This is a little bit of Europa from my point of view, part 2: France

Day 4. France

Let's roll. To France we go! oui oui ouii ~

Stopping at rest areas every now and then. everytime, i would step off the bus and take photos. yes that is how excited i was.

Ah voila! a quick stop at Dijon. where the first ever French Department Store, Galeries Lafayette was built. i remember we had very tasty meatballs that afternoon. minced-meatballs, o yea, like the ones they have in Ikea (oh no), except this one is hallaalan thayiban :D

I don't know whether it's because it's a Sunday, or Dijon is just quiet all the time. It was real pretty tho. The buildings, the pavements, these are what make Europe very scenic. very theatrical. the kind of very that i adore :)

Day 5. Bienvenue A Paris!

Arc de Triomphe

Musee du Louvre

Athena and (nude) Apollo

(sorry, too late to avert your eyes now :p)

The infamous Venus de Milo

Baroque Art

They say you're lucky if you could stare into the Monalisa for 7 minutes. I say are you crazy? i'm not gonna push my way into that herd of people just to stare at another woman. Did not say it out loud tho :p

Some of my favorites at the Louvre. The high ceilings, The Winged Victory, and that little sculpture of Maria holding baby Jesus.

Next Stop: The Infamous

Eiffel Tower!

who'd ever thought i could make it here this soon? :')

Day 6. Agenda 1: Euro Disney, Paris

i think i almost exploded of excitement. so happy. so so so happy. i have been blessed. thank You, God. thank you GCN :')

Next agenda: cruising along Seine River on a Bateaux Mouches.

The weather was sunny but with cold breezes, it felt just downright perfect.
Now! Shall we?

Parisians do lots of things by the riverside. They dance, they play music, they waltz. And all of them waved hi when our bateaux approached. No wonder they call this a romantic city.

Smile, you're on (my) (not-so) candid camera!

This little lad had made my cruise a lot more memorable.

Dan Maghrib pun tibaa..and when it does, everything in Paris turned into gold. By far, this is the most remarkable scenery i have ever witnessed with my own eyes. Paris, turning golden. i think i almost cried sinking in everything that's happening to my life back there.

 Ok Eiffel, the city had played their part. Now it's your turn to shine!

sweet.

when one single photo is all you have, whether it's good or silly

november 15, 2012 @Bureau, Pondok Indah.

This is a little bit of Europa from my point of view

Day 1. Departure & Arrivee a Suisse

let the journey begin.

i do love the skies. i love what i can see from the skies. upper-left photo, i think is the river Nile. next to that, i still haven't figure out yet. it looked like a giant pimple thou. a bit icky, really :p 

i remember feeling very excited the whole way to Switzerland. i couldn't sleep, and i couldn't wait to get to Switzerland, but i also didn't want the plane-ride to end. tapi akhirnya nggak kuat juga sama pegalnya sih, ggh. Untung transit sebentar di Dubai Airport. but really, rather than an airport, this place feels more like one of those international trade centers. so, so, so, packed and hectic, kind of reminds me to Tokyo. i miss that city.

meluruskan kaki sejenak di Dubai Airport, the busiest airport in the world. an exhausting flight, but long flights always has happy meals as compensation, so i'm happy :) 

And alas! we made it, safe & sound, to Kloten Airport, Switzerland's largest international airport, in Zurich. Hamdallah. *i kept pinching myself (this is for real, is it not?)

quiet corners of quiet Zurich

Best part of the whole trip is that i get to go with my cousins. boy do i love them!

Day 2. Foot of Titlis & Luzern

they had so many trees

the lovely faces that shared this wondrous trip

ma belle cousin Nilakanti

calling home.

 pretty souvenir booth (crappy souvenirs tho) and heaps of family picnic going on

let's get lost.

picnic lunch at the banks of Luzern. it was very beautiful & quiet, i could sit there forever.

 i love you, stranger

Day two was mostly filled with exploring Zurich and shopping (of course). During our trip to the foot of Mount Titlis, all i saw were trees, green and tall and proud, breathing healthy, just eager to grow magnificently. and..well, i should really stop comparing the environment there to here, my hometown, big ol' over-digested Jakarta. my poor Jakarta, what have we done to you?

That church, that theater building, everywhere i look, i see only apik, apik, apik.

hello and goodbye, we're done for day#2, now let us sleep for the big day tomorrow!

Day 3. Show-Time in Zurich!

These girls are undoubtedly younger than me (my youngest cousin is 10 years apart from me! man i'm old o_O), but together they would definitely make a group of the best make-up artists in town! see all those artificials on me? a make-up newbie couldn't have done that without their help. i feel so embarrassed -.- but hey it's never too late to learn! >:)

Backstage. 

Day 4. Auf Wiedersehen Suisse, time to move on. Next stop: France! Ooh la la~

Gema Citra Nusantara, Indonesia versi mini

Gema Citra Nusantara, sebuah sanggar tari-tarian tradisional Indonesia, dibentuk oleh Mira Marina Arismunandar. Tanpa tahu persis bagaimana kisah kelahiran dan awal perjalanan GCN ini, saya dipertemukan dengan GCN yang sudah mulai besar, dan sedang mendaki gunung kejayaannya.

Untuk bergabung bersama GCN ini anda tidak harus sudah khatam menari Bali, Pendet atau tarian tradisional lainnya. Untuk bergabung bersama GCN ini cukup niat dan komitmen teman-teman untuk mengungkapkan besarnya kecintaan terhadap kebudayaan Nasional kita. 

Di GCN saya dipertemukan dengan sebuah komunitas baru, yang seiring berjalannya waktu, entah di titik kapan dan mana, menjelma menjadi keluarga baru saya. Dan saya seolah dipertemukan kembali dengan Indonesia. Dipertemukan kembali, kepada akar dari Indonesia, keindahan dan kecantikannya, dibalik semua lapisan politik dan pemerintahan yang kian lama kian keruh dan menjadikan seorang saya jenuh dengan Negeri ini.

Keramahan dan persahabatan anak-anak GCN ini tidak perlu diragukan lagi. Tanpa mereka, saya tidak mungkin bisa merasakan rindu yang teramat sangat pada GCN, seperti yang saat ini sedang saya rasakan.

 

Namun saya ini bukan orang yang pandai merangkai kata-kata. Saya lebih mudah mengekspresikan perasaan saya dan bercerita melalui gambar-gambar. Kali ini, saya akan bercerita mengenai serunya satu adegan hidup saya bersama GCN melalui dokumentasi perjalanan misi budaya GCN ke Benua Eropa, beberapa bulan yang lalu.

Terima kasih sudah sudi menjadi kapal yang dapat saya tumpangi sejenak, GCN!

Sukses selalu untukmu! :)

Salam Hangat,

Bibi Salas