Nice

Nice is the capital of the Riviera and fifth largest town in France. A large portion of the population here are either pensioners or fat cat tycoons.

Nice can't even boast a sandy beach but the town is blessed with nice weather all year round. Somehow a majority of my tour group members at the time like Nice the most for its pleasant weather (probably because it was winter).

There is nothing much interesting here (except for the sun and sea) but it makes an ideal base for visiting the 30km of the Riviera coast border, Cannes and even Monaco

Filming location of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Anyone still remember this 1991 film? Kevin Costner triumphs as the legendary Sherwood Forest outlaw leader in this epic adventure bringing a 12th century medieval world to spectacular screen life.

While in France (on the Paris-Barcelona route), the tour guide made a stop and inform us that this castle is one of the filming location of the movie. I really feel fortunate to see the castle with my own eyes as that is one of my favourite movie at the time.

I look terrible here as I had a diarrhoea as I made a mistake of drinking the French tap water a day before.

Paris

Paris is the paragon of style-perhaps the most captivating city in Europe. Yet, it is still not my favourite city in Europe

Arc de Triomphe is Napolean's homage to the armies of France and himself. It is located at the centre of place Charles de-Gaulle where traffic from the twelve avenues leading into it meets in a heart stopping display of horn blaring and near misses. I had to stand at the centre of the traffic to capture the perfect angle of the Arc de Triomphe.

The best view of Paris is from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. Avenues Des Champs Elysees from the top of the Arc

La Defense from the top of the Arc

The 19th century church of Sacre Coeur can be seen from a distance from the Arc

The Louvre was first opened to the public in 1793 during the Revolution and within decade Napolean had made it the largest art collection on earth with the takings from his empire. It's still a vast collection, numbingly so in fact, and it requires heroic stamina to trawl through the artworks. In fact, it is estimated that one would need at least 2 months to cover everything exhibited in detail.

Entrance to this massive museum is by the way of I.M. Pei's stunning glass pyramid, opened in 1989 to anti modernist controversy but now a beloved landmark. The Mona Lisa is the painting most people head for here.

Though no conventional beauty, Eiffel Tower is nonetheless an amazing structure, standing at 300m the tallest building in the world when it was completed in 1889 by Gustave Eiffel

The view from top of Eiffel Tower is rewarding, especially at night

Palais de Chaillot-home to several interesting museum, taken at night from top of Eiffel Tower

The Notre Dame Cathedral begun its construction in 1160 and completed around 1245.

Hotel des Invalides was built as a home for invalided soldiers on the order of Louis XIV and topped by a distinctive gilded dome which is a real Paris landmark. One of the two churches was intended as a mausoleum for the king but now contains the mortal remains of Napolean.