france Archives - Jerlin Huang

May 7, 2016September 22, 2021TravelLeave a comment

A weekend getaway in Lyon

OK… so my worst nightmare came true. I lost everything in my external hard drive 🙁 a l l my high-res photos which I was so excited to share during the summer holidays. It was a real bummer and I lost all my motivation to update this blog so yes that explains the long hiatus.

Well I decided that I’ll still do travel updates with the photos left in my phone (thank God I still have these) in case something suddenly happens to all my photos again :'(

Blogging from the phone is quite a chore but I’ll try my best… Where’d I stop?

Aaah yes, Lyon. Lovey, lovely, Lyon. I spent one of my best days in France here, the weather was so kind to us and escaping from the hustle and bustle of Paris made it a perfect weekend getaway. 🙂

Erica looked so cosy in our Airbnb apartment I couldn’t help taking this picture of her 🙂

Us outside the Cathédrale St. Jean-Baptiste ^_^

There were so many quaint little cafes and intriguing shops along the streets we had the best time shopping around the area. You also get to listen to random street performances which really liven up the atmosphere.

After shopping and stopping for some desserts, we decided to take a mini hike up to the La Basilique de Nôtre Dame de Fourvière perched on top of Fourvière hill. I found out after that you can also choose to take a tram to the top with a regular metro or bus ticket, but I’d choose to walk again if the weather was good. Erica was a lovely travel companion hehehe.

Best. Decision. Yet. The view was so pretty it made us so happy. We stayed there until sunset because ~good vibes~. Visiting the Basilica and getting this amazing paranomic view was free, and the entry to the Museum of Religious Art is 5 euros.

Lyon, you’re beautiful. And I can’t wait to be back one day 🙂

Last but not least, we both took a Blablacar back to Paris that weekend and it was so great!!
Blablacar is a car-sharing service where a local picks up people going in the same direction. The cost is almost the same or sometimes cheaper than taking a train, depending on your driver. Although travelling time may be slightly longer, I highly recommend it because you get to chat with the locals and look at awesome scenery along the way.

Here’s a picture of our ride back 😀

February 7, 2016August 8, 2016Photography, TravelLeave a comment

FRANCE: What Paris looks like from the Eiffel Tower

After watching the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Paris has always been a dream.
Most opinions I’ve heard about Paris are on either extreme sides of the spectrum – you either love it or you hate it. It’s definitely the former for me. Well it may be a little too fast-paced sometimes. More often than not, you start to realise that everyone else is walking faster than you. But looking back at these photos make me miss the lovely city already. I did have a wonderful time, the city has an alluring charm that only those who step into it would understand and being able to experience that was such a treat. I’m already looking forward to head back and hopefully share this experience with the people I love next time.

All the hearsay about the French being rude didn’t turn out to be true for me. In fact, I’ve actually met a lot of kind strangers without whom I might have ended up wandering in circles like a stray cat. The French people are proud of their language, they are not rude. They love people who try to speak a little French because it shows them we’re putting in some form of effort to be a part of their culture. But of course, having attended a month’s worth of French lessons, I’d say French is definitely a difficult language to grasp but hey, learning a few words won’t hurt!

Basic useful French phrases to know:

Excusez-moi – Excuse me
Merci – Thank you
Un, Deux [duh], Trois [tua], Quartre [cart], Cinq [sunk] – One, Two, Three, Four, Five
Bonjour – Hello/ Good Morning
Au Revoir – Bye
Bonne Soirée– Good Evening
Bonne Nuit – Good Night
Aujourd’hui – Today
Hier – Yesterday
C’est la même chose [c’es-la-mem-shos] – It’s the same (Lol this was Shaun’s favourite phrase…… Haha it’s useful when you’re ordering the same thing as the previous person)
Comment tu t’appelles? – What is your name?
S’il vous plaît [see-voo-play] – Please
Pardon, je n’ai pas compris. – Pardon, I did not understand. (Past tense)
Excusez-moi, je ne comprends pas. [zheu neu kompron par]- Excuse me, I do not understand. (Present tense)
Je ne parle pas français [zheu neu parl par fron-say] – I do not speak french.
S’il vous plaît, je cherche…… [see-voo-play, zheu share-sh ……]– Please, I’m looking for… (place you’re looking for)

IMG_0802_low-res — View overlooking the Seine River, taken from the Eiffel Tower.

IMG_0817_low-res — Facing east from the Eiffel Tower. Here you can see the gold dome of Les Invalides. Besides being a burial site for previous outstanding French war heroes, it was also once commissioned by Louis XIV as a hospital for soldiers.

The view overlooking southeast over Champ de Mars from the Eiffel Tower, towards École Militaire at the end of the lawn. The tall black building sticking out is actually Tour Montparnasse, where you can get an amazing view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower. (Because you can’t actually see the Eiffel Tower from the Eiffel Tower, ha. More pics on that later!)

I’m always in awe of the fabulous architecture in Paris (and the unbelievable amount of good-looking people). Parisians have an extraordinary good fashion sense, especially in Winter. (｡♥‿♥｡)

Alright, more updates real soon. In the meantime, au revoir and have a lovely chinese new year folks! 🙂

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February 1, 2016November 14, 2016All, Photography, TravelLeave a comment

FRANCE: First Glimpse of Paris Suburbs

We flew from Singapore to Paris with a transit in Zurich for around SGD$1,200 for a return trip if I remember correctly. Our departing flight was via SwissAir and Lufthansa! Not extremely impressed with the service by SwissAir but Lufthansa was great! And Lufthansa’s plane seats are much more comfortable as well.

The first night, our accommodation was located at Nanterre, France.

Nanterre is one of the western suburbs of Paris but it was really convenient for us because we could get to Paris from a nearby metro station through the express subway. Our airbnb host was extra kind to pick us up directly from the bus station near his apartment.

Since we arrived pretty late in the afternoon due to a flight delay, our host suggested that we head down to a nearby Christmas market which was only a 10-minute walk away!

This was our first Christmas market so I was pretty excited and wide-eyed for all the scrumptious looking food. I’ll admit to being a hopeless sweet-tooth addict here, so my eyes were basically lighting up at every signboard that screamed “Churros” or “Crepes”.

There’s something about Christmas markets that give you warm, fuzzy vibes in both your heart and tummy.

We’d have love to try more food but our host offered to prepare our dinner for us. Guess what?

Looks lovely ain’t it!! It was such a simple dish – Traditional melted Raclette over the grill accompanied by humble boiled potatoes, and a variety of dried meat selection. Not forgetting the ridiculously cheap wine available in their supermarkets!! The french love cheese and wine. Love is probably even an understatement. It’s probably the equivalent staple food to them as rice and noodles are to Asians.

Shoving boiled potatoes down our stomachs with a couple of glasses of red wine plus insightful conversations with the host – that concluded our first night in France.

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Tag: france