Up bright and early to start our tour. The Mostyn ‘Fawlty’ Towers was very conveniently located directly across the lane from the departure hotel. Still didn’t prevent a cabbie asking us if we needed a lift. Fawlty Towers was true to its early form, cold showers helped get the day going but at least they were again aghast and apologised. We’ve set out under sunny skies travelling two and a half hours out to Dover for the early ferry where we walked on to the ferry and our bags followed in trolleys as the tour bus was waiting in Calais. The ferry ride was perfect with calm, almost still water but still there were people not well. The day was so perfect that we could even see the white cliffs of Dover from the port in ... read more

We spent the day at a steady pace, targeting the arcades (or passages to the French) that during the early 19th century were the covered shopping malls for the social set. These proved to be a real treasure trove of exclusive designer boutiques, shops for curiosities, coin and stamp merchants, beautiful hand made toys, pre-loved fashions, pastry shops and chocolatiers. Intermingled with these curios are exquisite French cafes and restaurants that we found eager to please our now discerning taste buds. It turns out that we are not the only people to take advantage of the obscure plant called rhubarb, the French have won me over with their version of rhubarb and raspberry tart. This little journey started in the first arrondissment (like a suburb) snaking its way up through the second and finishing nearly in ... read more

Today was the first day that we hadn’t planned within an inch of its life so we thought we would have a sleep in and later a wander around our own little area. The Paris City Council had other plans though and they started with their jack hammers under our lounge room windows at 8 am (nothing starts early in Paris). The double glazed windows and foot thick walls kept out a lot of the noise but the vibration in our apartment was interesting to say the least. (Best laid plans of mice & men). Allan pulled out the city sites map, metro map and the museum passes and off we went. First we went to the metro station about 200metres from our apartment (In Paris you are never more than 500 metres from any metro) ... read more

Well today was epic, we went on a day trip to the town of Chantilly on the train and walked from the train station to the Chateau. (It rained today as well as a little thunder storm) The Chantilly estate began in 1484 when Chantilly came into the possession of the Montmorency family. The first mansion was built in 1528-1531 for the Constable Anne de Montmorency. The Petit Château was also built for him, around 1560. We went through the Petit Château on a guided tour. The Château is actually made up of two châteaux (yes that is the plural) that join together, the 15th-century Petit Château and the 19th-century Grand Château. They house the Musée Condé, featuring the Duc d’Aumale’s beautifully decorated private apartments and a fabulous collection of old master paintings and rare books ... read more

Well everything that we learnt in art class at St Rita’s was true the Louvre was incredible. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures to prove it as all the information I read before leaving and at the entry of the museum said no camera’s (but I now think they meant flashes) it seems that I was the only one following the rules (again). 85% of the people at the Louvre when I arrived were Asian and they were going hell for leather with cameras and video machines (flashes too) and because of the crush nobody stopped them but it was funny to watch. All the Asian tours were all gone by lunch time so the museum was much easier to navigate without the pushing and shoving going on because they were trying to keep up with ... read more