The art of walking upright Is the art of using both feet... One is for holding on The other is for letting go...

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Liz says hi

The trip to Saint Pauls was sucessful: I can now say that I've seen Her Majesty in the flesh (plus a fair few other members of the royal family). Although it was from a distance of ten metres or so. Having ticked that one off the list, it was time to keep with the royal theme and take in the "bling bling" that is the crown jewels housed in the rugged fortress of the Tower of London. The tour of the tower was very interesting, ranging from the medival White Tower to the Tudor royal residences which imprisioned Anne Bolyen. There are a lot of connections between French and English royalty and events so many aspects of the tower married with stories previously heard in the various Chateau along the Loire River. Although it was nice to see a more fortified castle in comparison with the oppulant chateaux.

That evening I caught up with Anita, who is into her third year in the UK. Fantastic to catch up with her! Hopefully she can be convinced to bring her mountain bike to Vanuatu.

Today I headed to Camden Markets to check out the bargins, punks and the canal locks. Then it was off to the Imperial War Museum. Another excellent museum, especially the sobering exhibitions on genocide and the holocaust. Also interesting to check out the WWI exhibition, since my grandfather fought at Gallipoli and France.

Emma and JJ arrive today and we're off to Wales this weekend with Lisa and Kevin... no mountain biking for me but I am looking forward to getting out to the countryside.

Also, belated birthday wishes to Liz, Dad and Glenda.... I hope its not to cold in NZ!!!!

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Off to London to visit the Queen

The last few days have seen a young(ish) kiwi lass trapsing around London town, admiring the vistas, buildings and people, as well as marveling at the extremely changeable weather (from 30 degrees plus to thunderstorms).

On Monday I ventured to the city alone, fortunately skilled in the art of UK public transport by Lisa. After hitting the info centre, I decided to wander down the Mall to Buckingham Palace, and wondering what the hords of people hanging around the perimeter were doing, managed to see the changing of the guards! Continuing on my ramble, I took in the sites of St James Park, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben (the clock tower anyway), the Thames and the London Eye. By this time I was famished, so wandered into a pub to watch some of the aussie - japan game and grab a bit to eat.

I met a fellow solo wander from the States so we decided to head to the Tate Modern together, rather than watch the game (little was I to know that after Japans first dodgy goal, aussie would win 3-1). The Tate was interesting, with some very cool exhibits. However, I hope they didn't pay too much for the stack of bricks on the floor... theres enought brick buildings in London let alone more in a gallery!). We headed for the Globe Theatre, a replica of the famous Shakespearian playhouse. The tour was interesting, although seeing a show there definitely would be the way to do it.

Afterwards, I headed home past St Pauls and managed to get the right bus home, just in time for a fantastic wee bbq followed by some cultural education (ie watching a few episodes of Little Britain on dvd).

On Tuesday I was lucky enough to get a guided tour from Nigel, so we met up in Picadilly Circus, by the imp statue. We made our way to Covant Garden and Leister Square, taking in the sites frequented by Nige and friends on lazy Sunday meanders. Later we made our way to the British Museum to check out the Egyptian artifacts and mummies, and ended bumping into the american guy as well.

Then it was time for a boatride down the Thames, which apparently you can drink from (haven't actually seen anyone do this however), which was a good way to see many of the main architectual feats, good and bad. Greenwich was our destination for lunch and we tucked into some good food and lager at a pub (showing the football of course!). Then it was up the hill to check out the observatory, which we ended up seeing a bit more of than planned due to the horrendous thunderstorm that poured down about five minutes after we got there... Monsoons in London! Global warming eh? It eventually cleared and we made our way back to Kilburn to see Nige's humble abode (quite nice actually) and head out for dinner. A great end to a great day!

Yesterday was a lot more lazy, with a late start and a visit to the National Portrait Gallery. Then I headed to Balham to catch up with Garrett and Stella. It was great to catch up and see pics from some of their travels, especially to Slovenia where Stella is from. Looks like Garrett had a lot of fun shovelling snow!

Today, Liz and Phil are apparently at St Pauls Cathedral, so I thought I might try and catch up with them there... so am about to head off and join the union jack waving mobs.

Monday, June 12, 2006

En-ger-land

Well, I've crossed the great divide that is the English Channel and landed in the home of football, pork pies, chavs, bangers and mash, and of course Liz and Phil.... After managing to negotite the tube, Lisa wisked me away to a post England football win (1-0 against Paraguay) celebration with friends in a pub in Clapham. I'll be staying with Lisa and Kevin in London for this week before heading with them, Emma and JJ to Wales.

After a lazy Sunday morning, we jumped on the London Buses and headed to Hyde Park to catch up with Nige, Reece and co, and later Brian and Tina. Great to catch up with people that I havn't seen for a few years and its amazing how little has changed (other than we're all on the other side of the world).

London is suprisingly hot... especially when you're on a bus! Tonnes of people getting a good helping of sunshine in the parks, must have brought the good weather with me eh?

It was actually a little bizare to come back to an english speaking country.... it took a bit of time to get used to being able to understand what people around you are saying (mostly anyway), not have to think about the phrase you were to use to buy a ticket or try and interpret signage!

Am off to explore London over the next few days as well as catching up with various friends so will post some pics in the near future... Plus, of course this will all be interspersed with various football games. The trick will be working out who to support!

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Vistas along the Loire








Paris views





Loire - the valley of the Kings

From Paris we caught the train to Orléans to pick up a rental car and tour the Loire by car rather than velo *sigh* . We made our way to Blois, a medieval town located adjacent to the Loire River. Apparently Monday was a public holiday so it was a bit of a mission finding accomodation. Eventually we found a hotel/bar 20kms from Blois. Luckily the French tapes Ive been using covered booking a hotel room so I managed to get a twin bed room and explain that I was staying in Clermont Ferrand for three months. After a picnique dinner by the river we wandered around the town and Chàteau de Blois.

The following day we toured three Chateaux : Blois, Chambord and Chevery. Bloise has elements of the four main architectual periods : medieval, gothic, early renaissance and classical. Chambord was huge and has 500 hectares of woodland associated with it. Chevery was smaller but very beautiful and filled with antiques, paintings and weaponry . For Tintin fans this was also the inspiration for Château at Moulinsart. The scale and beauty of the chateaux was amazing, although the ones we saw were just the tip of the iceburg.

We continued towards Tours but being mindful of the accomodation situation we stopped in at an info centre in Ambroise. The area has a lot of Trogolodyte houses (built into the relict rivercliffs, much like hobbit homes) and I was keen to see if we could stay in one. Alas, this was not to be, instead we found a bed and breakfast called Moulin des Landes in Vernou Sur-Brenne. The maison was beautiful, as were our hosts Laude and Juliette and we had a great time chatting with them and enjoying their great hospitality.

The next day we returned to Orléans, home of Jeanne D’Arc. After a wander around we returned to Paris and then on the train back to Clermont Ferrand.

The Loire Valley was very beautiful and would have made an excellent cycle tour *sigh* … maybe another time.

Am off to Londres/London on Saturday so have still got plenty to see and do while the sholder heals. Im also lucky to have the French open on at the moment so am enjoying the clay-court action as well as cruising round Clermont Ferrand and practicing/learning french. Theres also the under 21 world rugby tournement on in the region, a medieval féte in the village Im staying in on Friday night plus cant forget those pastries and tarts….

Paris

Despite the broken bone, I made my way to Paris on 1st June to meet up with Kurt, who I was going to cycle with in the Loire. Since I am now a damsel in distress (haha) there are plenty of people prepared to help me… so all is well. On arrival we booked into a hotel near Stade de France and then wandered around Paris to get a feel for the cité. This included visiting Notre Dame, Hotel de Ville, the Centre Pompidou although wandering through the streets and along the Seine was beautiful as well.

While it had been a bit drissly on the first day, the weather was hot hot hot from the 2nd onwards. We did a few more of the touristique things :

  • climbed the Eiffel Tower taking in great views of the city and the Champ de Mars
  • Viewed the Arc de Triomphe, comissioned by Napolean in commemoration of French victories
  • Walked down the Champs-élysées to the Place de la Concorde
  • Got lost in the Musée du Louvre (saw Venus de Milo but never did manage to find any Monet paintings I was looking for

Paris was fun although you definitely dont need to speak french to get around. Ive borrowed some of Emmas clothes so am looking decidedly untouristy at times, resulting in a few lost tourists asking me for directions ! At least I can speak english to them ! Theres still plenty to see in Paris so may have to have another look on the return from the UK.

Pics from Dordogne and Bordeaux







Photos fron Lyon