Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Pretty Pretty Paris...

Day 1
Eiffel Tower, Arc De Triomphe, Palace Chaillot, Invalides, Champs-Elysees


We had a real good close up of Eiffel in the day. Well, I think here alone we took tens of pics, or even hundred. (well, total I took about 1000 pics in paris) Jw would always like to experiment and take pics of me with the famous buildings/monuments standing tall over me in the background. Hee. But he always takes very nice pictures lar. Of me, of us, of the scenery. Chey, and I tot I was the one who studied visual communication. Wahaha. Anyway, Eiffel was magnificent! Yesh, it is just metal joined together but somehow I really admire Gustave for being the architect behind this giant tower. Was soooo looking forward to seeing Eiffel sparkle at night.


Oh yeah, here is the magnificent Arc De Triomphe, where you stand tall at the intersection of a web of 12 avenues and witness a splendid view of Paris. We walked quite a long way to get here, and we must have climbed hundreds of steps along the spiral stairway to reach the top. Took videos of each other along the way, and took alot of videos/pics from all the angles at the top of the Arc. What I loved most was the view of Eiffel (yesh it had lit up!~) and the view of Champs-Elysees (their Orchard Rd). =)




This is Champs-Elysees as seen from Arc De Triomphe. I think I took nicer pics with my Canon Ixus 75, but too bad can't post here. Wahaha. But quite nice rite? I really love night scenery. Well, we also did some shopping at Champs-Elysees on our last day. Ate McDonalds (we ate alot of Macs on this trip!), visited the 7-storey LV building, but dun tink we bought anything. Waha. Woooo. We also caught the ending of Tour De France on this street during our last day. Way cool!! Took videos of them zooming past, think the cyclists rode as fast as a Ferrari could. Whoooooshhh. Amazing. Jw also bought a Tour De France kit, with a T-shirt, 2 wristbands (1 for me!), a teddy bear keychain (for me too!) and 4 magnets (wooo, all for him becos he's a magnet collector now).

Day 2
St Severine, Notre Dame, St Chapelle, Conceigerie, Rue De Rivoli, The Louvre, Hotel De Villa, Grand Palace, Palais Royal, Fun Fair


Yup, finally we found Notre Dame. & hey entrance was free! Ain't the building pretty? You should see the carvings up close, real delicate and skilfully done. But well, alot of buildings in Europe are like that. I love the stained glass in Notre Dame. What you see in books isn't exaggerated. You can really take pics like this one on the right. Woohoo. Real pretty.

One of my most loved places in Paris. Where else, but The Louvre. I dunnoe why it draws me to it so much, but I won't mind coming back here time after time. I love the Pyramids, they look splendid; I love the works of art, even though I can't appreciate them deeply; I love the architecture; every inch of the walls and ceilings were so beautiful. Though we spent bout 4 hours inside, I think we didn't even complete one tenth of it. & oh, on Fridays after 6pm it's free for people under 25. Which means for me! Waha. But not for jw. Cos' he's old man liaoz. *chuckles*

I finally saw the Mona Lisa. Wow. There were so many people crowded round her. She was shielded by this glass protector, but visitors were still allowed to take pics. Some say that this painting is fake, and that the real one has been hidden away somewhere. But well, I would still like to believe that this is real. hee. Woo. I also saw Da Vinci's paintings like Madonna of the Rocks. Tried hard to analyse what the audio guide was trying to tell me, but well, really very deep. Look at their ceilings. Ain't it magnificent? We took close-ups in every room that we went to. Really really pretty.

We had Jap food for dinner near The Louvre cos I really wanted to see how it looks at nite. Well, it didn't disappoint me.. =) Wait for me Louvre, one day I'll be back...

Day 3
Versailles, Montmarthe, Moulin Rouge, Sacre Coeur

Wooo. Jw knew I really wanted to visit Versailles, so on Saturday, we took the RER to the outskirts of Paris. We visited the Versailles Palace and the Garden. & oh, we had a tiff here. The first and probably the last of our entire trip. All becos he said I was insistent on him quitting smoking, when I thought he was the one who wanted to kick the habit. haha. Right. Watever. Which couple doesn't bicker.. So long as can get over it can liaoz, hor?? Anyway, we were fine when we stepped into the Palace. Kaoz, so beautiful and so magnificent ley, how can anyone bear to get angry in here instead of admiring the splendor.. Keke. I love the Garden! You should see the flowers and the fountains, really pretty and grand. Love it love it love it.

After Versailles, we departed for Montmarthe, where the Sacre Coeur and Moulin Rouge are located. Looks sort of like their old town. We had Tibetian food for dinner! Hee. Jw was so gian. Cost us about S$60, which is considered around the norm there. We took alot of silly videos here too, like performing 'swallowing' the fork, 'swallowing' the serviette, acting like dharma blah blah. Wahaha. The people sitting beside us were so amused. Guess all this stuff will always be stored in our memories, won't it, jw? Anyway, I thought Sacre Coeur was really, really pretty. Greenish under the moonlight, and the pics we took were like those you only see in travel books or on computers after DI. Wow. & hey, montmarthe was so happening! Narrow streets, pubs, staircase landing where soooooo many were sitting there just to enjoy the night view of Paris and listening to some guy performing on his guitar. It felt so nice to be there and then, with jw, enjoying every moment of the nite. & that nite was our countdown to our 4th Anniversary. Hehe. Perfect. =) Like I said, Paris was Perfect. Lucky us.

Day 4
St Michel, Latin Quarter, Pantheon, Eiffel Tower Summit


Well, you know, we didn't eat breakfast almost everyday. Haha. Why? Cos we will sleep till 10plus 11am. Wahaha. LAZY PIGS. But then again, the hotel didn't provide us with complimentary breakfast too, so we saved $$ rite? Hee. But our afternoons and night time were fully utilized because every nite my legs ached like mad when we stepped back into our room. Oh, I had two crepes in Paris. One Nutella with banana, the other just plain sugar crepe. Hee. Nice. I like!! I know jw doesn't. Wahaha. Which is why I also pei him to go and eat things like Tibetian food and Indian food (yesh indian food! Two bryanis which cost us S$66!) Hehe. BUT, kai xin jiu hao.

Eiffel, oh pretty Eiffel. Finally, we were going up up up. To the top. Hee. Today was our 4th Anniversary. 29 July 2007. I waited eagerly for this moment to arrive. There were 3 levels, and of cos, since you are there, might as well go up to the summit right?? Hee. We spent hours queueing and hours up there on the summit. Well. & then the best part of the trip happened. As we forgot to go get our anniversay presents at Champs-Elysees, we decided to split up there and then to get each other a gift from the souvenir shops. I got jw this little rugby ball with the EU flags, along with a sepia postcard of the glittering Eiffel at nite, saying "My life was colourless till you came along and put the sparkle into it..Happie 4th Anniversary" (smtg lidat lar, quite cheesy hor?) Jw bought me a pinkish necklace with a mini eiffel as the pendant. Nice! I like. Haha. & that was when we got engaged, there and then, on top of Eiffel, with the sunset behind us, and a baguette in our hands. Then when we got to the bottom of Eiffel, we lay down on the grass patch, side by side, witnessing the tower light up right in front of our eyes. Yesh, the Eiffel glitter that captured my heart and soul. Can you see it? It's like a dream, to me. Like a fantasy that I thought only happened in movies. Like a picture jumping right out of a fairy tale into reality. Ain't I the luckiest gal in the world? It ain't matter that there's no ring, ain't matter that we lost our valuables eventually, ain't matter so much now that we lost all our pics too. Because I guess I finally realised, what's important should really be kept in the heart. & like what jw says, our treasure is each other, not our pretty photos. Yar. I fully agree now.

Dear jw, thanks for asking me to be your fiancee. Eh, still remember last time u didn't even know what this word means. haha. 4 years liaoz, i think we saw each other grow up alot. You, from a party animal who likes to drink, gamble, smoke, to a 28-year-old man who is ever so filial to his parents and ready to take on family life and responsibilities. Me, from a chilidish, obstinate, ignorant teenager to a 24-year-old gal who has grown more mature, more understanding, and now also ready to move on to another phase of life. Well, this year ain't a good year for me. I suffered alot of heartaches along the way, but thank you, for being there for me each step of the way. I know you will read this when you return from sailing, and I just wanna say Happie 49th Monthliversary to us.. on this special day..

To others reading this post, ehhhh, sorry I didn't mean to be mushy, but the 29th of every month is a special day to me lar. keke. Well, hope you like my summary on Paris because I guess these were the highlights of my trip there. Hope we can all cherish whatever we have in front of us, and never take anything for granted, because when you lose it, that's when the world comes crumpling down and it takes ages to build it up again..

My PRIZED & MOST PRECIOUS collection of pics

Haha. So, indeed I lost my 2000 pics and 300 videos all thanks to the thief. BUT, look!! I got the below precious and invaluable drawings from none other than the Great Artist Mr Low Jiun Wee. Hehe. Yesh, he draws really well and he drew this for me when we lost our stuff. Awww. Thanks jw~ These are much more precious to me than any of the pics we lost. Why, you might ask, since there's no colour, and it's drawn with an ordinary pen on an ordinary notebook? Because every stroke contains the ingredient love, and you can't buy this with money. =) enjoy my mini art gallery! Woohoo. Try spotting us in every pic! keke. Au Revoir!!

~Summer~ 10:25 PM