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妹妹選的牛肉河

The stir-fried wide-strip rice noodle
with beef ordered by my sister

Berry選的越南咖喱檬

我選的牛肉米

Vermicelli in soup with beef is my choice

At 1:30 my sister and I went to the airport to meet a friend Berry, who invited us to have lunch in a Vietnamese restaurant.  Very nice!

我和妹妹在當地時間下午1:30到了法國機場，朋友Berry到來接機，他先邀請我們到越南餐廳午膳，very nice!

Malakoff住所外眺 Malakoff viewed from where we stay

After accompanying me for seven days my little sister left to continue her trip in England.  I then started my lessons in Paris. I was arranged to stay at Malakoff during this period.

The surroundings were peaceful and my room was comfortable, from which I could appreciate the distant Eiffel Tower of Paris.  Every night after 9:00 lights on it were switched on and in the first 5 minutes every hour they would be twinkling unceasingly till midnight.

妹妹陪伴7天便自行去英國，而我開始在法國巴黎上課。學校安排的住址在Malakoff，環境很寧靜，房間也寬趟，還看到遠處的巴黎鉄塔。每晚到了9:00便開始亮燈，分別在每一個鐘的首5分鐘閃個不停直至深夜12點。

我猜想這房間除了入門口的左邊私人浴室洗手間和右邊的衣帽櫃外，開放式廚房，雙人床、書枱和飲食用餐枱，也應該有200平方呎吧。

I think excluding the bathroom and toilet on the left and the cloak room on the right of the entrance, the open diner, the double bed, the desk and the dining table together take up over 200 square feet

Sister brought along her three favourite doll friends on this trip to France.  They were the goat,  the monkey and the milk girl.  I brought with me the gigi cat of Japanese origin, which, to all other people, did not look like a cat at all.

今次法國巴黎之旅，妹妹帶了她的3個公仔朋友，分別羊羊、馬騮和牛奶妹。而我帶了gigi 貓(日本種)，沒有人看得出她是貓科！

夜了，公仔們也要睡啦！

It is getting late: Dolls, go to bed now!

羊羊和馬騮最貪玩

The goat and the monkey are most playful.

公仔們一起旅行，gigi好似她的主人貪睡。

自妹妹去了英國，每當我返學後，只剩gigi看門口了。

Sister has gone to England.  When I go to school gigi is the only one at home.

牛奶妹最貪食

The milk girl is most greedy.  She is mouth watering!

住所右遠處的巴黎鉄塔

The Eiffel Tower in the distance on the left of my room

我和妹妹在巴黎

Sister and I in Paris

Psyche came back alive because of the kiss of Cupid.  This touching work of art should never be missed!

Psyche was as beautiful as any goddess.  Even the love and beauty goddess Venus could not compare!  The goddess became jealous that all the glory which should have belonged to her now was offered to this ordinary girl.

Venus ordered her son to avenge her disappointment.  He was to shoot a gold arrow at Psyche to make her fall in love with the most contemptuous creature on earth.

賽琪因丘比特的吻而復活
Psyché ranimée par le baiser de l’Amour
Psyche, having been kissed by Cupid, resurrected!
雕塑物料: 大理石 Marbre

As a result Psyche did not fall in love with any frightful creature.  Nor did she have any other lover.
Surprisingly, nobody fell in love with her either.  People just came to see her, to admire her and then left.   She only gained their admiration but no men wanted to marry her.

On the other hand Cupid unexpectedly fell in love with Psyche at first sight.  Though his gold arrow struck her it also pierced his own heart.
Then Cupid went to Apollo and begged for his assistance.  Apollo instructed Psyche's father on how to get a good husband for his daughter when he came to his temple and prayed.
Psyche had to be dressed in mourning clothing, he was told, and left alone on the small hill.  Her destined husband was a winged snake, who would come to marry her.

In the palace on the small hill Psyche waited.  Very melodious music filled the air.  Though alone she felt her husband had come.  But he warned her not to try to peep on him or let someone else do that otherwise they would be separated.

One day her sister came to the palace.  She saw lots of treasures there.  She was also deeply moved by the melodious music and sumptuous meals.  She became very jealous of Psyche and planned to mislead her.
Psyche was told that her husband was a very fearful serpent as prophesied by Apollo.  Psyche's fear made her forget her love for her husband and determined to see clearly herself how he actually looked like.

At night after her husband had fallen asleep she plucked up her courage and held up the lamp to look at him closely. Before her was a very handsome young man!  She felt she was foolish and ashamed of her stupidity.  Because she trembled some oil spilt from the lamp and fell on the wings of the young man.  He was hurt and awakened.  Knowing Psyche had broken her promise he left without a word.

She immediately followed him into darkness.  She could not see him but heard him say that he was Cupid and remark that "Without mutual trust love can never last long."  He disappeared.

Later Psyche learned he was nursing his wounds at Venus' place.  To see Cupid again she promised to fulfil a mission.  She was to get the box containing 'beauty' from Persephone, the queen of the under world.

She got it and came back to the boundary between the two worlds.  Prompted by her fatal curiosity again she opened the box in the hope of finding the secrets of regaining her love.  To her horror a strong gust blew towards her from the box.  She became paralysed and unconscious.  The so called 'beauty' was an enchanting poison, in fact.

In a hurry Cupid rushed to the scene.  He lifted her chilled body and kissed her.  Slowly Psyche resurrected.  She held out her hands and let Cupid embrace her.

The two stretched out their arms to form a big circle symbolising the love of Cupid and the heart of Psyche combined into one: true love cannot do without the heart and the heart depends on love for survival.

The sculphure of love of Cupid and Psyche is the work of the Italian artist Antonio Canova.  Once it was taken away and placed at Paris by Napoleon.  But after his fall it was taken back.  Today it is found in a museum at St. Petersburg of Russia.

Psyché ranimée par le baiser de l’Amour 

賽姬因愛神的吻而復活，這是不可錯過的感人之作！

賽姬的漂亮簡直像女神在凡間...。甚至說愛與美之神的維納斯也比不上她。
維納斯因妒忌一切屬於她的榮耀都落在一個凡間女孩身上。

她向兒子小愛神丘比特求助，要求他用金箭使賽姬愛上全世界最卑賤可鄙的動物。

結果，賽姬沒愛上可怕的怪物, 也沒愛上任何人...
奇怪的是也沒有人愛上她, 只來看看她, 讚美一番, 然後就離開了... 賽姬只受到景仰, 從未得到愛情, 沒有男人想娶她.....

原來，丘比特沒想到當看見賽姬時, 就好像在自己心坎裡射了一箭似的愛上了她....。
結果丘比特求阿波羅幫忙...說如果她的父親前往神殿，請教如何為女兒找個好丈夫。
便告知賽姬必須穿上喪服, 獨自留在一座小山上...她命中的丈夫是一條帶翅的大蛇, 他會來找她, 娶她為妻....

這小山上的宫殿除了有各種美妙聲音相伴，她整天獨自一人，但依稀覺得晚上丈夫會跟她一起。
他也警告她不要聽人慫恿來偷看他，否則夫妻就會永遠分離。

一天，她姊姊走進賽姬住的宮殿，看見屋裡富麗絕倫的珍寶，豐盛的大餐，美妙的音樂，心裡十分妒忌。
她計劃要害賽姬，說她的丈夫是阿波羅預言的大蛇。賽姬非常害怕，滿腔的恐懼驅走了愛情。她決定偷看自己的丈夫會是什麼樣子。

到了晚上，她待丈夫睡著後，她鼓起勇氣點了燈，高舉著燈凝視。眼前出現竟是英俊的美少年。賽姬為自己的愚蠢和多疑而慚愧。她的手顫抖著，不小心滴了熱燈油在他的肩膀上，他受傷而驚醒了，見到燈光，知道是賽姬背信，一言不發就離她而去。

她跟著他奔入夜色之中，她看不見他，只聽見他的聲音對她講話。
他表明自己便是小愛神邱比特，並說「沒有了信賴，愛情就不能持久。」說完就走了。

賽姬得知邱比特在維納斯處療傷，她為了再見邱比特一面，答應了維納斯最後一個任務，要從冥后 Perséphone 手上拿回一個裝著『美麗』的盒子。

賽姬來到冥府和人間交界處時，她的致命缺點又犯了 – 好奇心！上次偷看邱比特的容貌，讓她失去愛情，這次又忍不住打開盒子，認為得到一點點美麗的祕密能幫助她重獲愛情，沒想到盒子裡吹出一陣風，賽姬癱軟倒下，陷入永眠了。有些「美麗」，實際是迷惑人性的毒藥！

匆匆趕到的邱比特，他捧起冰冷的賽姬親吻她，慢慢地，賽姬活了過來、伸出雙手回應邱比特的擁抱。

兩人的手臂圈出一個大圓，象徵邱比特 ( Cupid 愛) 和賽姬 ( Psyché 心靈) 合而為一：真正的愛不能沒有心靈，而心靈則倚靠著愛而活。

邱比特與賽姬愛戀的雕塑… 它是義大利藝術家 Antonio Canova 的作品，拿破崙稱霸時曾從義大利搶到巴黎，倒台後又還回去，不過目前存於俄羅斯聖彼得堡的博物館。