L'Aiguille d'Etretat

The last travel post I wrote was about Rouen. That was actually part of the trip I mentioned in the sneak preview posted more than a month ago. (*gasp!* It has been that long?!)

Anyway here's the rest of the trip. The day after visiting Rouen, we went to Etretat, a town on the northern coast of France. I doubt that I would have heard of this town if I hadn't read books of Arsène-Lupin, the gentleman-thief. In one of the stories, Arsène Lupin had a hideout in the needle rock (l'Aiguille) in Etretat.

To go to Etretat, we took the train from Rouen to Le Havre, then we took a bus to Etretat. It was raining that morning...but fortunately for us, the rain stopped at about the time we reached Etretat. The sky remained rather cloudy...but that was better than rain.

On to the photos:

the town hall, that's where we got off the bus

a building housing several small souvenir shops

the plaque above the doorway

upon reaching the seaside

the other side

Check out the terrace's name! Maurice Leblanc is the guy who wrote the Arsène Lupin stories.

there were a lot of seagulls around

the needle rock behind the Porte d'Aval (the most famous arch on the coast, I should think)

this seagull had just finished crying out...I just missed it in the act

this time I caught it at the right moment...the other seagull arrived after the first cry

See all the people up there on the cliff? That's where we're headed.

the view towards the other cliff (the arch over there is the Porte d'Amont)

against the wind on the cliff (a similar but not the same photo was posted in the "preview" post)

my turn

the Manneport, another arch

see the small bridge going into the rock?

there's a little slit (to the right of the entrance) that you can look out of

inside the rock

We're standing on that famous arch!

and the needle rock is right there

there it is, the landmark of Etretat

just to show how strong the wind was...check out the waves on the puddle!

some scenery

same thing again (I can't decide which pic is nicer)

from the cliff on the other side of the beach

some monument?

about the monument for the white bird, a plane trying to make the first non-stop flight from Paris to New York (they didn't make it though)

I think this is the monument mentioned...but maybe the first one is part of it as well.

the chapel on top of the cliff

We passed by Le Havre again on the way back

We had dinner in the Docks commercial centre

There you have it, the trip to Etretat. It was a pity not to have sunny weather...but at least I made it there. Thanks to the hosts/tour guides! :P

Of language confusion

I bought some instant udon noodles from Guillotière when I was in Lyon. The weird thing was that the packet said "hot spicy & mushroom" in English, but the French version said "beef and mushroom flavour". The thing is, beef is not a replacement for "spicy", nor the other way round. I didn't mind it being either flavour, so I bought it anyway.


But curiosity makes me want to know which is correct. So I went over the whole packet to look for other translations.

The Spanish version said "mushroom and meat" (setas y carne).


But the German version includes fish?! According to Google Translate, "koreanisches fertignudel gericht fisch geschmack yukaejang" means "Korean ready noodle dish fish taste yukaejang". (I moved the word "ready" forward two places though, to make more sense :P )


After eating it, I found that "spicy" was definitely not a mistake...but with these dishes you can't really know what meat flavour it is, especially if it's spicy! So, if someone could let me know what it says in Japanese...

Of delays

Am back in Malaysia. But lazy to write much. I can't sleep, so I'm updating now...

Just want to mention that my train to Paris was 20 (or more like 25) minutes late...and then when I got to KL, my flight to Kuantan was delayed as well. Actually we had already got onto the plane...then they suddenly said that we had to change planes. We had to get our luggage and go back into the terminal...they said that we had to go to the other side of the terminal, and I was thinking, this is gate A3, so we'll be going to A4 (or whatever gate was opposite)...but no, we had to go all the way to B7, at the other end of the terminal. "End" and "side" aren't the same thing, ya know. -_-

As for the train...they said that they had to change a rame in Perrache (the end station in Lyon, I took the train at Part Dieu, the first stop of the train after leaving Perrache), I think that probably means half of the train, 'cos there are two "parts" of the train that are unconnected on the inside (what do you call that huh?). The train was rather empty...I guess that's why the conductor spent time explaining that to almost every passenger. He even told us that once we get to the Paris area, the train could speed up and make up for the lost time. He said we'd reach the airport with about 10 minutes' delay (meaning we'd have caught up 1o minutes since there was a 20-minute delay at the beginning) But nah, we still reached the airport with about a 15-minute delay. Good thing I didn't have a plane to catch till the next day.

Shoes

I am now in a hotel near the airport, waiting for my flight home tomorrow. I'm spending 40 euros on a hotel room (the cheapest we can find near the airport) so that: 1) I don't have to rush from Lyon early in the morning (and it appears that there's a strike tomorrow as well), and 2) I don't have to take the Paris metro/RER with several pieces of luggage.

In the train to Paris, I thought of something that I wanted to blog about. You see, for the past year my shoes have been gradually falling apart...until I didn't have a single pair fit for wet weather (water gets in :( )

When I tell people that I don't want to buy a new pair of shoes (usually after they notice that mine are falling apart) because I don't want to have to take an extra pair of shoes back to Malaysia, they will usually say "But you can wear them back!" or "Wear them back lah!" (this has happened several times, though I can't quite remember with who)

Where's the logic in that? Did you think I was gonna go back barefoot?! *rolls eyes*

(Thankfully a friend lent me (gave me, actually, in the end) a pair of shoes that was still waterproof...though several people asked me "Aren't those bowling shoes?")

Busy day messing up my room

I am busy right now going through my stuff, throwing away a lot (of paper, mostly)...actually my bag isn't exactly filling up (yet, I should say). Anyway I came across this, a remnant of our classes in Angoulême.


Our teacher, Geneviève made lots of cutouts of fish...and she gave us one each with our name on it (she's cute like that sometimes :P ). Then we decided to pass ours around for the others to sign...

It had to be the first April's Fool day we were there. The French call it Poisson d'Avril, literally "April's fish". So they stick paper cutouts of fish on unsuspecting people's backs..instead of the "kick me" paper that is (was?) popular in Malaysia.

And here's what my Daisypath counter says for the 10th of September:


It's been a long time, eh?

Always choose life.

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio.

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it..

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you, really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone, everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Thanks to Lai Shin! :)

A day in Rouen

Check this out. Where am was I?

INSA de Rouen!

That was near where my hosts, Alvin and Zhi Yao live. We also went to the town centre.

Cathédrale de Rouen (under construction, as usual as usual (I'm even getting tired of saying "as usual"!))

the clock of Rouen (in the rue du Gros Horloge)

the other side

We also went into the courtyard of a historical monument.

the entrance

zoom in: check out the two coat-of-arms (if they are that)

on the wall

A water tower? That's Zhi Yao and Alvin in front of me, by the way.

We later met up with Zayd, who was passing through Rouen.

from left: Alvin, Zhi Yao, Xu Yu (who was visiting too, like me) and Zayd

the little square where we were sitting (I think Zhi Yao took this photo when he was checking out my camera, 'cos I don't remember taking it :P )

Then we went to the Musée de Beaux Arts where we found an exposition going on...it was free for students (and several other kinds of "community groups"...is that how you say it?), so we went in to take a look.

We had to get a ticket for 0€.

There's a picture of a different painting behind each ticket.

There was first a hall (where you don't need a ticket to enter).


The pictures in the hall:

This is the one in the first "general" photo.

Then...I found this interesting.

prière de toucher means "please touch", as opposed to "please do not touch" that we see everywhere

It's a reproduction of the painting with textures so that blind people can feel it.

The cathedral was also reproduced.

This is the town hall

a statue in front of it

a...garden?

canals! :P

passing through a park

near the same park

some special rock from Copenhagen

read for yourself

Later we stopped for tea/coffee...I snapped a couple of photos just to show the difference between how tea and coffee are served :P

Tea: you have the cups, a jug of hot water, and a plate that the "tea-leaf container" came on.

Coffee: you have...coffee. (and notice that the cups are smaller! lol)

I guess that in a way, tea is "quantity", and coffee is "quality". (for the French :P )

an impressionist piece of art on a bridge (there was an impressionist art festival going on, that was why the exposition was being held at the Beaux Arts museum)

The next day, we went to Etretat for the day...but that will be another post.

Before I end this post, check out Alvin's bookshelf:

badminton champion ^_^ (but he said that was no longer the case...)

cute baby elephant (you can guess that that was what caught my eye! :P ) and an array of "for dummies" books...he says that they really explain a subject well...I've never really tried reading any of them (I don't think I have the patience for in-depth information :P )

Till next time!