Hello from sunny Wellington!
Today is Day Three of The Falafel Tour 2009, Part 1. So far we have encountered sleety ice rain, howling winds and sunshine. Nothing about the weather in Wellington seems certain.
The past three days have been spent wandering the streets of Wellington, exploring the Te Papa museum (pretty good), drinking many beers of NZ origin and "enjoying" the whip of the wind on our little faces.
It is a lively little city with some great architecture and strong coffees! I'm doing my best to avoid the shops - Cuba Street is crawling with op shops and concept stores - as my suitcase already weighs over 20kgs.
This afternoon we are off to Christchurch where more beer drinking and window shopping will occur before we pick up a car on Thursday and head to the mountains. The weekend saw snow to sea level on the east coast of the south island but that should have cleared today and we are expecting sunny, warm days for the rest of the week.
Until then, see you!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Au revoir Paris
So today is it, our last full day in Paris. We are booked on the Thalys to Amsterdam at 12:25pm tomorrow and have only to pack and tidy our apartment.
Today will be spent capturing the last glimpses of our favourite places, Paul wants to go for another run, and then we will catch up with Steve for dinner and a couple of drinks.
Amsterdam is a one night stop so it will likely mean some more Maoz, a few drinks and a quite night in a nice hotel before we head to the airport for our flight to Tokyo on Sunday afternoon.
And then Tokyo...so much more to see and do there. Fingers crossed we will find an internet cafe of some description!
Until then,
Sara & Paul
Today will be spent capturing the last glimpses of our favourite places, Paul wants to go for another run, and then we will catch up with Steve for dinner and a couple of drinks.
Amsterdam is a one night stop so it will likely mean some more Maoz, a few drinks and a quite night in a nice hotel before we head to the airport for our flight to Tokyo on Sunday afternoon.
And then Tokyo...so much more to see and do there. Fingers crossed we will find an internet cafe of some description!
Until then,
Sara & Paul
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Tick, tock
Arghh...it is now Thursday and we only have two more days in Paris before we return to Amsterdam, and then hop on another awful flight to Tokyo.
So what have we been up to?
Monday we did finally make it to the Orangerie. It was lovely. The waterlilies are just how I expected them to be but the collection in the lower half of the museum was even better. I even found a new favourite artist whose name I cannot recall, but her work is lovely.
We then headed over to the 6th to wander the Grand Epicurie at Le Bon Marche (so many lovely foods to choose from) and then through the department store itself. I oohed and aahed over many, many, many beautiful designer dresses (as if), fondled some wallets and handbags (as if again) and finally settled on some moderately priced tights for my collection. We took our time wandering through the Odeon and Luxembourg areas before reaching Bvld St Michel and walking across the Ille de Cite to grab a bus home. There we had a lovely night in cooking the handmade ravioli and white asparagus we had picked up at Le Mon Marche earlier.
Tuesday the weather was finally mostly fine so we headed to Versailles. The queue was only 90 minutes long (apparently this is quite good) and before long we were in the Palace itself where I longed to stroke the velvet wall coverings, but thought better of it. The palace was packed with tour groups, lots of belwidered looking elderly Chinese people and packs of Eastern Europeans. I ended up having to buy a postcard of the Queen's bedroom just so I could see what it looked like (as far as I know it looks like rude pushy people's backs).
We emerged from our brief tour and headed into the gardens where we stopped for a bite to eat and wandered for hours. Unfortunately the Petit Trianon (where Marie Antoinette spent most of her time) is closed for a touch up prior to the summer so we checked out the Grand Trianon instead before lesiurely walking back to the Palace and onto the train to come home. After a long day on our feet we were happy to pick up a couple of bottles of wine, grab a quick meal at our cafe around the corner and head home to enjoy one bottle of the wine and a read before bed.
I woke yesterday with a urgent need to take more photos. I don't know why, I have already taken about 1600 photos on the trip, but somehow not enough of them in Paris. We headed to the Marais (right around the corner) where we wandered with very little direction through the Place des Vosges, to St Paul Village, through the Jewish area where we happened across what we now call "Falafel Alley". Paul eyed up the stores and finally decided the one with the second longest queue and the sign saying "The Best Falafel in the World" was the one to pick. And so he joined the thirty or so people standing in the street (there is nowhere to sit) munching away on their falafel. I tried it, it was v.good but the best? Mmm, not a big enough sample for that claim.
On and on we walked, through Beaubourg to St Eustache and then up Rue Montgrueil to Rue Reamur, through to Bourse and back to Palais Royal, then the Lourve, across the Pont des Arts and along the quai/promonade of the Seine. Eventually we ended up at the Jardin des Plantes where we headed for the Grande Galerie d'Evolution. Picture a massive hall full of real stuffed animals (rhinos, polar bears, elephants, several girafes, in fact a whole stampede of African animals, display cases full of butterflies and bugs, some scary looking koalas etc etc etc). It was huge and again, full of brats. No one had thought to mention that kids in Paris have Wednesday afternoon off from school (and go on Saturday morning to make up for it).
We dragged ourselves home to recuperate before we headed to the 20th to meet up with Steve for dinner. He took us to a great place whose name I again can't remember, but there were olive trees, live music, lamb chops for me and a decent cocktail list. After dinner we headed to another bar for some more drinks before jumping on the Metro before it closed. The late night put to rest any ideas we had of heading to Chartres today. While it isn't far away, the Gare we need is across town and it seems a shame to head somewhere and only have a few hours to explore. Instead we will head to Gare du Nord to reserve our seats to Amsterdam on Saturday and spend more time soaking up Paris.
Tomorrow we don't have much planned at all, except to avoid getting grumpy (me) because it is almost time to leave this lovely place.
So what have we been up to?
Monday we did finally make it to the Orangerie. It was lovely. The waterlilies are just how I expected them to be but the collection in the lower half of the museum was even better. I even found a new favourite artist whose name I cannot recall, but her work is lovely.
We then headed over to the 6th to wander the Grand Epicurie at Le Bon Marche (so many lovely foods to choose from) and then through the department store itself. I oohed and aahed over many, many, many beautiful designer dresses (as if), fondled some wallets and handbags (as if again) and finally settled on some moderately priced tights for my collection. We took our time wandering through the Odeon and Luxembourg areas before reaching Bvld St Michel and walking across the Ille de Cite to grab a bus home. There we had a lovely night in cooking the handmade ravioli and white asparagus we had picked up at Le Mon Marche earlier.
Tuesday the weather was finally mostly fine so we headed to Versailles. The queue was only 90 minutes long (apparently this is quite good) and before long we were in the Palace itself where I longed to stroke the velvet wall coverings, but thought better of it. The palace was packed with tour groups, lots of belwidered looking elderly Chinese people and packs of Eastern Europeans. I ended up having to buy a postcard of the Queen's bedroom just so I could see what it looked like (as far as I know it looks like rude pushy people's backs).
We emerged from our brief tour and headed into the gardens where we stopped for a bite to eat and wandered for hours. Unfortunately the Petit Trianon (where Marie Antoinette spent most of her time) is closed for a touch up prior to the summer so we checked out the Grand Trianon instead before lesiurely walking back to the Palace and onto the train to come home. After a long day on our feet we were happy to pick up a couple of bottles of wine, grab a quick meal at our cafe around the corner and head home to enjoy one bottle of the wine and a read before bed.
I woke yesterday with a urgent need to take more photos. I don't know why, I have already taken about 1600 photos on the trip, but somehow not enough of them in Paris. We headed to the Marais (right around the corner) where we wandered with very little direction through the Place des Vosges, to St Paul Village, through the Jewish area where we happened across what we now call "Falafel Alley". Paul eyed up the stores and finally decided the one with the second longest queue and the sign saying "The Best Falafel in the World" was the one to pick. And so he joined the thirty or so people standing in the street (there is nowhere to sit) munching away on their falafel. I tried it, it was v.good but the best? Mmm, not a big enough sample for that claim.
On and on we walked, through Beaubourg to St Eustache and then up Rue Montgrueil to Rue Reamur, through to Bourse and back to Palais Royal, then the Lourve, across the Pont des Arts and along the quai/promonade of the Seine. Eventually we ended up at the Jardin des Plantes where we headed for the Grande Galerie d'Evolution. Picture a massive hall full of real stuffed animals (rhinos, polar bears, elephants, several girafes, in fact a whole stampede of African animals, display cases full of butterflies and bugs, some scary looking koalas etc etc etc). It was huge and again, full of brats. No one had thought to mention that kids in Paris have Wednesday afternoon off from school (and go on Saturday morning to make up for it).
We dragged ourselves home to recuperate before we headed to the 20th to meet up with Steve for dinner. He took us to a great place whose name I again can't remember, but there were olive trees, live music, lamb chops for me and a decent cocktail list. After dinner we headed to another bar for some more drinks before jumping on the Metro before it closed. The late night put to rest any ideas we had of heading to Chartres today. While it isn't far away, the Gare we need is across town and it seems a shame to head somewhere and only have a few hours to explore. Instead we will head to Gare du Nord to reserve our seats to Amsterdam on Saturday and spend more time soaking up Paris.
Tomorrow we don't have much planned at all, except to avoid getting grumpy (me) because it is almost time to leave this lovely place.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Paris, Nocturnal
Us again...
We've had a great weekend seeing Paris by night - thanks to Steve who has been a great Paris city guide again!
Friday we finally made it to the Museum at Quai Branly. The building is new and designed by Jean Nouvel (could have that wrong) who has won some prestigous architecture prizes since. The museum itself is non-western cultures - you start in Oceania, then go to Asia, Africa and the Americas. After a couple of hours of dodging French brats and seeing some interesting textiles (and waaaay too many phallic totems), we left the museum to take a Seine river cruise on Bateaux Mouches.
Friday night started quietly enough, we had a quick snack at home and then headed around the corner to see a movie (Horton Hears a Who - or as they say in France [silent H]ort-on). We got home and found a text message from Steve who had offered to take us out for a drink, so a few minutes later we were on a Metro heading north to the Canal St Martin where we drank away the hours until the last Metro home at 2:30am.
Saturday morning was a write-off (recovery is everything) and Saturday afternoon I didn't manage more than a trip to St Paul in the Marais to pick up a couple of new novels. This time we knew we were going out for a big night and by 8:30pm were waiting to meet Steve at Place d'Italie in the 13th. We headed up the (very little) hill to Butte Aux Cailles where we drank wine out of plastic cups on the footpath while waiting for our table at a cheap and cheerfully frantic Basque restaurant. Let's just say, if you go to Basque country I don't think there will ever be any chance you will starve, even if potatoes are the only food available.
Full to the gills, we stumbled past a bar Steve had told us about the night before, but it was too full to go in so we settled in across the street. One strangely herbal boutique beer later, we braved the scrum and headed into the bar (whose name I have no recollection of). The feature of this bar (other than the countless flavoured rums you could choose from) was the tiny dance space in the back where they played tacky French hits from the 1980's to a very drunk (that rum again) and very enthusiastic crowd. It was hot, it was squashed, the rum was scary (we had a couple of shots each of the barman's choices - one I could say was Banana, the other I have no idea) and the people were a little crazy. Paul freaked out a bit so we quickly moved next door for some quieter cocktails and personal space.
A couple of cocktails later the bars closed (2am is the closing time away from the big clubs) and after a fruitless search for the last Metro (not so lucky this time) we went our separate ways, Steve to find a Velib for the short ride home to his apartment in the 5th, and us for an hour long home through the 13th, 12th, 4th and finally 11th arondissments. I didn't mind one bit, walking across Pont Sully at 2:45am you could still see the silouette of Notre Dame, and the top of the Eiffel Tower in the inky blue sky. Ahh.
Sunday again was a day of leisure. We don't mind spending the weekends reading and drinking coffee in the apartment - it is way too crazy in our neighbourhood all weekend anyway. Not having something to do is the reason we are staying so long in Paris - having both done the whistlestop craminasmuchasyoucaninthreedays trips to Paris before. Besides, stamina is going to come in handy over the next couple of weeks.
Last night we again were treated to Steve's hospitality, this time a long-ish walk to the 20th to see live music at the Flesche D'Or, a famous indie venue which has free entry (!!!) and an ever changing line-up of up-and-coming bands. We had hoped to eat there as well but the kitchen was closed so we settled for a quick pizza around the corner. Back inside, we caught the last half of Peter from Peter, Bjorn and John's set, had a pricey beer and then watched The Bronson Brothers from Denmark. I'm not sure how to describe the experience, it was somewhere between guitar rock, vaudeville and bluegrass with some prog-rock thrown in. And every single band member looked like someone else - one of the guitarists seriously was the spitting image (but maybe blonder and thinner) of Dawson from Dawson's Creek.
Not ready to go home quite yet, after the show ended we stopped in at the bar next door for some more live music, this time French, and another beer before the call of the last few Metros of the evening forced us to leave. Safely home, and now it is Monday again.
Today our plan is to head finally to the Orangerie to see Monet's waterlillies and I may even try to convince Paul to brave the Christian Lacroix exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts (I mean, it is just around the corner!). Tomorrow will likely mean Versailles (if the weather is not too bad) or maybe even Chartres to see the cathedral.
Au revoir,
Sara & Paul
(And for those who missed the pop culture references previously - Marimekko is a famous Scandivanian textile design firm, and Ingrid Bettancourt is a French/Columbian political activist held hostage by Columbian rebels for the last six years who is now dying so France is trying to rescue her from the jungle).
We've had a great weekend seeing Paris by night - thanks to Steve who has been a great Paris city guide again!
Friday we finally made it to the Museum at Quai Branly. The building is new and designed by Jean Nouvel (could have that wrong) who has won some prestigous architecture prizes since. The museum itself is non-western cultures - you start in Oceania, then go to Asia, Africa and the Americas. After a couple of hours of dodging French brats and seeing some interesting textiles (and waaaay too many phallic totems), we left the museum to take a Seine river cruise on Bateaux Mouches.
Friday night started quietly enough, we had a quick snack at home and then headed around the corner to see a movie (Horton Hears a Who - or as they say in France [silent H]ort-on). We got home and found a text message from Steve who had offered to take us out for a drink, so a few minutes later we were on a Metro heading north to the Canal St Martin where we drank away the hours until the last Metro home at 2:30am.
Saturday morning was a write-off (recovery is everything) and Saturday afternoon I didn't manage more than a trip to St Paul in the Marais to pick up a couple of new novels. This time we knew we were going out for a big night and by 8:30pm were waiting to meet Steve at Place d'Italie in the 13th. We headed up the (very little) hill to Butte Aux Cailles where we drank wine out of plastic cups on the footpath while waiting for our table at a cheap and cheerfully frantic Basque restaurant. Let's just say, if you go to Basque country I don't think there will ever be any chance you will starve, even if potatoes are the only food available.
Full to the gills, we stumbled past a bar Steve had told us about the night before, but it was too full to go in so we settled in across the street. One strangely herbal boutique beer later, we braved the scrum and headed into the bar (whose name I have no recollection of). The feature of this bar (other than the countless flavoured rums you could choose from) was the tiny dance space in the back where they played tacky French hits from the 1980's to a very drunk (that rum again) and very enthusiastic crowd. It was hot, it was squashed, the rum was scary (we had a couple of shots each of the barman's choices - one I could say was Banana, the other I have no idea) and the people were a little crazy. Paul freaked out a bit so we quickly moved next door for some quieter cocktails and personal space.
A couple of cocktails later the bars closed (2am is the closing time away from the big clubs) and after a fruitless search for the last Metro (not so lucky this time) we went our separate ways, Steve to find a Velib for the short ride home to his apartment in the 5th, and us for an hour long home through the 13th, 12th, 4th and finally 11th arondissments. I didn't mind one bit, walking across Pont Sully at 2:45am you could still see the silouette of Notre Dame, and the top of the Eiffel Tower in the inky blue sky. Ahh.
Sunday again was a day of leisure. We don't mind spending the weekends reading and drinking coffee in the apartment - it is way too crazy in our neighbourhood all weekend anyway. Not having something to do is the reason we are staying so long in Paris - having both done the whistlestop craminasmuchasyoucaninthreedays trips to Paris before. Besides, stamina is going to come in handy over the next couple of weeks.
Last night we again were treated to Steve's hospitality, this time a long-ish walk to the 20th to see live music at the Flesche D'Or, a famous indie venue which has free entry (!!!) and an ever changing line-up of up-and-coming bands. We had hoped to eat there as well but the kitchen was closed so we settled for a quick pizza around the corner. Back inside, we caught the last half of Peter from Peter, Bjorn and John's set, had a pricey beer and then watched The Bronson Brothers from Denmark. I'm not sure how to describe the experience, it was somewhere between guitar rock, vaudeville and bluegrass with some prog-rock thrown in. And every single band member looked like someone else - one of the guitarists seriously was the spitting image (but maybe blonder and thinner) of Dawson from Dawson's Creek.
Not ready to go home quite yet, after the show ended we stopped in at the bar next door for some more live music, this time French, and another beer before the call of the last few Metros of the evening forced us to leave. Safely home, and now it is Monday again.
Today our plan is to head finally to the Orangerie to see Monet's waterlillies and I may even try to convince Paul to brave the Christian Lacroix exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts (I mean, it is just around the corner!). Tomorrow will likely mean Versailles (if the weather is not too bad) or maybe even Chartres to see the cathedral.
Au revoir,
Sara & Paul
(And for those who missed the pop culture references previously - Marimekko is a famous Scandivanian textile design firm, and Ingrid Bettancourt is a French/Columbian political activist held hostage by Columbian rebels for the last six years who is now dying so France is trying to rescue her from the jungle).
Friday, April 11, 2008
More from Paris
Hi all,
We are still enjoying our slow pace of life in Paris. Lazy mornings (it isn't light until about 8am anyway, so why rush?), long afternoons in the intermittent sunshine (stays light until 9pm) and late dinners.
Wednesday we caught up with Steve for a couple of beers and a lovely meal, having spent the day walking the streets of Paris again.
Yesterday we headed to Pere Lachaise cemetary to soak up the atmosphere and take some B&W photos. Paul refused to see Jim Morrison's grave (now fenced off) despite my best attempts to trick him into it. I was a bit shocked about how much graffiti is now all over Oscar Wilde's grave/tomb/sculpture - last time I was there in 2002 there were only kisses.
We had decided on Steve's recommendation to head for the new museum at Quai Branly but for some reason unknown to us the bus terminated at the Lourve so we abandoned that idea for the day. I had spotted the new Marimekko capsule collection in the windows of H&M so decided to finally get shopping! After a coffee break we headed up the Rue St Honore to finally visit Colette, the famous concept store. Happily, we left with a new coffee table book.
Three H&M's later, I was happy, a bag full of cheap (and bright) goodies from the Marrimekko collection. Paul bought some new sunnies too and thankfully the shops closed before we could get ourselves into any more trouble! We wandered home via the Rue de Rivoli and decided to head to a local cafe for dinner. No such luck - the neighbourhood was full up and our little cafe had no seats in sight. After a quick stop at the supermarket we were back in our apartment for some ravioli, salad and a baguette.
Today we are planning to do much the same - possibly head to Quai Branly again, possibly try the queues at the Orangrie later in the afternoon, I am needing a new novel to read so we will seek out an English language bookstore and we might even try to see a movie (version originale of course!).
Bye for now...
S&P.
We are still enjoying our slow pace of life in Paris. Lazy mornings (it isn't light until about 8am anyway, so why rush?), long afternoons in the intermittent sunshine (stays light until 9pm) and late dinners.
Wednesday we caught up with Steve for a couple of beers and a lovely meal, having spent the day walking the streets of Paris again.
Yesterday we headed to Pere Lachaise cemetary to soak up the atmosphere and take some B&W photos. Paul refused to see Jim Morrison's grave (now fenced off) despite my best attempts to trick him into it. I was a bit shocked about how much graffiti is now all over Oscar Wilde's grave/tomb/sculpture - last time I was there in 2002 there were only kisses.
We had decided on Steve's recommendation to head for the new museum at Quai Branly but for some reason unknown to us the bus terminated at the Lourve so we abandoned that idea for the day. I had spotted the new Marimekko capsule collection in the windows of H&M so decided to finally get shopping! After a coffee break we headed up the Rue St Honore to finally visit Colette, the famous concept store. Happily, we left with a new coffee table book.
Three H&M's later, I was happy, a bag full of cheap (and bright) goodies from the Marrimekko collection. Paul bought some new sunnies too and thankfully the shops closed before we could get ourselves into any more trouble! We wandered home via the Rue de Rivoli and decided to head to a local cafe for dinner. No such luck - the neighbourhood was full up and our little cafe had no seats in sight. After a quick stop at the supermarket we were back in our apartment for some ravioli, salad and a baguette.
Today we are planning to do much the same - possibly head to Quai Branly again, possibly try the queues at the Orangrie later in the afternoon, I am needing a new novel to read so we will seek out an English language bookstore and we might even try to see a movie (version originale of course!).
Bye for now...
S&P.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Paris dispatches...
Here's a shortlist of what we have been doing the past few days:
Eating lots of chocolate breakfast goodies...mmm.
Wandering around the Canal St Martin.
Getting caught up in a rally for Ingrid Bettancourt.
Avoiding the queues at museums on the one free day per month.
Walking around, a lot. Walking so much our feet ache and today we are considering travelling only by bus (you can't see anything on the metro).
Sauntering down the Champs Elysees, avoiding eye contact with the thousands of police and army officers sent to secure the Olympic Torch route.
Taking lots of photos of statues and sculptures.
Wandering the Marais, trying to stop Paul from shopping for questionable shirts.
Lunching outside the Pompidou Centre before exploring the bookstore.
Bus-ing it to St Germain des Pres to look at the fancy shops (from the outside). Then walking all the way to the Eiffel Tower via Musee Rodin and Les Invalides.
Feeling sorry for the Contiki kids who had only ten minutes to jump off their bus and run to get their Eiffel Tower photos.
Admiring the disco lights on the Eiffel Tower at 9pm last night.
Grocery shopping.
Today we are off to...umm...who knows? We'll work it out at the bus stop!
Eating lots of chocolate breakfast goodies...mmm.
Wandering around the Canal St Martin.
Getting caught up in a rally for Ingrid Bettancourt.
Avoiding the queues at museums on the one free day per month.
Walking around, a lot. Walking so much our feet ache and today we are considering travelling only by bus (you can't see anything on the metro).
Sauntering down the Champs Elysees, avoiding eye contact with the thousands of police and army officers sent to secure the Olympic Torch route.
Taking lots of photos of statues and sculptures.
Wandering the Marais, trying to stop Paul from shopping for questionable shirts.
Lunching outside the Pompidou Centre before exploring the bookstore.
Bus-ing it to St Germain des Pres to look at the fancy shops (from the outside). Then walking all the way to the Eiffel Tower via Musee Rodin and Les Invalides.
Feeling sorry for the Contiki kids who had only ten minutes to jump off their bus and run to get their Eiffel Tower photos.
Admiring the disco lights on the Eiffel Tower at 9pm last night.
Grocery shopping.
Today we are off to...umm...who knows? We'll work it out at the bus stop!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Happy Paris!
Hello all,
We have arrived in Paris, yay! After some secret squirrel business involving key codes and safes we have settled into our lovely little apartment on Rue de Lappe in the 11th district. It seems to be a groovy little street full of bars, restaurants and little boutiques and is crawling with people. Happy we are...
To quickly recap the last few days:
Interlaken - no Jungfraujoch (that is the highest train station in Europe for those who wondered) for us as the weather was mostly terrible on the mountains and rainy in the town. Instead we soaked up the atmosphere, ate some lovely meals (I even tried white asparagus for the first time - YUM, and we had a cheese and mushroom fondue), drank lots of beer, visited the St Beatus Caves and Paul had "the best run ever".
After a lovely train trip through the alps to southern Switzerland we eventually arrived in Martigny, on the Swiss side of the French alps. Having enjoyed Chamonix so much on our last trip we had hoped it would be just as nice. Not so much. The hotel staff were awful so we quickly escaped to wander the town, see the Roman ampitheatre, spot some St Bernard dogs (this is the region they are from) and settled in at Cafe Barock, a local bar where the barman even gave us free drinks. Maybe he doesn't see many people drink 2L of beer each on a Thursday afternoon? Nicely sozzled, we then enjoyed quite a lovely Thai meal across the square before meandering back to the hotel. We had almost changed our mind about the town until we encountered the staff again at breakfast. Le sigh.
Happy to escape, the train trip north and then west to Geneva via Montreaux and Lausanne was beautiful. The views of the alps across Lake Geneva had me regretting we didn't stay in Montreaux afterall, or even longer in Interlaken as we most certainly could have done the Jungfraujoch on Friday. Geneva itself was lovely, we explored the old town and the lakefront for a few hours, had a coffee (and then a nap) before an early dinner in order to be well rested for our relatively early TGV ride to Paris.
We left Geneva to the hot air balloon festival and arrived in Paris early afternoon. Now it is time to explore the neighbourhood, and maybe further afar...
And tomorrow? It is Paris Marathon day so who knows what we will see?
We have arrived in Paris, yay! After some secret squirrel business involving key codes and safes we have settled into our lovely little apartment on Rue de Lappe in the 11th district. It seems to be a groovy little street full of bars, restaurants and little boutiques and is crawling with people. Happy we are...
To quickly recap the last few days:
Interlaken - no Jungfraujoch (that is the highest train station in Europe for those who wondered) for us as the weather was mostly terrible on the mountains and rainy in the town. Instead we soaked up the atmosphere, ate some lovely meals (I even tried white asparagus for the first time - YUM, and we had a cheese and mushroom fondue), drank lots of beer, visited the St Beatus Caves and Paul had "the best run ever".
After a lovely train trip through the alps to southern Switzerland we eventually arrived in Martigny, on the Swiss side of the French alps. Having enjoyed Chamonix so much on our last trip we had hoped it would be just as nice. Not so much. The hotel staff were awful so we quickly escaped to wander the town, see the Roman ampitheatre, spot some St Bernard dogs (this is the region they are from) and settled in at Cafe Barock, a local bar where the barman even gave us free drinks. Maybe he doesn't see many people drink 2L of beer each on a Thursday afternoon? Nicely sozzled, we then enjoyed quite a lovely Thai meal across the square before meandering back to the hotel. We had almost changed our mind about the town until we encountered the staff again at breakfast. Le sigh.
Happy to escape, the train trip north and then west to Geneva via Montreaux and Lausanne was beautiful. The views of the alps across Lake Geneva had me regretting we didn't stay in Montreaux afterall, or even longer in Interlaken as we most certainly could have done the Jungfraujoch on Friday. Geneva itself was lovely, we explored the old town and the lakefront for a few hours, had a coffee (and then a nap) before an early dinner in order to be well rested for our relatively early TGV ride to Paris.
We left Geneva to the hot air balloon festival and arrived in Paris early afternoon. Now it is time to explore the neighbourhood, and maybe further afar...
And tomorrow? It is Paris Marathon day so who knows what we will see?
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Larking in Interlaken
Hi all,
Well we have had a lovely couple of days in Lucerne and have now arrived in Interlaken.
We arrived in Lucerne on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon, and after checking in at our little hotel in the city centre, we headed out with the rest of the town's population for a stroll along the river and lake.
People stare at other people a LOT in Lucerne. The entire lake front was just a parade of designer-clad people checking each other out, wrapped up in furs and Burberry trench coats as Paul walked around in a t-shirt and I sweltered in my long sleeved t-shirt.
By the time beer o'clock rolled around (that's 4pm), we had settled in at a riverside hotel near the Chapel Bridge, in the shade, to enjoy some weissbier and to watch the parade until the sun went down around 7:30pm. Almost the last to leave the bar, we then went back to the hotel to grab a jacket and head out for some more beers, this time at a British themed pub on the riverfront. I enjoyed the best cheeseburger and chips ever (at a relatively bargain price of around CHF 18 - this is a country where a vegetarian curry costs CHF 18, before you even add in some pakoras, naan bread etc) and we both got a little bit tipsy.
Monday we slept in. Sunday had been a short night's sleep after all, the clocks had gone forward for summer time and there was the night of drinking to recover from. The weather was not kind to us, where yesterday there were mountains and snow, today was rain clouds and mist. We had a lazy coffee, did some groceries (not so mundane here), wandered around the town some more, had a lovely picnic, did some shopping - I bought a watch and a swiss army knife, and Paul even squeezed in a short run for the first time all trip.
Early evening rolled around before we knew it, so off to dinner for an expensive, yet interesting curry it was. A short walk around the town to work off the bread at least, and our short stay in Lucerne was over.
No improvement in the weather today but it didn't detract from the beautiful train trip to Interlaken. The lakes are a perfect turquoise, the mountains snow-capped and the passes steep and slow. We even saw a couple of fighter jets take off. We arrived in Interlaken just after 2pm, checked in at our great little hotel/hostel, FINALLY put some washing on and wandered around the town to get our bearings. The weather outlook continues to be overcast and rainy which may mean we don't get to the Jungfraujoch, but Ursula - the hostess - has given us plenty of other alternatives to try. Like Curling...
Well we have had a lovely couple of days in Lucerne and have now arrived in Interlaken.
We arrived in Lucerne on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon, and after checking in at our little hotel in the city centre, we headed out with the rest of the town's population for a stroll along the river and lake.
People stare at other people a LOT in Lucerne. The entire lake front was just a parade of designer-clad people checking each other out, wrapped up in furs and Burberry trench coats as Paul walked around in a t-shirt and I sweltered in my long sleeved t-shirt.
By the time beer o'clock rolled around (that's 4pm), we had settled in at a riverside hotel near the Chapel Bridge, in the shade, to enjoy some weissbier and to watch the parade until the sun went down around 7:30pm. Almost the last to leave the bar, we then went back to the hotel to grab a jacket and head out for some more beers, this time at a British themed pub on the riverfront. I enjoyed the best cheeseburger and chips ever (at a relatively bargain price of around CHF 18 - this is a country where a vegetarian curry costs CHF 18, before you even add in some pakoras, naan bread etc) and we both got a little bit tipsy.
Monday we slept in. Sunday had been a short night's sleep after all, the clocks had gone forward for summer time and there was the night of drinking to recover from. The weather was not kind to us, where yesterday there were mountains and snow, today was rain clouds and mist. We had a lazy coffee, did some groceries (not so mundane here), wandered around the town some more, had a lovely picnic, did some shopping - I bought a watch and a swiss army knife, and Paul even squeezed in a short run for the first time all trip.
Early evening rolled around before we knew it, so off to dinner for an expensive, yet interesting curry it was. A short walk around the town to work off the bread at least, and our short stay in Lucerne was over.
No improvement in the weather today but it didn't detract from the beautiful train trip to Interlaken. The lakes are a perfect turquoise, the mountains snow-capped and the passes steep and slow. We even saw a couple of fighter jets take off. We arrived in Interlaken just after 2pm, checked in at our great little hotel/hostel, FINALLY put some washing on and wandered around the town to get our bearings. The weather outlook continues to be overcast and rainy which may mean we don't get to the Jungfraujoch, but Ursula - the hostess - has given us plenty of other alternatives to try. Like Curling...
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