Brussel, Belgium

In the fall of 2010, I was in Brussel for one day trip. 

The city of Brussel is the capital of Belgium. Here, they call it 'Bruzzel' and many speak French.

Brussel is also the central administrative for European Union, seriously, with proof everywhere.

Commercial activities are obviously active here as many office buildings cover up this land.

 The Royal Palace of Brussel is standing proudly in the center of Brussel.

Accompanied by this Leopoldo..should be one of the kings in mids of 1800s.

I made an appointment with a friend, to meet in Brussel. Arrived here, I called him but my phone line could not get through. Panic! I phoned repeatedly but unsuccessful.

First thing came to my mind was to find the nearest public telephone. I asked people here including some shop keepers. You know what? Fortunately, they still know what a public telephone is. Hardly any public phone around.

Only one person told me that there's one near the train station. 

Desparately, I wanted to borrow from the shop keeper, and asked for it. She said she didn't have a phone. 'Sweet!' Chocolate town.

 

It was as if I were requesting this horse to come down.

While hunting for a public phone, I was also in a rush to search for famous Belgium chocolate. Arhh....Saturday afternoon...most shops were closed! After long walk, finally, YES, I found 2 chocolate shops OPENED and 1 of them was Leonidas. (No picture for this..I told you I was in a rush). You can get fresh chocolate as great gifts for family and friends.

Since the chocolate were wraped so beatifully, I didn't open them in Brussel. Instead, I ate this little waffer (EUR 2) sold by a little mobile waffer van. So yummy. Sweet and crunchy. 

And I sat down to enjoy this beautiful scenery here. Ahh...I would explain to my friend when I got back.

After explaining and discussing with my friend, the reason I could not make the call was due to my phone line access that did not cover Brussel. Anyway, I got the chocolate for him. ;P

Streets of Paris

From the park in Lourve museum, I ventured out to the streets of Paris, with one aim of Eiffel Tower in mind. My first practice of 'pouvez-vous m'aider' was with an old helpful couple here. 'Je veux aller à la Tour Eiffel'. Then, I got lots and lots of  reply that I could only understand the finger pointing direction.

Merci merci, I said repeatedly. I followed the direction and went through this arch.

Not far, a bridge was waiting for me. Cars, buses, bicycles and people cross this bridge as well. 

At the other end, I searched around for direction. My destination wasn't far but my challenge was great. Look at these buildings...

Look at those buildings...

And these buildings... see carefully...

What can you see? 

Same colour, same height, same design, very neatly arranged

... and that's the challenge.

I walked fast and walked continuously towards my direction. Then, I learnt that I had to avoid the corners.

Nope.. not the rubbish bag. Notice the wet 'thingy' on the wall and floor?

That's the mark of canine's territory. Ah ha..

I was attracted to ancient door in most of the building here. As much as possible, the original architecture and fixtures were very well maintained. Impressive! Living museum here.

Don't get me wrong. Not all the buildings are old. Many are new and famous too.

Familiar with this?

You can also find Coco, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and many many more.

It wasn't at all tired to walk here. Of course...

Finally, à la Tour Eiffel was seen. What a relief. I love Paris.

Musée du Louvre

World's largest museum. This was my first destination in Paris. The external building itself is a historical monument. From the train station Gare de l'Est, I walked to Musée du Lourve (about 10 mins).

Standing in-front of Lourve, I was opened-mouth. The size of this muzeum is much bigger than I expected from what I've seen the pictures on Internet and heard from others. It took me sometime to walk around this magnificient building, that was once called Lourve Palace in the late 12th century. 

In the middle of this gigantic buiding,  you can find a big open space with a glass pyramid and water fountain. The entrance is in the pyramid. Here, I felt myself so minute..

The see-through pyramid allows you to peep into the 'under-ground' exhibits. Allocate yourself minimum of 3 days to see all objects in this museum (include long queuing time).

At the edge of the museum, a lovely French garden awaits you. Perfect!

Just admiring and walking around this building externally, I spent 2 hours.

Paris

The city of Paris, the most romantic and popular city in the world, located in the heart of France. Highly populated with estimated 2.3 million people and flooded with tourists. A place must-go if you were in Europe.

Parisians are proud of their awesome architecture buildings, museums, rivers, cuisine, fashions, French language, arts, culture, and many more... Some tourists find them rude, but the Parisians that I met were good. With Bonjour and Pouvez-vous m'aider, s'il vous plait ? + smile, they helped me to show direction or snap a few shots. Many young Parisians could speak English fluently. Avoid walking to corners of the streets if you don't want extra smell under your nose.

The icon of Paris, or even icon of France, you can visit Eiffel Tower (La Tour Eiffel), eracted in the end of 1880.  I, not fond of its height, admire the architectural design of iron bars charming from every angle. Coupled with a big garden, you could walk or lay around and spend as much time as possible to gaze the tower. Perfect place with you sweet heart. with budget.

See how the iron bars were put together amost 121 years ago....amazing...

Another landmark that you must not miss, Notre Dame de Paris, also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, completed in year 1345. It was on Sunday morning, I visited Notre Dame. A long que of visitors patiently await to enter the cathedral. Admission is FREE and visitors could attend the mass ceremony.

This is the main entrance.

It has its own website: http://www.notredamedeparis.fr/
I don't mind the long que because I was busy looking at the walls, doors, corners,... of the architectural building. and also people walking on top of the building. Can you see the people on the top?

From near, what can you see? Angels? Very fine sculptures...after 600 over years, they still seem not tired of so many visitors.

The other end of Notre Dame, with one nice park in front. It took me 5 hours to be satisfied with external and internal tour of Notre Dame. For FREE!  Nonetheless, I cannot help but to contribute EUR2 to this Notre Dame by buying a souvenir coin from a machine. They also sell CDs, key-chains, chains, pendant, necklaces, ...

If you think this magnificient architecture is not sufficient to gain your lover's heart, you can bring a big lock with his/her name written and lock it on a bridge across Seine river... and drown the key. For FREE!

But whatever you do, please don't lock the girl's leg.

Take a stroll along the river or a boat ride. But, please be reminded that the boat ride is NOT FREE  (EUR12 for an hour).

Thumb-up for Paris.

Getting around in Western Europe

Travel in Europe is convenient. You can use train or bus to get to your dream destination, such as the romantic city of Paris.

From city to city, the train route are well specified. One of the well-known train company in Europe that I traveled with is TGV http://www.tgv-europe.com/en/.

I booked my train ticket online. The earlier you book online, the fare is cheaper. TGV allows you to collect their ticket in various modes. One of my Malaysian friend collect the TGV ticket that she book online from one of the office in Puchong. To collect from Malaysia, make sure that you allow enough time for the ticket to be sent from Europe to Malaysia, 3 days to a week.

For me, I booked online when I was Malaysia and collected the ticket in Europe via machine. Very convenient. If you want to collect in Europe, ensure that you choose country as France or Luxembourg and use the same credit card that you used to purchase the ticket online when you want to retrieve the ticket from machine at France or Luxembourg station.

In Paris, my tour-guide was the metro (underground train) map. It is tremendously useful. Thanks to the metro Paris for the map (it is free!)
http://parisbytrain.com/tag/paris-metro/.

One night stay in Paris can be easy too. You can have luxury hotel under romantic light of Eiffel Tower or budget stay.

I chose budget stay. I stayed at Aloha Hostel (EUR25 with breakfast, yes! the cheapest that I can find online) in female dorm, 5 min walk from Volontaires (means 'It's my pleasure') metro station. The hostel is small but cosy and good enough for a night sleep, shower, and breakfast. You can rent bedsheet and get Internet access. Recommended for budget stay.
http://www.aloha.fr/eng-acces.php

Hop onto metro at Volontaires station (line 12, green) and stop at Assemblee Nationale, you walk along the river for 15 min, then you can reach the Eiffel Tower.


If you want to get more information and get help when you travel in Western Europe, learn up some French word. Bonjour, Merci, désolé, Un, Deux, Trois, Parlez-vous anglais? s'il vous plait, and Oui...(not exclusive list). You will definitely find them useful in understanding announcement in train stations.

You can get some start up lesson for free at  http://www.bonjour.com/index.php?lesson=1

Au revoir !

Luxembourg City

Park views on the first day of winter season.

Popular sight for tourists.

 Famous landmark.

How big is maple leaves?

Lux

The park in Luxembourg city center. Located between 3 countries, France, Belgium and Germany.
A place worth visit if you are looking for a peaceful place for retreat and relax.

Stop by the park to enjoy the breath-taking scenery and a slow walk. Significantly, the tower and bridge mark the land of this city.
At some corners of the city, you could see...more...