Whoa...it's really been a while since I last updated! I just got back from a conference trip in France. Conference itself was really awesome - managed to learn a lot, and also spoke to lots of professionals. Best of all - I managed to catch up with some buddies from around the world! I hope to go back to another conference...now I'm eyeing one in Perth, to be held in October :) Of course, I managed to squeeze in some time to explore the conference venue - Dijon. Dijon's a gorgeous little city situated in central France - we took the TGV (super fast rail colloquially speaking!) to Dijon from Paris...and the first thing we were told? Dijon's famous for mustard! Well it was true...but Dijon is also famous for other things.
So here's a preview of what I've been up to. Starting off with some city sights in Dijon - the gorgeous architecture, the iconic half-timber houses and all! I pretty much explored the city of Dijon everyday!
The conference was held in Dijon's city centre - and everytime I walked to the venue, I had a chance to detour into smaller alleys within the city. The alleyways were pretty fascinating!
And that was where I discovered this beautiful cat (below). She was sitting outside a small bar, and she seemed pretty curious! So I went up to say hi, and she responded by posing for my photos! :) Oh - and I should also mention, I nearly got lost within the alleyways, but managed to find my bearings thanks to a lovely couple who pointed me in the direction of the city centre. People in Dijon are extremely friendly!
This cute owl in the grid below is a trademark of Dijon - and I have a keychain of it. There's actually an owl's trail within Dijon, where people eventually get up close and personal with an owl carving...which I still haven't had luck finding! Anyway - this grid below was all about textures...and colourful tiled roofs represented richness. Look how beautiful it is!
I also went to the famous Jardin de L'Arquebuse in Dijon - a public garden situated near the train station. Roses were blooming that day and I really, really had a nice time! We also visited the biodiversity museum in the garden, and it had quite an impressive collection!
Who could ever forget food? I had LOTS of escargot during my stay in Dijon...and they were so delicious! Oh and I should also mention - baguettes and croissants were beautiful too! I couldn't resist having these everyday.
If you noticed - all my Dijon photogrids above were made with burgundy backgrounds. That's because Dijon is situated in the Burgundy region of France.
After the conference, I went off to Paris - on the same TGV. After all, we had to get back to Paris to catch the plane back to Singapore! So we decided to stay there for a few days.
The first place I visited the minute we reached Paris? Montmartre. Montmartre is a quaint, hilly area, famous for restaurants (all sorts - and some of them even had live music!), portrait artists (situated in Place du Tertre), and the iconic Sacre Coeur - the domed church situated on top of the hill. We went into Sacre Coeur when we first went to Montmartre, and it was absolutely gorgeous! Below this photogrid, I've attached more pics of Sacre Coeur, and of the restaurants and streets within Montmartre. Should also mention that the famous Moulin Rouge was situated pretty near the main Montmartre area, so we went to check it out! :)
The next day was really fruitful - we visited Pont Alexandre III, Arch du Triomphe, Avenue des Champs-Elysees and of course, Eiffel Tower!
So here we go - a picture of Pont Alexandre III in its full glory. This was the most beautiful bridge/road I've ever seen. On one end is the Army Museum; on the other end is the former Grand Palais and Petit Palais, now converted into museums.
The iconic Arch du Triomphe was undergoing restoration works (as seen in the pic below this photogrid), but I was lucky to be able to go right to the top of it! It took effort though - I had to CLIMB 400 over steps to get there! The climb was worth it - I got a really awesome view of the city of Paris (including the Eiffel Tower of course), the Avenue des Champs-Elysees (which I revisited)...and many other icons! For the record, I took a pic of the staircase...just 'cause the spiral was really beautiful!
Who could ever forget the iconic Eiffel Tower, which graces literally every postcard I saw in Paris, and in many movies I've watched? We climbed up to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower - it took us 300+ steps to climb to the first deck (where the Gustave Eiffel bar/restaurant was situated), and an additional 300+ steps to the second (and highest accessible) deck. The climb was quite dizzying as we were literally climbing winding stairs in the open...and it was quite scary to look down. But of course, everything was so worth it when we got to the top...and more snapshots of the Parisian skyline followed.
Passed through the beautiful L'Hotel National des Invalides. This place is dedicated to war veterans and the military history of France, and consists of a complex of buildings, including the famous Army Museum. We walked through the complex and even got to see a statue of Napoleon from one of the windows! Quite a number of old weapons were also featured outside the Army Museum. This place can be seen from Pont Alexandre III...and I've attached a picture of the iconic golden dome - taken from Pont Alexandre III.
The trip to the Opera Garnier was totally unplanned, but totally worth it. This gorgeous building was situated not too far from the Louvre Museum. The minute I saw it, I went absolutely nuts taking pics of the musicians featured on the facade and the inside (see pics below the photogrids!)...and after that I went totally nuts taking pics of the insides!! Check out the mind-blowing, beautiful frescoes, details and the Grand Staircase! I probably spent the most time in the Grand Staircase...because it was just so beautiful...in fact this venue is a must-see for all musicians (and non-musicians) alike!
The Pompidou Museum is a stark contrast to the Opera Garnier - it is quirky, modernised, and totally transparent. It's named after George Pompidou - the then Prime Minister of France, who also commissioned the building, and was built between 1971-1977. The team of architects who designed this building (Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers and Gianfranco Franchini) were so ingenious! My favourite part of the museum was the exposed glass escalator which brought me up to the sixth floor, where I caught a glimpse of a great view of the Parisian skyline. I also enjoyed taking pics of the details on the facade - totally fascinating indeed!
Moving back to heritage places - the next day we went to Notre Dame Cathedral and had a great time enjoying the peace and serenity there. Of course - lots of pics followed. The Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the oldest buildings in Paris - and sets the scene for the famous Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The cathedral itself was completed in 1345, but underwent restoration in the 1800s after the French Revolution. We stayed mainly in the nave (main area of the cathedral) as the queue to the top was way too long!! Sunny weather encourages people to come out more :)
I had to make a trip back to Avenue des Champs-Elysees as I wanted to take a pic of the Arch du Triomphe from the middle of the road...and for other reasons of course. But on that day I was really, really lucky - as I got to see the Queen of England - as she was in France for the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landing. And she drove down the Champs-Elysees...along with an impressive entourage. Many of us were so delighted to see her - she looked so beautiful indeed! The place was, of course, heavily guarded, but the guard standing beside me was really friendly :) After the barriers were removed, I quickly ran to the middle of the road to take pics of the Arch du Triomphe at the end of Champs-Elysees! Mission accomplished!
I also visited two public gardens in Paris - Jardin du Luxembourg and Jardin des Tuileries (on the other end of the Champs-Elysees, directly opposite the Arch du Triomphe)...more to that when I feature individual Paris posts in the near future!
Till then - time for me to start uploading the Dijon and Paris snapshots I took! I've got thousands of photos to share...!!!