[L.E.P.A.K series: Paris] Chap 12: Say a Little Prayer

We were still a little intimidated by the fact that we were in Paris surrounded by a very unfamiliar language. I can handle Japan with my survival Japanese but I speak no word of French and I admit, I made no effort in learning since it was only for a day's trip. :P

But that did not dampen our excitement over the entire thing. In fact in a positive note, our entire French experience was pretty delightful, not to mention, exciting! Maybe because it was such a short trip that we did not see any 'ugly' side of Paris. Unlike London which has its fair share of highs and lows, we left Paris with the impression that the people were nice and moving around was easy. More on that later, shall we?

So we hopped off the RER at St-Michel Notre-Dame, headed up the stairs and was greeted by the beautiful Seine River. A lovely start to what would later turned out to be the most memorable day of our week long trip.

A 180 degrees turn around and Notre Dame Cathedral majestically stood before us.

That's me and my little traffic light right there. Hehe.
Obviously every moment is picture worthy when you are travelling, even when you are simply waiting for the light to turn green to cross the road.


And finally we were standing right in front of our first destination of the day.

We then proceeded to take photos of each other with the cathedral as our backdrop. One of the few down points of travelling with just two is that you tend to be lonely in pictures. But alas, a sheepish looking man came forward and offered to help take a picture of us together. Sheepish. Really. But we took our chance with him. A big chance because we somehow ended up passing him Cik Anai's DSLR camera to him to take the photo. It was at that spur of a moment that happened naturally simply because Cik Anai was the one taking photos of me with her camera when he offered his help.

Now trust wasn't the only issue here. We stood together posing for our photo, trying hard to smile while at the same time stared worriedly at Mr Man who was holding the camera in a very unconvincing manner, swaying slightly, up and down, up and down. *sweatdrops*


Surprisingly, the photo turned out okay if you ignore the fact that we kinda look short and stunted in the picture. Hah. At least that's another picture of us together.

There was a lot of people hanging around the vicinity. And lots of birds too.

There was even an 'art class' going on in front of the cathedral.

No surprise coming from a place where art is life.

A silent "Wow!" was said in my heart as we stepped into the cathedral.
The entire atmosphere was so tranquil and serene.

The candles that were lighting up the entire cathedral was another sight to behold.
They were up in chandeliers, down on small rounded stands
(much like the cover photo of this entry)...

...and even in little glasses that stood collectively, shining brighter than ever.

These candle glasses came with a nice cover too and while they were supposed to be lighted up for prayers, you can also kindly dropped a sum of donation in the box and take one home. That was what Cik Anai did as a momento for her aunt back home. I regretted not doing the same as I had no small change at that moment and thought of buying a souvenir from the souvenir counter later. Nothing perked my interest at the counter later, much to my dismay, and I left the place with only our photos and memories.

Now for a short and simple photo tour of the place.

That's the confession room. Different eh.

And that's one of the many beautiful stained glass windows in the cathedral.

Visitors were actually not allowed at the centre worshipping area. We were instructed to only walk along the side, circling along the cathedral. However as we approach the stage, we saw everyone busy taking photos of themselves in front of it and proceeded to follow the crowd in doing the same.

We were in and out as quickly as possible because we were not sure whether if all this 'silent' commotion was actually allowed.

That's the wooden model of the cathedral. Impressive eh? If we hadn't see this, we would have not known that the cathedral was in fact that long in depth. All we saw from the front was its beautiful facade.

As we stepped out of the cathedral much later, we were continued to be struck in awe by the surrounding walls. See that third saint from the left? Quirky. ^^;;


And if you continue to look up, up, up...

you'll find yourself opening your mouth wider, wider and wider.

:o :o :O

And if you look down instead, well, suddenly I was reminded of home. Hahaha. Pigeons. Much like the ones hanging around our Kwan Yin Temple back in Penang.

Finally we were on our way again. But as we make our move, we can't help
turning back for one last shot of the place. <3


Next! Time for a walk along Champs-Elysees.

3 STEPS 1 BOW - A Holiday Too Early!

Really too early lah!!!

Even Camera-san was still blur in the morning. XD

Labour Day. Worker Day. Whatever you call it, it was supposed to be a Holi... DAY! Yet, I woke up waaay earlier than usual. I wished I could say that "it's just so wrong" but I'm in no position to make such statement. Not when it was for a religiously-devoted-cause. ^^;;;

SEE! SEE!

So many people wey!

Like hundreds! Like thousands!

Don't believe me?

Here's another far shot of the procession.

And I was waaaay back in line. And and... after one hour of "3 Steps 1 Bow"ing which I personally think should be termed as "3 Steps 1 Kneel" to be technically correct (-_-);;, I was only at the starting line. What desu yo? I was one-whole-hour-away from the word MULA! Ergo those started way behind are walking double the distance of those who started at the actual MULA Line. *swt*

Hear the sound of the gong! Hear the chant. And watch them kneel.

How did I record this if I'm in there right? Well, my dad convinced us that technically we finish the required distance when we reached that MULA Line. Hahaha... so we shamelessly slipped away... totally out of the line. XD and yes, lame pun intended. *bricked*

Lookie at my red red arms caused from the kneel-bow ritual.

Mom was the only one that make it all the way to the very end. Dad eventually joined her again after a good rest. Me and sis on the other hand went on taking those interesting pictures all around us which got us this and this.

And this!

It's pretty happening for a Holi...Day right? Lots of different group of people. The Tai-chi Master and his disciples, the big Indian family picnic, the healthy joggers, the friendly walkers, etc etc etc. Oh, and I never did mention where on earth was I did I? -.-;;

Location: Mengkuang Dam, Bukit Mertajam.

Go ahead and clickie

Here's a funny incident that is just so wrong to laugh about yet. =P We were told to keep a distance with the person in front, to allocate enough space for the kneeling thingy. Of course, we all did try our best to do so, but it's not always that easy since everyone seemed to have well, different length to their steps. So there was this elderly lady in front of me who went down on her knees as the cue to kneel came and when she attempt to get up, the guy in front actually accidentally stepped on her hair. OMG! See the importance of space here.

Gosh, it was down right funny yet it's just so wrong to laugh about it. Even her two daughters were having a hard time holding back their laughter.

Anyway, it all ended around 9am. Went off for breakfast and was home by 10.30am. And to think, I would have still be in bed and missed all these. *grins*