On the road, Jacque?!

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WE"RE BAACK!!!!!

Bonjour to all of our precious little possums. I told you all i'd get round to writing another blog, it only took three or four months. So your probably thinking one of two things. a) that we had such an amazingly interesting and ball-bustingly fun time in Birmingham that we simply didn't have time to write a blog or b) we did absolutely nothing worth writing about, and chose to spare you all the misery of being obliged to read though pages of inane drivel. Well, as the brummies would say, 'I'm not being funny, but to be fair' it was more like b), thats not to say it didn't have its moments, like London (fucking cool-thanks everyone who helped us out there, you'll get a mention on our england blog if it ever comes to fruition, and being able to see all of my family again has been so much fun, thanks to Kay and big Al for all your support. To cut a long story short, Niki and I have been working for the last few months in a few places around Birmingham most recently as waitstaff/bar staff at a restaurant/pub in Solihull called the town house. it makes us feel at home being cos we're sort of still at the "townie" back home, have a schooner of carlton for us guys! Its been a hectic few months working, but we had some cool times in Birmingham, found us some aussies to drink with and met some cool people. But yeah, that our brief update you on where the hell we've been for so long, basically working our asses off to get enough moeny to make it to Europe. Oh yeah, and we bought a car, and sold it again.

So first stop Paris and it was everything I'd ever imagined this beautiful city would be like. The city, the people and the lifestlye are so enchanting, I just couldn't get over how "French" it all looked, cobbled streets, wide boulevards, charming restaurants, amazing fashion and incredible architecture. When we weren't wandering the streets in awe, we did all the standard tourist stuff, red wine and cheese under the Eiffel Tower; the lighting of the flame under the Arc de Triomphe for the unknown soldier; Sacre Coeur, which for some reason I always thought was the Notre Dame (infact i still remember buying, well, Dad buying me, a bumbag here over fifteen years ago; Notre Dame, which for some reason i always thought was the Sacre Coeur; A river cruise down the Seine; the Pantheon; and of course how could we miss the Sorbonne, where many a famous philosopher has tread upon its hallowed ground and left his mark, we even got to see the tomb of good old Mr. Social Contract himself J.J. Rousseau.

The Louvre was a slightly different story however. We decided to visit on the last day of our time in Paris, beng a Monday, it was, according to our slightly dated lonely planet guide, supposed to be open until 9.45pm. So we were of the persuasion that we would have plenty of time to gaze upon it's many wonderous exhibits. So we spent the day off at the Sacre Coeur in Mont Martre, and checked out the Moulin Rouge and junk in Pigalle, Paris' Red Light District, had lunch (cheese, ham, baguettes, mustard mayo out of a tube cheap red wine) on the banks of the Seine, then headed off to visit the Louvre. It was about five o'clock when we went to purchase out tickets, which is also when we found out that the msueum was only open til 5.30. After a brief discussion, we decided to pay the 9 Euros and proceeded to literally run around the entirerty of the Louvre. I think we saw most of the important stuff, Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, i can't really recall what else, it all just happened so quickly.

We also happened, previously unbeknownst to us, to be in France just in time for the Rugby World Cup, and had the lucky privelage of being able to witness a giant inflatable rugby ball hanging in the middle of the Eiffel Tower, which did detract from the monuments grandeur just a tad. But we got to watch the semi-final (England Vs France) in a French cafe in the latin quarter, with a room packed full of cheering French patriots drinking Kronenburg. We were going for France, either because the English beat Australia the week before, or cos' we didn't want to get beaten up by a bunch of drunk French guys, i'm not sure which. But they lost, everyone in the room clapped for the English, then left looking very sober, we were hoping they would win just so everyone would want to get trashed, oh well.

Hmm, what else is there. Oh yeah. Australians are so lazy, the French all rollerblade and jog everywhere, even the Police have rollerblades. We stumbled across a charging horde of about a thousand people all skating down the road together, and on our way to the Eiffel Tower we emerged from the subway only to find ourselves trapped in the middle of a marathon, surrounded by sweaty competitors who had just run 20 odd km's. So they are obviously very health conscious..on the other hand, they do serve beer at McDonald's so maybe I'm not entirely on the mark.

We went to visit Jim Morrison's grave, may he rest in peace. We wanted to throw a joint or something on, but we didn't have one with us, and who would throw away a perfectly good joint anyway. It's a stupid idea...

But yeah, Paris was stunning and all the stereotypes are true, Parisians are just more beautiful and charming than the rest of us slobs and the lifestyle is really cool. I recommend a diet of coffee, croissants, baguettes and red wine for anyone! So far, its been my favourite place in the world, as beautiful as I'd imagined. But next stop Amsterdam, to sample some more local specialities, trust me its everything you imagined (I know because I'm there!) I hope you're all cool back home, we're wishing you were here! Love Sion and Niki xxooo

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Photos

Eiffel Tower
Yes that is a Rugby ball in the middle of the Eiffel Tower

Niki AA
I think Niki;s drinking habits have taken a turn for the worse

Comments

[Big Brother]

Good stuff
Hey guys, so glad you are back in the electronic world of Travelblog, and that you enjoyed Paris. I can imagine you running round the Louvre like Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou! Enjoy Amsterdam and stay well!

[Griffo]

C'est si bon!
Glad you enjoyed Paris. It is good to see you blogging again. Excellent

[Zo]

say it frenchie
hahaha rollerblades