21.07.2007

We caught the train to Versailles. Here is the Chateau de Versaille, the French royal residence up until the end of the monarchy. You can see where so much of Frances money went back then. The word is opulence. The Chateau itself screams of pure luxury. Every ceiling is a work of art and there are paintings and sculptures adorning every wall. Louis XIV, who built the Chateau dominates, with numerous paintings and sculptures of himself. Of course Marie Antoinette’s rooms and paintings attract a lot of interest. The gardens were definitely the highlight of the visit to the Chateau, beginning with the immaculately groomed and planned gardens and fountains, and the canal, all of which stretch beyond sight behind the Chateau. Neda used the words ‘obscene beauty’ which worked pretty well for me. We both found Marie Antoinette’s estate to be the most charming and interesting part of the day. Particularly the ‘Petite Trianon’ and it’s lush English gardens and little farm and village, all ordered to be built by Marie Antoinette for her own use and pleasure. Ewen accurately described it as an 18^th century theme park.

We had a gloriously sunny day to enjoy the beautiful nature in Versaille. Our feet were very sore and quite filthy by the time we made the train for Paris by about 8pm.

We caught the Metro in Paris to Montmartre, the hill where a lot of the artistic population live, more famous for the Moulin Rouge and the spectacular white church, the ‘Sacre-Ceur’. This is quite high up and this is another great vantage point to take in the views of most of Paris. We walked for a long time, trying to locate the Moulin Rouge, working up an appetite on the very hilly streets. We eventually found it, it wasn’t that spectacular. Might have been more interesting if we were willing to fork out 160 Euro each to see a show, no thank you.

Seeing as it was 10pm, we decided to find a place nearby that was still serving dinner. We found an Italian place, memorable because Neda found a great meal of a Schnitzel with a side of spaghetti. This is significant because we haven’t come across anyone on the trip yet who has been familiar with schnitzels. In Ireland, my relatives had not heard of them.

Now I am writing this blog in the Hotel room at midnight while Neda is scrubbing the dirt from her feet and legs (Versailles’ paths are all gravel, great with thongs (flip-flops)). We will now try to get some sleep before the long long drive to Barcelona tomorrow.

Paris has been great. Very busy (as our feet keep reminding us) but no rest now, there are many countries and cities yet to tire us :-)

20.07.2007

After a long previous day of walking we were very tired and slept well. We discovered the importance of alarm clocks as we awoke in shock to find it was 12.20pm. I can recommend this hotel for its thick curtains that no light can penetrate.

We raced to the Louvre. It is hard to write much about the Louvre. You sort of have to see it for yourself. Needless to say, we saw the major attractions like the Mona Lisa, and the Venus de Milo, but it is all of the pieces from all times and places in the world that you see as you stroll the corridors (amazingly ornate themselves) that really make this something to remember.

After the Louvre we walked to the Notre Dame church. We have never seen so many gargoyles (and there are lots in Paris). We went inside and saw the end of a Mass. Some of you might be thinking that we are church crazy, but it is in the churches that you will often find so much history and grandeur. For instance, this is the church where Napoleon and Josephine’s coronation took place (there is a painting in the Louvre and Versaille).

After Notre Dame we strolled around the very busy part of the St Germaine area, filled with bars, restaurants, buskers and creperies. We had dinner at a brasserie and ate crepes for dessert at a creperie.

19.07.2007

Weather is perfect here. Sorry to everyone in Adelaide. We are enjoying a comfortable 27C. We both got our first sunburns of the trip, tsk tsk. We firstly started walking north on Rue La Rome when we thought we were heading south, but happened to get a tour of an area that seems to be devoted to musicians. I am not exaggerating to say that every second or third business either sold sheet music, pianos, wind instruments, guitars or violins etc, for about 3 blocks! Anyway, we toured that a second time once we realized we were on the wrong path.

We had a look in Madeleine Church. It is different to any church I have ever seen. It has a rectangular base, with columns all the way around, with a blunt rectangular roof, kind of like the old roman buildings (my layman’s architectural appraisal). Inside the altar was simple yet stunning with awe-inspiring winged angels as the centerpiece.

We headed down the Av de Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. I was surprised by the size, the shots in the movies don’t do it justice. We entered and started up the 284 steps to the top, stopping at the small museum. From the top there are some great views of Paris, especially because the Arc sits in the ‘Place Charles de Gaulle’ which is like the centre of all these major roads that are like spokes from it, so your view from the top is straight down each road. This was my first view of the Eiffel Tower. Neda has seen pretty much all of this before on her last trip and so was a decent guide :-)

You get a lot of beggars in the Tourist areas, mainly gypsies. The main ploy we saw was a girl who stops you and asks “speak English?”. If you stop they will show you a piece of paper with a sob story and press you for money. After the first, we knew to ignore anyone holding a piece of paper asking “speak English?”.

From Champs Elysees we walked down av George V which has some beautiful and strange buildings. I managed to steer Neda away from all of the expensive shops that line the street, all of which do amazing designs I am told. She did get one pair of earrings, and Sarah you scored a pair too. :-)

We walked to the Eiffel Tower next. This is where a great portion of our day was spent due to the enormous lines throughout the experience but as is a theme throughout this blog, it was well worth it. The views from the 2^nd level were great, and the height dwarfed the Arc de Triomphe in the distance. We took the final elevator to the 3^rd level. Mum, you would not have liked this, everything looks small from up there, but you can see forever.

From here we strolled through the area called St Germaine in search of a shoe shop that Neda had to see. We didn’t find the shoe shop but we stumbled across a restaurant in the middle of an expensive residential area next to a church. A huge church, but in Paris so insignificant it doesn’t show up on the tourist maps. Upon securing a table at La Basilic, we learned from a fellow diner (some Americans who were kind enough to translate the menu) that this restaurant is very old and very famous, especially for its meats so it was a lucky find. After a great meal, we made our home around 11pm.

18.07.2007

Bonjour

Today we arrived in Paris. After saying goodbye to Elisa, we hopped on the Eurostar train from Waterloo station to Paris. This is a great way to travel, interesting scenery and quite comfortable. We faced the initial challenge of the Metro Underground system but were soon at the hotel on Rue St Lazare. In contrast to Singapore, this is the first of the sensible hotels of the trip, simple, clean, secure and well located in the Opera district. We settled in and almost immediately fell into nap mode. After a couple of hours we arranged to meet our friend Ewen. Ewen is originally from Brittany, but is now a Parisian and we met up with him and his South Australian girlfriend Yvette and a friend of theirs, I think his name is Aron (sorry, I know I got it wrong). We met up at this really cool bar which was situated by the canal. It had tables inside and a DJ playing a mix of Alternative rock and dance, with stuff like the crazy frog and some other weird crap mixed in. We sat out on the edge of the water, which most patrons were doing. The atmosphere was so relaxed and the beers were nice too; Ambre and 1664. Next door, is the fire station. Every time they go out on a call they have to beep or use the siren to move the drinking masses out of the way of the trucks. Not very compatible neighbours but it makes it more interesting (for both).

17.07.2007

Today we went to the Tower of London. We had previously only seen the tower from the outside but this time we were keen to go on the tour. We joined the throng of people following a tour guide through the tower grounds. We saw the Bloody Tower and the prison building in which the ‘private’ executions were held. We would have more facts to share but we had a hard time hearing, let alone understanding the Yeoman (otherwise known as a ‘Beefeater’) who was conducting the tour. We did get to hear the response to the question as to why they are called Beefeaters; No-one knows. It started about 500 years ago where the earliest references were made but no reason is recorded as to why. We also went through the building where the Crown Jewels are kept. How much money did these people have?! Every item in the collection is literally covered in diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires etc. The world’s biggest diamond is housed at the head of one of the scepters. I am sure a lot of you would have already known this, but we asked one of the guards what the fur was at the bottom of the crown, white fur with little black dots. It is ermine, a small white stoat which has a black dot at the end of its tail. So whenever you see a royal wearing a cloak made of white fur with little black dots, the number of dots is at least the number of skins used (not counting the off cuts).

We then finished up with a look through the torture dungeon where examples of such devices as the beggars daughter, the rack and the manacles. Nasty. The readings here say that although the tower holds a reputation for torture, apparently it was not often used and only on few of the prisoners.

After looking around town again we met up with Tal and Elisa and another friend from Adelaide, Grant and his new girlfriend Christine at the Angel Bar in Soho for a few pints before Christine had to depart for band practice and the rest of us went for Indian nearby. We had a good meal and it was great to catch up with Grant, and to spend some time with Tal and Elise before we left for Paris the next day. From talking to Grant, we also learned that one of our favourite bands …And you will know us by the trail of dead are playing in London in a few weeks. Once we got back to the house, found that they were playing in Prague the night before we are scheduled to arrive there. Hmmm. (we have now changed our plans and will leave Vienna early to make the show, we’ve got tickets)

16.07.2007

Today we went out to have a look in town. We strolled through streets like Oxford, Bond, Old Bond looking through shops. We ate sushi in Green Park by the river, with views of Buckingham Palace. After that we took a tour through Westminster Abbey. Last time we only looked on from the outside. We have seen a few Churches on the trip already, and on our last one, but we haven’t before seen a place so ornate and decorated. Every square inch of some parts of the church are intricately carved, painted and gilded. Here are the tombs of so many monarchs, including Queen Elizabeth the 1^st, who is buried with her sister Mary. There is also Mary Queen of Scotts and of course Isaac Newton is here too. The Coronation chair is also on display. Overall, the impression is very grand, inside and out.

We walked on past Parliament and Big Ben, across the Thames to the Eye of London. The Line up for tickets is fairly large, but the experience is worth it, with views spanning miles around London. We then had pizza by the Thames and were served by the angriest waitress we have had since Don Giovanni’s closed in Adelaide. She wore a permanent scowl and managed to make you feel like a pest for asking for anything. The pizza was nice though as was the view. We then walked across to the north side of the river to Somerset House, a large building with four wings that enclose a central cloister in which they host outdoor concerts. Tonight we saw Lily Allen play. She was quite good, even better than we had expected. The highlight of the show was the venue itself; being surrounded by the beautiful old building with the central dome sitting high above the temporary stage dome. Some people had stayed late at work in the buildings so they could just hang out of the windows to watch the show for free.

15.07.2007

Sunday so Tal and Elisa didn’t have to work so we spent the day together. Tal and Elisa's place is a really funky apartment on the ground floor of a terrace house in West Hampstead. Neda and I went for a jog around the area and managed to get a bit lost this morning. We had homemade waffles for breakfast before heading out to the Camden Markets. The markets are a maze of aisles weaving between stalls of Indian clothing and jewelry, vintage clothing, antiques, odd books, manga and a lot of shops with cheap but funny T-shirts. The rain held off until we were about half way through when it came bucketing down. Even people with umbrellas wouldn’t go out into it. Elisa had one, but the rest of us didn’t so the only thing we purchased was a couple of umbrellas.

We then headed to a nearby pub where a friend of theirs was having her going back to Sydney party. The rain had stopped and the sun was out so the umbrella covered balcony had a sort of tropical feel to it while we downed a few pints.

We had decided that seeing it was Sunday, we had to have Sunday roast at one of the pubs, so we went to a pub on a river for dinner.

14.07.2007

Today didn’t feel very good in the morning, but we still managed to get up, and say goodbye to Catherine and Dash (the cute “schipperke” dog) before heading out to fly to London. We are staying with our friends from Adelaide Elisa and Tal and we arrived at their place at about 3pm. They live just a short walk from the West Hampstead station and the house is really nice. We caught up for a while because we haven’t seen each other since their wedding in January. That night we went out for dinner in the Banking district at a French restaurant where the food and the service were excellent and then we went out to a cocktail bar not far from Elisa and Tal’s.

13.07.2007

We got up and braved a very cold morning with rain and went for a run on the beach. It was all good until we turned back against the wind. We are happy to have our ears on still. Afterwards we had a lovely breakfast by the fireplace at Jim and Ita’s. They are extremely hospitable and it is really lovely to be staying here. We visited a few sites in Youghal including Irelands oldest church and college and the resting place of Richard Boyle (the first Earl of Cork) and family (including Robert Boyle, the chemist who came up with the famous ‘Boyle’s Law’.

We went for dinner in Midleton with Jim, Ita, Catherine and John. Then we went out on a pub crawl through Midleton with Catherine, John and a few friends which ended up at Joe’s Pub with lots of drinking, singing and sledging. Drinks for the night consisted of Beamish Stout, Smithicks Red (which doesn’t seem very popular with anyone except John but I really liked it) and Murphy’s Stout. This was definitely the Craic (a good time) and well worth the next mornings headache. We finished up around 2.30 as the annoyed publican had to push us out the door after closing. Thanks to Catherine, John, Nile (I don’t know the correct spelling, sorry), Michael, Stephen and Barry for a great night.

12.07.2007

We packed up our bags and braved the traffic to head out of Dublin headed for County Cork to visit my cousins Jim & Ita in Youghal in Ireland’s south. After looking at the distance on the map I had told Ita that she could expect us late morning. She later informed me that she knew that I was being hopelessly optimistic. We left the city for the tangle of the roads that lead to the M50, which Jim refers to as the biggest parking lot in Europe. Once we reached the main road to the south we found Irelands tax dollars at work with roadworks on every second stretch of road. Apart from proving my initial ETA very wrong, the beauty of the countryside and the various towns along the way made the slow journey quite entertaining. There are so many horses everywhere on the green fields, and all the fields are separated either by stone walls or hedges, just stunning. We stopped briefly in Kilkenny and went for a short walkabout an old castle by a river, and bought some local berries, including raspberries, gooseberries and redcurrants. We passed through Waterford, and eventually made it to Youghal at 5pm. Luckily Ita had dinner prepared since 5 hours earlier. We had a great time catching up before heading out to see their daughter Catherine were we also met her daughter Melanie. Catherine and John live on a farm on a hill with a view over the town of Cloyne and their many horses. All of Catherine’s daughters are accomplished equestrian riders. The views are stunning everywhere you look, including from our bedroom at Jim and Ita’s. The weather today was also really good in the afternoon, 22 degrees and sunshine.