A shy little town called Tours

An hour away from Paris is Tours, a quaint little town where many came to visit the beautiful castles or the famous wineries in Loire Valley. We did neither.

The true French experience is what we were here for – the relaxing pace paired with the French speaking community. We loved every single bit of this shy little town – from its hospitality to just being here. Though the rain fogged up our photos a little, it dramatized the old charm of the town and made the stained glass of the church exceptionally stunning.

 

We put up at a lovely little place next to the station and Maria from Val De Loire took really good care of us during our stay. She made sure we didn’t get caught in the rain, showed us where to get good food and most importantly, directed us where to get medicine when Dale was down with food poisoning. Our cozy little room was great for winding down after a long walk in the rain.

I definitely can’t forget the yummy good birthday dinner at Restaurant L’Odeon – one of the best in town. Another nice little surprise was the lady boss is a fellow Singaporean who married a really good French chef. We were really lucky to have met familiar and friendly faces in a foreign place. The birthday flowers added a nice touch to the place too.

And we headed 3 hours southwest, for Bordeaux.

33KM around Paris

Time past so fast when you are enjoying, it’s been what? 6 weeks? As I unpack all the memories of a fantastic trip – I could still hear raindrops, feel the cold air, remembering the unusual conversation with the guy at the café about a hip 70’s French artiste and the nice little surprises along the way.

We knew it was gonna be a good trip the moment we got onto the cab. The nice taxi driver was playing classical music instead of the radio, befitting to the place and weather. I think appropriate music should be played everywhere, lifting moods around and add touches to a beautiful trip like those on TV.

The streets (and gardens) of Paris are undeniably romantic, especially in the rain, hand in hand holding an umbrella as we walked down stormy Champs Elysees. We called it ‘Street of Rain’, as every time we walk through, it rained.

Despite hearing unpleasant encounters from friends, we find the French folks really nice. Everyone we met were really sweet and helpful. Some found us rather amusing as we attempted to read out from the French language book. Some even helped us with the correct pronunciation – “la-di-sion-sil-vu-play”. A nice lady told us that if they see us trying, they will usually help us. No try, no help. Other nice people in the shops told us to be careful with our belongings.

Paris is very walkable as we found out. So, we walked everywhere, at least 33KM in 5 days. It’s a great way to enjoy the sight and sound… and rain. We joined a Discover Walks Tour to Montmartre and took pictures of some of the most stunning views of Paris. Our guide brought us through a little bit of history of the seemingly quiet cobblestoned area where many great artists once lived. It was fun and enriching, highly recommend the tour.

And because the tour was pretty good, we decided to go for another one to Le Marais. As we walked along, we bumped into friends who were also on their honeymoon! What are the chances of meeting friends in Paris? Not much, so, we enjoyed the day together. Off to Notre Dame before heading off to squeeze in a big restaurant serving really good Jewish food. I gotta thank Paul for this awesome recommendation. Thanks Paul! L’As Du Fafallel is THE most crowded restaurant along the street. If you are visiting, you have to eat there.

Le Marais is an interesting place well known for fashion, gays and the Jewish community. The streets are lined with quaint boutiques, secret gardens, Spanish influenced architecture. I like it here as it has its own mishmash charm and yummy Fafallel.

The most tiring day is when we walk to St Germain, had lunch at an Alice in Wonderland inspired cafe, then to the Invalides, on to Eiffel Tower, finally back to Champs Elysees to buy my mom’s bag then back to the hotel. Exhausting! As we missed Asian food, we had a hearty meal at a Japanese restaurant, it felt good having chilli! Before the night ends, I bumped into my colleagues and CEO at our hotel. Again, what are the chances?

After 5 nights of walking, we headed south – to Tours and Bordeaux we go!

Its finally time

We have waited for a long time and 3 weeks of fun, here we come.

Badly need a haircut

I can’t wait for one.

I’ve been drawing

There are so many people who can draw amazingly well and its really therapeutic just browsing through their online galleries and blogs. After all the ogling, I wish I could draw like them. I just need a lot a lot a lot of practice. It is funny how you can try and copy their styles but you’ll end up with your own somehow. It’s a good thing, because you can say “I drew that!”.

I would like to share two of my favorites – Florent Chavouet and Julia Rothman.

Florent Chavouet is behind the beautiful illustrated Japan Guide book – Tokyo Sanpo. The moment I saw the cover, I went “How can anyone draw so well??!”.  And I bought it. Not because I’m going to Japan but to gawk at every page. He has a blog in French and a website with a gallery of his works.

Julia Rothman does a lot of illustrations and turns them in useful wares like cards, bottles, and temporary tattoos! She’s really good at putting together daily items into cute pattern designs ranging from cutleries to cassette tapes. I thought I really want to draw as well as her when I first saw her editorial feature on Design Sponge. Check out her work on her website.

Inspired, I started drawing again. Almost done.

All set for a wonderful trip!

We finally have all the necessary stuff sorted for a 3-week break in France and Switzerland next month. And I can’t wait! If anyone has any recommendations of things I absolutely have to do, eat or see, please let me know. Otherwise we will take it nice and slow, quite like the retiree kind. It’s a holiday afterall!

Absolutely loving it!

I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t. NUTELLA -it’s truly one of the greatest inventions ever!I can’t thank Mr. Pietro Ferrero enough for bringing this yummy hazelnut with cocoa spread to the world. And also the clever people who thought of ways to make all sorts of mouth-watering goodies with it. Just type ‘Nutella’ on Pinterest and every possible recipe with the goodness of the cocoa hazelnut pops out.

One of my favorite desserts has got to be the Nutella Cake from Gastronomia da Paulo. Heat it up and watch the oozing chocolate drown the warm chocolate cake, then attack it with your spoon. Oooooh! I might just get a tub of it later. If you would like to get into the Nutella mood, click here to view the boards on Pinterest. Start salivating!

The other Genius

I managed to gawk at his work before the exhibition ended in Singapore. It’s more awesome than awesome!

He may be eccentric, but his work oozes confidence, cheekiness and raw fun. Other than the Marilyn Monroe series, I absolutely love the one of Sidney Janis. It’s so intense I could sit there all day staring at it. Love it!

A portrait of me – Warhol inspired.

Land of Blue Poppy

Way before i went to Bhutan, I read this book about a Parisian psychiatrist, Hector, who’s tired of those people coming to him with no real problems but their own unmet expectations. I followed him in his journey around the world in search for the answer to happiness. He met different people along the way, a young hostess in China, a fellow psychiatrist in Africa, a monk in China (or is it Hong Kong?), a quirky professor in the US calculating happiness and some others. Interaction with these people opened his eyes to things we usually take for granted. There were a total of 23 lessons learnt and my favorites are:

Lesson #20          Happiness is a certain way of seeing things.

Lesson #15          Happiness comes when you feel truly alive.

Lesson #8a          Happiness is being with the people you love.

And I’d also like to add on two more to his list:

Lesson #24          Happiness is taking pleasure in the simple things in life.

Lesson #25          You are only as happy as you want to be.

But what better way to find out about happiness than to visit the land of Happiness? Incidentally, I got the chance to visit the happiest place on the planet – Bhutan. I never dreamt of stepping into the exotic land of happiness until work gave me a chance to. It was a fun media FAM trip not only because of the beautiful place but also the group of people who gel-ed so well together.

The experience was SUPER cool and unforgettable! There’s just too much to tell. From histories of Dzongs and its religion, to dancing in a basement club, trekking 8km to the Tiger’s Nest and threading through padi fields, nope, can’t forget all those.

Many asked if the people are truly happy. You can’t deny that they are – leading simple lives, breathing in fresher than fresh air, ending every sentence with “Don’t worry”, and the dash-dot-dash humour, even I felt really happy. Of course they do have their fair share of desires like owning iPhones, but with TV channels like AXN & Discovery, it’s no wonder that they do.

Mountains and clouds welcome you as we land and disembark.

There are friendly people all around, take all the photos you want with them, they love it. Even the babies! Their training to be friendly and happy starts really young.

Buddhism is a major part of their lives with histories dating back to many many centuries ago. They took care to restore the Dzongs – fortresses that protected the cities. I love their choice in colours, its so rich, it gives life to all the stories painted in the temples. And one of the most famous one we trekked to is Taktsang – Tiger’s Nest. After which, a cute little calf decided to taste my camera.

Some of the other town sights are really interesting. From the Cinema that screens only one movie at any one time to the meat store filled with so much meat that one would think they have an underground farm. I love the quaint and colourful hole-in-the-wall shops scattered all around, and got so tempted to dive into them. We even get to experience the local Drayang where locals pay to have young girls dance or sing (in their traditional costumes) on a stage with neon lights. The funniest thing is that you can have five girls dancing five different dances on stage. Nope, no coordination.

We have the privilege to relax each night at some of the most luxurious properties. My favourite (and the most expensive) being the Amankora properties in Thimphu and Punakha. I like them because i have never experienced so much tranquil in a resort before, never had to cross a bridge over raging waters and take a 5 min buggy ride to get to the lobby, never woken up to see the lovely padi fields out of my windows, and never ever had no TV in the room to disturb me. Oh, and no mosquitoes. I enjoyed every single bit of my stay and really loved the shy property dog, Funky. I just wished i had more time to enjoy the resorts thoroughly.

I would like to go back some day.

Once in a lifetime, i’m…

The truly happy ones.