Rochefort, France ~ Winter Feb 2014

Our trip to France this time was only 10 day and so we didn't have so much time to visit. We still excited and managed to make a plan and wanted to visit Bordeaux. Nico suggest that we stop at a few city including Rochefort and La Rochelle so our road trip is bearable and didn't feel so long in the car.  

So, we leave Brittany late afternoon and arrived in Rochefort around 8pm. Since its low seasons, we didn't have to booked our hotel earlier and still can go around to check for cheaper price. We stayed at the hotel right in front of the square and post office which i didnt remember the name. lol

Cities in France is really seems dead to me during winter. Of cos everybody prefer to stay in instead of being outside in the cold but when the sun shone, its seems wrong to stay in i guess. :) 

Unfortunately, again, most places closed for winter. We wanted to see The Rebuilding of Hermione (La Chantier de l'Hermione), French ship that was built in Rochefort in 1779 which sailed to North America during the United State war of independence. I don't know if she make it to the US or not since she supposed to sailed to Boston in 2011. I guess it will be nice to see real old ship re-built but we didnt get the chance. www. hermione.com for more info. 

Our next stop is Pierre Loti's House (Maison de Pierre Loti) which also closed GRrrrrrrr. Imagine my disappointment since i really, truly wanted to see this place. Pierre Loti's is a Naval officer, novelist and traveler and his house not only collected exotic collection from all over the world but also been decorated according to theme. Since Rochefort not far from Brittany i will ask Nico to re-visit, maybe advanced call to the museum will be good this time :)

The only place that open, THANK GOD, was Museum of The Old Shops (Musee des Commerces d'autrefois) yup, that's a museum. Sounds weird but its actually one of must visit museum in Rochefort. This place will simply bring you back to France in 1900's to see how French people used to do their shopping. 

We were the only visitor during our visit and i remembered that they close for lunch at 12pm and we got to rush visiting since it was 10.30am when we get there. 

(Hat shop)

(Kodak moment)

(Parisian News stand)

(Wine maker)

(Hair Salon)

(Your laundry back in 1900's) 

Toblerone already exist before i was born :o

(French bar back then)

(emmmm no high heels or is this only for the gentlemen?)

(grocery)

(old classroom french style)

It was fun morning for us, even though we are not allowed to take picture but obviously you can as long no flash. Shopping at the museum was also fun since you can get an item with an old design. Mostly item here cost around 4 euro. So i get some metal thingy and plate mat lol

(I don't even know who is this Suchard girl, but she is cute :)

(Plate Mat of Lu, and i definitely love LU Biscuits)

Belle-Ile-En-Mer, Brittany France ~ Winter Feb 2014

After Nico finished with his work in the office and i'm done with Rodin, we catch an afternoon train and went back to Brittany to his parents place. The day after, we went with Gildas and Patricia to Belle-Ile which is famous among the Parisians for holiday during summer. We left very early in the morning to catch the first ferry to the island which took around an hour to get there. 

Nico rent a car right at the city and we start our day with hot chocolate. Hot chocolate definitely tasted amazing in winter and i don't know how much cocoa i have consume during my short stay in France :) So, we get our car and went around the island. The good thing about travelling in winter is, there's no one around and you can have the place all to yourself. The bad things besides cold is, most places closed. 

 (arrived before sunrise)

(Gildas, Patricia, me and Nico)

The weather was ok in the morning, its cold but i still can survived. We stop at a lot of places and of cos to the famous La Pointe des Poulains. From car park we need to do some walking to the cliff and it was a refreshing walk. 

 (meeting before sight seeing)

La Pointe des Poulains is definitely beautiful. Its windy when we arrived there but there's no rain. So we managed to walk around the area despite the cold. 

 (Its beautiful here)

 (church...ehhh or was it light house?)

 (lil birdy in the cold)

 (refreshing walk2)

 (funny pose from my in-laws)

(i think this place look amazing in summer)

 We also went to see an old light house in belle-ile which if im not mistaken also served as a museum. Unfortunately, it was closed during winter and we can only see it from the outside.

(make a stop at the famous light house but it was closed)

(sheep at the light house)

On the way back to the city we stop around other places and also in search for food. We've been told when we took the rent car thats there's not so many restaurant open during this season and we have to go back to city center. Fortunately there's few restaurant open and only 2 place served a good food and we end up having Moules Mariniere which is my favorite food in France. 

(otw back to the city)

(not so many restaurant open during winter and thank god we found Moules Mariniere)

 (our ride back home) 

 When we leave the island it was almost sunset, i was so tired and cold and we have to take another 1 hour boat ride. The sea was rough and i almost throw up from seasick. To top that, when we arrived at the main land, it was raining pretty heavily and we run under the rain to get to the car. My husband make a joke by saying that i finally experienced Brittany famous rain. It was another couple of hours to get home and when i get inside, i immediately sit in front of fire place before moved to sofa and dozed off.

(I got so tired and sick when we reach home)

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)