Fadi Bandak Photos ...: August 2007

My 7 day trip across Europe by plane , train , and bus was a totally new experience in Europe , My destination was Paris , la ville lumiere "the city of lights" , my first stop was Euro-disney and more specifically the Holiday Inn Hotel in that resort , the Hotel was good , especially by the greenery that surrounds , lakes , trees , away from the city noise , and the easiness to reach the Euro-Disney Park , after one calm day at the Hotel ,In Which I arranged all the Incoming tours to the most prominent places in Paris , I took my Camera and Ticket and I went to Euro-Disney by Bus , there I found an amazing place like I was expecting So I started discovering the place by standing in Line to get the chance of trying this or that and It took me more than 12 hours to finish maybe 75% of them all , I returned back to the Hotel tired so I slept like a log , and next day after the Breakfast I Was ready to see Paris, to the next big Hotel , Le Meridien Montparnasse , a very cosy active part of Paris , on the way we have stopped by Tour Eiffel in which we went up to the 2nd level only , where we took some Fabulous view of the city , after that we went to take the room, and after I headed walking in the Streets of Paris , the Latin Quarter where all the artist , writers , and Students of Science and Literature where living,and by the way the Sorbonne University is is here also , this Building that dates back to the 13th Century of course renovated so many times,the other monument was the Pantheon , in greek it means all gods but for the French it means all the Great people of France who led changes towards better France , who believed in the motto " Liberete (Freedom) , Egalite (Equality) , Fraternite (Brotherhood)"
Lido was awaiting me at that same night, yes it is a Cabaret , but a first class one
that you can enjoy the dinner before the two hour show starts , where you'll be amazed by the stage capabilities of transforming and the nice sketches that they are presenting , that day was called , la Bonheure "Happy Time" , after those two hours of amusement , We were amused by the Champs-elysees street and the Arc de triomphe which stands in our Face out of the Lido , the Journey ended soon as we have to get ready for the Louvre visit the next day,
Next day and as Usual we head to the Louvre , first and before reaching we walked a little bit by the Garden , which is Parallel to the Egyptian Column , laid in the middle of a big Boulevard in the street , after a 10 minute walk we have reached the Glass Pyramid where the entrance to the Louvre is , The Guide Heidi "al Hadi" told us that this Pyramid was built as a sybmol of Gratitude and love from Jacque Chirac to his wife whom she adores the Egyptian Civilization as he does , once we got the tickets from the window we were ready to roam around the vast museum which contains all , Roman , Greek , Islamic , Persian , and of Course European civilisation monuments and art pieces , the most Important things to see on my agenda was the mona-lisa and the Venus de milo , the Giocanda "Monna Lisa " was so small against my predictions and sense , it alomost bigger than A4 size paper!! but beautiful and all people are taking her photos , she is for sure the most photographed woman on earth
the Louvre was so tiring ,and I'm sure if I have more days in Paris I'll come for at least one more day ..after the Louvre my Camera was full so it was time to drain the photos into my Hard-disk so I did , and after that I was ready for the next activity
the seine river trip , at 8:30 pm we have been on a tour to the Seine river by taking a big passenger boat , we sat on the uncovered part , hearing the guide and enjoying the views , and waving our hands for the People over the bridges and on the sides , who were watching us enjoying Paris by the Boat , after that the Driver took us to tour Eiffel again to watch it glittering at 11:00 pm , It was nice and marvellous especially withe Lazer lights at the peak like a big Beacon, the day was almost finished so we returned to the Hotel , for the next day trip to Brugge in Belgium

The trip to Brugge started early morning , 9:00 am after the nice Breakfast at le Meridien , 4 Hours of green feilds , full of Cows , Pigs , and Goats , and nice Green long trees ...Our first stop was for taking a little break for Food and Beverages
we reached on time , The day was delightfully sunny and active , I have seen people swarming on bicycles , and I was lured to do like them , and take a lot of Nice photos , so I did , I took a 2 hour trip around Brugge the small city that's nicknamed Venice of the North , and really It deserve the name , cause it has nice water passages between the Houses , which more clean than In Venice , and more Green
after the Bike ride , the time came for Chocolate Shopping , essential for a Brugge tourist to buy some hand made chocolate , after that a promenade by the rivers and Trees ended our trip , we have to return back to Paris ...
Next day I woke up a little bit late cause there was no sun , and I was free till one O'clock so I decided to go by Metro to Montmarte where the Sacre Coeur Church on the Top of the Montmarte hill busy with People , artist , tourist and Wanderers , the base of the Hill I have a Deja-vu of the Gulf , Cuase the shops there are full of Indians , selling and exchanging money , and for my surprise they don't speak English they have only French tongues not a problem , I bought the Umbrella for a 3.5 Euro s and went up to the Church , it was so Grand , and Beautiful from the Outside and the Inside , after that long chill walk I felt I need something sweet to eat so I sat for some Crepe au Chocolat which I adore ...so many Portraits in the street I can't stop looking at them but the Time was vanishing in this Timeless place so I head toward the M sign for the metro back to Montparnasse to go Versaille Chateau (Palace), which is Just on the skirts of Paris , we took a small van and along with the Group we headed there , 20 minute trip the Rain started to fall again and this time Heavily ,Thank heavens I said That I have been to Montmartre in the morning so that I have already purchased this Valuable Umbrella I stood under the rain In-line waiting for the Train to take us around the Palace , which we did after a 30 minute wait , It wasnt so nice cause the weather and the scenery was Nice , But I would prefer if I walked and enjoyed more the places we passed by , after that short Rendez-vous ,we entered into the Palace it's another Louvre and more vivid and Beautiful, this time we took an Audiogude which was more Informative to us the firs part was the Royal Chapel and Portrait room , and then Into the Living room and Bed room which was full of nice Unbelievably top of the Line Furniture made by the best artists of that time
after that we passed trough the mirror room a magnificently articrafts all over the walls and Huge Portraits for the Dauphine and Bourbon Royal families who ruled not only France , but other parts of Europe , like , Austria , Hungary , Germany, Spain
after almost 4 hours roaming in the Palace we started our dear walk in the Great Gardens there , full of Fountains , Artistically made , and nicely designed in a Labyrinth of Symmetries , so we used the map to find our route back , for almost two hours Rounding and taking the Photos we returned to the Bus tired , But full of memories , on our way back I have seen a small statue of Liberty Replica to the one in New York , which is a gift from France to the American people for their help in the 2nd world war , and of course the Civil war long time ago .
as we have reached the Hotel one Hour of rest was enough to make us go by Metro the Champs Elysees I went there with FADI Varoka and his Wife to Enjoy the last hours in Paris , in the Champs Elysees we started walking from that point till the Tour Eiffel which is on the Other side of the Seine River , the Champs Elysees was full of Arabs
not only this but also ads for Egyptian cinema movies , for Adel al Imam and others
at the End of our walk and after we enjoyed chatting over the Seine watching the tour Eiffel , we stopped at the Carrousel Cafeteria for nice Frankfurter with French fries
after that we returned back by Taxi to the Hotel.
Next day was the last day , so I tidy up my things , gave my bag to the bell-man ,
and then I head to the Metro for Champs Elysees by Day , this time I was going up to the arc de triomphe , Finally I reached by crossing the road from the wrong direction
cause there was passageway on the Champs Elysees I didnt recognize , I tried to go up but I discovered that the Ticket shop was down the stairs so I went down and It took me 20 minutes to get a ticket , Then I went up again and started walking the spiral ladder to the top , there on the top I have seen the streets of Paris very neat and tiday drawn like a green star , after taking the photos , and buying some souvenirs I went down the street again to take my last Lunch in France and I chose it to be in Pizza Pino in the Champs-Elysees street , after that I took my last metro Trip to Montparnasse back to take the bus to Charles de Gaules Airport , I put my Bags and we went , shopping at the Duty free was the last Shopping in this Beautiful but expensive country Euro is almost like the Jordan Dinar and prices are 4 to5 times higher , my last delight was Cognac tour Eiffel , the Boarding time came after some time the plane was full with French and Jordanian People some of them going to Jordan others to Laos , and other destinations ..., I passed the time reading Richard Branson book and Looking through the Camera remembering the nice moments in Paris and Brugge , Europe is always my enchanting destination, and I never stop wishing being there.