Heather's (kiasu) guide to Le Louvre

Get there EARLY in the morning so you can line up at the very front and beat the crowds. Our time, 8.15am. Louvre opens at 9am. There were more kiasus ahead of us. Kiasu fail.

Tips to beating the waiting boredom: 

Stand very still, very quiet, and eavesdrop on other tourists conversations.
*Super loud Americans are the best entertainment. :)

Once you get in, run like mad in line with the map's guidance to desired world's most famous painting. Ignore the others who are slowly perusing the very beautiful exhibits near the entrance. 

(*In Heather's opinion, near the entrance = not so important works of not so important artists).

When there is no one around you because you have walked so quickly ahead of the pack, you are allowed to stop for a photo. 

Or two, cos the empty hallways make you look like you're on a private tour.

 With your diligence, you should have arrived to the world famous painting in record breaking 8.2 minutes or less. Once there, proceed to take pictures of you and your group immediately, because the others are starting to arrive and form crowds of disturbances. You are encouraged to force ask your sister to pose like the subject because you're cute and original like that. 

After that, it's up to you. Do whatever. Here's what we did.

Jakun cos the paintings were so big.

Force Mummy to take pictures with inanimate objects.

Mummy in turn forcing us to take pictures with inanimate objects.

 I is Sphinxy. Kesh refused to comply with pose.

Sit and stare in awe.

You see where I get my vanity from?

To die for

I have always believed in the power and beauty of shopping.

*Hello everybody. My name is Heather and I am a shopaholic*

When you shop, you can uncover some of the world's most beautiful and amazing things.

On my last trip to Paris with Mi and Kesh, we shopped so much, we were bound to uncover something special. And we did.

Here's our story.

We got 'stuck' at Galeries Lafayette one fateful afternoon and couldn't seem to find our way out. It was a maze in there, and Kesh followed us listlessly as Mi and I stopped every two minutes to exclaim, "Oh my! Look at this!"

Anyway. We shopped till a point where we could hardly feel our legs anymore, and we could also see that Kesh REALLY needed some nourishment, so we headed in the direction of the Lafayette foodcourt for some veryyyy quick refueling.

And by divine intervention, I was entranced by a stall which has changed my (culinary) life forever.

THE BEST EVER BREAD IN THE WORLD (in my humble bread snob opinion).

 What stole our hearts as we stood on the street outside Lafayette munching away and ignoring the snobbish Parisien looks at the Asians eating on the sidewalk.

Goat cheese, olive oil and walnut pizza-sized and styled bread. 

Every bite a heavenly pleasure.
The goat cheese! So wangi!
The walnuts! So sweet and crunchy!
And the bread! Oh the bread!

 Look at Mi's mile wide smile. 

She chose an olive-laden pizza-sized and styled bread. 

It changed her mind about olives forever, and I bet she'll salivate again at this picture.

We fell so in love, we had a dose almost everyday. 

The baguettes so yummy oh.

And their sandwiches.

The chicken! The sun-dried tomatoes! Perfection! Perfection! Perfection!
And the baguettes are just THE best I have ever had.
And I've had LOTS of baguettes here in this part of the world. 
Kayser has the best baguettes. Bar none.

Apple pastry. So fine!

Nom nom nom.

I love Eric Kayser so much that if given a choice between shopping and eating his bread, I'd take the bread.

THAT much.

*Hello everybody. My name is Heather and I am a Kayserholic* 

Meet Lisa

Been incredibly busy this week. Classes have started, and tons of things are happening at the restaurant as well. I have an incredible backlog of pictures and (mentally) planned posts from the time Mi, Kesh and I were gallivanting around Europe, but till I get to (not procrastinating) and sorting them out, here's me and my long lost friend, Mona - who's very famous and pretty and that's why I look constipated trying to pose and smile like her.

All about food... in Paris

We ate A LOT on our weekend in Paris.

And I must admit it was all very good, but next time, erm, I'm gonna gnaw at a baguette the whole day and save up the money for a nice bag.

So, here's some info on what we ate, and a guide to prices you can expect at cafes and restaurants in Paris.

1. CAFEs 

(we stopped at at least 3 - 4 a day)

These are lovely experiences.
To sit on the sidewalk and people watch,
while sipping on espresso (mine) and latte (his) and orange juice (ours). 

On average, we spent approx 10-15 euros each pop.
(espressos cost 2.30 euros, lattes 3 euros, orange juice 4.50 euro)

2. Lunch at Cafe Cassette, Saint Germaine

This was our first meal, and it was very very very very good. 

I had the ravioli, while Super Hubs had the rumpsteak (if you've been following, you'll prob realise by now that William usually orders 2 things from the menu. Entrecote or rump steak. I'm the adventurous one). 

Cost us 60 euros. 

17 for my ravioli. 25 for his rump steak. 14 for two bottles of evian and 4 for a latte (his). 

* Tip I learnt AFTER coming back to Luxembourg. If you prefer, restaurants in Paris actually have table (tap) water (unlike Luxembourg). You can save 7 to 10 euros when you order that instead of mineral water. 

3. Supper at La Rouge, Champs Elysees

Now this meal, I did not want to have. 

It was almost 1am when we got there and I was thinking it wouldn't harm us to go to bed slightly hungry so I would have some shopping money for the next day. 

But Super Hubby was insistent, and looking at his hardworking and skinny frame which seemed to lack nutrition, I had no choice but to give in. 

This huge platter of fresh seafood (12 oysters, 6 prawns, 12 mussels, 12 clams etc etc) cost us 49 euros each.

So, add in my Evian and Boo's beer and we had ourselves a 110 euro bill. For supper.

It was yummy and sitting on Champs Elysees at midnight watching the night owls go by was such a treat. 

4. Lunch at Auberge de la Reine Blanche, Illes St Louis

THIS was an absolutely perfect lunch. 

I think one of my favourite areas in Paris is Illes St Louis. 

Situated right next to the Notre Dame, the whole area has a quiet and charming bustle on Saturdays, when Parisians and tourists alike flock there for brunches.

The weather was perfect, people smiling, food amazing. 

I grinned like a cheshire cat the entire time. 

I had a huge pot of Moules Frittes (Mussels and Fries), which was the plate of the day and only cost 12 euro, while Boo had his (surprise, surprise) entrecote with fries and a goat cheese salad (29 euro for a set).

Including my Evian and Boo's two beers, bill came up to 70 euro.

**Mi, we are coming back here. You'll love it. Daddy, PaoPei, Don, Kesh, Bryan, come also la... SO NICE oh!!!

5. Best Ice Cream, Berthillon, Illes St Louis

This was heaven. Truly truly one of the best ice creams I have ever ever ever had. 

Aunty Terri, I didn't try the sorbets since you said it wasn't good, and William said the creme ones: Noissette (nuts) and Salty Caramel were his favourites, so we had that. 

AND I AM SALIVATING THINKING ABOUT IT RIGHT NOW!!!

2.60 euro per scoop.

*wish we came here every day when we were there

6. Dinner at La Societe, St Germaine

This was filled with very cool and trendy and chic and elegant people, so I was too shy to take pictures. 

These pics are sourced off the internet to show you the interior.

Finding the place was not easy, as it was literally like a hidden VIP club. 

In fact, the whole experience felt like being a part of a very exclusive society.

For me, the food was good but not great. Very average bistro quality. But what it lacked in fine cuisine, it made up for with the ambiance, deco, cheeky yet elegant service, bustling atmosphere (every single table was taken) and was the quintessential (yuppie) Paris experience. 

I had a good time.  

We had caipirinha (mine) and white wine (his) for aperitifs, 

escargot (mine) and tuna carpaccio (his) for starters, 

grilled chicken breast (mine) and steak!!! (who else) for mains, 

a red wine (his) and Evian (mine) for drinks.
No dessert.

Total bill was 120 euro. (They offered us the aperitifs for free because they made us move tables, so otherwise, it would have cost us 150)

*Reservations are necessary especially on weekends. 

7. Villa D'Or, Place d'Italie in the 13th arrondissement (aka Chinatown)

Before coming to Paris, I told Super Hubby over and over again that I wanted REAL Chinese food, something that I cannot at all find in Luxembourg. 

So, on our last day in Paris, he brought me to his fave Chinese restaurant in Chinatown for lunch. He used to come here weekly when he was living here, and said it got so packed at nights because it is one of the best Chinese restaurants in the whole of Paris. 

The signs outside were testament to that. 

*Sidenote before I get into the food. The staff there all remembered William from years ago, and were delighted to find out that he had married a Malaysian. One of the old waiters is from Brickfields and has been working in the restaurant for more than 10 years. The rest are from all over South East Asia. 

SEA BROTHERHOOD!

Ahhh... just seeing keropok made my mouth water. And the keropok was perfect! 

We had deep fried duck tongue seasoned with salt and pepper for starters (William's all time fave) and it was very very delish.

You see that glistening bowl of goodness on the left? That was mine, all mine!

Kueh Chap - pork intestines and coagulated blood and smooth slices of broad kuey teow.

So good my mouth is watering as I type this. 

I was so happy with this I ignored William's roast duck, and was slightly disappointed with my claypot chicken feet.  

Total Price: 51 euro (including mineral water and a beer)

*This was a super good and authentic Chinese restaurant. And it was almost Malaysian-style, the way I like it. The owner is Chinese Cambodian.

8. Pastries from Paul's Bakery (found everywhere in Paris)

 In the three days that we were in Paris, you see how we were eating so much at restaurants. So much so that as we were at the train station waiting for the train back to Luxembourg, I realised I did not manage to have a single croissant, pain au chocolat, mille feuilles, tarte... NOTHING. The horror!

So I did the next best thing and went to Paul, which was the only decent bakery at the train station and grabbed these things to satisfy my needs.

It was ok. It was just Paul. We even had it in Shanghai. But it was sufficient.

Total cost for those 3 items above: 5.20 euro. 

So that was my foodie adventure in Paris.

Now, it's crunch time for both my flabby tummy and skinny bank account :)

J'adore Paris

Paris.

Just feeling the name of the city roll off my lips gives me tingles.

And telling people, "When I was in Paris last week, I ... (insert one of the many wonderful experiences here) ..." makes me smile like a schoolgirl talking about my secondary school crush who looked at me and said hi in the hallway. *heehee*

Paris is enchanting, lovely, charming, and so so so effortlessly chic. She is the perfect lady who every man would love to love and who every woman would love to be.

And for the record, it's not true that Parisians are nasty and rude. At least not now. It seems they have improved a great deal over the past 5 years.

We were greeted with sweet, hearty and smiley "Bonjours!" not just when going into a restaurant or shop - but even when walking along the streets, shopkeepers tending to their stuff outside would just wave and say hi, and passerbys walking their dogs would smile and quietly say "bonjour". And how sweetly they would try to speak English when they realized I couldn't speak (though Super Hubby did come to my rescue many times, you must applaud them for trying).

It was so endearing that (Super Hubby can attest to this, albeit exasperatingly) I skipped around humming:
"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie
That's amore
When the world seems to shine like you've had too much wine
That's amore
Bells will ring ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling..."

And yes, I am aware it's actually a song about Napoli in Italy, but I can't help what song I felt like at that time, can I?

And the architecture!

Eiffel Tower. The Louvre.  Arc du Triomphe. Opera Garnier. Notre Dame. The beauty of it all. Trying to capture the magnificence with my little digital camera seemed so pointless. But I still did pose in front of 'em to show "I was here!"

Before I left for the weekend, the peeps in Luxembourg gave me the addresses for their favourite spots in Paris and also told me, don't stress out with a program, and "just walk around and feel the city". These are lovely people who've traveled all around the world in style, with Paris remaining one of their fave cities in the world, and who often go back every few months.

Now, I know why.

The city is alive and bursting with elegance and pride. You could see that everyone was proud to be here. And it was a beautiful kind of pride, I felt. Tourists and businessmen from around the world, shopkeepers, students, Parisians... everyone walking around just so happy to be in this proud and beautiful city. Or maybe it was just me in my blissful glee.

We walked around, stopped and sat at millions of cafes and ate at trillions of restaurants, and spent gazillions of euros on stuff that I peed and pooped out, instead of shopping! (I will not complain, I will not complain, I will not complain)

I experienced a Parisian weekend through Super Hubby who used to live here for five years, and found out that the Parisians spend a lot of their money on food and drink, and could spend hours at a brasserie eating a leisurely brunch, drinking their coffees, sipping their wines, munching their croissants.

And although there were sales going on, you could see that the people doing most of the shopping were tourists (I was quite jealous of them buying like mad), while the Parisians were content to be at their cafes and whatnots, just sitting and chatting.

So while I do think back to all the missed 'buys' that I could have had (I only ended up with 2 dresses, 2 shoes and a bag), I am glad that Super Hubby dragged me away from the shops and I managed to see (and eat through) so much of my current most favourite city in the world.

Three days was definitely not enough. I'll be back soon, Paris, my dear love. And mi, you're coming with me! :)

Next up, food in Paris.

SUMMER IN PARIS and sales in the city

*so excited*

Paris this weekend.

The anticipation is killing me.

AND the famed sales just started today.

Mi, I bet you wish you were here RIGHT NOW!