Comparison of Accomodations
Posted by ScarlettMay 28th, 2009 | No CommentsToday we’ve moved on to Bruges (also spelt Brugge if you go by the Dutch version), a medieval city in the northwest region of Belgium. We’re staying at a hostel called Lybeer Travellers, and my main thought is “thank God we’re only here for two nights!” Apart from the fact that we’re in a dorm room with two other guys who don’t seem to understand the common courtesy of coming and going quietly when you’re staying in a dorm room, the hostel itself is in bad need of repair and the bathrooms are horrendous. I tried taking a shower and the water went from freezing cold to scorching hot every five minutes so I had keep waiting for that brief moment when the water would start changing temperatures to splash myself with a bit of normal temperature water! It was not a fun experience… (more…)
A Crazy Last Day In Paris
Posted by ScarlettMay 6th, 2009 | 1 Comment
What more could a girl ask for on her last day in Paris than a thrilling ambulance ride (well, it wasn’t actually an ambulance, but it was just like the ambulances we have in Canada, sirens blaring and all) with firemen to the hospital? While some of my girlfriends would love to be carried away by French firemen, I could have done without the ambulance ride, but it was definitely a unique experience! (more…)
All The Way To Beef Tartare!
Posted by ScarlettMay 5th, 2009 | 1 Comment
Starting today, our friend Armel, who is originally from Paris but now lives in Vancouver, was able to meet up with us for our last two days in Paris before going to his friend’s wedding in Croatia. We’ve been looking forward to these two days for a long time – it takes a stroke of luck to have your schedule coincidentally match up with your friends so that you travel to the same place without travelling together! (more…)
The Rest Of Our Sunday
Posted by ScarlettMay 3rd, 2009 | Comments Off 
When we finished with the Louvre, we decided to go check out the Orangerie Museum as well because it’s only a short 10 minute walk away. The line up here was 30 minutes, but that was because the Orangerie is small and they are careful about crowd control. (more…)
The Louvre For Free!
Posted by ScarlettMay 3rd, 2009 | No Comments
As most people know, the first Sunday of every month there is free admission to most museums in Paris. If you look this up this online, people will tell you to avoid the Louvre (the world’s most visited museum) like the plague on this Sunday because it”s usually the busiest day of the month, but for whatever reason we lucked out and there was no line-up at all when we went at 2 in the afternoon today! (more…)
A Day Of Art @ the Orsay
Posted by ScarlettMay 2nd, 2009 | 2 Comments
Today we went to our first art museum together on this trip (we’re both not really art lovers so we’ve been waiting for the larger, everybody-must-see museums), and although we still don’t appreciate or understand art as much as most people, we both felt the Orsay was a worthwhile experience that made us feel inclined to get more into art. We’re not saying we’ll go study it or learn about different artists or anything like that, but we might invest in buying a piece or two when we get home, instead of having bare walls like we’ve always had. The thing about art is it’s so subjective and we don’t know how to determine what a piece is or isn’t worth, but there’s a learning curve for everything and today was the first baby step. (more…)
Night Out In Paris
Posted by ScarlettMay 1st, 2009 | 1 Comment
After a frustrating day of dealing with crowds, we took a nap at our hotel then ventured out to do some more sightseeing since Paul was able to get away from work for a change (he’s normally tied up from four pm till midnight Paris time). We decided to find some dinner and then walk around till sunset so we could see the “city of lights” lit up – seeing the area by our hotel at night just doesn’t do it justice! (more…)
A Day of Line-Ups
Posted by ScarlettMay 1st, 2009 | No Comments
Since we’ve already been in Paris for three days and haven’t seen the Eiffel Tower at all, we decided to start our day by trying to climb up the first and second level. Try is the key word – apparently May 1 is Labor Day in Paris (and also a holiday in most of Europe) and everything is closed except for the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame so all the tourists go to these two sights! The line-ups for the lift at the Tower were over 2 hours long and even the line-up to climb the stairs (which is normally pretty short) was over an hour wait! (more…)
Château de Versailles
Posted by ScarlettApr 30th, 2009 | 1 Comment
Today we went to our most touristy (and most expensive!) attraction so far – the Palace of Versailles. We woke up early to catch the train (which takes an hour from where we are staying) because we had read that it gets busier as the day goes on. When we got the Palace at 10:30, there was already a line-up of over a hundred people at the entrance and another 80 or so at the ticket office! Fortunately we had read a very useful tip to skip the line-up for tickets by walking through the crowd at the doorway and going to the back of the ticket office where there are automated machines that most people don’t know about. The only catch is these machines only accept pin-chip credit cards and you can only buy the adult-priced full day pass, which gives entrance to the Palace, the grounds, the Trianon Palaces and Marie-Antoinette’s Estate for 20 euros (if you want to just visit the Palace it’s only 13.50 euros and there are student and senior discounts for all passes, but you have to purchase these tickets from a cashier). (more…)
Finally in Paris!
Posted by ScarlettApr 29th, 2009 | No Comments
At last, we’ve arrived in Paris! It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to come here, so we scheduled nine nights in Paris, which worked out well because it gave us time to chill and do some more trip planning (for our next segment, the UK) when we arrived yesterday, without having to worry about not having enough time to explore Paris. We’ve decided it’s a good idea to have an extra day in as many cities as possible so we can take a break from sightseeing without having to skip stuff, and our upcoming schedule has been modified accordingly (we’ve also noticed that from Barcelona till now, when we move from one city to another, the travel day is pretty a write-off because we’re too tired to do anything). I don’t know how some people can hop from city to city without any breaks in between – we get tired after three days of running around sightseeing! (more…)
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