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Published: September 6th 2010
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switzerland
Roger and Lee-Anne's apartment block Hi everyone ,
Greetings from the Rue Dauphine in the heartland of the St Germain Des Pre district of Paris. We are a short walk from the Pont Neuf , Notre Dame , the Louvre and Shakespeare and Co. bookshop . It's a great area full of cafes, restaurants and art galleries. Right near our door onto the street are three Japanese restaurants , one of which we tried and was pretty good . We also went to a good French restaurant- Vengadene on Rue Saint Germain which had an amazing art nouveu décor of mirrors and coloured tiles with different landscapes on them. Surprisingly , Paris seems cheaper this time , much cheaper than Switzerland. Our apartment on the 2nd floor is wide enough for us all. In Paris we have been doing quite a bit of sight -seeing : an open top bus tour of the city , going up the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Musee De Cluny and the Lady and the unicorn, and the Jardin De Plantes. Going up the tower was a big thing for me as I wanted to challenge my fear of heights. I got very clammy going up in the lift.
Switzerland
Church in Zurich We only went up to the middle section. I couldn ' t go near the railing. Alison and the girls loved the views from up there: a sea of gray stone buildings , avenues perfectly alligned and the Seine winding its way through . There were heaps of people , mostly African and Indians, selling souvenirs around the base of the Tower . They really hassle and rarely leave you alone. There was also a person in a gorilla suit who would walk up to you and demand a photo for a euro. This person scared the girls, Ruby so much, that she does not want to return to the tower again!
We spent 5.30 hours in the Louvre . A bit much you might think. It takes ages to walk along those corridoors of marble tiles. Lots of snap happy people around the Mona Lisa, using flash photography when they were not meant to.. Lucinda asked some very good questions in the gallery, one was who is the lady in the Mona Lisa painting? One funny image was two young guys in Fremantle Docker jumpers and backpacks striding purposefully Into the Mona Lisa room , obviously on a mission
Switzerland
Back with the cows like their footy team.
We also did a boat tour on the Seine , a nice surprise for father's day and in beautiful sunshine . The weather in Paris has been great, around 28c, a real blast of summer . We've also just been walking around marvelling at the streets and shop windows . Paris really does its places well-Place de La Concord etc. these areas are so wide and seemingly dripping with statues in gold paint. It really reminds you of how much wealth France has amassed over the years. Rue De Seine is a remarkable street, for its night life, cafes overflowing onto the street which is closed off to traffic at night. By day it is an art lover’s paradise, with galleries cheek by jowl along both sides of the street. We stopped off at a café and marvelled at the single older women who would drop in for an expresso, sip it, watch the crowd, and then walk out. Would older Australian women do such a thing? On the tables outside the café were the smokers, even some men with cigars. It seems that the health message against smoking hasn’t had much effect in Paris- cigarette
butts everywhere.
We have struggled with our French, Alison has a lot more than myself. Generally people are helpful, waiters especially, but it is amazing the number of people in public positions, i.e front desks of tourist places who don’t speak English.
Before Paris we were in Switzerland. We stayed with our friends Roger and Lee - Anne, in their swisho apartment in Zurich . It was great to see them and for the girls to play with their daughter Lucinda. One of the great things about this trip has been seeing the girls getting on easily with their friends from overseas , despite not having seen them for a year or more. I guess kids can find much in common wherever they come from - the desire to play , new toys, making each other laugh. Zurich is a clean city, easy to get around on the trams and trains. We went to a festival where the girls went on several rides and we went on a brief boat ride of Lake Zurich. A highlight of our stay there was walking around the old district of the city. Having a couple of hours to ourselves was a real bonus
and reminded us of how easy travelling is for those of you without kids.
After Zurich, we caught a train up into the Alps, staying in the foothills at Grindelwald. This was a town geared up for tourists, with many well-heeled tourists sitting at the outside tables admiring the view of snow -capped mountains. Our hostel was up the back of the town, and a very steep walk down and then worse, up to our hostel. We had to do this walk several times, a bit hard for Ruby walking at a 45 degree angle and seemingly climbing into the heavens. The heavens were with us on our stay there, as there were fresh falls of snow. We went up to Shrekfeld, a short gondola ride away and the girls were able to play with the snow. Lucinda built a snowman, I sat outside the restaurant and contemplated the mountain.
We were also lucky with the weather in that we were able to go up the Jungfrau, the highest point in Europe. Often the tops of the Alps are cloudy or obscured by rain. We had blue skies, and although the train up there was packed with other tourists the
views up on the JungFrau were worth it. I’ve attached just a few of the photos for you. Up there the girls went tobaggoning, and were able to walk around in real snow. Very cold mind you, but great views of the alps. Despite the cost of food etc in Switzerland, it was all worth it.
Now we have three days in Disneyland and then flying out to Toronto and the US. Our trip is in the final stages, which is a bit hard to get used to. I’ve been keeping up with the footy and it is so good to see the Pies doing well. If they are in the Grand Final I will try to watch it from somewhere in Massechussetts.
Hope you are all well and braving the winter.
Brendan
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