safe and sound.

Perhaps this opinion of mine may change when I am put into that situation, but for the moment, I don't see why some people don't like it when their significant other checks out a member of the opposite sex.

After all all they're doing is looking. So if you are afraid that your significant other is gonna leave you and run off just because someone is hot, clearly your relationship needs major strengthening.

It's like saying that if you have a pet dog at home, that you are not allowed to think that other dogs are cute because it might mean that you are gonna give your dog away for a cuter one. What makes the dog yours is not the fact that it is the best looking one out there, but because it has been there for you every time you come home.

So the same goes for relationships. Nothing wrong with admiring the 'view' ;). 

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deux.

Okay this is gonna be a lengthy post so bear with me.

Saturday morning started out relatively early, perhaps too early as most shops had yet to open for the day. We did however stumble upon this little antique market on Rue Monge where I was very tempted to buy some rings and necklaces but with a price tag of 40euros for a necklace it was way out of my price range. There were a ton of interesting things such as swords and even this Autobridge playing board.

Wanted to head into

the Pantheon 

but got kinda distracted at the market for too long. Headed to the newparistours meeting point at the St. Michel fountain around 11am for their free tour. We had Amanda as our guide for the next 3.5 hours and it turned out to be a very good tour as she was both informative and entertaining.

Saw the Pont des Arts which is where couples go and 'lock' their love and throw away the key into the river Seine. Romantic? Cheesy? Unrealistic? Either way I thought it was a nice part of being in Paris.

Perhaps those who do have a lock on the bridge carry a spare key just in case the love doesn't last?

Covered most of the touristy places of Paris so was more than happy to tip the guide at the end of it all. After having lunch it was then a short walk to where else but the Eiffel Tower. What is a trip to Paris without a visit to the Eiffel Tower. Didn't go to the top but even from the bottom it was a sight to behold.

The Eiffel Tower.

After that made our way to Galeries Lafayettes which was way overcrowded. They had a gorgeous ceiling which I forgot to take a picture of but considering it was just a shopping mall was really pretty. 

Bout some macarons from 

The passionfruit and chocolate one was delicious. They also had one that had chili in it which might seem strange but was surprisingly quite nice as it had that little 'kick'. 

Went to the Arc de Triomphe after where I did not know I had to climb up like hundreds of steps to get to the top. Well worth it though. Had a magnificent view of Paris at night as well as getting to see the Eiffel Tower light up for their light show.

So bright and twinkly =D. 

After that headed back to the Latin Quarter for dinner as everyone was pretty tired out from the long day. However, Andrew, Sonia and I headed back out to walk along the River Seine wanting to make the most of our Paris trip. Funnily enough we three were the oldest in the group but yet the only ones with the energy to go back out. 

We were rewarded with a glimpse of just how beautiful Paris could be at night.

The Notre Dame. 

Wandered around a little longer before deciding to call it a night. But no before stumbling upon the bookshop(Shakespeare and Co.) as well as a jazz bar that were on my list of things to see. Only while getting 'lost' did I find these places. Haha. 

And that was day 2. 

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un.

Ah Paris. One hears so many wonderful things about it all the time. So when I finally went there, was slightly afraid that Paris was overhyped and that it wouldn't meet my expectations.

Thankfully, it did. It's such a beautiful city that I would love to stay there for a bit. Perhaps not for life but at least for a month or two.

Flight was delayed for an hour so by the time we landed in Paris it was 5pm instead of the scheduled 4pm. Paris Beauvais was a small airport so getting through immigration was quick. And then it was a 1.5 hour bus ride into Paris itself as Beauvais is more like the country side. The Metro/RER was relatively easy to navigate thanks to the app I downloaded on my iPhone.

Got off at the St. Michel-Notre Dame spot for my first proper sight of Paris. It was dark and cold but even then Paris was beautiful. Although slightly lost at first, managed to find Hotel Marignan(thanks to Julian's app of Paris; what would we do without iPhones I swear) where we would be staying. The guys' room was on the fifth floor which meant an extra 2 flights of stairs compared to us girls to climb but they had a balcony!

View from their balcony.

Checked in with no hassle as the lazy at the counter spoke perfect English. Unloaded our luggage into our rooms which was a lot bigger than I thought it would be after hearing about how small Paris hotel rooms could be and then it was off to dinner.

On the suggestion of the lady who checked us in we ended up in Le Volcan(10, rue Thouin) for dinner. Bout a 10 minute walk from our hotel as it was next to Place de la Contrescarpe(where Ernest Hemingway used to hang out). Three course meal for 12euros was decent I guess.

Campaign Pate for my appetizer.

Cheese and bacon thingy for main course. 

For dessert I had a cheese and chestnut puree dish but was too eager to dig into it hence the lack of a picture. It was really yummy though. 

By the time we were done it was 11ish so wandered around a little and then went back to rest up for a long day ahead. And so day 1(more like night) in Paris was over. 

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always have.

This time tomorrow I hope to be sipping on a glass of wine watching Parisiennes go by.

Can't wait for my first ever trip to Paris. 

Kinda nervous though. A country where I don't speak the language.

Not to mention the fact that I have either overplanned my trip or underplanned it. Not sure which one as some parts of my itinerary are extremely detailed whereas other parts are just blank in hopes that I will get distracted by something.

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new.

Haven't blogged for agess. 

Not quite sure why but I do suddenly feel like going back to blogging. And changing the colour scheme of my blog.

This is probably the first time I'm not using a black background. Something about black just seems so depressing at the moment. So doing a 180 and using white and pink-ish tones.

So much has changed yet stayed the same in the last 6 months. Will slowly be putting all that down into words.

But for the time being, here's my favourite postsecret of the week =).

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doe.

Sure the series might actually have ended 4 years ago but since there were still the movies it didn't really hit me that it all comes to an end.

By far the best of all the movies, Deathly Hallows Part 2 did not disappoint at all. Maybe it's cause it's the last movie so there are a lot more emotions involved that the few missing parts don't really matter.

I am one who gets very engrossed in a fictional world. So can you imagine how attached I am to the Harry Potter series?

7 books. 8 movies. A million fanfiction stories and fanvids. Couple of RPG sites.

Such a big part of my life. My little retreat out of reality. 

There's still pottermore and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to look forward to! A small consolation. 

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wizard.

Kinda lazy to blog now a days. Not sure why. I think cause it actually requires brain power to sit down and type stuff out that will actually make sense to people and not just me. Haha.

Slight update on my Aussie trip. More for memory's sake so that when I grow old I'd be able to read through this blog and remember all the things I got up to.

11 days in Australia was BEYOND tiring. As in I don't think I've ever been so sleep deprived.

Melbourne was only a few of us so it wasn't so bad. We still went to bed at a decent-ish hour (anything before 3 is decent when you put a bunch of friends together) and woke up before noon. Yays! Didn't really do much in Melbourne city as had two mini 'roadtrips' driving off to Dandenong and Mornington Peninsula. It was definitely the more relaxed part of the trip.

Did manage to catch sight of two penguins fighting at St. Kilda's. Soooo cute. One was chasing the other the whole time and it was a 'catfight' but penguin style. Totally looked like a lover's quarrel.

Then came Sydney. Here our group doubled in size. Basically there were like 11 of us walking around together. Everything we did took more time than expected. Even crossing the street we'd have to wait a while cause the light would turn red and half our group would still be on the other side of the road. Dad said we were like a walking Chinatown.

Two days in a row we woke up before the sunrise. Crazy no? Once was to go to the fish market where I had fresh sashimi, oysters and lobsters for a really decent price. It was yummyyyyy. The other was to go up to Blue Mountains. I swear everyone was just running on caffeine those days.

All in all it was a really good trip =). It's been a while since the bunch of us have hung out together.

But I don't think I'd be up for another one so soon. Those 11 days really drained me.

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