Paris Part Deux - the photos

Here are some of the photos I took while in Paris:

Me in front of Monte's Waterlillies

My favourite of the Waterlillies paintings

In front of the Sacre Coeur

At the top of the Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower, lit up

Shakespeare & Company bookstore

Stained-glass window, Notre Dame

The iconic Eiffel Tower

Me on one of the many bridges on the Seine

Paris Part Deux

This long weekend I went away to Paris, for my second visit.

It got off to a bit of a bumpy start, with me forgetting my handbag (containing my wallet, with house keys and money) and having to ring the phone and door bell in order to wake Caroline to let me in so I could get it. Having accomplished that, I arrived at the airport well within time, though to discover I'd forgotten my EU adaptor! After having to buy a twin-pack I am now in possession of four (yes, you've read correctly) EU adaptors, three UK-EU ones and a NZ-EU one. Anyone in the market?

My first piece of good luck came when I got into Gare de Nord station (from the airport), and having no luck finding the ticket machine, a lovely Scottish woman gave me one of hers! As soon as I'd dropped my bag off at the hostel, I headed down to Roland Garros in the hope of securing myself a ticket. Alas, amongst all the hoards of people I was told by a official that it wouldn't be possible. Resigned, I decided to walk back from Roland Garros to Notre Dame Cathedral on the Ile de le Cite - no mean feat. It took me about an hour and a half, two hours, but the weather was beautiful and the walk along the Seine lovely. The stained-glass windows inside Notre Dame were stunning (as they always are), I particularly liked the three at the back, which I thought were especially beautiful - they came out very well in the photos as well. My next stop was to a bookshop that I'd read about in my guidebook. It's famous for publishing James Joyce's Uylesses when nobody else would, as well as providing a place to sleep for up-and-coming authors. The shelves inside were floor-to-ceiling and it was one of the coolest bookshops I've ever been in. I was rather proud that I managed not to buy anything! That evening I made myself a picnic of bread and ham and strawberries, sat under the Eiffel Tower and ate it. This time I made the effort to stand in line (and freeze) in order to take the elevator to the very top - well worth the effort. The view was amazing and now I can say that I've been to the top of the Eiffel Tower!

Day two, I got up nice and early determined that I'd be able to procure tickets to Roland Garros. Unfortunately, upon arriving I was informed that this year (for the first time) they weren't allowing people to queue for tickets - they could only be bought online. Needless to say I was bitterly disappointed about this - being that my whole reason for going to Paris was in order to see some tennis. But, I moved on from my funk and went up to the Sacre Coeur, just a five minute walk from my hostel. As always, the view was beautiful. I think Sacre Coeur is my favourite church - there is something incredibly peaceful about it. I think it has something to do with the fact that you aren't allowed to take photos inside. I then made the walk along the Champs Elysses, to see the Arc de Triomphe, where a group of brides (at least eight of them) were having photos taken. I then decided to walk to the Latin Quarter in order to see the catacombs, though unfortunately didnt' get there in time, so that is still one thing in Paris I've not seen. One of my highlights was going to the Musee De L'Orangerie, which is where Monet's famous 'Waterlillies' are housed. I hadn't realised just how big they are and thought they were some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Spent some time sitting in the sun, reading (and getting burnt) in the Jardin de Tulieres. Then capped the evening off with dinner at a French Restaurant and sitting on the steps of the Sacre Coeur listening to an impropmtu 'concert' by a busker playing his guitar. It was really great as the crowd really got into it, singing along and even getting up to dance.

Monday was my last day in Paris, and was yet again a beautiful one. I spent most of it just walking around - including walking along the Promenade Plantee, a walk that is located on top of an old railway station (that is now disused). It was quite pretty, and I enjoyed it. The rest of the day I spent in the Jardin de Tulieres (again), relaxing in the chairs, finishing my book and enjoying the wonderful weather. My last thing in Paris was once again walking up the Champs Elysses, in the hope of having time to go up the Arc de Triomphe, but I didn't (though in retrospect I could have, having arrived at the airport with pleanty of time to spare).

So, although I didn't see any tennis (I shall just have to go next year :P), I had a wonderful time in Paris, and would love to go again. Again :P

I think this post is ridiculously long, so I'll post photos in a seperate one :)

Henley-on-Thames

This weekend I was invited to attend by 5-year-old and 2-year-old cousins' birthday party, and then was invited to spend the entire weekend with my Uncle, his wife and their two little girls in Henley-on-Thames, which is about an hour West of London. So I did.

I headed over there on Friday evening after finishing work, arriving to a lovely meal of steak and chips. At the moment they are in the middle of adding an extention onto their house, so living space is rather limited. Meaning that my bed was the fold-out sofa in the living room. This isn't really problem, though being woken up before 7AM on a weekend isn't exactly my idea of fun!

Saturday was party day, so there was a lot of excitement and build-up from the girls. M, the oldest and I decorated her birthday cake with gel pens. She then had ballet, but my Mum called just before she was due to leave so I ended up chatting to her instead of dropping M off at ballet. Was lovely to chat and see what everyone back is up to. I then went for a walk along the Thames, which is about five minutes from their house. My highlight was seeing the cute ducklings I saw - photos were taken of course :) The party kicked off at 3PM, but we turned up early to get everything set up. All the kids arrived and madness ensued! Luckily there was an entertainer to keep the kiddies occupied. One little girl got rather upset though and spent a good 40minutes sitting on my lap.

And today, my Uncle's wife's sister-in-law, her mother and two girls came to visit. The sister-in-law is French so the girls speak both English and French. Again, the day was a little hectic and my two cousins were rather tired from their big day on Saturday. We had a lovely lunch of pizza, salad, bread and wonderful cheese. Then we went for a play in the park and an ice-cream, then it was time for me to head home.

So, not the most relaxing of weekends, but it was nice to be around family. And this coming weekend I'm heading to Paris for three days, so very much looking forward to that!

There were ducklings, so photos had to be taken!

One of the boats sailing along the Thames - this one was quite smelly!

Ducklings with their mother :)

Weekend of Non-Adventures

This past weekend was the first in three that I've actually be at home in London, so I had decided that it was going to be one of chilling, relaxing and doing nothing much. And that's pretty much how it turned out!

On Saturday I went on a bit of a nerdy walking tour - a Harry Potter film scene theme-d one - with my lovely and Harry Potter-obsessed friend Brinnie. Well, it wasn't quite what we'd expected. I for one, was expecting to see the street where Diagon Alley was filmed, or perhaps even the 9 3/4 platform that is rigged up in King's Cross station. But no. We went to some sports where slightly less-known scenes were filmed eg: the entrance to the Ministry of Magic. However, our guide was very knowledgeable, not just about HP (he was also rather keen with the stickers; as in, he asks a question, you answer correctly, you get a sticker) but about London, so we learnt some interesting things about the city as we went along. The most entertaining part of the walk, was when looking at the 'entrance' to the Ministry of Magic a double-decker bus went past with an image of Rupert Grint (aka Ron Weasley) on it! Afterwards Brinnie and I, to quench our hunger popped into a nearby pub for some amazing chicken burgers, chips and Pimms (well it is the season for it!)

That evening I watched the amazing tennis match between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray - it was truly one of the best matches I've seen in a long time, and deservedly went into a third set, with Djokovic prevailing, though Murray did have two match points. Sunday I was somewhat unexpectedly awoken at 6.30 AM with a phone call from my Dad, just to say 'hi'. I informed him that I wasn't quite ready to be awake and went back to sleep. I spent most of the day waiting for the mens' tennis final in Rome to start, between Rafael Nadal and Djokovic, though due to a rain delay that didn't happen until nearly 7PM UK time. For the fourth time this year, Djokovic bet Nadal, and for the second time, in straight sets on clay. I was much disappointed! But I have to say, as much as I want Nadal to keep the No.1 position, Djokovic, based on current form, does deserve to claim it, which he will surely do following the French Open, which starts this week. I'm very excited about this ;) 

So that was my weekend. It wasn't all that eventful, but I think it was exactly what I needed. This weekend I am going to my Uncle's in Henley to celebrate his daughters birthdays' (5 and 2). So, early mornings are too be expected and lots of sleep is not! But it'll be nice to be around family.

Sorry, no pictures today! 

Bergen, Norway

I've neglected this blog in a terrible sort of way, so I am once again making an effort to blog regularly. I've decided the best way to do this is to make this blog a more specific one - writing of the travels and adventures I get up to while away overseas.

My most recent travel trip was to Bergen, Norway, this past weekend with my lovely friend Nicky. We had an early start on Saturday morning. Flying over Norway was amazing - I hadn't realised there were so many little islands and archipelago's - it was a truly beautiful sight.

After touching down and bussing into the city centre Nicky and I made our way to our hostel -which was a bit out of the way. However, it was about five minutes walk from the furnicular (cable car) so we immediately set off for the top. Although a little chilly and the view overlooking the city was fantastic - and there was even little pockets of snow left at the top!

For the rest of the day we wondered slowly around the city, having some fish at the fish market (Nicky made me!), looked around the nooks and crannies of the old-town, did a spot of tourist-y shopping and had a wonderful dinner at a rather fancy Sushi Bar.

Unfortunately we didn't get the good-nights sleep we were hoping for (and desperately needing) due to rather loud room-mates (three guesses where they came from!) packing for an hour at night and another at 6AM - putting their clothes into vacuum-pack bags, which made the sounds of paper bags rustling.

Next morning was started off with a huge buffet breakfast at hostel (included in the price), followed by a hike up the hill. We were both rather tired, so we didn't make it to the top, but we saw pleanty of people heading up, both as we were going up and down - and lots of people with their children too. The rest of the day we spent mooching around the city, mostly in the old-town and along the water front. We had a long lunch at a lovely Italian restaurant, did a bit more shopping, before heading to the airport to catch our flight back to London.

Below are just a few of the photos I took :)

Old town buildings

Me at the top of the mountain

View of Bergen from the mountain