Day 43 London to Home

Late rise as the plane leaves at 2.30PM from Gatwick.

Onto the Tube, well almost, our train credit had expired and needed to top up and that proved to be a little difficult, as 5 pounds wasn't quite enough for where wanted to go.

Dragging 21 KG bags around ain't no treat I can tell you.

Finally get onto the Gatwick Train an off to the airport.

Check in, all’s well, though a bit of a wait.

We have spent all our money down to the last 10 pounds so can just afford lunch. Just!

Then onto the plane for the leg to Dubai.

We have seats right down the back, just two together and that’s quite good.

7 hours, drags a bit.

Finally out into the heat of Dubai with a quite quick turnover and then the 12 hour leg to Adelaide.

Now that really drags and drags. Bugger all sleep for either of us.

On and on it goes.

Touch down, then the wait to get off, through Duty Free, get bags, through Customs and Immigration with a boot wash for one of my boots (only one) then taxi and home!

Sweaty and sticky.

Home

Shower and a full bottle of 555 shiraz to help the sleep arrive.

Day 41 Paris

The Latin Quarter

Well the best laid plans of mice and men as they say and tomorrow wasn’t to be Versailles after all.

For reasons that that don’t need to be aired in a blog, Jo decided not to go.

As I have already been I decided to take advantage of a free walk provided from Place St Michael and spent 3 hours happily trolling around the Latin , the Ile de la Citie and Pont Neuf, the Louvre and the Tuileries hearing about the history of Paris.

Pont Neuf

Then back to the Hostel and out for my birthday dinner which we had at Terminus due Nord, a rather wonderful art deco restaurant right opposite the Gare du Nord station.

The food was pretty good, however the prices really show spoiled we are in Australia for variety and quality etc.

Then a pleasant stroll back to our digs and for once the hostel was quiet, with only one period of singing at about 1/30AM!!

Day 40 Paris

Art Deco Metro entrance

The day does not start well. The hostel is noisy all night and our room is above the smoking courtyard that seem populated all night too.

We arise late, grab a cup of coffee on the way, great stuff coffee!

Arrive the Louvre from the Metro entrance and initially it isn’t clear where we get tickets where were go once we have them.

There’s huge line up for tickets, cash only and no-one for the auto ticket machines that take the card-quick and painless.

We then head for Mona Lisa to tick her off the list, get lost, find Venus de Milo briefly, get lost, get lost again and finally Mona is found, looking her usual enigmatic self.

Mona too far

No wonder with so many people looking at her all the time.

I don’t bother try and get in close. Been there done that.

Jo breasts the crowd and gets to the front OK and takes the obligatory picture through the two layers of glass that protect her.

We then head off for lunch, quickly, then back in to find Michelangelo “Slave Statue”, then the Greek and Roman sculptures, which I love (the high-light for me of the Louvre).

Venus de Milo

Then Napoleon III’s apartments, garish and opulent and terrific.

By this time it is after three and we are foot sore, however we do make it out to the Tuileries and walk down the promenade from the Grand Pond to the Octagonal Pond before heading for the Metro.

It’s 24 here in Paris today and that is quite hot.

Tomorrow Versailles 

Day 39 Paris

The hostel is quite noisy and our room, beside the lift and overlooking a courtyard may be noisier than most.

Nevertheless, I slept quite well.

Off to breakfast, just up the road, having first gone to Gare Du Nord for some cash, then off on the Metro to see the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel tower in sight

The Metro goes well, change at the right spot, get out at the Tower station, queue for our tickets.

From here things go a bit pear shaped.

We get the “Stairs Only” tickets using them to get us to the 2^nd Floor. They do not however take us to the top of the Tower!!! I thought they did when I was here in 2011,

At this point, having only looked two directions from the second floor, Jo decides it is time to bail out and heads of for the “Sortie” and we go all the way down and exit the Tower.

As I am now persona non grata, I head off whilst she sits fuming, to find we could have got tickets for the top from the second floor.

Looking up a ladies skirts

Oh well, chance missed and there’s no going back.

We then jump on the Hop on, Hop off Bus however does not prove to be a success either.

Nor does Musee D’Orsay, so we are back at the hostel just after 3.00PM.

Effectively, a day wasted. What more can I say?

A nanna nap helped things a bit and we got out to tea later than usual, about 7.30PM for a pizza of all things and Belgium beer!!

Day 38 London to Paris

Oxford Street

A bit of a sleep in prior to the pack up and checking out.

We leave the bags at the hostel and head off, where down bloody Oxford Street once again to the house of the living dead, Primart.

The land of the living dead

After some time there I am given parole to get a coffee, and then sentenced to more time, however I do actually buy something for myself, Sesame Street socks.

By this time, it is around mid-day so we head back to the hostel for bags and lunch.

Onto the Underground to get to St Pancras for the Eurotrain and finally at 2.30PM we are off, initially slowly then faster through the English country-side.

I can rack the speed of the train with an iPhone app, until we descend into the channel tunnel, and after what seems a long time we emerge into France.

High speed train

France seem very flat compared to England and we even get fleeting glimpses of what look like War Cemeteries, from time to time.

Precisely on time we pull into Gare de Nord, and after some geographical confusion, get ourselves to our hostel on Rue de Dunkerke.

Our room is upstairs however they do have a lift. The tiniest I have ever seen.

Once settled we foray out for dinner and find a small place in Montmartre not far away and enjoy our first French meal with a Bordeaux.

We have a bit of a fright, as their card machine isn’t working, and I can just pay the bill, and I mean just.

C’est la vie

Day 37 London

The Old Girl

The Australian red turned out to be OK.

Out at nine which seems to be our thing, down to the Underground, find the right station and off to the V and A, otherwise known as the Victoria and Albert Museum.

We arrive 10 minutes early and have to endure some light rain before we are offered shelter in the V and A.

The V and A is the museum of art and design and we head for the top floor to evade the crowds.

This works as we have it to ourselves for nearly 30 minutes. It is the ceramic and pottery section which is to be honest rather boring. The most interesting thing was a video of David Attenborough interviewing a famous potter (so famous I have never heard of her) who was 85 at the time, as she made some pots and fired them.

Then down a floor or so to the photographic section, which was small but much more interesting and then sculpture hall, which I like.

I must say I am rather partial to a semi-naked marble statue.

Over 2 ½ hours later we bale out for lunch, then head off to the Science Museum to look at the medical section on the top three floors.

The Science Museum

This was particularly interesting and well done with dioramas of medicine through the ages and then a more formal look at medicine. A must if this is your thing.

It’s now getting on for 3.00Pm and our feet ae sore (what’s new?).

So back onto the Underground for a stop at Leicester Square to get some cheap (we hope) tickets for a show tonight.

The Lion King is very expensive or the seats are poor, however we do decide on Warhorse for 52 Pound i.e. 26 pound each, which we think is pretty good for a live production. The girl at TKTS recommended it over Lion King, so we hope she is right. More later after the show.

Dinner of fish and chips, very poor compared with what we get in Oz and then a 15 minute walk to Drury lane for the show.

Quite a show with full-sized puppet horses being the real star of the show which is about a young man who gets a horse as a foal, brings it up only to have it requisitioned by the British Army in WW I and then is search to find.

Very well done and a recommended see if it comes to Australia.

Day 36 London

Another slow start, however slept well as we managed to get an extra pillow each and at last our heads were being supported better. The YHA pillows are to say the least “thin”.

We attacked the Underground using an App, I downloaded whilst here, and it gave very easy instructions, so apart from riding escalators, climbing up and down stairs it was all quite simple and quite quick.

Off at Tower Hill after one change and down to The Tower of London.

Field of poppies

The first thing you notice ae the fields of poppies in the moat around the embattlements. Each one represents a British soldier who died in WW I, all 888264 of them!!

And then began the Tower experience starting with Traitor’s Gate, the Bloody Tower, the Medieval palace, the White Tower, the Crown Jewels, traitors and executions and so it went for over 4 hours.

Traitor's Gate

So much to see, that it really was a whole day experience.

By the time we had finished we were foot sore and exhausted.

Henry VIII's armour

Being a tourist is hard work.

Having arrived at 10.00AM we walked out at 2.30PM and headed back via the Tube once more.

Funny, by the time we got back to Oxford Street Station Jo was revitalised and had to do some more shopping!! So it was back to the land of the living dead for me once more, to be finally released after about 30 minutes.

Tonight, a meal in, Thai red curry with a bottle of good Australian red (that remains to be seen).