France: Montpellier

Montpellier was our actual destination in France. My mum had a five-day discussion and conference with a French counterpart she was working with. This place had a really nice small town feel. There weren't really big skyscrapers or busy traffic or people rushing all over the place..

Just sunny weather, and really warm and polite people.. Unlike Paris, I absolutely loved this town! ^^

Kyriad Hotel has a chain all over France. I'd hoped to be staying at the same chain in Paris. Their services are to die for.. ^^

Breakfast at the Kyriad.. and this is just one third of the dishes served! But, on the downside, I only got to have hotel breakfast twice the entire time I was at Montpellier. You see, while our rooms were paid for two people, breakfast is only provided for one person.. so my mum and I gilir2. An extra person for breakfast would cost EU10 per day.

Something worth mentioning: Since our room didn't come equipped with a fridge, I kept my butter from melting by placing it on our windowsill during the day.. it was that cold!

I went on my first excursion through the town on my own. One thing about France, you'll often see these chalkboards placed outside shops, restaurants and cafes, listing their offerings. And what does this particular cafe serve? various tartines (toasted breads with toppings), assiettes (platters) and of course, wine..

I don't know why, but I've noticed that temperate countries tend to have bluer skies... I loved the color, and the leaves are of one of my favorite trees: Maple! Haih, I haven't had maple anything in so long... (-_-)

Walnuts! I was so excited when I saw this that I actually ended up buying some to bring back home. Of course, my dad wasn't too ecstatic about them since the darn things were so hard to crack..

My one and only dinner out the entire time I was in Montpellier! My mum's colleague took us to a halal Morroccan restaurant in downtown Montpellier. This is a traditional vegetable stew that you eat with...

Couscous (this used to be something I ate often when I was in the US)..

And berbecued beef and lamb..

Middle eastern desserts! I had the one in the middle. It's made with fine semolina and dates, and then drizzled in sugar syrup... Highly diabetic, but yum!

On other days, this is what I usually had for breakfast, lunch and dinner.. baguettes with butter and jam. Of course, there were also the obligatory sambal ikan bilis, serunding and instant noodles, but those didn't look too pretty or interesting on camera.. ;p

Despite being a small town, Montpellier has very good public transport. This is an above-ground train called the tram, and it functions just like our Komuter. The only difference? our Komuter is less user-friendly.. (-_-)

There are fountains all over the place, especially in courtyards and public squares. I took this one because I love the pigeons that bathe there. They would circle the fountain rim for a while and then slowly dip a foot in... these two were following each other for fifteen minutes.. cute!

An apartment complex in the Antigone district. I want a house like this one! ^^

This is called Place de la Comedie (Comedic Place). Some parts of this place is very old.. Somewhere around 1200s..?

This is probably the building this place was named after: the Comedic Opera. I guess this is the entertainment center back then...

A roman aqueduct. What is that? it's an ancient waterway system that uses gravity to provide water to the residents of a town. These can be found all over France, as well as Europe and India. This system is no longer in use obviously, but many of the structures still stand..

I forgot who this is, but he might have been the founder of Montpellier. I just love the horse sculpture.. so detailed to the point of including veins! (I can't even draw a horse..)

Chateau D'eau... aka the Water Palace. Remember that aqueduct I showed you? well, this is the reservoir. And because aqueducts uses gravity to channel water, Chateau D'eau is made to stand on a hill overlooking Montpellier..

Porte du Peyrou (the entrance to Peyrou). I guess romans really love arches. You can find these everywhere in France. Historically, this is the entrance to the city, and to the Place de la Comedie..

Saint Anna's Church. I wasn't very sure if I could go in, so I didn't risk standing in front of the entrance. I love the rose windows that are featured here. Although present in many churches throughout Europe, stained glass and rose windows are French in origin. These windows are usually placed on the west side of the building..

Ah, I love flowers! they seem to be blooming all over Montpellier, even in the cold! Many of the houses and apartments sport some sort of greenery on their balconies and porches, so I've taken the liberty to capture some..

Helianthus! Amazing colors, but I wonder where the seeds are...

I don't know what these are, but they were planted side by side, and they make beautiful contrast against one another..

And that's all from Montpellier. I didn't get to go to many of the places, like the Aquarium or the Zoo, or the Mediterranean beach for that matter.. I was alone, and I didn't think straying too far from the hotel on my own was such a good idea, so I had to make do with the nearest attractions. I'd like to come back here, more than I would to Paris, actually. I heard that from Malaysia you can take an Air Asia flight to London, and then a local flight straight to Montpellier! :)

AND, you can extend your visit to Italy or Spain, the countries that border France! ^^

France: Paris

I know this is late, but November and December has been hell! my workload increased 300%, and in the middle of that I had to go through some really big changes..

I'm in no mood to write about France, so i hope pictures will do, ne? ^^ By the way, these are pictures of the city of Paris. They are more or less in chronological order..

Street vendors selling towers of all sizes! and they're real iron! Most of them wouldn't let me take a picture, but I got lucky..

Paris is famous for the arts.. I just love the way the sketch captured the boy's eyes...

Aww.. there's never a cuter couple than a daddy and his precious little girl~

A boat cruise on the Seine River, which coursed through much of the historical sites in Paris. There are many cruises to chose from, but this one leaves from the Eiffel Tower, which is close to my hotel.

Life on a boat! I've always wanted to try that... remember Pergau? ^^

Autumn riverbank from the cruise.. I love fall colors!

Eiffel Tower from the cruise dock..

I didn't actually get to go up onto the tower.. :( Way too many people waiting in line, and I couldn't leave my sick mum alone. So amik gambar je la..

If you've read or seen the Da Vinci Code, you'd know where this is! That's my mum and behind her is the famous glass pyramid of the Lourve Museum.

I love ancient buildings.. They have such a feel to them.. By the way, The Louvre grounds are a lot bigger than the pictures show. It's HUGE!

I wish my DSLR had better zooming lenses.. *sob* the artistry on these buildings are awesome!

The glass pyramid is surrounded by shallow fountains. Sometimes you'll see gulls (that's a bird, people!) swimming and floating around. For some reason, they can detect camera lenses..

My mum insisted that we visit the Egyptian exhibit. Actually, you aren't allowed to take pictures in the museum, but I couldn't help it.. Cats! ^^

These jewelries belong to the ancient Pharaohs (Fir'auns)..

Beauty truly is a timeless thing, isn't it?

You know that heart shape everyone makes these days? well, this is literally the ancestor.. This is a 'heart' pendant. Back then, this means love... XD

Ah, the beauty needs of a Queen~the darn face cream containers are made of marble people! does it get any more indulgent than that??

Just so you know, the painting's ancient... I'm not sure if that's real gold on the ceiling, but knowing the french, that's not at all impossible~

More really old paintings and more gold.. There were also sculptures on the walls, but I need to keep this entry as U rated as possible. The ancients really loved detailed body parts... (-_-)

See the bright gallery behind my mum? Those sculpures are so amazing in that they are proportionate and so detailed. Not to mention 'anatomically correct'..

This famous lady.. Just to get to her you'd have to walk to the end of a very long hall! And when you get there you're immediately disappointed, because she's protected by a 10-inch bulletproof glass, and no one's allowed within ten feet of her. Hence the real bad photo. BUT! she really is worth the trip.. Monalisa's smile really does make you wonder..

A big red hall with paintings the size of Godzilla.. My mum loved the paintings in here, but taking pictures of all of them would take me all day..

This is my favorite painting: The Coronation of Marie de Medicis at the Notre Dame Cathedral, a day before the death of her husband King Henri IV. Out of the many French historical personality I learned of back in highschool, her name stands out the most...

Pont Neuf (New bridge), is one of the many bridges that connects Paris to the small island in the middle of the Seine River called Ile de la Cite (Island of the city). This particular bridge is four hundred years old.

L'arc de Triomphe (Triumphal Arch) was built by Napoleon Bonaparte. It's a very famous landmark and it is historically rich. However, I didn't get to go down to see it. Pictures were taken from a double decker tour bus.. :(

Look at the carvings.. How long do you think it'll take to carve stone??

Under the arch there is a tomb built to commemorate all those who have died defending France. There is an eternal flame burning at the tomb. I wanted to see that.. T-T

Eglise du Dome, at Les Invalides. This is the place where french war veterans used to retire. There is also an extensive hospital and infirmary apart from the church. Napoleon was buried at this complex.

One facade of the Invalides. Note the weird shape of the trees.. This garden is one of fifteen in this complex.

Ever watched the Hunchback of Notre Dame? This is the famous cathedral. See the two towers?They house five church bells, one of them weighing 13 tons!

Had to take this from the bus, since my mum was too weak to get down and have a look. See the crowd? Haish, what I would give to go inside.. (-_-)

I like this pic, even if it is a little blurry.. This is the west side of the cathedral, taken on the bus practically during Magrib. Instead of Azan, the loud bells were chiming 7 pm.. This picture literally ends my two day adventure in Paris..

In front of our hotel on the day of departure back to Malaysia. This was right before I had to hail a cab to take us to the airport. My mum was happy here, but she wouldn't be an hour later when she found out our taxi fare amounted to EU 61 (RM 240)!

I'd like to go back to Paris if I have the chance. I didn't really get to see the place; I didn't even climb up the Eiffel tower! Next time, I'll have a better idea where to go and what to see.. where to eat even! Anybody wanna come?? ^^

PS: Next entry is France: Montpellier!