My LondonParis Super Trip II

man i have super a lot of photos.
gonna put 'em all up on facebook soon (:

so this is the second part of my trip-
4 days in Paris and 2 in London.


these signs were stuck EVERYWHERE!
and i still couldn't find that stupid stadium!
>.<

so what do i think of Paris?
it's beautiful.
really.
the buildings are so old but breathtaking,
the roads are all super straight and huge,
and there are famous landmarks everywhere.


our Eurostar train ticket.

but other than that?

i didn't like it.
the people were so standoffish,
the food was crap (maybe just the ones we ate),
the language barrier was a big problem,
the place was incredibly dirty
(seriously, all the train stations smell of pee)
and everything was SO expensive.


Tour Eiffel at night.

i thought since the pound is bigger
than the Euro right, it wouldn't be so bad
but seriously, it's crazy expensive.
and that's without converting to ringgit!

i tell you, i think i overworked my brain there.
everything i see i first convert to pounds
then after that i multiply by 6 and
add a bit to get the price in Ringgit.


me and La Venus de Milo
in the Musee du Louvre.
what a mouthful huh.

the trip there was nice enough,
and i think France has the greenest
grass I've ever seen in my life.

seriously, cause on the train we pass by
all the fields and meadows and all
and they were all SO green.

then as we pulled up into the city,
the place started becoming very
seedy looking and the buildings were
totally covered with graffiti.


if you read the Da Vinci Code,
you'll recognise this.
it's the two glass pyramids touching
at the Musee du Louvre.

surprisingly, there are a whole
lot of Asians in Paris, and not tourists.
i dont know, i still find it weird to
see Chinese people speaking foreign
languages like French or something.

but yeah, Chinese people are EVERYWHERE!


the Mona Lisa.

and we were bitterly disappointed
on the first day itself when we went to eat
and this French restaurant with
really horrible waiters who looked
as us like we were super beneath them
and really crap food ):

and to top it all off,
it was super expensive.
sigh ):


lookie all the people clamoring to get
a photo of the Mona Lisa!
madness.

but since it was so pretty to walk in,
that was soon forgotten and we went on
walking around looking at the outdoor sights.

what's cool about Paris is that
everything is very geometrical.
it's like the roads are super scarily straight
and all these monuments and everything
in a perfect straight line so when you
stand at one end, you can see everything
superimposed in front of you.

very cool.


the Notre-Dame.

then we went to take a boat cruise
down River Seine which bypassed all
the pretty sights at night.

and then we saw it.
the Tour Eiffel.
it's very impressive, but it's so ugly at night!

i mean right, every few minutes they
have this thing where the Tour Eiffel
has all this little blinking blue lights all over
which really makes it look very lala.

like those ahbeng-type blue lights
they like to put on their cars you know?

yuck.

what's worse was,
it started raining the WHOLE CRUISE.
i sat outside to take photos
but after awhile, my fingers and face
were too numb and i couldn't feel
anything anymore so i gave up ):
what a waste.


the Musee du Louvre,
the world's biggest museum.

on the next day, it was more sightseeing!

we started with the Musee du Louvre,
which was very impressive looking already.
and honestly, it's really enormous
and so jam-packed with art that
it's really quite impossible to see everything.

and boy, was it packed.
especially around the Mona Lisa.
it was in this special room so everyone
had to squeeze into the room to see it
and it was really like a rock concert in there.

i got lost so many times!


that's just one wing of the Musee du Louvre.

after seeing all the important things,
the people were piling up so we decided
to get out of there and move on to more sights.

one thing which is also cool is that
in the river right, there are these island things
where there are loads of important
churches and stuff inside so the
whole of Paris is filled with bridges.

there are 34 (or 37, i can't really remember)
bridges in Paris and they're all super different
and each a work of art on its own.


the Place de la Concorde.
that's 3000 years old!

so we went to see the Notre-Dame.
you know, where the Disney cartoon was based.

i really really wanted to climb up to
see the gargoyles and the bells
and maybe spot a hunchback or something
but it the line was so long ):

and hor, after i left only i read that
the Crown of Thorns is there and
there are actual drops of Christ's blood
on display in the church!
i can't believe i missed that.

but the altar was really beautiful.
it's like when you walk in,
you feel incredibly at awe you know?


a garden somewhere opposite
the Place de La Concorde.
pretty, isnt it?

and then it started raining.
arrrrrrrgh.

what's worse was, we decided to go shopping
but EVERYTHING was closed due to it
being Easter Monday.

which is really ridiculous, because
that has NOTHING to do with Easter!
so we just went back to the hotel
tired, drenched and crabby.

well i was very crabby because i
decided to be smart and wear pretty shoes
and ended up with half dead legs.


inside the Notre-Dame.

but then i got a call that cheered me up loads.
more on that later (:

but anyway that was the first day.
crap hor?!

so the second day we attacked Paris
with a strategy, to see all the outdoor things
before it started to rain and do others later.

so we left for the Arc de Triomphe first.
and really, i loooooove this.


see, there's the super straight road
with the Arc de Triomphe at the end.

it's not that incredibly famous
but it's so pretty!
i insisted that we HAD to climb up something
while we were in Paris and since
we didn't climb up Notre-Dame,
there was no way I was leaving this out.

there were 284 steps and it was 9 flights.
doesn't sound too bad does it?
but the thing was, the stairs were those
spirally ones with super narrow steps.

but luckily they have all these rest stops
in the middle so unfit people like me
can sit down and breathe for a bit.

Avenue des Champs-Elysees from
the Arc de Triomphe.
LOOK AT HOW STRAIGHT IT IS!!

and boy was it worth it.
the view was spectacular.
everything from above just looks better somehow.

and what was cool was that
on the same road right, they built this
super modern arch facing the old arch
in the skyscraper-city part of Paris.
why are Europeans so artistic?!!


mummy and I and the Tour Eiffel.

then we set off for the Tour Eiffel.
and i'm very very sorry to say it,
but....

i didn't go up ):

i know right,
how can i go all the way there and not go up?!!

but the lines were SO. CRAZY. LONG.

there was 4 long lines at each end of the tower
just to buy tickets on its own,
and then another 2 just to board the lifts.
and it was starting to rain!
so we just took photos and left ):


Tour Eiffel from the bottom.

but it was very majestic and pretty.

and true enough, it did rain.
AGAIN.

so we left for Musee d'Orsay,
probably the second most famous
museum in Paris.

not as big or breathtaking,
but still super lovely (:
i really do love spending time in museums.


i'm not really sure what this was.
it intrigued us the whole trip!
that's one of 34 (or 37) bridges btw.

and then that was it for sightseeing.
for the remainder of that day and the next
(the day we left) we just went shopping
(:

and really, Paris is pretty crap for shopping!
it's a whole lot more expensive than London
):


roof of the Galleries Lafayette.

and finally, we were back in London again
(:
as we left Paris, the England-Paris match
was just over so there were all these
drunkish football fans shouting up and down
the Paris train station and when we reached
London, the Brazil-Sweden match was just over
so that train station was packed with
all these footie fans also ):

and still i didn't see any famous footballers!
>:(


that's us in our SUPER packed lift in the hotel.
seriously, only 3 people can fit.
and we have to stand sideways one!

so back to London for one last glorious day
before the whole thing was over ):

see, the whole trip i was frantically
trying to get tickets for Lion King so that
my parents can at least say they've been
to the West End and seen something you know?

but it was always sold out or too expensive.

so i woke up early and left the house
to go searching for half-price tickets.
what a tense morning man,
my heart was beating so fast the whole time
cause it was our last night and if
i dont get it today, i'll NEVER be able to see it.

so *finally* i found tickets and
i swear, my heart almost jumped out.


and there it is, the Lyceum Theatre.

and boy, it was amazing.
the singing wasn't as good as Wicked,
but the costumes and set design was CRAZY.

go Youtube it and see for yourself.
really.


me and mummy at the airport.

and that was our last night in London.
):

the whole of the last day when we were
due to fly back i was filled with dread.
like on the day i left home.

i mean, i'm not going to see my parents
for at least another year maybe.
i cried bucketloads.
):

but oh well,
i'm back and over the homesickness already.
hopefully this will last.

i can't believe i spent over an hour doing this.
I NEED TO STUDY SO BADLY!

i tell you ah, i cannot tahan people
who go to the library and START TALKING.
arrrrrrrrrgh.

i left the library and went home to try to study
but the stupid fella that lives above me
decided to blast techno music from his room
the whole freaking afternoon ):
very frustrating.

anyway, hope you enjoyed it.
more photos up soon (: