This blog will document the year of travel and work that comes my way in 2013. I am VERY excited and cannot wait to see how many stamps I can get in my passport (imagine Felipe from 'Eat, Pray, Love' saying this, scene at the market). Bring it on!
As was decided yesterday, today the plan was to get up early and beat the queues at Notre-Dame. I was successful in getting up early and beating the queues but you can just imagine my dismay when I pulled out my camera to snap my first picture and found out I had left my memory card in my laptop back at my hotel... I'll admit that I silently cursed on the inside but those who know me well know that I'm a pretty organised person (Kim will vouch for that), so organised in fact that I had a spare memory card in my camera bag, the very camera bag I was going to leave behind in my hotel room today. Oh the joy when I remembered the spare card, talk about meant to be!
I always loved Disney's version of 'The Hunchback of Notre-Dame' (it's in my top three with 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'The Little Mermaid') and remember getting it for my 9th birthday (I know this because that year I also got my ears pierced) so have always thought it'd be a cool spot to visit. I've been lucky enough to have visited a few cathedrals in Europe and what I'll take away from Notre-Dame is the darkness (very dim inside), the beautiful stained glass work and the gargoyles. I never got to the top but took a bit of time looking up at the gargoyles and admiring them from a distance.
Notre-Dame - celebrating 850 years!
Moi!
From the inside
Since it's Easter and all...
Nice!
If you look closely you can see some gargoyles. Oh, and check out that blue sky!
Next on my list of places to visit was Montmarte and the Sacred Heart Basilica. I enjoyed perusing the streets around Montmarte and liked the view from on top of the hill but the crowds of people put me off staying there for too long. It was also the first time that one of the street sellers actually grabbed my hand and with force I had to pull away...
Pretty white marble
Waiting in line is always nicer when there is someone playing the violin
You'll laugh when you read about what I did next. I went back to where I'd just came from, that's right, all the way back to Notre-Dame on the other side of Paris. Why? Well, because I have an unlimited metro pass remember! Ha ha no, it was because I'd had a place recommended to eat there by Emmanuel, dad's boss (I only realised it was by Notre-Dame when I was already at Montmarte...). So I got all the way back there to find this;
#29 was closed!
That it's closed on Monday and Tuesdays! Ah well I wasn't too disheartened because this whole street was full of amazing places to eat and I got myself a very srummy crepe with caramel and pistachio ice-cream in it, MIAM MIAM!!!
Ice-cream goodness in a crepe!
Another reason I was happy to be in this part of the city was because I had the most amazing chocolate eclair from there yesterday. I managed to find my way back to the same spot again and the eclair was even better than the one I had yesterday. It's lucky I'm not staying here long term because they'd definitely be something I'd be eating all the time!
Found it!
Oh yea!
That's what's in the middle dad. Can you try make me one? Please! You've got until Jan 2014 to perfect it ;)
I also saw a roller-blading mime today so thought I'd include a picture of that. Only in Paris aye?
A modern take on the ol' mime
While I was sitting in a one of the parks by Notre-Dame savouring my eclair I pulled out my Lonely Planet travel guide and saw one of their top not to be missed sights was Père Lachaise Cemetery so I hopped on and off a few metros and found my way there easily enough. This is Paris' largest cemetery and the world's most visited cemetery. It is 48 hectares of cobbled lanes and elaborate tombs and I don't know where people got their maps from but I sure wanted one because trying to locate the two tombs I wanted to was a very hard task with no map. I think I got lucky in the end finding both Jim Morrison's and Oscar Wilde's by tagging on behind people who looked like they knew where they were going.
Come on baby light my fire...
Jim Morrison, still adored by fans
Oscar Wilde's tomb is now surrounded by glass to stop people kissing it and leaving lipstick stains all over it
New life...
A map REALLY would have come in useful when I was trying to find my way out. I started to get a little creeped out and decided it's definitely not a place I'd like to be when the sun goes down.
Would you look at that, it's dinner time! I'm going to head across the road and try the Indian restaurant. I've been told it's fantastic and I've been waiting until 7 for it to open! Then it'll be an early night for me to refresh my batteries for my next stop tomorrow.
Mmmmmm chocolate from Belgium, I'm already salivating x
Oh it does feel good to be writing a blog entry! It means school is done and dusted for a while I'm out exploring again. Paris has always been a place I've wanted to visit ever since I had my first French lesson with Madame Maclean in year 9. People have given me mixed reviews about the city and I guess you can't say for yourself until you go but I have had the best first day here and am already in love with Paris.
Before my trip I did a lot of research online and reading reviews on trip advisor to find a suitable place to stay for a single female and really hit the jackpot with the place I found. It's called Hotel Glasgow. I got it at a reduced price as well (less than half price) and it is in a good neighbourhood that I can easily walk around in at night feeling safe. When I got off the metro last night, an elderly couple noticed I looked a bit lost and walked me halfway to my hotel on their way home, that shows you the type of neighbourhood it is.
Sweet room at Hotel Glasgow
Got snap happy I was so impressed :)
I spent my day today hoping on and off the metro and it's so easy to use, even easier than London! At the Eurostar terminal in London last night I bought a 3 day metro pass and I already think I've had money's worth with all the times I've hoped on and off today. My day started with a trip to Les Champs-Elysées to see the Arc de Triomphe. As I hoped off the metro and started heading up the stairs to the street I played Joe Dassin's song 'Les Champs-Elysées', something I always envisaged doing after hearing and falling in love with the song when I heard it a movie a few years back. It was a perfect moment, listening to that tune and seeing the street, it was a real 'wow' moment. The arch is similar to the victory arches throughout the Roman Empire and was commissioned by Napoleon in the early 1800s after he declared to his soldiers; "you will return home through arches of victory". It really is a dominating monument and by that I mean it is HUGE and very beautiful. I nearly died running across the busy intersection to get a closer look and when I got over to it I found that there was a safer underground route I could have taken... I also found out that you could climb to the top of the Arch and luckily for me the 2 day museum pass I had covered the entry fee. It was a long climb to the top but it gave a fantastic panoramic of Paris.
You can get some idea of the scale when you look at the little people across the road
Arc de Triomphe
Street sign in pic
Les Champs-Elysées
Eiffel Tower in the distance
I then spent some time looking in the designer shop windows down Les Champs-Elysées until I found a metro station that would get me to the Louvre. A cool thing about catching the metro in Paris is that there will often be people playing music on them. For my journey to the Louvre I was lucky enough to have an accordian player, very French!
Musian on the metro
As you can imagine, the Louvre was teeming with people and the lines were crazy. I was almost tempted not to go at all because the idea of waiting in line for hours was so horrid but it was when I was about to turn away I remembered that 2 day museum pass I'd bought and I vaguely remembered the lady telling me it could help me skip the queue. So I found it in my pocket, went up to the barrier, showed them my pass and I got in straight away. So I'd highly recommend the pass after that experience.
Impressive!
Quite a few people milling around
Thank you Paris Museum Pass!!!
Even though I got in easy enough it was still hard to move once you got in there so I followed the signs to get to the Mona Lisa and it was definitely an experience seeing that. I finally found the room it was housed in, well, I followed the crowd, and it was people had gone crazy in there. I took some pictures to help illustrate this point more clearly;
Everyone waiting to get close
The barrier holding the people back
I finally got to the front and I liked what I saw
The collection at the Louvre is extensive and it would take a very long time to see all of it. One piece I particularly liked was Nike of Samothrace and that is on the bow of a ship as you enter the museum.
Nike of Samothrace
I guess I looked around for a few hours and by the time I left my tummy was a rumbling. I was looking forward to lunch because I was hanging out to dig into some real French food. I found a cute spot near Notre Dame Cathedral (line was too long so will try get there early tomorrow morning) and feasted on an ham, potato and cheese omellete. Miam Miam!!! Delicious!
Was nicer than it looks!
The Eiffel Tower was next on the list but on the way I got a bit side tracked at Musee d'Orsay, again I got to jump the huge queue, where I checked out some Monet, van Gogh and many more. Unfortunately, I was prohibited from taking pictures but a lot of the pieces gave me goosebumps as they were just so stunning. I think my grandad will be happy by how cultured I feel right now.
Everywhere in Paris was packed today and the Eiffel Tower was no exception. I had no desire to go to the top, especially since I'd gone up the Arc de Triomphe and seen such a good view. I'm happy I saw it and can cross it off the list. I liked walking around the parks surrounding the tower, really felt like a movie set they were that pretty.
Hehe this is what happens when you ask strangers to take your pictures...
Police on bikes, CUTE!!!
Top shot!
Park by the tower
Remember how I said there are often musicians on the metro? As my metro left the Eiffel Tower to take me back my hotel and the tower was out the window, a man an accordion started playing 'What a wonderful world', talk about perfect timing! That made me smile and think what a wonderful day I had.
I'm in for the night now and am going to have an early one so I can try get up early and beat the crowds for Notre Dame and then I want to get up to Montmarte and see Sacred Heart Basilica and try out some of the food dad's boss has recommended to me. Hopefully I get to one of the cemeteries too.
What a fantastic weekend I've just had in the county of Kent! The county I live in is called Berkshire and it took me about 2 hours on the train to get to West Malling in Kent. I went down to Kent to stay with Simon's good friend Ben and his girlfriend, Julia, because when Simon taught here a few years ago he lived in Kent and highly recommended it as a place to visit. It is a very pretty county and out of all the places I've seen in England so far it's by far the most 'English' place I've seen. By 'English' I mean the cute little brick houses and cobbled streets and all that. It's also the greenest place I've seen.
I arrived quite late on Friday night so we just had dinner in at Ben's house and watched some good British TV. I was happy about this and took down the names of a few shows and channels because every time I turn the TV on at my place I can't seem to find anything good!
Julia and I left quite early on Saturday morning and headed into West Malling to visit some old spots and wander down the main street. It was nice and girly and I loved it! Our first stop was St. Leonard's Tower and this was built by Gundulf (not Gandalf) between 1077 and 1108 so it's pretty old. Unfortunately you have to book to go inside and can only do so on weekday mornings but it was nice to walk around it.
St. Leonard's Tower
We then walked through a country park into town, very pretty and very English. It was like a path I can imagine characters from Downton Abbey walking along.
Swans in the country park
We spent a while popping in and out of shops on the main street and I picked up a few goodies. On the way back to the car we stopped off at the local church, another very old building.
West Malling Church
Our next stop was a big football match. It was Julia's first time watching Ben and I could tell she was very excited ;) It was a good win for his team , 5-0, and it was a real experience for me seeing such die hard fans screaming from the sidelines.
Ben in action ;)
That evening we went out for a few drinks at a local pub where I met some great people and then we headed to an Indian Restaurant where we spent the rest of the night. It was a great night, great food and even better company.
On Sunday we went on a family outing to Leeds Castle! I don't know if you can remember what I said about Windsor Castle and how I thought it was weird that the town was built so closely around it and how I thought a castle should be in the middle of the countryside? Well I think if you want an idyllic, picture perfect castle then Leeds Castle must be pretty up there as far as these types of castles go. I thought it was gorgeous and wouldn't mind living there. The castle is surrounded parkland, a golf course and several gardens. When we walked up to the castle we walked past several lakes with lots of swans and various other birds flying around. I really felt like I was walking back in time.
Ready to see a castle!
Peacock!
Black swan with castle in the back
About to go into the castle
It's weird to say this but the castle had a real homely feel to it. I liked all the wood carvings and the rooms weren't too big, it really felt like a nice big house. The castle has been situated on the site since 1119 and has had many owners but maybe the most famous person to live here was Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon in the 16th century. I got to see her room :) The castle has been open to the public since 1976 and the ticket, like the one from Windsor, is valid for a year so maybe when the weather gets better I'll head there for a picnic. Apparently in the summer they have concerts in the grounds of the castle so I'll keep my eyes peeled for upcoming events.
Queen Elizabeth on the wall
Banquet Hall
Chapel
Ben noticed that this baby had rather big ears...
Catherine of Aragon's room
Collection of shoes for Aunty J
Last owner's room, Lady Baille
I liked the castle because it wasn't too big and like I said earlier, it felt quite homely.
The next part was perhaps the most stressful part of the weekend. The maze. I don't particularly like been in small, narrow spaces and although it wasn't too bad after we'd been walking around it for a good 30 minutes getting no closer to the middle I was starting to panic a little. We decided to tag on behind people who looked like they knew where they were going but our knight in shining armour ended up been the person we least expected. This little dude ended up leading us to the centre;
Unexpected hero
I was ecstatic!
YUS! About time!
Spring is coming!
I ate so well on this trip and the best meal was the Sunday lunch at Ben's parents house. Again, great company, great food and I haven't laughed so much since I've been here. It was a great way to end the weekend and I hope I get to get to go down that way again soon :)
On the way to the train home I won an auction on eBay for a ticket to one of my fav bands at the moment, 'Of Monsters and Men' and will be heading into London to go to that gig tomorrow night. Woop! So I'm one excited Zara at the moment!
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