Japan

Mount Fuji

We had the most number of holidays in 2006. We went to Cambodia, Tioman Island, Japan, Bintan Island and Russia.  Japan was our second trip in June 2006. We visited the western part of  Honshu :

Day 1 (Friday) 

Singapore to Osaka

 Day 2 (Saturday)

            NARA

            Todai-ji Temple

            OSAKA

            Universal Studio

            Shinsaibashi

            Dotonbori

 Day 3 (Sunday)

            KYOTO

            Kiyomizu Temple

            Heian Shrine

            Shinkansen (Maibara to Gifu-Hashima)

 Day 4 (Monday)

            HAKONE

            Lake Ashi Crusie

            Owakudani

            Mount Fuji 5th Station

 Day 5 (Tuesday)

            Sanrio Puroland (Hello Kitty Land)

            YOKOHAMA

            Ramen Museum

            China Town

            TOKYO

            Ameyoko Market

            Odabai

 Day 6 (Wednesday)

            Disneyland

            Asakusa Kannon

            Ueno Park

 Day 7 (Thursday)

            NARITA

            Narita San

            Narita to Singapore

Good Bye Paris

We went back to the hotel for our luggage before going to the airport for our flight home.

Arc de Triomphe

This Arch lies in the centre where 12 avenues converged to form the shape of a star. This 50 m tall Arc was built by Napoleon in 1805  (but construction was completed only in 1836) in honour of the soldiers who died in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

On 11th November 1920 the body of the Unknown Soldier was placed beneath the Arch to commemorate the dead of World War I. The tomb's eternal flame is lit every evening at 6.30. I remember the flame was still burning the morning we were there.

Mona Lisa

Mona is the abbreviation for madonna in Italian for My Lady. The person in the painting is believed to be Lisa del Giocondo who was 24 at that time. It has also been suggested  that the person is in fact Leonardo's female version of himself.

Mona Lisa has its own room in the Louvre. It is kept in a purpose-built, climate-controlled enclosure behind a bulletproof glass. About 6 million people view the painting at the Louvre each year

Musee du Louvre and again

This time we visited the museum. Our intention was to see the Mona Lisa which meant taking a long, long walk  in this huge museum

 

 

The Palace of Versailles

This site began as Louis XIII's hunting lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded it, moving the court and government to Versailles in 1862.

Statue of Louis XIV

 

 

The Hall of Mirrors

The Garden

Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres

The current cathedral is mostly constructed between 1193 and 1250. This cathedral is considered to be the greatest Gothic cathedral in Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guide: France). According to legend, the Cathedral has housed the veil of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Sancta Camisia since 876

The two spires are different but this is common to churches in Europe. The reason is because the spires were built in different times.

Chartres Cathedral is renowned for its stained glass made between 1210 and 1240. They mainly depict the biblical stories and life in the 13th century. During the two World Wars the windows were dismantled piece by piece and removed for safety.

Pilgrims still come to walk on the Labyrinth. We saw few walking on their knees. The Labyrinth measures 42 feet across only but its path reaches 856 feet

Chateau de Chenonceau

Built in 1513 it became the Royal Palace for Henri II and Catherine de Medici. This chateau was built on the River Cher, literally.  Chenonceau is the second most visited chateau in France after Versailles

An aerial view of the chateau

Chateau d'Chambord

Francis I began construction of this chateau in 1519 as a hunting lodge. Like most castles built during the Renaissance, they were not intended to provide any form of defence from the enemies. Hence, the walls, towers or moats were purely aesthetic

Lunch near the chateau