Wednesday 12 August 2015 Oh what a lovely sleep. From the 17th floor we feel much closer to the heavy clouds. There was a reasonably strong wind blowing and light rain was falling. The temperatures had cooled to a pleasant 26 degrees. The waiting staff in the dining room were commenting on how cold it was. We can't wait to get home, we see it was -7 in Alexandra this morning. Now that is what we call cold. Looking down from a great height we can see into the compound of the main fire station in Singapore. Firemen are parading, practising, and preparing the engines. The breakfast is big. It is called the American Breakfast. We have quite a chat with one of the waiters. He recommends some places for us to visit. We start talking ... read more

Monday 10 August 2015 The alarm played a pleasant summery melody at 5:30 am. Time to get cracking. We had several deadlines to meet and missing any one could mean missing the flight. Our first deadline has been met. Showered, breakfast completed, final clean up of the room, zip the bags shut, a quick farewell to our mini apartment and time to checkout. Talk about a military operation. We ambled to the railway station and arrived in time for an earlier train. All is going well. Our main concern was getting the right spot on the train that would not cause a problem to fellow travellers. What perfect luck. We find the spot we were after. We are now fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. The RER B loads and unloads its passengers as we head for ... read more

Saturday 8 August 2015 A slow start today. Last night was quite warm and made sleeping difficult. On the other side of the world sleeping might have been difficult because of the cold. Something to look forward in a week's time. Over a light breakfast we planned today's activities and the different Metros we will need to take. For the novice it is quite an undertaking. First find the nearest station at destination. Find out what line to take and in which direction. Next find the connecting lines that will meet the RER B line that we take to the city. Our first visit involves two metro lines. Destination Cimetière du Père Lachaise. This cemetery has over 800,000 people buried here. There are many famous writers, artists, composers, dancers and singers. It would take some days, ... read more

Thursday 6 August 2015 What a lovely sleep. Today we were able to please ourselves. First tasks were to catch up on the washing and fill the fridge with beer. It was going to be hot today. Had hot coffees by using a pot on the cook top. Who needed an electric jug? Not us. The train to the centre of Paris is a 6 minute walk away and it seemed to be a quiet time of the day. We planned to visit Notre Dame and then just see what happened next. Parisians leave the city to the tourists at this time of year. The trains were quiet, the streets were crowded with people looking confused. Tourists!! Paris would be great without them. They congregate in the middle of footpaths, they spend forever posing in front ... read more

Tuesday 4 August 2015 The sound of thunder could be heard last night but the morning dawned fine, even if a little cloudy. We decided to take it easy today, our last day on the road. The cornflakes are finished, only a little coffee left, enough clothes detergent to last a few days in Paris, and a car to clean out. But first a visit to Vimy Ridge. Vimy Ridge overlooks a wide plain and was a very strategic position for any army. The Germans held it until April 1917. The Canadians were given the task of capturing the ridge. With careful planning the officers and men set about preparing for the attack. Something unheard of at the time was the sharing of plans and strategies with all ranks so everyone knew what was expected. The ... read more