Canal St Martin, Bastile & Montmartre

Before coming to France i watched a movie called which literally translates as "The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain" I was really excited about it as it shows a lot of scenery on Paris and somehow after watching the movie i was quite intrigue with all of the sights i've seen on the movie especially when Raymond told me then oui bien sur, we can go to all those sights and realised your dreams of reliving the movie when we are in Paris! The moment he said that i was baming with joy and just couldnt wait to go to those places Amélie Poulain went and did things. So my journey to Montmarte was a memorable one especially when i can walk by the fruit market and where Amélie Poulain use to venture about in the story and also particularly to the cafe where Amélie was working! It was an awesome journey and i owed it all to mon cherié, Raymond :)

here is a bit of insight about the movie i picked up from Wickepedia. Amélie is a 2001 French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring Audrey Tautou. Its original French title is Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain which literally translates as "The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain"; poulain is French for foal. Written by Jeunet with Guillaume Laurant, the film is a whimsical and somewhat idealised depiction of contemporary Parisian life, set in Montmartre. It tells the story of a shy waitress who decides to change the lives of those around her for the better, while struggling with her own isolation.

The journey begins....

Before we reached the Canal St. Martin, these are the cafe thats just next to the Canal

And finally.....I present to you Canal St.Martin

Just looking at my face you would know i was estaticly happy with this visit to the canal St. Martin as i can recall in the movie how Amélie was when she was here....it was a wonderful great feeling!

The whole wide angle view of the canal

1st Mission accomplished!

Canal St Martin

After the long stretched of canal, we went to the end of the canal where its called Bastille. Its where they have a fairly large area for traders to sell their stuffs like a typical "Pasar-Malam" and its really beautiful! lots of varieties and colours and particularly the people are just so amazingly mixed with different cultures! Just simply beautiful!

Sea food area where a big french man was shouting and doing the auction for fish. Marché de poissons

Then you can find all sorts of traders there wine, socks, cheeses, olives and etc...i ended up buying three pair of socks for 2€ and a very nice bottle of wine ;)

Then i saw beautiful flowers...especially the sun flowers :)

and the food section where i saw some yummy chicken paella..was yummy indeed!

Then the next bit of the journey brings us to Montmartre

This little map was a big help indeed and it explains everything about where is where around montmartre and my advice is to look it up so that you will know where to go from there.


The ever so famous Moulin Rouge

And here is the cafe where Amélie Poulain works and if you look carefully bottom middle u can actually see my reflection on the mirror taking this picture hehehe :) And that is Amélie Poulain by the way :)

some shots inside the cafe and yours truly C & R :)

As we proceeded going uphill for about 10 minuted or so...we finally reached to the traders place and the area is full of painters who can do live sketches would have love to do one with Raymond but unfortunately time is not on our side so we proceeded to place where Amélie Poulain did a lot of screen shots here including the photomaton which i finally get to sample doing :)

here is a what we managed to do on this trip as i was really curious on this thing called photomaton so we got ourselves a taste of it :) look and see our own photomaton just like in the Amélie Poulain movie :)

Voilà photomaton! It is actually an automated photo taking kiosk :) hehehe

going through the heaps of painters around montmartre and they are all so beautiful ...

paintings encore!

i love what she was doing!

The Sacré Coeur Church ( Sacred Heart Church) , Montmartre, Paris

sights around the church

Having a picnic just after the cascade just below the church for the weather was really nice to just sit on the grass and enjoy the view

Some of the street performers performing nearby they were really great entertainers.

One last look at the church of Sacré Coeur

the view from the top of montmartre

view looking down.....

Had our late lunch at the La Chat Noir and it was exquisitely yummy! The cheesy jambon omelette was just out of this world! But my salmon in white sauce and pasta was just as good!

The streets heading back to our car close to the metro station

last but not least,
Yours trully
C & R

Melaka Encore! :)

I must say, i can never tire of visiting Melaka or just post stuff on Melaka. I had the opportunity to try out my new camera the other day and here are the shots i took of Melaka and really love it there and plus the weather was super fine so picture taking was really good. Not that i know much about photography...but i'm learning and trying my best to improve myself at all times. I will try to name the places featured in here
...like i said..i will try to point out exactly where is everywhere in this picture :)

Melaka City Centre is the commercial centre of Melaka, however the landscape is dominated by old 3 storey shophouses, churches and forts that gives Melaka its charm and ambiance.

Church of St Francis Xavier, The first thing you see when you reach Melaka city Centre is this creamy caramel coloured church :)

And this big sign tells you, you are really am in Melaka!

As you proceed down the river side this is what you will see on ur left side

then this cafe is on teh side of the river...all along the river you can see cafe such as this...i like it very much

and here is the view on the right side

another small cafe around the riverside

oh yes! what is Melaka without the trishaws! :)

and apparently this one has become home to some animals hehehe :)

The red building built by the dutch

I didnt get to find out about this one coz it was too far away but i reckon its some olden day ship that came to melaka for trading and such during those days.

St. Paul's Church

St. Paul in front of St. Paul Church

Close up view of one of the tombstone.

from one of the window from the inside of St. Paul's Church

landscape from around the Fort

In 1808, Porta de Santiago was nearly lost forever to history as orders were given by the British Governor of Pahang to demolish it, along with the fortress at the mouth of the river. Unfortunately for the locals ( and luckily for us ), their spades, picks and crowbars were useless against a fortress which reportedly had walls fifteen feet thick! But before they could use gunpowder, Stamford Raffles stepped in and saved what tourists can see today! Thanks to him, we can see the grand construction of the fort and the Dutch logo that the sods imprinted on the Portuguese fort after seizing control

Besides the ruined church on the hill, those Portuguese masters also left behind a solid fort gate at the base of the hill in Melaka. Now, you may know this famous symbol of Melaka as A' Farmosa but that is as far removed from the truth as Melaka is from Timbuktu. The gate is called Porta de Santiago. Though nothing more that a ruin with a modern cannon, it's still worth taking a look.

stop by for a cuppa at the nearby Melaka Mall and found this :)

Here is the ride up to the Taming Sari Tower

Menara Taming Sari

here is one of the 360° view that you get to see when you get up to the taming sari ride up to the top

I just took this picture coz i like the purple colour flower its really nice against the blue of the sky..hehehe

Another one of the dutch buildings around the red square area

Ah...the yellow paper Umbrella :) One of the famous baba and nyonya paper umbrella :)

The famous red or pink coloured church,
Christ Church

A view of the red square


The victoria Regina Fountain Monument built in 1904

See, I just cant get enough of this church...it looks really serene and pure this church...looks really clean and nice indeed :)

A side view of the Discovery Cafe

a wide angle view of the church again from another angle :)

I found this plate at the middle of the bridge, fasten on one of the pilars and i guess its an old bridge :)

i love these wooden old shophouses :)

more olden aged shophouses

went to an antique store

I guess there were plenty of tukang besi in this street during the olden days

very nice painting of a big orang utan on the side of the yellow building...cute??

This one is really hillarious...hehehe just funny painting and scribblings on the wall that made me laugh when i was walking pass by it :)

A must visit for everyone who comes to Melaka is the Cheng Ho Tea House

They have a very beautiful garden with lots of frangy pangy fragrance alluring ur nose to feel calm there while seeping your wonderful chrisentinum or jasmine tea after a long walk its a blessing indeed.

The Tea Set

The lantern

the direction of you going in and coming out of the Cheng Ho Tea House is sure is different...so here is the very nice back exit alley..it was worth it indeed!

The as you venture out from the small alley you will see jonker streets which comes alive just after 4.30pm and above. here you can find the antique treasures of Jonker Street.

Beautiful squeezed tight wooden shops that hid a lot of treasures :)

and fnally my search reaches the end.....

I got what i came for and you have to come to my house to know what i got from Melaka that i went to search high and low and finally got it and loving every minute of it :)

my historical Melaka, i will never get bore seeing you and i will come again to macrofied the hidden treasures of what Jonker streets and all the beautiful streets in Melaka is hidding!
Hope you guys enjoy this much as i do talking about Melaka :)

history!
Clarity!