Month: June 2013

Last Day in Paris

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Paris, France We headed off this morning with yet another attempt at finding a famous flea market in Paris. It was a beautiful day in Paris with a temperature of 26 degrees so on our way to the market we went via the Eiffel Tower to check on the queues. As Hugh waited in line whilst I sussed out the situation it was evident that our time to strike the Eiffel Tower was now and not in the elevator queue but in the stair climb queue. It only took 40 minutes in the queue before we were on our way climbing the estimated 21 storeys to the first, then second level of the Eiffel Tower. The climb was easy enough thanks to our Birdrock Challenge, but too many went out too hard too early and collapsed by the 5th storey……losers!!!!! Once at the first level the views were amazing and again at the second level even more so. We managed to con a few people to take photos of the two of us before taking …

Musee d’Orsay, Napoleon, Rodin, etc..

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Paris, France One of the mainstays of Parisian life is the regions weekly market, where produce for the week is bought. It is a must see to get a glimpse of daily life in this wonderful city, so….. Of we set, in the completely wrong direction, to see the market of the 6th E…..walking, walking, walking. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Bloody hell, can I just get my bearings in this town? After turning a 10 minute walk into a 50 minute loop we still couldn’t find the market. There it is on the map, here we are at said place on map….no market. F###!!! Deep breaths, calm it down…..blame Rachael. Next…. Off to the Musee d’Orsay, an magnificent collection of impressionist art awaits. And magnificent it is, beautiful art in the old railway station of Paris, which is perfect to display art in. Unlike the Louvre, which is overwhelming in size, the D’Orsay let’s you relax as you wander the exhibitions. I must say, Van Gogh is absolutely outstanding. The museum …

Louvre visit, plus more…

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Paris, France After a late night we didn’t awake until 8.30am so a very late start by our standards. Headed to the Luxembourg Gardens where Hugh and I ran/shuffled our usual 6/7km run. The gardens are beautiful and it was a fabulous place to run in Paris. Back to the room for our usual brekky overlooking the streets of Paris followed by a croissant as we headed out for another day of sightseeing. Headed off towards the city, or so we thought, before realising we were heading in the wrong direction. Finally got to Saint Chapelle where the top floor of the chapel is wall to wall of the most beautiful lead lighting we have seen. Headed next door to ILE De La Cite Conciergie which had an amazing formation of arches so a good start to the day so far. Next on the Agenda was Notre Dame so off we headed, in the wrong direction of course, but managed to not get too far before realising we were heading out of the city instead …

Fat Tire Bike Tours

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Paris, France Very excited to be in Paris, so started with brekky in our room, with obligatory croissants. Down to nitty gritty, and a load of washing!!! Running desperately short on jocks……just saying! We have booked 2 tours with ‘fat tires bike tours’, one during the day, and a night ride which included a boat ride on the Seine. First stop, the Eiffel Tower, past some very nice folk selling genuine memorabilia, then some more nice folk, and finally some of their cousins! The Eiffel Tower is a very impressive structure, but more of that later. Sized up for bikes, main dude Drew welcomed us, and away we go. Biking is a great way to see the sites, which included amongst others the following, Ecole Militaire, where Napoleon trained Musee de L’Armee & Hotel Des Invalides, where Napoleon is buried Place De La Concorde, where many lost their heads to the guillotine Musee du Louvre, where the Di Vinci Code started Arc de Triomphe du Carousel, the poor mans arc…but very lovely Eiffel Tower, stunning …

London to Paris

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Paris, France “Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head…”, well, sort of! After last nights pints, it’s shuffle time, do do do do: do do: do do… Rachael run, me shuffle. The good thing about having both a sore achilles, and an arthritic ankle is that, in theory, my limping on both sides should balance me out?! Yes-no? Limp, limp, sweat, sweat…time for brekky. We had a lovely stay at the Kennington B&B, and would recommend it highly, perfect. Great location, comfy bed, lovely hosts. What more could you ask for. Thank you London, we loved it, and will be back. On London, a few points, 1. The people couldn’t be nicer, very helpful 2. The tube and bus system absolutely **** all over anything we have at home. 3. There is literally a pub on every corner. And most are called the Red Lion. And they are all dark and dingy. 4. The local beer is both warm, and flat 5. It truly is a most magnificent, spectacular town. …

Wimbledon (sort of) & A Chorus Line

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London, United Kingdom Up early, leisurely breakfast then off again. Our first port of call was the Imperial War Museum, which is a short walk from the B&B. This museum comes highly recommended…..and is closed till July! Bummer. Shopping time, off to Oxford Circus and Carnaby Street. Success for Rachael on the shoe department, success for us both on the coffee front. Found a great coffee shop in a lane off Carnaby…..at last. Groovy spot, Soho. Carnaby St reminds me of a scene from an Austin Powers movie, very hip and paisley. Expected Elvis Costello to round the corner, bursting into song… Loved it. Had lunch in Leicester Square, which was very much a peaceful oasis in the middle of mayhem. Speaking of mayhem, and the bizarre, M&M’s have their own shop. 4 FLOORS of chocolate, merchandise fun and frivolity. The smell as you walk in is overpowering, sweet sugary yuckiness(?). Photo op, fridge magnet…..out of there! One of Rachael’s bucket list items was to go to a show in the West End, so off …

Oxford Tour

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Oxford, United Kingdom Another day another few kilometres of walking!! Today we met up with Mike, Dons, Charlotte and Harry at Oxford University. The train trip out to Oxford was pleasant enough, as it should be for $50 return trip. The city of Oxford is beautiful and for once the sun was shining for longer than 10 minutes. As we approached the University we bumped in to Mike and Co coming out of the Tesco supermarket with their lunch. You gotta love families who travel on a budget, they introduced us to the the £3 lunch menu at Tesco. Goodbye Pret-A-Manger and hello Tesco!! After our lovely lunch in the grounds of Oxford University it was onto the private tour that Dons had organised. The tour comprised of many references to Alice In Wonderland and of course, Harry Potter. Fortunately we had Harry and Charlotte to fill in the blanks of this tour as between Hugh and I we had only read 2 Harry Potter books and seen the Johnny Depp version of Alice In …

The Tower of London, plus much more

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The Tower of London, plus much more London, United Kingdom London, United Kingdom After yesterday’s walking session, the obvious way to start today was with a run! Well, let me clarify. Rachael runs, I shuffle! Kennington Park for a few laps, squirrels, dogs, and back home for brekky. First stop, the Tower of London. 20 mins in the queue to get in, then fluked it straight into the Crown Jewels exhibition. Rachael wanted a quib about the “crown jewels”, but this is a strictly PG rated blog, so let’s move on, shall we? Pretty interesting stuff, plenty of cash on display (or are they just fancy replica’s? We’ll never know), a testimony to the Royal’s excesses. We get out of the Jewel Room and the queue has grown to a 50min wait, so a big win there. Bloody Tower was next. “Torture at the Tower” is the title of this charming room, full of very nasty ways to make you talk. Quaint! The whole Tower of London was terrific, well worth the time spent there. …

a LONG day walking in London

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London, United Kingdom Ways to get over jet lag…. 1/ spend the day resting with a beer or two, 2/ slowly work your way into the holiday, or 3/ smash out the kilometres walking all over London Guess which one we chose? We have walked forever today, checking out heaps of sights. Started by wandering aimlessly trying to find somewhere to buy a day pass for the tube. The local line was shut for the weekend. Finally bought tickets in Vauxhall, and made our way via double decker bus into the city. First stop was Westminster Abbey, which was pretty spectacular, as was Parliament House. Didn’t go into Westminster as the queue was forever, but saw William marry Kate on the TV, so got some ideas as to the interior! To appease Brendan we dropped in on Westminster Cathedral instead, which I must say is a little drab by comparison. Easy to see who’s running the show in England! Made our way to Victoria Station, pass a multitude of Starbucks, and on to Buckingham Palace. …

Arrive in London

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Arrive in LondonLondon, United Kingdom London, United Kingdom Cathay CX 257 HK – London (Heathrow) 10.05 – 16.00 Take ‘blue’ Piccadilly line to Leicester Square, then ‘black’ Northern line to Kennington Station. 1 minute walk to B&B Above instructions worked to a tee! The flight from Honkers was long and uneventful. LONG….and uneventful. Rachael managed to sleep, naturally! When we left HK, I reset my watch to London time, settled in, and had a glass of red…..at 2.15 am. Then another with brekky/lunch/dinner (whatever it was called) at 5.00am……repeat till 4pm when we landed. We ran into Guy and family again at Heathrow. Their flight had gone via Singapore and arrived at the same time as ours. Plenty of time for a chat in the queue! Customs was slow, then on to the tube, and our home for the next 5 nights. Kennington B&B doesn’t have a sign out the front, but found it pretty easily. Knocked a few times till someone came and showed us our room, which was lovely. Nice place, we’ll do …