"travelogs" - episode III - Paris - Day II (14th May, 2006)

"India?"...
"Yes..."
She was ecstatic. After all, we were from the same country as 'Amita-bashan', 'Kashol' and 'Shahroo Kaan'! This young lady had spent the earlier part of her life in Morocco and jumped up and down (in joy, I think) as she recollected the names of the Hindi movies she had seen. We learnt that Bollywood flicks are really popular where she comes from. Top of her list was 'Veer Zara'!

At that point, we were on Champs Elysses and had stopped at a small roadside stall selling beverages and snacks. Interestingly enough, 'Veer Zara' (as we soon found out) was still playing at one of the movie-halls on this very street! But this discovery was towards the fag-end of Sunday.

[Above/Right (Photo): Veer Zara @ Champs Elysses!]

Rewind.
An alarm was set for 7:30AM. This was ignored completely and eventually the four bengali sleepy-heads rose from their (much-needed) slumber at a few minutes past nine. By eleven, we had checked out and were headed towards the Louvre museum...

There was just so much to see and absorb here. All of a sudden, The Palace of Versailles was reduced to 'just another palace' in comparison... this was the 'real' thing! :-)

We travelled through time. I was reunited with my childhood heroes - Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael ("Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles")... well, some of their works at least. I realized that some apparently famous Italian artists/sculptors were named after these popular cartoon characters ;-).

Quite honestly, its possible to go on about the Louvre for pages on end. I'll keep this short. For most people, some just run-of-the-mill tourists, others with that 'extra insight' (read: The Da Vinci Code), the most sought after display is still the Mona Lisa. I think we spent a good half-hour just staring at the painting... and then decided to buy a poster each, so that we could stare at it some more at leisure.

[Right/Above (Photo): Outside the Louvre Museum]

My left foot. My sprained left foot. My severely overworked sprained left foot... was making lots of 'noise'. No, actually, I was making the noise everytime I used the foot. This was... not good. But a visit to the first-aid ward took care of things for the present. I spent the rest of the day with 'cold' crepe bandage wrapped around it and made much less noise to the delight of my company. :-)

We ate lunch there like we had never seen food before (burp!)... and then 'rolled' out of the Louvre onto the walkway. Reaching the Arc de Triumph was quite honestly, a triumph indeed, of mind over body (read: long walk, with fatigued feet)!

[Left (Photo): Taking a break... L-to-R: Sujeet, Chandrani, Avishek et moi]

Meanwhile --> The Concord Square (in between the Louvre and the Arc) is sort of bang-in-the-middle of these 'touristy' places - surrounded by the Louvre, the Parliament, the Palace of Invalides, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc. While we were there, a couple of white limousines pulled up infront of us, followed by a dozen other cars. It was a Japanese invasion! Two hi-fi 'just-married' couples (sans entourage) had stopped by to click some 'fo-to-grafs' :-)

[Right (Photo): At Concord Square. The Arc de Triumph is behind us]


After the Arc, it was another long walk down to the River Seine for the final item on our list - a relaxing, refreshing boat-trip on the Seine - just what the doctor ordered. :-)

Finally, with tired legs, heavy bags and Chandrani's roly-poly strolley, we made our last journey within Paris - to Gallieni. By dawn the next day, we would be back in Breda. Yes, the fun was over. We would have to be at work tomorrow. :-(

Nevertheless, all in all, a splendid trip!
Au revoir!

"travelogs" - episode III - Paris - Day I (13th May, 2006)

The trip to Paris was both a 'very good idea' and a 'tremendous mistake' rolled into one! I will try to explain this as we proceed.

Paris is labelled as one of 'the most romantic cities in the world' and, keeping that in mind, in a way, we - the four of us - were like mud-wrestlers in a Russian ballet (?!)... or something like that anyhow :-). I think we all secretly promised ourselves that we would return one day, under different circumstances, with a different ''cast" ;-)

But meanwhile, we were here to do the 'tourist thing' and just have a great time... which we did! :-)

Avishek (the man with all the maps) can be credited with having planned this trip down to perfection (well, nearly). Its actually surprising, in hindsight, how much ground we covered in just 2 days!

The bus that we booked ("Eurolines'') left a few minutes after midnight on Friday night. This wasn't the most comfortable option but cost-effective nevertheless. It travelled all the way to the East of Paris and dropped us off in Gallieni at the crack of dawn on Saturday!

This is when we started fine-tuning our day-plan. Soon after, we were at the Notre Dame (cathedral) built in the early Gothic style of the 12th century. The digital cameras had their first glimpse of Paris...

[Right/Above (Photo): Alongside Notre Dame]

[Below (Photo): The Eiffel Tower!]

Now we catch 'da big pheesh'! Eiffel Tower! This part was exciting (and maybe a bit silly), for me at least. It was like being a kid again. After we climbed out of the 'Champ de Mars' metro-station, my radar was on. "Where is the tower?" Ironically, I was probably the last one to spot it :-(. But, when I did - I was mesmerized!

It is truly magnificent! The trip was already worth it... and I wore a permanent, exaggerated ear-to-ear smile! :-) ... The number of Indians we saw at the base of the Tower was surprising. I was tempted to sing our national anthem to see how many people actually joined in. The only thing missing was a 'tea-stall' and a 'phuchka-wala' (phuchka = pani-puri = gol-gappa = well, if you haven't had it yet, your life has little or no meaning!) ;-)

[Right (Photo): Infront of the Palace of Versailles]

During the course of the day, we would be seeing more of the Tower, but for now we had to make a move. Next stop - Versailles... The palace of Versailles! By now, Chandrani's strolley had turned into a major headache and we were all taking turns to lug it around from place to place. We breathed a little easy when we deposited it at the entry point, but our visit wasn't all that 'smooth'. First, I lost my ticket (The authorities were however, nice enough to give me a replacement). And then, there was rain! (We bought flimsy umbrellas with 'Paris' written on them) This cut short our trip around the gardens. I choose not to elaborate on the grandeur and splendour of the palace - it is but obvious. The painted ceilings in every room tell you a story, which is part of one continuous story (if you pay enough attention). It is a miracle how I did not bump into anyone! :-)

Post Versailles, we retreated back to the centre of Paris in search of our hotel – about time we checked in and got some rest. This was a nice and comfy 'bed-and-breakfast' near the Opera-house, on Rue Cadet. All of us were tempted to sink into our mattresses and get some 'shut-eye'... but better sense prevailed - a nap at this juncture would have been disastrous! So, after a quick 'refresh' we were out and about once again - Eiffel Tower, Take Two.

This time we would climb to the top... that is, eventually... when we got our turn. The queues at each of the four entry points were somewhat less menacing than the ones we saw earlier in the day. As we ascended, the view went from 'great' to 'wow' to (finally) 'breathtaking!' when we reached the summit.

[Left (Photo): The Eiffel Tower... in lights!]

The sun was setting and cast its glow on the entire city. In a short while, the city lit up as did the Eiffel Tower!

Just when you thought that things could not get any better... they just did! The Eiffel Tower was already shining majestically when it decided to start 'sparkling'!

At this point, we were stationed on the 2nd floor. Numerous bulbs along the length of the Tower blinked on and off for a good fifteen minutes... and the Tower took the form of a massive piece of golden jewellery studded with diamonds! Almost guaranteed to leave onlookers spellbound...

[Right/Above (Photo): The Eiffel Tower - dazzling in the darkness!]

This part is strictly for Hindi-movie buffs - as we walked away from the Tower (looking back from time to time), over the River Seine, the 'Kal Ho Na Ho' title track was playing in my head and seemed very appropriate... :-)

Hot Chocolate! Delicious chocolate crepes! And we marched on towards Champs Elysses. Mid-way, there was some 'action' - we bumped into this 'foreign' gentleman who tried to make conversation with us. In a matter of seconds, the police arrived! Apparently, this strange fellow was a 'money-changer' and just to prove that we were not linked to him in any way, we had to display our passports and show the cops our wallets! Thankfully, this 'ordeal' was over in a few minutes and we were 'free to go'... (phew!). A word of caution (from a lesson learnt): If you're a foreigner in the EU, always keep your passport handy.

Champs Elysses - lined with shops and showrooms of the 'who's who' of fashion - where handbags cost the same as cars back in India (Louis Vuitton anyone?)! Anyway... it was already close to midnight, and we were starving. We ended up having pizzas and spaghetti with red wine at this rather 'expensive-looking' Italian place. Pretty good :-)

Henceforth, some more action! Sujeet was nowhere to be found. He was lost! Then again, if you ask him, he'll probably tell you that the three of us were lost... although we hadn't moved an inch. This led to panic, anxiety, acidity, text-messages, attempted phone-calls (incoming calls were barred on his phone... how convenient!) and the exchange of 'compliments' (that is, when we were finally reunited); a little 'masala' as a finishing touch to a choc-a-bloc and very eventful day! :-)

We cruised down to our hotel and promptly dived into our beds. Tomorrow would be another 'non-stop' day...

double disaster (Paris curtain-raiser)!...

Today, I accomplished a 'disastrous double' in really quick time!

First, it was the 'bad' haircut; I got my hair done (or, in this case, 'mowed') at this really 'sidey'-looking place, owned and run by mysterious middle-eastern men who do not speak English and are fans of Salman Khan!

Communication was a slight problem, as was the fact that my vision is somewhat poor (read: blind as a bat!) without my glasses. So, the haircut was iterative - every 5 minutes, I would put my 'goggles' back on and check their progress. Accordingly, I would give them my valuable feedback in a language in which 'action spoke louder than words'. In fact, the words really didn't say anything at all!

This was particularly frustrating for my barber who would probably have 'accidentally' clipped one of my ear-lobes off had I not come with a solid recommendation. Lucky me - the local Pakistani cyber-cafe owner (Yousuf-bhai) had put in a good word. Oh well... I still have some hair on my head. Next time (if there is a next time), I'll just let the guys do their own thing.

On my way back, I went past the Indian convenience store ("Avtar Stores") and thought about dropping into the Afghan '24-hour-shop' near my place. Interestingly enough, even in a tiny place like Breda, I managed to spend the better part of the evening speaking Hindi (or in some cases 'Urdu'... to be 'politically' correct) :-)

Right from childhood, I have this uncanny ability to injure myself with minimal effort. (Ask anyone who knows me even remotely, and they'll tell you...). This 'talent' has withstood the test of time! I sprained my left foot as I headed home. :-((

This was just hours before we were to leave for Paris! :-(

... my brother gets married! (Dundee, Scotland - 30th April, 2006)

Above (from top to bottom): I was the best man at my brother's marriage-registry and thus, I was also the ring-bearer. The second photo captures everyone - family and friends - who was witness to this occasion. Finally, we have the happily married couple - Suman & Minha. :-)

Stay tuned for the Indian edition - the elaborate, desi wedding is scheduled for later this year!

Don't they just look lovely together? :-)

... And they lived happily ever after! God bless them.

"travelogs" - episode II - 'slideshow' (till 29th April)...

"I can see clearly now, the rain is gone..."

Soaking in the sun-rays on a 'sunshine-ey'-day.

The gang at Centruum in Breda.

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Below: A common feature of many or our 'adventures' - Vidya behind the wheel - a picture of total concentration ;-)

Below: At the City Centre in Brussels... history and magnificence all around!

Above: DCH in Brussels? Well, we tried... :-)

Above: Dundee, Scotland - Don't be fooled by the sunshine :-) ... we went on a family picnic to Piperdam Park on Easter Sunday when the clear skies and apparently 'good' weather were plagued by gale-force winds! 2nd photo - the 'cast'...

Above: Keukenhoff, NL - The 'Silsila' pic... :-). What? Did you say DDLJ?

Above: With the members of 'Sangeetmala' at their programme - 'Badalte Mausam' in Edinburgh, Scotland on 29th April, 2006