A Tarte at the Tower

As many of my better friends would know, I'm fairly fond of a good Tarte. My favourite are the French Tarte's and you could only imagine my delight when after such a long hard slog once again pounding the pavements around Paris, I was confronted with the opportunity to get myself, not only a tart to my liking but a French Tarte at that.
I know I shouldn't be indulging in such pleasures, particularly whilst travelling, but this one was simply irresistible. I just had to have it! So, after some discussions with the waitress and some exchanging of money, it was all mine to enjoy at my leisure.
Trudy was also taken aback by the quality of the French Tarte's and decided to sample one of her own. Again, she was just as impressed as I was......
I have included a picture of the Tarte below for you all to see. :-)

Today is the second competition. This time the winner will receive one of the excess Paris souvenirs. The rules are simple: All you have to do is be the first to send in a comment telling me how much you miss me. Simple. I know you all miss me, so you are all eligible to enter. Good luck!

Louvre

The Louve, has many thousands of works of art on display through out its 10 miles of corridors. The most famous and the one that we made bee line for was De Vinci's Mona Lisa. It seemed that half the people entering the museum this afternoon were also heading for the same gallery. There was no flash photography allowed in this particular exhibit, but it seems that the spirits and enthusiasm of the attendance was broken long ago as almost everyone (not me Officer) was doing just this without any interference.

We also stopped in and had a look at Venus de Milo in the Greek antiquities gallery. Venus is the God of Love ...... but she has no arms!!!......??? There was also this really big Sphinx thing which was really cool. One of the highlights of the wandering was a visit to The apartments of Napoleon III in the Richelieu wing and to see the remains of the medieval Louvre.

An area under ground where the original Palace was constructed before it made way for the present building. The building covered the area about the size of the main square in the present Louvre and once had the appearance of a Castle.




But of all these art works and sculptures and architectural marvels, the most impressive thing I saw today......... was the lift. Now that was a work of art. The now you see it, now you don't lift.

Here are some time laps pictures.....

Le Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower was built for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889 commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII of England, opened the tower.

Whatever, today was my turn to wait in line for hours (47 min actually) for the opportunity to spend 12 Euro to be able to get to the top. As usual the scammers were out and about. Very cleverly of me however, I've started to adopt the "No speakada English" defence. You just have to know how to say it in Italian. So far this has worked a treat....

There seemed to be a huge number of people waiting in the various lines to go in, but it took no time to be at the ticket window and on the way up. The view from the top is spectacular and well worth the 47 min wait.

Tomorrow is the last day in Paris before flying out very early Thursday morning to Athens for a quick stop before again heading off to Malta on Friday.

Food review Paris

After the first delightful experience at "Pomm Resto" in Paris, a second visit was in order for dinner last night and it once again didn't disappoint. Trudy and I decided to be adventurous and order cheese with the salad this time........ The staff were once again delightful and very friendly and helpful. We learned a few new words in French (all of which escape me now) and enjoyed a nice French meal once again cooked to perfection.

Le Tour De France

So, the real reason why I took 3 months off work finally came around today. And what a day filled with dramas it was. After starting off the day attending mass at Notre Dame Cathedral at 11.30 and then lighting a candle (as has become the traditional on this trip). We made our way over to the route that would be taken by the cyclists.

We were able to ask a somewhat unhelpful Policeman if he knew what time the riders would be there and got three different answers from him ranging from 1400 (that would be 2 pm) through to 1700 (that would be 5pm). This was ultimately the correct time but in his defence, he was French. I'm not fully sure he understood our hand signals.

So I took up a position right on the safety barrier with easy access to the track. (I had promised friends and family back home that I would do this so that they could see me on TV). And there I waited and waited....... The occasional greeting from a fellow Australian in a similar t-shirt to myself and a pin from someone from SBS wandering though the crowd helped pass the day.

When the time finally came, I was in no position to jump the barrier (it was a very warm day and unhelpful Policeman was 3 people away), so had to settle for cheering on the Aussies and taking lots of photos.

A fun day and another of the things I must do before I die ticked off the list.

In Paris!!!

So it is good bye to London for now and on to warmer Paris.

The Eurostar trip was over very quickly and would have to be the way to travel between the two cities. No waisting 2 hours to check in and go through all the security issues. St Pancres station in something to see as well.
Before saying anything, Trudy and I had the best pizza ever last Friday. Yes, we both agree and will be returning for another. You can have one as well if you wish. You need to go to.....

Pomm Resto
151, Quai De Valmy
75010 Paris
01 42 09 13 26

View Larger Map

Go get one..... Maybe call first and see if they deliver...

If the previous hostel was the worst ever, the new hostel in Paris would have to be one of the best. Everyone I have run into during the trip so far have said that the Australian Hostels are the best in the world, but this one would have to be up amongst the best. Toilets are somewhat scary though.

Life close to where the hostel is, is very pleasant during the evening. People sitting around the canal chatting away, or walking up and down the sides of the canal.

Last day in London (for now)

So there are 6 billion people in the world right! You travel 26,000 km to the other side of the world; get a room in small rundown hostel out of the way in Greenwich. They give you a bed in one of 8 dormitories. You probably wouldn’t run into anyone you know, would you? So you lay down in bed after a long hard day pounding the pavement and who should walk in the door. Anna, ex-Gilroy 2003. And, so happens that she is also travelling to Paris tomorrow. (Different train though. That would have been too weird)
Anyway, the final couple of days were spent checking out the Palace and Royal Mews. (That’s where they keep their horses and carriages) as well as another trip up to Greenwich Observatory.

We have all seen the Queens Golden Carriage. It is much bigger than it looks. It takes 2 days to get it out of this room when they want to use it. So the royal Mews was another stop on the agenda. More security than the airport here.

Here we are at the observatory in Greenwich. This is where the famous Harrison clocks are kept. I think they are famous anyway and would make a fascinating Academic Skills project one day...... So far no one has taken my advice though..... Anyway, it was a really good display.

This is also where the Meridian line is. 00"00' West 00"00' East. Stood on the line and printed a certificate to prove it. Those are my feet just below Greenwich.

And so to the winner of the first competition. Well done Rusty. You were the winner this time and will shortly be receiving your prize. If you missed out this time, there will be another competition coming next week. See you all next time from Paris.

Week one Continued..... Day 4 - 7

After careful consideration, I also now believe that the Cottage toilets were much cleaner, healthy and smelt better then the ones at St Christopher’s Inn, Greenwich. Having said that, toilets here are still in existence.

So the later part of the week continued as did the first. Lots of sight seeing, walking, pictures and 2 new Facebook friends.

All the usual touristy things. Lords Cricket Ground, Abby Road, Buckingham Palace and The Globe. The tally for strangers asking "do you have 20p you could spare" is 23. Sadely, I never seem to have any "spare" change when they ask.

Yesterday, I meet up with a long time friend John Frost (John Frost Newspapers) after about 15 years of communicating through the mail. We got on a bus and he spent the trip pointing out buildings that he remembered from before the war, what was there, what they once did in them, who once lived in them etc. He seemed to have a good memory for someone of 88.

Paris is the next destination leaving on Friday afternoon and meeting up with Trudy Andrews. Hope to find SBS at the Tour De France to send back a hello to everyone.

Starting a new competition today. Seems I have gone overboard with the souvenirs. So, first person to write a nice comment telling me how much they miss me gets a prize from London. Only thing is, only people who know what my job is can enter.....
See you all...

Week one in London - Days 1-3

After a flight that seemed to go on for ever and eternity, I finally landed in London at 6.30 am and journeyed out to the hostel in Greenwich. It is an old building set above a pub right next to the train station and about 10 min walk from the Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory. Having an interest in all things nautical, this is a perfect spot for me to be.

Having arrived early (4hours early) I dumped the bags in the foyer and went for the first sight seeing at the museums. The highlight being the Royal Observatory where the clocks built by John Harrison are housed. After standing over the meridian line it was back to the hostel to check in properly. My room is an 8 bed dorm. Before long, myself and 3 others were back up to London for a hopefully nice Indian meal in Soho before getting back to the hotel at about 11.00 for that long awaited rest. The showers at this Hostel would have to be the worst I have ever been in. That includes the well known Cottage showers at Gilroy College, now a thing of the past with the 1950's building having been demolished recently. It is hard enough to get wet in these water efficient examples of British engineering, but unfortunately, the chances of keeping dry once you get out are slim. Once that was safely put behind, a test if the iphone capabilities was in order, and I was pleased with the results.

Fellow back packer, Zillah used the GPS system to find the location of her conference class. This journey took us into the old naval hospital, which is now a college campus. Being an hour early we decided to work out a story each in the event that we were asked what we were doing, and casually strolled through the buildings pretending to be students looking for our course lecture. These poms are easily fooled. Back at the hostel and a quick scan of the guide books and off to the Victoria and Albert museum.

A very interesting place with one of almost everything. The jewellery displays have examples of styles from the early Celtic period up to the present.

In the foyer, a modern glass art piece serves as the central lighting made of thousands of individual blown coloured glass. After a quick lunch, some more wandering around the streets of London and phoning a couple of people from the past. The evening jazz festival back at the old naval hospital ended the night along with new friends from Amsterdam, New Zealand and Ireland.

Sadly, Optus have not been very helpful with their phone services and much of the third and fourth days of the "Excellent European Adventure" have been taken up in a seemingly useless attempt to have them perform a seemingly simple task. Provide phone access. Yes, I to made the error of thinking that a phone company could do this, but, no.

The following few days should be interesting with a few reunions taking place with some old friends.

Stop over in Hong Kong

We landed in Hong Kong airport after about an 8 hour flight. There was 3 or so hours between the arrival and boarding of the flight for the second stage of the trip to London. Enough time to have a look around the shops, get something to eat and call home. It was fairly late before the flight was to leave so I killed some time and got myself a coffee at Starbucks. My traveling companion "Gecko" will be with me during the next few months.