Today is where my book begins

We reached Paris in late afternoon after 2 hrs of ferry ride from Dover where the white cliffs are and 6 hrs of coach ride.

Once we reached the campsite, we were taught how to pitch our tents where we will need to do every 2 days. It will be easy as long as you find the right "spot" to plant the nails.

After that, we were out on the coach for a ride in the "City of Lights". I was completely smitten by the Eiffel Tower. It has such an amazing structure of steels!

The next morning, we went up the Eiffel Tower. It was so cold up on top. As there are a lot of people and the lift could only hold a certain no of people, we were there for like a total of 4hrs which mean half a day gone for us.

We were unable to rest as we only have today to see the whole of Paris. We visted the Notre Dame where we see lots of stained glass windows.
We walked thru the shopping district with big brands like LV, cartier etc to Arc De Triomphe. The night before, our coach driver made 7 rounds around the Arc which is pretty cool!

Last of all, we visited the Louvre, only outside as we have no time to go in. That is where Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is stored. The
collections in Louvre is so much that it will take days to finish!

In the morning, we had a bike ride through the countryside around the little town of Edam. We meandered along the alleyways, over tiny bridges and even stop at the windmill for photo. The bike is even more ancient than the one we had at Munich! There is no gears and brake. How you stop the bike will be to cycle backwards. A granny bike!

We went our seperate way after the bike ride as Amy would like to see garden while i would like to visit the museums.

First is the Ann Frank House where she and her family went into hiding during world war 2. If you have read the "Diary of Anne Frank", you would feel her fears and wishes. I feel so emotional as i walked through the house. I read the book in my teens and it's the first book that brought tears to my eyes.

The second museum that i went is the Van Gogh's. I got to know him thru a wine bottle that my sis bought. it was painted with Van Gogh's "starry night". I started reading up on his works and life in the internet. He was born in 1853 and in 1890, he shot himself in the chest and died 2 days later. Some of his famous works are the "potato eaters", "the bedroom", "wheatfield with crows". Sadly, part of the museum is temporarily closed and i didn't get to see my "starry night". sob sob

this is the last part of my tour, the next day is all the way travelling back to london and the start of my lonely life. and yes, i almost forget that i will need to update my first and second day in Paris....
will do that very soon. would need to do some recalls.

We were taken to the red light district for an eye opener. Here, prostitution is legal. There is even a kindergarten in the area. The children here fully understand the nature of their mummy's job. As you walked along the streets, you see women of all races and ages wearing skimpy nightwear and bikini posing sexy pose behind the full length window inviting mens to book them. I must say the competition is quite stiff. not possible to snap photos as i need to respect their profession. We also went to see a sex show. nothing fantastic. One of the korean left after 10 mins. He think that is dirty and sex should be beautiful and a bond with her beloved wife. I must say he is the most romantic and fuuny guy i have ever seen. He show me what he wrote to his pianist girlfriend in his book. though the words are in korean, there are drawings of what he had seen during the tour and he picked tiny pretty flowers and paste it on the book. His dream is to be a good son, a good husband and a good father!

We only spent a couple of hours cruising the University town of Heidelberg as most of today is on the road and early morning next day, we will be moving on to Amsterdam!

We spent the hours in the castle where we can catch a good view of the captivating old town and the picturesque of Neckar river.

We took a guided bicycle ride around this fascinating Bavarian capital. We were given the simplest bicycle i have ever seen. There is no gears to shift but at least they have brakes. We stopped at the beer hall at Englicher Garden for lunch. I like the atmosphere there. It's open space with a chinese style tower (wonder why?) where the musicians played on the 2nd floor in the midst of hundreds long tables and benches seated with good fun people.
In the evening, we went to one of the oldest beer hall in the city for dinner. We tasted their german specialities including pork knuckes and "hell" beer while watching dancers, yodellers and musicians in full costume. everytime a tune is finished, we will need to start prosting. Prost = cheers. All of us had such a good time prosting and dancing. That includes our Amy who don't even get into the dance floor in S'pore! She did it here in Munich so u can see how much fun we had