One Fine Day in Strasbourg, France.

It's the first day of February, and that gave me more of a reason to hurry and post this long-due travel diary of my trip around Europe. The final destination of my two week trip was Strasbourg, France. It was a short trip, just one day but I found that was enough to get a good gist of the place. I absolutely loved everything about Strasbourg, besides maybe a few bits that I'll share as we go along, but overall, every single corner was a little gasp of surprise. It was just so beautiful and picturesque! 

We started from Paris, and drove about five hours to Strasbourg. It was my first time seeing the French countryside, and it was quite beautiful. In the morning, we saw a haze of fog all along the hills. I tried to capture it with my camera, but in real life, it looked much more... well, European. Something you would imagine in French paintings! 

After our long drive, we finally arrived at our destination. We gave up trying to find any parking space in their garages. They were all full. Without much help and translation available in the area, we guessed where we could park and hoped for the best. We were able to get street parking, and luckily, our car wasn't towed after five-six hours touring the place. Just driving around and looking for parking space got us excited because everything was so beautiful! Our first stop was the Strasbourg Notre-Dame. It is the definition of grandeur. 

What we didn't know about this area was that it is supposedly the capitale de noel. I guess it's the season for people to just flock into Strasbourg because oh goodness, it was PACKED. There were so many people all around the cathedral and Petite France that I was pretty shocked. Also, I was unaware that they would have Christmas markets tented in front of the cathedral. So when we arrived, we were both surprised and disappointed with what we saw. Surprised because the markets were so festive, but disappointed because we couldn't take in the cathedral for what it was because there was too much going on in front of it! But still, it was breathtakingly beautiful. 

As the sun sets, the gothic detailed cathedral became more and more beautiful as it glistened by the sunset. 

The cathedral just could not be captured in a single shot. It is huge and I think it's larger than the notre dame in Paris! Below are pictures of the market. Look how small they are compared to the massiveness of the cathedral. The markets were selling all sorts of things. What was especially best-selling were the vin chauds and the chestnuts.

Of course, I had to get a small cup of their vin chaud and it helped warm up the coldness of the winter day! 

Here are the pictures of the inside of the cathedral: 

It's also lovely how there were so many musicians playing right outside the cathedral and where the open markets were. It helped created that festive Christmas aura, and it really felt like I was truly in Europe! 

Then, from the cathedral we headed to La Petite France. Here you can really see the German influence of Alsace. I especially loved the architecture of the buildings in this area, and the river that runs throughout reflects the beauty of their town. 

I can't say where exactly we went, but we did wander all throughout La Petite France. We didn't eat anything special, and if anything, I don't recommend US tourists to eat at a restaurant. Rather, eat something from the markets because it saves $$$ and I just did not enjoy the meal I had in a restaurant around here and service was horrible as well! Just sip a few vin chauds, eat chestnuts and hotdogs and fill your tummies with these beautiful sights!

Here you can really see the beautiful buildings of Alsace, the particular architecture that we all know of so well. I felt as though I was in some Disney movie, and it felt so surreal: 

We stayed until late evening. The lights really made the night feel so bright, especially since the river reflected so much of that light. We enjoyed our time here so much (besides the food) and it is somewhere I'd definitely want to visit again and again, but next time not during Christmas season. Perhaps when there are less people and when it is warmer. I think if the weather also was sunnier, it would've been extra beautiful! 

Well, that's really all for this post! I hope you guys enjoyed the pictures. Tell me if any of you have been to Strasbourg, and what you loved or didn't love so much. It'll help me plan my trip better next time I go :) x

1 comment christmas, france, lifestyle, strasbourg, travel

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P A R I S

The last time I went to Paris was back in 2009. I almost teared the moment I stepped land on France, and every landmark I saw, brought me to tears. That is how much I love Paris, France. Finally, after almost five years, I made it back to Paris and still, my heart flutters at every sight. I can see why this city is so loved, even after all these years. Although I didn't tear up all too much, I still felt wonderful being in Paris. I sticked to staying in the touristy areas of Paris because I do find those to be the most beautiful. I'm not Parisian anyway, and I won't pretend not to be a tourist! So, here is my travel-diary. Although it's not all that specific (because it would be too long), I hope you enjoy it. It may be very cliche, the places I went to, but I don't regret it one bit! :) 

Because Paris was the second destination in our travel, we had to get to Paris from London. You can read my London travel blogpost here. We went from London to Paris riding the Eurostar, from the St. Pancras station to the Gare du Nord in Paris.

Place stayed: Helzear Apartments (click to redirect to their website)

• If you're like me, hotels are probably the biggest concern when traveling. I don't look for 5-star hotels, but I do look for hotels where I can feel at ease, comfort, relaxation, and joy in. That is a lot to ask for, isn't it? Much like the Concept London Apartments, where we stayed at in London, we found something similar in Paris, this time called Helzear Apartments. We first reserved the apartment situated in the Marais district, in an apartment called Montorgueil. Unfortunately, it did not suit us at all and very kindly the staff moved us to their newest apartment situated on Champs-Elysees. Though our experience in the first apartment was close to terrible, the newer one we were moved to was so remarkably fine that after the move, travel became quite a joy!
• Pros: It is situated in the best of the best. It is only a few blocks away from Avenue des Champs-Elysees where there were markets all down the avenue because it was Christmas season. That was a joy to see, and there is just so much to do on Champs-Elysees itself! The hotel is also so close to the George V subway station, where we were able to get to other places. But mostly, we walked because just seeing the streets was in itself a tour! Because of where it is situated, safety was also not a concern, which is important for three girls traveling. 
• The service was also great. The staff were always helpful and ready to assist. They seemed really concerned about their clients, which is always a great plus for any hotels. Also, their apartment was top-notch in: design, equipment, cleanliness, accessibility. For me, an apartment being clean is so important! Luckily, I didn't have to worry about that at all. Also, the kitchen was fully equipped and so was the bathroom.
• The room we stayed at was a room called Kleber. You'll see a glimpse of the room as you scroll down.
• I rate this experience a 5.0/5.0

View from our window. It would've been better if we saw the streets, but it wasn't too bad!

Located right on Champs-Elysees, which let me say, was crowded this time of the year. I have learned a lesson not to come to Paris right before Christmas. It was hectic. They had markets set up all down the avenue, which were fun. Also, the streets were full of lights-- vibrant than any I've seen in other cities! 

And, of course the one and only Tour Eiffel in every angle. I obviously don't get bored by seeing endless photos of the Tour Eiffel, so I'm hoping none of you would feel bored by that landmark!

 The prettiest bridge: Pont Alexandre III. This day, we decided to tour early and you can see the sun rising and the prettiest kind of morning gleam swept all over Paris! On one side of the bridge, you can see the Tour Eiffel. I can't tell you how many times I told myself that I wanted to live in this city as I walked this bridge!

On the way to the Louvre, we were greeted by a beautiful full vivid rainbow. The weather this day was slightly crazy, going from dark clouds that looked like they would reach the ground, to rain, and then to vibrant sunshine! At the end of it though, since we were gifted the rainbow, all was well :)

The Notre Dame in Paris seemed smaller than the one in Strasbourg, but it still took my breath away. Nothing in Paris ever gets old. We went near the evening and didn't bother to tour inside the cathedral since we saw it the last time we were there! In front was a huge christmas tree, beautifully lit and I also made sure to eat crepes from the stores all around it.

Some people say that the Pierre Herme macaroons are more delicious than the ones from Laduree. They were pretty spectacular, although I forgot all the names of these flavors. I have to say though, you'd best know what you're buying. Although the sales lady kindly told us what they were, half of them we couldn't understand. What we got ultimately was a variety of selection, half of which were so good, and half of which were strange…

Also, a friend of my sister's came by with the generous gift of small French pastries. Supposedly the price of these varieties was something like 80 euros! But, since it was a gift, we ate them without feeling too guilty about having them. They were……. [you can fill in the sentence]. 

Then, there was Laduree. Yes, I know we have them in New York too, but there is something about the original Laduree situated on Champs-Elysees. 

Another hotspot cafe is the Cafe de Flore that people always Instagram when they are there. While, list on that cliche because I did the same! I loved it because it looked like that perfect French cafe one would dream about. I recommend their cappuccino as well as their breakfast pastries, however if you are a tourist from the States, try not to spend too much on actual breakfast meals or lunch meals like salads, soups, or croque-mosieurs because they didn't taste all that great! Just have a coffee and munch on some croissants in the morning, and you'll feel full just from plundering in the Parisian atmosphere!

Another cafe I dragged my sisters to was Angelina. Ugh, I still regret being unable to sit inside and have their chocolat chaud! It looked so cozy and beautiful inside, and I've heard a great many things about their hot drinks. But, we were on a budget cut and you do pay less if you get the pastries to-go. So, I picked up a few and felt pretty excited about getting to the hotel and devouring them! They looked so delicious, and so instagrammable. 

mille feuille, sweet potato cupcake/cake, eclair

Finally, the last cafe I want to recommend is Carette right by the Tour Eiffel in a place called Trocadero. It was again, close to where we were and we couldn't be more thankful than we were! We came here twice, lastly right before we left to catch our flight back home. Their sandwiches are delicious, especially their salmon one! Also, their french onion soup was the best we've tried in all the places we went to. I highly recommend them. Also, you can't disregard the beauty of their interior and oh, their pastries…. 

Shopping: I went to the two big department stores in Paris- Lafayette and Bon Marche. I was also fortunate enough to be gifted a Louis Vuitton bag. Finally, the other shopping I did was makeup and skincare- from stores MONOPRIX and CityPharma on Rue du Four. 

It's been a month since I got back from Paris, and it is only now that I found time to organize the pictures and post! There was actually more than a thousand photos to choose from, but I wanted to stick to photos that were location-based and pretty enough to post on my blog! I hope you enjoyed this really picture-heavy blogpost.

But this is NOT THE END! My next lifestyle post will be my trip to Strasbourg. Keep tuned for that :)

Leave a Comment france, helzear, helzear apartment, life update, lifestyle, london, paris, strasbourg, travel

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