Summer Bustles

After our much-anticipated French holiday in Spring, we were back to normal. The normal work-home cycle, that is.

I don't know about you but for me it seems that the days passed by so fast that summer is almost over. Just what exactly I've been doing these past three months?

Dusseldorf, Germany

At the start of the season, I was sent to Dusseldorf in Germany for a 5-day training course. It was a welcome break especially for me who has been in the same project for over a year.

I did my "mandatory" city tour in the afternoons every after the training sessions and hunt for some interesting restaurants for dinner while taking random photos along the way.

Historical Townhall

Little Dog: "Now, who's the boss?"

long stretch of pubs and restaurants

Iconic Rheinturm Düsseldorf - view from Altstadt

Konigsallee

Revisiting Paris

Immediately the following week, I flew to Paris for another course. That was a course worthy of note as the French instructor was more enthusiastic about driving us around the city than teaching in the classroom. Ssshhhh!!!

That trip was altogether different from my first visit as I managed to see the city from the point of view of a joyrider with a French driver along. Gone are the METRO rides wherein you end up missing some wonderful Parisian panorama not usually written in the guidebooks. This time, he pointed out and explained the remarkable distinction of each arrondissements with some tidbits of trivia in between.

Grand Palais

North facade of Les Invalides

Arch de La Defense - Built for the 200th anniversary of the French revolution in 1789

"Le Pouce" (The Thumb) in La Defense

Having missed the opportunity to go inside the Louvre Museum on the first visit, I dragged my Russian colleague/classmate to go inside and started my quest for a shot of the Mona Lisa. Luckily, the museum was open until 10 in the evening that day. We managed to spend 4 hours wandering around the Richelieu wing of the magnificent palace where the grand gallery and Napoleon III's apartment are located.

The Pyramid from within

La Gioconda by Leonardo da Vinci

Napoleon III Apartments

England - Back to Base

In August, my aunt’s family from Amsterdam came over and spent a week with us. I took three days off from work to join them in visiting the usual famed tourist spot nearby. We spent a day in Windsor and did some shopping in Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth Harbour.

Windsor Castle

The Crooked House in Windsor

Visiting family at Gunwharf Quays