Mother Ganga

There were only life, purity and goddness.

"Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together."

---Mark Twain

I heard you calling me.

I still vividly remember when my history teacher introduced us the story of taj mahal in high school. The story completely stole my heart and since then I'd dreamed of India for a long time but somehow always seeking for the right moment to visit there. Then this summer, I heard India calling me.

August 19 2010, late evening, I tenderly stepped my first foot in New Delhi.

Old Delhi from Jamma Masjid

View from the balconby of Humayun's Tomb

Main Bazaar, Pahar Ganji

Dust, noise, smell and just a crowd of people. Those are what struck me most in India.

And you know what. I miss them so much.

By the way I discovered my fav in India; Saunf.

I fell in love with the taste of exotica:).

Next up:Varanasi

Cinema can make a person fly

I don't deny that I often grow my travel inspirations from movies and look for its vestige once I landed the place. I personally believe that this way I can add more joy to a simple sightseeing and just walking on anonymous streets can even turn into extraordinary experience.

Monmartre was no exception; a town of Amélie♥

Indeed real Monmartre was a town of great charms which we can't find in the rest of Paris. Time flows with peace and I noticed that people walk much slower than what we they normally do in Paris downtown.

Sacre Coeur

One of my goal at Monmartre was to get my self-portrait from those street painters. While some of the artists offered pretty crazy price just for a casual self-portrait I was lucky to find a nice lady painter who even had a student deal.

Being a model was much tougher than I expected!;P Hope the painter wasn't too anoyed of my bad modeling.

Amyone noticed where it is? Yes, Café des 2 Moulins, Amélie's worklplace;).

ideally

Few weeks ago I watched documentray film Etoiles: Dancers of The Paris Opera Ballet which completely made me spellbound of ballet and its world. The film itself was as beautiful as a single art but what made me devoured most was the dancers who endure physical and emotional hardships to be on stage. I was even envious of them and questioned myself if I have ever met something which I can dedicate my life so hard to master something like those Etoile dancers.

Anyways it was too pity that I watched the movie after I came back from Paris. Our hotel was about 15 minutes from Palais Garnier and we walked past there so many times but somehow didn't get to see inside! Okay, next time in Paris I'll go back there with a ticket for Paris Opera Ballet:).

In front of Palais Garnier, I found a bit of Japanese invasion in Paris;).

We climbed up 387 steps (!) to get to the top of Cathedral of Notre Dame.

The Champs-Élysées

To be honest I was a bit disappointed of Champs-Élysées; too many global chain shops were occupying the avenue and I felt as if the place were losing its atomosphere. I was expecting something more high-class and classy. Or maybe I was just expecting too much from Paris?

Although globalization didn't please me much, looking down one of the most luxurious streets in the world still made simple pizza lunch upgraded.

Since French restaurant is pretty expensive just for a casual dinner we ended up eating at Japanese restaurant for 3 nights. Globalization is sometimes helpful, I know;P.

more Paris soon to come!

M. xxx

reverie

"Paris is always a good idea." ---Audery Hepburn in Sabrina

I knew you were there for me

6 hours of train trip, then finally.

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I knew it was too cliché but who cares.

Coucou Paris!:)

you can't even buy it at Galeries Lafeyette

Photos are from Jardin Massey in Tarbes, my bf's hometown. In Tarbes we went hiking for Pyrenees and also visited Lourdes. I tres adored French countryside as much as breathtaking Paris. You find no dazzling architectures, no Chanel but warmhearted people make you feel that you never want to leave there.

those mundane moments I embraced

Bonjour!

Gaudi remnants

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