Short weekend in Paris - Day 1

Heidi flew in Saturday morning and shortly after her arrival, I stuck her on a train into Paris! We arrived early evening of Saturday and checked-in to our hotel at the Emeraude Lodge du Center near Gare du Nord.

taken from the farthest corner we could get to..

crazy old-school blow dryer in the bathroom

Although it was expected, but we were still quite amazed how teeny the elevator to the hotel room was as Heidi and I, with our carry on suitcase, pretty much filled up all of the elevator. Then, there's our hotel room that is maybe around 100sq ft at most.


We spent 3 nights and 2 days in Paris and were determined to visit as many places and do as many things as possible. Heidi came off her flight looking so worn from school and work, and I was eager to just have some time off away from work. Paris was indeed the perfect trip!!!

It rained throughout the first day in Paris. So we spent majority of the day on a hop-on hop-off bus tour of Paris. We didn't let the rain stop us though as we came out for more crawling by night time.

Built between 1163-1334, the Notre-Dame Cathedral was plundered during the French Revolution and rededicated during the cult of Reason. The movie, Hunchback of Notre Dame, helped campaigned for its restoration. This is also where the center of the city of Paris is precisely located.

Here's a view down the Seine river that runs through Paris.

 After a cold and wet day of treading through the city of Paris, we went back to our hotel for a hot shower and came back out to a stand-only wine bar we found.

Good thing we came early enough and made it in there. The place is so small you could probably only stand 15-20 people inside.

We started off with a glass of red wine for each of us (house recommended). A plate of pork fat and  foie gras. Everything was seasoned to perfection and just tasted so fine with the wine!

I then saw some French guys with a plate of meat, so I said "un plat du jambon si'l vous plait!" Should have ordered it with some sauicisson as well!!!  :-)

Next, we ordered today's special with Squid (seasoned with capers, caramelized onions, and some incredibly mysterious but delicious sauce) and a plate of Tuna Tartare. (seasoned with cheese, scallions, and fish roe)

Along with all this was some proper all-you-can-eat french baguette. So plain and so simple with butter but just such great bite and texture! On a full stomach, we needed to walk off and continued the rest of our tour visiting some of the most notable places in Paris.

Here's at the Arc-de-Triomphe. Napoleon ordered for its construction in 1809 as a monument for the achievement of his armies but it didn't complete until after his death.

We also took a trip up to the top of the Eiffel Tower!

Up-close at the Eiffel Tower

 After spending time up the Eiffel Tower, we were exhausted. We got back to the hotel at like 12am. We showered and just passed out for the night! Great productive day we had despite all the rain.

NIGHTS! in Paris

We finally made it back ...loads of pictures! Still so much more to see and crazy stories. Wanted to drop a line and say hello to all!

-Helen & Heidi!

What is it REALLY like to be traveling for business?

Well! The novelty wears off very quickly, unfortunately. Most of the time I just want to order take out so I can go home, eat, and do my thing. If you want something more decent then take out then you'd have to either sit at the bar or sit by yourself at a table to eat. Maybe it's just me but I always get caught between staring at tv even of I don't care what's on tv or read the paper or book like some uncool dork.

Today, I needed something new, something refreshing after the past few weeks of being super sick while running around the office like a maniac. I avoided the after hour bar scene of canary wharf which is like everywhere and ended up at a steak and oyster bar inside a whole foods type supermarket named Waitrose. There's a wine tasting bar as well but I needed some good food! I ordered myself half a dozen of oysters, a glass of Chilean red wine, and a rib eye steak rare!!!! I didnt care that I was alone or what I was doing or who was watching, but omg! It was just such a self satisfying meal. Tummy beyond satisfied and the wine just was so good to have. Stress, worries, cough, and tiredness, all gone almost instantaneously.

Edinburgh Castle

The weekend before leaving Scotland, I took the train from Stirling Station into Edinburgh to continue my touristy journey. This time around, it's the Edinburgh Castle where it actually very similar than that of the Stirling Castle where this is also a Royal Palace, Chapel, etc.

Entrance of the Edinburgh Castle

Unlike the Stirling Castle, many places at this Castle don't allow photography. The Scottish National War Memorial is located inside the castle and inside is decorate with a gold metal casket along with war medals, honors, as well as coat of arms throughout the memorial.

Initially built for the the Scottish who died in the wars between 1914 and 1918 but eventually became a national memorial for all those who fell in subsequent wars as well.

The Royal Palace was another place where photos weren't allowed. The inside is not as big as that of the Stirling Castle but what was awesome about this place is that it actually houses the real Crown, Scepter, and Sword of state used to crown Queen Mary of Scots in 1543, in its true original form!

Outside of the Royal Palace

Room in the Royal Palace where guests are invited to meet the King and Queen

It actually was pretty amazing to see the actual decorated crown, scepter, and sword used for coronation kept in such good form from so many years ago. There's been so much history from the wars between England and Scotland as well as the rise and fall of royal ruling that these royal jewels were smuggled and hidden from enemies on many occasions. If there was ever to be another coronation in the United Kingdom, these would be the Crown, Scepter, and Sword of State used for coronation.

Edinburgh Castle is also where Mary Queen of Scot gave birth to King James VI who later became King of Scots and has his coronation at the Stirling Castle.

Inside the castle...they actually built a dog cemetery!

Another view from the outside perimeter of the Castle

Last entrance/gate into the Castle

If you haven't noticed...all the castle are built on a hill. As a matter of fact, all of Scotland seems hilly.

This is a chapel and also the oldest structure in its original form in all of Scotland.

Military Prison

Prisoners of war were captured and kept in the military prison. Prisoners included Americans, French, English. It's located underground and was at one point overcrowded with prisoners.

One O'clock Gun - fired at 1pm everyday so that sailors and others can adjust their watches to the "real" time. Used in the days before we had watches and when we did have watches, they didn't keep time accurately.

View of Edinburgh from up above!

Fun Fact! None of these canons were ever used or fired in the history of the Edinburgh Castle and the wars that took place. They were only put in at the request of the Queen as she had paid a visit and felt that a castle doesn't seem right without canons. :-)

uh oh...i'm falling behind..

::Deep Breath::

So I've been in London for quite a few days now and this place sure is way better than the place out in Stirling. I've caught a really bad cold on the flight so been feeling like crap. Would honestly want to just put on the headphones and not talk at work..but when I get home, that's when it hits me...how tired I am from all the talking and running around the office.

So hopefully I'll be back in better shape by the weekend so I can just roam around again. I'm currently staying at Canary wharf which essentially is like the Wall street of NY. Not much around after office hours so in a way, it's nice to not be caught in human traffic.

Once I get better, I think I'm going to work on a master plan to see if I can stay in London. :-) No more Stirling! No Edinburgh and no Dublin either!

:-)

Apartment in Stirling

I figure I'd take pictures before leaving. OMG. This place, I don't ever want to get back! Picture are so deceiving. Place is deserted and not much life in the town of Stirling unless you really enjoy lots of open fields with Sheep.

Looked at Bathroom from entryway.

Bedroom with en-suite bathroom

2nd bedroom that never got used.

Kitchenette

Not very well-stocked kitchen with crappy appliances.

Living area

The National Wallace Monument

After spending almost the entire day at the Stirling Castle, I took a super duper long walk to The National Wallace Monument which was build to commemorate Sir William Wallace who help led Scotland to a victory against England in the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. He's a National hero for his patriotism and desire to have help led Scotland to peace and freedom from the English rules during the reign of King Edward I who apparently was super cruel to the Scottish people.

Taken on the way up to the monument

Close-up shot after a super long and uphill walk to the monument!

Another view from down below at ground-level. Wide-angle lens needed eh?!

The Stirling Castle Tour

I'm not much of a history buff but this weekend totally brought me to the next level. I definitely feel smarter with all this Scottish history and castle hunting I was doing this past weekend.

First stop was the Stirling Castle, there are so many Mary and James throughout Scottish history it's really pretty crazy to follow! Everyone's a Queen Mary or a King James! James I, James II, James III, Jame IV, James V, James VI. You following me so far? HAH!

Castle Entrance

Well there was a King Alexander, a King Charles, a King William and many more dating back from the 1100s but James IV - James VI are most popular as very much of the Stirling Castle was expanded and built during their reign. Between 1543-1746, there were at least 8 sieges of Stirling Castle between the English and the Scots.

This is a view of a side of the Royal Palace from Queen Anne Garden

Architecture is apparently a mix of French, German and English influences from the period when King James IV, V and VI were in power.

Behind all the history that I read and re-read, the only thing I seem to remember is just that Margaret Tudor married James VI to have James V who married Mary de Guise who had a daughter who became Mary, Queen of Scots at 6 month old when her father died. She then married Henri from France and had James VI who later became King of Scots as his mother's successor. Whew! I only remember this much as it is the basis of the entire tour of the Castle!

Inside the palace, there was the Outer Close, Inner Close, and actual bedroom of the King and Queen.

This is the Queen's Outer Close which is essentially a waiting area for people to meet and see the Queen. It was also used as an informal dining room.

Special guests selected by the staff get to meet the Queen at the Inner Close which is a much formal room with nicer decor and definitely a more "royal" feel. 

 Now to the King's Outer Close and Inner Close and the usage of the rooms are similar to that of the Queen. Only difference is that these rooms were left unfurnished before King James V died before the design and construction completed. so these rooms are actually left empty at the castle as it should. 

King's Outer Hall where guests of some social prominence are given the "opportunity" to see the King if he so chooses to see them. It's the waiting room, similar to the Queen's Outer Close.

Selected guests are then invited from the Outer Close into the Inner Close to meet with the King. Not much to an empty room but there is the Royal Coat of Arms hung above a fireplace with a stunning ceiling carved out of wood and painted. 

Now to the bedroom of King and Queen. Apparently Purple is the color of royalty and is the most expensive piece of colored fabric to purchase and only sold to those of royal inheritance. The color of the purple come from some sort of sea shells. I forget...got distracted :)

In case you're wondering..they do have people dressed up from the days of the Renaissance depicting and telling stories of the past to share with guests.

 More pictures!!!

Royal Chapel directly across from the Royal Palace where King James V and his daughter Mary, Queen of Scots were crowned

Not too far from the Stirling Castle is the Mar's Wark where the Castle Keeper stayed. There's damage on the building from canon fire during an uprising. As mentioned before, there was a lot of fighting between the Brits and the Scots for control of the Castle between the 15th and 18th century.

View from East side of the Castle from a lookout area in the Ballengeich Cemetery.

Gateway into a part of the castle.

I thought the picture above would be a great way to end this blog. Gateway to discovering some more history of Scotland :-) There's plenty more pictures but I thought these were the highlights to share. Majority of the structure obviously were renovated, rebuilt, and furnished based on historian findings as well as remnants of research and discovery throughout the Castle. Nonetheless, this was a great experiences and it's probably the closest we would ever get to knowing or understanding the history and it's significance in a completely different part of the world!

P.S. I drive by the castle with a great view of it all. One of these days, I'll pull over to snap a picture of the Stirling Castle as I find it to be much more impressive than the Edinburgh Castle in terms of location and view.

Old Town Jail Tour

I actually took this tour last weekend and that was the most I got out of being a tourist as I was called in to work on Sunday and was catching up with sleep on Saturday.

I finally have time to talk about this tour!

Honestly, I thought this was a rip-off mostly because there was really not much to see. This was an okay 1/2 hour tour...

Old Town Jail was built and opened in 1847 due to overcrowding at the Tollbooth Jail

This place was used as the only military prison of Scotland from 1888-1935 and was renovated in the early 1990s. When this place first opened, the prison cell didn't have "real" beds.

Criminals were branded, whipped, and hanged publicly even if your crime was petty. If you were in here, they made sure others know you were here after you leave prison.

The guards and the Inspector of the prison made sure all the inmates were never comfortable or happy, did lots of monotonous manual labor all day long, had strict schedule and routine, and ate coarse food.

By the 1900s, Prison cells evolved to this.

Can't stop thinking about snow...

You ever have days where you're just so sick and tired of work because you're burnt out and things seem so pointless. The politics, the red tape. and the rest of the bullshit.  You then re-gain motivation stumbling into a conversation or an opportunity that just sounds all so exciting and you're determined to make presence and be a part of. Suddenly you're rejuvenated and ready to PLAY! It's a never ending cycle and sometimes we know where we'll end up but we're stupid enough to keep circling and re-entering the same cycle. LOL

oh wells! Today was one of those days...in a good mood :-)

I'm already thinking about snow hoping to make a lot of snowboarding/ski trips with Jeff this year. Bring on the snow to the NorthEast Please!!!!

Utah? but really dream is Japan, Hokkaido! Snowboarding is one of those sports I can only see myself doing when I'm still young and able. Snow mountains in Japan are supposed to be breathtaking. Practice ! Practice!
Can't wait to be back home!

"Warning: Scalding Hot Water"

There is a sign about 2" x 1" on almost all public sinks that warn you of scalding hot water and these people do not joke. Our water at home, in the U.S., or anywhere else for that matter have a temp gauge that limits how hot your water gets. Definitely not here, and that hot water turns HOT quick!

Oh and if you like your hot coffee in the morning, you best be careful with that first sip because they serve that cup to you like boiling hot! I suppose lawsuits of this sort are not common around here.

Finally got my lazy ass out the door this afternoon..

I finally saw some life in the city of Stirling this afternoon!

The TV options are quite limited at the apartment so I've been watching Dexter. Finally got some good sleep on a Saturday and watched 2 episodes of Dexter before I got my lazy ass out the door for some on-foot adventure through this small town of Stirling.I'm in the heart of what's essentially a touristy city centre near the Stirling Castle and Stirling University.

suburban-like

Looking down a part of the Towne Center with cobblestone streets which always brings out such a unique character to a place. 

a cemetery on the way to the top of the volcanic rock where the Stirling castle sits

Just cannons :-)

Figured I'd top off the day with a sweet ending. Here comes some supposedly Luxury Scottish Ice Cream that tastes like regular ice cream! Heh!