Eurotrip 2023: Day 15 – And just like that, bye Paris and bye Europe!

All good things come to an end, and our trip to Europe finally drew to a close. It felt strange that those days just went by, and we were about to fly home.

We were not sure when exactly we’d be back, but Mon and I are certain we’d visit again some time next year. We just had sole unfinished business in Rome and Paris. But that would have to be planned thoroughly.

We also already missed the 3 kitties at that point (just watching them play, eat and sleep from the CCTV).

Last look at our AirBnB in Paris

Continue Reading

Eurotrip 2023: Day 13 – Le musée du Louvre et l’Arc de triomphe

While we had been around Louvre twice already in our last few days in Paris, we had our tickets only towards the end of our stay. It was exciting to finally see in person some of the most famous artworks in the world.Papa, on the other hand, was more than happy to stay back at the AirBnB. We had to remind him not to cook at all, rather just use the microwave to warm the food we got him from Le Merci the night before.

He’d watch Netflix the whole time, anyway.

Our timed entry for the Louvre is at exactly 10:00 am, and we got there at around 9:51 am. We just hoped we’d have enough time to queue. The line, however, was long as soon as we got out of the walkway.

Sun shining at Mama at underneath the Louvre Pyramid

Continue Reading

Eurotrip 2023: Day 12 – Versailles and Songs at Seine

Day 12 in Europe and our 4th full day in France. We have booked our tickets for Versailles was back in March, with Ikle advising it’d be best to arrive there as early as we can.

I still got the 10:00 am tickets. There’s no way we’d be there at 9:00 am considering the travel from Paris. In fact, for the Versailles day, even left at 8:20 am in Paris.

As most days we were with Ikle, I did not even bother opening the map and navigating. She’d be the boss on our travel to Versailles.

Waiting for the train to Versailles

Continue Reading

Eurotrip 2023: Day 11 – Sacré-Cœur and the Jardin du Luxembourg

The sight of a ‘no rain’ forecast on my weather app was a welcome news!

The previous day had been very wet, but Paris still delivered. For our 11th day, we’d be visiting Sacré-Cœur at Montmartre.

Compared to Rome where I already lost count the number of churches we have visited, Sacré-Cœur was our first in Paris.

First glimpse of Sacré-Cœur after a long walk

Continue Reading

Eurotrip 2023: Day 10 – Rainy Day Concorde, and Bir-Hakeim

On our second full day in Paris, the weather started acting up. I’ve checked the forecast of the day and it said 90% of rain.

I’ve looked out the window and saw that the sky was cloudy. It may not look like it from the photo below but it was surely going to rain that day.

I looked at the itinerary we planned and we had done some of those listed the day before. It really was a suggestion.

It didn’t look like it, but it felt like it was about to rain

Continue Reading

Eurotrip 2023: Day 9 – La Tour Eiffel and a bit of shopping

The following morning, we woke up quite late. It was safe to say I no longer had any jet lag.

It was our first full day in Paris after a wonderful preview the night before. We were all looking forward to getting up close to the Eiffel Tower from the Place du Trocadéro.

I even used my Trocadéro just for that. LOL

    Our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower up close; and tourists at Place du Trocadéro

Continue Reading

Eurotrip 2023: Day 8 – Arrivederci Roma, Bonjour Paris!

Day 8, and it was our travel day from Rome to Paris!

We woke up at around 6:45 am, ate our breakfast, and packed the last few things we needed to pack before we zipped closed all of our bags.

I already pre-booked a 6-seater FreeNow car from our AirBnB to Fiumicino Airport, and it was due to arrive at exactly 10:00 am. We were not to check-out until 11:00 am, but we thought it would be better to have considerable lead time.

It was raining a bit, and I was hoping it would stop raining by the time we go down the AirBnB.

Unfortunately, it did not.

We’d miss this cork board

Continue Reading

Rekindling with Kindle and this colorblind’s dilemma

I must admit. I had slowly neglected my Kindle since I got my BlackBerry on the last week of November 2011. We used to be inseparable from the moment I bought it in 2010 when it was first released.

Finding the way back to my Kindle - Manila, Philippines

But since I no longer have regular classes and the internet connectivity in my cellphone is admittedly much better (though Kindle’s 3G capability, providing FREE internet is insurmountable), I ceased carrying it everyday.

Continue Reading