Finally, finally!
After much plotting and planning, the vacation I’ve been dreaming of for a while…
My UK and French visas have arrived. The Swiss one is proving to be more problematic. In fact, they now want several supporting documents like who I am visiting in the UK. And how do I know someone in Switzerland! What the hell does it matter and what difference does it make to them?! Really frustrating. (Update: By some divine intervention, the Swiss visa is also through! Yippee!!). I also got an invite from a couple I met while skiing in Auli this year to visit them in Spain where they will be based for a while, so I am also planning to do a couple of days in Barcelona.
Anyway, if after all this, it does come through, I start with a visit to London where my sweet friend S lives.
Then to Barcelona to spend a few days with Romain & Emma, then to Lausanne to meet mon amie, Stephanie in Lausanne and the handsome Bagha!
After that, the plan is to get myself to Paris and spend some time walking around the city. I have 4 days and no plan as of now. And I don’t know anyone. So if any of you have any ideas and suggestions as to what I can see in the city (especially if you’ve been there), please leave them in the comments box. (Jag, thanks a lot for that long mail!).
I don’t have too much time in London. S is heavily pregnant so I doubt she will be able to show me around 🙂 But with London’s efficient tube and bus system, hopefully I shall be able to travel around with any problems.
Will also try and catch up with Sunrayz, Anand and Jag, of course, if it’s convenient and all the stars get aligned in the right planetary positions.
And from there I go onto Scotland with my sister.
And then head back home in November.
So there, I have much packing to do. Final level 2B French exams on Sunday. And a heavy work schedule till next Tuesday. (Update: Work over! Exams disastrous :).
So I’m going to disappear for a while. However, I shall definitely surface wherever I get an internet connection and update.
Please, please do leave any suggestions you might have though! (Thanks folks for all the suggestions! My list is growing by the day).
Ah bon! Quel chance, Anita!! 🙂
Bon voyage, alors! Je vais attender impatiemment pour les photos! Amuse-toi bien! 🙂
Is this working?
Hi Anita,
Donna worry about ur London trip….if u need any help , i can help u out in London.
do let me know , by mail.
thks ,
Krish
oops..this is my email id
krishnan_s16@yahoo.com
While in Paris, in addition to the Eiffel, Champs Elysee, the Arc the Triomphe, the Louvre and the museums surrounding it and the Notre Dame, please do visit Montmartre (go up on the funiculaire) and the Left Bank, and just sit in any of the roadside cafes and watch the world go by…And in the restaurants, don’t let them push the gaz water on you, they’re expensive as hell! If you’re a vegetarian, your choices are limited, but do try the crepes.
Regarding Paris, here are some more places that you can visit:
1) Versailles Palace(once a power center in Europe) in South Paris. This visit can take almost a full day. You can reach there by local train from south-east or south-west as it is a circular route.
2) Cemetery “Pere Lachaise” in East Paris.
(Famous People buried there include Jim Morrison, JRD Tata, Oscar Wilde and many more)
3) “La defense” in Western part of the city.
4) Take a boat ride in river Seine (say at Eiffle Tower).
Please get a colour Map of the city with the local train routes. I really love this map. There are sub way stations in almost each 500 meters of one another.
As you studied in Alliance Francaise, you may have much more info.
Guten Tag,
How many days you would be in Der Schweiz ?
Hey Anita, I have some friends in Swiss. Do send me an e-mail regarding your travel dates and I shall see if I can set up something. No promises though.
My e-mail id is : venky.krishnamoorthy@gmail.com
Have a good trip.
Must see list…
Louvre..(will take u 2 days to complete if u really want to see everything…) but u can do it in a day too..Absolutely fantastic place!!
Eiffel tower..u can climb till the 2nd level..
Walk along the siene in the evening..
Versailles…will take u a day…and a big garden (forest?) nice place…
Lots and Lots of Museums…(If u r a museum lover..)
Notredame…( u can climb to the top to see gargoyles..if u have strong legs..)
La defense..for modern architercture…
Disneyland (though nothing exciting here….)
Arch de triumph..Champs Elysee..
ensoy
Gopal.v
merci, ma chere vaish! je suis très excité. je suis sûr que je vais prendre beaucoup de photographies pendant mes vacances 🙂
madman: seems to be working now!
krish: thanks a lot! will get in touch via email.
sujatha: all noted 🙂 i intend to do just that. sit and watch the world go by. that has been a fantasy of mine for a while!! and no, i am not a vegetarian…
sumanth: thanks so much! my list is looking good already 🙂 my french is really basic but hopefully will help in asking for directions! der shweiz? switzerland? planning for a week…if visa comes through (not looking good at the moment…)
venky: stephanie is there in lausanne so switzerland is not a problem. but thanks for the offer! just keep fingers crossed that they find me good enough to let me enter their country. right now they’re not convinced i am a genuine tourist!
hi gopal! thanks a bunch… i don’t think i will run out of places to visit 🙂 and i think i shall keep a whole day for visiting the louvre!
and the Moulin Rouge of course. Must see. I had it in mind when I was writing the earlier comment, but forgot. There are a few nice restaurants to the right of the Moulin…And the shopkeepers are very very snooty about talking in English. I began a few conversations with “parlez-vous anglais?” and got stared down! Bah!
hey anita!
i would kill to be in your shoes!so u better watch ur back!
haver loads of fun!and i dont have to tell u to blog about it!
chitra
Hi Anita!
I live in Paris these days. We should meet when you’re here. I’m not reachable by phone, so send me an email before you get here. I’m suer you can manage all the tourist places by yourself, but if you’re looking for some “untouristy” things, I can help in that department.
– Mahesh
Don’t forget to take memory cards, and extra rolls of film for camera, since you wont have time to offload pics.
hope you have a great time, anita… take care of yourself… and do come back soon,i was hoping to bump into you on my solo trip to south indian this november. will be stopping off at bangalore.
your blog is great.
last time when i tried to leave comment i was blocked by some antispam u have…stung me to death..
in my opinion this time of the year europe starts to get a bit cold..but with the weather vagaries these days.. summer may stretch a bit longer…
i was thinking to tell u what i saw but i see that you have the good help already… i did do a lot of walking… u can walk from the lovre to arc du triomph all the way.. nice walk.. but aftr all the walking inside the louvre one doesnt have legs anymore 🙂
while in europe u shd try and see amsterdam and barcelona maybe …barcelona is what bangalore should have been…minus the tourists…
bon voyage…
Nice blog.I like this.
Nick
http://www.yahoo.com
Great! Very interesting. But your friends are too wordy 🙂
sujatha: definitely! one of my favourite movies so the place will be on my list.
chitra: am sure you’ll do it too, someday!
mahesh: thanks a lot! didn’t know you were in paris now. but will drop in an email…
doorknob: will take loads of film but won’t need memory card 🙂
natasha: thanks! do drop me a mail whenever you’re planning to come…
krishna: am really sorry! that problem was fixed. i am planning to walk around a lot. and btw, have also scheduled about 2 days in barcelona, so will look around a bit there too 🙂
kirubakaran: thanks…
You have a great journey.. I am sure you are having it already… Bon Voyage 🙂
thanks jil :0) spent my first day walking around london’s south bank. really pretty. but it was typical english weather. gloomy to the point of being depressing! now i know why they complain so much 🙂 hoping tomorrow is slightly better!!