Travel Location: Blois,France

EARLY MORNING START, the wake up call is at 6.45am. Cosmos tour has a luggage order where you leave your luggage at the front of your room and by the time you have had breakfast and return to your room to get your backpack, your luggage has been loaded up on the bus for you which is handy from my past experience with Contiki and carrying your luggage up flight of stairs. The only downside to this is you have to put trust in the doormen that your bags will end up in the bus.

After breakfast we board the bus for our drive down the motorway. It is 540km to our next sleeping stop. Our final destination is Bordeaux, the wine country part of France.

small but it’s filled with beautiful chateaus.

The ride is always rather boring and long & the scenery was just of green grass and also grape seed plants which are bright yellow plants. The area is just beaming with yellow.

Our first stop is in the town of Blois. The town is small but it’s filled with beautiful chateaus.

We arrive and we are given some free time to explore the city. We head towards the main strip and take pictures of the very old buildings. Some made with wooden structure. The town was filled with shops and cafes but was very quiet.

It was then back to meet up with the group as we board the bus again for our next leg of the trip. We pass by a town named Vouvrey and here there are plenty interesting homes that are built into the rocks, from the coach, we could see the windows of these very unique rock homes.

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Travel Location: Paris,France

The group started the day early (7:30am) due to a full day of attractions in our short time in Paris, France. Our breakfast was lacking in comparison to our previous hotels that had spoiled us. We located the metro station to purchase our full day metro pass and began our adventure.

Our first stop was the Palais De Justice…which we mistook for Notre Dame Cathedral. We noticed this place was very well guarded so we asked for directions to Notre Dame and were pointed in the opposite direction. Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the most famous cathedrals in Europe and it was well worth the 7:30am start.

Our next stop, Musee Du Louvre (aka The Louvre), was a short walk away. While there we saw the Mona Lisa, The Winged Victory, Aphrodite, and numerous other paintings and sculptures. We spent 3 hours touring this magnificent building that cost us only 4 euros to enter.

After grabbing a bite to eat at a local café, it was back to the metro to get to our next stop, the Arc De Triomphe. We snapped some photos and enjoyed the views of downtown Paris.

For the next stop, the boys claimed to have a surprise for us, so we got back on the metro and took a short walk along the Seine River to see….. the Statue De La Liberte (a much smaller version than the one in New York City). Kyle learned about the statue from the TV show “The Amazing Race.” As it began to rain, we wondered whether we would be able to reach the top of the Eiffel Tower.

The next destination was the Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower) which we had planned to see at night time. The group split up with Kim and Krista taking the elevator all the way to the top, while the rest of us walked half-way up (700 stairs one-way) then took an elevator to the top. Krista had suffered some enormous blisters from the mega walk in Denmark preventing her enthusiasm for the 1,400 stairs. While waiting in line to buy tickets, Abbie had a run-in with a pigeon that resulted in the bird pooping on her. Krista interrupted a little boy attempting a pick-pocketing heist. This kept us entertained for the 45 minute wait for tickets. For the group that took the stairs, the climb was well worth the view at the top. The rain had stopped for this wonderful opportunity to see the view of Paris.

We wandered nearby streets in search of fluids and then found ourselves some benches to watch the lighting of this beautiful structure. As the night set in, the lights slowly came on until it was almost completely dark, when they started a shimmer light display on the sides of the Eiffel Tower which lit up the night sky. We left the area, pleased with ourselves for what we had accomplished so far in Paris.

Our final stop of the night was the Moulin Rouge where a few pictures of the lit-up theatre completed our 14 hour express Tour de France.

Our total mileage for the day was 14.7 miles…..plus the 1400 steps the one group did to reach the half-way point of the Eiffel Tower. I believe that’s a new record.

Rebel

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Travel Location: Paris,France

And we are now in Paris! I don’t have much time to update now, we have been pretty busy but also relaxing because we have been able to stay in one place for more than 2 days – its very nice. We have met some awesome people through couchsurfing, and through friends, who have been very good to us and I will definitely keep in contact with them all. We arrived on Saturday, so I’m just going to jot down some brief notes for now for our activities each day.

Saturday

Arrived in the morning, met our couchsurfing hosts, took Zac along a walking tour of the main sites of the city (L’Arc de Triomphe, Champs d’Elysees, Le Louvre, Notre Dame de Paris, Quartier Latin, Pont Neuf, etc.) Hung out with our hosts that evening, cooked dinner, etc.

Sunday

I visited Le Pere Lachaise, the famous cemetary in Paris, to see the graves of Ingres, Delacroix (surprising they are buried in the same place considering the strength of their feud while living), Gericault, Balzac, Sara Bernhart, Chopin, Jim Morrison, etc. Hoping some of their knowledge and creativity rubs off on me.

Met up with our hosts friend who will host us, along the canal for the evening

Monday

Met our couchsurfing hosts friend who will host us this upcoming week

Went to Sacre Coeur for lunch for a great view of Paris, saw the Opera and Montmatre district, etc. went window shopping

Tuesday

Visited Musee d’Orsay (my favorite museum in the world) and was not disappointed, walked around the Latin Quarter for lunch, showed Zac La Sorbonne, Cluny and the Pantheon (where Hugo and other famous persons are buried)

Visited the Eiffel Tower in the evening to see it “glitter” and visited the Latin Quarter to see it at night

Wednesday

Visited Le Centre Pompidou – modern art musuem, currently hosting an exposition on Kandinsky in conjunction with the Berlin and Munich museums – probably the largest compilation of his work in history and really inspiring – I have always liked Kandinsky but to see so much of his work in one place was really spectacular. The museum itself has many many famous works from the development of modern art, and is progressive as well because it has an entire floor of women artists – this is pretty much unheard of in important art museums. I can’t say I enjoyed a lot of it, because the modern work is what receives the most attention and I tend to dislike video/performance/installation art, but the principle is pretty incredible and there were some great pieces by some of my favorite female artists.

Thursday

relaxing day, Notre Dame to climb tower but line was too long because we went in the afternoon, wandered around the streets (bought sandals since my only pair broke)

bar on the boat outside the city where Margot (our host)’s friend works

Friday

Spent the day at the Louvre – saw a lot more than last trip because I didn’t spend as much time on the French paintings, although I did walk through them again because they are probably the highlight of the museum for me – saw the Grand Gallery, the massive grand scale French paintings, the 17th and 18th c. French paintings, 19th c. French, Italian and Spanish paintings, Roman sculpture, Oriental section, the medieval Louvre (foundations are still present under the rest of the museum – very cool), a lot of time in the Egyptian art section which was incredible, glanced at the Mona Lisa as I walked through the room since I was already there, saw Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, Canova’s Psyche and Cupid (one of my favorite sculptures, much smaller in person than I expected), etc. probably saw a bit more but mostly just spent time wandering around from each of the places I really wanted to go, managed to see all the pastels and drawings, a print exhibition which was pretty amazing

Saturday

enjoyed the garden at Versailles… picnicked and brought along les miserables (i thought it was appropriate!) and yes the gardens are just as spectacular the third time

Sunday

back to the Eiffel Tower for pictures and lunch, met up with our friend Cecile and walked around, the Grand Mosque, Jardin des Plantes, kebabs and gelato

Night train to Cinque Terre

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Travel Location: Paris,France

I went to Paris 2 month ago. The most interesting thing was cost of living which is higher than those of London. I was supprised when I bought just a can of coke, I spent money on buying that around 3 pounds in regional supermarket and the enterance fee of most museum is expensive.

Nevertheless, I think Paris is a quite well-ordered city which means there are a lot of historical heritages managing countinously well. When it comes to the tissue of city, the roads and buildings was built by schematic planning. So, we could see the whole site of Paris if you went up the top of the Eiffle tower, how Paris is organised with urban axes which is the major component of urban formation. the main radial axis consists of roads, parks, and patches which contain monumental buildings .

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Travel Location: Paris,France

Early start to our Thursday – up at 3:00 am to get ready and catch 4:00 am cab to Luton airport for our 6:05 flight to Paris. Yes, it was very hard to get started this morning, but knowing we were on our way to Paris, we managed to make the cab ride and flight.

With a planned itenerary in our hands (thanks to Mrs. Howard and a Paris guide book), we hit the ground running. First stop was the Sacre-Coeur (Church of the Sacred Heart) on a hilltop overlooking Paris. To get to that hilltop we had to climb at least 150 steps. Breathless when we arrived on top, the view of the cathedral and domed basilica continued to catch our breath. Inside we viewed the dome covered by a beautiful mural and marble statues of Saints throughout the structure. We arrived at this location around 9:30 in the morning and there was still quite a bit of fog over the city, so we were not able to see the entire skyline of Paris. It was completely beautiful none the less.

“I see London, I see France, I see . . . ” — ask Mrs. Schwibert to finish the line Five bonus points to anyone that can correctly finish this line!

Next stop was to catch a metro line (subway) to the Louvre museum. We chose not to go inside this unbelieveable museum, since we were told it would take weeks to see everything inside! We did observe the glass pyramid in front of the museum and the beautiful architecture of the buildings, and then made our way across the River Seine to the Orsay museum. We chose to tour this museum because many impressionists works are displayed in this much smaller museum. We took in original artwork from artists such as Monet, Degas, Renoir, Rodin, and Van Gogh. Breathtaking oil paintings and marbled statues that we had only seen in books or on posters left us in complete awe. Ever heard of Whistler’s Mother? We saw her, along with Monet’s Water Lilies and Van Gogh’s self portrait.

Leaving the Orsay we hopped on a city bus to Notre-Dame cathedral. The architecture throughout this city cannot be described in words – standing outside and inside Notre-Dame left us speechless. Books and pictures cannot begin to describe the enormous arches, stained glass windows, marble statues, carved woodwork in the walls and doors. We looked all over for the Hunchback, but could never find him.

After Notre-Dame our next item on our must-see list was the Eiffel Tower (of course!). We got on another bus that followed right alongside the River Seine. The bus we were on would not take us all the way to the Eiffel Tower, so once we got off we walked. And walked. And walked. Finally arriving at the base of the tower, breathless again, we were also speechless. Only in pictures have we been able to view this enormous structure, and here we were right underneath it. We caught our breath and went to find the way up. The lines were very crowded, so we made the optimistic decision to pay the fee to CLIMB to the first landing – it doesn’t look so high, right? Wrong! 327 steps and several stops (except for Mrs. Kidd, who didn’t want to stop because the tower was SWAYING) later we eventually arrived at the first platform! This view of the city from all sides was amazing, but we wanted to get higher. We decided to pay another fee to catch the lift to the second landing for a better view – the ride was well worth any price. You can see all around this magnificent city for miles, and we continued to be in awe of the beautiful buildings. It was getting dark by this time, so we went back down to the ground to take some picture-postcard snapshots. The Eiffel Tower was lit up to the top and we clicked away on our cameras at this stunning site before us. After stopping at a gift shop, we drug ourselves away from the tower and began our walk (yet again) to the bus stop. Let us just say at this point that we really miss Oklahoma hospitality! What a surprise when the bells rang 6:00 and the tower began to twinkle! Incredible! We tore ourselves away and focused on finding a bus, which we did, to take us back to the Louvre and the Metro station. Rus hour on the subway – wow! Yuck! There must be a French game, “How many people can we cram on a subway?” Mrs. Schwiebert’s personal hygiene talk was definitely needed at this point!

After dashing from one stop to the other following the blue B RER, we hastly jumped on the train exhausted and relieved to find 3 empty seats. Some time later, about four stops to be exact, we realized that we were on the RED A RER going the opposite direction of the aiport!! As much as we had wanted to cram in a quick view of the Arc de Triomphe, we were so thankful that we didn’t and had plenty of time to get to the airport even with a major blunder.

We arrived at the Charles de Gaulle airport STARVING, having only had croissants and a 7-up with three small ice cubes for lunch (apparently our itenerary did not include stops for food). BUT, following the European tradition of closing everything at 6:00, we found sandwiches in a box, Lay’s potato chips, and luke warm Pepsi in a bottle. We quickly scarfed down our sandwiches and worked our way to the line for boarding the plane. There were many Irish football (soccer) fans on the plane with us (we found out later that they had lost a game with France apparently due to controversial officiating). We arrived at the Luton Airport at 10:15, having gained an hour intransit, returned to Mrs. Howard’s house, and fell asleep with the knowledge that we had just seen amazing sites that we had only dreamed of visiting.

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Travel Location: Paris,France

The flight to Paris was quick and uneventful. Thank God. We landed in Paris at 6:25 AM local time. It looked like it had been raining through out the night. The sun hadn’t risen making it seem much earlier. Easy through customs and up the plexiglass tubes (that now seem so dated) to get our luggage. Up and out onto the train tracks after a very nice policeman helped us get through a special gate (given the enormity of our bags…and our suitcases!) On the train, we befriended a very nice, beautiful young lady, Fatima, who on her own, used her cellphone to call the hotel-the Melia Alexander Boutique Hotel on Victor Hugo Ave., to find the best Metro stop for us. We got her e-mail (hi, Fatima-thank you again!) and said we would put her on the blog. She was also on our flight-just finished a Miami Beach junket and loved it-her first time in the US.

Getting older and wiser in Paris…

We changed trains, got on the blue line (#2) and with the snarles of a few, stood smooshed with the rush-hour commuters. Out at Victor Hugo and up-ah, Paris! The great architecture. We just missed the rain! To the hotel, our room wasn’t yet ready so they secured our bags, we had a complimentary coffee (praise be!) and out into Paris.

We were two very long blocks from the Arc de Triomphe. It took us long minute to figure out therewas no humanly possible way to traverse the Arc de Triomphe roundabout traffic. We finally figured out we had to go under the crazy traffic, and Steven treated us for the 286 stairs to the top, after a walk around the base and the Eternal Flame. Up above, views of the Eiffel Tower, down the Champs Elysses-the whole city (view only rivaled…surpassed by that from the top of the Eiffel Tower. We were definately running on empty and adrenaline. From there to the Eiffel Tower (walking past incredible history, block after block). We stood on line for quite awhile under the Tower in a strong cold wind. Second level, then the top, and up to the unenclosed viewing area. The wind whisted around the corners. This as great to do as a “bonjour au Paris”!

En route back to the hotel, we had a really fun food shop down the Rue de Feueille; one shop for fruit and tomoatos, anothert for an incredible, if not a bit smelly goat cheese in a big ball, croissants and pain au chocolate and fresh sandwiches, Back to our room-really nice-very swank, if not (if only we could have put our NYC bed in that room) we had a kings’ picnic (le manger du Roi? No…) Our room has a little balcony overlooking the Rue de Victor Hugo, great bathroom et al.

After a much-needed long (2 hr.) nap, showers and a great night walk to the Arc de Triomphe, and all the way down the Champs Elysses, the trees dripping (literally) with lights. All the strollers/shoppers rivalled Time Square in new York. As the boulevard flattened out, lots of little “cottages”/shops with Christmas goods from chocolates, vin chaud and pizzas to Santa hats and flying neon helicopters. At the end, near the Place de la Concorde is the new “Ferris” wheel all lit up with the Eiffel Tower doing san amazing light show with it’s new double search light and glitter strobes. Back up the C.E. to the room, Steven downloaded all our photos (114 – Larry gets a little crazy with the camera – don’t worry we did not include them all…) and my new “All Paris” book purchased at the top of the Arc. d. T. Sleep @ 1:00 AM.

11/25/09

Up @ 9:00 and right away (sans cafe’!) to the Arc and down the Champs Elysses to the Tullerie Gardens and the Louvre! No line (yet) and magic beoing inside and down in the main hallway. We got our tickets, had a much-needed cafe (I, au lait) and pan avec frommage and here we go!

We did almost all of the Richlieu but only half of the Denon before we could no more! (*visual dispepsia was setting in). We won’t begin to tell you of the wonders in there, but for those who have been, you know. For the others…go!

Nice nap (art is so tiring), showers, dressed up and the Metro to the Chatalet Les Halles stop. Up, lost (it can be fun to not know where one is!), we found a Thai restaurant and had a nice relaxed meal. Wlaked past the Chatalet theater and a wonderful 17th Century tower. But it was time to get back. Dorme vu? Oui. Bon nuit (again @ 1:00-can’t help ! This is the last night I will be in his forties Many (I included) are surprised to see I made it this far (hence this trip).

11/26/09

O.K., being 8 hrs ahead of Denver, I won’t officially turn 50 until 10:15 p.m-almost made it to tomorrow…I didn’t sleep much, somehow not unlike waiting for Santa or the Easter Bunny.

Downstairs for a great petit dejeaner (better be for 28 Eoros each-thanks Bears and Stern et al for helping devalue the dollar now at $1.50/euro. Icky.

But really, dressed up and the petit d. was a great start to the day as well as writting some post cards. Metro to Chatelet Les Halles, up and walk across the Seine-we couldn’t look anywhere without seeing greatness and Incresinly to Steven’s chagrin) I had to take a photo. To Notre Dame! You see it in the disatnce and think it is just another Hollywood image. But the closer you get, the bigger it becomes, it’s history leaning down on you.

A few women beggars were having at it in a screaming match. Sometimes not speaking a language is peaceful. We went inside and the world slowed way down (save the school kids who couldn’t manage to respect the “silence” sign. “Shhh” to them. Oh God! I am my mother). I felt bad for those wanting to reflect and pray, seeing a woman weeping in a side nave.

Steven had a silent reflective moment as I wandered around and photographed. Since I was here the last time (1971 with my mom and brother David) I have created my own “Hunchback of Notre Dame” ballet, combining both the Victor Hugo novel and the 1937 Charles Laughton classic. The novel, movie and book came flooding back in around every corner, reminding me of Hugo’s writiing of finding in a secluded corner, an inscription for “fate” carved into the stone.

Later, we stood in a long motionless line in the sharp wind for over an hour to climb to the top, and as we started, knew the wait was so worth it. Of course, first they pour you out into the gift shop (while you still have your electrolites about you-I would have had them do it afterwards. The inspiration and excitement would have made them snap items up!). The next flight of stairs (400+ on total) took us out above the front, over the 20+ carved figures of the Judaic…(Steven-help!), a bright clear midday sun washed everything clean and vibrant.

There to the side was a waist-high entrance through a set of wooden doors. I crawled in, say what waited ahead, went back out and called to Steven. We ascended a long quadrangle of wooden stairs that led to “Emmanuel”, the biggest of the four main belss that is rung only on Christmas and Easter. By the time we had done our photo op. the rest of our group were ascending and we had to fight like lost springtime salmon to get down.

The last leg of the tour took us to the top of the south tower. What views and history! There is no way that Quasimodo took Esmeralda all the way there on his back. Even if he were strong enough, they narrowed to a claustrophobic wedge of which many Americans would need to be pried out.

Back down, an incredible walk along the Seine (the bridges, architecture, and little book/LP/French memorabilia kiosks and stands) to the Musee d’Orsay ( a converted turn-of-the-20th-century train station that Victor Hugo and others helped finance-(Steven is that true?). This museum is a perfect extension of the Louvre in that the Musee d’Orsay picks up chronologically where the Louvre leaves off-mid-19th century (Neo-classical) to mid-20th century (pre-cubist). Our friend Summer put it well, “It’s like you would want to design your living room if you had the means and the art.” Yep. We did the main floor side galleries on each side before coming down the center filled with sculptures, Steven took me up to the 5th floor cafe for a wonderful lunch below the “train station’s” main exterior clock. We then wandered the Impressionist galleries, moved down to the object d’art and finished with the American works and the art noveau areas.

Another 6 hours anything but wasted! Up the Left Bank to the Grande Palais (and our camera got some great night time photos). Another speedwalk up the Champs Ellysses, a brief nap, showers, got dressed up and with the info from our concierge, to Place Victor Hugo, drinks at Dabar (two-weeks new), a very swank two-floor establishment after Steven called his mom from the Haagen-Daz on his Skype for Thanksgiving. The French make a very sweet martini…Steven, a cosmopolitan.

To Convivium for an Italian dinner, I prawns and pasta, Steven, lasagna. He was so sweet, he ordered us some champange. It was refreshing for me to be able to speak some Italian with the waiter. Both Steven’s and my attempts at French were met with…English.

Back to the room for special mousse (sp?) cakes Steven got from the incredible Pastisserie (sp?) next to Haagen-Daz. We packed and sleep (none for me) @ 1:00.

11/27/09

I fianally fell asleep @ 7:15 in time to get up for a big moving day. So far, 50 is looking a little…groggy. All packed, we decided to leave our bags, get the car rental and return to pick them up, knowing nothing about all of this would be easy. Thank God we didn’t take our bags with us! What seemed like an easy two-stop Metro jaunt turned out to be a two-hour lost-in-the-Metro-streets-of-Paris debacle. Hertz? Right here. Driving in Paris? Uh, sure.

We were actually very close to our hotel and could have walked in half the time. The first test was the Arc de Triomphe round-about. Mised our street, found it going the wrong way and we finally made it. Steven had to jump out to run in to get the bags and the cars wouldn’t let me double park. back (eventually), I went up to get the rest, down, in with all the bags and it was my turn to step in the poop. But I don’t think it was from a dog…Lots of cardboard later, I had to go into wash my hands and found I’d left all my socks and underwear. God works in mysterious ways.

Steven drove out of Paris while I navigated-another testiment to our resolve. But soon the traffic was lessening, the buildings fell away and we were headed south though the picturesque countryside. The forests, open fields-very green (some I think were planted with winter wheat), the occasional chateau and the more frequent campanile surrounded by the homes and shops of the towns-all varying degrees of old.

We made our halfway stop in a wonderful little town, Beaunue, the old section cobble streets, winding alleys and ancient store fronts.

Continuing on, the most impressive sight was near Dijon, the Chateauneuf-a monstrous foreboding structure designed to protect and intimidate. It must have worked as it still stands to this day. It was dark by the time we got to the Swiss border, Basel, and headed into Zurich.

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Travel Location: Paris,France

Travel About: architecture,big-city,nightlife,road-trip

7:15 Comenzamos el segundo día con ganas y nos pegamos el madrugón para no perder ni un rayo de sol. Desafortunadamente, lo que nos encontramos tras desayunar y salir a la calle es que está volviendo a llover intensamente. A las 8:15 ya estamos en carretera, y durante las dos primeras horas el chaparrón es constante.

Dejamos atrás ciudades como Angoulême, Poitiers (y su Futuroscope, que descartamos visitar), Tours (aquí perdimos mucho tiempo en encontrar la entrada a la autovía) y Orléans; fue en ésta última donde paramos a comer unos sandwiches de la “caja de la comida”, sobre las 13:15. En estos momentos hemos dejado atrás los nubarrones y disfrutamos de un tiempo agradable.

Tras esto tomó el volante Puro para llegar a Versalles casi dos horas después. Pese a que era temporada baja, la villa presentaba una invasión total de autobuses de turistas, sin duda atraídos por el mayor interés del lugar: visitar el Palacio de Versalles, fantasía hecha realidad por el afán de ostentación de Luis XIV y sus benditos sucesores…

Para empezar, tardamos media hora en aparcar. Luego tocó sacarse los tíckets (13,5 € por cabeza), que pagamos con sumo entusiasmo. El último trámite fue coger los cascos de la visita guiada (incluidos en el precio, claro).

Resuelto lo anterior, pudimos comenzar a pasearnos por los interminables pasillos y desmesurados salones del Palacio. El lugar es impresionante, difícilmente se puede imaginar algo más gigantesco, recargado y opulento. Dimos vueltas y vueltas pero aquello parecía no tener fin (de hecho, son 50.000 metros cuadrados de Palacio abiertos al público).

Las 800 hectáreas de jardines también tienen su miga (se alquilan cochecitos para recorrerlas…), y tan sólo echamos un vistazo general.

Como aspecto negativo de la visita, resaltaré la EXCESIVA presencia de turistas, especialmente orientales, a los que Puro empezó a coger cariño.

Nos fuimos de allí bastante cansados, la kilometrada matutina pasaba factura (600 km), y es que fue una de las mayores del viaje. Pero aún quedaba entrar en París y buscar el albergue. Puro me volvió a ceder el volante y nos metimos en la maraña de tráfico. A trancas y barrancas, entramos hasta el barrio de Clichy sin sufrir percances, pero cometiendo alguna que otra tropelía circulatoria.

Eran las 18:30 y ya estábamos en el albergue, con una habitación entera para nosotros. Subimos hasta el 6º piso cargando con las maletas por las escaleras (ascensor en reparación justo cuando llegábamos). Nos duchamos y salimos a cenar algo sencillo: McDonald’s.

Unas cervecitas en la terraza de un bar parisino sirvieron de relajado colofón a un día bastante duro. Ya en la habitación, aprovechamos para distraernos viendo unos capítulos de “Joey” en el portátil de Bur (que era lo único que había).

Con la iluminación de la Torre Eiffel entrando por la ventana, nos acostamos sobre las 23:15.

Distancia recorrida: 640 km

Gastos: 70 € (Gasolina, Peajes, Visita Versalles, Parking, Albergue, Cena, Cerveza)

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Travel Location: Nice,France

Travel About: relaxation,casino,gambling

After almost two months of travelling around Europe in the middle of winter, we were keen for a bit of sun so we headed to the Cote D’Azur in the South of France. First stop, Nice.

The first thing we did upon arriving in Nice was to head to the world famous coastline. Covered in large pebbles, its not exactly the kind of beach that us aussies are used to, but the view of the coastline was just breathtaking. The views got even better when we made our way up to the lookout at the end of the beach….just spectacular. And the weather was so warm, I even wore a T-shirt!

Covered in large pebbles, its not exactly the kind of beach that us aussies are used to, but the view of the coastline was just breathtaking

Wandering around the park at the top of the cliff (which used to be home to the town chateau before it was destroyed) was just wonderful. The parks and gardens were lovely and we managed to find a secluded little moss alcove where we sat for a good hour playing ‘Who/What Am I’! Such fun!

We wandered back home through the old town, which was really lovely and full of old balconied apartments with flower pots….I’m a sucker for flower pots! We finished off the day sitting on the pebbly beach! It was just lovely relaxing with the warm sun on us.

We also managed a trip to the local flower markets which were just full of small town charm. Flowers, fruits, olives, cheeses and spices of all colours and smells were just everywhere. All the senses just felt alive. We broke the budget a bit later by having a coffee in a beach cafe. The coffee wasnt great, but it was worth it for the amazing views.

Another trip was down to the port of Nice to check out how the other half live on amazing, enormous luxury yachts. We spent the morning pretending we were in the market for these boats and discussing the pros and cons of each one. (Of course, this one is lovely, but one really needs a third floor with a deck and more space for a spa)

A day trip to Monaco was on the cards the next day, which added another country to our list (but alas, no stamp in the passport AGAIN). If we thought Nice was the playground of the rich and famous, we now realised that Monaco was the playground for the REALLY RICH AND FAMOUS! The town itself is lovely, perched on the side of cliffs with beautiful bays. We were just blown away by the number of high rise apartment buildings jutting out of the cliffs. First stop in Monaco was a trip to the palace for the changing of the guards. It was quite good and we managed to get prime position in front to watch the show. The rest of the day was spent wandering along the coastline and admiring the lovely yachts and looking for famous people. Alas, no luck though.

Our trip to Monaco wouldnt be complete without a stop at the world famous Monte Carlo Casino. So we paid our 20 Euro entrance fee and entered into the amazing splendeur of the casino. It really was a grand place with chandeliers everywhere and glitzy furniture. So we dug deep and managed to lose 20 Euros in about five minutes on the pokies and with a bit of a dab on the roulette table (where the dealer shoved our one chip to Mike as he slid our fiver in between the hundreds that were rolling in!) Oh well, we are lucky in love!

Well, our trip to France wouldnt be complete without trying out the local delicacy of Escargot (ie. Snails). So whilst in Nice, we managed to find a relatively cheap placed which served up these slippery little suckers. And to our surprise, they were actually REALLY YUM!

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Travel Location: Paris,France

I went to Paris 2 month ago. The most interesting thing was cost of living which is higher than those of London. I was supprised when I bought just a can of coke, I spent money on buying that around 3 pounds in regional supermarket and the enterance fee of most museum is expensive.

Nevertheless, I think Paris is a quite well-ordered city which means there are a lot of historical heritages managing countinously well. When it comes to the tissue of city, the roads and buildings was built by schematic planning. So, we could see the whole site of Paris if you went up the top of the Eiffle tower, how Paris is organised with urban axes which is the major component of urban formation. the main radial axis consists of  roads, parks, and patches which contain monumental buildings .

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Travel Location: Versailles,France

We woke up very early the next morning to get the free breakfast that came with our accommodation. It was basically just a roll with some jam, and a cup of hot chocolate. But whatever is free is fine with me. The big thing on today’s agenda was Versailles. We purchased metro tickets (it was a very good deal because we bought an all-day pass for 3.20 euro) and took a few connecting trains to reach Versailles. I’ve never been on a subway before (whoo California!) so it was an interesting experience. It was a lot more efficient than I expected. We never had to wait more than 5 minutes for the trains, and it took us all over the city. I’m really impressed with it, and I liked looking at the maps to figure out how to get from one stop to another. Yeah, I’m a nerd…but a nerd who was in Paris!

It was 16 euro to see the Palace and Gardens of Versailles and also Marie Antoinette’s private estate and garden grounds. The place was HUGE! We spent a total of 6 hours there. The palace was impressive, but it wasn’t too different from other huge and rich buildings that I’ve visited before (Hearst’s Castle and Muck Ross House). It’s like “Yeah, I get it, these people were filthy rich…” But I enjoyed seeing the Hall of Mirrors that I learned about 3 years ago in Mr. Shonk’s class. It was so unreal. I was the only one from our group that had some kind of history about Versailles and the monarchs that lived there. Yeah, high five, Mr. Shonk! Haha. My favorite part about Versailles was the gardens. I could not comprehend the vastness of the palace grounds. It took about 40 minutes to walk from one end to the other. It was really lovely though. I enjoyed watching the rowers along the Grand Canal, and the majestic fountains. Marie Antoinette’s estate was at the end of the garden, and we looked through her private rooms and house as well. When we got out, we thought we were almost done with our Versailles adventure, and pulled out the map of the palace grounds. We nearly collapsed on the floor from exhaustion when we saw how far out Marie Antoinette’s gardens extended. We decided to just walk to the Temple of Love that was situated at the front of her garden, and begin the long trek back along the Grand Canal to the main entrance. Overall, I was impressed with Versailles, and I think the main excitement stemmed from being in places that was so full with history and that I’ve only read about in books.

We nearly collapsed on the floor from exhaustion when we saw how far out Marie Antoinette’s gardens extended.

The next sight on our list was the Basilique du Sacre Coeur. We stopped for a quick and cheap dinner again, and headed straight to Montmartre. By then, it was already dark, and we were in for an unexpected surprise when we got out of the metro station. The entire area seemed very dodgy, and it reminded me of the ghettoes in the heart of Los Angeles. The four of us just looked at each other, and tentatively decided to just go for it. We walked timidly through the streets, all scared that we were going to get mugged or attacked at some point. We saw the tip of Sacre Coeur in the distance, but we had to mount a tower of stairs to get to the actual building. We decided that the tip was all we really needed to see, and turned back around. Instead, we went to another part of Montmatre where the Moulin Rouge was. There was nothing too exciting about the building itself, but I am absolutely in love with the Luhrmann’s film, MoulinRouge! so it was a very exciting thing to be there! I purchased a little posted from one of the shops outside the Moulin Rouge, and we bought crepes again.

After the Moulin Rouge, we were all dead tired, but we said we could squeeze in one more sight before heading back to the hostel. So we went to the Opera Garnier. The area was all lit up with Christmas lights, so it was very pretty. It started to pour rain though, so we decided to take the metro back to the hostel and rest up. There was a pain in my foot after the first night, and it only got worse with all the walking I did that day. I think I may have strained a muscle there. After a while, it became almost unbearable to walk, so I was grateful for the rest. I’m proud of getting through so much that day though!

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