France to the Netherlands - Kids on the train

Our train journey from Paris to the Netherlands was not boring at all - cos we had the company of two lovely kids travelling with their pleasant mum. They're from South Africa and were visiting their mum's relatives in the Netherlands as well.


She's the elder one. She's cheerful, active and forthcoming.


This is the younger girl. She's more shy...


But after some 'warming up', both of then were friendly to us.


She's cute like a doll, isn't she?


She loves colouring.


So I drew her doggy soft toy for her to colour.


She's not even 2 years old, but look at that! She's able to arrange jigsaw puzzles like this!


She finished this on her own, with no assisstance at all from her mother ok! And this was the first time she arranged this puzzle! Amazing...


Meanwhile, she finished coulouring - not at all like her soft toy but she's actually used up all the colours she had! :)

France 11 - Versailles

No, it's not pronounced as "ver-sails". It's "viak-sai" - the grandest and most famous chateu in France constructed by Louis XIV in the 17th century. It served as the palace for 3 kings until 1789 when the revolutionary mobs massacred the palace guard and dragged Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette back to Paris where they were publicly guillotined.




Louis XIV.






Louis XIV is also known as Le Roi Soleil - the Sun King.




The royal chapel.


The palace's vast landscaped gardens.


The King's bed.


Here, the king presided over the various councils.


Marie-Antoinette.


It was through this door where Marie-Antoinette tried to escape during the revolution.


The queen's chamber.




The Dauphin's apartment.

France 10 - Paris 6: Cathedrale de Notre Dame and Basilique du Sacre Coeur

Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris, but no hunchback there. :)












Lights.




Jesus.






Confession.


Appearances of the risen Christ.






Beautiful.


Lights again.


Praying.




What's that?


Cheeky girls la! See the second girl from the right? Kopitiam opened big big!


Gypsy.






I love these creatures.




View of the cathedral from other directions.


Basilique du Sacre Coeur at Montnartre.






Fountain.


My hair looks terrible.




Montmatre used attract numerous writers and artists, including Picasso, but is full of Afro-carribean people now... quite irritating actually...

France 9 - Paris 5: Eiffel Tower

Eiffel.




We took the cheaper and healthier way - the stairs.




See the queue for the lift!! And it's always like this!


Obscene graffiti shot by obscene photographer.


Dummy of a worker painting.


Lift with dummy worker.


Reached level 2 - the furthest u can go by stairs.


Wanna go to the summit? Pay extra and take the lift.


View from the tower.


We could see Montmartre.


The fountain area on the west to the Eiffel Tower was closed for renovation (damn it - it's a very good spot for photography!) so we could only choose to shoot from Champ de Mars on the east.


Eiffel jump. (photo by Sah)


Sah's jump.


Kepo... helping a Russian chick shooting a jumping photo... (photo by Sah)


Obscene pose. (copied a postcard's idea - photo by Sah)


Us... mild one...


Intense one... okay lah, at least got one French kiss in France. 入乡随俗啰！


Evening... sun was setting.


Lights turned on.


Cool feeling...


Warm feeling...


The glittering light show.




Experimenting.




Rotate... rotate.... rotate.....

France 8 - Paris 4

Small arch.


French kiss.


Some more.


Jardin des Tuileries.


Even hotter!


Sorry to disappoint u la (esp Ipohan), but no French kiss from us lo... Malaysian smile nia. :P


Sunbathing at the octagonal ponds.


View of Place de la Concorde from afar.


Pantheon.




Centre Pompidou with its radical architecture - its 'insides' turned outside.


Avenue Montaigne, but all the shops were closed that day...


Armani.


Chanel.


Drool...


Arc de Triomphe and the Avenue des Champs-Elysees.


It's really a huge structure.


Night scene.

France 7 - Paris 3: Louvre 2

View of the glass pyramid area from upstairs.


Hermaphrodite endormi. See the mattress? Carved from marble but looks so soft and tender!!


Psyché ranimée par le baiser de l'Amour telling another love story.


La Venus de Milo.


sarcrophage des Epoux.


Gladiateur Borghese.




The Slave by Michelangelo.


Foot massage?



We went back to the Louvre later in the night. Without the big crowd and the hot sun, the atmosphere there was much better there in the dark - mysterious, enigmatic, attractive. Just took a few pictures and we sat there quietly, enjoying the cool gentle breeze...




Trying out different white balance.


Superb!!


For those who like B&W.


Majestic.






With noone seeing, do they turn alive in the night?

France 6 - Paris 2: Louvre 1

Sunday... totally empty and quiet streets outside our hotel. We were the only living beings seen. The whole world was like came to a standstill!


And the place to visit was the Louvre!!






Hehe, jump again. (photo by Sah)


Inside-out.


From inside.


Beneath the glass pyramid.


Everyone came for her!


This way...


Packed.


There she is!


Sooo many ppl.


She IS pretty.

But apart from her, there were numerous great paintings here in the Louvre. And the audio guide was very well done - much better than the ones in the Vatican Museum. Click on the links if u're interested to know more about the paintings.


La Mort de Cleopatre, by Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli.


Autoportrait un ami (self portrait with a friend) by Raphael.


Portraits of human heads made up of vegetables, flowers, fruits and tree roots by Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Two out of four paintings of a series, Spring and Winter were exhibited in the Louvre. The other two, Summer and Autumn could be seen in another gallery in Paris.


The Children of Edward by Paul Delaroche, an example of Romanticism style which evokes a strong emotion on the viewers of this painting.


Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques Louis David, in which one of the biggest lie in history was told by including Napoleon's mother in this painting, although she had not attended the coronation ceremony of which she disapproved.


Massacres under the Triumvirate by Antoine Caron, which demostrated the war of religion with the Catholics slaughtering the Protestants.


Some details.


Gabrielle d'Estrées and One of Her Sisters by unknown artist from the school of Fontainebleau.


Close-up.


Pilgrimage to Cythera by Jean-Antoine Watteau depicts a celebration with a sexual nature. Cythera is the birthplace of Venus, goddess of love. Paying pilgrimage to Cythera could simply means 'making love'. The statue of Venus can be seen at the right end of this painting.


To the right of the picture is this first couple. The man is sweet-talking to persuade the woman to pay pilgrimage to the Cythera with him. Cupid can be seen at the feet of the woman, trying to make her agree to the invitation.


The second couple - the woman agrees to the invitation and the man is helping her up.


The third couple - they're ready to go...


...joining these many couples who were already waiting on the ship, to travel to Cythera, the island of love, lead by numerous Cupids. Nice representation huh? :)


Hercules and Omphale by Francois Lemoyne. 英雄难过美人关！


Girl with the Naked Bust by Baron Pierre-Narcisse Guérin. I love the facial expression in this girl.

France 5 - Paris 1

Sunflower farms we saw from the TGV train - it was too fast till my camera's fastest shutter speed also produced this blurred image.


Paris metro.


Older, dirtier than the London one.


These two fellars had just earned some money by playing music inside the metro.


The super tall exit doors which sometimes fail to open. There was one occassion when this happened and the French man in front of us asked us to stand back before launching his karate kick to open the doors!


This shop originally sells ballet shoes but later introduced fashion shoes in the design of ballet shoes and apparently became very popular. Damn expensive man!


Opera House.


Galleries Lafayette - super crowded. Din get anything from there.


Our only dinner in a restaurant when in Paris.


The food was great. 60+euros for 2.

France 4 - Avignon 2

This was interesting! See the video below!




Clowns.


Tied down.


Bicycles were useful tools for publicity.


Cute boy wanted to be seen too!


Huge wheels carrying a lady playing the piano!




Earning his living by entertaining the crowd.


Tarte Tropezienne from La Tropezienne, 22, Rue St-Agricol.


Various products made of lavender!






Make your purple dreams come true in the lavender fields in Provence! See how big is the Chinese wordings? It's obvious who are the bulk of customers - the Taiwanese!!


Sah amidst lavender!


Us.


Lots of bees there - gotta be very careful when making our way for the photos. And no, we didn't have time to join the lavender trip la, plus it's super expensive. So we cheated by taking these pictures at a very small area just outside the walls planted with lavender... photos do fool people at times right?


View of Avignon with its city walls and the bridge - Pont St-Benezet.




白头偕老。


The city walls.


Within the walls.






A photo under the shower of golden rays of the setting sun before we went back to our hotel. Should have spent another day in this nice place and enjoy the festival here... too bad had to leave for Paris the next day...

France 3 - Avignon 1

A snap of the Provence from the train which cannot portray its beauty. It was the beauty of picture-perfect Provence which inspired talented artists like Cezanne and van Gogh.


The beautiful architecture of the Avignon TGV train station.


It was really a good time to visit Avignon cos the yearly Avignon festival was on! However all the nearby hotels were fully booked months ahead so we had to get one which was out of town. There were posters everywhere for publicity of the theatre performance there.








Booths selling tickets.

Various creative poster designs...

















And performers from various theatres had to go on the streets to attract people to watch their performances...




















Short performances on the streets to let u get a bit of taste of it.






Another group performing in front of the Palais de Papes.

France 2 - Cannes

Recognise this logo? Yeah it's the logo of Festival de Cannes!


But too bad just empty red carpet there with no international film stars.


没有巨星，只有两只猩猩。


This is a real man ok! Not a statue!


Streets in Cannes.


Even the public toilets look beautiful.


The beach was not as nice as Nice but more crowded cos only a small stretch.


Toys of the rich.


*whistle!* again!


Wah so big!


This one ah... flabby skin. :)


Eh smoking is bad for health la.


Unequal tan. Look closely - she's got a thyroidectomy scar le! (hehe... the PACES skills are still with me! :D)


Oo... laparotomy scar! Why so many scars in my random shots ha?


XXL.


Same same...


Papayas...


Couple.


French kiss in France.


Eh... no diving ha.


Hug hug...


Hug hug hug... the others around were non-existance la.


Another couple.


British couple?


Asian couple - a rarity there. But they look somewhat unnatural la... like dunno what to do??

Hmm... u may ask why I was so naughty looking at all the sexy girls and papayas. My dear din pull my ears meh? Hehe... *whisper* cos she herself was impressed with the huge papayas and was busy looking also!! Hahahahah! Correct or not dear?? :P

France 1 - Nice

"I have never been to paradise, but I have been to Nice."

Read this somewhere in a travel book. Indeed, Nice is so so beautiful with its sunny weather, pebble-strewn shores and crystal-clear Mediterranean water.


We stayed in the Vieux Nice (the old town of Nice) and the Parc du Chateau on the hill is just nearby. This is one of the ruins of the structures on the hill.




Restoration work in progress.


Seagull.




View of the beach from the hill.


The beach.


Sunbathers.




Baywatch - French edition.


V.


Sah.


Jump @ Nice. (photo by Sah - Sah's become a pro in taking jumping photos! :P)


Pebbles.


Crystal-clear water.


*whistle*


Girl.


Putting on some sunblock.


Boy.

And a series of sexy photos... (self-censored :D)








Oh this is a man and dog - not flat chested woman.






Girl posing for me.


Beach volleyball.


Aunty swimming.


Interesting lights in the shape of human figures.


The moon was still round...

Monaco

Not only we'd visited the smallest country in the world, we were at the second smallest country in the world, Monaco, too. Monaco has only 1.95 sq km of land, but is best known for its casino, F1 Grand Prix and high-rolling lifestyle. We took a train from Florence to Nice in France and checked into our hotel there before hopping into a bus to Monaco.


Monaco road signs.


Defibrillator by the roadside! Impressive. Never seen this in Malaysia. Even ambulances are not all equipped with these!


On our way up to the palace.


Sah with girl.


Majestic view of the port.


Beautiful abode.


Policeman.






The view was even more magnificient when darkness fell and the lights were on.


Portrait...


Streets.


Cafe by the port.


Full moon.

Wondering why there was no photo of Monte Carlo?? Yeah it was late in the night already and we feared we would miss the last train back to Nice so had to give up visiting the casino! :(

Italy 11 - Pisa

We wanted to visit Pisa on the second day we reached Florence but unfortunately there was a train strike so we went shopping at The Mall in Leccio (1 hour journey by bus from Florence).


It was actually a place with outlets of branded stuff sold at about 50% normal price. Great place to shop!!


The next day there was no more strike and we manage to visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Gosh it's more than 4 metres off the perpendicular!!






The cathedral and the leaning tower.


Restoration and maintenance.


Everybody takes funny pictures here...


So did we! At first Sah tried to be protective...


...but eventually turned destructive!!






Heeeyaaaah!!!!! (photos by Sah)


Wolf feeding human babies?!

Italy 10 - Florence

Waiting for train from Rome to Florence.


Florence's best gelato shop - Gelateria Vivoli, 7, Via dell'lsola dell Stinche.


Again, half litre pack is much more worthwhile - 8 euros.


Graffiti...


Florence street view.


Pinocchio in its homeland.


Pinocchio's dad at work.


Large Pinocchio...


...with baby Pinocchios.


Duomo with its startling red, green and white marble facade.


Some details.


Door of the octagonal cupola in front of the Duomo.


'Ghost' there - they were making squeaking sounds and approaching every tourists for money. Damn irritating.


Piazza della Signoria.


The famous Loggia della Signoria, a showcase of 14th century sculptures.


Sculptures.


Rape of the Sabine Woman.


Hercules Beating the Centaur Nessus.


Menelaus Supporting the Body of Patroclus.


Pirro Rapes Polyxena.


Lion.




Perseus with the head of Medusa.


Female and male.


Sah writing her diary while we took a shelter.


Ponte Vecchio, the only bridge which survived the bombing during the WWII, now lined by jewellery shops.


Ponte Vecchio from afar.


Michelangelo's most famous sculpture, David, is housed here but we didn't go in.


Had dinner at this restaurant with nice ambience. The food? So so only...

Italy 9 - Rome 5: Roman Forum and Palatine

The dawn of Western Civilisation - the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill is just beside the Colosseum.


U can only see ruins...


The Basilica of Maxentius.


U need to imagine the glory of the past here...




Beautiful buildings... but terribly hot hot hot weather!!




The house of Augustus.


Paintings inside the house.


Tunnel.


The ancient stadium.


Italy is well known for its gelato(ice-cream). We were very impressed with the gelato we first had in Milan, then Verona and Venice but we followed Lonely Planet's reccommendation to the shop which "sells the best gelato in Rome" - San Crispino at No.42, Via della Panetteria near the Trevi Fountain.


And inside this box...


...we found the BEST ice-cream we've ever tasted in our life!!! No exaggeration, seriously. It was well worth it, although more expensive than the other shops, that we went back to the shop to have it again on the 2nd day! This box was a half-litre pack which cost 4 euros. On the first day we spent 4 euros each to get a two 2-scoop-cups which was not worth it - 2 small scoops only (the normal price for gelato is 1 euro). We saw a local who bought this half-litre pack so the second day we bought this and ate until we were so so so satisfied! If u're in Rome, u shouldn't miss this!

Italy 8 - Rome 4: Colosseum and around

The most complete part of the iconic Colosseum.


Again, long queue.


That's all that is left of Rome's greatest known monument. But if u "try to close ur eyes and picture how the ancient arena would have appeared in its heyday - the marble-covered building crammed with 50,000 spectators, completed with boxed seats, toilet facilities, refreshment stands and a giant retractable sail to act as a roof, watching gladiators fight panthers, hippopotami and crocodiles, and occasionally, one another" as suggested by the Lonely Planet, u'll be able to feel the greatness of this monument.




For a period, this place had been converted to stage religious performance.




The names of the benefactors can still be seen here, carved on the marbles at the first class seats.


Here's another one.


Bridal photography at the Colosseum.




The jump @ Colosseum.


Piazza Fontana.




This place was filled with various artists.


Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) by Bernini.


Details of the magnificient fountain.


The Pantheon.


Dome of the Pantheon - an architectural marvel.


Raphael's tomb in the Pantheon.


Trevi Fountain.


So crowded!


Piazza di Spagna. In the 18th century, beautiful Italians gathered here, hoping to be chosen as artist's models.


Today, u can still find many beauties there!


Children enjoying themselves.

Good news

Pinocchio, from its homeland in Florence, Italy.

Dr. Yew Tong Wei, MBBS(Malaya), MRCP (UK).

Deeply deeply grateful to all who have helped me throughout the way. Thank you and thank you again!! YEAH!!!

Italy 7 - Rome 3: Fashion show rehearsal

Passed by Castel Sant' Angelo after visiting the Vatican Museums.


Coincidentally, there was a rehearsal of a fashion show going on there!




Supermodels catwalking for free!


Close up.






Cool with sunglasses...


Sah likes her dress.




This one has sunny sporty look.




This is the designer. Anybody knows who's she?


Discussion going on.


The models waiting for the next round of rehearsal under the hot sun.










Simply stand also got style.


Too hot liao... no style liao...!!


Drink some water first... also got style.




Got bored liao...


A short clip of the rehearsal.

Italy 6 - Rome 2: Vatican Museum

The Vatican walls.


Courtyard with pine cone. The building behind it was designed by none other than Michelangelo.


Another view.


Roman sculptures.




Perseus with the head of Medusa.


The Lady of Ephesus: "I have many breasts... which one do u want?"


Socrates.


Emperor Augustus.




Fig leaf to cover the private parts.


The octagonal garden.


This is part of a carpet.


Gallery of maps.


Map.


One of the paintings by Raphael.


Spiral stairs.



Of course the highlight of all would be the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo's paintings, the most famous ones being Creation of Adam and The Last Judgement, but photographing was not allowed... so no pictures here. Just click on the links if u're interested!

Italy 5 - Rome 1: Vatican City

Actually, the title is a mistake. Vatican isn't within Rome. It's a country by itself - the smallest country in the world! But u need to get to Rome to go to Vatican...


We reached Rome well past noon. Feeling terribly hot and hungry, we had to carry our heavy backpacks to this restaurant (also highly recommended by Lonely Planet) for a late lunch. Had the best pizza throughout our stay in Italy here, and also superb strawberry tiramisu!


After lunch, we carried our huge backpacks and walked back to the station again to board a crowded and stuffy bus to our hotel. About 10 minutes into the journey, I noticed Sah's face suddenly turned white and sweaty, and she did not respond to my question when I asked her whether she was ok but just stared blankly. Luckily I managed to catch her from the back before she fainted onto the floor of the bus! :D A few kind Italian ladies gave up their seat to Sah. After a while, we finally reached the bus stop where our hotel was. And this was Sah recuperating by the bus stop. And me? of course have to snap this valuable picture to post it up here ma!! :p


Every road leads to Rome.


Fallen leaves after a heavy rain.


The next morning, Sah was all fresh again!


Metro in Rome.


Pillars @ Vatican.


Curve so much like the one we saw before in Bath.


Fountain.


Base of the fountain.


Clergy.


Nuns.


Interesting.


Some details...






Long queue!


St. Peter's Basilica.




Vatican guards.


The ceiling.


Sculpture by Michelangelo - Pieta.


Light.


Dragon.


Median nerve palsy? :)


Confession.


With angel.


Forgot who's this already.


St. Peter.




Long queue to touch St. Peter's foot too!






The grand dome designed by Michelangelo on top of us.

Italy 4 - Venice 2

And finally after losing our way for a few times, we reached Piazza San Marco.




There are lots of pigeons there. Good for posing.


But sometimes u have to sacrifice to get the photos taken...


...and be alert to avoid having accidents when the birds fly - they really don't care and may just fly into u!


Expensive cafes by the Piazza.


Gondolas...


...gondolas...


...and butts. :D




Saw a rehearsal of an orchestra at the Piazza.


Enthusiaitic conductor.


The strings.


Gorgeous audience.




Gondola. The black and white stripe shirt and hat is the uniform for the boatmen.


Oh oh... we've reached a low bridge.


No worries...


Venice is beautiful but one thing bad was the unbearable hot weather during the day which made us unable to really enjoy ourselves. When the night fell and the sea breeze blew gently, this place turned even more attractive and romantic.




Reflection.


Idle.




Romance.

Italy 3 - Venice 1

Land is really precious in Venice. See the long queue outside the tourist information office which is barely 2 metres wide!


The Grand Canal.




There is a reason for tonnes of tourists to come to this place. It's just hauntingly beautiful!!


Can u feel the beauty?


Narrow canals everywhere.


Took us a bit of effort to locate this restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. It's I Quattro Rusteghi, at Campo del Ghetto Nuovo, Cannaregio 2888. The food was really nice - I would say the best we had in Italy - and the location is on a quiet square away from the big crowd of tourists.








We had a mix plate of seafood appetiser - octopus sald, sarde di saor (fried sardines marinated in vinegar and onions - a Venetian specialty), dried cod fish with polenta, and shrimps. Superb!


Spaghetti ragu.


Moscato D'asti. Love the sweet smooth taste.




Mysterious man.


Mysterious Venetian masks.




Famous Murano glass. These 2 pieces costs thousands of Euros each!!


Everybody gets lost in Venice. See? Which way to go?


So u just walk!


Beggar.

Italy 2 - Verona

Verona is a small town midway between Milan and Venice. It became famous as Shakespeare set Romeo and Juliet here.




Piazza Bra.


The Arena, the 3rd largest Roman amphitheatre in existence which was built in the 1st century.




"Gladiators".


Pizza - this is Italy mah!!


The streets.






U can find taps like these easily in Italy.


Beautiful.


We wanted to visit Casa di Giuliettta, home to the fictional Juliet, but people were shooting a film there. So I missed the chance to rub the breast of Juliet's statue in the courtyard - superstition suggests that by doing so u'll get a new lover. And Sah was relieved! :P


The actors.


View across the river.


Sah tired of walking.


But could still run for photos.




Spotted this couple.


Sexy eh?






Italian dinner.

Italy 1 - Milan

We flew by Ryan Air from Bristol to Milan, Italy. Initially Milan was not part of our itinerary but since it is the only city in Italy which is connected by Ryan Air from Bristol, we decided to just make a stop. So no, we didn't go and see Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" which was already famous and made even more famous by Dan Brown.


It was already evening when we arrived in Milan. Poor Sah was looking tired in front of the Milan train station with her big backpacks.


Beautiful balcony...


...but everywhere was filled with graffiti...


...any available space.

The overall appearance of Italy was not appealing. It's sort of like a 'post-war city' kind of look. And the weather was terribly hot like back home in Malaysia.


But being a fashion city, u won't be disappointed in Milan. Almost everyone around looks and dresses like a supermodel.


See this...


...and this. Cool eh?


And mind u not only females. Men too!


Purple!




Stylish cyclists!




Attractive window displays.


I love this suit!!


Marvellous flower arrangement.


Tram.


Metro.


Passed by a jewelry exhibition.


Gelato!!! It still makes me drool now!




Classic architecture everywhere.


Duomo on a cloudy backdrop.






The classical dome of the interior.


Sah drooling... hahaha!




These two young violinists caught our attention. Click on the video below to see how well they played the violin!