Paris 2011

Paris is simply a very beautiful city, not just due to the volume of historic and/or grandeur that can be seen in a myriad of places, but it is also beautiful due to its innate feel if you take the time to breath it in.

Whilst we had visited Paris a few very brief times before, this time we were going to stay almost a week... just in Paris and as we learned, it still wasn't enough.

We stayed in the quirky Hôtel Saint André des Arts in the Latin quarter district of Paris, with its creaky stairs, no lift and novel breakfast area with other guests set up each morning in the front foyer area.  

Whilst rumoured to have been a hotel used by the Kings Musketeers, it was a lot of fun, even though you dared not drop the soap in the shower because of how small it was, well for me anyway.

Located a mere 1.5kms from Notre-Dame de Pari, it wasn't long before we were off on one of numerous walks throughout the older parts of Paris to absorb both the atmosphere, history and naturally, the food.  The Paris Metro was also used extensively to reach further flung sights.

Whilst taking our time, we were soon admiring destinations like:

Sacre Coeur and can you spot Rob

Below the Arc De Triomphe

There are so many elegant and serene parks in Paris and...

...the French doing what they love doing!

Zipping through Paris on a Segway

Paris became the location for our inaugural use of something we had been wanting to have a go on for years... a 3 hour Segway tour throughout Paris.  

So with a mere 15 mins of coaching on how to use one, then with helmets in place, we were off with other riders to explore more of Paris.

Riding a Segway along footpaths amongst pedestrians, along the busy road with cars and zipping across intersections with the lights yearning to change quickly.

It certainly kept us all on our toes combined with a few of the pedestrians around us.  

What a great way to see more of this city.



Naturally we spent time around and under the Eiffel Tower...

But it was the Place de la Concorde that fascinated us due to its beautiful, imposing fountains and other ornamental structures spread elegantly throughout its 8.64 hectares size, the largest public space in Paris.

Various structure within Place de la Concorde

The Place de la Concorde however also had a dark and very gruesome history, because it was also the site of the infamous but notable public executions of royalty during the French Revolution.

After the French Revolution in 1789, it also became the location where the new revolutionary government erected a guillotine in the square, and it was here that King Louis XVI was executed on 21 January 1793 and then in front of cheering crowds, Queen Marie Antoinette.

At one stage there were so many executions going on, the guillotine had to be constantly moved to new locations due to the amount of blood amassing around it.

We walked and walked, enjoying the banks of the River Seine and seeing the barges carrying their loads before then admiring the Notre Dame standing sentry across its section of the river.

Notre Dame standing guard over the river...

...and inside

After standing in a queue for 30 mins, we gained entry into Sainte-Chappelle, a royal chapel built in the gothic style for King Louis IX of France and consecrated in 1248.  The King had commissioned the building of this chapel to house a collection of Christ's relics which arrived there carried by the King in 1239.

Whilst the ground floor was quite beautiful, it wasn't until we found a narrow door which lead to an equally narrow spiral staircase up to the next level, and as we entered and stared, mouth wide open at the most stunning and large stained glass windows we have ever seen, regarded as some of the most beautiful in the world.

The beautiful Sainte-Chappelle

There is so much to see, explore and do but we certainly enjoyed strolling around and within the Hotel national des Invalides where Napoleon Bonaparte was entombed under its huge central dome in 1840.

Bonaparte's coffin

Paris is a city filled with small laneways, streets and arcades to wander through, but before departing this captivating city, we simply had to return yet again to sit and simply admire the Eiffel Tower as the sun set over the city and it came to life...

Paris during the day and...

the Eiffel Tower at night

It was time to leave Paris yet again and head to London to participate and enjoy the wedding of our oldest son to his wonderful British rose.

Paris had captured our hearts and senses, as had the warm and friendly people who call it home and as we boarded our plane, we wonder if we would return... yet again, who knows but until then, go well!

Ireland 2011

We had committed to visit 2 very Aussie good friends who had decided to live overseas for 12 months... 6 months in Scotland and the final 6 months in Ireland.

So in their summer of 2011, we found ourselves flying into Shannon Airport in Limerick, Ireland and were greeted by our friends, seemingly keen to talk to people with a different accent.

Summer in Ireland in this year wasn't the warmest on record as we donned our heavier coats most times we were out and about, nor was it very dry, all of which added to the mood in Ireland at the time.

Whilst driving to the small town of Killaloe where our friends were renting, they pointed out many property developments with 30-40 units or townhouses in them which lay deserted.

Location of Killaloe in Ireland

The very quaint village of Killaloe

Also located off the narrow country roads we travelled on during our visit were massive farm houses under construction but now waiting silently and alone to be completed.

Ireland was in a major recession and whilst the people were very warm and friendly, there was certainly a prevailing feeling of despondency. 

Its true what they say, Ireland is green, very green and its everywhere!

yes Ireland is green... very green... everywhere

The local small pubs are delightful

Before they left Australia, I issued Pete with a challenge for when we visited.  

Simply described, all he had to do was walk into his local with me, pull up a seat at the bar and simply say to the person serving, "my regular please".

To be successful Pete then had to be served with a pint of Ireland's famous Guinness.

He succeeded and it was also one of the things I was looking forward to trying a few times whilst in Ireland.

One night we returned to their 'local' to watch the locals enjoying their Irish dancing and quickly knew we were in trouble when the ladies arrived carrying special shoes and looking at as all like fresh sacrificial lambs to the dancing slaughter.

Didn't know any of us could be spun around so fast as we were dragged onto the dance floor to join them in their fun, but a few more Guinness's helped.

It was also a little sad when the locals described the current state of their economy and to them more concerning, the drain of their youth heading overseas looking for work.  As it happened, one of their young locals was leaving for Australia and the dancing was part of wishing her bon voyage.

During our time with our friends we were shown many fascinating and historical places all located amongst Ireland's very beautiful countryside, sights like...

Grange stone circle, 45m diameter, ~2.8m high and largest in Ireland

A 'Wedge Tomb' built during Neolithic & Bronze Ages

Rock of Cashel dates from c. 1100

Cahir Castle built in 1142

Inside Holy Cross Abbey founded in 1180

But it wasn't all about the old stuff in Ireland because during one of our final days staying with friends and after a few refreshments in another small town's pub, we joined the locals to watch the mysterious and very rough game of hurling.  

What a crazy, rough and fast game they play!!

The locals we were sitting amongst very quickly picked up our accents as we talked to each other and we were soon being bombarded with questions about Australia, lifestyle down there and employment prospects, the game in front of them almost forgotten.

After a weeks stay in this very friendly country, it was time to leave our friends and Ireland and head to our next destination but we left with many very pleasant memories to remember... over a glass of Guinness of course!

Good time to reflect on what we had seen and done in Ireland

Go well!

UK 2009

We have become quite familiar with London having visited a few times, especially now that Jarad lives there with Rachel.

Rather than stay the whole time in London, we decided to visit a few other locations in the UK, which for a smallish country is blessed with plenty of variety packed into it, let alone history.

We had heard a lot about Cornwall... not the pasties but the area, mind you, Cornish pasties are not too bad either, so we took a car trip to and around Cornwall accompanied by our daughter Tenielle.  Additionally, we also made a quick foray to Cambridge, the home of that university.

2009 travels in the UK

Will keep this post very short because Cornwall is certainly a place for scenery, hopefully best shown through photographs like:

Small fishing villages

unique locations like...

Saint Michaels Mount

historically locations like Tintagel where you find the ruins of a 12th century castle linked to the legendary King Arthur of round table fame...

Ruins of Tintagel Castle

Cornwall has also been long linked to seafaring...

Charlestown Harbour

and finally, Cornwall is at the far end of southern UK and it is here you will find Lands End.

Land End... literally

Cambridge is a city located on the Cam River and is famous for its prestigious University of Cambridge dating to 1209.

We found it a fascinating place resplendent with lovely old buildings...

...and its university students earn extra £'s by 'punting' tourists like us around the waterways bordering the university grounds, a very pleasant way to see it all.

Punting our way around Cambridge University

After 9.5 weeks of travelling it was time for our 2009 travels to come to an end as we made our way back to Australia after many wonderful experiences.

So till next time.... go well!

Iceland 2009

Our High Arctic expedition cruises' final destination was the capital of Iceland called Reykjavík, but before reaching this city, we visited Heimaey, the largest and most populated island off the Icelandic coast where we stayed for 2 nights.

Heimaey Island located south of Iceland

Heimaey became famous in January 1973 when a relentless lava flow from nearby Eldfell volcano destroyed half the town and came close to closing its narrow harbour, its main income source from fishing.

Lava at the back door

The entrance by ship into the harbour is very narrow and it took a massive effort by the town's population using sea water pumped non-stop onto the lava to halt it.

Enterance to Heimaey harbour

We climbed the still active Eldfell Volcano during our stay here and climbed some of the coastline to view one of our favourite birds.... puffins.

Climbing Eldfell Volcano

Heimaey enjoys a very beautiful rugged coastline and abundance of wildlife. We enjoyed observing this as a result of multiple exploration sorties by zodiac around the island.

Cruising the coast of Heimaey Island in a zodiac

Apart from Heimaey Island there other islands nearby as part of the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, home at this time of the year to literally millions of seabirds like Guillemot, Manx Shearwater, Auks and Northern Fulma to name very few.

Small island off Heimaey covered in nesting seabirds

As we cruised the coastline, we were also lucky to be able to follow in the zodiacs, a family or pod of Orca (killer whales) as they majestically cruised the ocean and exerted their presence on everything, including us.

Following males and female orca in zodiacs

After reaching Reykjavík and bidding farewell to our fellow 'expeditioners', the fabulous guides and Russian crew we picked up a rental car and started our exploration of Iceland as the map below shows.

Route around part of Iceland

Let me say up front that after visiting Iceland... it is definitely a country we want return to and see a much more of it because of its natural rugged beauty in so many ways.

Rugged southern coastline of Iceland

Iceland sits just outside the Arctic Circle which passes just north of the island and is a country with a very rich Viking derived history and culture and is home to over 300,000 very friendly residents.

Looking into viking history at Amarstapi

Old flow of lava now covered by very spongy moss

Iceland is also home to numerous very active volcanoes which have over time created the dramatic landscapes constantly visible once you leave the city.

Lava formed rock on coastline

Through Iceland passes one of the world's major fault lines separating the American plate from the European plate and the fault line is large enough to walk through, which was a little unnerving.

Rob looking into the fault line

The island is also the location of the original geyser, in fact we visited the town of Geyser to visit THE geyser and watch it erupt on a very regular basis.

Geyser going...

...going

...gone!

Located where it is in the far north of the planet also means Iceland is home to some of the largest glaciers in the world...

Can you spot the people on the glacier

and with glaciers come two other sights in the form of small icebergs calving into a lake in the south of the island and...

Small icebergs from Fjallsarlon glacier

waterfalls, quite a few famous and very beautiful waterfalls.

Skogafoss waterfall 

Gullfoss waterfall

All this thermal activity within the island allows Reykjavík to run on geothermal power and our last destination on Iceland as we headed to the airport for our flight to London is a result of that power generation... the world famous Blue Lagoon.

The Blue Lagoon, Iceland

Here we thoroughly enjoyed a very relaxing swim in the warm waters of the lagoon pondering the trip that was and the amazing experiences we had, and we will be back!