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France

Paris, Travel, France, Versailles, Chateau de Versailles, Marie Antoinette, Europe, 2015, Summer, Paris during summer, Summer Versailles,
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Travel: Château de Versailles

We reserved the first half of our last day in France for a short trip to Château de Versailles. Seems fitting doesn’t it? Also, considering the itinerary my husband drew up for our Paris trip, it seemed better to venture out of the city on our last day.

I’ve always been fascinated by this place – even before the public’s whole Marie Antoinette obsession that followed the release of Sofia Coppola’s movie. Side note: Didn’t like the movie. It lacked character development. Great shots and soundtrack though. Also, Kirsten Dunst was perfect for the role.

There’s just something so intriguing about this palace. From its grandeur, the lavish lifestyle of its former inhabitants, and for it being the setting of their downfall as well. It actually makes you want to wish that the walls can talk.

To this day, the château remains to be a symbol of France’s absolute monarchy or what they call the ‘old regime’.

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Getting there:

The easiest way is by taking the RER train (not the Metro) to the Versailles Rive Gauche station. From there, the palace is only a short walk. There will be maps all over the station.

Tickets:

It’s best to book your tickets online as lines outside the palace are horrendous. Especially if you’re visiting in the summer. We were lucky that it was starting to get cold during our visit so we didn’t end up sweating and burning under the sun while we waited to get inside, tickets in hand. We stood in line for about 15 minutes which isn’t so bad though. But of course, on warmer days, the wait will definitely be longer. A ticket that will take you through the palace and the gardens is at 15 Euros. This price also includes the audio guide. If you want to enter the Trianon estates, there will be extra fees.

The château

Located about 20 kilometres from Paris, Versailles used to be a sleepy village but nowadays, its a bit of a posh suburb. Louis XIII had a hunting lodge built in this area but it was later on expanded and renovated by the Kings that followed him: Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI.

Paris, Travel, France, Versailles, Chateau de Versailles, Marie Antoinette, Europe, 2015, Summer, Paris during summer, Summer Versailles,

Paris, Travel, France, Versailles, Chateau de Versailles, Marie Antoinette, Europe, 2015, Summer, Paris during summer, Summer Versailles,

Paris, Travel, France, Versailles, Chateau de Versailles, Marie Antoinette, Europe, 2015, Summer, Paris during summer, Summer Versailles,

Paris, Travel, France, Versailles, Chateau de Versailles, Marie Antoinette, Europe, 2015, Summer, Paris during summer, Summer Versailles,

The château has indeed come a long way from its stone and brick hunting lodge days. It’s the epitome of grandeur – with art and gold leafing in almost every corner, painted ceilings, intricate sculptures, and lavish furniture. It can be overwhelming.

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Travel: Paris Streets and Shops, Notre Dame Cathedral, Shakespeare & Co., Sacré Cœur, Montmartre (Paris Day 3)

One of the things I love about Paris is the abundance of interesting stores and cafés that can be found in its various streets and alleys. They’re like little surprises.

France, Travel, Paris, Europe, Holiday, Summer, Paris Streets, Paris Shops,

France, Travel, Paris, Europe, Holiday, Summer, Paris Streets, Paris Shops,

Caught window shopping by the husband. 😉

If you’re a fan of luxury bags, there are a LOT of stores selling pre-loved ones all over Paris. Lili Rose Luxury in Rue Dauphine actually offers pretty good deals. However, if you’re from Asia, I’d say the shops in Tokyo still offer better prices. 😉

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France, Travel, Paris, Europe, Holiday, Summer, Paris Streets, Paris Shops, River Seine,

France, Travel, Paris, Europe, Holiday, Summer, Paris Streets

France, Travel, Paris, Europe, Holiday, Summer, Paris Streets, Paris Shops, Paris Streets, Love Locks, Love Locks Paris, Pont des Artes,

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in Travel

Travel: Jardin du Luxembourg (Paris Day 3)

It’s 2016 and I’m still behind my posting schedule. I’ve already had three other trips after our Europe trip so you guys can really imagine my backlog. Tee hee. Just looking at it is enough to make me feel overwhelmed. So from now on, I’m gonna keep the travel entries for Europe shorter and will keep it to one to two places per post. I will be eliminating some of the minor places we visited or passed by and just focus on the major ones. Will also just opt for photo heavy posts. I’ll still be giving travel tips but they’ll definitely be a lot shorter. Hope that’s alright with you, loves!

***

On our third day, my husband and I decided to bring some breakfast and eat inside the Luxembourg Gardens to have a picnic of sorts. It was a great plan as we wanted a relaxed and kind of a romantic morning.

France, Travel, Paris, Europe, Holiday, Summer, Luxembourg Gardens, Luxembourg Palace, Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris Garden, Paris Flower Garden, Park

It was the perfect place for a breakfast date, to be honest.

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Travel: Paris Day 1 – Musée de l’Armée + Les Invalides + Napoleon Bonaparte Tomb + Eiffel Tower

Back to travel posts! Right after we arrived in Paris, my husband and I freshened up and went straight to exploring for a bit. The first stop was Musée d’Orsay.

And since it’s summer in Paris and it was about two in the afternoon, we found the longest line known to mankind.

Of course, my spirits weren’t dampened. We each have a Paris Pass! Surely, there’s a special line. Yes, there is! But it’s also equally long. *insert disappointed face emoji here 😒*

For those who haven’t heard of the Paris Pass, it’s your ticket to a lot of the attractions in Paris and includes a lot of perks and freebies too. Oh, you can also opt to get a train ticket with them that will give you unlimited Metro rides for the duration of your stay.

Some would say it’s kinda gimmicky but you actually save money and time by using it if you plan to go to a lot of museums and attractions. Since it’s the husband’s first time in Paris, we had a pretty tight itinerary so we could go to a lot of the ‘must-sees’.

Sadly, we had to skip Musée d’Orsay for this trip due to the crazy line. I really wanted to go show him my favourite Renoir which can be found in this museum. 🙁 Weird enough, we didn’t have the same problem with the Louvre. But I’ll talk about this on a different post.

We then moved on to Musée de l’Armée which is something we’re really excited about.

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France’s National Military Museum is located inside Les Invalides. A compound in the 7th Arrondissement that houses a couple of beautiful buildings that relate to the country’s rich military history. Aside from Musée de l’Armée, you can also find a couple of war monuments, a hospital and retirement home for war veterans, and even a former Church that houses Napoleon Bonaparte’s tomb. We’ll get to that in a bit. 😉

 

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Almost Diplomatic - carolific - Diplomat’s Wife - Travel - Paris - Hotel Home Moderne Paris - Antique Book Market
in Europe

Travel: Arrival in Paris + Hotel Home Moderne, Paris (Review) + Antique Book Market

After a short stay in Amsterdam, we took the Thalys to Paris. It was a pleasant journey that took a little over 3 hours.

Thankfully, we took the train on that particular day as just a few days later, a gunman boarded the same train and planned to shoot innocent passengers as the train sped through Belgium! Good thing there were 3 men – 2 Americans and a French national who stopped him! It’s still a running joke that if it were Alvin and me on that train, God knows what would have happened. :)) But I digress.

Getting there

We arrived at Garre du Nord station where we were able take the Metro to where our hotel was.

Almost Diplomatic - carolific - Diplomat’s Wife - Travel - Paris - Hotel Home Moderne Paris - Antique Book Market

We were lugging around big suitcases and one thing I should tell you is that Paris Metro stations are not that conducive for people with humungous trolleys with them.

I knew this already and I know I should have packed less but we were staying in Europe for 3 effing weeks! I’m not the backpacker type of traveller either – I need my hair products and I will never sacrifice my clothing choices. So I pulled and huffed my way to the other side of Garre du Nord.

Alvin tried to help me but I was too proud. I did let a couple of French guys help me carry my suitcase up a few flights of stairs in two separate incidents. For two good reasons – 1, my suitcase was indeed heavy and 2, I just want show Alvin that I still got ‘it’. 😛 Whoever started the rumour that the French are snobs, I really have no idea whom you’ve met. The last time I was in Paris in 2013 and on this recent visit as well, I’ve only met kind and helpful Parisians!

We got off at Plaisance where the hotel was a good 10-minute walk from. It’s not too far, to be honest. But with heavy luggage, it did feel like forever.

Location

Almost Diplomatic - carolific - Diplomat’s Wife - Travel - Paris - Hotel Home Moderne Paris - Antique Book Market

Hotel Home Moderne is located in the 15th arrondissement so it’s not too near the city centre and all the attractions. However, with the Paris Metro line, everything in the city and its outskirts are always easily accessible.

Almost Diplomatic - carolific - Diplomat’s Wife - Travel - Paris - Hotel Home Moderne Paris - Antique Book Market

It’s more of a residential area where there are quaint cafés and small restaurants. If you want to see actual Parisians (even in the summer!), I suggest you stay here. You also get the feel of actually ‘living’ in Paris because of the neighbourhood.

It’s a tourist-friendly area but not touristy – you get what I’m saying? There’s an abundance of small grocery stores which also makes everything easier.

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Paris, Travel, Diplomat's Wife, Eiffel Tower, Where to go, What to see, What to eat
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Travel + Video: Paris 2015

Our next stop in Europe was Paris! Though this city will always have a special place in my heart, I have to admit that in the summer, it can be too hot and too crowded. Nevertheless, I still had a lot of fun since going back to this city – this time with my husband – is just really romantic.

Before I move on to writing about where to go and some travel tips to Paris, let me share with you this video filled with snippets from this leg of our trip! Enjoy! :-*

More later!

xx,

Carol

*Trip is not sponsored by any country’s tourism department, company, or brand but by my side of the family living in Europe.  😊

in Diplomatic Incidents, Personal Musings

An Unpopular Opinion on Charlie Hebdo

Thought long and hard about this. And as someone who worked for the news, I admit that yesterday, I felt extreme fear and anger over the incident in Paris. So much so that it won’t go away until I wrote down my two cents: Murder is never the answer. An insult also deserves an insult, not a violent retaliation. An eye for an eye.

Meanwhile, freedom of speech – a privilege we enjoy – should be used as a tool to inform, to criticize (constructively), and to inspire change where it is needed. Humor is welcome. To poke fun at some things we find different from what we are used to is a mainstream reaction. But as journalists, we all have the responsibility to use freedom of speech to bridge gaps by giving information rather than widening them. To inspire change where it is needed and not force it on people.

To give laughs (satire) every now and then but know when to stop. Know when it is doing more damage than good. Not just for the muslims but for any other religious or racial group.

This doesn’t mean we’re scared or that we’re ‘toning it down’ for a senseless reason. We must speak the truth and point out what’s wrong. Always. And that should be the number one reason for a report or a cartoon – not to illicit ridicule or to make others feel inferior over one’s values (whatever they may be) that he/she find superior over others.

Bringing together people through understanding how different they are from each other and promoting respect between them is important. Freedom doesn’t mean you can go around insulting everyone just for the sake of it. It means you have the right to an opinion. A constructive one. To go way beyond that and to hide behind this freedom as an excuse for being mean is an abuse of the freedom of speech we enjoy.

Giving constructive criticism is different from promoting ridicule and being mean. You can always argue that to you, it’s valid. You like racist jokes? Go ahead and laugh but keep it to yourself and your friends. If you publish it – for thousands or millions of people to consume, a journalist must ask himself whether what he is sharing to a huge number of people is a responsible piece of journalism or something that will just promote hate and misunderstanding.

Having the freedom of speech doesn’t mean you can go around publishing irresponsible and mean pieces of journalism just cos you are free to do it. If it ain’t helping to share information or promote understanding of an issue (negatively/positively/whatever) – trash it.

By all means, poke fun at the things and people that need to be given a taste of satirical medicine. But will a naked prophet on a compromising position get your point across to someone who you decide to insult (in the most extreme way for them possible)? Or maybe a different funny drawing – one that would not fan the flames of an ongoing problem – could have done it better? Maybe something else that can represent the problem you see in them clearer rather than their prophet in a scandalous position. You insult, enrage, then expect them to understand you. How will they listen to you when you’ve already made them so angry that they are now blind and deaf to what you’re saying? There are other ways to be effective in one’s job. And as journalists we must call a spade for what it is. Those cartoons were made with the intention to enrage some, to illicit condescending laughs, and to sell copies – to inform was just secondary. And this may seem like being too much of an idealist but maybe we should all remember what journalism is all about. While selling more copies is great, shouldn’t your responsibility to the society have more weight?

It’s time we value freedom of speech more. It’s time we put a higher premium on journalism. Do it responsibly. A pen is mightier than a sword (or a gun). Use your might properly.

I entered journ school not to become famous or to be rich (it will and should never happen in journalism!) but with the mindset that maybe my stories can start a small change in the world and inspire a bigger change in the future. Sounds like a boatload of cheese, I know. But Im sure other journalists felt the same way. So we should stick to that. Don’t let yourself be disillusioned by what you see other journos are doing. Be that change.

Once again, murder is never the answer. I hope the gunmen are captured and brought to justice. Murder is an act that is most vile and my heart is broken that these people had to die for their craft and their ideas even though I disagree with them to some extent.

This incident should not dampen the spirits of those who seek to report true and unbiased stories. Journalism is a vocation. The truth can sometimes be expensive – some journalists had to pay for it with their lives. But it’s the life we chose and if we stand for the truth and everything else that matters like peace and the freedom of expression and practicing one’s own religion, then we may be seeing a better world in a nearer future.

I look forward to a world where it is normal for Atheists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and any other religious group to coexist by letting each one do his own thing. “You believe that? That’s weird. But that’s all cool. I believe this. You find me weird. I’m ok with that too. Let’s agree to disagree.” Sounds better, don’t you think? Heck, I want my future kids to live in that kind of world. Too idealist? One can dream. ‪#‎NoToViolence‬ ‪#‎CharlieHebdo‬

P.S. And just so its clear: I have my own opinions about religion and politics. I’m no saint. And I have bias too. But to let your bias make its way to your journalism is irresponsible.

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