Not to miss : In europe

There are a lot of places in europe , which can actually hold your breath and a single visit may not do justice to those places . eg , if you visit places like Paris , Rome , May be once in the life time wouldnt suit . But then there are some which are a must visit for once , but may be not another time ! ! Not because they are not beautiful but because you know what to expect .

So I list a few which I should surely to do once (must do )  but not twice . Or well , I would probably do only once only , but again you should surely do that .


Prague 

Prague is beautiful . but the old town is really very small and in One and a half day you could probably complete strolling around the city . And then what is left is to party . So once if you have been here . I would probably recommend eiether go again to for a Beer party or visit some nearby sites near prague but not and Prague itself .

Not to Miss : John Lennon Wall . This wall is one of the most beautiful walls . This symoblizes peace and has some great graffetti . Dont miss it if you visit to Prague .



Tulip Gardens in Amsterdam . 

They are just wonderful . Perhaps you could see all the colors you have seen so far in one garden . This garden is quite seasonal and open around

Windmill Garden in Amsterdam . It is so so so beautiful . Its just like a wallpaper , What i like is this village though is a theme village is free of cost , open and without too many shops and restaurants . That really makes this village quite classy .


Jugnfrau/ in Interlaken . 

This is one of the most expensive mountain trip in switzerland and this is one of the most confusing place I have been to . 




Murano and Lugano island in Venice . 



Palais of Versallis .


The Viking Ship Museum in Oslo 

Monaco ! Monaco !

You know what real class is - Visit Monaco  ! This small , filthy rich country can just leave your eyes wide open with awe and serenade you with its sheer opulence in every bit . I have been to a lot of developed countries , few of the most posh localities and yes i could say in few five star hotels and some resort town as well .

But when you visit Monaco , phew the definition of being rich changes . You cant imagine how amazing it was . So one day I decided to visit Monaco . I called up my mom as usual and I said , I am going to Monaco this weekend . She was confused and asked Monaco ? Monaco Biscuit ? And I laughed and I said yes - Monaco .

Monaco is the second smallest and the most densely populated country in the world, located on the French Riviera in Western Europe. A large part of the land mass is actually a rock upon which the ruling Grimaldi family have built their castle. The Grimaldi’s came to power almost 800 years ago when they took over a Monk fortress, and they transformed Monaco into a principality in 1338.

Alexandre Noghes was a wealthy cigarette manufacturer who lived in Monaco as a close friend to the Royal Family. In 1911 he used his influence to organize the very first Monaco Rally. Eighteen years later his son, Anthony, did likewise and came up with an idea to run a Grand Prix through the streets of Monte Carlo. The layout that Anthony Noghes proposed is the same one used today, called Circuit de Monaco, and is a testament to just how popular the Grand Prix has become.

It is such a beautiful city , ohh well country ( of the size of a city ) .An trivia is this is one of the most densely populated country as well ;) and you know why we have so many rich people in the world :)

The country is ruled by a Monarch Albert II  , Prince of Monaco , Why a Prince but not the King ? Well it is a Principality and not a Kingdom . Though it is an independent country but for most operational reasons it depends on France . As this place is known for its Casino , but the casino only derives 3% of the national income . This place is rich because of its expensive Real Estate.You probably would not find many Hollywood stars staying here , but certainly the European celebrities and sportpersons. The formula 1 race happens on the road and damn you dont see any car over there that is less than a porche , Range Rover or a Audi . An ordinary flat might cost you like 30 million euros .

Journey : I started from Marseille . I had planned to start t 9.30 however I missed the train as I reached a wrong station . Till yet I never knew Marsille had two stations ! What a shame . Anyways , I did not regret much and started a bit late with restricted time in my hand . It takes three hours from here .I got down at Nice and once again changed the train for Monaco . It takes approximately 20 min to go to Monaco from  Nice and the train / Bus takes just 2 euros to enter Monaco . Cooool , isnt it ?

I got down at the underground station of Monaco . There were not many people to guide me , but I first met a woman who lived there and was a Pediatrician . I spoke to myself in my mind , idiot normal people do live here. So now just behave normal :)

Well when you enter this rich and magnificent country you always think everyone would be a snob . But she was kind enough to show me the way to the Casino . I have not seen a casino in my life and I was quite interested . On the way there were shops of the most expensive brand in the world . I could not enter in either as I had very less time .

The casino is like a grand palace, it was apparently an old one .It was quite amusing that the ones who were sitting on the tables for the game to start were few of the oldest women of Monaco I think . i have heard in France old women who have either lost their husbands or have their kids staying away from them are the most addict to gambling .The casino was like a glitzy courtroom and it wasnt allowed to take photographs .

Just behind the casino there was a yacht club , which is apparently the most expensive clubs in europe .It was a sunny day and the skyline was clear . Monaco is on the mountains and right there is the sea . it certainly makes a very interesting setting . the cor-niche and the sea itself look very beautiful .And then on one of the plateau there was the old town , the cathedral and the kings palace . As I got down the bus I saw a long queue outside a posh Boulevard . I was just wondering what it is and I saw a lot of mothers coming out with there very young kids . It was a Kinder Garden . Well this was business as usual . It was amusing , well here everyone is rich . so there aint a status quo . Their kids study in a school . the parents come to pick them up and the teenagers catch the public bus to get into the house .At the end we all are same , isnt it ?

             This is the most expensive yatch club .The initial deposit for member ship could cost you 30000 euros .

I was almost rushing as I had only a few hours to visit the whole city . At the later end I visited the Palace museum , the cathedral and the oceanographic museum . I did not have much time to cover many places so i covered a museum and the grand palace .They all are on the same hill as that of the palace.

The Palace was opulent and with interesting pieces of frescos, paintings and artifacts . Somehow i have seen a few and i am not a great fan of watching these . So I would write about the oceonographic museum . The other museum you may like to see is the car museum over there . ( but i hadnt done it that day )

Out of that the ocenographic museum was extremely interesting . It not only shows the ocean life but it also has the reminicences of the lifes of the aboriginals that depended on the ocean and sea life . also some exotic fishes and beautiful fishes in the aquariums . So as I have golden rule , for any day trip I always leave the place before 6 pm , I rushed to the train station yet again .You would not imagine the train was full like mumbai to vashi train . I sat on the stairs till Nice . And then finally i came home . But I loved Monaco , I think once someone would come to visit me in Marseilles .I would surely take them to Monaco .

                   This is the first of the submarines and you can just submerged into the sea . it could keep you alive for two days . Looks like time travelling capsule isn't it .

the cage when you catch big fishes . Oh you have to visit this Oceanographic museum . Its fun and interesting

These are jelly fishes . these are not green but like white or almost transparent and they were hundered in number .

And this way i ended my ended and thoroughly enjoyed and had a great day .

St. Mont Michel ; an Enchanting journey

The Most mesmerizing visit in France .

I took an en route to one of the most beautiful area in France . North west France .  For me since the time I am in France, I was quite fantasized by the idea of visiting  Normandy.Its kind of the places I like , It has a history , its beautiful and is unusual . I have seen the place in movies , I have read about in history books . And a place with lots of history and a abundance of nature could never go wrong . Just as usual I have too many places in my mind but actualize the plan is kind of a deal for me .

Usually the places i have planned for days and months wont work , but for the ones i haven't planned for do . So this was one plan which worked because I broke my laptop and had no option but to travel to Paris .Mt. Saint Michel is still a day trip from paris .It takes around five hours in bus to reach Mt.St Michel . I wasnt planning to stay in Mt Michel and so had a ten hour travel in a single day . In between our bus was stopped for a narcotic check . Apparently Normandy is one of the places from where the drugs are smuggled in and out of France . It was literally long and suffocating to sit for so long in the bus . However as we headed towards Mt.St Michel i could see that the road was getting greener . It was rainy and cold . You could see some the stalk, small cottages and glimpse of the country side . The landscapes was quite different than South France . By the time we were close to Normandy , it got more beautiful . There were big fields and the road got narrower and more curvy . The site was beautiful with French villages and narrow cobbling streets. French villages are quite charming and beautiful. It was a cloudy day, and from a far distance I could see the Mont Michel Castle . The highlight of this castle is that this was built on an island in the middle of the sea . Its majestic in several ways .

The castle is one of the most visited places in France and definitely very much as belongs to the medieval times and it seems as if you have time traveled . The castle has a history and was started being built up in 17 th century . It is amazing that it is in the middle of a sea and also the sea seems quite rough , brackish and murky. At the face of it it just seemed like a setting from the Game of thrones , majestic and mysterious .

The castle is like a city on its own , with shops , crematory , church , prison , abbey and big chimneys . Not just that you also have some horror stories to hear and twitch a bit . At the top you go the abbey , and going down is like going inside a maze . I also saw a giant pulley that was used to pull the stones to do the construction what was brought in from the sea .

I had spent four hours there (without doing the museums ) and i was more or less on time . it does not take more than than . However , you a day trip and short visit can really take you to a different world .  I had a five hour travel back to Paris . a 10 hour travel in a single day is not easy . However Mt . Michel was worth it .

Here are a few photographs for you to share the delight  .

 Mt . St Michel from a distance . The castle is in the sea , That day it was a low tide and hence you see no water .

View from the highest point on Mt.Saint Michel 

The city in the castle . Right at the entrance .

Travel Tip  : I was travelling on the day when the euro cup started . usually on special days like that the train fares are very high . Well you might know that , however from many sites of france you can get the ticket without the seat number . On somedays like this there are special trains , which do not have any seat number or class alloted . Hence you can sit anywhere and your ticket wont be checked once you are in the train .



                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

La comedie

Dear Life ,

Whenever I think that no nothing is happening in my life . You put me on a Rock and get me Rolling.

May is more or less a holiday season in France , and there were two long weekends in alternate weeks. As usual I am quite like to go for short trips and on one of the weekends I decided for a bag pack trip to Spain - Seville and Madrid .  But that never really happened , I dont know why but from a few days before I was feeling very lonely and away from my family from last five months , I was a little upset. From a lot many days I did not visit a single friend , nor did I talk to anyone and actually it was the reason I planned a trip to spain for five days to give myself a break . But somewhat at the last moment i started feeling the butterflies in my stomach and even the break from work looked like an overload .I turned down my plan to travel and wasted the flight tickets that i had already done and just sitting at home and spending a gloomy day at home . Wasn't very proud of it though , but anyways ..

I was sulking at my home and  I got a call from one of my friends who was a junior and I knew him from Gurgaon and was living in France in Montpillier which is sort of close to marseille.. He had few times called me previously as well and told me to visit him and I had kind of ignored it .But this time he asked me again and I was feeling so bored and unhappy that I pushed myself and said yes to visit him for a short day trip .

Montepiller , is around 2 hours from Marseille .I called him up at night and told him I will reach at 10 am and he assured me he would be there at the station to pick me up so I need not bother anything else. So I said fine if not Spain , certainly I should go to Mp. Got up early , got ready , had a coffee and started .I was feeling good after a few days. Sometimes just the feeling that you know someone is quite a good comeback in this unknown land . I would say it was a day when I had really pushed myself  hard to feel happy and relaxed yet again .

I got into the bus stand I called him up , but he did not pick my phone . I thought he is sleeping and I sent him a text and I got in the  bus , At 9 am I messaged him again , No reply . As the bus reached the station I started calling him yet again , a bit constantly this time . I would generally not that otherwise . I got down at the station and to my surprise the bus stand was outside the city , unlike most european cities where the bus stand is at the city enter . I was thoroughly confused because I did not have his address and me had decided to meet at the station .

After half an hour of constantly calling him he picked the phone .His voice seemed flaky and it seemed he did not recognize me . I was in complete surprise what happened for I just talked last night and everything seemed okay . I got worried and asked him if he was okay . He said he is fine , but well his voice did not seem like . Then he said I was sleeping . I found something strange and I asked him is he drunk ? He denied but asked me to pick a taxi and visit him . But when i asked him his address he did not remember it as well . Now I was sure he was drunk and in a severe handover from last night . I cant say how surprised I was. To be honest i had no clue how to react . I told him that he needs to come to the city center in the next half hour or I am going back .

That was crazy and and well no more funny . This just took my by a shock actually . I wasn't in a mood of any adventure or risk anything . It was a bit too much for me .  I was stuck now , in the middle of the nowhere place called Montpelier . I was so furious that i took a long walk around the city square just to calm down . I was just wondering what to do now , go back , not go back , and preparing myself to behave sober infront of this drunk friend of mine .After 40 minutes of waiting I got a call from this friend and he was in a taxi at the city center . I told him to come out . He was kind of hesitant to step out of the taxi , but I insisted .

He got out from the taxi , a lad in his pyjamas and slippers and a black sweat shirt , with eyes half open and uncombed hair and unshaven  .  He was unable to walk straight and was almost limping and he just came and stood behind me . For a while i couldn't recognize him , It must have been 11 Am that time and it was quite sunny and wow what an entry of this super hero . He started muttering something and confessed finally that he is badly drunk and he needs to sleep some more to get put of the hangover . I asked him why didnt he tell me that last night ...well there wasnt an answer obviously . I asked him to go back and sleep . He apologized , but well I did not have much to tell him .The situation was not just embarrassing but amusing as well .Ironically, the name of the city center in Montepiller is La Comedie .

Then i just went to the stairs of the nearby cathedral and just laughed by myself for five minutes and Told myself Whatt-a-Day. I called my best friend in India and told what happened just now and then we both laughed together like idiots. So Life had already given me some lemons , so I decided to make some lemonade .

I had a day to spend now . I checked on google on the places to visit there and went to the tourist center and asked them what is the best plan to cover in five hours and marked the places to visit .
but before leaving i decided to charge the battery of my phone and myself and just tried to check some local spots . Just then , I saw a collegue of mine was their with his girl friend . I said hey , how are you here and he said , "just for a visit" . I was really glad to see them and I told them what happened today morning . They had a good laugh and he and his girlfriend became quit quick friends of mine . They then offered me to explore the city with them and we started . It was so much fun with the couple , They are both chinese but now been in France from so long . They told me their experiences and I told them mine and I ended in a fun day and a fun evening .

So finally I ended in a fun evening , though uncertain but was enough to make me laugh on they day on which I had two options sulk or have fun with .And I am happy I chose the latter :)

Provencal Living - Aix -On - Provence

Tonight write about one of the most beautiful days that I have spent in France so far. Viewing France from the eyes of a French !! This is one of the best things that can happen when someone hosts you around the city . So it was the time a colleague and I were hosted by our Mr Francois and his wife who gracefully not only showed us the beautiful Provence but also hosted us for great dinner at their house .
It first started with the city with a small tour at  Aix-en -Provence , in short Aix . And it started like as good as it gets . As it had been months that I had not been out of Marseilles , looking at the first opportunity I thoroughly enjoyed my day .

As we started , the first to notice was Pauls Cezannes statue who is a much coveted painter who lived in Aix . So the relationship of Aix to Cezanne just as Prague to Kafka .

It was a bright sun and fountains all around the streets . The old town consists of the small , curvy lanes , something that is very typical to the 18th century french architecture . Aix is one of the rich cities in Provence region and you could see the exuberance on the streets . South of France is known for its fashion sense the , the panache and aestheticism and you could see the influence all over . The streets of  Aix which are all full of the restaurants and the fashion stores and there are multiple squares here and there , each of them is dedicated to a flower market , a fruit and fish market.

Aix is like a resort town very high end and with a bent of luxury and country side .  It was a lot of fun to go around the meandering ways of Aix and then experience the lanes that get narrower and narrower and open in a square . It would be too easy to get lost if you really want to get in somewhere .
During the lunch we went to a restaurant that serves French food  place . As I am a vegetarian, I had the salad for myself . I wasn't a salad person before , but now i have changed into one .  I would say that I really loved it , especially the cherry tomatoes . There is a thing about the French that they want to make everything look and feel good . You may not suffer from a gastronomic disaster but your food would look so so good that you would never want to eat it .  Check out the food , It looks so good that you just cant eat it  .

I thought to get as colorful as the flowers

Guess what is that ! This is Radio , could you think of it  ? 

Our third spot was Mt Victor , which is quite famous in Aix-on -Provence , This is one of the famous hill that Paul Cezanne painted . Okay so now if you want to ask that who Paul Cezanne and are embarrassed to ask . He was the inspiration guru for Mr Picasso . Its funny but Picassos painings quite differed from Paul Cezanne . I think Cezanne was better : )

This place reminded me of Pune , Lonawala . It had the mountain , a dam and few people to trek and go around . The only thing i was missing were the street shops where you get the corn and the Bhel-puri /chaat in India .

Something which was very interesting to these forests is that there are a lot of Provencal herbs which grow in these forests . They have a subtle and distinct aroma . When you cook you can add these herbs .Well oh yeah did I forget the mountain offers you a trek of two hours , and this is one of the famous mountain painted by Paul Cezanne .

The next and the most surprising destination for me was Picasso grave.These are the kind of surprises that interest me and well if  Francois had not been our host .We wont have seen this interesting place .So the painters of France unlike that of India are like rich .Mr Picasso was buried at the backyard of his house . He was buried i the backyard of his Chateau behind the Cedars .

All that you see in the Picture is owned by Piacasso , they valley , the Chateau , the Garden , the trees .
Oh hell , his life was a painting   .

Picassos castle is private castle right in the valley , where is a living castle , where his youngest wife lives with his daughter .

Many houses in France have a entrance of that houses from the Back door ,
in the Front they like to enjoy the view from the balcony. 

And then came the best part , the House ; the Barbecue dinner .Well could anything be more beautiful I asked myself when I entered Francois house . They had a big and beautiful house, in the hilly terrain of Aix . A hall with a big piano , bonfire , and lot of photographs , magnets , artifacts all arranged beautifully . A big kitchen which opened into the backyard where they had space for the Barbecue . and garden with a Pool . Oh well would you want more in life .

You have to really feel the french culture , when you visit there house . They would value each and everything , beautify and keep it .a lot of pottery , paintings and a lot flowers and warm colors but pastel shades . I never felt so French before .

My dinner ended with strawberry Tiramisu , French wine , cheese and a lot of warm wishes .