Day 3-4 – Oct 5-6, 2019 Mauna Loa, Pahoa, Hilo, Laupahoehoe, Hawaii

Our drive to explore the Green Sand Beach at the southern tip of the Big Island was stopped by local police due to a stubborn smoldering bush fire near there.  Weather at the southern tip of the Big Island has its own micro-climate as it is located in the rain shadow of two big volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.  If you measure from the sea bottom where the volcano started, Mauna Loa will be the tallest mountain on Earth, even higher than Mount Everest.  This monster volcano dominates the southern half of the Big Island.  On the way back, we founded a roadside fruit stand and got ourselves some of the ripest and sweetest papayas ever.

Next, we drove up to the Mauna Loa lookout viewpoint.  Unfortunately, the spot has been overgrown with mature trees and suffered from neglect.  The drive up the mountain was still exciting as it was wide enough for one car only!  Unlike our previous visit, eruptions on Kilauea volcano as well as the active lava flow had stopped for a year now.  We therefore decided to skip the Volcano National Park this time and drove to Isaac Hale Park instead.  This was the spot where the lava tour boat was launched on our last visit.  The most recent eruption in the area has changed the entire coast completely!  The harbor and the boat launch had totally been destroyed.  The harbor is reduced to a small pond and the ocean shore around the harbor is now filled in with lava, black sand, and gravels.  The whole park would have been completely covered with lava had it not stopped in the middle of the field.  It is quite a reminder of the awesomeness of the force of Nature.

Our hotel is located on a golf course but judging from the lack of green grass and players, I doubt if it is still in use

We were stopped by local police on our way to the Green Sand Beach in the southern tip

There was a bush fire still smoldering in this extremely dry and hot spot on the island.  The massive Mauna Loa volcano looks so tiny from this angle

View from the lookout on Mauna Loa

We seldom see a plant with two kinds of leaves like this one

The trees are growing into very interesting patterns on Mauna Loa

A new tree has already sprouted inside a lava tree mold formed from previous lava eruptions

Newest lava field on the beach near Isaac Hale Park

This spot used to be all open ocean before the latest eruption

Hard to imagine that the lava field behind Yiling would still be red hot only a year ago

All these lava is still so fresh. abrasive, and sharp

Many local residents lost their homes in the latest eruption.  In the face of the force of Nature, we can only be in awe

A giant pumice from the eruption

This used to be the breakwater for the harbor on the right.  Now the harbor is only a small shallow pond

Miles and miles of the newest black sand beach on the Big Island

If the lava flow behind had not stopped advancing, this whole park would be covered in lava today

Our last day on the Big Island started with a hearty breakfast of sweet papaya and juicy pineapple (all from Hawaii).  We then visited the zoo in Hilo before going to several waterfalls in the area.  We drove north along the east coast to Laupahoehoe Beach Park before heading back to Hilo for dinner.  Our long day ended with a midnight flight back home wrapping up a quick but relaxing trip.

My favorite part of any Hawaiian trip - ripe, sweet (and incredibly inexpensive) papayas

Bright yellow bird just outside our balcony

Beautiful Sumatran tiger in Hilo Zoo

Rainbow Falls near Hilo

Boiling Pot is a series of waterfalls along the Wailuku River further up from Rainbow Falls

Wild guava trees are all over Hawaii.  The ripe ones are so fragrant if you can get to them

Kaumana Caves is an old gigantic lava tube near Hilo

It can be explored on foot for the brave souls who come prepared

A huge Banyan tree

Laupahoehoe Beach Park on the east coast seems to be a favourite picnic spot for the locals

It is a scenic spot where we can watch huge waves crashing onto the shore

Beautiful spot to end our short Hawaiian trip

Day 1-2 – Oct 3-4, 2019 Hilo and Kona, Hawaii

We decided to take a quick weekend get away in Oct to one of our favorite places, the Big Island of Hawaii.  Although we had been to the Big Island twice before, we had never stayed or visited the south side of the island.  Even though the whole island is not that big, I found that this time the choice of where you stay can change the focus of your trip and your subsequent experience quite a bit.

We rented a seaside (sort of, you can hear the ocean waves crashing on shore if windows are open and see the ocean some distance away) condo unit near the black sand Punalu'u Beach.  Our flight arrived at Hilo at 8p.  By the time we got the rental car (really long wait and slow process) and drove an hour to the hotel, it was already dark.  Next day, we drove to Two Step near the Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park to go snorkeling.  "Two Step" got its name from the two steps you took and the ease it affords you to get into the water.  Unfortunately, we only found the "Two Step" when we came back in from our snorkeling and after Yiling got quite a nasty cut under her foot from the sharp rock on her way out to the water.  Nevertheless, we still enjoyed the bright colored fish we saw there.  We drove by the Painted Church nearby and picked up some papayas and fresh fruits there.  We also found some bargain priced estate Kona coffee for sale just outside Costco on a van in Kona.  We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sight of sea turtles resting on the black sand beach next to our hotel.

We got upgraded for the entire trip.  Although it does not come with lie-flat seat, United First is still better than the cattle class at the back of the plane.  The meal is also a bonus

Our 1-bedroom condo is quite big with a big family room and fully equipped kitchen.  The unit is in a time-share/hotel complex where management can rent your unit out for a commission

After snorkeling, we visited this beautiful and quiet St. Benedict's "Painted Church" nearby.  The whole wall and ceiling were covered in beautiful murals

The beautiful scenery outside is made more pretty when framed by the pretty arched doors

We are enjoying the famous Hawaiian BBQ at Big Jake's Island BBQ

For some reasons, this black sand beach next to our hotel is a favorite resting place for many green sea turtles

The area around the turtles are roped off to keep off the tourists and give the turtles some peace and quiet

Watching how the waves keep crashing onto the shore one after another can be mesmerizing

This is probably the biggest turtle we have seen on this trip

This spot is also culturally significant for the natives

Sunset seen from our balcony

Day 13-14 – Aug 24-25, 2019 Paris, France

After 11 days, 7 different countries, and almost 4500 km later, we were back in Paris.  This is not our most epic drive but will definitely rank as our most expensive ever!  We could not believe how expensive the highway tolls in France were even though our local friend had forewarned us.  In total, we had spent over 250 euros in highway toll which is more than the cost of our rental car!  Even stranger thing happened to our rental car return.  We were charged a one-way rental drop off fee even though we dropped off the car back to CDG airport where we originally picked up our car.  Unlike most other big cities, car rental service was not 24h so we had to drop off the key in a locked box and hope for the best.  The rental car company claimed that we had dropped the car off at a train station near the German border!

We only had one full day in Paris for sightseeing.  Since this is our third time visiting the City of Light, we were not in any rush to visit any important landmark.  Our focus is to revisit the Eiffel Tower first and then randomly stroll the wide boulevards and narrow streets to soak in the Parisien atmosphere.  Seeing the fire-damaged Notre-Dame Cathedral is also high on our list.

Our flight home would leave early next morning on the 25th.  Having done all the research on how to take a night bus from our hotel and then transfer to a suburban train to CDG at the Saint-Michel Notre-Dame station, we were shocked to find that the transfer station had just been closed a few hours ago for construction work!  Luckily, a quick taxi ride to the close-by Gare du Nord station allowed us to catch the same train in time.  That was an excitement we didn't expect so early in the morning!  As if to make up for this, Yiling got upgraded to Premium Economy on our long flight back to SFO and we both got on first class from SFO back to YVR, making it a most memorable trip!

It was criticized by locals as ugly when it was built for the 1889 World's Fair.  Now it is a global icon of France

At 324 m, Eiffel Tower was the tallest building in the world for 41 years until it was surpassed by the Chrysler Building in New York

Different from our past visits, security was super tight and there were concrete barricades all around the entire ground due to obvious reasons

We saw soldiers carrying machine guns stationed at many famous landmarks and major intersections.  This definitely ruined our picture of the Arc de Triomphe

Many ladies would agree a trip to Paris would not be complete without paying pilgrimage to the headquarter of the LV empire.  There was even a line up outside the entrance!  There is no admission fee since one purchase here would set you back many Disneyland admissions fees

Champs-Elysees, one of the most famous and recognizable streets in the world.  Yiling literally risked her life to take this picture when all the cars were stopped by the traffic light in front of her

Petit Palais, one of the many beautiful buildings in Paris everywhere you turn

Iconic Eiffel Tower from Pont Alexandre III over the Seine River.  Cruising on the Seine is a must-do tourist activity

Pont Alexandre III is probably the most ornate bridge on Seine River and leads directly to the beautiful gold-domed Les Invalides

Ecole du Louvre in front of Pont Royal on Seine River

After Louvre, Musee d'Orsay is perhaps our favorite art museum in Paris.  Not only is the former railway station building so beautiful, its collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces left us a deep impression (no pun intended) in our previous visits

What can be more Parisien than a relaxing stroll along the Seine River in a hot summer afternoon?

Love in Paris

The mother of all museums.  Louvre is the largest art museum in the world as measured by gallery space

These three pyramids in front of Louvre, designed by the late architect I.M. Pei, also courted controversy when they were built back in 1984

We had completely forgotten about it, and most tourists probably did not even know that there is a smaller version of Arc de Triomphe in Paris.  The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is actually the original arch built to commemorate Napoleon's victories in 1808.  Its bigger cousin was built 28 years later in 1836.  The "eye" next to it is an eye-sore IMHO though

View of Ile de la Cite from Pont des Arts.  This island is where the Notre-Dame de Paris church is located.  I like this picture a lot since the cloud pattern is like a abstract painting on a blue canopy

A catastrophic fire raged through the majestic Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral in April 2019, four months before our visit

The entire spire and its roof collapsed.  Reconstruction is ongoing and hopefully can restore it back to its former beauty

Former glory of Notre-Dame de Paris before the fire