Paris part 2....FOOD...Food glorious food!

This first night was rather a disaster. By the time we reached our hotel it was almost 11pm. I was so hell bent on at least seeing the Eiffel Tower that night but in the end the tiredness consumed me. We had our first meal in the hotel room; tapau'ed from one of the local bakeries. Cheap and cheerful meal AJ would put it, though we struggled with ordering. We lived in arrondisment 20, quite far away from the touristy spots so language was a problem. Nothing that a little sign language couldn't solve although we had no idea what we bought till we had a bite on them! Food was surprisingly good..even at 11pm from a bakery. The bread was fresh, everything freshly made. What a contrast from where we live...hmm...

Breakfast the next day was a street fare near Notre Dame - ham and cheese crepes. It's really good, but a bit steep for a fiver. We were quite sure we could get at least 2 quid cheap outside the tourist spots.

We went to a even posher 'crepeteria' and had a shock of our lives when we saw the menu! OJ for 4 euros!! This is how AJ looked when he realised how much he was supposed to pay after nonchalantly ordered 'deux jus d'orange'. An expensive lesson to swallow - quite literally. From then onwards we just ordered tap water for the rest of the trip! The crepes were great though, for some reason food is cheaper than drinks (alcohol on the other hand was not too bad).

We had yummylicious cake and ice cream near the Eiffel.

We had dinner at a restaurant near Eiffel Tower; fortunately waiters there speak English. So ordering wasn't as painful. We had foi gras and escargots for starters and the famous boeuf bourguignon for mains.

One of the evenings we ventured out to Le Marais and stumbled upon a small quaint all French bistro. We braved ourselves inside and amazingly ordered a table for two, ordered entree's and mains all in French!!! We had to pause and flick our phrase book of course..but still..not a word of English! AJ had a perfectly (absolutely perfect; we can longer find such perfect cooked steak) cooked steak in rare and I had duck d'orange. Didn't take any pictures though as our stupid camera then decided to run out of juice..sighhhhhhh. This was the best meal we've had in Paris. Good for value and all authentic. Needless to say we were the only non-French, non-angmoh in the whole place.

On our last day after our Louvre chapter, we stumbled upon another bistro owned by FBC (French born chinese). Having struggled for 3 days; we almost lost our will to get any more food in French! Ironically the waitress said "Ni men yau chi se meh?" with some indiscernible French. We were awestrucked and started to order in Mandarin. Oh God so loved us and wouldn't want us to starve in a foreign land. We had a fish starter and pork leg with saeurkraut. Another value for money meal....

We enjoyed the food in Paris. AJ vowed to learn French and come back again one day to satisfy our palates. Having said that; our best meal would have to be our dinner at Mayflower when we touched down in Bristol. Never thought I'd say this in my life but boy we were glad we reached English soil at last. Knowing exactly what we want, knowing exactly what the menu says, being able to order in the language that we know.....what a relief! And what can beat kangkung belacan, fried sotong and steam fish with rice...HEAVEN AT LAST.

Paris in March

The city of love, and art, and culture, possibly fashion, and food...glorious food. Everything tasted better in France, even the street food.

We planned this trip for months. After one depressing on call and feeling sorry for myself - I decided enough is enough. We needed a break; I no longer cared how much things cost. Just wanted to get away - and we did.

It was difficult enough to get leave together. My painstaking plans didn't fall through when the storm decided to hit France the day before we were scheduled to fly. And so our flight was cancelled and we were rebooked for the next day. Whether unluckily or predestined, we didn't know about the cancellation until we reached Bristol International at 5am (most ungodly hour ever known to men especially when you've had no sleep the day before due to on calls). Imagine my face when I found out we're not flying first thing in the morning....and my plans for the whole day just faltered. I could cry if not for AJ who cleverly rescheduled it the very evening. Half a day lost better than two days in total...sensible sensible man. As opposed to emo me...

And the plane....it put me to tears. I've never sat in a plane smaller than that. Not even Airasia. Wait..I might have sat once on a 6 seater plane before going to the interiors of Sarawak. Then again this is going to EUROPE!!

Anyhu....

We reached Paris at 9pm and by the time we reached our hotel it was 11pm. Tired, disappointed and hungry. On top of that we had to flick out our small French phrase book to try to speak some discernable French to buy food in the local boulangerie (bakery). A 48 hour crash course with a small phrase book didn't get us far - we resorted to sign language in the end when the baker said "me speak no english". Great...

Almost 24 hour without sleep; stranded in Bristol for one whole day; really dead tired; very hungry - we made do with eating some pasties and babs which were surprisingly good (or we're just very hungry). Hit the sack almost immediately after..so much for spending the first night in the most romantic city in the world.

The days thereafter were enjoyable. Besides finding out our existing camera is crap (he blamed me for being 'kiamsiap' and not geting a new camera before the trip); everything else went smoothly.

Like all tourists; we did the 'touristies'...and of course we eat..and eat..and eat.

We visited Notre Dame:

We saw gargoyles....

AJ had a go at becoming the Hunchback - ringing the church bell.

Of course, no Jong-Chia trip is ever complete without visiting the hospital. And what a hospital..even the garden hedges were artistically designed! It's even called "Hotel". It's an up and running hospital mind..not a museum.


We visited yet another church, St Chapelle - supposedly famous for its stain glasses depicting 12 books of the Bible. I could just about make out Genesis and Exodus.

We saw art at the Orsay:




We emulated the sculptures at the Rodins:

AJ in deep thoughts when studying...

AJ doing the 'alamak' when he failed....

At last...Andy when he passed.... (LOL)

We spent almost an entire day at the Louvre. We met the famous smiling/non-smiling overrated lady..she's real tiny! The queue wasn't that long but the crowd just grew and grew. I wasn't at all mystified; instead was awed by the "Wedding at Cana" opposite it. We actually took lots of photos here but lost half of them while uploading. Stupid stupid camera...have to add to my wish list of birthday pressies...

We spent another day at the Chateau de Versailles, the center of power during Louis XIV's rule.

We visited Sacre de Ceur, a Roman Catholic Church, also known as the Sacred Heart. Lots of people come here to get their 'patungs' or crosses blessed for reasons that escaped me and AJ. No pun intended..

A really traditional merry-go-round....

We walk down (up and down actually) Champs Elysees to see Arc de Triomphe and of course the ever so famous (G would vouch for this, if not for himself then for his other half!) Louis Vuitton HQ. I have made a vow here (never say never though) to stick to my no-LV policy for life..kekekeke. Fingers crossed!

A trip to the supposedly most romantic city will not be complete without a slow stroll to the Eiffel Tower. We took our time here; stopping half way and bought some ice cream and dessert. Never too cold for ice cream hehe..Nothing like sitting on a bench enjoying the breeze and admiring the tower! And the view from the top is just breathtaking (although I almost had frost bite from the cold!).

A great place to profess one's love - AJ's done it beautifully ;)

More to come...Part 2: Food...glorious food...