[Throwback] The Louvre

The Louvre is one of the most popular museums in the world. It houses Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and its glass pyramid, which was built in 1988, is a globally recognizable landmark. I was told that the art and artifact collection here is massive and that visitors can easily spend hours inside the museum. Since I didn't have much time in Paris, I spent only half a day inside the Louvre. Despite my short visit, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Louvre Pyramid

I had a Lonely Planet book of Europe and it recommended going to the Louvre early since the lines can tend to get quite long but I didn't wake up early enough. I vaguely remember the queue being pretty sizeable when I arrived but I don't think it took too long before I got in.

The Louvre Palace

There are several collections or departments inside the museum, and I spent a good portion of it in the paintings department. Visitors are allowed to take photos inside the museum except for the Mona Lisa. The paintings ranged in size, from smaller frames such as La Jeune Martyre (or The Young Martyr) by Paul Delaroche...

La Jeune Martyre (or The Young Martyr)

...and The Virgin of the Annunciation by Pompeo Batoni...

The Virgin of the Annunciation

...to much larger paintings that could completely fill your wall, such as Ancient Rome by Giovanni Paolo Panini, which is 2.31 meters high and 3.03 meters wide...

Ancient Rome

...and Le Radeau de la Méduse (The Raft of The Medusa) by Théodore Géricault which is 4.9 meters high and 7.16 meters wide.

Le Radeau de la Méduse (The Raft of The Medusa)

Towering over them all, however, is The Wedding at Cana. This painting by Paolo Veronese is 6.77 meters high and 9.94 meters wide. It's the largest painting at the Louvre!

The Wedding at Cana

I also spent some time at the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman department, where I saw the The Winged Victory of Samothrace...

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

...and the famous Venus de Milo.

Venus de Milo

I also took went to the Egyptian Antiquities department, where I saw many ancient artifacts, including the Great Sphinx of Tanis.

The Great Sphinx of Tanis

By then, I had spent a few hours inside the museum and while there was a lot more to see, I felt it was time for me to leave so I could see more of Paris.

View of the pyramid from inside the Louvre

Once I left, I took some time to appreciate the area around the Louvre. The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel can be found in the courtyard of the Louvre Palace.

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

I then walked through the beautiful Jardin des Tuileries and exited at Place de la Concorde, where I saw the Luxor Obelisk. This obelisk is actually one of two that stood in front of the Luxor Temple in Egypt (the other some still remains at the temple).

Luxor Obelisk in Paris

If I have a chance to go to Paris again in the future, I would love to revisit the Louvre.

Next: Paris Sights and Landmarks

[Throwback] Return Trip to Paris

Last December, I wrote about my Europe Trip that included a visit to Paris. Since I didn't get to see enough of Paris during that trip (read this post to know why), I made sure to revisit the French capital while I was still working in Belgium. I think I may have even taken a day off at work so I could spend just a bit more time in Paris to see some sights I hadn't seen before, such as the Sacre Coeur...

Sacre Coeur

...and the Louvre.

The Louvre

I also revisited some places I had seen before, such as the Eiffel Tower...

Eiffel Tower

...and Notre Dame.

Notre Dame

I will be writing in greater detail about my weekend in Paris in the next few blog posts.

Next: The Louvre

Sunday from Tick, Tick... Boom!

This is one of my favorite songs from Tick, Tick... Boom! Check it out here:

video uploaded in YouTube by Netflix Film Club

Apart from the fact that it has a beautiful, almost haunting melody and is exquisitely sung with amazing harmonies, it is apparently performed by a who's who of Broadway. I will admit that I don't know many of them but I did recognize enough of them such as Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Adam Pascal, and Bebe Neuwirth to realize that the entire ensemble must have been Broadway greats. I searched online and found this article from cbr.com: Tick, Tick… Boom!: Every Broadway Cameo in ‘Sunday’. After reading this, my appreciation for Sunday grew even more. Everyone in this performance has at least one Tony nomination, with many of them being nominated and winning multiple times (and yes, that includes Andrew Garfield himself who won a Tony for Lead Actor in a Play for Angels in America). Lin Manuel Miranda and the creators of Tick, Tick... Boom! really did a fantastic job in casting this number.

Catching up on Netflix

I've been able to watch more shows than I usually do on Netflix. Of everything I've seen on this streaming service so far, my favorite is Lupin. This is a French Netflix series that a friend of mine recommended. It's about professional thief Assane Diop who takes inspiration from Arsène Lupin, a fictional French gentleman thief created in the early 1900s and who is featured in dozens of novels and novellas. I don't normally binge watch shows that I hadn't seen yet because it requires me to pay full attention and I often find it hard to stay focused for several hours at a time but this was an exception. Lupin was really right up my alley. It was so smart, slick, and inventive and I enjoyed it tremendously, so much so that I recommended it to my other friends too. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you do. (Netflix says that Lupin will be back for Part 3; I am surely looking forward to that.)

I also recently saw Tick, Tick... Boom! This has been advertised quite a bit so as a fan of musicals, I felt I had to see it. Thankfully, it lived up to the hype. Andrew Garfield has already gotten his fair share of awards and nominations for his performance as Jonathan Larson in this film and I do believe he deserves all the accolades. Prior to watching, I didn't know any of the music from Tick, Tick.. Boom! but I found myself immediately liking a lot of the songs. My favorites have to be Louder Than Words, Therapy, and Sunday. Lin-Manuel Miranda really did a great job directing this movie. If you haven't seen Tick, Tick... Boom! yet, I also recommend it.

One of the films that I had been really interested to see for a while now is Weathering With You (Tenki no Ko). I wanted to see it because it was created by the same people that made Your Name (Kimi no Na wa), which I absolutely love. I finally took the time to watch it. I thought it was good but I prefer Your Name a lot more.

I got to watch another animated film, The Breadwinner. This popped up as a recommendation to me as I was building my initial Netflix list. The description caught my attention: A courageous 11-year-old Afghan girl disguises herself as a boy and takes on odd jobs to provide for her family when her father is arrested. It was a really captivating premise. What I didn't realize was this film was actually quite depressing. It shows the plight of women under Taliban rule where women are forbidden to do a lot of things, including study and go out of their house without a male relative. Despite the heavy theme of the film, it is powerful, evocative, and beautiful.

I've also watched a lot of other shows on Netflix, including Joanna Lumley's Silk Road Adventure (I've wanted to visit Cappadocia in Turkey for a really long time now and this show just made me want to visit it sooner), 72 Dangerous Animals: Latin America, 72 Dangerous Animals: Asia, Wheel of Fortune (there are a few episodes from seasons 35 to 37), and Nailed It!

My List is still really long but it's great that I've gotten to use my Netflix subscription a lot more.

Nadal Wins Grand Slam Title #21!

Wow! Rafa Nadal just won the Australian Open. He beat World #2 Daniil Medvedev 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in 5 hours and 24 minutes, the second longest Grand Slam final in history. And while any title that Rafa wins makes me happy, the way that he won the first major of the year and its historic significance just made me ecstatic beyond belief. Let's run down this absolutely mind-blowing achievement:

The Grand Slam King 👑#AusOpen • #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/MsrkpTXzee

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 30, 2022

1. Nadal is the first male player to have won 21 Grand Slam singles titles. For the first time in his career, Rafa is ahead of every other male player in the major singles title count.

21. Grand. Slams. History. Made.🙌@RafaelNadal makes history breaking the record for most Grand Slams men’s singles titles. Congratulations, Rafa!🇪🇸 #AusOpen | #AO2022 | #Rafa21 pic.twitter.com/JL0vwzQ2AK

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 30, 2022

2. He now has two Australian Open titles, which means he joins Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, and Novak Djokovic as the only male players in history to win at least two each major. He and Novak are the only players who have achieved this feat in the Open Era so far.

🇪🇸 @RafaelNadal adds a second #AusOpen title to his resume #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/ChkOR5oqFB

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 30, 2022

3. He came back from two sets to love down in arguably his greatest comeback ever. In fact, he was 0-40 triple break point down at 2-3 in the 3rd set. Most people, including myself and many other Nadal fans, thought he would finish second for a fifth time in Melbourne. But Rafa kept fighting and kept working hard (and smart!) to give himself chances. In the end, he managed to overcome incredible odds and an impressive Medvedev to win.

How? Just how?#AusOpen @RafaelNadal pic.twitter.com/ovrAHEF1T5

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) January 30, 2022

4. That he would achieve this feat at the event where he had the greatest heartbreak made his victory even sweeter. Twice before, he was up a break in the fifth set against his greatest rivals - Djokovic in 2012 and Federer in 2017 - but he still ended up losing. In this year's final, when he served at 5-3 in the 5th set and got broken, most people felt he choked a bit because he was so close to the men's Grand Slam record. But in this interviews after, you could tell that his past losses were in his mind. He managed to regroup after getting broken and he immediately broke Daniil back. In his second chance to close out the match, he did so emphatically.

Another chapter is written 🏆@RafaelNadal defeats Daniil Medvedev 2-6 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 7-5 to win his second #AusOpen title in an epic lasting five hours and 24 minutes.
⁰
🎥: @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/OlMvhlGe6r

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 30, 2022

5. He won the Australian Open after winning the Melbourne Summer Set. This means that Rafa has won at least two titles every year for 18 consecutive years. I don't know if this is a men's record but it must be up there.

Rafa must also have a lot more confidence heading into the next Grand Slam event - the French Open, the event where he has had the greatest success. Whether he can build on his momentum this year and claim his 22nd Grand Slam title and 14th French Open remains to be seen. After all, Novak is still a supreme threat on any surface, even in Roland Garros where he beat Rafa last year. Also, Nadal was out for several months last year because of a foot injury that left him wondering if maybe it was time to retire. I really can't ask for much more since Rafa has already given his fans to much by achieving fantastic things in his illustrious career. That said, if he does accomplish more (such as his 22nd Grand Slam title), I certainly wouldn't complain haha.

The other big news of course is the fact that Novak Djokovic was prohibited to play the Australian Open since he wasn't vaccinated. I think that Tennis Australia could have handled this much better since they seemed to give Novak hope that he could play even if he was unvaccinated against Covid but in the end, Australian immigration didn't think so. That said, it will be interesting to see whether Djokovic eventually does get his shots so that he can compete at and win more Grand Slam events.

While we're talking about the Australian Open, congratulations as well to Ashleigh Barty for winning the women's title. She did so without dropping a set. I admit that when she moved up to #1 a couple of years ago, I was a bit uncertain about her, thinking that she reached the summit due to a lack of competition. Her relatively early losses in Slam events last year (round 2 in Roland Garros and round 3 in the US Open) seemed to support this idea. However, no other woman has been as consistent, whether it be Grand Slam tournaments or other events, and she has made a believer out of me. Barty has now won three majors, all on different surfaces. I won't be surprised if she wins more.

Major props also to Deirdre de Groot of the Netherlands for winning the women's wheelchair event. She has now won six consecutive Grand Slam events. Oh, and she also won the wheelchair women's doubles. That is just phenomenal! Meanwhile, Dylan Alcott, who together with De Groot achieved the Golden Slam last year, lost in the final of the Wheelchair quad singles event to Sam Schröder of the Netherlands. This was Dylan's last tennis match as he already said that the Australian Open would be his last tournament as a tennis player.

Congratulations to all the winners of the Australian Open!

Quarantine Stories Part 16

I recently discovered Nestle Butterfinger Ice Cream, which is made by Dreyers. It's description says that it is light vanilla ice cream with Butterfinger candy pieces and a peanut butter swirl. I am now a big fan. It's not always in stock but whenever it is, I buy it.

I also recently purchased a new electric kettle. I broke the one I had early last year so I borrowed my grandmother's electric kettle because she wasn't using it anymore. Unfortunately, that one broke as well. With no convenient way to heat water for my pour over coffee, I immediately bought this Imarflex IK-140 1.5L Electric Kettle from Lazada. I've been satisfied with it so far.

I also recently replaced my car battery. I purchased food for my family and when I got back in the car, it wouldn't start. I immediately called Motolite. I really do love this service since they bring the battery to wherever you are. (One time, my car battery conked out on Christmas day and their service was still available!)

I also gave my old TV to the woman who irons our clothes. I asked her if she thought she could sell it and she asked me if it was still working and if she could have it instead. I said it was, but not perfectly well. So far, she and her family have been able to use it and it's performed well enough for them.

I also have a new credit card. This was really unplanned. Right before Christmas, I got a text saying that an online transaction for a very expensive purchase from a UK website was blocked. I didn't make that purchase so I called my credit card immediately. We couldn't be certain how my card was compromised so they said they would just replace my card at no cost. I'm just really happy that my credit card had strong enough checks in place to mark that transaction as fraudulent and inform me. Whew!

Finally, I paid my real estate property tax for 2022. I didn't want to be amidst large crowds in city hall so I decided to file a personal leave so I could make the payment on a weekday. It turned out to be a really good idea because when I got there, there were only two people ahead of me in line. There was no crowd and I was done in a jiffy.

An Interesting Start to the Year

My nephews visited their relatives on their mom's side during the New Year weekend. When they came back home, one of them had a sick kitten with him. I thought it was owned by their relatives and he brought it home so he could take it to the vet. As it turned out, it was an abandoned kitten that my nephew had rescued. Since it looked really sick, I drove my nephew to an open vet clinic. Unfortunately, when we arrived, there were dozens of people there. We ended up waiting 2 hours before a vet could look at the kitten. By the time we had purchased the meds and paid all the fees, we had spent 2 1/2 hours there.

So I guess it's not a surprise that I ended up getting infected with Covid. After dodging the disease for almost two years, I finally got hit, along with hundreds of thousands of people during the surge in early January. Did I pick it up at the vet? Possibly. I could also have picked it up from the place where I bought our food for New Year. I actually dropped off a gift to one of my friends and she got it as well. We were only exposed to each other while we were outdoors for less than 5 minutes and we had masks on so I can't really tell. I also can't be sure I got it from her or she got it from me or if we maybe got it from other people. With so many people getting infected, it really is quite impossible to identify where I picked it up.

That said, I was very thankful for several things. First, I live alone in my pad so I was already quarantined. Second, my building has a very good process for handling persons under monitoring and people who have tested positive. Third, I got the symptoms at the time when I could still get an RT-PCR test and I still managed to book a home test (my building didn't allow me to leave my pad anymore so I really needed a home test). I heard that around the second week of January, it was quite impossible to book a schedule since labs were already fully booked. Fourth, no one else in my family tested positive. Considering that I interacted with all of them without a mask on during the New Year weekend, I was relieved none of them picked up Covid from me. Fifth, aside from that one friend who also tested positive, none of the other people I met up with, even for a short period of time, developed any symptoms. Finally, I developed really mild symptoms. I only had one bad day, and it wasn't that bad. I also had symptoms for just a few days. (I did have to wait for my quarantine to end before I could step out.)

It kinda feels a bit weird to be a statistic now. When I saw how many new positive cases there were on the day that I reported my positive RT-PCR test, I knew I was part of that number. Still, I'm extremely grateful that my case was really mild. And I'm also really proud of my nephew for rescuing a sick kitten. I'm also happy that our new kitten is in much better health now.

Welcome 2022

Happy New Year!

The global Covid pandemic continued through 2021 and in fact, Metro Manila had to go back into MECQ at some point during the year. This meant that there were still a lot of limitations as to what people could do. That said, there were still many positive and memorable things that happened last year. 

Probably the most important thing that happened last year was that I finally got vaccinated. Not only that, my family all got fully vaccinated as well. I also started blogging a whole lot more (I only had 27 posted in 2020 but I more than doubled my output last year with 65 posts). I still haven't traveled since the pandemic hit so I instead started to write about some trips I took before I began this blog. I have so far written about my visits to the UK and China, along with the Europe trip I took with my mom (which included Italy, Greece, and France). I also started posting throwback travel pics on social media.

I finally subscribed to Netflix and to HBO Go Asia. I also watched a few Filipino films on IWant TFC. While I haven't played physical board games face-to-face with my friends, I have played online versions that were purchased on Steam, often by myself playing against AI but sometimes playing with my friends. I also started playing Axie Infinity. All this time spent blogging about past trips, watching shows on online platforms, and playing online games meant that I had less time to read, but I still did get to read two books: Before the Fall by Noah Hawley and A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.

Despite the pandemic, life has had to move forward and this is evidenced by sporting events that have resumed after taking a break in 2020. The Olympics were finally held in Tokyo and Hidilyn Diaz finally gave the Philippines its first gold medal by winning the women's 55 kg weightlifting event. Three more Filipinos - Nesthy Petecio, Eumir Marcial, and Carlo Paalam - also won Olympic medals, all in boxing. Gymnast Carlos Yulo also took home a gold and a silver at the Gymnastics World Championships.

As is to be expected, it wasn't all good. I lost my dear friend Karen and my family lost our dog. I saw  several family and friends share social media posts about loss, some due to Covid and some due to other reasons. As more and more people get vaccinated, our health care system in the Philippines has become less overwhelmed and I'm hoping this means that there will be less collective grief in 2022 as our hospitals will be in a much better position to accept and heal patients. I'm also hopeful that things continue to get better and that it will be a lot safer for people to go on with their lives.

[Throwback] Final thoughts on my Europe Trip

Before I start, here's a summary of my posts on this amazing Europe trip:

Europe Trip: Italy, Greece, and France
Rome, Italy
Rome Landmarks
Vatican City
Rome Experiences and Memories
Athens, Greece
Experiences and Memories in Athens
France: Paris and Lourdes
Paris
Lourdes, France
France Experiences and Memories
Final thoughts on my Europe Trip

The Acropolis in Athens

This trip was the first time I took my mom abroad on an international vacation. Thankfully, my assignment in Brussels allowed me have enough resources to take her. I had also earned enough miles from previous international flights to get us a free flight from Athens to Paris. (Flights within Europe - at least back then - required very little miles and by then I had earned enough to get us free flights via KLM). I then used the European budget airline Ryanair for our flights from Brussels to Rome and from Rome to Athens.

St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican

It was in this trip that I did the boldest thing I've ever done (and something I had never done again): I didn't book hotels prior to arriving and only relied on booking hotel rooms at the airport! I'm not sure what made me decide to do this. Maybe it was because I was still not an expert on organizing international trips or maybe it's because I had heard from other people that they just book hotels once they arrive at the airport. I wrote about being assisted by a friendly customer service person at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. This was because we arrived late in the evening and the hotel kiosks at the airport were closed. We ended up staying at an airport hotel (Novotel, I believe). Thankfully, the train station from Paris to Lourdes was at the airport so it made it easy for us to bring our luggage to the station. All our hotels were also pretty decent.

Trevi Fountain at night in Rome

We took an overnight train from Paris to Lourdes and from Lourdes back to Paris so we could save a bit on accommodations. Since two of our nights in Europe were spent onboard a train, we didn't need to book a hotel room for two nights.

View of Paris at night from the Eiffel Tower

Finally, I had a really strange yet memorable experience in Paris. I asked my mom to take a photo of me at Notre Dame. However, there was a lady standing right next to me. As I didn't want to have other people in the foreground of my picture, I moved a few steps to the left but then the lady moved closer again. I can't recall if I tried moving again but then she and her friends started talking to me in another language (Spanish, I think?) and they all had a photo taken with me. I'm not particularly sure what was happening but for whatever reason, I'm guessing she must've wanted to have her photo taken with me. (Could she have mistaken me for someone else?) I didn't know exactly how to react back then but my mom still took our picture (while another one of the lady's friends too our photo as well). You can clearly see the look of confusion on my face haha. If this thing happened now, I would probably be a lot more willing and open to have my photo taken with strangers. And I would definitely have a much more sincere smile in that picture.

An unexpected photo with strangers in Notre Dame

It was really enjoyable walking down memory lane and remembering my first ever international trip with my mom. I'm also really happy and very grateful that it wasn't the last. I also returned to Paris a few months later to see more sights. I will write about that trip soon.

[Throwback] France Experiences and Memories

There's a stereotype that French people can be haughty. As many negative stereotypes are, this wasn't true, at least not for me. We didn't really get to experience arrogant behavior from most of the people we interacted with. I will say that there was that one lady at an Information Center in Paris who was had a bit of a surly tone when answering our questions but as far as I recall, she was really the only one like that.

Inside the Rosary Basilica of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes

On the other hand, we had a couple of really good interactions. When we arrived at the Paris airport, we asked a woman from customer service if she could help us look for a hotel because the hotel booths at the Paris airport were already closed (I will write more about this in my next post) and she really did try to help us by making some calls. (In the end, we just booked a hotel at the airport; I think it was Novotel). Also, when we were in Lourdes, we had a midday meal in a little restaurant near the sanctuary and the woman who served our food there was very friendly and lovely.

Gargoyles of Notre Dame Cathedral

Also in Lourdes, there was a restaurant next to the train station and we had breakfast there once we arrived. Since we were taking the overnight train back to Paris, we decided to have dinner there as well. Aside from being located right next to the station, it was also quite spacious and this meant that bringing in large suitcases wouldn't be a problem. We must have spent maybe 4 hours there at the end of the day while we waited for our train. While we did order dinner, we actually stayed there for a really long time with all our luggage so I was worried it might be an issue with the owners. Thankfully, it wasn't.

Gave de Pau River in Lourdes

Next: Europe Trip Final Thoughts

[Throwback] Lourdes, France

Lourdes is a town in the South of France. It is an important pilgrimage site for Catholics all over the world because of the Marian apparitions there in 1858. To make our Europe trip an even more spiritual experience after our Christmas celebration at the Vatican, we wanted to visit Lourdes.

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes

In 1858, while gathering firewood with her sister and a friend at the Massabielle grotto, Bernadette Soubirous saw the image of a young lady who was believed to the the Virgin Mary. This became the first of 18 Marian apparitions that were witnessed in this area. The young lady shared the need for prayer and penance and asked that a chapel be built. The Catholic church investigated these claims and deemed the apparitions to be worth of belief. Bernadette was canonized as a saint by Pope Pius XI on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 in 1933.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes was then built in that area because it is what the Virgin Mary had requested.

Dome ceiling of the Rosary Basilica

One of the most important places in the sanctuary is of course the Grotto of Massabielle. There is a spring at the grotto where visitors can take and drink water. What I very distinctly remember when I was at the grotto was how holy the atmosphere there was. It was very quiet and peaceful and it felt like everyone was praying. It was a truly spiritual and transcendent experience.

Massabielle Grotto

What makes Sanctuary of our Lady of Lourdes even more special is that it is located in the Pyrenees. The Gave de Pau river flows through here and the beautiful landscape surrounding it adds to the mysticism, making any visit even more extraordinary and memorable.

Gave de Pau River

This was the last stop of our Europe trip. We spent a day in Lourdes and in the evening, we had dinner at a cafe near the train station before getting on our overnight train back to Paris. From there, we took the speed train from Paris back to Brussels. My mom still spent a couple of days in Belgium and she even took a day trip to Amsterdam (I didn't accompany her because I had to work) before she headed back to the Philippines.

Next post: France Experiences and Memories

[Throwback] Paris

There is a lot to see in Paris but as we only had a day, we only visited a few of its most popular landmarks.

Eiffel Tower

As I wrote in my previous post, we arrived in Paris in the late evening. The next day, our first order of business was to purchase overnight train tickets to Lourdes. Once we secured our tickets, we headed out to see a bit of the city. We made our way to the Arc de Triomphe for a quick photo op.

Arc de Triomphe

We then headed to Notre Dame Cathedral. We didn't go in but we did take some photos outside. As this trip was a really long time ago, I still got to see Notre Dame before it lost its spire and roof during the 2019 fire.

Notre Dame Cathedral

My mom visited Les Invalides when she went to Paris before (I got to see more of this place a few months later, and I will write about it in a future post). While we didn't go there, we did catch a glimpse of it...

Les Invalides

...from Pont Alexandre III, one of the most beautiful bridges in the city.

Pont Alexandre III bridge

We also got to see the River Seine.

River Seine

From there, we headed to our last stop in Paris: Tour Eiffel or the Eiffel Tower.

Eiffel Tower

We got there in the late afternoon and we decided we wanted to go up. Since it was winter, the sun set quite early and it was dark when we got to the top (the tower has three levels and we stopped on all three). From there, we got to see some beautiful views of Paris.

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

We then went back to our hotel to get our luggage (we had checked out earlier in the day) and then headed to the station to board our overnight train to Lourdes.

Next: Lourdes, France

[Throwback] France: Paris and Lourdes

The main purpose of visiting France was to see Lourdes. Which is a bit surprising since most people would normally have Paris as the first city they would want to see when visiting France. So what drove our decision?

Upper Basilica of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes

First, my mom had already been to Paris before. We only had a short vacation around Europe so it would be best for my mom to see places she hadn't seen before. Second, I was living in Brussels at that time and it was just about an hour away from Paris by high speed train. It would be quite easy for me to revisit Paris. Finally, we really wanted to visit the Sanctuary of Lourdes, which was the site of the Marian apparitions seen by Saint Bernadette.

Me at the Upper Basilica

However, to get to Lourdes, we had to go through Paris. We arrived in the late evening and we would be taking the overnight train to Lourdes the next night. This meant that we had a full day to go around the French Capital. So we did.

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

Next: Paris

[Throwback] Experiences and Memories in Athens

My original plan was for us to stay in Athens for 2 full days. In fact, I had already booked our flights so that we would fly out 3 days after we arrived. However, when I shared this plan with my mom, she said that one day should be enough. Thankfully, the airline - KLM - agreed to rebook our flights from Athens to Paris a day earlier at no additional cost (I guess airlines were a lot more lenient then; today, many flights won't allow rebooking or they will require the passenger to pay a rebooking fee). I also remember sorting this out just over the phone. Thankfully, KLM customer service was extremely helpful. I didn't even have a print-out of this confirmation but we didn't run into any issues during our departure.

Me at the Theatre of Dionysus

Unlike our stint in Rome, we did get to enjoy a Greek meal here. I honestly don't remember what I ordered but I remember eating at a restaurant that was quite near the Acropolis.

The Parthenon at the Acropolis

That said, we also had our fair share of fast food meals, specifically McDonald's. The most interesting thing we ordered here was the Greek Mac, which is the Greek version of the Big Mac. It has the same contents - two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions - but served in pita bread instead of in a sesame seed bun. Pretty cool! I'm not sure if this item is still available now.

Passing through the National Garden in Athens

Our visit to Athens also happened around the time of the Athens Olympics so there was a lot of Olympic merchandise there. I bought myself a nice shirt which I have since donated to charity. I'm now kinda regretting that move and I wish that I kept it and gave a different item of clothing instead. This is what it looked like:

A rare pic of me wearing my Athens Olympics shirt

My mom did get a mug that we still have at home. We also bought a few more souvenirs including a refrigerator magnet that we also still have.

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Next: France (Paris and Lourdes)