The Winter Explorer, part 11

The last leg of our trip is a drive back to London.

It was a long trip but it's a bit interesting cause it was snowing in Calais when we got down to meet with immigration officials.

At this point of the trip, marami nang may sakit, and my Dad had a very bad cold with recurring slight fever. But because we wanted to see London--and because we paid so much for the London visa-- we dragged ourselves and braved the wet, cold London night to see some sights.


This is totally different from the rest of our trip cause we no longer had a tour guide. We took a local bus-yung double deck-- to The London Eye. But London is not as well illuminated as Paris, that's why the only famous building we can see from above is the House of Parliament.

Since we're so tired, wala na kaming pakialam. After the ride, we just got dinner and went back to the hotel to rest and pack.

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The next day... I woke up very early and walked the long halls of our hotel to pick up our breakfast. Nakakatakot nga kasi medyo luma yung hotel at naiimagine ko na bigla na lang may multong haharang sakin! Kumusta naman!

Pero deadma na. Hay... this is the final part. Uuwi na kami! Yehey!

Our flight going home was smooth sailing, no delays or anything. We really enjoyed the nice entertainment console of KLM and the abundant orange juice. I watched Philadelphia (ibang level si Tom Hanks), played Sudoku, Tetris and other games.

Whew... what a trip!

The Winter Explorer, part 10

Paris, at last!

It's the last leg of our tour. The long drives and super cold weather is taking it's toll on everyone. A lot of people are sick; and since we're inside an enclosed bus most of the day, it's easy to pass the virus or get it from anyone. Because of the ongoing drama of fever, coughs and cold, you almost wish for the tour to be done already. But Paris has a lot more to offer, and it's truly worthy of being the finale of this trip.

We arrived in Paris at around 4 pm, after a 500 kilometer drive from Lucerne. We had a very very short glimpse of the Eiffel tower, but it seems to want to hide from us until she is able to put her make-up on for the evening show.

At around 6pm, our group set out to see the City of Lights. Ang masasabi ko lang... wow talaga!

Now I know why so many people say that Paris is "the best city" or that "you can't help but fall in love in/with Paris", all that jazz! E kasi naman, ibang level talaga! The buildings, the streets, the lights, everything--they put on a show for you.

Sabi ni Sharon, there were four engineers who are considered the fathers of Paris. They made sure everything in the city is beautiful. They created ordinances for zoning, planted trees in perfect straight lines, and constructed the streets to form a beautiful intertwined design. The buildings are not just lit, they are lit to show their best assets! Sharon also described the mirror designs of arches of the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, etc. Bawal din daw magconstruct ng high rise buildings. And even the lights in certain streets have to be a uniform color. In short, talagang pinag-isipan at pinaganda.

Military Hospital

Champs Elysees

First stop, the Pantheon. This is where the remains of Leonardo da Vinci, Vitor Hugo, Jean Jacques Rousseau and other French personalities are housed. We had dinner at a small restaurant just a street down the Pantheon. While waiting in line, the bread delivery came in and we could smell the sweet aroma of freshly baked French bread.

For this dinner, the menu was much much more exciting. We were given the chance to choose from 4 appetizers, 4 entries and 6 desserts. Sosyal! I had french onion soup and prawns. My dad had "escargo" (naks!) or in our words, kohol. Super naweirdohan tuloy samin yung mga taga Australia. E di sabi namin, “We eat this all the time!” There were also frog legs ang duck liver pate available.

Escargo

Again, there were entertainers for our dinner. Super funny sila! Compared to the Italian operatic singers, these two were more relaxed. They smiled for the cameras, played funny music and really gave everyone a laugh. The atmosphere of the dinner was great because you finally got to know the people you're touring with. You can easily talk to them, dance with them, after all the small talk and pleasantries you had to endure during the first week of the trip. It was also Sharon's birthday, and of course, it's more reason to celebrate. By the end of the dinner, some people were drunk! Hahaha!

After dinner, we admired the lights of the Louvre Museum, the Military Hospital, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, and of course the Eiffel Tower.

Eiffel Tower

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The next day, we woke up early to go visit the Eiffel Tower. While waiting in line, the wind started blowing and our whole bodies and faces were frozen in no time. We were huddled so close to keep each other warm, tapos meron ba naman isang group na naniningit sa group namin--mga matatangkad na Russians na hindi nagi-English! Kaya di mo makausap na wag silang maningit.

Grabe itong moment na 'to! Nabwisit si Sharon sa local guide namin kasi hindi nya mi-nakesure na walang sisingit. Tapos medyo inaaway din ni Sharon ang mga naniningit. Pero sumingit pa rin sila. Some of us had to hold hands just to get in as one group.

So, heated na ang eksena... Ayan! After squeezing into the small door to get on the lifts, we were reunited with our group. Ang ginawa nung mga matatangkad na Australian and American guys (Boris, Stephen, Bud, Alex, etc), gumawa sila ng wall to separate our group from the Russian group. Tapos pinapasok muna nila lahat bago nila kinalas ang wall! E di natural nag-cheer kaming lahat, as in inasar namin ang Russian group, yeah! Tapos nung nakapasok na kaming lahat, meron ba naman sa kanila nagtry pumasok kahit masikip na nga! Tinulak sila palabas ng mga tall guys namin! Nagkasigawan pa, muntik magsapakan! Moment talaga kung moment! Pero kami nanalo kaya super cheer na naman kami habang paakyat. Feeling isang team kami for the first time!

So, ayan nasa taas na pala kami! Super onting time lang kami dun, and ang lamig to the max! Hindi na kami masyadong naka-explore kasi ang hirap gumalaw. Kailangan din bumaba agad kasi medyo matagal ang lifts at pag naiwan kami, magaantayan kami sa bus.

2nd level of Eiffel Tower

After Eiffel, tuloy kami sa Louvre Museum.

Sa sobrang laki din ng museum, syempre hindi mo makikita lahat, expected naman yun. Pero thankful pa rin ako kasi we were able to see almost all the really famous pieces. My favorite is the "Winged Victory of Samothrace". It was huge, and so beautiful and graceful.

Winged Victory of Samothrace

Meron kaming local guide na ang hirap intindihin ng English nya. After a while, ayaw mo nang makinig kasi effort talaga maintindihan. AT ANG DAMING TAO!!! Nakaka-claustro, nakaka-stress! Sayang yung experience kasi di mo manamnam yung mga art works, kasi may tao sa likod na nag-aantay sayo matapos. Si Mona Lisa pinipilahan at wala pang 30 seconds kailangan umalis ka na. Super daming bantay, papalayasin ka talaga. Bili na lang kami ng book para mas maintindihan namin.

Rush din kami sa pagkain. Junk food na lang nakain namin--burger, fries, at dun na kami sa inverted pyramid area kumain na nakatayo. Stressful talaga. Can you just imagine? After reading about this sa Da Vinci Code, kakain ka lang pala ng burger dun sa gilid. Hahaha!

Nasanay rin kasi sa mga ibang parts ng tour namin na kami lang ang nandon sa area, like nung Christmas days sa Neuschwanstein at Burano.

Anyway, next stop is Notre Dame Cathedral.
Again... beautiful, majestic, exquisite, breathtaking! Naalala ko tuloy si Quasimodo. Sa labas, hindi mo pa makikita ang kulay ng stained glass, pero pag pasok mo sa loob, wow! Nakakapgod na magdescribe, ayoko na magconstruct ng mga mabulaklak na sentences! There's really nothing compared to seeing it for yourself.

Notre Dame

After the day tour, uwi muna kami. Rest muna, nap, etc. Naglakad lakad lang kami around our hotel, bumili ng fruits, nagrelax. Syempre, nanigas na naman kami agad, kaya di na kami masyadong nagtagal sa labas.

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For our final night, we watched the Moulin Rouge.
It's a show of dance, song, acrobatics, topless divine statuesque ladies with perfect bodies, high kicks, tiny bikinis, and men with perfect abs. Para silang hinulma, mukha silang mga mannequin! Lahat sila pare-parehas ng katawan, super gorgeous dancer's body.

The dances and songs were superb! Even if I didn't understand what they were saying, I easily got caught in the melody. I can still hear the song in my head. The singing, though, it was not for concerts we have here.

Moulin Rouge

Even if the show had topless ladies dancing all night, it was not awkward. Everything was done in good taste. We also noticed that if the lady dancer had bigger boobs, which may be too distracting, she did not go topless.

The intermissions between different sketches were also superb. There were acrobats, a ventriloquist, and a comedian. Oh, I didn’t want it to end! I could have watched them all night! But as always, all good things must come to an end. The Moulin Rouge concert was a perfect way to cap off our tour of Europe.