Last few days

Time is flying fast and now only a few more days and I will be heading home to Australia
Friday it was pouring with rain so I headed off to Madam Tussards as this was one place that I never got to see the last time I was here. It was quite expensive and they don't always have all their figures, I was looking forward to seeing the beatles etc but I got some photos. some of the models look real and others look like wax models.

Saturday was a beautiful fine day so while Kellie and Nigel went to the hair dressers etc I went to Greenwich. This was the first place that I stayed at over 30+ years ago. There were parts that I remembered and quite a few things have changed. I used to catch the overland train from Charing Cross station to Greenwich but now there is a light rail that runs automatically. No drivers. I jumped in the front seat so it felt like I was driving. I took a picture and luckily there was another train coming towards us.

I walked through Greenwich park where the Observatory is and the meridian line for 0.00.00 time. So I could have one foot in the East and one foot in the west. The view is of the city of Greenwich and looking into London in the distance

Friday night we went out to meet a cousin of mine that I had never met before. Josephine Williams. my mum's sister's daughter. We had a lovely dinner at Canary wharf in the new docklands area of London.

there is one picture of the one of the longer esculators running down to the Northern line at Angel station on the tube.

Today we are going to do some more packing and tomorrow is Kellie's birthday then I will be heading off to Heathrow. So this will be the last blog at this stage.

Paris in the Winter

Just got back from Paris after a couple of days. Kellie did some serious shopping for baby clothes etc as the sales had just started and the Euro is quite good and Paris makes beautiful baby clothes. I did some sightseeing, checking out a few of the places that I remembered visiting around 30+ years ago. Some parts of changed but there is a lot that hasn't changed at all. My favourite place has always been the Louve. The entrance and the pyramid are all new but I remember some of the galleries. The location and position of some of the paintings etc have changed but it bought back some great memories. They have moved the Mona Lisa to a different room but there were so many people there the photo I took was not a good one.

The weather was not too kind to me in Paris, it rained quite a bit but it was a little warmer than London. 10 degrees. I managed to find some sun so I headed to the Eiffel tower but by the time I got to the top after waiting in the queue for some time, my battery on my camera went flat so I was not able to get any photos as the battery for the camera requires charging, not just one that I can buy more batteries for. So it was a shame as there were some beautiful panoramas of Paris for the taking. It was very windy and very cold and because it was Winter they only open the very top (level 3) on weekends and not during the week so I couldn't get right to the top.

I also missed out on getting some photos of The Arc de triumph and a few other places. but at least I have some memories. Henrietta is starting to smile a lot more now and really loves her bath.

it is hard to believe but there is only 6 days left and then I will be home. These 5+ weeks have really flown. I hope to got to Madam Tussards tomorrow if it is raining still. The train trip to Paris and back is very relaxing and just so easy. It takes around 2 hours from Paris to London. Not bad.

Bus trip around London

Today was fine but very windy and very cold. I took a bus to St Paul's and went inside, climbed up to the whispering circle, then up to the very top, around 446 steps all together. Great views outside but extremely windy, took a couple of pictures on the inside and heaps around the outside. I then caught a sight-seeing bus around London and it included a tour on the Thames down to Greenwich. It was very cold as it was getting dark. On the way back from Greenwich I got some great photos on London in lights.

Tomorrow we catch the train to Paris, we will be there for two nights. It will be just Kellie, Henrietta and myself. Nigel has to stay at work as he will be on holidays in another 10 days.

London Eye

A fabulous day, sun is shining and we went to London Eye, took some fabulous photos, After the Eye we walked across the bridge to Leicester square and Covenant Gardens then the tube home.
Hopefully tomorrow will be another beautiful day. The views from the Eye were awesome.

I also managed to get a photo of Henrietta when she was smiling She is in her suit, we call it a starfish suit, she is on the seat in the Eye pod.

Sunny day in London

It is Saturday and the sun is shining so once we all had breakfast and Nigel, Kellie, Henrietta and Oscar got out to go for a walk and meet up with friends I finished the dishes and headed off to the Tower bridge and a few other places depending on where I end up.

I only needed my smaller jacket, beanie and gloves, luckily I did bring them as the weather didn't stay too perfect too long. The wind freshened and the clouds built up.

I walked across London bridge and then walked down to the Tower of London. The monument is being restored and won't be open until 2009 so I didn't get to climb the 318 steps to the top for some gorgeous views. So off to the Tower of London. The queues are quite large so I decide to give that a miss as I have already been through the tower. So I walked to the Tower Bridge and did a tour of that as it was one place I haven't been previously. It was very interesting and beautiful views. After that I walked through St Trinity square and the Mariners war memorial and then onto Fenchurch station and this funny looking building that everyone has nicknamed the gerkin. It is a number of office blocks and shops at the bottom that are all closed on Saturday afternoon. I then headed off to Liverpool station and then because it was getting dark I headed back home.

Hopefully the weather will hold for tomorrow when we go on London eye.

A day in London

Well today was nearly a heatwave compared to yesterday. Yesterday was -2.5 degrees by 12:00 noon. Today by 11:30 it was 3 degrees. We made it into positive numbers. I nearly didn't have to wear my coat.
Thought I would go to Madam Tussards wax museum today. So headed off around 12 noon. finally found the bus that I wanted so jumped on and headed off. Eventually the bus stopped at the Angel Isslington and I realised that I had hopped on the bus on the wrong side of the road. So I had to get off and then catch the same bus back the way I came. I got off at Regent's Park but at the wrong end so I walked up to Park Road and then down to Baker street. I walked past Shirlock Holmes museum in Baker Street, Eventually got to Marlybone Road and found Madame Tussards but the queue was very long at it was around 2:30 and it closes at 5 so I thought I would come back another day as it costs around £13 ($25 aussie) so I tried to find a bus to take me to Knightsbridge as there were sales at Harrods. Couldn't find a bus so I caught the tube, had to change at Green park. Eventually popped up from the underground and went into Harrods. Very busy with all the sales. I checked out the food court and took a couple of photos until someone told me that I wasn't allowed to take any photos.
Brought my sister a couple of birthday presents. kellie's birthday is on the 14th Jan the day before I head back to Aussie.
also I bought myself a little Harrods diary for 2008, so everytime I put any important date in my diary it will remind me of London and harrods.
Most other things were terribly expensive especially after coming back from France. England is definitely more expensive than Europe.
by the time I had finished my shopping it was pitch black and starting to rain so I headed back to the tube station to get a ride home. There are still some places with all the christmas lights on. The Ritz looks very ritzy so I took a photo.

Beynac

Ignore the headings I have mixed them up. Boxing day the Carrs arrived so we settled them in and then went for a drive along the Dordogne river to Domme. Again another medieval town that lies right on top of a huge outcrop of rock. Beautiful views, It must have been quite easy to keep the town protected but all the low lying lands would have been where all the animals and food was grown. Domme was where the soldiers lived that were fighting against Richard I. The Dordogne river was the border between England and France before the 100 year war.

We went to a beautiful village called Salat which has some beautiful houses, shops and laneways. Salat and the general region is famous for its Fois de grois. It is like a pate made from duck and geese liver. Very rich. It is also the region for truffles. at 900 eroes for 1 kilo, we didn't try them. we were lucky that they didn't charge us for smelling them.

We also visited Berdegrac, a very famous wine area. I think I might have to check the spelling. We went to some beautiful restuarants and tried lots of different french cuisine. I will have to go on a diet when I get back home.

I have uploaded some pictures but I have many more that I will show everyone when I get back home. It takes a while to load the pics and I don't want to use all of Nigel's downloading account too often.

We had a great New year in St Cyprien, lit a few fire crackers and celebrated with some beautiful champayne.

the weather in France was generally a bit sunnier than London but just as cold. On the way home we passed through some villages and it was -8.0 degrees. needless to say we didn't get out of the car very often. The roads were quite icy but when the sun came up it felt a little warmer even though it was -2.0 degrees at 3:00pm in the afternoon.

We are now back in London and it is -1.0 degree, grey and very cold and windy. We are hoping to go to the London eye on Sunday as they are predicting a warm 7 degrees, hopefully it is fine so i can get some great photos.

Hope every one is getting some lovely weather. I heard Melbourne was 42 degrees on New Years day

Salat

Monday, we went to a beautiful village called Beynac. Beynac has a feudal castle that belonged to Richard I when England occupied part of France. It is on top of a very steep hill. We climbed up to the top and saw some beautiful views. We decided we would wait till our friends the Carrs arrived before we went inside the castle. They were due to arrive Boxing Day. We had a beautiful lunch in a restuarant that was built in the side of the hill. One wall was the limestone cliff.
we then went home to prepare for Christmas day. The four of us had a beautiful Christmas day in the house. We started with croissants and pink champayne and then we cooked the turkey, ham and vegetables that we had brought fresh from the market on Sunday. Henrietta looked on as we opened her presents

Arriving in Calaise

The actual journey only takes around 35 minutes but about several hours by the time you get into one queue to check your booking and then another queue for this and that and eventually you board. We were due on the chunnel train at 7:40 but eventually we were able to board 8:20. we arrived in Calaise 35 minutes later to a very snowy, frosty scenery. It then took us about 12 hours to drive all the way down, through Paris to get to the Dordogne area and St Cyprien where we were staying. St Cyprien is a very old medieval village and the house that we stayed in was built in the 13th centuary. Luckily it does have heating and has been renovated. It is a beautiful villa. Sunday morning there was a market in the town so we walked down some narrow little lanes to the market.

France for Christmas

Wow, so much has happened over the last 10 days and with no internet it has been hard to catch up with all that has happened. Saturday morning, very early, before Christmas, we drove to Dover and got the chunnel train to France. It took a few hours to get down there and then on to the ferry. The first picture is getting onto the train in the car.