The RECCOS Chronicles 6a: La Région Boujoulais...

The €uro 8 traded the flavours of Paris - romance, history and culture, for something else basic, down-to-earth and closer to nature. Along the way, we had a taste of what was to come. We drove past pastures and soccer fields, which of cos, left a tinkling feeling amongst us (and our feet). One of which, was more like a personal backyard field more than anything else we've ever seen!


Yz, tear down that park in front of your house and construct one of this for good o'RECCOS sake? =D

We had a service stop at what used to be a military HQ during WWII. I don't think anyone of us 8 could remember the name of the place... Nothing much abt that place, but worthed taking a look at...


Tucked away in the countryside of France about a (total of) 7-hour drive away from the heart of Paris, we arrived at the picturesque region of Boujoulais... A region of wine, wineyards, wineries and just acres and acres of beautiful BEEEAUTIFUL landscape...



We stayed at a chateau, Chateau de Cruix, bought over by Contiki themselves. Funny how amongst the 7 cameras, none of which captured the old fortress-turned-guesthouse... So here's some random shots out of the area instead...


Yup! There's even a swimming pool in the chateau!


Chatting about the good o'days... Good o'days which lasted for way too short...


Introduction to wineries and the process of wine-making... Along with wine tasting of cos! [P.S: Take a good look at the pic. Not just the wine... A lot of good looking people!]

Hike to the Top Of The World:
One of the activities incorporated into our itinerary was a hike to the Top of the World - basically up to (one of) the highest knolls in the area... With the help of this:



Yup. A hand-drawn map. Outrageous! But I loved every single bit of the hike... We were equipped with that hand-drawn map, along with a basket of goodies! 3 loaves of baguettes, a big slice of cheese, apples, oranges, mineral water, some cups and a couple of serviettes...

If my memory didn't fail me, the 6 ends of the 3 baguettes went to: sw yz jase tim goose and ME of cos. (It's not hard to figure actually, the other 2 just aren't sly and cunning enough.)

We took a long time to get to the top of the world... And back down... 5 hours hike I reckon. But heck, we thoroughly enjoyed it... With loads of great pics taken...


We went past a ghost town, colourful no less...


With alley ways between brick houses reeking of coolness...


Past a pasture overlooking the region...


Before stopping to vandalise a bench standing innocently along the track...


We then continued through the woods... Nonchalantly...


Up steep rocky slopes...


Before reaching NEAR the top... It rained along the way and it was cold!

And that's the top, up that uber steep slope behind us here in the picture above! We felt kinda shortchanged... Since the view from atop that knoll was nowhere near anything we've seen along the way! There wasn't a clear view of the surrounding cos of trees and bushes! Plus it was raining super heavily when we reached the top...

We hung around that spot to eat wat's left in the basket... Nothing more than half a loaf of baguette and that same whole slice of cheese. And all of the fruits. I even recall begging from the others for their leftovers... 1 puny basket cant feed 8 hungry RECCOSians!

With the food all finished... We took out our handy deck of playing cards and played Big 2 (Dai Dee) atop that knoll... See? It pays to travel in 4s... Better still, 8s! 

We spent the rest of the day preparing for the night ahead... And what a night it proved to be... That we shall cover in the next post... I'll juz spam our group photos and other random pics to conclude the Boujoulais region...


Seng helping 2 of our tour mates who were lost...


I juz had to show everyone this pic again...


Atop a knoll overlooking the ghost town - On our way down...


Make a guess now - Who took this pic?


Seng, Goose, Snake, Timmy, BerD, mokie, Beng, Jase making the €uro 8...

P.S: Dinner that day more than made up for lunch, pork ribs in sweet and sour sauce, along with strawberry ice-cream (which timmy gave to me) to top it all!
PP.S: Just for the record, sw farts like once every 5 minutes throughout the entire journey, and all of them were smelly. VERY VERY SMELLY!
PPP.S: Jason digs his nose with 2 fingers! And this is proof! Muahahahhaa!


Jase concentrating on getting nose wax from both nostrils at the same time!

Reccos Chronicles, Part 5d: Mona, Hunchback, Moulin and such...

Much as the €uro 8 wanted to spend more time at the Eiffel Tower, they were mindful that the constraint of time was upon them.
So with heavy hearts and empty stomachs, they trudged on to their next location....

A parting shot of the Eiffel Tower, too bad about the weather, but the €uro 8 has a knack for inducing such less than ideal circumstances for photography and such...


Some random stranger was kind enough to help take this picture. Not too sure about the place. Let's just name it "the place opposite the Eiffel".


One of the many Napoleon bridges. Check out the ang-mohs at the right, reason they were in the picture: they just barged in. No kidding. Berd da Anaconda just finished setting up the tripod, ran inside the picture, posed, and next thing we knew, these 3 individuals just rushed in to take a picture with us. Just in time for the camera(nice timing I must admit...).
We were more amused than anything.


A much favored mode of transport in Europe for us, the train.
Noisy, squeezy, no place to sit. Ah... such a lack for comfort for Spartans souls like us. No wonder we love to take the train.


From the left: Sw with an impersonation of a blind man walking, Timmy with a constipated face and the tribal symbol, Jase with a map and a meditative look, Seng grinning like he just hu-ed a 1 dai to twart a 5 dai, Beng searching for gold on the ground.


The €uro 8 were amazed by this. Can someone tell me how the f**k can the @#$%^&(*&^%$% car move out??????

Onwards, onwards they pushed. crossing different sectors and places, not forgetting to grab some lunch on the way, till they finally reached....


The Louvre.
Home of the Mona Lisa, the Nike, the Last Supper, the list goes on...
The €uro 8 couldn't resist not taking a picture of their vile presence at the Louvre, and what better place to capture such scene than this one with the glass pyramid as the backdrop?
*Note Mr Bai aka Sneaky Snakey, 3rd from the right. WTF was he thinking of? Did he had a deeply spiritual encounter hence the tilting of the head towards the heaven as an acknowledgement and appreciation of the holistic impression left on him? Or did he just want to look like a cock?


Another picture, this time, all of us are in it.


The interior of the Louvre, one of the most expensive corridor we've ever walked in. Pick any one of the stuff here and it'll cost more than the worth of the €uro 8 combined. Ten times(at least).


A parting shot before we left the Louvre.
The idea was to squeeze into a semblance of a triangle to match the form of the pyramid behind us, coupled with (some of)us fashioning a triangular shape with our hands(the ludicrous idea was suggested by Snakey).
We just looked balmy.

How can we leave the Louvre without an effigy of the Mona Lisa?!?!?!?
It is my honour to present......

The Mona Lisa.
Be overwhelmed by this great piece of art.

As much as we watned more of the Lourve, time, or the lack of it, prompted the €uro 8 to blitz through the rest of the marvellous sights that Paris had to offer, like.....


The Notre Dame Cathedral. No hunchbacks in sight.
8 brokebackers maybe...

Someplace, somewhere. I can't remember where this, any volunteers?


One of my personal favourite, The Arc de Triomphe, Place de l'Étoile!!!

Finally, we ended up at...........

Moulin Rouge! Everybody sing: "Gitchi gitchi ya ya da da!!!"

This picture totally spoils the mood.
Just look at the bemused look on Timmy and Snake's faces.
Berd, we don't mind the anaconda, but your boxers/briefs/shorts/cloth thingy totally spells tak glam!!!

Last but not least, the joke of the day: Goose da Iceman himself!
If I can have everyone's attention, please note the intense look of concentration, the crossed arms and the tightly clenched legs.
It spells: I'm trying to hold something in for the last hour or so...

And now dear readers, what's the thing that Goose is trying to hold in?

Is it:
1. pee
2. fart
3. burp
4. shit
5. all of the above

The answer will be revealed in the next post, so till next time...
-- Timmy out

The Reccos Chronicles, Part 5c: Simi Lanjiao... 3 Entries on Paris...

I suspect Timmy is timing his blog entry to be able to cover the Boujoulais region... Which I've confided in him, to be my fav place for a long time during the trip... Obviously he's trying to lao gan me! So knowing very well he cant blog tonight... And tomolo night for that matter... I shall be sure to blog 2 nights in a row! That aside, for much of the rest of Paris, we were taking photos...

Of the Eiffel from afar...
(Pardon the watermarks, kudos to Damien's chiong sua DSLR...)


With strangers...
(They actually know the coverage of wide angle lenses... Or just lucky?)

Of women adjusting their bra...
(That guy's got quite a good look at that I assume...)

And with traffic lights...
(Check out 5566's latest member man...)

SHOUTOUT: [S^M] CLAYMORE 18 RAW.avi has just completed downloading!
Not much of this blog entry left I assure you...

We took the Metro from the Palais de Chaillot to the Musee du Louvre... Along which of cos, we continued to take more pics...

We took the Metro...
(I know I suck... Hokay?)

And even made new friends!
(RECCOS, meet Govindan.)

 After which, we headed for DA LOUVRE. It's funny how when you see the Louvre in movies and documentaries and all, it's always look so picture perfect, lighting and all. Somehow, when I got there... It kinda looked like Wheellock's place... Perhaps it's juz me... I cant have expectations of things... Cos with my vivid imagination, very rarely do the actual stuff surpass it... So here we are, in the Louvre. And that's all there is...

Sw and I did get lost somewhere along those exquisite corridors... Looking for the toilet... Afterwhich we engaged in a little side quest to look for a little foot or some sort... Mona Lisa... Last Supper... Madonna on the Rocks (or  something like that)... Yah... Been there done that! So here's 1 last look of the Louvre...

And then there was the Notre Dame... But no hunchbacks... This one I've got to give it to them man... When we were there... There was some service ongoing... And I tell you... With a church like that, with so much history behind its architecture... I cant blame them for being so madly religious man... At that point of time... I honestly wished I could be part of it all! Aiyah enough of talking liao lah... Otherwise got people say I boring again... ~>.<~

Outside Notre Dame...


And inside Notre Dame...


Also inside the Notre Dame...


Somewhere ard Paris...

And last but not least... My fav... Arc of Triumph!


To end it all... Here's some better taken pics from the net... I love the Paris from the top of the Arc one best... Cheers!

P.S: I'm gonna change the RECCOS blog skin... It sucks... Whoever chose it...


Paris by night...


Paris from atop the Arc of Triumph... (This pic rocks to the skies...)

GG! Timmy you can post abt Goose and Moulin Rouge and Goose... I shall go sleep!