Day 5 (9 June) - Life´s A Fairytale

After breakfast, we decided to pack a picnic lunch and visit some of the noteworthy sights in Provence.

Our first stop was the breathtakingly beautiful Gordes. A stone village set on a mountain, Gordes was the kind of place which I thought existed only in medieval fairytales. I was wrong of course and a stroll through the village established the fact that tourists are well aware of the place and visiting it in droves.

Beautiful Gordes

Summer in Southern France is unforgiving and even for us Singaporeans who live on the Equator, it can get a little overwhelming. So we defected to the shades of the forest for our picnic and it made for a rather interesting sight. Imagine 6 Singaporeans and 1 Frenchman sitting on the ground plucking food from various plastic bags. Needless to say, the old biddies weren´t very impressed by this arrangement and were on the constant lookout for ants and other creepy-crawlies.

After lunch, it was a short walk to our next destination, the Senanque Abbey. Almost a thousand years old, the Abbey initially housed a community of Cistercian monks until they were expelled in 1903-1926.

A small group of monks returned in 1988, growing lavender and tending honey bees for a living. Today the Abbey serves it main purpose as a tourist attraction and we were brought on a guided tour through the various parts of the Abbey with a host of other visitors. Perhaps it was because we have been visiting too many religious buildings but I was quickly bored by the whole thing.

The historical Senanque Abbey

Thus it was with relief that the tour came to an end and we were on our way again. Along the country roads, we saw so many trees bearing luscious fruits of every imagination. Needless to say, the greedy Singaporean in us reared its ugly head and we had JF stop the car for me and Dawn to jump out and pluck some fresh cherries off the trees. I´m not big on cherries but those cherries were heavenly...

Our last stop of the day was Roussillon, a small village famed for ochre deposits. In fact, most of the houses there were all in ochre. When we passed a sign stating ´Famous Villages of France´, Uncle Raymond (Dawn´s dad) insisted that the place we were visiting was a recreation of famous villages in France. No matter how much we argued, he refused to believe that we were at the real village itself. Sigh...

It might have been the hectic pace of the day, the blistering heat or the picnic lunch, but I was feeling rather sick by the time we made our way back. I went straight to bed that day without dinner, exhaustion quickly taking over me.

Day 4 (8 June) - Getting Lost Is A Bitch!

Despite having seen pictures of Lyon's morning market previously in Dawn's blog, I was astounded by the sumptuous feast of colours that exploded before me. Never before have I seen such beautiful fruits, vegetables and flowers everywhere, the markets of Lyon were certainly a far cry from the wet markets back in Singapore.

Luscious garden salad

Tiny but juicy tomatos

Cherries and strawberries galore!

Flowers to brighten up any room

After a breakfast of fresh produce from the market, we set off on a little walk through the city. The centrepiece of Lyon was undoubtedly the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourviere, which was perched atop a hill. As most of us weren't in the mood for the steep climb up the hill, we took a train up instead.

View of Lyon from the hilltop

The basilique was spectacular but even more breathtaking was the 180-degree view it offered of Lyon. The city was so beautiful and it was a real pity that we could spend only one day here. But leave we did and soon we were on our way to Avignon.

The town of Avignon was enclosed behind a wall and all the roads in it led in circles and winding paths. After getting into the city, it was a good hour of travelling around the tiny town before we finally arrived at our hotel. Making things worse, Uncle Pat's car got separated from us. Imagine the mayhem of 2 different cars navigating through a confusing maze looking for a hotel AND each other.

The elusive Hotel de Garlande was charming enough for us to forgive it for the wild goose chase it led us on. Dinner that night was a noisy affair as everyone recounted the panic we went through and the screaming fits we all threw. At the end of the day, we were able to laugh it off but let me tell you getting lost is not fun!

The cosy but hard-to-find Hotel de Garlande

After dinner, we went on a little stroll around the town centre and it became clear to me why France is the top tourist destination in the world. The ambience it afforded (outside of Paris anyway) was unbeatable and along with the rest of the world, I was reveling and getting drunk on it.

Day 3 (7 June) - Welcome To Wine Country

I feel guilty for saying this. After spending thousands of dollars to get here, I did not love Paris! At least not in the same way that I love Bangkok or Hong Kong. Perhaps its because we are travelling in a large group (7 of us) but I kinda miss the feeling of travelling alone. The feeling of fear, excitement and anticipation. I think I get the feel of a place better when I have to navigate it myself, guidebook in hand.

Anyway we left Paris in the morning for a roadtrip around Southern France. Our first stop was the delightful town of Beaune in Burgundy. A small quaint village, Beaune is famous for its vineyards and wines. Unfortunately our timing was a little off and we failed to see any vineyard or do any wine tasting.

The centrepiece of the village though was a 16th century hospice. Originally built to house the poor and homeless, it became so popular that many wealthy people came for its medical services too. With the influx of the rich into town, many vineyards were set up and thus Beaune became known for its wines.

Sitting on a well in the hospice

It was a bit surreal to be seeing and touching things that were more than 500 years old but it was also extremely terrifying to see the medical instruments used during those days. I, for one, would not want to have been sick during those days!

After we were done with Beaune, we continued on our journey and arrived at Lyon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Words cannot even begin to describe how beautiful Lyon is. Here is exactly what Paris is missing, charm and personality.

Spectacular river view of Lyon

Roaming the streets

Our stay in Lyon started on a good note - the best meal we had so far in France! In Paris, you could smoke in the restaurants and it was extremely uncomfortable for most of us espeically the ladies. So it was a welcome change to be dining in a smoke free environment. Dawn is bringing us to the market in the morning and I am really looking forward to it!

Day 2 (6 June) - Searching For Mona...

Lonely Planet said that Paris is chockful of celebrity monuments and they were not wrong at all. I started my second day in France at the most famous of them all - the Eiffel Tower.

At the legendary Eiffel Tower

While queuing to get up the tower, I quietly confirmed a fact to myself. The Mainland Chinese are overrunning the world! Paris was the last place I would expect to see a bunch of noisy Chinese tourists but there they were, queuing right alongside me.

Hordes of people queuing to go up the Eiffel Tower

After surviving a creaky lift ride and the aforementioned Chinese tourists, I arrived at the top of the Eiffel Tower. The view was spectacular. Well it better be, cause I paid 11.50 euros to get up the goddamned tower!

View of Paris from the top of the tower

Singapore is recognised at the Eiffel Tower!

My next stop was the ultra chi-chi Champs Elysee. I am sure all my female friends would have wetted themselves in excitement if they had seen the humongous Louis Vuitton store. I wetted myself in excitement when I visited a pastry shop and bought a box of the most gorgeous macaroons! To each his own...

The beautiful pastries at La Duree

Since none of us could bear the thought of splashing our moolah at Champs (except for Auntie Rita who stocked up on her bras!), we decided to go on a little adventure. Hunt for Mona!

For those who have either read or watched The Da Vinci Code, it must have been an out of body experience to visit the Lourve. Seeing that I had done neither, I carried myself with dignity as I entered the fabled glass pyramids to the museum. From there on, it was a frantic search for the Mona Lisa.

An hour and numerous directional arrows later, I arrived to pay homage to the Mona. As I laid eyes on my pal Mona, my first thought was, "So small!" Yes, the Mona Lisa is NOT a big painting and she was shrouded behind a security distance and a glass panel. Still it was the most famous painting in the world and I got goosebumps looking at it.

The rest of the museum was a blur. I really wished S was with me as S would have loved it! I spent the rest of the day thinking about S and I hope S was thinking of me too...

The Lourve at sunset

Day 1 (5 June) - Viva La France!

After an exhausting 15 hour flight (with a 90 min stopover in Doha), I finally arrived in Paris. I have to say that my love affair with aeroplanes is officially O.V.E.R.

There was a point in time when I actually thought that I would never make it to France. The immigration officer in Doha eyed me suspiciously and asked me tons of questions before he reluctantly let me on the flight to Paris. Phew, I would have thrown a screaming fit if they had put me on a plane back to Singapore!

So there I was in Paris, the City of Romance. But before I could get into the romantic mood, I had to navigate through long, winding escalators and 3 train rides to get to my hotel.

My first impression of Paris was somewhat of a letdown. I was expecting glamour, romance and well-dressed people. I failed to get any of it. Instead I saw tramps, gypsies and prostitutes right around where I lived!

My first dinner in Paris was a similar letdown. JF brought us to Chartier, a 1920s place with great ambience and atmosphere. Unfortunately the greatness did not extend to the food. Between the 7 of us, no one had a great meal. Still it was a beautiful place, just remember not to eat there!

The menu changes everyday, let´s hope the quality of the food does too!

One thing that fascinated me though, the sun set at around 10pm during summer. It was a bit of a shock to be walking to dinner at 8pm in bright daylight! Daylight or not, I was exhausted and had no trouble falling into a deep sleep at the end of a long and tiring day...

The view from my hotel balcony at 8pm

A Summer In Europe

This is it, I'll be leaving tonight for France. My packing is not completed yet but I'm filled with excitement at the thought of spending the next 6 weeks trotting all over Europe (haha just France and Spain actually plus Qatar).

Hopefully I'll get hold of a computer often enough for regular updates. Before I go, Happy Birthday in advance to Vivian, Jamie and Ah Ho. Europe, here I come!

Lau Luck Nai Luang

For those of you are wandering what on earth that is, it means 'I Love The King' in Thai. It's no secret that I love all things Thai and that love extends to the Thai King, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. I'm so in awe of His Majesty that I was in Bangkok last year to celebrate both his birthday and the 60th anniversary of his ascension to the throne.

So imagine my excitement when I knew that his daughter, HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn would be in Singapore in April to attend an exhibition organised by my company. A little background about HRH. She has devoted her life to the well-being of the Thai people and she is universally loved, along with the King, in Thailand. She has spearheaded numerous Royal projects for the benefit of the people and she personally works on them instead of being just a patron.

Although I didn't manage to speak to the Princess, I did catch her up close in action. It was an inspiring moment for me and I'm glad that Vivian finally sent me the pictures taken from that event. As Viv is leaving for Qatar soon, I'm happy to have a photo of us together. See you July in Qatar, Vivian!

HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn

The Princess arriving at the exhibition

Wallflower

Vivian and I

Trip to JB

After some badgering fom the Donkey, I agreed to go to JB yesterday. A casual flip though my passport revealed that it's been more than a year since I last went in. Gone were the days when Lennon, Vivian and I used to drive in for cheap food and DVDs. The rising crime rate has made the place dangerous and unattractive.

The main purpose of this trip was to get a new frame for my glasses. The left side of my current pair is corroded and I didn't want to risk it breaking when I'm in Europe. Unfortunately I couldn't find any frame that fit the shape of my lenses and I ended up making it back in Singapore. It'll be a couple of days before I can collect my new glasses and till then, I'll have to relay on my contact lens.

After we came back, we were joined by his girlfriend and we made our way to IMM. It's been a few years since my last visit and what a transformation the place has undergone! We had a fun time shopping at Daiso (love that place!) and I made some final shopping for some necessities for the Europe trip.