Big day ahead today. Kim's birthday too.
We got up early and took the metro to meet our tour bus. We had a bus tour through Paris, a boat tour of the Seine and then lunch up the Eiffel Tower.
The bus tour was ok, but the commentary kept dropping out. We checked out the Louvre amongst other things. Again Paris is stunning and one of those places you just have to see to do it justice.
The boat trip was something a little different and very enjoyable. You see a different side to a city from the water. Got spectacular views of Notre Dam and other notible buildings that I can't remember.
The highlight of the tour was lunch at the Eiffel Tower. Word of advice. If you are coming to Paris and want to go up the Tower, pre book. The queues were massive. We managed to jump to the front. We had a couple of hours to explore before lunch so we took the chance to get some snaps and look around. The one surprising thing about the Tower is that it is Brown. For some reason I thought it would be grey.
Lunch was good, although we had to share our table with a couple of rude Americans. They were the first Americans I have ever met who DIDN'T want to talk. Bonus was they didn't want to drink so Kim and I got to share a bottle of nice French Red.
We also got to see a massive lightening storm from up the Eiffel Tower. Very cool.
After lunch we walked from the ET to the Louvre. We were running a bit behind time so went straight to see the Mona Lisa. It's a little smaller than I thought, but tres cool, except the massive crowd of Americans taking photos. I wanted to see the Egyptian artifacts so we didn't get a chance to look at all the paintings before it closed. We planned to go back and do that on Tuesday - more on that later. Again, a word of advice : it would take a day or two to get around the Louvre so you have to pick and choose what you want to see. I would recommend setting side a whole day and get there early. We unfortunately didn't see much so will have to go back.
Tickets are cheap at 6 Euro per pavillion, of which there are 3 or 4.
Very tired after our big day, so back to the Hotel for a rest and tea.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Paris day 1
We took the Eurostar from Waterloo to Paris. For those who don't know, the Eurostar is a TGV (High Speed Train) that goes through the chunnel. It reaches speeds upto 180mph through the chunnel.
After a 3 hour journey we arrived in Paris. First hurdle was ordering Metro tickets to get to our hotel. Luckily the ticket agents spoke English. 3 day unlimited pass on the Metro cost about 30Euro which was a bargain.
The Metro makes getting around Paris really easy, and even with the language barrier, we found it easier to navigate than the underground. Public transport when it works this well is brilliant.
We stayed at Hotel de Academe in the Latin district of Paris. The day porter was chatty and spoke away to us in English. The rumours about the French are not true it seems. The British GP was on so I caught a few minutes of that, which was weird watching in French...
After checking in and resting a bit we went across town to pick up our tickets for the tour we were doing, and the Museum and Monuments pass which allowed us to go to any Museum or Monument. Again we took the Metro, which we were getting the hang off by now.
We hadn't seen much of Paris until now. It is simply stunning. The architecture and grandeur is impossible to explain in words. Everywhere you look there is another famous building or icon. Amazing. We went for a walk down the Champs elyse to the Arch de Triomph. It's really cool seeing the things in person you have only ever seen on screen or in pictures before.
Took some cool shots and will post the Shutterfly address when I find it out.
After our walk we went to a restaurant to find a bite. I almost ordered raw steak! Food was ok and managed to get what we wanted with a mixture of English and our limited French. Dining out in Paris is very expensive. We only had mains and desert and it came in at almost 100 Euro!
After a 3 hour journey we arrived in Paris. First hurdle was ordering Metro tickets to get to our hotel. Luckily the ticket agents spoke English. 3 day unlimited pass on the Metro cost about 30Euro which was a bargain.
The Metro makes getting around Paris really easy, and even with the language barrier, we found it easier to navigate than the underground. Public transport when it works this well is brilliant.
We stayed at Hotel de Academe in the Latin district of Paris. The day porter was chatty and spoke away to us in English. The rumours about the French are not true it seems. The British GP was on so I caught a few minutes of that, which was weird watching in French...
After checking in and resting a bit we went across town to pick up our tickets for the tour we were doing, and the Museum and Monuments pass which allowed us to go to any Museum or Monument. Again we took the Metro, which we were getting the hang off by now.
We hadn't seen much of Paris until now. It is simply stunning. The architecture and grandeur is impossible to explain in words. Everywhere you look there is another famous building or icon. Amazing. We went for a walk down the Champs elyse to the Arch de Triomph. It's really cool seeing the things in person you have only ever seen on screen or in pictures before.
Took some cool shots and will post the Shutterfly address when I find it out.
After our walk we went to a restaurant to find a bite. I almost ordered raw steak! Food was ok and managed to get what we wanted with a mixture of English and our limited French. Dining out in Paris is very expensive. We only had mains and desert and it came in at almost 100 Euro!
Tour de France Prologue
Took the train to London to watch the Prologue for the Tour de France.
This year it was starting from London, with the route taking in Trafalgar square, Buck Palace, Hyde Park and finishing up the Mall.
The race itself started about 3pm, and we arrived at about 1pm. We got a posy on the 50m to go banner on the Mall, unfortunatley could only get about 6 rows back. A cyclist would go past and you would get a flash of color and that was about it.
The atmosphere more than made up for it though, it was incredible. Over 1 million people can create quite a buzz! We stood and watched for about an hour and went for a walk along the route and managed to see a little bit more. When we were leaving you go past the warm up and warm down area, so we got to see a few cyclists up close and the team cars with the bikes on the roof, so that was cool.
Something we will have to go back to next year and maybe catch an alpine stage.
This year it was starting from London, with the route taking in Trafalgar square, Buck Palace, Hyde Park and finishing up the Mall.
The race itself started about 3pm, and we arrived at about 1pm. We got a posy on the 50m to go banner on the Mall, unfortunatley could only get about 6 rows back. A cyclist would go past and you would get a flash of color and that was about it.
The atmosphere more than made up for it though, it was incredible. Over 1 million people can create quite a buzz! We stood and watched for about an hour and went for a walk along the route and managed to see a little bit more. When we were leaving you go past the warm up and warm down area, so we got to see a few cyclists up close and the team cars with the bikes on the roof, so that was cool.
Something we will have to go back to next year and maybe catch an alpine stage.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
English Summer
We've been fairly quiet over the last few weeks. It's been hard to go out and do stuff because it's pretty much rained all of June. It's been quite warm, but warm is no good if it rains all the fricken time. Two wet Summers in a row wasn't what we had in mind when we decided to come over for Summer.
We are off to the starting of the Tour de France this weekend. The Prologue is taking place around Buckingham palace and Hype park. Just hope it doesn't rain. The we are going to France for Kim's birthday which will be cool. Forecast isn't great, but it will be awesome either way. We are taking the Eurostar through the chunnel.
More to follow.
We are off to the starting of the Tour de France this weekend. The Prologue is taking place around Buckingham palace and Hype park. Just hope it doesn't rain. The we are going to France for Kim's birthday which will be cool. Forecast isn't great, but it will be awesome either way. We are taking the Eurostar through the chunnel.
More to follow.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
AA
Our English made French Peugeot shat itself this morning. Clutch gave way, luckily just outside work, so I managed to park it in the car park ok. Luckily we got Road Side rescue from the AA. For anybody going to do some driving in the UK, get Roadside assistance. It was pretty cheap - around 100 (can't find the pound symbol) for a year and a great piece of mind. Especially as most Kozis (Kiwis/Aussies) will buy a shitter and run it into the ground.
The AA guy came to work, towed the car to a garage, and organised a rental for me to get home in. The rental is free for 48 hours, which is all part of the policy. Anyway it is going to cost 237 to get the clutch replaced and should be ready tomorrow. Maybe not all English are useless!
So kudos to the AA. Made a potientially stressful situation bearable. Money well spent
The AA guy came to work, towed the car to a garage, and organised a rental for me to get home in. The rental is free for 48 hours, which is all part of the policy. Anyway it is going to cost 237 to get the clutch replaced and should be ready tomorrow. Maybe not all English are useless!
So kudos to the AA. Made a potientially stressful situation bearable. Money well spent
Day 3 - Road Trip
Today we had a god look around Salisbury Cathedral. Salisbury Cathedral was the original Cathedral built around 1200 and took 38 years to build. Most other Cathedrals were based on Salisbury Cathedral, and it is where the Magna Carta was written and signed. The Magna Carta was basically a set of rules that the Nobels decided to live by, basically a set of human rights. It's the forerunner to most major treaties that would come later, such as the Declaration of Independance. There is only 4 surviving documents in the world, and one is was in a chapel in the Salisbury Cathedral.
Inside the Cathedral is huge. It has several chapels inside, and the tombs of knights and bishops fom 1200 onwards. You get a real sense of history in this place. Check out http://sugruefamily.shutterfly.com for pictures, as they say a picture is worth 1000 words.
I didn't think it possible, but Salisbury was even better than Stonehenge. A must see for anyone visiting the UK.
Inside the Cathedral is huge. It has several chapels inside, and the tombs of knights and bishops fom 1200 onwards. You get a real sense of history in this place. Check out http://sugruefamily.shutterfly.com for pictures, as they say a picture is worth 1000 words.
I didn't think it possible, but Salisbury was even better than Stonehenge. A must see for anyone visiting the UK.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Day 2 - Road Trip
Today we set off early for our trip of the long weekend. Due to date issues with booking we stayed Sunday night instead of Saturday. Anyway, our plan was to take in Stonehenge, stay in Salisbury the night, then check out Salisbury Cathedral on Monday and a leisurely drive home.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is situated in a district called Wiltshire, which is about 2 1/2 hours South West of Rugby, and just to the South West of London. We were driving along the road, turned a corner and bang, in the middle of a field is freaking Stonehenge. Was a bit of an anti-climax, because we weren't expecting to see it just standing there. Apparently plans are afoot to cover the road, and create a tunnel so you can only see it on foot, which would add to the experience.
Stonehenge itself is awesome. It's humbling to think that these stones were put there by men maybe up to 5000 years ago - no one is really sure. I thought it would be a little bigger than it was, but it is a must see nonetheless. Unfortunately, it was munting down (bloddy English weather!) so we probably didn't stay as long as we would have liked, but still saw it from all angles and took heaps of snaps. (more on that later).
After we got back in the car, we decided to go an see the lesser known Stone formation at a place called Avesbury. We drove thorugh several little towns to get there, one that was twinned with OAMA-FRICKEN-RU!! Frighteningly small world. The stones at Avesbury encompass a whole town, and the circumference would be, and I'm guessing here, maybe a mile. The cool thing is that they are just in a paddock, so you can touch the stones and get amoungst them. Unfortunately because it was still wet, we decided not to take the buggy into the field where the stones were. We will definately come back though.
The other man made attraction at Avesbury was a mound, about 40m high and 100m wide, made entirely by hand. I guess with no Internets or TV the people of the day had buggar all else to do?
After Avesbury, we drove to our Hotel in Salisbury, caught a bit and hit the hay. Tomorrow - Salisbury Cathedral.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is situated in a district called Wiltshire, which is about 2 1/2 hours South West of Rugby, and just to the South West of London. We were driving along the road, turned a corner and bang, in the middle of a field is freaking Stonehenge. Was a bit of an anti-climax, because we weren't expecting to see it just standing there. Apparently plans are afoot to cover the road, and create a tunnel so you can only see it on foot, which would add to the experience.
Stonehenge itself is awesome. It's humbling to think that these stones were put there by men maybe up to 5000 years ago - no one is really sure. I thought it would be a little bigger than it was, but it is a must see nonetheless. Unfortunately, it was munting down (bloddy English weather!) so we probably didn't stay as long as we would have liked, but still saw it from all angles and took heaps of snaps. (more on that later).
After we got back in the car, we decided to go an see the lesser known Stone formation at a place called Avesbury. We drove thorugh several little towns to get there, one that was twinned with OAMA-FRICKEN-RU!! Frighteningly small world. The stones at Avesbury encompass a whole town, and the circumference would be, and I'm guessing here, maybe a mile. The cool thing is that they are just in a paddock, so you can touch the stones and get amoungst them. Unfortunately because it was still wet, we decided not to take the buggy into the field where the stones were. We will definately come back though.
The other man made attraction at Avesbury was a mound, about 40m high and 100m wide, made entirely by hand. I guess with no Internets or TV the people of the day had buggar all else to do?
After Avesbury, we drove to our Hotel in Salisbury, caught a bit and hit the hay. Tomorrow - Salisbury Cathedral.
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