Paris, France
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All my love goes out to you Jilly. I'm thinking of you at this sad time.
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Thanks for all the wonderful emails from you all. I love the news and hearing from you. Keep it up, it keeps us going!!! xxxx
Monday 16th July 2007
+++++++++++++++++++++
It's so great returning to France!
We feel familiar with it. It's amazing how a place seem so different when you return?
Does that mean we should return to every place we go?
hehe
Okay. I'm being silly.
The weather is just magic. Yesterday we went to Chateau Versailles and it was actually HOT! No kidding. In the end we sweltered!!!
What a place that is.
If anyone has been there they'll understand just what i mean.
It's OPULENCE plus!
I have never seen a place, so big, so grand, so extravagent, so extreme...
And so beautiful.
Such magnificance and well, just a spectacularly beautifully decorated place to see with our very own eyes. And we thought the palace in Madrid (Spain) was over the top and opulant..and we thought the palace in Istanbul was plush...
But this was just like nothing we have ever seen. The adornments, the gold, gilt, the baroque sculptures, huge french paintings gracing the walls, halls of chandaliers like you've ever seen...
7,800 hectares of gardens...the fountains glowing and sparkling in the sunshine, the neverending waters pools and the grand canal. The hamlet which Queen Antionette also designed (as well as the gardens) which had 12 thatched houses and more wonderful gardens...and 'the temple of love' where Greg produced the most wonderful golden ruby ring and then romatically slipped it onto my finger, proclaiming his undying love and reminding me of our upcoming marriage in Las Vegas!
The ring has a long history..it's a Tudor ring that Elizabeth 1 wore!! It's beatiful!
(Sshhh..but it's from the tourist shop in Westminster Abbey....but hey...a 10 pound ruby ring looks just the same as a ten thousand one hey!)
And it has meaning....:-)
The chateau, or palace, is the palace where the Kings and Queens of France all lived. All the Louis' lived there in other words!!!!!
This is the place where the final King of France, Louis XV1 ended up getting being the target of the final uprising, causing the END of the French Monarchy. It was the beginning of the French Republic. 14th July 1789. Bastille Day.
NO WONDER the peasants and the people of France got pissed off and charged the palace causing poor ol Louis XV1 and Queen Antoinette to be beheaded!!!!
They must have just had enough of the past and present king's grandiose lifestyle!
And to think, we were here in Paris on Bastille Day. Talk about a mad day. People everywhere, fireworks going off, marching, hundreds of thousands of people in the streets of Paris watching the procession..and the massive concert after.
Greg and i were here for the day. We planned to be here to help in the celebrations. And be there with all the firecrackers and crackpots.
And in the end...we got so overwhelmed by the celebrations!
As we were about to go to the main city and watch the celebrations...we saw the maddening crowd on the tv in the lobby of our hotel!
And they were just setting up all these celebrations at that time...the people outside our hotel were going mad trying to get on the trains...
It was pretty crazy already. We heard firecrackers going off in our street!
And then we heard the planes flying overhead...and the red, white and blue smoke pouring out of a procession of planes, colouring the sky with the french colours!
And the helicopters...
It was amazing. So many people celebrating! So much going on.
Imagine Australia Day in Perth. Well. This was that, multiplied by 10! Honestly.
The French must have been mighty happy to becmome a republic! They certainly celebrate it as if they are!!
We decided NO WAY we were going to get on the metro and get siphoned into the crowd and suffocated while we were in France.
So! We watched, with the other french hotel people and joined in the celebrations with them!
And after...
When the tv broadcast had finished..and the madness and mayhem began as people started moving from the Paris Square..
We decided to take advantage of the hairdressers - or in French, the "Coiffure" being open..with no one in it..and have my hair cut!!!
hahaha
And that was good :-)
We also did our laundry while that was uncluttered.
And that was good too.
THEN....
We watched the Bastille Day concert on tv that night...there was a guy that the crowd were going crazy for...he had a white afro hair and white rimmed glasses..and the crowd were dressed in the same..and he sang beatiful french songs..and Greg and i wondered who the heck he was?????? Definately a french Elton John!!!!
So! That was Bastille Day. We enjoyed being here to be part of the celebrations but would never venture into the centre to get crushed...
Are we getting old?
And vulnerable?
And frail?
Talking about all those things above,
hehe
Greg's birthday is coming up........................
And i have a couple of surprises for him....
I'll let you know ALL ABOUT IT next blog!
:-)
By the way, we're both being VERY HEALTHY here in France! We've been overloading ourselves with fresh fruit and veges...and today, after wondering why i had this crashing headache, realised it was because i hadn't had coffee for two days. So we took ourselves to this beautiul little french cafe, had an 'americano' coffee....and walah! Headache gone....
I'm not addicted to caffeine. No NOT I.
And...about the book i was reading, "Skinny Bitch" well, they can have it! It's advocates a completely vegan diet, no dairy, (no cheese???!!!), no meat, no eggs, no toxic foods - no wine? No coffee? (I've learned what happens there!)
With no disrespect to vegans out there, it's a completely whacko way to live a life.
Especially when you can't eat french escargot (snails) and frogs legs.
I mean, how could you leave France without eating those?
xxx
PS See here for pix of the Chateau Versailles
http://www.kulturreisen-baldham.de/reisen/Versailles/versaillesfest.html
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
ENGLAND TO FRANCE
Paris, France
Friday 13th
We're not superstitious thank goodness!!!!!
Day 128 - 130
We left Southampton after our one final last realisation that a pound is a lot of money. And that realisation came in the form of a 1 pound vending machine experience!!! While i was in the 'ladies' i saw a vending machine saying we could get two toothpaste chewies for one pound and seeing we had been waiting at the airport for FIVE hours i thought this might be a good idea!!
But! The vending machine took my money and that was that. No toothpaste chewies! Gosh i was livid. I was already cranky after waiting so long (i did email for 10minutes of those five hours to fill in time..and that cost 1 pound as well!) and that was the last straw.
I mean...when you think about it, one pound, is $2.50. Which is a loaf of bread. Which is two pieces of toast every morning for a week! It's 2 litres of water. It's a cup of coffee. IT's......day light robbery to have a pound taken off ya for no reason! Gosh, the last time i got upset about a thing like that was when i was in an internet cafe in Ireland and it was costing a euro for every half an hour of use. So i finished on the half hour..and went to pay, and he charged me because it was two seconds over the half hour...and he said it was only the cost of a "SIP OF COFFEE"!
At the time i felt like saying..well YOU bear the cost of a sip of coffee and don't charge me for half an hours use (1 euro) when i've only used 2 seconds of time.
What i hate is injustice!
And the pure fact that there are all these ripoffs that are here to test us. Especially in England..when the pound just about crucified us. Honestly, our budget was blown out by probably thousands...just the time we were in the country!
Okay..i've had my whinge!
We left the place that, yes, was beautiful, but yes, ruined our budget..and returned to Paris....
A place we both really love.
Just getting off the plane and catching the train was EASY. The train system in France is so wonderful. And cheap. In comparison to the UK...ok, we won't GO ON about this.....
But now that we're back in Paris..we realise just how cheap it is! VERY CHEAP.
Just our accomodation and train fares and food alone here in Paris is enbling us to get back to our 100 dollar budget (yes Andy - per day).
It took us an hour to get from Southampton to Paris. We landed at the Charles De Gaulle which took 40 minutes, and the train from the airport to paris took us 20 minutes.
JUST LIKE THAT!
We're here...
And our accomodation was all booked before we left last time..so it was wonderful comoing back to a familiar location..with all the quaint Paris buildings..the knowledge of the Eifel Tower looming beyond..fashions beckoning us...and...
SMOKE.
The one thing i noticed so much.
The fact that people smoke everywhere, anywhere and all over the place...We got a bit spoilt in the UK because the laws are in now that no public places allow smokers. It came in while we were in England, on July 1st, but it was already enforced in Scotland, Ireland and Wales. So we're noticing it again here....
But anyway...it was a great trip from England to France.
And we have A WHOLE WEEK!
Yay...
Friday 13th
We're not superstitious thank goodness!!!!!
Day 128 - 130
We left Southampton after our one final last realisation that a pound is a lot of money. And that realisation came in the form of a 1 pound vending machine experience!!! While i was in the 'ladies' i saw a vending machine saying we could get two toothpaste chewies for one pound and seeing we had been waiting at the airport for FIVE hours i thought this might be a good idea!!
But! The vending machine took my money and that was that. No toothpaste chewies! Gosh i was livid. I was already cranky after waiting so long (i did email for 10minutes of those five hours to fill in time..and that cost 1 pound as well!) and that was the last straw.
I mean...when you think about it, one pound, is $2.50. Which is a loaf of bread. Which is two pieces of toast every morning for a week! It's 2 litres of water. It's a cup of coffee. IT's......day light robbery to have a pound taken off ya for no reason! Gosh, the last time i got upset about a thing like that was when i was in an internet cafe in Ireland and it was costing a euro for every half an hour of use. So i finished on the half hour..and went to pay, and he charged me because it was two seconds over the half hour...and he said it was only the cost of a "SIP OF COFFEE"!
At the time i felt like saying..well YOU bear the cost of a sip of coffee and don't charge me for half an hours use (1 euro) when i've only used 2 seconds of time.
What i hate is injustice!
And the pure fact that there are all these ripoffs that are here to test us. Especially in England..when the pound just about crucified us. Honestly, our budget was blown out by probably thousands...just the time we were in the country!
Okay..i've had my whinge!
We left the place that, yes, was beautiful, but yes, ruined our budget..and returned to Paris....
A place we both really love.
Just getting off the plane and catching the train was EASY. The train system in France is so wonderful. And cheap. In comparison to the UK...ok, we won't GO ON about this.....
But now that we're back in Paris..we realise just how cheap it is! VERY CHEAP.
Just our accomodation and train fares and food alone here in Paris is enbling us to get back to our 100 dollar budget (yes Andy - per day).
It took us an hour to get from Southampton to Paris. We landed at the Charles De Gaulle which took 40 minutes, and the train from the airport to paris took us 20 minutes.
JUST LIKE THAT!
We're here...
And our accomodation was all booked before we left last time..so it was wonderful comoing back to a familiar location..with all the quaint Paris buildings..the knowledge of the Eifel Tower looming beyond..fashions beckoning us...and...
SMOKE.
The one thing i noticed so much.
The fact that people smoke everywhere, anywhere and all over the place...We got a bit spoilt in the UK because the laws are in now that no public places allow smokers. It came in while we were in England, on July 1st, but it was already enforced in Scotland, Ireland and Wales. So we're noticing it again here....
But anyway...it was a great trip from England to France.
And we have A WHOLE WEEK!
Yay...
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