Switzerland 2015 Day 9 – From Annecy to Geneva

Supposed to wake up earlier but overslept. The tiredness had kicked in and each day it became worse. This was expected especially for long trips, people do get tired from traveling. However, it was much faster for us, as bringing a baby together for the trip was a different ball game altogether.

I went out on the street in the early morning to get a photoshot of the popular photo on the Thiou stream because the sun was not in our favour the previous day. It was really chilly in the morning but many were up and about exercising or moving from place to place. Taking a different route to the same place, I got to shoot some places that I didn’t see previously. Arriving at that spot, I saw a huge truck parked on the bridge casting a shadow over the spot. It wasn’t too bad so I shot and went back.

Morning view of the quiet town.
Morning view of the quiet town.
Calmer waters now gave a reflection of its buildings.
Calmer waters now gave a reflection of its buildings.
Another shot of the most photographed site in Annecy.
Another shot of the most photographed site in Annecy.

My other duty was to buy breakfast and so I went into a Boulangeries Chevallier that had all the beautiful pastries decked out in the shelf. Chose 2 and paid through their auto pay machine. Interesting one.

A nice variety of pastries on offer.
A nice variety of pastries on offer.
Automated paying machine.
Automated paying machine.
Chevallier pastry shop.
Chevallier pastry shop.

Went back to the hotel and called the previous hotels to find out if anyone found my laptop but no one found any. We all then left to visit the biscuit shop to buy more biscuits. After that, we checked out and were on our way to Geneva, Switzerland.

Driving took a short 45mins and similarly as when we left Switzerland to France, there was a immigrations post. There were random checks on some cars and fortunately, we were chosen so we were on our way to Geneva center.

Driving in Geneva was really a bad experience. Similar to Zurich, roads were everywhere, different modes of transport share the road and it was sometimes confusing. The traffic lights were most of the time against me and when it did turn green, it allowed very few cars (like 2 cars?) to go through before turning red again. Cars lined the parking slots on the roads, making the road for travelling really tight in the middle. Twice I hit my side mirrors.

Arriving at the Kipling Hotel, I drove into the garage after bringing down all the luggage as it was advised that there weren’t any lifts from the garage. Maneuvering into the garage was challenging as it was really narrow and as i reversed into one of the parking slot, my worst nightmare happened, I scratched the sides of the door against a yellow pole, resulting in a yellow paint gash on both the door handle and the door.

I was adamant not to drive around in Geneva. At the reception, we were given not only our card keys, but also a day pass for all modes of public transport. That was what we would be using for moving around.

After bringing all the stuff back into our room, our first stop was to go to the old town, by bus number 8 towards Rive and alighting at the Metropole. The bus was similar to the bendy buses that Singapore used to have.

Beautifully decorated room.
Beautifully decorated room.
The bathroom was lovely too.
The bathroom was lovely too.

Dropping off, we walked towards the lake where there was a jet fountain that shot up water really high. People could get closer to it but we didn’t do that and preferred to admire from a distance.

Tram station in Geneva.
Tram station in Geneva.
Water fountain in Geneva lake. One could actually walked next to the fountain.
Water fountain in Geneva lake. One could actually walked next to the fountain.

The old town was just minutes away and it was similar to the other old towns. Walking around the streets admiring the old architecture blended with modern sales of services was interesting. Walked to the garden where there was a long wall of statues, known as the Reformation Wall. There must have been some form of history but we hadn’t read it yet. During that time, there were many stalls and concert stage tentages at in the garden, likely a music event happening over the weekend.

Clock made from flowers.
Clock made from flowers.
Walking uphill in the old town.
Walking uphill in the old town.
Reformation wall.
Reformation wall.

Walked up to the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre and then back down to a shop called Spaghetti Factory for our lunch. They served quite a variety of Spaghetti which was quite good.

St. Pierre Cathedral.
St. Pierre Cathedral.
Cream based sauce.
Cream based sauce.
Tomato based sauce.
Tomato based sauce.
Spagetti factory.
Spagetti factory.

Went back to return bus stop and boarded the bus number 8 this time towards Appia, the stop where we could visit the Palais des Nations. This was the place where UN delegates met for discussions and even peace negotiations.

Red Cross museum across the UN. We didn't visit this one.
Red Cross museum across the UN. We didn’t visit this one.

We took took the tour at 330pm in English. We were late in joining our tour and one of the staff spoke to us in Mandarin in order to help us. We were taken aback as he was quite fluent in it but it was surely amusing. It seemed that the tours were actually quite frequent, as frequent as every half an hour. It was quite an informative tour that brought us to a few halls where the delegates sit for discussions and negotiations. Bought some souvenirs at the store at the end of the tour before heading back to the hotel, taking the tram number 15 instead, which was closer to our hotel.

My visitor pass.
My visitor pass.
This was where the tour would start.
This was where the tour would start.
In one of the assembly hall. Guide providing some information.
In one of the assembly hall. Guide providing some information.
Beautiful surroundings.
Beautiful surroundings.
One of the exhibits in the UN.
One of the exhibits in the UN.
Another room with evolution of humanity paintings.
Another negotiation room with evolution of humanity paintings.
One of the biggest assembly hall.
One of the biggest assembly hall.
Countries flags in front of the UN building.
Countries flags in front of the UN building.
Huge broken chair exhibit on the street.
Huge broken chair exhibit on the street.

Back at the hotel, it was baby stuff before leaving for dinner. Wanted to visit the Patek Phillipe museum but it was almost closed by the time we arrived at the hotel.

Went to dinner at the end of the street that was part of the Manotel branches, at Hotel Edelweiss. The Restaurant Edelweiss was serving Swiss cuisine with some live Swiss traditional music being played. It was definitely a cosy atmosphere.

Double storey in the Restaurant Edelweiss.
Double storey in the Restaurant Edelweiss.
Special cheese bowl.
Special cheese bowl.

We ordered cheese fondue even though I wasn’t really fond of fondue. The one we ordered was a special one where the cheese was being boiled in a bread pot and we just eat away at the pot. The cheese was in fact quite nice, not the smelly cheese that we thought it was. The entertainment was also interesting where they were cows bells and blowing big horns. The restaurant was quite popular with big groups and therefore reservation was preferred. With that 15% discount that we were given for staying at the sister hotel, it was actually not too bad.

Blowing the long horn as the staff entertained the customers.
Blowing the long horn as the staff entertained the customers.
Our discount vouchers to utilise for our dinner.
Our discount vouchers to utilise for our dinner.

Night time activities had always been dominated by baby care and it was no different. Fell asleep after that.

France 2015 Day 8 – Lyon to Annecy (Venice of France)

The last day of the France leg. It meant that half of our holiday was almost done. The tiredness of the trip was starting to take a toll and today we woke up late.

It was supposed to be an easy day, planned some places to visit but not at all important. In the end, we decided to visit Galeries Lafayette after asking for late check out which was granted to 2pm. The reception advised us to take the tram, T1 line towards IUT which would take us to commercial center at Part Dieu and there was a GL there. The tickets could be purchased easily from the automatic machines and it was 1.8euros for a trip within 1hr of validation, which was done on the tram by inserting the tickets into the validation machine.

Gare de Lyon train station within 2mins walk from the Mercure.
Gare de Lyon train station within 2mins walk from the Mercure.
Tram tickets.
Tram tickets.

Tram.
Tram.
La Part Dieu shopping mall.
La Part Dieu shopping mall.

This mall was considerably huge and using the free wifi and downloaded the app, we sought out the places we want to visit while having lunch at their fast food joint called Quick burger. The burgers was actually tasting better than the other fast food joints. The restroom was a challenge to visit as it was passcode protected to restrict usage to its customers only.

Quick burger for breakfast.
Quick burger for breakfast.

We visited the H&M store and purchased some baby clothing and then Loccitane which was much cheaper than Singapore. After that, went to GL but was disappointed to find out that the store there did not carry Chanel. Understanding from the staff, only the one in Paris did so.

Huge H&M kids wear section.
Huge H&M kids wear section.
Inside the mall.
Inside the mall.

Continue to shop in the pharmacy and Carrefour where we bought Sophie the giraffe for just 10euros. Left at about 115pm.

It was a rush to pack and check out but we managed. Almost had a hard time getting out of Lyon with a slight traffic jam due to so many traffic lights and confusing roads.

The trip to Annecy was fairly easy with a time of about 1.75hrs. Stopped by the service station where there were many restaurants but all were closed as it was almost 3pm. Continued our journey but baby K was fairly cranky today.

The French Alps started to peek out against the horizon when we started to arrive towards Annecy. This was a small beautiful town and we parked at the basement parking of Novotel. It was quite difficult to park as the car was too big and I couldn’t do it parking face front. Check in was done smoothly with an incredibly friendly staff attending to us.

The room was similar standards, as with the Mercures. We stayed for a while before walking towards the old town, going thru Carnot street.

Bedroom
Bedroom
Bathroom.
Bathroom.

The place was quite crowded with quite a number of tourists visiting the area. We stopped by a biscuit shop “La Cure Gourmande” where they sold some really delicious biscuits made from various fruity flavours, Bought some to try before deciding on which to buy.

Inside the biscuit store.
Inside the biscuit store.
Biscuit packaging.
Biscuit packaging.
Generous biscuit fillings.
Generous biscuit fillings.
La Cure Gourmande.
La Cure Gourmande.

Proceeded to walk towards the old town where it was more known to be the little Venice of France. The place was really pretty with the rustic look and the waterways with ducks swimming on it running through the town, along the sidewalks lined with blooming flowers. The backdrop of the mountain completed the this lovely picture that we would normally get to see only in drawings. Downside was there were many people around, i was kinda surprised that many knew about this place.

Cathedral in Annecy.
Cathedral in Annecy.
French Venice.
French Venice.
Streets lined with flowers, restaurants and tourists.
Streets lined with flowers, restaurants and tourists.
Walking between buildings.
Walking between buildings.
The popular Thiou river photospot.
The popular Thiou river photospot.

We actually wanted to visit the restaurant Little Italy for dinner, but on seeing a Aux Creperie Bretonnes La Bolee, we changed our mind and had dinner there instead. Ordered a pancake and a fruity crepe and it was delicious. Left filled and satisfied. Before continuing to walk around, we got ourselves some tasty ice cream from Glacier Des Alpes, where the staff was generous enough to give us another scoop for free!

Inside the Creperie.
Inside the Creperie, homely design.
Ham and egg crepe.
Ham and egg crepe.
Strawberry crepe.
Strawberry crepe.
The creperie on the outside.
The creperie on the outside.
Glacier Des Alpes selling tasty ice cream.
Glacier Des Alpes selling tasty ice cream.

Walked to the lake and it was a little chilly. Again a beautiful sight with the setting sun. Baby K wasn’t cooperating with a family selfie but it was ok.

Swans floating on the calm waters.
Swans floating on the calm waters.
View of lake with shore lined with boats.
View of lake with shore lined with boats.
View of the town in the setting sun.
View of the town in the setting sun.

That was the end of Annecy walk about and 20 mins walk back to the hotel. Rest of the night was the usual, like giving baby K a warm bath after the chilly walk. Again an activity packed day as we would soon leave for Switzerland.

France 2015 Day 7 – Chateau and Lyon

Another day of long driving as we attempt to drop in at Lyon at the end of the day. This was so because from Blois onwards, there weren’t any other cities of interest back to Switzerland, and going to Annecy direct could be too challenging. So Lyon was our intermediate stop.

Even with this long drive ahead of us, we still visited Chateau Chenonceau nonetheless. Drove an hour to the Chateau after checking out and parked at the free parking lots. There were a lot of visitors at the Chateau so after purchasing tickets without the audio guide, we quickly made our way into the Chateau with only brochure on hand. If there was more time, the information from the guide could make the visit more meaningful but we had a tight travel schedule.

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The forested pathway to the Chateau.
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Chateau in sight.

Visited the various rooms, decorated different and the kitchen at the arches of the Chateau and then we got out to one of the gardens to take a picture, referencing to its popular one with it over the water. I thought it wasn’t as nice that the one of Chambord, because of lighting, water and people but still it was nice.

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Rooms with a  huge fireplace.
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Chapel within the Chateau.
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One of the rooms.
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Hallway above the arches.
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Kitchen situated under the hallway.
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Room with many paintings.
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Nicely framed drawings and decorated fireplace.
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Another hallway.
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Bedroom.
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Another bedroom.
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Bedroom with black walls.

We took our leave and had some light lunch by having crepes sold at the shop at the entrance. There were many school children in the toilet with their female teacher so when I visited the toilet, I had to queue and wait for all the kids to finish. There were other visitors who continued to use the urinals regardless.

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Garden next to Chateau.
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Huge garden.
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Chateau over water.
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Crepe shop outside the chateau.
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Breakfast.

Then the 5hrs drive that we were very worried since the previous day ruckus by baby K. It was painless as he was unexpectedly well behaved! Fell asleep twice by himself as he sat in the baby chair and not much crying. We did only one lunch stop as he woke up but all in all, a much easier drive. However, I got really sleepy on the way so I had to pinch myself to keep awake. Dozing off at 130km/hr could lead to terrible consequences.

Service station en route to Lyon.
Service station en route to Lyon.
Lunch at the service station.
Lunch at the service station.
Cup of soup.
Cup of soup.
Soup dispenser machine.
Soup dispenser machine.
Rare nursing room at the service station.
Rare nursing room at the service station.
Toll ticket.
Toll ticket.

Approaching Lyon, we got stuck in a jam, as expected of major cities. It was about a 15mins delay and a further 15mins when I navigated into a parking which didn’t belong to the Mercure hotel and had to drive around to get to the hotel. Also there was renovation going around and the only available parking was at the front of the hotel entrance.

Checked in and glad to find a cot prepared for baby K. He was excited when we left him there but of course he wasn’t going to sleep there tonight.

Large bed in a small room.
Large bed in a small room.
Bedroom from another angle.
Bedroom from another angle.
Cot.
Cot.
Bathroom.
Bathroom.

As usual, we ordered in room dining. This time it was because we were too tired to go out for dinner. Did the baby stuff but I fell asleep because of exhaustion. Woke up after the nap and took some medicine that I prepared ahead for gout, as I felt some pain on my ankles. Blogged a bit before going back to sleep. The most challenging of drives should be over.

In room dining.
In room dining of salmon and sandwiches.

France 2015 Day 6 – Blois and Chateau

Again it was a long day of traveling. Hungry from the lack of dinner the night before, we chose to eat at the hotel’s breakfast buffet. Sadly it didn’t have much variety, some pastries, some yogurt, some cold cuts and that was it.

Breakfast buffet selection.
Breakfast buffet selection.
Good bye MSM!
Good bye MSM!

Checked out the hotel and drove to Blois. It was another difficult drive, on the distance and the conditions within the car. It was about a 4hrs drive with about 2-3stops and we had lunch at one of the Shell station that served cooked food (as we didn’t have much of it for quite a while already). After that all hell broke loose as baby K cried a whole 1hr before finally snoozing off on mommy’s shoulder. It was difficult but there was nothing much that we could do.

Our lunch at the service station.
Our lunch at the service station.

Some of the petrol stations required payment before pumping and it was challenging to gauge how much to pump as it wasn’t really my own car. It was after a while that I got the hang of it. I also noticed that there was the petrol SP95-E10 which was a blend that contained 10% ethanol. I wasn’t sure if my car could take it so I had to settled for the slightly more expensive Octane 98 petrol.

The tolls on the road were initially not so clear to me. I always tried to look for signs with cash, that was so that I could pay it with cash on hand. Then there were those with human in them. Thereafter I could only find those with the green arrows that I was pretty sure that had cash receiving machines. Most of the time the tolls could be settled by coins and I had them readily available in a small compartment. But then once in a while, when notes were required, the wallet needed to be available easily. Of course if you ran into one that only received credit card which I did on the first few days, I had to use it. Luckily there wasn’t too much difficulty as the card was accepted and the barrier lifted.

Many road works can change the lanes to single lanes or even using the opposite roads. These decreased the speed of travel but by not much.

Arriving in Blois, we checked in at the Holiday Inn, after trying to figure out where the parking was ( it was a small right turn into the back alley with a password protected barrier). The room was much more comfortable then previous. It was here we realized that our laptop was missing. We must have dropped it in the previous few hotels.

Bedroom.
Bedroom.
Bathroom.
Bathroom.

Left the hotel to visit the Chateau Chambord first because it was nearer. After 20mins of driving, we arrived and the Chateau was closed for visit. However, we were more fascinated by the exterior and had no issues taking photos of it. The 6pm sun provided excellent photo views and coupled with the clear blue skies, the photos were really nice. Spent some time walking around the Chanteau but not the gardens around as the compound was really huge. Left after paying carpark for 4euros per entry.

Mirror Chambord.
Mirror Chambord.
From the gardens.
From the gardens.
Zoomed in view.
Zoomed in view.

Drove a restaurant near our hotel, called the Le Shelby. Interesting designed about old retro stuff and American cars (therefore Shelby) but served France western cuisine. When we were there, we were the only customers around. Food was served quickly which was good as we had to finish before baby K got cranky. About 40Euros for 2 mains and 2 drinks. Carpark by the road side was free, and easy if space was available.

Inside the Shelby restaurant.
Inside the Shelby restaurant.
Pasta.
Pasta.
Chicken.
Chicken.

Milk shake.
Milk shake.
Shelby restaurant.
Shelby restaurant.

Back at the hotel, bathed baby K and all fell asleep from the exhaustion of the travel till date.

France 2015 Day 5 – Normandy Beach and Mont St. Michel

It was a busy day ahead with lots of driving. Distance to cover from city to city could be quite a lot to handle, especially with kids.

Woke up early, packed and checked out. Drove the church of Saint Jeanne, better known as Joan of Arc. Unfortunately the church was opened from 10am onwards and we couldn’t wait. Took some photos and left.

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Church of Saint Jeanne.

Our next stop was Normandy Beach. This place was the pivoting point of the WWII with the Allies coming in from the north through operation Overlord and took over key positions from the Germans and eventually defeating them. There were plenty of museums scattered throughout the region but we chose to visit the Musee of debarquement. It was quite a small museum so we didn’t take too much time either. After the visit and buying of some books on D day from the internal shop, we went a little window shopping on the clothing there before heading to the next stop, Pointe du Hoc.

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Musee du Débarquement.
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Stories of allies.
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Exhibit.
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Shopping street near the museum.

This was another interesting location on WWII. From here we could see the old German defense installations facing out towards the sea. These concrete structures were still left behind for people to visit. When we were there, we saw a lot of American visitors, but no surprises as this location was where the American troops launched their offensive and captured this impossible site, scaling the cliffs. It was quite a substantial area to explore but we didn’t walk too long. Furthermore, without a guide most of the stuff didn’t make much sense.

View of the beach at Pointe du Hoc. Challenging position for the allies.
View of the beach at Pointe du Hoc. Challenging position for the allies.
What's left of the installations at Pointe du Hoc.
What’s left of the installations at Pointe du Hoc.
Memorial for the brave rangers.
Memorial for the brave rangers.
One of the original observation bunkers.
One of the original observation bunkers.

From the huge carpark in Pointe Du Hoc, we drove towards Mont Saint Michel. The drive was similar to yesterday’s, a mixture of different roads. As we didn’t have lunch at the attractions, we stopped by at the service station for lunch. Even then, the cooked food wasn’t available anymore and we had to settle for pastries again.

Lunch at the service station.
Lunch at the service station.

It was a long drive (more than 1,5hrs) to Mont Saint Michel and baby was cranky as he wanted to sleep but was uncomfortable enough to do so. After a lot of crying, he finally slept.

By the time we arrived at MSM, it was almost 6. Le Relais Du Roy was the hotel for the night and it was within a village of other hotels. Control of traffic into this village was through a passcode activated barrier and so I had to call to the hotel to ask for one. As there was some construction going on on the road, the one way traffic then was managed by a portable traffic light. Hotel parking was also a makeshift one on the opposite side of the hotel.

Bedroom.
Bedroom.
Bathroom
Bathroom
Le Relais du Roy,
Le Relais du Roy,

We were given a hotel on the first floor after check in and thankfully not many steps. The room has a balcony that had a view of MSM. Yet again, it was a simple hotel.

We left for MSM immediately after putting down the stuff, before baby got tired and slept. There was a free shuttle bus every 8mins and so we boarded the bus that was waiting at the bay. It wasn’t long before we were at the end of the bridge at the bottom of MSM. It was still low tide then.

Shuttle bus stop.
Shuttle bus stop.
Shuttle bus that ferried the visitors to and from the village.
Shuttle bus that ferried the visitors to and from the village.

Close up shot of MSM.
Close up shot of MSM.

Took some photos and went explore the town that had houses built alongside a slope that spiraled upwards. Shops were starting to close but we managed some shopping before continuing to climb. Didn’t walk through everything, because it was all too tiring with the baby and the baby bags.

Within the castle walls.
Within the castle walls.
Streets within MSM.
Streets within MSM.
Cathedral at the top of the peak.
Cathedral at the top of the peak.
Many stair ways like a maze.
Many stair ways like a maze.
View of tide coming in.
View of tide coming in.

Took the shuttle bus back but we missed a stop. In the end, we took to the end and boarded again to our hotel. By the time we arrived it was 8ish and we had to rush bathing and cleaning and putting the baby to sleep.

We thought there were takeaways and unfortunately, none of the restaurants I asked have. As a result we didn’t get to have any dinner as all the restaurants were closing. We settled for the biscuits that we bought during the day. Long daylight gave the impression that it was still early.

I wanted to capture the sunset and the MSM light up and only managed to do so at about 1030pm onwards because the day was still bright. I walked to as close as possible to MSM only to find that it was low tide. Too bad, settled for whatever shots I could take.

Everlasting sunlight till 9pm.
Everlasting sunlight till 9pm.

The day was really long and I fell asleep rather quickly, after all the photo taking and walking in the cold.

Lights up of MSM in the twilight close to midnight.
Lights up of MSM in the twilight close to midnight.

France 2015 Day 4 – Reims to Rouen

Woke up early as usual and got prepared quicker than the day before. It was a quick 5mins walk to the Notre Dame cathedral. I thought it was yet another cathedral but this had the same same but different effect. This one was not as awesome as the one in Strasbourg but still huge. The stained glasses were numerous and worth the quick look.

Notre Dame de Reims.
Notre Dame de Reims.
Entrance of the Cathedral.
Entrance of the Cathedral.
High ceiling within the Cathedral.
High ceiling within the Cathedral.
Beautiful stained glass within the cathedral.
Beautiful stained glass within the cathedral.

I had placed Tau palace as part of the itinerary but it was closed on Mondays, and frankly, we didn’t have enough time. Walked towards Eglise Saint Jacques but it was closed as well. Went to the pastry shop La Mie Caline and had breakfast. It wasn’t as fantastic as the one in Strasbourg again, but it did fill the stomach.

Tau Palace.
Tau Palace.
Eglise Saint Jacques.
Eglise Saint Jacques.
La Mie Caline bakery.
La Mie Caline bakery.
Pastry.
Pastry.
Fountain at Reims.
Fountain at Reims.
Reims street.
Reims street.

Went back to the hotel and by 11am we were all checked out, having paid 65 euros more, 12.50 for the carpark and the rest dinner.

Due to the irreparable damage to my shoes, we were inclined to visit one of the outlets outside France, in Usines Center Paris Nord 2. About 1.5hrs of driving, we arrived and parked at the free parking. As we walked about, we were actually quite disappointed with the variety the shops had to offer. Big brands couldn’t be seen but rather various shops selling mixture of brands, kinda reminded me of Queensway shopping center, only difference was this was not only selling sports apparel. There was a huge Petit Bateau shop which was good as we bought quite a bit for Baby K and the Orchestra brand was quite affordable. Didn’t really see nice track shoes and in the end, purchased Geox shoes which was about 85 euros, not that cheap. There wasn’t tourist Vat refund either nor many variety of food, which really summed up the disappointing trip.

Usines Center Paris Nord 2
Usines Center Paris Nord 2
Huge Petit Bateau outlet.
Huge Petit Bateau outlet.
My old shoes replaced by new.
My old shoes replaced by new.

We decided to have lunch elsewhere and therefore drove towards Rouen. Before leaving, carried out baby care works as previous days and replacement of my shoes to the new ones. Then it was a 2hrs drive towards Rouen with a stop by at a service station. There we bought sandwiches for lunch before continuing the journey.

Panini.
Panini.
Chicken burger.
Chicken burger.
Service center.
One of such service station.

Baby K got extremely cranky, wonder if the tiredness of the travel had gotten to him. It didn’t really help with a frustrated wife who was also tired. The journey to Rouen was least enjoyable.

Arriving at the Interhotel Rouen Cathedral, it was confirmed that there weren’t any hotel carparks and that I had to park in public. Luckily there was one space available and close to the hotel. Paid for 30mins of parking since it was going to be free at 7pm onwards till 9am in the morning.

The other bad thing the hotel was that there weren’t any lifts. This meant I need to carry 2 heavy luggage up the steps to the 3rd floor. The only good that came out of this stay was the close proximity and the view from the balcony. The room was simple, even less furnished than the previous one and didn’t even come with an airconditioner. Luckily it was only for a night’s stay.

Bedroom.
Bedroom.
Bathroom
Bathroom

Baby K was extremely cranky, most likely he hadn’t gotten over the jet lag and was living on Singapore’s time and it was his bedtime. Another difficult hour before we wrapped him up and he went to sleep. Yet again, we will be taking away food and have them in the room.

9 plus and I went out in search of food leaving sleeping baby and wife in the room. Took some photos of the cathedral as it was just sunset. Turned around and noticed the Gros Horloge just nearby. Took some photos with it and from there I could see the sunset in the distance. Couldn’t stay longer to enjoy the scenery as it was getting late and we haven’t had dinner. Went back to one of the restaurants near the Rouen Cathedrale that was still open and had an English menu, Al’1. Ordered a bread toasted bread with ham and beacon with fries and another 2 Strasbourg sausages with fries and a mineral water. Preparations was quick but there were limited options on takeaways and obviously limited English.

Rouen street.
Rouen street.
Rouen Cathedral
Rouen Cathedral
Sunset over the cathedral.
Sunset over the cathedral.
Gros Horloge.
Gros Horloge.
Al 1 restaurant.
Al 1 restaurant.
Inside of Al 1 restaurant.
Inside of Al 1 restaurant.
Chicken and sausage dinner.
Chicken and sausage dinner.

Back at the room, it was more preparations and cleaning while both wife and baby dozed. There was a light show supposedly at 11pm but I couldn’t make it. Had dinner somewhere in between and went to bed just before midnight. Long journey the next day and might want to visit the church for Joan of Arc, in Rouen, but we will see.

France 2015 Day 3 – Strasbourg, Nancy and Reims

Woke up early with the jet lag effect still strong. Packed most of the stuff before heading out to walk the street. Our first stop was to look for one of the recommended restaurant called Doo but unfortunately, like most other shop, it was still not opened.

Made our way to La Petite France. The buildings and the river made a picturesque scenery. Taking some photos, we left and walked in the direction of the Unesco listed Strasbourg cathedral. En route there was a bread shop that was opened and we popped in to get some pastries. It was a pleasant surprise as the shop Woerle Boulangerie was in fact quite popular and it served some delicious pastries. We ate within the shop itself.

Strasbourg old town.
Strasbourg old town.
La Petit France.
La Petit France.
Inside Woerle bakery.
Inside Woerle bakery.
Pastry.
Pastry.
Chocolate pasty.
Chocolate pasty.
Sugar coated pastry.
Sugar coated pastry.
Woerle Bakery.
Woerle Bakery.

Walked another 5 mins and we arrived at the gigantic Strasbourg cathedral covered with incredible gothic sculptures. I was in awe at the size of the building and the details of it all. I was sure this was the best of the Notre Dame, and if you only got one to see, see this one.

We walked around the cathedral, once in a while snapping different perspective of it. It was a good choice to go really early before the tour groups poured in from all over.

Towering above the buildings was the huge cathedral.
Towering above the buildings was the huge cathedral.
Amazing door arch.
Amazing door arch.
Intricate gothic architecture.
Intricate gothic architecture.
Strasbourg Cathedral.
Strasbourg Cathedral.
Palais Rohan entrance.
Palais Rohan entrance. One of the other places of interest that we didn’t visit.

Walked back to the hotel and checked out a while later. Our first long drive started and already I was having trouble getting onto the highway. Finally did so after driving around in circles.

It was a 2 hrs drive to Nancy, smooth sailing most of time, punctuated with tolls and the occasional crying complaints from baby K who either was hungry or sleepy.

We arrived in Nancy and still I struggled with getting to one of the carparks that I had input into the GPS. Eventually we decided to park at the parking lot some 500 meters away and walked to Place Stanislas. It was almost a 15 mins walk, straightforward but a little tiring as it was hot.

The Unesco listed Place Stanislas square was, which some said to be one of the most beautiful square in France. It was nice, with the golden gates and exquisite lampposts and hanging lamps. The sculptures at diagonals and of course the grandeur of the hotel summed up the beauty of it all. Didn’t had much time to sit around but we did have lunch at Jean Lamour, a pastries/desert shop selling really pretty pastries. Our quiche, cheesecake, tart and eclair washed down with a latte did the trick for the lunch.

Gates of Place Stanislas.
Gates of Place Stanislas.
Golden lighting.
Golden lighting.
Nice golden gate.
Nice golden gate.
Place Stanislas square.
Place Stanislas square.
Place Stanislas square.
Place Stanislas square.
One of the gates to the square.
One of the gates to the square.
Lunch of Quiche, tart and cheesecake.
Lunch of Quiche, tart and cheesecake.
Eclair.
Eclair.
Parking coupon.
Parking coupon.

Walked back to the carpark and again had to spend some time with baby care, changing nappies and washing and sterilising before hitting the road again. From where we parked, we can see a huge cathedral but we didn’t have time for that. My shoes also decided to give up the bottom soles and I am left when a thin cloth base to cover my feet.

Another cathedral towering in the distance. No time for that.
Another cathedral towering in the distance. No time for that.

Another 2hrs journey to Reims and baby got cranky due to tiredness. It was quite challenging as there wasn’t much we could do and he didn’t like the car seat too much. Wife was on the pumps and we could only let him drink from the bottle till he dozed off. There were more variations of speed limits because of road works, roads becoming single lanes and due to going through towns but it was still easy driving. Did a service stop 30mins from Reims to pump petrol and continued forth to our hotel at the Mercure Reims Cathedrale.

There was basement parking with ample spaces and it was great to have direct access of the lift to and from the rooms since I had to make a few trips to carry the heavy luggage and the miscellaneous stuff. The room was smaller the the Novotel and not as furnished with the washing accessories but I guess what you pay was what you get.

Again the same routine of cleaning up and again baby was cranky for sleep and did fell asleep after a while. We were then forced to order room service for dinner. The food was very nicely decorated and reasonably tasty.

Bedroom.
Bedroom.
Bathroom.
Bathroom.
In room dinner of cod and crab meat salad.
In room dinner of cod and crab meat salad.
...and omelette.
…and omelette.

Outside the sun set at around 10pm but we spent the remaining night to get ready for tomorrow.

Switzerland/France 2015 Day 2 – Basel Zoo and Strasbourg

Woke before 5 am local time together with the baby. Had to entertain him while my wife continued to sleep.

Jetlag was hitting me hard as i stayed awake through 6am local time. We got out of the room by 7am to a nearby brekkie place just 5 mins walk away from our hotel. Ordered pancake and rosti and sat on the inside, shielded from the morning chill at Babu’s coffeehouse. The food tastes pretty good but it was a tad expensive, everything costing almost 50CHF.

Babu's bakery and coffeehouse.
Babu’s bakery and coffeehouse.
Warm and cosy on the inside.
Warm and cosy on the inside.
Pancakes.
Pancakes.
Rosti.
Rosti.
Cappuccino and hot choco.
Cappuccino and hot choco.

Went back to the hotel and the packing began. It was not until 930 did I started my 2.5km walk to Sixt, from Google maps did not look too far but it was. The bad luck had started when I found that I have forgotten to bring along my license, my credit card and my passport and had to take the train back. From here I learnt to buy tickets from the auto machine (short distance stops tickets) and which train to take, reading from the broadcasting screen which was the earliest to leave and the train number with its corresponding track number. 4mins later, I was back at Zurich HBF and I walked quickly to the room and explained the situation to my wife before leaving with all that was required. Took another train to the Hardbrucke station and walked back to the Sixt office.

I was given a free upgrade to the BMW X1 and after struggling to start the car (not knowing that I need to insert the remote into the slot for the push start to work). When I have parked the car at the ground floor for the staff to help me change the in car GPS language to English, I was informed that there wasn’t this option. So I asked the staff and she gave me another choice, the Peugeot 508. Also I had to remind them that I need a baby seat. So went up to the 8th floor again, got into the car and this time, had an issue with finding the hand/foot brakes which wasn’t physically available. It was only a while later did I noticed the “P” at the left hand side below the aircon vent.

After arriving at the ground floor, the baby seat was already out but it looked really old and quite uncomfortable. I was also informed to install it myself using the instructions at the side of the seat.

When I’m finally ready to go, I had problem finding the hotel on the navigation system. I only found one that sounded like the hotel and shown to be on the same location that I choose it. Moving out, even the first turn i had trouble because some of the roads that pedestrians walk were in fact roads that cars could travel.

Reaching Zurich city and driving around was a total nightmare. People and bicycles all around, road works with traffic controllers around, it was chaotic. As I managed to reach the hotel, I couldn’t find a lot and was afraid to park at the road side. As a result I went around again but it was not an easy one due to the chaos. When I finally arrived after going through many detours, I tried to drive towards the car park at the opposite side of the road but the barrier wouldn’t budge. So I reversed and simply parked near the entrance of the hotel, no longer giving much of a damn. Thereafter it was moving luggage and checking out, all taking effort and time.

Punched in the location onto my garmin, I tried to navigate to the next destination, Basel, only to find that because of the distance, a wrong turn would take much time to recalculate. What’s worse, I had accidentally set up the GPS to not take toll roads, essentially the highway. It was only that I forced myself onto the highway that I realized that.

From then it was easy drive till I arrived at Basel. We were supposed to go to Basle Munster cathedral. The GPS did that but it was another nightmare altogether. I entered a zone that was practically no cars around, only people and trams. I wasn’t sure if it was not allowed but I had no other choice since I already entered. Sometimes I even drove on the the tracks that the trams took. It was really stressful and embarrassing to do that. In the end, we changed the location to the zoo.

The carpark of the zoo was a very discrete turn in, crossing the tram’s track. I missed a turn and similarly had trouble detouring and going back to the same route, with all the trams and out of place roads. After turning in the small road to the carpark, I went around the one way street carpark and it was full. Went out and further down another one which was also full but there was a car that was about to move out, just that the owner was still loading the vehicle. There was car coming out behind and I was obstructing so I had to drive out of the carpark and back again. His spot was taken because another car also just came in. Talk about luck. Went back to wait on the same car which was just about finish, eventually I managed to park there.

The tickets cost 18CHF each and we had to use the single nursing bed to change baby K diaper. Thereafter we proceeded to the aquarium to its side. The Basel zoo to say the least was normal. There wasn’t much more unexpected to see compared to the other zoos that we had gone before. What striked me the most was to see wolf, snow leopard, lamas, bisons and silverback gorillas. Also there were volunteers walking the animals on the main walking street.

Basel Zoo.
Basel Zoo.
Zoo Tickets
Zoo Tickets
Fishes in the mangroove.
Fishes in the mangroove.
Penguins
Penguins
Bear.
Bear.
White horses.
White horses.
Sables.
Sables.
White wolf.
White wolf.
Huge Bison.
Huge Bison.
Lunch.
Lunch.
Gorillas.
Gorillas.
Walking the animals.
Walking the animals.

We had lunch at the only restaurant available but the cooked food was sold out, as it was late afternoon. Bought a slice of pie and a slice of cheesecake and a 12ft bread, 2 drinks which all costed 22CHF but it was sure filling.

Left the restaurant filled and completed the rest of the exhibitions. As there was difficulty in finding parking in the city, we decided to leave the car at the car park (coupon hasn’t ended yet) and took the tram into the city. There were only 2 trams (number 10 and 17) both of which could reach the Theatre stop which one of the waiting passengers advised us to go to, so we bought the tickets and jumped on. After we reached and asked a passerby that we knew there was actually another stop that was closer but was still walkable anyways. We continued on foot which brought us to Marktplatz which had a beautiful red building. Upon entering we found that it was actually the Town Hall, not the attraction that we were looking for. This place had a square in front of it with tentages of stores and crowded with people. We continued on until we almost reached the bridge where we took a right turn into Rheinsprung. From this route up, the scenery of Basel town was slowly unveiling. 10mins climb which was pretty manageable even with a baby, who fell asleep sitting on his hip seat, we arrived at Basle Munster cathedral, red exterior massive cathedral similar to others that we had seen. Didn’t visit the interior as there was a service going on, we went to the back of the cathedral where there was a bird’s eye view of the Basel River and the bridges.

Walked back to Marktplatz where we waited for tram 17 that brought us 4 stops back to the zoo, cutting down on a lot of walking. Got back to the car and started a host of activities such as feeding the baby, changing the nappies, express milk, washing up accessories, cleaning up pumps and sterilising.

Trams to the old town.
Trams to the old town.
Inside tram.
Inside tram.
Basel City.
Basel City.
Town hall.
Town hall.
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Basle Minster.
Basle Minster.
View from the top.
View from the top.

We hit the road after that, getting onto the highway and crossing the borders after going through a non functional border station, since Eurozone is borderless. Rest of the journey was smooth, with speeds varying from 110km-130km/hr. Took a restroom break at the service station enroute and before long, we arrived in Strasbourg.

Entering the city felt less complicated than Swiss ones and we made it to the Novotel basement parking with no drama. Checked in was easy and soon baby K was stretching himself on the doubles in the room. Bathed him and he fell asleep soon after, which changed our plans. Settled for McD as the easiest takeaways and that I was too lazy to search for anything else. The shopping mall beside was closed.

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Bathroom
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Bedroom
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Dinner.

The night was spent cleaning up even though sun set only occurred at after 9pm. It was a long day but the excitement of travel drove our tired bodies for more.

Escape plan to Switzerland and France June 2015

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Switzerland and France 2015:

Total duration 15D14N
Singapore is 6hrs ahead of Switzerland and France.
Flight time is 12hrs 40mins on Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Zurich.

Morning flight on 12th June at 1:20am and arrival in Zurich at 8am.
Return flight is on the 26th June at 11:45pm and arrival in Singapore at 5:55am.

Day 0 Preparations for long trip and the flight
Day 1 Zurich City
Day 2 Basel and Strasbourg
Day 3 Nancy stopover and Reims
Day 4 Usines Center Paris Nord and Rouen
Day 5 Normandy Beach and Mont St. Michel
Day 6 Blois and Chateau Chambord
Day 7 Chateau Chenonceau and Lyon
Day 8 Galleries Lafayette and Annecy
Day 9 Annecy and Geneva
Day 10 Lausanne and Montreux
Day 11 Zermatt and Riffelalp
Day 12 Gruyere and Bern
Day 13 Brienz, Lungern viewpoint and Lucerne
Day 14 Mt. Rigi and Zurich
Day 15 Home Sweet Home

This escape plan hijacked the initial plans of progressively extending flight time for our baby. The SG50 promo that gave 50% discount on amount of Krisflyer miles redemption on selected destinations were just too good to be missed. What better time to travel to Europe with such low miles required? Zurich was one of the destination and we had to decide between Central Europe or France/Swiss. We chose the latter as it gave more assurance in terms of higher probabilities of modern facilities should we urgently require for our baby.

Budget nature: Euros were somewhat low but high Swiss Francs made the trip a little expensive.

Even without the tickets, the entire trip came up to be around SGD5k for the whole family. The travel in France was rather bearable with the weakened Euros but the Swiss standard of living was just too expensive, made worse with the decoupling of the Francs against the Euros.

Complexity: Getting around in a car was easy in France, but difficult in Swiss.

Driving in France was fairly easy, but long distances to cover. Reststops along the highways were good for rest and lunch. Driving in Swiss was extremely difficult in cities. Parking were hard to find and roads were crowded with other modes of transport. The long distance travel with crying baby in a uncomfortable car made the journey really unpleasant. Tolls along the French highway collect quite a sum of coins while vignette issue in Swiss was covered since we got the car from Zurich first.

Paris 2011 Day 3 – Palace of Versailles and flight to Rome

We planned a visit to the Palace of Versailles before our flight out to Rome. Versailles was a 40minutes metro ride away from our accommodation and the tickets could be purchased online, costing us 36euros for 2.

There were many of such rooms with huge painted ceilings and the walls decorated with huge paintings.
It was quite crowded

Our flight to Rome Ciampino airport was on Ryanair at 920pm at night taking off from the Paris Beauvais airport. There was a shuttle service that takes passenger from Porte Maillot to the airport so we took the metro there from our accommodation. We took a while to find the pick up location but managed to do so eventually. The ride to the airport was about an 1hr 15mins.

Waiting to board in the Paris Beauvais airport.