What a Wonderful World: 2009

This has got to be my most luxurious trip ever! - Flying on the A380 with Singapore Airlines both ways, opulent 5-star hotels (even got a room at the Westin with a view of the Eiffel tower), beautiful B&Bs, (including feeling like royalty staying one night at the Chateau des Ormeaux), amazing restaurants, (dined for the first time in a 3 Michelin star restaurant at L'Astrance) private trip in a BMW and also at some point in time cruising around in a 2L volkswagen Jetta. I never thought I would ever spend the money to indulge in such luxuries. Well, I still wouldn't, but with all the accumulated air mileage, hotel loyalty points, and support from our couchsurfer/hospitality club friends, (Thanks Piere & Christian!) it was possible to craft a truly decadent itinerary for my wife and me with a modest budget of $3800 each.

And what a beautiful trip it was! I have always loved France in the first place, having already been there 3 times before, but with my darling wife around, I love it even more - it's a place for Luurrveee... My first time in Belgium, too, was truly memorable, especially when it came to the divine chocolates. How i crave for another bite of Pierre Marcolini's... I'm drooling already. The UK? I used to think that England was a dark and dreary country, cloudy and raining most of the time. Now, after having stayed there for 5 days, I still think the same... BUT ... on the occasional day (2 out of 5) when the sky was clear and blue, the scenery was simply glorious. The pastoral scenery that I saw has to rank as one of the top that I've seen in my entire life. Even though I still love France more, I must say that the English countryside is considerably prettier - cute little lambs grazing on wide open meadows, beautiful little villages within a setting of trees and a little stream or river, quaint little cottages like the ones in Children's picturebooks - classic.

In any case, here are the photos. I've arranged them roughly according to the sequence which we took them, though i did not select pirctures from every place we went to.

France: Paris, St Malo, Dinan, Mont St Michel, Loire Valley

Belgium: Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, Namur, Dinant, Leuven. Liege

UK: London, Salisbury, Bath, Cotswolds, Oxford

Monsieur Gargoyle looking over Paris from Notre Dame Tower

The Classic Black and White photo of the Eiffel Tower

Timber houses in Dinan, Brittany

Probably my last time at the Mont St Michel

Spectacular gardens at Chateau De Villandry

Candes-st-Martin, "one of the prettiest villages in France"

Chateau D'Azay le Rideau- charming from the outside with the surrounding waters

Magnificent Castle town - Amboise

Prince and Princess for a day at Chateaux des Ormeaux

Blois - Yet another stately castle town

Biggest and Grandest of all the Loire Valley castles - Chateau de Chambord

Classic Fairytale town - Bruges, the 'Venice of the North'

The 'Lake of Love' in Minnewater park, Bruges

Ghent - 3rd most authentic travel destination in the world according to NatGeo Traveller

Imposing architecture with intricate details looming over the Grand Place in Brussels

With its Citadel high atop a cliff, the Walloon City of Dinant

Magnificent Town hall in the University town of Leuven

The World-Famous Roman baths at Bath

Quaint Thatched-roof Cottage in Chipping Campden

Another beautiful cottage in the Cotswolds

Another Beautiful scene in the Cotswolds - the lambs must be tasty

The old water mill in the lower Slaughters

The river Windrush running through Boughton-on-the-water

Some nice random house in Bibury

Just can't leave Big Ben out of any Travel Blog that features London, right?

3 and a half days in Siem Reap makes for a really nice long weekend. I've seen many kinds of ancient architecture and ruins, but still, the temples of Angkor are nothing short of spectacular. Moreover, while the architectural styles bear certain similiarities, they are all uniquely different in some ways - the smiling faces at the Bayon in Angkor Thom, the iconic towers of Angkor Wat, the forest-engulfed 'Tomb Raider' temples of Ta Phrom, the mountain temple of Phnom Bakheng, the splendid and intricately carved motifs in Bantay Srei, and the amazing waterfalls and river-bed carvings at Kabal Spean - Everyone will find their favourite! We(My wife & I, and for the first time, my brother Scott and her girlfriend) also went to Tonle Sap and the village of Kampong Khleang, but seriously, the temples are the highlight!