London Catch Up...

When we were in London my wife and I caught up with two special person that we have not seen for years!

Sim Hock Neoh is Le General's big brother, the last time we saw him and his wife Carol was in 1994 in Singapore!

At his web site which Lamont Moon designed, you will learn that Sim Hock, "grew up in Penang, Malaysia and began his artistic education from an early age, strongly influenced by his beautiful and inspiring tropical surroundings.

He moved to England in 1965 to further his studies and enrolled on a Fine Art course at Sir John Cass College of Art in London. After completing this he travelled extensively in Europe and the US, continuing to paint. He also taught and lectured on traditional Chinese art."

Good Bye London...

With only a day left in London we asked our self what we want to see, we decided; HARRODS! I know it is a departmental store, but a London icon no less!

Take a look at what Wikipedia said about this store!

"Harrods is a luxury department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea , London, UK. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air Harrods, and Harrods Buenos Aires.

The store occupies a 4.5-acre (18,000 m²) site and has over one million square feet (90,000 m²) of selling space in over 330 departments. The UK's second-biggest shop, Oxford Street's Selfridges, is a little over half the size with 540,000-square-foot (50,000 m²) of selling space.

The Harrods motto is Omnia Omnibus Ubique—All Things for All People, Everywhere. Several of its departments, including the seasonal Christmas department and the Food Hall, are world famous.
Throughout its history, the store has changed hands several times. Most recently, on 8 May 2010, Mohamed Al-Fayed sold the store to Qatar Holdings for a sum of £1.5 billion.^"

Back in London...

After two hours of stress free train ride we are back in London! If you wanna travel between London and Paris, this is the way to go!
 
The next morning May-N is taking me to meet the Imaging Manager of the British Museum, he is going to show me how they digitise their heritage objects! Oh.. May-N work as a I.T. Team Leader at the same museum :)

Wikipedia told me that:

"The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present."

It was a nice walk from the Russell Square tube station to the museum. It was a clear, cool sunny day; we pass the imposing Hotel Russell.

The Hotel Russell was built in 1898 by the architect, C. Fitzroy Doll. The hotel's restaurant, which is named after the architect is said to be almost identical to the RMS Titanic`s dining room which he also designed. - Wikipedia -

Russell Square is opposite the hotel, and I finally got to see the famous pigeon's fountain bath in the park! Duh!

Au Revoir Paris!

On a cool clear afternoon we left Denfert-Rochereau in a taxi for Gare du Nord terminal. We are leaving Paris on the Eurostar.

Eurostar is a high-speed passenger rail service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains cross under the English Channel via the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel. - Wikipedia

The taxis in France obviously are allowed to use bus lanes, our cab whizz in and out of bus lanes; bypassing the traffic jams and got us to the Paris North terminal in less than 30 minutes! Merveilleux!

I ♥ Paris (7)...

One day left for us in Paris! We only have time to see one last attraction; it will be Notre Dame!

Actually using the name Notre Dame for where we are going is not all correct, according to Wikipedia; Notre Dame (Our Lady) is a term referring to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It might also refer to other churches of the same name in other countries!

Where we are heading is correctly known as Notre Dam de Paris which Wikipedia gave a really detail account of this famous church:

"Notre Dame de Paris (French for Our Lady of Paris), also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra (official chair), of the Archbishop of Paris, currently André Vingt-Trois. Notre Dame de Paris is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture in France and in Europe. It was restored and saved from destruction by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, one of France's most famous architects. The name Notre Dame means "Our Lady" in French, and is frequently used in the names of Catholic church buildings in Francophone countries. Notre Dame de Paris was one of the first Gothic cathedrals, and its construction spanned the Gothic period. Its sculptures and stained glass show the heavy influence of naturalism, unlike that of earlier Romanesque architecture."

I ♥ Paris (6)...

Travelling to different tourist's attractions in Paris, our transport of choice is the Metro. In this instance, Metro is a rapid transit rail system, also known as a subway or underground.

The Paris Metro are very efficient, you get a train every 5 to 10 minutes. During peak hour the train can be really packed though! I mean REALLY, really packed; like sardines in a can ;)

I ♥ Paris (5)...

No, the photo below is NOT a French palace but a departmental store

Galeries Lafayette in Paris is a 10-storey department store, there are two buildings connected by a sky bridge. If you look at the building exteriors, you will never realise what's inside!