-like rooms of the Louvre for almost four hours, we made our way out to the courtyard and then towards the gardens. It was a good sunny day to be out, so we had a quick bite on the garden lawns before making our way to Champs Elysees.

Avenue des Champs Elysees
A 2km strip lined with tall leafy trees that stood like sentries in front of luxury brand stores and other prime real estate occupants.
The highlight for Vicky was of course the store with the 'LV' initials displayed prominently on the building front. I guesses that worked, as it draws quite a crowd in. And more than half of these were Asians. So it was no surprise that the store had a couple of Chinese staff who could converse in Chinese. I guess they were no more afraid of the Chinese pirate. After fulfilling Vicky's fantasy, we happily trudged out and headed towards our final destination.

Arc de Triomphe
It must be quite a sight, to ride a horse triumphantly through this massive arch with cheering Parisians flanking the promenade.
Well, at least we settled for a walk round this famous monument, admiring it from all angles. Did not fancy a climb up to the top, so we decided to call it day.

Eurotrip : Day 2 - Paris City Streets

Day two. We went looking for breakfast near our hotel. We finally found a cafe at a street corner just a block away. It was a typical French cafe where you can choose to sit at the bar counter or one right next to those big windows that look out to the street. No prizes guessing where we sat. Anyway breakfast was a simple meal of omelette, baguette, croissants, orange juice and cafe au lait. After filling up, we were ready to take on the streets of Paris. But first stop, the iconic iron structure of Paris.

Eiffel's Tower
Gustave Eiffel must have been a visionary. Who would have thought that an entanglement of metal latticework rising high above the city's ornate buildings and built right next to the graceful Seine, would have blended in perfectly into Paris' romantic skyline. So, we like every other tourist to Paris, had to scale the famous tower to breathe in the air up there and to tick off this modern wonder in the 'must-do' list. 7.80 Euro got us to the 2nd Level where we proceeded to walk around the perimeter, snapping away at will. The sunlight was a tad too bright, bathing the entire city in a harsh glare. Then we got down closer to the ground, to the 1st level, where the view was more defined. When we left, walking across Champ de Mars, we couldn't help but to steal a few parting glances at this magnificent structure, now beautifully set against the deep blue sky.

Bus #69 Sightseeing Tour
This bright idea from Rick Steve's book promised a good sightseeing tour of great monuments and neighbourhoods, and it will bring us from the Eiffel Tower to Marais, our next destination. There was another couple on the bus who carried the same book, so they must have had the same idea. Disappointingly the bus had to stop its service just before crossing Pont Du Carousel. Something about a problem at the bridge. Dumped in the middle of Rue St.Dominique, we had to turn back to the trusty Metro, that was never too far away.

Marais Walk
One of the more trendy and atmospheric neighbourhood. We relied on the book's hand drawn map to lead us through the narrow lanes and lively parks.

Montmartre on the hill
We still had time and anyway the sun sets quite late over here, so we headed to Montmartre. Stopping at Anvers Metro, we walked up the busy cobbled street towards the big white church at the top of the hill. Feeling a little tired from the days events, we laid down on the grassy slope, to rest our eyes and to just inhale the fresh cool air. It was like a carnival atmosphere up here. People were sitting on the steps in front of Sacre Coeur singing along to a busker belting out 'Guantanamera' (or Girl from Guantanamo), the wildly popular Cuban Song, while strumming his guitar. We took a tour of the basilica before taking to the streets of Montmartre. This place was like a wonderful getaway from the busy city streets, with its charming town square and quaint houses. Not to mention the few famous hangouts or houses of famous dead people. We walked all the way down to boulevard de Clichy for a glimpse of the famous cabaret, Moulin Rouge, as well as the many 'interesting' shops and theatres that stands along the road, before climbing back up the hill for dinner at one of the restaurants in the town square (Place du Tertre).

Sacre Coeur

Montmartre

Moulin Rouge

Van Gogh's pad

Thank you for the music

"So I say,
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing,
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing,
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty ... "

Yes, what would life be, without a song or a dance or a tune to hum along. So that was probably what the producers were thinking when they wrapped a simple, yet endearing story, around a bunch of all-time favourite hit-songs, which guaranteed that even the most dour miser would start tapping his feet when the music starts playing, and throw in a group of well-known veteran actors, and wa lah .. a box office hit; or of course you could just follow the lead of the producers of Mamma Mia! and adapt the stage musical onto the silver screen. I must admit though that it was a riot listening to song after songs of ABBA's greatest hits, while enjoying the uninhibited performance of Meryl and gang.

Musical films are kind of a rarity nowadays, though they are making a comeback with one or two rare gems in the past few years. We have had stage-to-film musicals like Chicago, Rent, Phantom of the Opera, and others like Dreamgirls and The Producers. I guessed it is not easy to produce one without a group of talented singing cast and great songs.

Disney also had rebuild their cartoon dynasty in the 90s with successful cartoon musicals like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, though they have kind of cooled off with the musical theme.

However despite all these wonderful movie musicals, the torch bearer for musicals will still be the classic evergreens of the past such as The Sound of Music, Singin' in the Rain, My Fair Lady,West Side Story, etc. They are the ones that come to mind when the word 'musical film' is mentioned .. and the ones that we had repeatedly watched on video (pre-recorded version), in the familiar drab colour film quality that old movies are known for. I bet most of us will instantly recognise the Austrian hill scenery that was made famous by the Sound of Music.

Anyway, be it old or new, we should be thankful that we still have some song and dance in our lives. If not, it is time you find some ...

"...What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me"

Eurotrip : Day 1 - City of Lights

It was a late flight. Checking in at T3 was a breeze. We even had time for coffee and toast at Toastbox, plus a stop at the optical shop for Vicky's box of disposable contacts. Oh, we were going to be so bloated with supper served on the flight later. Flight 334 had started boarding. So we headed for the gates, for our first European adventure ...

Bienvenue en France
We arrived at CGD T1 before 7am, Paris time. The airport had an interesting muti-level design, not the usual flat, one/two level design, but with many escalators leading to the baggage collection area. We collected our bags and caught the RER towards Gare du Nord. The north station was quite a confusing labyrinth, with signs pointing to all destinations except ours. We were lost for a while but with some help from the information booth we were pointed in the right direction of the Metro. We decided to buy a Mobilis ticket; this allowed is to have unlimited train/bus rides for the day in Zone 1 & 2 for only Euro 5.80 per person. This beats the Euro 11.40 carnet of 10 tix if the two of us takes more than 5 rides a day.

We got off at the Crimee station, just a 50m walk to our home for the next 3 days, Hotel Crimee. It was still too early to check in, so we dumped our bags and headed off for our first stop in our plan, Ille de la Cite.

Historic Paris walk
With Rick Steve's Paris 2008, we were hoping to be guided through this historic part of the city. Our metro line stops at Chatelet, which was close enough to the island. Our first stop was the church dedicated to "Our Lady", which inspired many imitations around the world, the famous Notre Dame.

We were quite famished when were done. No, we did not climb up to have a closer view of the gargoyles. We conveniently hopped over to a restaurant on the left bank for lunch. After a quick introduction to the local cuisine and billing system, we were back to our walk.

We walked along the sides of the church, stopping briefly at the deportation memorial, before crossing the bridge to walk along the left bank and the Latin Quarter.

Another famous stop that deserved a visit was Sainte-Chapelle, famed for its stained glass. The long queue at the security checks did not deter the many tourists waiting eagerly in line. As the entrance was the same one for Palais de Justice, we waited in the wrong queue until someone informed us about the other queue. But interestingly, after you cleared security, you could go to either place.

Cruising down the Siene

It was past 7pm, and the skies were still bright. We got off at Trocadero. I was wondering what time would be best for a river cruise. Naturally we would need the night sky and a lighted up city. We walked over to the base of the Eiffel tower and found a kiosk selling hot dogs and crepes. That would be our dinner. The boat was beginning to fill up with people from the many tour buses stopping at the jetty. We bought our tickets for the 8.30pm cruise and got on. The boat had outdoor and indoor seating, over a hundred seats and audio guides in almost every language.

The cruise began and I took a sit on the outside, soaking in the sights and trying to get a good shot of the night skyline. It was an one hour ride, and when the boat U-turned we were both getting a little tired. Guess our bodies were not in tuned with the local time yet.

Back to the hotel for a a good night's rest as tomorrow will be a long day.