Posts

Let's Go Europe!

One incentive of being in the GPS EMEAI project is having the chance of visiting European countries easily. The project is based in Paris, France and has been the focal point of our travel within Europe. Crossing the borders of two countries can sometimes be negligible that you won’t even notice it unless you see the sign that announces the new country’s identity. On the offhand chance that you find yourself in Europe, here are surely enjoyable places that should be included in your itinerary… Allez, Allez Francais! Paris has a lot to offer to tourists. There’s the famous Champs-Elysees, dubbed as the most beautiful avenue in the world. La Tour Eiffel in its towering presence. Arc de Triomphe, a work of art that symbolizes triumph even in defeat. Sacre Couer with its glorious overview of the city of Paris and the nearby Painter’s alley. Notre Dame de Paris, famous for its connection with a classic story. Chateau de Versailles, a castle that could be commended for its beautiful
2 comments
Read more

Ciao Italia

Italy. It is a country that I have loved even before I saw it. I know it is hard to perceive but I developed a love for the place months before my actual visit. I guess you can say that it is ironic because I started to form a longing for Italy when I visited the Louvre Museum in Paris. There I saw wonderful frescoes by Boticelli who, although I’ve heard of before, was virtually a stranger for me. In my interest, I decided to buy a book and learn more about the artist and his works. And there I learned that most of his works are housed in the Uffizi gallery in Florence. The more I read about him, the more I wanted to see his work in person. Thus, I promised myself that I would one day see Florence and see Boticelli’s splendid creations with my own eyes. It took me some time, but I was finally able to go to Italy. It was a tour I made on my own. A decision that would have intimidated the faint-hearted but it only strengthened my resolve. I told myself that if I don’t do this
Post a Comment
Read more

Loire and Brittany

Last Saturday, we went to the Loire area. It was now easier for us because a friend of ours here at the office gave us a website that gives you the path to follow from one place to another. We started off with a visit to Orleans where St. Jean D'Arc won her first (and only?) major battle against the English. The place looks a little bit more modern than what we were expecting. Their Cathedral is beautiful. We saw it from afar and the first word that we uttered was "Wow!". It is a good sample of Gothic Architecture. It somewhat reminds me Notre Dame here in Paris. The only bad thing is that it was being fixed so we can't take a picture of it as a whole. We tried to look for the house of Jean D'Arc but we got lost. It seems that it is not a tourist spot or directions would have given us an idea of its relative location. After several tries, we decided to head off to Chenonceaux for our first castle of the day. The trip to Chenonceaux took a really long ti
Post a Comment
Read more

Lourdes & Biarritz

Last weekend, we went to Lourdes (Pyrenees) and to Biarritz (Cote Basque). These areas are near the Spanish border. The Spanish influence was evident on the structure of the houses in that area. The houses were simple but what's so Spanish about them are their window shutters. I have not seen these in the other places we went to in France. These places are so near Spain that the prices of items were in French Francs and in Spanish Peseta. Lourdes is a pilgrimage area. When we entered the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, the first thing we noticed was the chapels. There were a lot of chapels there. In fact in one building, there was the chapel for St. Jean D'Arc and another one for St. Anne. We were at the upper part of the basilica. We looked below and was amazed by the number of people in there. There was a mass going on and at one part of the place, we saw a lot of people taking water. As we were walking down towards the inner part of the Sanctuary, we heard Engli
Post a Comment
Read more

Adventures in Cote D’Azur

We went to Cote D'Azur during the weekend. We took an overnight train from Paris to Nice. There were five in our group : Darwin, Maridol, Jack, Dran and myself. The cabin we were in have couchettes or beds but each cabin has 6 each. Thus, we were forced to sleep early because our companion wanted to sleep early. Ah well. Originally, our companion was a young American guy (cute!) but when he learned that we were all together, he requested someone else to stay with us. This time, we got a middle-aged French guy who was so snobbish. He didn't even say good evening to us. After spending an hour to get a car (Avis in Nice was so slow!), we went to Mc Donalds for breakfast. Now, I don't know where they get their idea of fast food but they definitely suck at it. It took us about more than 30 minutes to get our meal and the food was worse than expected. I guess the French are just not used to the idea of fast food. Well, I guess that's typical since from my observat
Post a Comment
Read more

Vernon, Giverny, Deauville, Lisieux, Etretat

Last Friday was a holiday here. Thus, we had a long weekend. For this week, we decided to rent a car (at the project's expense of course) and drive through the French countryside. We went to the Normandy area. It was fun. We went to Vernon where we had a chance to feed swans in the Seine river. Then, we went to Giverny where Claude Monet was born. His garden is amazing. It has a collection of almost every flower you can imagine. It was wonderful. His water lily pond, where he based his famous "water lily" paintings was exactly as it was depicted in his paintings. Amazing. I loved it there. We got lost on our way to Deauville and we asked some natives how to get there. We were advised to go through Lisieux to get to Deauville. When we arrived at Deauville, we learned that there's no more hotel room available. The place is good but were not able to explore it more. We ate dinner there and then left to go back to Lisieux. As it turned out, Lisieux is the
Post a Comment
Read more

Windsor Castle

One of the things I like about the movie “American Beauty” is the poetic lines uttered by one of the supporting actors. He said something about beauty being all around us and that sometimes, it’s hard to keep everything within. Sometimes, it’s too great, he felt like his heart will burst. I was at Windsor castle this afternoon and got a glimpse of immense splendor. The palace is a living testimony to the English’s appreciation of beauty. Windsor castle from the outside is a great edifice to behold. It bespoke of magnificence, strength, pride and endurance. For a castle that was built 900 years ago, it is well kept and still worthy to be the residence of the Queen of England. Upon entering the castle, one gets a glimpse of the exquisiteness that is a common sight for the royalty. The entrance is filled with a lot of war memorabilia : swords, guns, lances and suits of armors. Picture taking is strictly prohibited and I felt a great disappointment for not being able to capture the
Post a Comment
Read more