Paris 3

God: Sim Jun Yi, the lazy guy who went to Paris, promised to blog a trilogy but only completed two...
Me: I...I...I did the youtube clip. That was considered the third sequel.
God: Lazy and yet lots of excuses. You will be punished for owing your readers!
Me: Please...merciful God...I will do it very soon!
God: You better be, or else I'll befall upon you endless troubles this semester, and you will pay equally for what you owe.
Me: I'll do it right away sweet lord!
God: Go! And don't write anymore rubbish such as the useless Trivial Nothings!

La Defense is the modern commercial district of Paris, located approximately 10 minutes away by train, it houses chic and savvy companies hiring suit-wearing and robe-droning workforces

Quite literally a city within itself, filled with offices and food outlets in every nook and corner

Then comes the Marais, the second oldest district of Paris with its distinctive medieval architecture and students still in their salad-and-sandwich days

The Luxembourg district is for the average middle class Parisians - nice little parks surrounded by busy cafes and city council offices

La Grand Palace houses Musee de Beaux Arts or Beautiful Arts Museum, senseless isn't it?

The Invalides plays a major role in propagating the French Revolution - a huge amount of arms were stolen from here during the start of the revolution

Commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte, it was a house for retired soldiers. Now a battle and warfare museum.

The origin of the can-can dance - La Moulin Rouge! Located at the gate of Montmartre, it is a fantasy for both to-be artists living here as well as tourists seeking...sexual gratification

Sorbonne, or the University of Paris. Only one of the many colleges in the district, the Sorbonne has alumni ranging from French patriot Hugo to Chinese premiere Chou Enlai - an interesting note: the International Olympics Committee was born in the rooms of this university

Pantheon - remembering the great and the good

...such as St-Exupery, writer of Le Petit Prince (The Little Price), who also happens to be one of the premiere French pilots during WWII

French patriotism - The National Convention urges its people: live free or die

Mr. and Mrs. Curie contributed to modern physics and radiology. How many people got two elements - polonium and radium - and a scientific unit - Curie - named after them? Both happen to be professors at the Sorbonne, too

Needless to say Victor Hugo is present as well, contributing to French nationalism through his writings as well as his policies which changed France later in his life

Musee d'Orsay, originally a train station, houses impressionist art from Monet to Van Gogh. A very appealing museum to visit should you wish to escape from the other art forms

The Thinker by Rodin - at Musee Rodin would be my last stop in France before heading home the following morning

As mentioned in my film, and as precisely described by Hemingway, Paris is a moving gastronomical feast. You have the history flowing by just next to you - Napoleon marching with his soldiers under the Triumphal Arch; Curie discovering radiologic particles late in the night at the Sorbonne; the French revolutionaries storming the Bastille and Invalides...
The blood, sweat, tears and cries of joy that echoes through Paris' 2000 years of history is simply too intense for the travellor to sample in a brief 5 days' time.
And we still have not got to the French lifestyle - following a madame to the morning market for the day's freshest produce, purchasing a baguette on the way home; cheese, wine, music, cuisine, joie de vivre...
It's been 5 weeks since I left France. The spirit of fighting for freedom and enjoying the littlest joys of life still lingers within me. For me the French taught me 'liberty' to its fullest, and that life is not always about scores and efficiency.
Merci beaucoup!

Summer of 2008

Have just recently completed editing the video clips of my France trip. The editing part was easy because MovieMaker is quite easy to use for an amateur like me. The uploading part was painstakingly risky because of the titanic streamyx.
So I chose to upload them from a McDonald's outlet with free WiFi. Kudos to McD and all the cool stuff they come up with - including the idea that dining there is healthy, which isn't because they still have a whole array of deep-fried food.
So, here's my clip featuring Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille, St-Emilion and Paris. I fell for Celine Dion's 'Taking Chances' and the French national anthem 'La Marseillaise'. I bet on my reader's knowledge to know the reasons behind without having to explain word by word.

So with this entry I shall close my France 2008 adventures - guess that 'Paris 3' is not needed anymore since I'll have htis clip to rewind a thousand times when I'm 80 and looking back at my life.
For separate clips on Bordeaux and Paris, it's just another click away in my YouTube account.

Paris 2

I would let the pictures do all the talking this time, shall I?

The Paris Notre Dame - Quasimodo stayed here with many church bells and gargoyles in Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris

Side door of the cathedral featuring its magnificent stained glass windows

The Eiffel tower was criticized as a 'metal asparagus' when it was built in 1899 for the World Fair. Today it was a symbol of Paris and France, just like the pyramids with Egypt and great wall with China
The tower from Place de Trocadero

As France holds the presidency for the EU this year, the tower was decorated in the EU colors and twelve stars to celebrate the event

I went to Versailles on Sunday - the heat, the crowd of tourists and the queues didn't really leave a good impression

Hall of Mirrors - royal dinners were held here; the King of France walk through here every day; the revolutionaries stormed through here in 1789 in search of the monarch and revenge

Hall of Triumph in the castle commemorating every victory of France since the 8th century

The castle, being the residency of the King of France, is elaborately decorated, the ceilings included

And of course the gardens, typically French
The garden is HUGE, and of course, filled with tourists. A dozen fountains of every design is built amidst the bushes and paths

Later in the evening, take a stroll along the Seine to see how Parisians spend their Sundays

Aside dining on a boat docked along the river, groups of students also picnic along the banks (not in picture)...
Sailors spending a short time on land singing the evening away on the Pont d'Art (Art Bridge)

Getting away from the journalistic flair once in a while and being the tourist - sorry for the shorts, it was very warm that Sunday
We tried to promote the Free Hugs movement in our school once upon a time, but without good looking people and a spontaneous crowd it's doomed to fail. Now, I wonder if it'll have a different fate if it was me being the hug guy in TCU?

Going home on the Parisian metro

Happy Monday guys! Last sequel of Paris soon!

Paris 1

The 'M' as in TM (Telekom Malaysia) would pose less of a national disgrace if it was an abbreviation for 'Malawi' or 'Madagascar'. Heck, we might not know even if these countries have better broadband connections than Malaysia - since I was back Streamyx had been torturing me with its unstable connection. Right now I'm struggling to upload just a few humble pictures for my faithful readers and they keep capsizing in the midst of the process. Good job TM!
Anyway, back to my promise, here's Paris in pictures (if the pictures really got through).

Stayed at the Jules Ferry Youth Hostel during my 5 days in the city of light - fundamental place with happy people and cool facilities

The hostel is located in Republique - a relatively poor area of Paris with quite a number of immigrants

The Louvre offers free entrance to under-26s on Friday evenings. That explains the huge crowd of youngsters in the plaza. The glass pyramid was designed by American Chinese architect I.M. Pei

Under the glass pyramids - ticket booth and atrium of the world's largest museum

Halls of the Louvre - the museum spans 2000 years of French history, starting out as a fortress, it was then transformed into a palace and then an exhibition hall of Louis XVI after being refurbished into a museum by Napoleon

The craze with Lisa. The painting is actually quite small, probably not bigger than a 29-inch TV screen - yet adorned by millions and worthing more than the world

It would take you 9 months if you were to scrutinize every piece of art in the Louvre, making it one of the most avoided places by Parisians - the sheer crowd and the feeling of disappointment because you just can't help but skip through works of art on display

Jardin Tuileries on a crisp Saturday morning

Something supposed to be famous, but I just can't recall the name, located in front of the garden facing the Arc de Triomphe

Somebody enjoying the weekend in the garden

Champs-Elysees runs directly from the garden to Arc de Triomphe, packed by embassies, designers boutiques and airline offices along the way

Nike Paris with Run of the Human Race poster - looks gorgeous isn't it?

'You will return beneath triumphal arches,' Napoleon Bonaparte promised his soldiers on one of his battles. 30 years later this was commissioned, and with every French victory and world war something was added. An eternal flame burning for the memories of all unidentified soldiers for the two world wars was lighted since 1920. The body of The Unknown Soldier was buried in 1921 with an engraving 'here lies a French soldier who died for his fatherland 1914 - 1918'. Lots of history happened here, including Germany marching into France, the French and Allies victory in WWII, President Kennedy paying respect and French General Charles de Gaulle attempted assassination

Lost but not forgotten - names of sacrificed soldiers engraved

View of La Defense during sunset from top of Arc de Triomphe

Center Pompidou houses modern art from all over the globe - the museum was established by French President Pompidou in his effort to promote Paris as an art and culture capitol of Europe

Most artists of modern art and their works can be found here - Pollock is one of my favorites

A Slovak photographer commenting on photography

Balcony exhibition hall of Pompidou promises breathtaking views of Paris

Banks of River Seine is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site - so many things happened here, fiction as well as historical. Remy running away from the young chef Linguini in Ratatouille is one of many

Stay tuned for more, and happy weekend folks!