Provence and Paris, Aug 24 to Sep 5, 2011

Introduction

As summer passes another adventure for the Nguyen family commences. After an interesting trip to Mexico City, where the ambiance was that of a Europe colony, the Nguyen family is ready to travel to the source. They will go to an old favourite of theirs, France to experience the historic country in detail.

First they would explore the old countryside of Provence with the small perched villages, Marseilles and Cote d'Azur with glamorous Nice and Monaco. After this Tour de France they will see the other side of the spectrum with the lively streets and culture of Paris, seeing all the monuments they missed the first time around and enjoying the delicious cuisine.

August 24, 2011 -On the Way

After a long hiatus from vacation and months of repetitive work and stress, we were finally ready to set out again on an exciting adventure. Contrary to tradition, our flight was in the evening. We checked into our airline, Sunwing and prepared for the 7 hour flight.

Unfortunately, the flight was delayed 3 hours due to a heavy and dangerous thunderstorm that prevented a safe lift-off. This was bad news for our future plans as in Paris, we were due to take a connecting flight to Marseilles with Air France. We hoped for the best as the long flight finally started.

After 7 hours of extremely boring sitting with no personal TV, we finally reached Paris. We anxiously wondered if we would be able to get a refund on our flight and get on track as soon as possible.

August 25, 2011- Paris and Aix-en-Provence

We arrived in Paris in the afternoon, anxiously wondering how to fix our problem. We missed our flight to Marseilles resulting in great losses including the planned return flight. We had to find an alternate route to Aix-en-Provence, so instead we booked a TGV train ride over to Aix-en-Provence station. We sulked around the station waiting for our train and ate our first French baguette, it was delicious.

The train finally arrived and we left on our comfortable 3 hour ride. The ride was stunning, as we had a scenic, dynamic view of the French countryside seeing valleys, farms and villages. When we arrived it was evening and we took a taxi to our hotel, St. Christophe. We checked in and contemplated going out for dinner. We decided to and were ready to explore the night life.

Aix-en-Provence is a city located in the south eastern region of France called Provence, an area bordering Italy and next to the Mediterranean Sea. When we set off, we headed to the crowded tourist area. Aix was special in the way their shops are organized. There were countless shops located within the alleyways that were cut off from traffic. The whole area was charmingly historic, with a very European vibe with the apartments located above the shops.

We explored the alleyways for a while until we came across a small restaurant next to a fountain. The service was nice but the food was expensive, which we would become accustomed to. The food itself was tasty and a great start to French cuisine, the most notable being the best crème brûlée I have ever had. After our meal we eventually navigated out of the twisting streets and returned to our hotel. The room was very small but clean and the beds were comfortable for our exhausted bodies.

August 26, 2011 - Aix-en-Provence and Marseilles

After our satisfying rest, we were ready for our first day on France. To start us off, we did not stay in Aix, instead we caught a bus to Marseilles.

Marseilles is the second largest city in France, second obviously to France. Located on the Southeast coast of France, it is a very popular tourist location and a historic port. The bus ride was only half an hour and soon we were in the city’s historic St. Charles station.

We wanted to make our way to the docks called the Old Port or Vieux-Port so we took the metro. When we arrived at the port, we were greeted with a lively market, with fresh fish being sold. We passed by the dock quickly out of hunger and bought ourselves the same kind of baguettes we had yesterday and it was delicious.

After our meal, we took a city bus up a steep hill to the famous Notre-Dame de la Garde, a basilica located at the highest point of Marseilles, built to pray for the many sailors that risked their lives every day. When we got out we were met with a beautiful panoramic view of the amazing city. The coast was beautiful to see and in the distance you could see Château d'If, a fortress later prison made known by the classic adventure novel, the Count of Monte Cristo. After we took in the view, we explored the large basilica and soon we were finished with this attraction.

We took the bus back down to the dock area to join a tour with Le Petit Train, a tourist trolley. We bought tickets to Le Panier, the oldest part of Marseilles, home to winding alleys and many shops. The tour went through many attractions giving us a dynamic view of what we would have seen if we had time to stay longer. Le Panier was interesting as we wandered through the streets taking in the historic vibe and eating delicious ice cream. We eventually finished our wandering and took the train back to the port. We grabbed a quick lunch and I had a mediocre and very cheesy croquet-monsieur. After our meal we headed back to Aix by bus. We returned to the hotel so we can rest for a bit and go explore Aix more afterwards.

After a couple hours of rest we set off again and we decided to take the Aix Petit Train which can slickly slip itself through the thin alleyways of Aix. We saw many shops with delicious food and an assortment of goods. It was a great tour with much information and made us envy people with time in the city.

After the tour we went to eat dinner at the hotel. We mostly ordered seafood and it was a delicious gourmet meal. Unfortunately it was raining at that time, so we had to shelter inside before going out again. Luckily it stopped quickly and we were ready to enjoy our last night in Aix. We wandered the alleys again and came across many stores that were closed. The whole area seemed to almost close completely and we were left with only a few stores to explore. Eventually we got bored and returned to our hotel. We packed our stuff again ready to leave the next day.

August 27, 2011 - Aix-en-Provence, Bonnieux, Rouissillon, Gordes, Avignon

We were ready to leave Aix after such a short visit. Mom and Dad left for our car which we would use to drive to our next destination. Our car was a nice Peugeot, comfortable and automatic.

We skipped breakfast and decided to go on our way immediately. Our main destination was Avignon, another historic community. The drive there was long and scenic. We started our adventure across the highway where eventually with the many roundabouts had us lost and asking for directions at a cafe. The owners were nice and we also had another delicious baguette breakfast.

We then got on track and started heading towards our first villages. The ride was very scenic as we passed through dangerous mountain roads and tree lined roads. Our first stop was a small commune, Bonnieux. We didn’t stop long at all, we just stopped by a cafe with a great view and delicious hot chocolate. The cafe had a high view of the mountain in the distance.

We started off again driving for a few minutes until we reach another small village, Rouissillon. This time we parked and were ready to explore the town. We took pictures of more scenic views and then went upon the town. The colour of the brick was all red and the whole atmosphere reminded me of Sicily in the Godfather movie. We walked about enjoying the view of the mountains as well as the old feel of the town. With Alex’s suggestions we bought macaroons, sweets she loves, they were decent but not as amazing as Alex put.

Soon we were off again and on our way to Avignon. Alex wished to take a hand at the wheel and after some reluctance, she got to. It did not go well as Mom was way too uptight and Alex could not drive normal.

We once again reached another perched village called Gordes. In here, we walked around again taking in similar views and then buying ourselves some lunch. We stopped by a little cafe overlooking a busy street and had ourselves some foie gras, goose liver. It was delicious and a food we will remember out of all the food we had. After that town we were ready to finally reach Avignon and Mom actually decided to skip an attraction (a nunnery). We had a long confusing drive and after a couple hours of driving we finally reached Avignon.

When we arrived in Avignon we were greeted with a medieval style wall surrounding most of the city. We then head to our Hotel Boquier, a small family business that was comfortable but internet was not working.

We rested a little bit and soon we were off to explore the historic town. We walked to the most notable attraction in the city, Le Palais des Papes, royal resident for Pope Clement V, who was unwilling to reside in violent Rome after his election. It was a grand palace that stood out in the area; however we did not explore the interior as we have heard that most of its artwork has been stripped. Beside it was the equally grand Cathédrale Notre-Dame des Doms, which towered over us.

Afterwards, we set out to see the medieval Pont Saint-Bénezet, an unfinished bridge spanning the Rhone River. The bridge was a bridge, nothing more, nothing less, however the Rhone was beautiful.

Following our mini-tour of Avignon, we set off to eat dinner. Listening to local advice, we avoided the tourist area near City Hall and instead went to a more secluded area. After a while of searching and my navigation we reached the mini plaza and had delicious Italian Pizza at a small restaurant called Little Italy. After our meal we were exhausted and were ready to turn in for the night. We rushed through deserted streets and quickly got home.

August 28, 2011 - Avignon, Pont du Gard, Arles, Les Baux de Provence

Instead of having baguette for breakfast today, we had a small continental meal at the hotel. We were soon ready to head off again. Our destinations today were sites of ancient Roman ruins that existed due to Roman occupation in France.

We drove off to the first site, Pont du Gard. Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge (a stone bridge that transports water) and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When we arrived at the site, we first learned about the history at a small museum. We learned about the time taken to build, the materials and the lifestyle at the time. After the museum, we went to the actual bridge and were amazed at the towering structure. Though an ancient structure it was an engineering wonder and still was preserved perfectly. We took our pictures, got lost and soon left the site.

Next stop was Arles an ancient city with many more Roman ruins. We arrived within the hour and started about the town. We got a map and I led the tour through town. Our first site was the Roman arena in the town, which was reminiscent of the Coliseum in Rome. We circled around the structure, and saw a poorly acted mock fight off gladiators. We then were hungry for lunch and ate at small restaurant next to the arena. The meal was surprisingly good with delicious steak. After our little meal, we walked around town seeing a few more attractions. We stopped by the baths, but did not go in; we also saw a couple churches. The city itself didn’t have much more so after stopping by town square we drove off again.

Our last stop for the day was Les Baux de Provence, another old town. This town was once the home of the Lords of Baux until they were deposed in the 15th century. Nowadays the town is there for tourism and only 22 people live there. The town was located in a very picturesque location, being build high on top of the mountains. We entered the town and explored the winding, steep and narrow alley town. The town had a great view on all angles as it towered over the French countryside. The main attraction in the town was the ruins of the grand castle, Château des Baux. In there was a catapult demonstration, that was boring and took too long to do. The actual castle was amazing, with there being a path to climb to the top in which there was an absolutely stunning view. The climb up and down however, was dangerous as the steps were not straight and slippery. We finished our tour of the town and soon we left the area.

We drove back to our hotel in Avignon, ready for dinner. We went to the tourist area this time, specifically outside of Hotel de Ville, aka Town Hall. We found a restaurant next to the action and had a decent meal. The highlight was definitely the escargots which I found delicious as usual, however Alex regrettable got disgusting cheese for dessert.

Finally, after our long day of ancient exploration, we returned to our hotel to rest and prepare for our next day, which would take us to Nice.

August 28, 2011 - Avignon, Nice

We got up early ready to head off to the TGV train station for our next destination, Nice.

Nice is a famous coastal city which seconds Paris in its tourism, as it’s known for its beach and history. The train ride was only a couple hours and in no time we arrived at the dirty Nice train station. We had to lug our luggage to our hotel and when we did, we were greeted with rude service. Unfortunately, the room wasn’t ready yet, so we left our luggage and set off to the beach for breakfast.

We walked a couple blocks until we reached the coast. We were greeted with a beautiful ocean; however we were not impressed with the beach. The beach did not seem relaxing as instead of sand, there were only rocks covering the beach. We took our pictures and then found a restaurant for brunch. It was typical except for Alex’s meal which was tartar, or raw steak. It was interesting with a relish taste.

After the meal, we walked back to the hotel to unpack and rest. After dealing with our rude receptionist, we got our room, which was crowded with all four of us. We rested a while, napping and using the internet until we were ready to go out again. This time we took a livelier route, going to the main street, which had lines of stores and a rail line right through it. There was also a giant square known as Place Massena in the center with a grand fountain and a suggestive statue. We took in the environment and then continued to the beach.

Dad decided to swim as he was the only one to bring swimwear and we watched. When Dad finished his swim, we went to walk to a viewpoint looking over Nice. The climb was long, but the view was worth it as the coast was beautiful as it hugged the lively city. We were hungry for dinner by this time and out of impatience we did not go French, instead we had some cheap Chinese food. The food was not very good, but its saving grace was the much needed rice.

We once again went back to the hotel resting some more. After an hour or so, we left again to enjoy the nightlife. We went back to the crowded main street, shopping at clothing and souvenir stores. We noticed many restaurants with people constantly eating, showing how crowded it was in Nice and how early we ate dinner. We enjoyed the ambiance for a while until we returned to the hotel to sleep.

August 29, 2011 - Nice, Èze, Monaco

Our itinerary today was not in Nice, instead we were going to explore the rich country of Monaco. To start our day we caught the bus in the direction of Monaco. The drive there was mountainous and had a gorgeous view of the coast. On our way to Monaco, we stopped by a small village called Eze. Eze is small with narrow passages throughout the town and tall views on its edges. We walked around the town hoping to find the top of the village in which there was a garden. After wandering the winding roads for a while, we came across the garden. We decided to finally eat breakfast. There was a small restaurant right next to the garden and we had an interesting but delicious pizza kept on toast. We finally entered the garden; however the plants were the least interesting thing with an amazing 360 degree view of the surrounding area. Following our visit to the garden, we did a little shopping and eventually returned to the bus to continue on to Monaco.

Monaco is the smallest country to the world second to Vatican City ruled by Prince Albert II, recently wed to ex-Olympic swimmer. The countries main industry is tourism and sees many tourists including celebrities because of its grand casinos and warm weather. Surprisingly, Monaco had no strict visiting policies considering it was a separate country and no passport or papers were required. When we arrived we first saw the famous Monte Carlo Casino, an extremely grand casino reserved for high class people made evident by the multiple sports cars in the front parking lot. There was a fee to get into the casino and we felt it was unnecessary to see, so we continued on. Unsure of what to do, we got a map and decided to head towards the Prince’s Palace, home to the royalty. We walked a far distance with me leading the way. The city as a whole was very fancy as the nice cars pass by and the buildings seemed very clean and modern.

We walked quite a distance until we came across the base of the palace. The palace was located at the top of a cliff and the trip up through the stairs was quite tiring and the heat did not help. When we reached the top we saw the boring palace, with a underwhelming scene of a guard marching back and forth. Interestingly enough, Alex remembers the area from her high school trip and we even visited a souvenir shop she bought her once favourite bag. We walked around the palace area with which there were restaurants, stores and even a church. When we had the energy to continue, we went back down ready to head back to Nice. We navigated ourselves back to the station (we stopped for macaroons first!) and took the train instead.

We went directly back to Nice ready for dinner. Thanks to an online recommendation we travelled to a Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant called Crazy Wok. The owners were Vietnamese (Dad talked a lot) and the food was decent, but obviously catered to non-Asian people. We found our way back to the hotel and pondered whether to go out again. After resting a good while, we explored the night life again and walked all the way back to the coast seeing the familiar sights. We walked along the boardwalk and passed by a few street performers such as music bands and live art productions. After our little trek we became tired again and returned to the hotel ready for a well-earned rest.

August 30, 2011 - Nice, Èze, Monaco

Our itinerary today was not in Nice, instead we were going to explore the rich country of Monaco. To start our day we caught the bus in the direction of Monaco. The drive there was mountainous and had a gorgeous view of the coast. On our way to Monaco, we stopped by a small village called Eze. Eze is small with narrow passages throughout the town and tall views on its edges. We walked around the town hoping to find the top of the village in which there was a garden. After wandering the winding roads for a while, we came across the garden. We decided to finally eat breakfast. There was a small restaurant right next to the garden and we had an interesting but delicious pizza kept on toast. We finally entered the garden; however the plants were the least interesting thing with an amazing 360 degree view of the surrounding area. Following our visit to the garden, we did a little shopping and eventually returned to the bus to continue on to Monaco.

Monaco is the smallest country to the world second to Vatican City ruled by Prince Albert II, recently wed to ex-Olympic swimmer. The countries main industry is tourism and sees many tourists including celebrities because of its grand casinos and warm weather. Surprisingly, Monaco had no strict visiting policies considering it was a separate country and no passport or papers were required. When we arrived we first saw the famous Monte Carlo Casino, an extremely grand casino reserved for high class people made evident by the multiple sports cars in the front parking lot. There was a fee to get into the casino and we felt it was unnecessary to see, so we continued on. Unsure of what to do, we got a map and decided to head towards the Prince’s Palace, home to the royalty. We walked a far distance with me leading the way. The city as a whole was very fancy as the nice cars pass by and the buildings seemed very clean and modern.

We walked quite a distance until we came across the base of the palace. The palace was located at the top of a cliff and the trip up through the stairs was quite tiring and the heat did not help. When we reached the top we saw the boring palace, with a underwhelming scene of a guard marching back and forth. Interestingly enough, Alex remembers the area from her high school trip and we even visited a souvenir shop she bought her once favourite bag. We walked around the palace area with which there were restaurants, stores and even a church. When we had the energy to continue, we went back down ready to head back to Nice. We navigated ourselves back to the station (we stopped for macaroons first!) and took the train instead.

We went directly back to Nice ready for dinner. Thanks to an online recommendation we travelled to a Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant called Crazy Wok. The owners were Vietnamese (Dad talked a lot) and the food was decent, but obviously catered to non-Asian people. We found our way back to the hotel and pondered whether to go out again. After resting a good while, we explored the night life again and walked all the way back to the coast seeing the familiar sights. We walked along the boardwalk and passed by a few street performers such as music bands and live art productions. After our little trek we became tired again and returned to the hotel ready for a well-earned rest.

August 31, 2011: Nice, Villefranche, Paris

This was our last day in Nice and we did not have much to do. We packed our stuff up and left it at the hotel after checking out. Our first stop was breakfast, we navigated ourselves through the streets until we reached the Flower Market, a pretty open market with a lot of fresh produce like fish and fruit. We wandered the crowded stands until we came across a nice little crepe restaurant. We ordered varying types of crepes like Nutella banana and chocolate. It was really sweet but still very delicious. After our meal we toured around the tight streets of the area seeing many stores and restaurant and a general French vibe. Out next stop was the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, a national monument of France opened in 1912 by the Tsar Nicholas II. We took the intercity rail nearby and I guided us towards the church. The church was very large and very grand with a distinct Russian style with unique domes on the roof. We didn’t have much to do there as we weren’t allowed in and in no time we were leaving the site. We walked back to the train station so we can catch a train to Villefranche.

After our short ride we arrived in the small coastal town of Villefranche. We first saw the town area which was almost deserted with few tourists and only a handful of stores. We wandered around lost until we became bored and went to the beach. In contrast the beach was really crowded with many tourists and beachgoers. We found a nice little restaurant to sit and eat while Dad went to swim. We had typical beach food and enjoyed the view and beach ambiance while also finding entertainment in people watching. We stayed here for a couple hours and soon it was time to go. We took the train back to Nice and headed to the hotel. However, Mom wanted to stop by a comic store in order to buy Tintin products notably a calendar, a mug and an expensive figurine of Tintin from the book the Blue Lotus. We finally made it back to the hotel and then were off again to the train station. We caught the train to the airport and checked into our cheap Easyjet flight. This was our replacement flight and we were underwhelmed by the unorganized first come first serve style of seating on the plane. The flight was quick and in no time we were in the legendary city of Paris.

It was late by the time we got there so we grabbed our luggage and instead of taking the metro to the hotel we were fancy and got an expensive taxi. The ride was long however, the driver was very nice and allowed Mom and Dad to practice their French. We picked up the key for our apartment rental and in no time we were resting in our temporary house (18 Rue de Tournefort, district 5) . The apartment was nice and had a very French vibe with a lot of foreign ornaments such as a Chinese table. We settled in and soon were ready to sleep.

September 1, 2011: Paris

We were ready for our first day of Paris and to start it off we had a homemade breakfast. Mom used the kitchen to make a nice French breakfast with groceries she bought locally. We had baguette and egg and in no time we were ready to go out. Our first stop was to explore the surrounding area. Luckily for us, the Panthéon was very close by. The Panthéon was once a church but is now a huge mausoleum for distinguished French citizens. The building was amazing with a very Greek style with pillars in the front; however we did not go inside. Our next stop was the University of Paris, there was a small sectioned off area we were allowed to see however it was only a small plaza. We continued on beginning a tour of the surrounding area. We passed by a church and a museum and the whole time we were met with a crowded city life with many tourists. We also stopped by another comic store and bought even more Tintin and Asterix and Obelix figurines. Ultimately, our tour ended up at the magnificent Notre Dame de Paris, the famous cathedral from the book The Hunchback of Notre Dame. We remembered the amazing building from years ago and took our renewed pictures. Outside the Notre Dame there were so many tourists and interesting enough birds being used as a tourist attraction in which they would go on the hands of people with seeds (gross).

We toured the inside seeing the typical gothic style of medieval France. After circulating the interior, Alex and I left Mom and Dad to climb to the top. We bought our tickets and started our long climb to the top of the glorious building. It was a long climb up a spiral tower and we were met with was a high rise balcony with many creepy gargoyles. We walked around the balcony seeing the tremendous panoramic view of Paris. Alex and I were squished at the top and were anxious to return to the bottom. We met with Mom and Dad and were hungry for lunch. We found another crepe place right next to the Notre Dame and had some more delicious crepe. Following our visit of Notre Dame, we continued our walking tour and moved to another area.

We kept walking until we reached Saint Chapelle, a historic chapel built in 1248 by King Louis IX to house his so called Crown of Thorns (worn by Jesus). The crown was no longer there; however the chapel itself was extremely fascinating. The whole chapel walls were covered with stain glass art of the bible and it reached the top of the tall ceiling. It was a wonder and we spent a good amount of time in awe. After seeing the chapel, we passed by the Supreme Court on the way to Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in Paris crossing the river Seine. We hanged around this area taking in the French ambiance watching the people and observing the vendors. We also watched the river Seine as boats passed under the historic bridge.

We were tired of exploring by this point and were ready for our dinner. Instead of the usual French food, we instead went for pho. We took the metro to Chinatown in order to go to a famous Parisian pho restaurant. Chinatown was not very crowded as it was still somewhat early and the only crowded restaurant was the pho one we went to. The pho was fairly good and satisfied our need for Asian food. We were stuffed and exhausted after our meal and were ready to go home. We took the metro back to the area and returned to our homey apartment ready to relax and rest for our next day in this amazing city.

September 2, 2011: Paris

It was another day in the grand city and Mom made us another delicious homemade breakfast. After filling our tummies, we were off again this time to explore the Montmartre area, a district centered on the hill and known for its nightclubs. We took the Metro over to the area and started our walking tour. The whole area was on a slant and had many buildings with an old European style. Alex and Mom shopped a bit buying many things on impulse such as bags and clothes. Montmartre is also known for the artistic community. Famous artists such as Van Gogh and Picasso made residence here. The community is still strong and there was a plaza with many painters, some selling and some painting on the spot (Mom bought a unnecessarily expensive painting). A famous church and landmark of Montmartre was Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, a giant Catholic church built in 1919, it is a grand all white building with large domes on the roof. It was very crowded with a lot of vendors and we squeezed ourselves through the interior of the church. It was similar to other churches we have seen and in no time we were on our way.

We kept walking the tour seeing small attractions such as windmills and historic houses. At one point we stopped for ice cream until we were ready to go to the main street. We walked downhill until we reached the street in which the famous cabaret, the Moulin Rouge still stands. The club is the most well known cabaret in the world and it is also the origin of the dance, the “can-can.” We took our pictures and continued down the street. The street was notorious as a place for ‘entertainment’ as the whole street was lined with sex shops. We awkwardly went past the area back into the metro. We took the metro to see the biggest department store in Paris, Le Bon Marche. It was not very interesting and also overpriced as we walked around both the groceries and the department sections. We wasted no time and were off again, this time to return home. We returned to our area and stopped for lunch/dinner. It was typical French cuisine and Alex had delicious clams cooked in wine. Following our meal, we returned to our apartment after our long day.

We rested and napped for a couple hours until we were ready to go back out to see the Eiffel Tower. We once again took the metro this time to a viewpoint of the tower and its lightshow. The world known monument is the regret we have had since our last trip as we did not even take a picture of it the whole time we visited. Now was our chance and we were amazed when we reached the viewpoint. The whole plaza was packed and there was nice music played by local performers. When the next hour was reached the tower lit up and flashed for a few minutes. It was a sight to behold and Mom and Dad were really impressed and amazed that they were in such a romantic city. When the show was over, we walked down from the viewpoint wondering what to do. We decided the night was still young, so I guided us to the Arch de Triumph, a famous monument erected by Napoleon to commemorate his success. We found a road that led directly to the arch and after much complaining from the parents, we finally made it to the glorious monument. All the main roads centre itself at the road-about on the arch marking it as an intersection of all directions. By this time, Mom and Dad were exhausted and after much insistence we took the metro back home. We returned to our welcoming apartment to rest for another exciting day.

September 3, 2011 Paris

Our day was dedicated to the Eiffel tower. We ate our normal breakfast and were ready to explore the legendary structure to its fullest today. We took the same metro line we did yesterday and in no time we were back at the view point. It was considerably less crowded at the viewpoint and we started taking our plethora of pictures. We started from the angle of the view point but after realizing the shadow problems, we positioned ourselves to the other side, walking through the base of the tower to another area. There we took even more pictures with the help of a couple (we took their pictures too for them). We were finally satisfied with our pictures and got in line for our ride up. The line up was huge and inefficient as we were shuffled through countless people to take an infrequent pair of elevators. When we finally got up we were impressed. The tower gave us a beautiful panoramic view of the city however the whole view area was packed. We made our circulation around the tower seeing the expanding city and the river Seine. We passed by the gift shop and in no time we were on our way back down.

At this point we were done with the Eiffel tower, so our next stop was back to the main area around the River Seine. We took an old metro line back to the Seine and we walked towards Pont Neuf. We wanted to catch a boat tour along the river so we headed to the dock. On the way we stopped for lunch on a quaint cafe overlooking the crowded streets. Following our quick meal we went to our boat tour. The tour was under the hot sun and lasted about an hour. It took us around the major attractions of Paris, going under famous and ancient bridge and giving us informative background. The ride was very relaxing and the sun combined with the gentle breeze put me to sleep. The boat tour as a whole was well worth it and gave us a nice river side perspective of the city. After the boat ride it was approaching evening, so we headed back home.

Dad has an old family friend named Cuc that he knew back in Vietnam. She lives in Paris now so we decided to go visit her like we did the last time we went to Paris. We took the Metro far past the city to a darkly lit suburban area. The area seemed really scary, with near deserted streets and the occasional people walking by. We were relieved when we finally made it to her apartment and we were greeted with open arms. She was a very kind woman excitedly talking to us and insisted on giving us some food to take home. After they caught up we were ready to leave again. We quickly returned to the Metro and after a little transit we were back at our neighbourhood. We stopped by a crepe store in order to buy some meat crepes and when we got home we had a lot of food to eat. We had a mix of Cuc’s food and crepe and by the time we went to bed we were stuffed.

September 4, 2011 : Paris

Unfortunately, it was our last day exploring Paris and to top it off we were ready to tour through museums. We had our usual local breakfast prepared by our French chef (Mom). Our first stop of the day was the Place de la Concorde a major public square in the center of Paris. It is a very historic site, once made to honour King Louis XV, it was then turned into the Place de la Revolution during the French Revolution. The square was notable for being the execution ground of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette by method of guillotine. Nowadays, there is no guillotine, but an obelisk in the centre of the square, originally located in front of Luxor Temple in Egypt. We took the metro to the square, but once we got there Alex realized how cold she was so her and I went back to retrieve everybody’s sweater (Dad was too proud to admit he needed his). During this time Mom and Dad saw the Tuileries Garden next to the square. When we finally returned we continued on our tour. We walked a minor distance through the city to Musée Rodin, a museum erected in honour of sculptor August Rodin, famous for such sculptures as the Thinker.

Admission was free today for some reason and we were ready to explore the grounds. However, it was raining today hindering our process (the Thinker was outside). When the rain settled, we went outside and were met with the historic Thinker statue. We took our usual pictures and walked around the garden. The whole site was beautiful as it had a grand garden with many sculptures lining the ground. After wandering about, we left the museum to head to the Musée D’Orsay, another famous museum in Paris overlooking the Seine. We headed towards the river and on the way stopped for lunch. We had another typical French meal and some hot chocolate and were re-energized. We didn’t feel like going into the D’Orsay so we skipped it in favour of the Louvre, the legendary museum containing countless paintings and works of arts including the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. We walked to the museum site and were greeted with a familiar sight that we saw years ago, a glass pyramid surrounded by a historic building. We were excited to go in, but we were met with disappointment as the museum was going to close with an hour, so in the end we decided not to go. We still toured the shopping mall in the Louvre and were soon off again.

This time, we were heading back to the hotel. Instead of taking the metro we took a long trek through the city back home. On the way back, we stopped by the famous and well remembered Luxembourg Gardens, a huge public park. We took a seat in the middle of the park, taking in the gardens, fountains and palace. We enjoyed the ambiance for a while until it started to get cloudy. We finished our trek home and relaxed in our room until dinner time. To finish off our time in Paris, we wanted to eat a really fancy meal, so we ate at a classy restaurant near our apartment. The food was absolutely delicious (for the price it had to be) and was the top of the French cuisine we’ve had on the trip. Following our fancy meal, we had dessert outside and were disappointed that our last food was so bad (no saving qualities in the dessert). We finished our itinerary for the trip and were finally ready to go home. We packed up and rested up for our long flight home the next day.

September 5, 2011 : Paris, Toronto

It was finally time to go home and our flight was nice and early. We woke up early and in no time we were off to the metro. We had to drag our luggage with us and it was a pain to carry them through the metro station. Soon we were on our way to Charles de Gaulle Airport for our flight home. We checked into our Sunwing flight and saw many of our fellow Canadians that seemed ready to go home as well. Mom got us some baguette sandwiches for breakfast and afterwards we boarded. It was a long flight with no personal TV but it went by fast. After our long, but amazing trip, it was great to return to Canada. We took our usual limo home and were pleased to see our home waiting for us.

Conclusion

It has been a couple of years since our last Europe trip and our glorious return was amazing. Our first time in Paris, was not so thorough, we didn’t even take a picture of the Eiffel Tower! It was a blessing that we were able to return to see not only Paris, but so many parts of France. We saw the hustle and bustle of busy Paris, but also the subtle beauty in the countryside and coastal regions of France in Avignon and Nice. I am truly grateful that we had the opportunity to go back to this amazing country and I hope in the future we continue to explore different countries of Europe in order to see what other rich culture and history exist besides Paris.