Luke Judge

*Phew~* It has been quite a while since my last travel log. Lots of things happen, assignments taken, albums completed for the past few months. Let’s pick up the logs where I left off, shall we?

Destination 6: Paris

I bet the first thing that came into your mind is, “That’s one heck of a trip from Brussels to Paris” right? The truth is, it was only a one and a half hour journey by bus. Or maybe, the bus simply took a totally different route from what Google Maps suggest. I can’t really tell as I spent the time sleeping through out the journey.

Cutting the long story of how we ended up lodging in a hotel in Drancy short, the first stop we made was at the Musee Du Louvre.

It was simply amazing to see an unconventional architectural design being put in the middle of building from the old centuries.

and it would be a waste not to have 1 lovely shot with the siblings with the museum as the background. 

Across Musee Du Louvre is the Tuileries Gardens. The mini Arc de Triomphe “Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel ” is located in this park, so does these wicked spots for portraitures.

Yeap, that’s our Lomo ambassador with *her* LC+A. As of now, she has a Holga and a Fisheye 2 in her collection.

Being tourists, we simply can’t resist hopping into those cost-friendly Hop-On Hop-Off buses to bring us around the city. Below are some shots from the top of the bus.

Next was to visit Petite Palais located at Avenue Winston Churchill.

As it was new year’s eve, we planned to stick around Paris to celebrate new year. I got to admit that Paris was very generous with lightings that night.

Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile

But sadly, there were no fireworks and I don’t even get a decent shot of the new year celebration that night due to frustration. Even the locals were not sure when we asked if there would be fireworks display to celebrate the new year. To make things worst, around 12.30am, people start to leave the celebrations spots and rush to the nearby metro stations. It was too jam packed inside the tunnel, we had to walk around the town to find a taxi for a ride home. Yet, Zura manage to strike a pose before leaving the metro station.

What happened next, was us walking around Paris to find a taxi, only to get one at 3.30am. *Sigh~* 

Anyway, the next day, we went to Trocadéro for a final view of the Eiffel Tower.

 and 1 tourist pose by my brother, Shah. Those who have reached Paris would definitely see this kind of attempts all over the park surrounding the Eiffel Tower. Haha!

That’s all folks. If you have any “New Year in Paris” memories, share your stories in the comments section ay?

egyptian Antiquities half hour, hop on hop off buses, winston churchill

CAIRO — Egyptian police on Friday arrested nearly 50 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood who were staging anti-Israel demonstrations, a security official said.

They were rounded up after weekly prayers as they demonstrated against Israeli plans to build Jewish settlements in Arab east Jerusalem and place two West Bank shrines on a list of Israeli heritage sites.

The Brotherhood had urged Egyptians to take part in the protests across the country and the arrests took place in several provinces, the source said.

He said protesters chanted slogans denouncing Israel’s plans as well as “the silence of Arab governments.”

Friday’s arrests were the latest targeting the Brotherhood ahead of upper house elections in April and lower house elections in October. The Islamists have accused the authorities of cracking down on them ahead of the polls.

Brotherhood lawyer Salah Abdel Maqsud said that among those detained were “prominent figures who could run in the elections.”

In February deputy leader Mahmud Ezzat was among 16 Brotherhood members arrested in a move denounced by the group as well as by international human rights watchdogs.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said February’s arrests dealt “a blow at hopes for genuinely free elections.”

The Muslim Brotherhood is banned in Egypt but is tolerated, and police regularly arrest its activists.

Despite the ban, the Brotherhood controls a fifth of seats in parliament after it fielded candidates as independents in a 2005 election.

Police rounded up hundreds of Brotherhood activists last year. The group, founded in 1928, has renounced violence and says it wants to establish an Islamic state through peaceful means.

Israel’s plans to include The Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem on a list of its heritage sites and to build new homes for Jewish settlers has triggered both Arab and international criticism.

egyptian Antiquities human rights watch, international criticism, mahmud, security official