Let's Travel: Paris, France

Hello again, after very long time.

I know I promised to post this such a long time ago but life got really busy and I was a bit lazy I must admit :P
In September 2013, my dear husband arranged a short Paris trip for my upcoming birthday. Right after we returned, one of my friends wanted to learn more about our trip and I noticed that my e-mail to him is so long and detailed, it's almost a blog post itself, so I wanted to share it here with my Turkish speaking followers. This post is the English version of the original post for those of my followers who cannot understand Turkish.  
I hope you enjoy the tips below and can make good use of them during your own Paris trip ;)

We arranged this trip on our own, namely we did not use a tour company. In fact, we never use tour companies ever since we find them a bit limiting. My husband is a genius when it comes to trip planning (and on everything else :P ), so he asks me to give the dates I am available and what I would like to see in our destination then takes care of everything on his own thanks to him. Yes, I am very lucky (thanks God) :)

My hubby downloaded Trip Advisor's Paris app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tripadvisor.android.apps.cityguide.paris&hl=en) which is very useful, we strongly recommend. It works offline and has GPS access, so it helped us a lot. I also took Fodors Paris guidebook with me, but to be honest, it was not as useful as my husband's app. The only useful parts of the book were a full size map of Paris and Versailles section, but you can find these elsewhere too. If you plan to go to Paris, I would recommend going a two lovers. Since you will have to walk a lot and visit museums, going with kids might be a bit too difficult especially if they are young. 
If you will arrive at Orly airport you can use OrlyBus (7.20 Euro/person) to Denfert-Rochereau metro station. It is located in central Paris and right next to the famous Catacombes. The other option is to use RER trains to go Montparnesse but it takes longer and it's more expensive.

If you find a hotel near Nation station your life will be much easier since almost all important metro lines that go to the main attractions intersect there which makes transportation easier.

It would be cheaper if you purchase your metro tickets in sets of 10.

If you are planning to go to Versailles you can take a direct SNFC train from Paris, the road takes approximately 45 minutes. Palace is within 5 minutes walking distance from the train station in Versailles. You must spare one whole day to Versailles and arrive very early, like around 9 - 9:30 am. We arrived there at 11 am and had to stand on the ticket and entrance line for 2 hours! It is extremely crowded. It's even better if you purchase your ticket in advance (online) and print it out before arrival, then at least you won't have to wait on the ticket line. The palace is exquisite, the level of luxury and taste makes one dizzy and short of breath :) Exploring the palace using an audio guide would take approximately 4 hours based on your speed of course. I would recommend gardens and trianons if you have time and energy left.

Friday is a good day to visit Louvre (closes late then), even if you arrive late you won't have to hurry since the museum closes at 10:30 pm. I would recommend you to pick up a plan from the ticket booth or information desk and mark everything you would like to visit, then approach the visit as a "scavenger hunt" :) Otherwise, if you try to see everything in the museum, it would take many days. Of course, you MUST see Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Diana, Hermaphrodite, but all of the galleries are sooooooo beautiful.

When you are done with Louvre right before sunset time, walk towards the small arch and through the Jardin des Tuileries (a beautiful garden) until you reach the obelisk, then cross the street and continue straight to arrive Champs-Elysees. After a lovely 15-20 minutes walk, you will arrive at Arch de Triomphe. But, do not hurry, enjoy Champs-Elysees. You must stop by the famous Laduree to pick up some of their delicious macaroons, the line is always so long but it definitely worth the wait. ;)

You can go everywhere using metro, but I would rather recommend exploring Paris on foot.
Because Paris is such a beautiful city, I feel like every metro trip is like missing a charming moment/place above ground, outside.

You must also visit Musee D'orsay, but half a day will be enough for it. If you arrive by noon, you will be able to finish exploring by 6pm.

When you visit Patheon you can also stop by Sorbonne which is nearby.
Notre Dame Cathedral (the home of Victor Hugo's Quasimodo :) ) is another attraction you should visit, it is a wonderful Gothic cathedral. You can even check their website before visiting to learn their service hours so that you can witness a real religious service in the cathedral.

During the weekend, walk by Seine river and browse through the street vintage booksellers, they are beautiful. 
There are street markets everywhere that open only in the weekends and they worth a visit for the fresh cheese, ratatouille, fresh fruit and vegetables and the nice ambiance. We visited the one in Edgar-Quinet on a Saturday morning and it was really beautiful. It is also very close to the Montparnasse Galeries Lafayette if you would like to check it out.

You should definitely make a river tour from Port d'Alma using Bateaux Mouches boats around the sunset, it is sooooo romantic.

I would recommend you to visit Eiffel around the sunset at the beginning of an hour (6:00pm, 7:00 pm, etc), because there is a glitter show on the tower at every hour for only 5 minutes and the tower looks glamorous with those glitters on ;)

If you can find tickets and you like the type of show, it might be nice to include Moulin Rouge to one of your evening plans.

As the dress code, you should wear loafers (no sneakers/tennis shoes please, Parisiens get mad :) ), for women different scarves and leather or seasonal light jackets will be more than enough.

I have lots and lots of more tips and recommendations but if I continue this post will never end. The best if you ask and I answer :)

I hope you have so much fun.

Paris seyahati planlayanlara tavsiyeler

Eylul ayinda esimle ufak bir Paris kacamagi yaptik. Arkadasim seyahatle ilgili bilgi almak istemisti, baktim ona yazdigim upuzun mail neredeyse bir blog postu olmus ben de sizlerle paylasayim istedim. Bir tasla iki kus ;)

Biz seyahati kendimiz ayarladik. Esasen hicbir yere turla gitmiyoruz kisitlayici oldugu icin. Esim tatil planlari konusunda sahane, bana sadece uygun oldugum tarihleri ve gidecegimiz yerde minimum nereleri gormek istedigimi soruyor gerisini kendi hallediyor sagolsun. Sansliyim yani (masallah) :)

Esimin telefonunda TripAdvisor in Paris app i vardi (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tripadvisor.android.apps.cityguide.paris&hl=en) ki cok kullanisli, tavsiye ederiz. Hem offline, hem de GPS i var cok isimize yaradi. Bende de Fodors'un Paris guidebook u vardi ama ne yalan soyleyeyim, esimin app i kadar ise yaramadi. Kitabin bir tek tam boy haritasi bir de Versailles kismi kullanisliydi ki onlari zaten baska yerden de bulursunuz.

Paris e gidecekseniz kesinlikle iki asik olarak gidin derim ben. Cok yuruyeceginiz ve muze gezeceginiz icin cocuklarla cok zor olur.

Orly ye inecekseniz OrlyBus (7.20 Euro/kisi) i kullanarak Denfert-Rochereau metro istasyonuna gidin. Burasi Paris merkez, meshur Catacombes in da hemen yanibasi. Diger secenek RER trenlerini kullanarak Montparnesse ye gitmek ama hem daha uzun suruyor hem de daha pahali.

Nation istasyonu civarinda bir otel bulursaniz rahat edersiniz, cunku onemli yerlere giden neredeyse butun metro hatlari orada kesisiyor, ulasim kolay olur.

Metro biletlerini 10ar 10ar alin, daha ucuza geliyor.

Versailles a gidecekseniz SNFC treniyle direkt Paris ten gidebilirsiniz, 45 dk kadar suruyor. Orada tren istasyonundan saraya 5 dk yurume mesafesi. Tum gunu oraya ayirin ve cok erken gidin, sabah 9-9:30 da orada olacak sekilde. Biz sabah 11 de orada olduk ve 2 saat ayakta bilet ve giris sirasi bekledik. Inanilmaz kalabalik. Bileti onceden alip bastirirsaniz daha iyi, en azindan bilet sirasi beklemezsiniz. Saray sahane, luks ve zevklilik seviyesi insanin basini donduruyor :) Audio guide la yaklasik 4 saat surer gezmek hiziniza gore. Bahceleri ve trianon lari da vaktiniz ve enerjiniz kalirsa tavsiye ederim.

Louvre icin Cuma guzel bir gun (gec kapanis), gec bile gitseniz muze gece 10:30 a kadar acik oldugu icin aceleye gerek yok. Bir plan alip gormek istediginiz herseyi isaretleyip define avi seklinde yaklasin derim ben :) Yoksa hepsini gormeye calismak gunler alir. Tabii Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Diana, Hermaphrodite en basta gorulmesi gerekenler, ama tum galeriler cooook guzel.

Louvre dan aksam ustune dogru cikip, oradan dumduz kucuk arch i gecerek, Jardin des Tuileries (cok guzel bir bahce) icinden dumduz yuruyerek obelisk (dikilitas) in oldugu yere varip, karsiya gecip dumduz devam ettiginizde Champs-Elysees desiniz. Cok seveceginiz yaklasik 15-20 dklik bir yuruyus sonunda Arch de Triomphe a varacaksiniz. Ama uzun uzun keyfini cikarin Champs-Elysees nin derim ben, mutlaka meshur Laduree ye ugrayip makaron alin, sira cok uzun oluyor ama kesinlikle deger. ;)

Her yere metroyla gidebilirsiniz aslinda, ama bence dinlene dinlene yuruyun. Cunku Paris oyle guzel bir sehir ki, her metro seyahati yukaridaki bir guzelligi kacirmak gibi.

D'orsay da muhakkak ziyaret edilmesi gereken muzelerden, ona yarim gun yeter, oglen varsaniz aksam 6ya kadar bitirmis olursunuz.

Patheon a gittiginizde yakinda Sorbonne a da ugrayabilirsiniz, baya yakin.
Notre Dame katedrali (Victor Hugo nun Quasimodo sunun evi :) ) muhakkak ziyaret edilmesi gerekenlerden, mukemmel bir gotik katedral. Hatta websitesinden servis saatlerini ogrenirseniz, gercek servise de sahitlik etmis olursunuz.

Haftasonu Seine kenarinda yuruyup, sokak sahaflarini gezin, sahaneler.
Yine haftasonu sokak pazarlari aciliyor ve taze peynir, ratatouille, sebze-meyve ve guzel ambiyans icin ziyaret etmeye deger. Biz Edgar-Quinet dekine Cumartesi sabahi gitmistik, cok guzeldi. Hem de Montparnasse Galeries Lafayette de baya yakin bakmak isterseniz.

Bir gun gun batimi zamani, Port d'Alma dan Bateaux Mouches firmasiyla nehir turu yapin muhakkak, coook romantik.

Eiffel i hava kararirken saat basinda ziyaret etmenizi tavsiye ederim, her saat basi 5 dakika glitter-gosterisi var, daha guzel gorunuyor.

Bilet bulabilirseniz ve severseniz Moulin Rouge u da bir aksam planiniza dahil etmek guzel olabilir.

Kiyafet olarak, loafer tipi ayakkabilar (spor ayakkabi olmasin, kiziyorlar :) ), bayanlar icin fularlar ve deri veya sonbaharlik bir ceket yeter de artar.

Daha da bir suru tavsiye var ama devam edersem bu post bitmez. En iyisi siz sorun ben cevaplayayim :)

Umarim cok eglenirsiniz.

For English-speaking followers: I will post this in English very soon ;)

Let's Travel: Ruta Panoramica, Puerto Rico

Hi all;

This post is about a loooong long road trip we had. 

After enjoying the goodness of the Western part of the island (Aguada and Rincon), it was time to explore the South-Eastern end, the famous Luquillo-El Yunque area. Of course, we decided to use the scenic beauty - Ruta Panoramica to get there and stop by the most famous coffee house in all Puerto Rico, Hacienda San Pedro.

We woke up and had a nice breakfast before hitting the road. We had a long road trip ahead (you can see our route marked on the map below), but as the driver, I was energetic enough and hubby had all sorts of music arranged to entertain us. :)

First hour was great, sun was shining, birds were singing, road was somewhat wide and not so winding. We even had such entertaining moments as sharing the road with unusual vehicles - ahem - horses I mean :-P
Encountering horses is so usual for most parts of Puerto Rico we have seen, horses are not even afraid of cars. I wonder if PR has a set of traffic rules adapted to horses as vehicles and special toll rates for them. :)


Ruta Panoramica is magnificent with all its lush greens, fruit trees, bird sounds, and breathtaking views. You can see two pictures of it below.
By the way, the road you see is a two way road and there is no way you can see who is coming from the other side. If you plan to drive there make sure to go very slow (max 20 mph), turn on headlights at all times, and open the windows so that you can hear if another car is coming.

Going slow is necessary for another reason: Potholes! They are everywhere. Of course it is very difficult to maintain a good road shape in such areas, they are difficult to reach even for small cars, I cannot imagine how big paving trucks can get there.

Since we had to go very slow, the whole thing took a long time. We arrived Hacienda San Pedro around 4pm in the afternoon. It is a lovely coffee shop, and has even lovelier surroundings, the coffee plantations.

Above, you can see a picture of Hacienda San Pedro's entrance.   On the left, you see how the coffe shop looks like on the inside.       On the right side, there is a picture of their coffee plantations. They grow their coffee beans right next to the restaurant and your cup of espresso comes directly from plantation into your cup (after a short processing time). 

We first had delicious, freshly cropped, freshly brewed coffee inside the shop. I even spotted a Turkish made industrial coffee grinder/roaster in there (You can see its picture on the right, the brand is "Has Garanti"). 

It was such a pleasant surprise, I haven't seen those for so long. It instantly took me to my childhood... 

When I was growing up in Ankara (the capital city of Turkey), every nuts&seeds store ("kuruyemisci" in Turkish) had one of these outside the store, they were the source of an amazing roasted coffee bean (and sometimes roasted chickpea ("leblebi" in Turkish)) smell. 

Hope you enjoyed this post.

Next one will be on El Yunque National Forest.

Take care :)

Let's Travel: Rincon, Puerto Rico

Hi again. 

My last post was on Aguada, Aguadilla, PR (the post is here). Our next stop is Rincon, PR.

They are not very far from each other, 10-15 minutes by car.

We had diving reservations for Desecheo Island that day. They told us to arrive Taino Divers office at 7:30am sharp. Hence, we had to wake up even before the sunrise :/

After loading our backpacks to the car, hubby went to check out and immediately returned with a big surprise. Hotel lobby was locked. The only living beings around were one horse having breakfast across the street and a kitten looking for somebody to play with. We didn't want to miss the boat so, took the phone number and left for the diving trip. 

It was really difficult to find the turn for Taino Divers. PR 413 is a tiny country road with no road signs or street names whatsoever. When we called the Taino, the guy insisted that we should turn left from where we were. It was puzzling because left side was all mountains and beach was supposedly on our right. It's good thing that we didn't go with the suggestion and just followed our instincts. Finally, we found the place.

Yet, a not-so-pleasant surprise was waiting for us. When we greeted them they popped the bad news: We couldn't go to Desecheo because of the strong wind. :( Instead, they arranged a shorter neighborhood reef trip.

We had to wait for maybe an hour after registration and gear arrangements until the boat arrived. The only advantage of early arrival is ease of finding a parking spot.  

Around 9am we all walked to the beach. We carried gears to the boats and hit the road.

On the left, there is a picture of the Rincon beach where our dive trip started and ended. The view was amazing (please don't mind the finger :-P ).

Dive trip was okay, but visibility was below average. 

The most memorable part of the experience was observing many Lion Fish (also known as Pterois) during daytime. For those of you who are not familiar, pterois is a nocturnal animal, in other words it cannot be observed during the day in its natural waters. 

I was puzzled at first. Then my hubby cleared the issue by passing the explanation of dive instructor. It is believed that these animals were introduced into Caribbean during early 1990's because of a hurricane and tank release. Since their predators do not exist in this sea, they became a crowded herd very easily. They are not welcomed guests though, rather invasive (if you're interested, more reading is here).

  

I must say, the trip was not very well organized/dive-computer planned. If you are planning to dive with them, I recommend you to plan your dive and dive your plan, do not expect them to provide a plan.

Divemaster was very busy, he changed our equipment and was keeping track of the snorkelers as well as beginner-level divers. He had an unfortunate accident, a jellyfish bite, so we were alone underwater most of the time.

   

Our dive trip ended around noon. We immediately went back to the hotel to check out and return the keys. The owner felt so bad because we were stressed in the morning, he seemed like a decent person.

If you stay there, keep in mind, they open the front desk after 9am. If you need to check out earlier, let him know in advance. 

Our next hotel was Lazy Parrot Inn.
This is a beautiful hotel which you cannot tell from its entrance. It has a very surprising structure. Located on PR 413, maybe a km before the right turn to Taino Divers (If you're driving from Aguada side).
Entrance looks like a small, two story motel. You climb up the stairs and will see a nice porch. There are parrot themed ornaments everywhere, decoration is in harmony with the name. Now, walk through the door and follow the signs: You will enter the restaurant, take a left and walk down the stairs. You will see a bar on your right side.

You're not there yet. Continue walking to the left side and take all the stairs down until you see the beautiful view ahead (like the picture on the left), a nice pool and pool-bar on the right, and the front desk/breakfast area on the left. Now you can see the some live parrots as well. :)



Their rooms were spacious and clean. Also, people were very friendly.

Here is another view from our floor.







There is a small health drink shop called Banana Dang next door.

Nothing pretentious like Jamba juice, you can think of it as a very healthy Starbucks.

It's a fantastic place. I wish we had one in New Jersey.
We tried their Nutty Dang with soy protein boost and it was YUMM! If you ever pass by you should definitely stop by for a drink, or two. ;)


Hope you enjoyed this post.
Next post will be about our day-long road trip from Rincon to Luquilla, on Ruta Panoramica.

Let's Travel: Aguada, Puerto Rico

Hello again, 

I will finish a long day of road trip with this post. :) 

On the very same day, after Rio Camuy Cave Park (the post is here), Arecibo Observatory (post: here), and Heladeria Lares (post: here) we arrived at Aguada, the place where we spent the night. 

Aguada is a small seaside city with friendly people and many stray animals (mostly dogs, but also horses, cows, goats, etc.). Actually, at some point, it was really difficult to drive because of the dogs hanging out on the driveway. Well, animals are as relaxed as locals in Puerto Rico. :)

Our long road-trip route is marked on the map below: 

We arrived at our hotel (Columbus Hotel) around sunset time. The view was breathtaking.
It was a bit difficult to find the hotel as the name was not clearly marked and Google maps/GPS are not very reliable in this area. However, the restaurant ("Atlantis Restaurant") of this hotel is clearly marked, so you can use it as a landmark.

Hotel owner is a very decent person, he was quite helpful. I guess we were the only guests at the time, the hotel was very quiet. Rooms start right where the sea ends, luckily we had this amazing view from our balcony:

Plus, we get to sleep with the relaxing sound of waves.

When it was time  for dinner, we tried to rely on Yelp and Google maps to find good local restaurants around but most of the addresses were not accurate.
Thanks to my hubby's excellent navigation skills, we managed to dine at very good restaurants.
If you want to try good local food, your best bet will be Guayabo's Tropical Sunset Restaurant or El Galeon Restaurant.
We highly recommend both. Service, food, ambiance were all perfect.
Below is the view from El Galeon. After a while a horse walked by (alone) and said hello to diners. :) He was just having a casual evening stroll.

If you go to El Galeon, do not leave without trying their delicious Lobster Mofongo.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Next post will be on Rincon and diving. ;)

Short lashes? Don't worry, the solution is here :)

I wrote this post in Turkish a year ago (here is the original post). I decided to re-write it in English when I noticed on stats that it is still the most popular post. It is just translation.

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Until 3 weeks ago, I was spending a lot on designer mascaras and placing trans-Atlantic false lash orders from Amazon/Ebay (I was living outside US then) in order to make my short and straight lashes look a little bit longer.

During my online lash extension medication search, I came across to some products: There were prescription medication like Latisse as well as extra expensive online cosmetic products such as Revitalash, Idollash, etc. I reviewed the consumer comments and learned that:
* Revitalash doesn't work at all.
* Idollash is really good but it has lots of counterfeit, and it is really difficult to find the authentic product.
* Latisse works but it is both too expensive and getting it prescribed every single time is very annoying and pricey. Also, one container lasts only for a very limited time.
I already couldn't find them at the time.

Then I started looking for the common active ingredient, in all the products that work, which was "Latanoprost". It originally is used to cure Glaucoma (high eye pressure) but, by chance, they discovered that it lengthens and strengthens weak lashes, even grows lash on a bald region.

I immediately asked my doctor friend if it would really work and if it is safe. She said "Buy it immediately if you can find it!".

The most common version is "Xalatan". It costs around $30 for a 2.5 ml bottle. 

A bottle should be good for 2-3 months.

First I used a clear mascara brush to apply 1-2 drops of  Xalatan on both my eyelashes. Then purchased a Body Shop clear mascara, emptied half of the bottle and poured the medicine in it, since this was more practical. My lashes are 50% more stronger and longer in after 2 weeks of use.

You must be very careful:
* Don't let it touch your eye like all other cosmetic products. Just, be more careful with this because it is a medicine after all and it hurts a lot even with a little touch.
* Never apply it on your lower lashes, since they will get extremely long. I saw some Google images and they freaked me out. :/

For the continuous success, you need to use it regularly. Because it just modifies the existing lash. The lifetime of a lash is around 6-8 weeks, when it falls the effect will be gone too if you don't continue using it.

In case you cannot find Xalatan in Turkey, there is an alternative: Glokoprost. The price is around 20-25 TL (according to web search). Concentration is same, so must be the effects.

Xalatan is widely available in USA, however with prescription. Price is around $35 per bottle. Generic Latanoprost treatment is a bit cheaper, around $30.

If you use it, let me know of your experience. :)

Let's Travel: Heladeria Lares, Lares, Puerto Rico

Hi again.
Here is the next post of the "Let's Travel" series with a tiny delay.

After leaving Arecibo Observatory the same day (post is here), we were ready for our next stop: Heladeria Lares. Most probably you heard of this place before if you watch the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern (here is the video). This place is internationally famous for their unusual flavors, like garlic, chicken and rice, corn, etc.

Road was nice. It took around 45 minutes to get there.
You will drive 9 miles back to Rio Camuy and drive 7 more miles to reach this place. Watch for the exit signs. Lares is a small town and the place is not well marked.
We needed to circle around for a while and ask cops where this place is. They don't know English but they are very friendly and did their best to help us. Luckily, my hubby knew the proper pronunciation of the Spanish words.

There is no parking spot near the ice cream parlor. Streets are narrow and crowded especially near the parlor since it's popular among locals as well as tourists. So, you may need to park your car in one of the side streets like we did and navigate on foot. In this way you will also get a real feeling of the town.

We reached the parlor luckily before 4pm.
4pm was critical because we heard that they close at that time. In fact, you can never be sure of working hours in Puerto Rico, life is so relaxed there.
When we arrived, the line outside was not long but it got more crowded while we were inside. We took this picture after getting out of the store.

It was really exciting to sample some of their "too weird-to-me" ice creams. Honestly, I had  prejudices about garlic ice cream. It was not scary though when I finally tasted it, but I don't think I will be able to finish a full cup because of the strong garlic taste (and smell). But hubby loved it.

It is not a small store inside, but it was packed with people. All tables were occupied and there was not much place to stand and eat inside.

There is a nice public park right across the street where you can sit back and relax under the trees while having your ice cream.

The staff is friendly, they give as many samples as you request. Of course you will have to wait a little bit because of the crowd. They understand English, hence we didn't have a communication problem.


We sampled potato, garlic, corn, and strawberry cheesecake. They were all nice. We decided to get corn (yellow, in the picture) and strawberry cheesecake (pink, in the picture) at the end.
They put cinnamon inside and on top of the corn ice cream, I never thought of them together but it sure is a nice combination. You can see grits of corn inside the ice cream and feel its freshness.
Strawberry cheesecake was so fresh and had a perfect creamy consistency. We loved both.

You can see six different flavors on the right side. This is only a fragment of their selections, there were 40-50 different flavors offered I guess.
Here is what they are:
Dulce de Ajonjoli --> Sesame seed candy
Batata --> Potato
Tamarindo --> Tamarind
Zanahoria --> Carrot
Pana --> Breadfruit
Calabaza --> Squash (or pumpkin)


After Heladeria Lares, we walked on Lares streets a bit more and shopped in one of the local pharmacy shops (more like a small scale Rite Aid).

Next stop on the itinerary was Aguada, where we would spend the night. On the way, we saw this scenic spot on Route 111 which was too beautiful to pass by. So, we stopped to take pictures. Lush forest and the lake is just so beautiful.

Hope you enjoyed this post.
Next post will be on Aguada and Aguadilla, PR.