September 2009
77 posts
Paris, France, Day eight
Our last full day in France, and for our trip! We had planned to go to Versaille today, so we made our way to the train station and caught the regional train for the 25-minute ride. It was nice to get out of the city center for a little while, and we really noticed the change in smog levels!
We must have timed our trip badly, because the queue for tickets took forever, even though we were buying...
Paris, France, Day 7!
Our apartment was across the road from Invalides, where Napoleon is buried. The huge building was where many of war wounded lived and Napoleon was eventually laid to rest. His body is in an impressive five coffins (ebony, mahogany, tin and two lead) and then in a massive quartz monument underneath the huge dome.
We then headed to Montmarte, a suburb in the 1st district, most famous for the huge...
Paris, France, Day six
After shopping yesterday, we thought it was about time we headed to some museums for a bit of culture. We first went to Musée Rodin, which was quite close to where we are staying. This museum is mainly set in some beautiful (and surprisingly large) gardens, with Rodin’s sculptures scattered around the grounds. We saw his most famous work, ‘The Thinker’, but there were also a lot...
Paris, France, Day five
We woke eager to find the Aussie pub for Simon to watch the Collingwood preliminary final. After finding one, they directed us to another ‘ten minutes’ down the road. After walking for over an hour we arrived at the next pub, eager to watch the game. Sadly, they were showing yesterdays game - pathetic! Hot and bothered we went and grabbed a bite to eat. We had a great charcuteries...
Paris, France, Day four
We woke to our first hint of blue sky! Is that a rarity in Paris? Simon went and found us some pastries, our normal breakfast now. We got going pretty early in order to find the Catacombs by opening time. We passed some huge cemetaries, with huge tombs put aside for families. Simon tells me there just wasn’t enough room for all the bodies though, thus there are the Catacombs - old quarries...
Paris, France, Day Three; Lunch @ Le Jules Verne
After a relaxing morning we prepared ourselves for our first outing to the Eiffel Tower and lunch at Le Jules Verne. It is great staying so close to the tower: we are only a 10 minute walk, max. All rugged up in my new coat, it was great walking toward the tower and, as rain was forecast, it appeared to have scared off the crowds to some extent which was nice.
The elevator up the tower was...
Paris, France, Days one and two
We were faced with a long train ride today, first from Berlin to Cologne (Köln) and then swapping trains and continuing on to Paris. The leg to Cologne was fine, and we quite enjoyed riding the Italian and German trains, not least because we were able to travel in first class. The Paris leg wasn’t quite as smooth though. Firstly, we were back in the packed cattle class and secondly because...
Berlin, Germany, Day Three
We got up early (again! Why do we do it!) and headed into the city (grabbing the first of our average 3 fresh pretzels daily!), to start our walking tour of Berlin. Our guide, Lisa, was terrific. She was born in Berlin then moved to Scotland when she was 13, then back to Berlin after uni. We started out with a quick walk due to the S Bahn being out of comission and before long we were walking past...
Brrrrr Berlin, Germany, day two
We awoke to a typical Berlin day; cold and rainy. Max temp of 14… bit of a shock to the system after barely having weather under 24 for the past month. Anyway, we decided to have a wander. We headed to a train station to pick up our Berlin Welcome Card booklet and map. We then headed for Boxhagener Platz, a ‘cool’ suburb as Esko calls it. They had a market on so we wandered...
Berlin, Germany, Day one
Stuffing our backpacks full once again, we went with Jase and Grace (and Ruby) into town to catch the airport shuttle bus. Finally arriving at Malpensa airport, we then wasted more of our lives lining up for EasyJet. Thankfully, after a quick flight, we ended up, baggage and all, in Berlin, where we were met by Esko, Katie’s cousins partner. Esko drove us back to their place (saving us...
Milan, Italy, Day two
Poor Grace had to get up and go to work today, while the rest of us had a leisurely morning before hitting the shops in the city.
Milan CBD has a great feel to it. It’s great popping out of the metro station and being faced with the amazing Duomo. Then the huge, beautiful Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II sits just to the left then lots more lovely shops everywhere in sight. First stop,...
Venice, Italy, day two
We started the day by getting a water bus to the nearby island of Murano, where the famous Venetian glass is made. We spent a couple of hours looking through the little shops with just about anything you want made from glass. Remembering we had to attempt to get our purchases home, we opted for a small plate and some jewellery. It was nice over at the island, away from the craziness of...
