Around old Lyon

In the 1er arrondisement of Lyon, the Bartholdi Fountain stands in the Place des Terreaux near City Hall, a sculpture that features Marienne, the personification of France, commandeering a chariot with four galloping horses controlling the four great rivers of France.

Fun fact: the sculptor of this Bartholdi Fountain is the same guy who created the Statue of Liberty in New York!

One of my favourite things to do when I travel is to walk around and, quite literally, get lost in the maze of streets in a new city. On one of these lose-myself occasions, I found myself in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon - the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon. I love seeing the beautiful colour of the sandstone walls along the length of the hallways!

Life's simple pleasures: a book, beautiful architecture, a fine day.

The Musée des Beaux-Arts is housed in a former Benedictine convent. The central courtyard features a number of statues in a beautiful area where many can be spotted enjoying a good book or simply basking in the sun.

I decided to go back to the Fourvière to check out the basilica by daylight. The first thing that strikes you at the Fourvière is just how incredibly ornate it all is - so much going on, a ton of intricate carvings and so much that decorates every single corner of the basilica. And that's just from the outside!

The inside of the basilica is filled with gold-plating everywhere, beautifully painted ceilings, and an incredible amount of ornament. You'd think that a building like this should be a few hundred years old, but it was actually only completed in 1884 - that's less than 150 years ago! The design draws from Romanesque and Byzantine architecture, which is why the building is as ornate as it is.

Just look at the amount of work that must have gone into that level of design, and having to paint that on a ceiling, too! Trying to paint that on a ceiling must have meant that painters had to work almost lying down while completing this piece of art.

The Fourvière is also home to the Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc (The Children's Choir of Saint-Marc), the same choir that was involved in the French film Les Choristes. 

Around the basilica are a number of beautiful religious sculptures, such as this one of a four winged angel. I never knew that angels were depicted as having four wings, but the unusualness of this sculpture certainly piques one's interest.

As with the rest of the city, the winged lion of Lyon is ever-present, here resting on the outside of the Fourvière keeping a watchful eye.

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Only Lyon

With beautiful ancient architecture, amazingly kind and helpful people, and so much to do, Lyon easily counts itself among some of my favourite cities. The symbol of Lyon is the lion, something which the city proudly displays with its sculpture, "Only Lyon". Placed sûr les berges du Rhône, or on the banks of the Rhône river, it is a wonderful sight to see sunlight hitting the Rhône and the sculpture at the closing of day.

After the hustle and bustle of busy Paris, Lyon was a welcome respite with its far more laid-back attitude and lazy evening streets.

I arrived in Lyon and was met by my amazing Couchsurfing host, Olga, who was from Poland but had lived in Lyon for ten years. She showed me around the city and took me to some of the most amazing places, from the walkways along riverbanks to the spectacular Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière which sits atop a hill overlooking the whole city.

The view from the Fourvière is incredible by night! The church is all lit up, casting shadows on the many intricate details and decorations on the church, and from the back of the church you can look down and see the many thousands of lights dotting the city of Lyon. It's an beautiful sight, and it made the crazy climb up to the Fourvière while it was dark totally worth it!

In the daytime, it's really pretty to sit by the steps by the Rhône, near to where the Only Lyon sculpture is. There's not really a better way to spend an afternoon than by the riverbank, watching the world go by with a very typically French croissant or flûte of bread in your hand!

One of the coolest things I saw was an old boat that had become converted into a little pub, named Ayers Rock. It sits by the banks of the Rhône, and people can actually go onto the boat and have a meal there. How cute is that?! I would love to have my very own boat-restaurant (a girl can dream!)

I came to the 2me arrondisement, which is on Presqu'île, or "almost an island". The reason for this is that the 2me arrondisement sits in between the rivers Rhône and Saône near where they join together, and this forms a little almost-island in between the two rivers! It's all very cute and French.

Sitting down at a little cafe on the Place des Jacobins, I had some of the best salad ever. I've never had a seafood salad quite as amazing as this - perfectly fresh cold prawns and smoked salad atop of a bed of greens. So yummy, and so, good. So. So. Good.

By the time I was done with my salad, I was more than ready to take on even more of Lyon and explore even more of the city!

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The Empire of Death in Paris

Arrête! C'est ici l'empire de la mort.
(Stop! Here is the empire of death.)

So begins the dramatic journey into the Catacombs of Paris, famous for containing the skulls and bones of some six million people, romanticising death as art. While some may be creeped out by the idea of walking into what is pretty much someone else's graveyard, it is clear that there are many who are fascinated by the idea - the queue to get into the Catacombs can be as long as three hours, for those who are eager to have a taste of romantic death.

The Catacombs were originally built to house the remains of Paris citizens, a solution to the problem of overcrowded cemeteries. The people whose bones once lay in the cemeteries of Les Innocents found themselves being carted by night to the Tombe-Issoire, where the bones were there arranged in the fashion of some sort of museum.

Being underground, the temperature in the Catacombs remains at a cool 14 degrees Celcius all year round. That certainly doesn't do very much for the eerie atmosphere that comes with being in a tunnel with the remains of 6 million people!

Entrance to the Catacombs is by guided audio tour only, and a limited number of people are allowed into the tunnels at any one time. While this can lead to a very long waiting line to get in (remember to bring a good book while you're waiting in line!), this gives you plenty of time to have a look around and take in the vastness of the Catacombs.

Don't take too long looking around though, you don't want to wind up becoming Catacomb inhabitant six-million-and-one.

It is quite fascinating being able to observe the remains of people who were once alive - who were these people and how did they end up here? - and process the fact that these are the skulls and bones of real people. Some parts of the Catacombs are today graffitied, which is a shame considering that this is the final resting place of these 6 million people, but for the most part the gothic, romantic beauty of the Catacombs have been beautifully preserved since the 18th century.

It is said that this is one of the most haunted places on earth, so if you're adventurous enough to visit, don't be too surprised if you spot an unworldly spectre while you're underground.

For those who are fascinated by the dark and awed by the eerie, the Paris Catacombs are a must-visit.

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Discovering Versailles

Let's first get the obvious out of the way: Versailles is the epitome of opulence. It's the very definition of opulent. It's a place where gold-plating is used on the ceilings, where there isn't a single unadorned corner, where chandeliers hang everywhere... It's no wonder that Versailles has been used as the architectural inspiration for endless other palaces and important buildings of state.

No wonder, also, that it's one of the most visited sights in France and Europe. I mean, look at these crowds!

It took me two hours just to get through the entrance gates - thank goodness for my Kindle and a good pair of walking shoes. Amazingly, despite the endless masses of tourists threatening to cheapen the splendour of the palace, it seemed that Versailles had lost none of its regal charm - from the perfectly pristine palace to the micro-managed gardens, with perfectly sculpted trees and pathways as far as the eye can see.

It's no secret that the French and the English have a sibling rivalry-type relationship. Which is why when my tour guide explained to us the difference between French and English gardens, many laughs were had.

"A French garden is like zees." (Imagine the French accent.) "Eet has many straight lines and every-zeeng is parallel and ze two halves always face each other."

"Ze English gardens are messy and all over ze place."

The Gardens, I thought, were actually far more exciting than the palace. While the Palace was beautiful in its own way, there's nothing quite like getting lost in the mazes of tree-high hedges, wandering around and basking in the French sun, and then stumbling upon a water-fountain with (get this) gold dragons erupting from the surface.

Something that I certainly didn't expect to see: people rowing down a man-made river in the Versailles gardens! It seemed to me something almost too normal for a place of as immense importance as this - yet, surely this must have been something not too different from the types of activities that those who lived here must have engaged in.

It seems, in some ways, that Versailles a perfect metaphor for all of Paris, and of France. Old-world charm and the remnants of a time long gone, once cloaked in splendour, staunchly resolute in its refusal to be cheapened by tourists. A place that is beautiful, proud, and timeless.

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Walking down Champs-Elysées

I thought it was pretty cool that I managed to see this pretty awesome Occupy protest, or at least its signboard.

It also happened to be the day of Fête de la Musique (June 21) so everyone was out playing music in full swing.



Mandatory visit to Sephora.


It's like Paris built the little centre divider in the middle of the road just for tourists to stand there and take beautiful symmetrical pictures of the Arc de Triomphe!

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A journey into the Louvre

Whether you know it from art history class or the Da Vinci code, there's no denying that the Louvre is one of the most famous buildings in the world. The contrast between the modernity of the famous glass pyramid and the hundred year old building that surrounds it is the recipe for 'iconic'.

The central staircase into the Louvre, from the glass pyramid entrance.

The Louvre is famous for two things: Their ancient Egypt collection - which is one of the best in the world, with real mummies and all that sort of good stuff - and of course the Mona Lisa, or La Joconde as it's called in French.

First think of the person who lives in disguise, Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies. Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend, The middle of middle and end of the end? And finally give me the sound often heard, During the search for a hard-to-find word. Now string them together and answer me this, Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?

Yes, it is a Harry Potter quote. I'm a fan :)

I don't read hieroglyphics, but this probably says something like "All hail the mighty Pharaoh" or something of the sort. 

Eventually I arrived at the Mona Lisa, which is famously underwhelming in real life. I was more interested in the crowds clamouring to take selfies in front of the Mona Lisa.

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