Paris ~ Winter Feb 2014

This was actually my first trip to France in Winter. The first time Nico took me back was summer, 2nd time was spring and now i have to experience winter. Its actually unplanned trip since Nico got to go back to Paris to sign some paper. It was also the first time we took direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Paris. 

Honestly, i was freaking out and hoping i wont die from the cold. I don't have any appropriate clothes for winter and we had to do some shopping before we leave. I was lucky i have an old coat from my time in Dubai before continue shopping in France for better winter jacket. 

We arrived in Paris around 6am and it was freezing. We went directly to Montparnasse station which took an hour from CDG airport to store our luggage. Nico got to go to the main office to sign his paper work and i was left alone on my own device. 

So, equipped with my phrase book, a little confident and a help on direction from Nico, i went to Rodin Museum. Well, as previously written on my other entry, i love sculpture and this is the chance for me to see Rodin work since Nico doesn't like any form of art. Unfortunately, The permanent exhibition area was under renovation and this give me an excuses to drag Nico next time to see the rest. I only manage to see "The Thinker", which is outside at the garden together with the rest of Rodin famous work. Their temporary exhibition also open but was full with art student and tour group. Nevertheless, i still enjoying my time walking under the rain in the garden :)

 (I wasnt supposed to take this picture, i didnt know)

 (The Thinker outside in the garden)

 (I like the fact that he mark his work)

(Opsss, forgot the name)

Last day in Paris, we just have a walk around together with Nico friends. Owh, we went to Notre-Dame Cathedral and manage to go inside the church since the queue wasn't as long as in summer. We walk along river Seine and since its late afternoon and sunset is early in winter, i ask my husband to go to see Eiffel Tower, again :)

When we reach Eiffel Tower, it was already dark and there's a lot of people. I thought it will be less people and we can finally go up on the famous tower. Since we didn't do any booking online, we tried to catch the lift because i thought there's no way i'm going to climb those stairs. So we get in line like other people until the wind start to blow and threaten to flew us all. But, we still stand strong and nothing can change our mind.

10 mins later, we still queuing and light rain start to pour. So imagine yourself in winter, wind blowing and standing under the rain. I was freezing cold and give up to the idea of going up on the Eiffel Tower altogether. Nico said we can always take stairs since we might not going to get the chance again. So, what the hell, we went up and i kind of regret my choice,  its was a looooooooooooooooooooooong way to reach the top. By the time we reach the first level, i was out of breath. 

The view to me is nothing special since you cannot see Eiffel tower :) and that one time experienced was enough. I rather enjoy seeing Eiffel tower from the park while seeping hot cocoa. 

(view from top)

 (Even if the give free entrance by staircases, i don't know if i will do it again huhuhu)

Our Official Pre-Wedding Picture

We plan to DIY our pre-wedding picture since we going for vacation in France and Italy. Photographer in Europe are very expensive and the cheapest we can get is around RM400 or EU100 for an hour. My friend suggest that we take a look at Groupon France, in case we might find something cheap since Groupon Malaysia wasn't so bad. We also plan to print out this pre-wedding picture as a display at reception area later. I bought cheap voucher from Groupon malaysia before for 12 pieces of poster picture. 

So i have a look and alhamdulillah i found one photographer. Nico immediately check with him on a available date, price and location. The price was EU40 per pax so we paid EU80 to him to have 2 hours outdoor shoot. For studio shooting the price including costumes and make up but for outdoor he wont provide anything. Since we already in Paris, there's no point to do it in the studio since we also can do it here in KL.

We told him that we are ok to bring our own costumes and i can do my own make up since i so want to do it in Paris. We are allowed to choose 2 location and we decided to choose Eiffel Tower and Louvre. Initially, we booked him on 7th of May but then he couldn't make it so we have to change it to 30th April before our road trip to Italy.

It was one cold and windy spring afternoon. The weather wasn't so good and i was so scared that its going to be raining knowing unpredictable weather in France. We start at Eiffel Tower and we try to showed our differences in our picture by wearing clothes that really represent our country. So i dress up in my bright orange kebaya while nico in strips shirt and a hat. I should have ask him to hold baguette isnt it? :)

Our photographer is a french man who just move to Paris from south. Unfortunately he is more experienced with portrait photography and pre-wedding picture is still something new to him. Its really frustrating since we didn't know how to pose and he didn't advise neither.

I wasn't so happy with the result but there's nothing we can do. At least its still in Paris and not everybody get this opportunity. Well, better luck next time. So this is few of our pre-wedding picture and unedited.

France 2012 - Part 1

U know what, dreams do come true. I always want to go to Paris to see Eiffel Tower and i  get the opportunity last august when we went to France for Nico's mom birthday party. My dream was to see Eiffel Tower but i end up seeing so much more than that. 

This trip was initially plan to surprise Patricia (Nico's mom) since it was her 50th birthday celebration and Nico want to go home after one year living in Malaysia. So the plan was to stay a week in Brittany (Nico's hometown), 3 days in Paris and the remaining days will be use to sightseeing around. 

I didn't packed anything warm for me since it's summer. Well, it shouldn't be cold isn't it. I arrived in Paris on  2nd august evening after 15 hours long flight. Flew with Qatar Airways since its the cheapest fare when we booked it and i love it. They keep on serving food the entire flight from KL-Doha-Paris and by the time i reach Paris i was so full. 

At Paris airport everything went smooth except they asked me if i have money and wanted me to show them. For what reason, i didn't know. I was supposed to flew with Nico but he have to go back to Paris first for a training. Honestly, i was a bit worried since its my 1st trip to europe, they didn't speak english and my boyfriend not with me. But well yeah, i survived. 

We stay at colleague place at Rue St. Maur, really appreciated him for letting us staying there or else we have to spend money for hotel. His apartment at 2nd floor and no lift around. So Nico have to carry my heavy bag upstairs. I really love his place cos its perfect for single guy or couple. 

So, my 1st night in Paris, what should i do? I was extremely tired and jet lagged. I didn't sleep at all in the flight because too excited. Nico make dinner and i decide what to do while taking shower. So finally, we off to see Eiffel Tower. Its my dream after all to see it. I put on my long dress and hell ya, its cold outside. 

Thank god i have my tourist guide with me cos i am 200% confused with their subway line and zoning. We definitely change stations once or twice to get there. If im not mistaken, we took around 20min by subway to get there.

There's a few thing that i don't like with Paris subway. No escalator at the station (unless big station and imagine you have to carry your luggage up and down the staircase), their subway was old, noisy, fast and scary. Its good when its fast but with all the noise from its track its really scary.

Nico took me to Trocadero station. When we walked out of the station i still didn't see any Eiffel Tower. He said its around the corner and its funny cos i was holding my breath., so excited and nervous. Then nico asked me "are you ready?" and when we turned to our left i can see Eiffel Tower stood so proud and look so glorious. Its feel like christmas in summer. The view was breathtakingly beautiful and everybody gone wild when they turn on the sparkle light on the tower. For me night view is so much better than day view but it still good either way. You'll feel wow from the architecture and how big the structure is. 

There's a lot of tourist of cos and everybody fight for a good spot. You can buy pirated Eiffel Tower key chain here. Just look for a black guy and you need to bargain hard here so you can get 4 or 5 nos key chain for 1 euro. 

I will never forget my 1st night in Paris as i looked at my boyfriend and said thank you. The feeling was so overwhelming and i can believe that my dreams come true. You have to see it to believe it.