Day 15: Haiz...going to take plane back to singapore..so sian.Woke up and left for Paris airport.Still have to take the airport shuttle train from T3 to T1.So ma fan and the airport is so messy (still got 2A to 2F terminals,don't know how many terminals they have.) Then we checked in our luggage and when we went checking in,there was a lady beside our counter.She was like arguing with the SQ personnel about paying for excess hand luggage.Hohoho....
Anyway the airport looks old and boring,so we went in to the gate early.We did a little shopping too before boarding the plane. Later we boarded the plane,it was a 11 hours plane ride.So anyway basically we just sat and slept in the plane.As there is nothing much to do,except to watch movies or listen to music and waited for our food to come.Lol
With this,my 2 weeks Europe trip ended by reaching Singapore on 24th May 2010 early morning.
Day 14: Last day in London and it meat our last 2nd day of the trip.So sad.....lol.Anyway we woke up and had our breakfast in the hotel.After which,we checked our the hotel and went down to St Paul's Cathedral.
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral on Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The present building dates from the 17th century and was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It is generally reckoned to be London's fifth St Paul's Cathedral,all having been built on the same site since 604 A.D. The cathedral is one of London's most famous and most recognizable sights. At 365 feet (111m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1962, and its dome is also among the highest in the world.
Sadly,photography is not allowed inside but we did climbed up to the upper top most gallery,where you can have a nice view of London City.There was a whispering gallery,where it was at the dome of the cathedral.There are tiny holes on the walls,where you can actually speak through the holes and the people on the other side of the dome can hear wat you said.Followed up is the stone gallery and golden gallery,total up is 500 plus steps.
After that,we headed down to Victoria Station,where we originally wanted to go Buckingham Palace.But in the end,we went into a restaurant for lunch instead,hahahaa....
After lunch,we headed down to St Pancras International station.We were looking for our train back to Paris but we cannot find it on the list.Stupid me!!Bought the train tickets for the wrong date!!In the end,we had to buy another tickets back to Paris for a total of 300 plus GBP!!!So expensive,and it was not a confirmed seat tickets.It was just for a seat near the door.So angry with myself...So we ended up waiting at the station until it is time to board the train.
On the train,we didn't wanted to sit near the door,so we went to the cafe coach to stand.After the train started to move,there was a group of Australian.They had reserved seats in the train but they didn't sit on the train,they also stood in the train from London to Paris.They had bought a lot of beers up and they were making merry there.(Noisy!!They even sang loudly!!OMG)
After 4 hours plus of standing in the train,we finally reached Paris (Gare de Nord station).It was around 8 plus and we still need to take the metro back to the Airport station.So we bought the tickets and took the metro back to the Airport station.By the time we reached there,it was quite late.Then we still have to find the stupid shuttle bus back to the hotel.
In the end,it was a small bus with so many people trying to squeeze up the bus (as the shuttle bus was going for 3 hotels together).Luckily we managed to get up the bus,if not,we will have to wait another 15 mins for the next bus.Finally we reached the hotel and checked in.Then we just went to bed,super tired day.....
Hotel stayed: Campanile Hotel
Places visited in London: St Paul's Cathedral
Day 13: Woke up to prepare for our day tour to Stonehenge.But it was too early,the hotel cafe is not opened till 7.30am.So we waited until 7.30am to have our breakfast,so by then we left the hotel,it was already 8am.We reached Victoria Station by 8.30am and the meeting place was like 15mins away from the station.Sadly,by the time we reached the victoria bus station it was already 8.50am.The coach bus had already left,in the end we didn't get to go for the trip. So we decided to go for Buckingham Palace,which was just nearby the area.But again,it was a disappointment as the opening times was 11am.So we headed to Wellington Arch first,as to pass time while waiting for the palace to open.And we kept walking until we reached the Hyde Park.We also passed by the Marble Arch,it is an arch made of marble.Nothing much there.In the park,there were a lot of statues and birds flying around.Princess Diana Memorial Fountain and playground were also built inside.Then we kept walking until we reached Kensington Gardens.There,we saw King Albert's Memorial statue,it was super huge and tall.From there,you can see the Royal Albert Hall.It was across the road,it is abit kind of a round building. Then we kept walking to Kensington Palace,and still need to walk through the garden before reaching the palace's entrance.(Why the garden always so big?)
Anyway,photography is not allowed in the palace,so no photos taken inside.In the palace,we were asked to find the 7 princesses lived in the palace before.Princess Victoria and Diana were in the list. After the palace,i was too tired to walk back to the Buckingham Palace,so gave up going there.(The 2 royal parks not small).We took the metro back to Tower Hill station,it was 4 or 5 station stops away (That's mean we had already walked for 4 stations away from the palace station).At Tower of London,we went to All Hallows by the Tower.It was a small church beside the Tower of London.Anyway we just went inside to have a look.After that we went a ride on the city cruise along river thames.
Along the river,the guide gave introduction on the bridges and buildings we passed.He did mentioned that London Bridge did went down 3 times.And there was a bridge,they called it 'Lovers' Bridge',another bridge named 'Women Bridge'(Waterloo bridge),another bridge named 'Blackfriars Bridge' and there was a wavy bridge which was closed by the police after hours of its opening.Because people was falling from the bridge and it was too dangerous.Anyway the bridge did open back,now people are walking across it.There was a building shaped like an atomic bomb.Lol We passed by the famous London Eye and the House of Parliament of London in Westminster. Then we stopped at Westminster Pier and we went up to have a short walk around there.After that we took the cruise back again to Tower Hill Pier,where we took the metro to South Keingston station to have our dinner.Then we headed back to the hotel to end our day
Places visited:
1. Wellington Arch
2. Hyde Park (Royal Park)
3. Marble Arch
4. Serpentine Gallery
5. Princess Diana Memorial Fountain
6. Kensington Gardens (Royal Park)
7. Peter Pan's Statue
8. King Albert's Memorial
9. Garden Walk
10. Kensington Palace
11. All Hallows by the Tower (Church)
12. City Cruise (Bypass a lot of bridges & Buildings)
Day 12: Woke up early again to catch our train to London.Walked down to Amsterdam Central train station and waited to board to train to Bruxelles Midi station,to change to Eurostar. When in Bruxelles Midi station,the gate for Eurostar train was already opened,we went in.Luckily we went in early,need to pass through customs and luggage scanning stuff.
And so we reached London at around 10am plus,we headed straight to the hotel 1st.But unfortunately,the room was not ready.So we only checked in the hotel,then we went down to a nearby cafe for a full english breakfast.Then we ended up staying in the cafe until it is time we can put our luggage in the hotel room.Finally we can put our luggage in the hotel room,the room was kind of hot and there was a window and we were on the 4th floor of the hotel.
London metro was always packed with people and the circle line train is every 10 mins or more.Sometimes there was no even 1 circle line train,basically you will need to take a train to some place else to transfer.Another weird thing you will notice in London is the police's siren.Every 5 minutes,you will definitely hear a police's siren on the road (like there are a lot of crooks to catch in London,the police there very busy).
After that,we headed down to London's main attractions,which we went for the Tower of London 1st.We went for the exhibits inside,which was named An Armour for a King,where they displayed all the different amour worn by different kings.In there,we also went to the different crowns & staffs for the Kings and Queens.Too bad we cannot take photos of the crowns and staffs.They are very beautiful and expensive (A lot of jewels & diamonds on it).
After that,we walked over to Tower bridge,where we went up for the exhibit.You can even walk on the link bridge on the top.We went to engine room where we got to see the machine inside the bridge on how the bridge was being pulled up when large ships are to pass through.There was a display on a motorcycle which was being used to fly over the tower bridge on 2009 by Robbie Maddison. After that,we walked from Tower Bridge to London Bridge.Then from there we walked to The Monument.
The Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known as The Monument,is a 202 ft (61.57 metre) tall stone Roman Doric in the City of London near to the northern end of London Bridge.It is located at the junction of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill, 202 ft (61.57 metres) from where the Great Fire of London started in 1666.You can even go up and climb the 311 steps to the top.Anyway we reached quite late,it was already closed.After that,we went back to Bayswater station,where we had Burger King for dinner.Went to a supermarket for tibits shopping before heading back to the hotel.
Hotel stayed: Leisure Inn
Place visited:
1. Tower of London
2. Tower Bridge
3. London Bridge
4. The Monument
5. Streets in Bayswater station
Day 11: Didn't sleep much and woke up super early to catch our train to Amsterdam.Luckily this time,there is no need for transfer in between,it was a direct train to Amsterdam Central Station.
Reached Amsterdam at around 9 plus,we tried to ask the bus driver how long it will take to reach the hotel by tram,the driver said half an hour,so we got off cos we still need to go for a tour at 10.30am.Anyway we went to the tourist information agency to help us find a much nearer hotel and within our budget.We managed to get 1 nearby hotel which needs 15 mins walk from the train station.So we went to the tour agency first to check on our day tour package,it was a city tour 1st and windmill village later in the afternoon.Anyway we gave up the city tour and went to hotel instead.But the room was not ready yet,at least we can deposit our luggage there 1st.
So we went ahead with the 2nd tour,which was wonderful (since the start of the day was already so pek chey and like a disaster).First stop we went to Volendam Village,the guide took us for a walk around the village.We went to a chapel first,where there would be an old lady,wearing the traditional Dutch costume (which you can take photos with).Then we managed to go inside a real Marken House (whose the owner happened to be at home).Inside the house,all the traditional stuffs are kept and displayed (like a museum).Most of the houses are all painted in green color and from there we took a cruise (Marken Express) across the big river to Marken village.
After a 15 to 20 mins cruise ride,we reached the port of Marken village.The guide brought us to a shop where we watched a 10mins video on the village.After that,we had a 1 hour free time to ourselves where we did some shopping and walking around of the village.The village was famous for their fish n chips.Didn't try one there but did try the small pancakes (with butter & sugar).It was yummy!!Nice Nice!!Next time go back,must try again.
After that,we went to the cheese farm and clogs factory.They were next-door to each other,so we went for the cheese farm first.In there,we had a brief introduction on how cheese was made and preserved for long long time.There was a special plastic (which is mostly yellow color) to protect the cheese and you can keep for years.The young cheese are like 3 months,and they called those cheese kept for 1 years or more as old cheese.The host demonstrated 2 special knives which were used to cut/slice the cheese very smoothly.Anyway they are selling the knives there.Hohohooo...after the introduction,we got to taste the different kinds of cheese and they are mostly for sale.The cheese was not bad (not really a fan of cheese) and they came up with different flavor of cheese.They even had smoked cheese,the taste was a bit werid though.Lol
After this,we went over to the opposite house,which was the clogs factory.There,we saw a lot of clogs hanging up on the roof.Then the host gave a brief introduction of the clogs too.They made millions of clogs everyday,but the clogs are machine-made now.They made clogs for farmers,clogs for flower planting,clogs stick for their sports,they even made a Nike Air clog.Hohoho...the guy said later he will make an Adidas clog.Anyway he did demonstrated how a clog is made by using the machine and it was fast,like 5 mins.The shape of the clog is done,later he brought to their shops to buy their clogs.You can even buy a pair of clogs for yourself to wear.
After the clogs factory,we headed down to the windmill village ( "Zaanse Schans").But it was already around 5 plus to 6.So by the time we reached there,all the shops are closed and all the people had already went home.The village was like kind of dead,anyway we just went there to take some photos of the windmills.There was like only 3 or 4 windmills lining up in a row.Basically,nothing much there too.After this,the tour ended and were brought back to the starting point.We headed back to the hotel first to check our room.The room was big but the toilet again was very small.The toilet door was just a small cupboard size (if you see the picture,it is the white door just beside the desk).
Anyway,can't be bothered anyway,we went out to see if there is any good food for our dinner.We went to a small restaurant,where i had grilled chicken with potato.The baked potato was a big-sized and it was nice to eat with the sour cream (just tat there was no bacon).After a nice dinner,we went back to the hotel and watched Spiderman 1 on the tv.Then went to sleep to prepare for the next day to start.
Hotel stayed: Nadia Hotel
Places visited:
1. Volendam
2. Marken
3. Cheese Farm
4. Clogs Factory
5. "Zaanse Schans" (Windmill Village)
Day 10: Woke up late and went down for a breakfast prepared by the hotel owner himself.It was nice and warming.After that,checked out the hotel and went to walk around the city again,as to pass time (The coach bus would only come at 3.40pm,which was a bit waste of time).We went to the chapel and had a short tour there,did a little shopping around.After that,we went to the royal garden at the back of the town.Spent more time there and later went to have an early lunch.It was yummy.Then we returned to the hotel to wait for our cab to bring us to the bus stop.The cab came and brought us to the bus stop,where we waited for 15 mins for the coach bus to come (It was late). Finally the coach bus came,the ride was super boring!!Cos there was another couple with us,then we didn't even stop at any of the towns anymore along the road.Basically it's just only passing by,and they just wanted to go back to Frankfurt as early as possible.Anyway just slept on the coach bus,finally we reached Frankfurt at around 7pm plus. Then we had to find the hostel I booked.It was just opposite the main train station.The room was quite big but the toilet was super small (i mean,really small).There is no space for a person to stand inside.And the floor was carpeted with those cheap carpet,not nice to stand on,somehow it make your feet itch.Anyway,after check-in,we went down the streets to look for dinner.The streets gave you a feeling that it's not safe and 'messy'.There are a lots of 'XXX' shops around,just 1 or 2 shops away,you can already see 1.Lol,we just went back to a coffeeshop near the hostel and had a half-chicken for our dinner.It was oily and salty,not very nice.After that,we just went back to the hostel and slept early,as we needed to get early to catch train the next morning.With this,our 3 days Munich to Frankfurt tour ended.
Hotel stayed: Frankfurt Hostel
Day 9 (Cont'd): After Augsburg town,we were brought to Donauworth town (can't remember what we encountered there).Anyway,we headed to Nordlingen town,where we had our lunch there as i was very hungry by then.We had a half-chicken meal there,which we finished the chicken in 5 minutes.The chicken is ok,just tat it was abit oily.Then we tabao our fries and left the town.Then we went to Dinkelsbuhl town,which we didn't get to tour around the town.We just passed by the town,then we headed to the last stop of the day,Rothenburg Town.
We reached Rothenburg around 3 plus,then a taxi came and picked us up.We were brought to our hotel in the town.It was a 3 floor high cottage house and we stayed on the top floor.The owner is a very good host,very helpful too,he started recommended us some good restaurants around the town.
We went up to our room,as it was on the 3rd floor and we need to carry our luggage up the stairs.Then we rested inside 1st before going to tour around the town.All the houses are cottages and there was a big square at the center.And there was a big cottage house with a clock which will ring every hour and the side windows will open with 2 figurines doing some movements.
Later we went for a city tour which started at 8pm.The sun was only starting to set.Lol,the city guide dressed up as a night watcher of the town.He introduced as himself as the Night Watcher of the town and his duty was to keep the town safe in the night by patrolling the town.He mentioned that there were 5 or 6 of them previously,now he is the only one left.And as he needed to earn a living,he took up the job as showing people around the town and getting fees/tips to keep alive.The guide is so funny.Everyone was rushing to have a picture with him together.There was 1 part which he showed us a green house which was the house of the riches of olden days.Now it was occupied by the descendants of the house.Outside the house,there were 4 ropes which were the doorbells of each houses.Because the tourists kept pulling the bells,the house owners got normal door bells as normal houses.He said that the people in olden days would threw their animals' waste out of the windows every morning.Hohoho,the way he described was soo funny.He even introduced us a restaurant which the name initials can be used to spell out 'HELL',so he told us that to tell people to go to 'Hell' (which means that place).Hahaha....Anyway we decided to pay the city guide instead of using our vouchers.
After the tour,we returned to our hotel to sleep and with this,ended our day.Hotel stayed: Hotel Spitzweg
Day 8: Arrived in Munich train station at around 7 plus,had our breakfast there and walked around the station.Tried to find the meeting place for our next tour,is a 3 days from Munich to Frankfurt package tour.We waited in the train station until it was time to go to the meeting place.Finally we boarded the coach,there are alot of people going together.Chinese,japanese,korea and even united states,first stop: Linderhof Castle.We reached the castle and it was raining again.We had to walk 10 to 15 mins through the garden before we can reach the castle entrance.The castle does not allow visitors to take photos,we only took those outside the castle.Much of the designs are much similar to those in Paris.The king's bedroom window is facing outside where there is a very big fountain and musicians would play music for the king.
After the castle tour,we went to a town nearby called Oberammergau.This town is famous for its play,and the houses are painting with drawings of Christianity.We had 1 hour of free time to walk around the town.Bought a few stuffs from there too,then we waited for the tour guide to regroup.After that,we headed to Neuschwanstein Castle.It was a 2 hours ride up there,we had our lunch at a hotel called Hotel Muller.As there was a lot of people inside the hotel and we couldnt get a table,we took 2 free chairs and sat a table near the window.As when we were having our meal,we saw the tour guide and driver were taking out our luggage,so i asked my friend to go down and check.
It was the hotel we were supposed to check in (The guide didn't even know and we were not even informed anything on the arrangement).Luckily,we didn't go back to Munich with the tour group as the guide thought we were going back to Munich Airport after the tour.And we got all our documents for the next 2 days.After lunch,we went up to Neuschwanstein Castle.It was a long way up to the castle,need to walk up the mountain to the castle entrance.There are buses and horse carriages to bring people up to the castle.On our way up,we saw an old man collapsed on the road and the tour guide or group members were doing CPR on him.When we got to the top,we heard the ambulance arrived.Then we went to tour around the castle,unable to take photos again as it is not allowed.Inside the castle,there were a lot of great paintings which displayed heroes of fairy stories which were the favorites of King Ludwig II.After the castle tour,we went back to the hotel to rest for a while before going for dinner.The hotel room was fantastic,there is an old cupboard to keep stuffs and there was a big carpet.Best of all,there was a balcony which can go out and see the mountains.And Neuschwanstein Castle was on the left side of the view and there was 2 big mountains right in front of the hotel.Pity,we didn't go up to see Hohenschwangau Castle,which was at the opposite side.It was a castle with a swan on top.
Later,we went down to the hotel restaurant and had dinner.We were given a glass of champagne as a welcome drink and we had bread as starter.Then came our main course,it was nice for the pork.Hohohoho....After dinner,we went back to hotel to sleep.
Day 9:Woke up and had our breakfast provided by the hotel.It was buffet breakfast and there were a lot of different kinds of bread and cereals.They even have soft-boiled and hard-boiled eggs.Got a nice view of the castle while having breakfast before leaving the place.It was a very enchanted experience there.
After that,we headed down to take a coach down along the Romantic Road.It was a wavy road which stretched very very long.There are a lot of towns along the way,which we ended the ride with a stay in Rothenburg town.First we were brought to a chapel which was having service.Then we were brought to a bigger church,followed by Augsburg which we were joined by 2 English people who wanted to get to Rothenburg train station.
In Augsburg,went to the city hall.We went inside to have a look,it was big and the room was filled with people as there was a musical concert which going to start in the golden hall and it was free admission.Too bad,we only had half an hour there,if not,we could have stayed there and enjoyed the concert.
Towns visited:
1. Augsburg
2. Donauworth
3. Nordlingen
4. Dinkelsbuhl
Day 7: Woke up and had our breakfast provided by the hotel.Then we checked our of hotel and made our way to the Shihlquai bus terminal for Mount Titlies Day Tour. Boarded the coach bus and we went to Lucerne.Went to the Lion Monument first,it was a monument in a shape of a lion.It was to remember the swiss soldiers who died during French Revolution.Then we stopped near the chapel bridge and we got some free time on our own.So we went to a chapel and have a short tour inside.The ceilings were painted with beautiful paintings,much same to those in Paris.Then walked around the town,bought a hotdog bread and salad for lunch.Then we went up to the bottom of mount titlis,took 3 cable cars to go up the summit which is 3020 metres high up.The last cable car is a resolving car inside,called Titlis Rotair.Then we got our own free time in outside the summit.There is a small playground at some part of the mountain but need to take the ice flyer ride down.But didn't take the ride cos it was a open air cable car.
Then had a grilled fish and soup set for tea break,hehehee.It was quite nice to eat.Then we found a ice cave,and we went inside the cave.You can even set the music/sound while u walk around the cave.After that,we just waited for the tour guide to go down the mountain.Then we took the cable cars back down and waited for our coach bus to bring us back to Zurich.
Back in Zurich,went back to the hotel and collected our luggage.Went to a nearby cafe and ate dinner there.Stayed until it is time to go Zurich HB train station,then we took the train to head for Munich,Germany.We had to transfer at Salzburg train station to reach to Munich.The train was packed with people when we boarded.Most of the people were using 3 seats to make a bed for themselves.Luckily we managed to got seats.It was so cramped,6 people was inside a 'room' and there was no space for you to sleep.And so half-sleeping and half-awake,we reached Munich on the next morning.
Places visited:
1. Lion Monument
2. Chapel Bridge
3. Town Hall
4. Mount Titlis (Alps)
Day 5: Woke up at 6 plus and had our breakfast.After that,we checked out of the hotel and made our way by Metro to Disneyland parks.We checked in our hotel first and got tickets to the theme parks.After that,we went straight to theme park!!We spent the full whole day in the Disneyland main park first.There was the Disney train which brought the Disney characters out to meet and take photos with the fans.Then there was performance by the Mickey Mouse and friends.There was the chipmunks,toy story,Lilo & Snitch,The Incredibles,Monsters Inc and even Ratatouille.It was showing 4 times a day and luckily it was not raining,so i managed to see the main parade at 4.30pm.Everyone was getting a seat near the road,just to see the parade.Too bad was that there was no fireworks in the night cos the parks' closing time was until 8pm and the sun was not even set!!Bought a nice t-shirt,collar pins and alot of gold coins.Regretted didn't buy the windbreaker there which was like 43 Euro.Sad.....
After a long day in the park,we went out to Disney Village.It was a street where there are alot of shops and restaurants.There is even a hot air balloon at the end of the street.They even kept a crocodile there in the village (fake one....lol)
Hotel stayed: Hotel E'lysee
Day 6:Woke up early so that we can enter the Disneyland park at 8am.
We checked out the hotel and left our luggage at the hotel for the day.So we went down to Disneyland parks again,there are not many people there since it was 8am. I took PeterPan's flight ride 3 times as there is no queue yet.Hahahaha....it was not a roller coaster ride though but i like it.We stayed inside until 10am, followed that we went over the next theme parks, Walt Disney Studios.Most of the shows are in this park,but the timings for english was more to the afternoon.Anyway we just went to watch Disney Playhouse Live show first,followed by the motor action show.The motoshow action show was great!!It was a live show where they displayed action by motorcars and motorbikes used in great action movies.The host started out by introducing the action directors and they started with 4 black cars chasing a red car on the street.One of the black cars even broke into 2 parts,lol.After that,Hebe the racing car came out and split into 2 parts and went in separate directions.After the motorcars' action,it was motorbikes' turn to come in action.There are even gunshots and a man was set on fire.There is 1 part where the directors asked an audience to try to control a real car using a remote control.But the car was driving and ramming into anything in the way.In the end,the car turned out to be controlled by a driver at the side of the car.It was funny,the audience was given a certificate for fun too.They had a amazing finale where they put all the action together into a movie and the red car jumped out with a blast of fire on stage.
After the show,we walked around the park and went for our lunch.Had double cheeseburger meals and we stood eating at the table.After that, we went back to our hotel and collected our luggage.Then we went to a supermarket nearby the hotel and bought some biscuits.We made our way down to Gare de Lyon train station.The train station was quite dirty and smelly,think some people just peed at the station there as u need to pay to go to the toilet.Bought a sandwich from a bread stall,the cook was soooo rude.He just throwed the bread to us,and when he was giving us our change,he oso like threw the $ to us.And the bread he sells sucks!!No wonder his stall doesn't have people queuing up.
Finally,we got to board our train to go to Lausanne,where we transferred to another train to Zurich HB train station.Sat on the train for 3 hours plus long to reach Lausanne,walked out of the station for a while. After that,we boarded the train to Zurich which took like another 2 or 3 hours.Finally reached Zurich HB train station around 11 pm plus.Then we tried to find our hotel by walking,it took another 15 mins to 20 mins just to reach the hotel.Then we checked in and slept for the day.
Hotel stayed: X-tra Hotel
Day 4: Woke up early and had own-made breakfast.Today was raining and the wind is blowing strongly,smoke is coming out of our mouth when we speak.Today we went to The Panthéon first.It was a sort of like a museum with a very big dome in the center of the place.There are alot of big paintings inside.The Panthéon is a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris.In 1744, King Louis XV suffered a very serious illness and vowed to dedicate a prestigious church in the name of Saint Genevieve if he were to recover.He did recovered and he entrusted the design to German Soufflot.Unfortunately,Soufflot died before the completion was done and was replaced by his student Rondelet who completed the work in 1790.
After the tour in The Panthéon, we made our way to the Palace of Versailles.It's a pity it was raining heavily and there were a bit of construction work doing there.
Palace of Versailles - a royal in château in Versailles.Louis XIII's successor, Louis XIV, had a great interest in Versailles. He settled on the royal hunting lodge at Versailles and over the following decades had it expanded into one of the largest palaces in the world (Félibien, 1703; Marie, 1972; Verlet, 1985). Beginning in 1661, the architect Louis Le Vau, landscape architect André Le Nôtre, and painter-decorator Charles Le Brun began a detailed renovation and expansion of the château. This was done to fulfill Louis XIV's desire to establish a new centre for the royal court. Following the Treaties of Nijmegen in 1678, he began to gradually move the court to Versailles. The court was officially established there on 6 May 1682. After the palace tour,we had Mac for dinner and went back to hotel,which ended our day.
Places visited:
1. The Panthéon
2. Palace of Versailles
Day 3: Woke up at 6 plus and made our way down to CitiRama Agency for our castles trip. We waited for our coach and traveled down to Loire Valley. The tour guide is a young guy.It took like 4 hours just to reach there and it was raining again. And i was wearing already 3 layers of clothing.First we went to Chenonceau castle.
Chenonceau Castle - is also called "Le château de Chenonceau"or Women's Castle because it is famous for its women. King Henri II built it for his favorite Diane de Poitiers but his widow eventually took hold of the estate after the King died in a tournament.
After that,we went to Cheverny Castle.It is currently owned by a big businessman (descendants of the royals) and he let out the place for people to visit.There are photos of the owner and family inside the castle too. Château de Cheverny - currently is a private property and its collection are from the 17th century. King Henri Hurault built the first château in 1634. Upon finding out his wife is having an affair with a page,he killed the page and let his wife to have 2 death options: Sallow poison or Get Plunged by his sword. So his wife chose the less bloody way (which is poison).Then the king torn down the château and built the present one for his 2nd wife.And there are like more than 20 plus hunting dogs being reared there.The owner and family sometimes go back to the castle for holidays and go hunting with the hunting dogs.
After this, we made our way to another château,which is the biggest of all and it is famous for its double staircases built inside the castle. Château de Chambord - built by King Francois I in collaboration with Leonardo da Vinci.It is a grandiose creation,famous for its inventor's design. It had 440 rooms and a unique roof terrace.
After this,we went back to Paris city where we had Japanese food for dinner.Then we walked to the attractions again so that we can see the buildings being lighted up with lights. And i bought a thicker jacket from a shop which i wore for my rest of my trip. Lol,after that,we went back to our hotel to rest.
Went for a Europe trip from 8th May 2010 to 23rd May 2010. I went to Paris -> Zurich -> Munich -> Frankfurt -> Amsterdam -> London and back to Paris again.
Day 1: Fly to Paris in the night on an A380-300 plane with Singapore Airlines. Took 11 hours flight.
Day 2: Reached Paris Airport (Charles de Gaulle Airport)in early morning. Took the metro train straight to the Notre-Dame de Paris church, had a tour inside. It was very beautiful and the windows are decorated with colorful glasses.Because we still had our luggage along,so we took turns to go in the church to view.When it was my turn outside,i saw a guy selling Eiffel Tower key chains quarreling with the secuity guard of the church.There are alot of those guys selling the Eiffel Tower key chains,10 for 1 Euro wo...lol.
And then we made our way to the Louvre Museum but we didnt went in. We just took photos there and had our 1st sandwich there.It was nice to eat,just that mustard was put inside!!
After that, we decided to check in to the hotel to put out luggage first.So we made our way to Bry sur Marne station,and found our way to the apartment hotel. There is an oven and a gas stove in the room. So we had bought breads,hotdogs,hams and drumsticks to put in the oven for breakfast.
One thing good in Paris is the breads.Always have a great fragrance and it is not hard (like stone).Lol.
Another thing noticed in Europe was there are graffiti everywhere, on the walls.The metro in Paris are also quite old and most of the windows are vandalized.
Anyway, we made our way down to back to main city again and went to Eiffel Tower. Bought a 3.50 Euro ice-cream and sat there to enjoy. After that we walked to the Arc de Triomphe and walked down along the streets for shopping. As most of the shops are not opened,there is not much to shop around.We bought hams,hotdogs and chicken wings to cook for dinner when we passed a small mini-shop(which is so hard to find a shop open on this day) and went back to the hotel.
Places visited:1. Notre-Dame de Paris
2. Louvre Museum (Pass-By)
3. Sainte Chapelle (Pass-By)
4. Eiffel Tower
5. Arc de Triomphe
6. Statue of Joan of Arc (saw on Day 3)
7. The Panthéon (Went on Day 4)
Hotel Stayed:City Residence Marne La Valleé
Day 15: Haiz...going to take plane back to singapore..so sian.Woke up and left for Paris airport.Still have to take the airport shuttle train from T3 to T1.So ma fan and the airport is so messy (still got 2A to 2F terminals,don't know how many terminals they have.) Then we checked in our luggage and when we went checking in,there was a lady beside our counter.She was like arguing with the SQ personnel about paying for excess hand luggage.Hohoho....
