In the Tahitian sun & then back to OZ.

After taking an incredible time to get through customs we were finally re-united with our dear friends Karen & Jean Chong after a period of some 9 years, it was so nice to see them after such a long break, unfortunately they had been waiting at the airport some nearly 2 hours & it was still only 7.30am when we finally gathered our luggage from the carousel.

While the girls obviously chatted about a miriad of things in Karen's car I went with Jean in his. Going into Papeete I noticed a big change in the overall landscape as many new buildings had been completed & the waterfront had undergone a real transformation.

The docking facilities for cruise ships had been upgraded quite extensively plus a much improved area on the seafront for " les roulettes " which are the mobile food vans that set up each night in this area & operate until about 1.00am in the morning.

I also noticed that the overall look of the city centre had been noticeably cleaned up compared to our last visit when the whole area looked decidedly run-down. It was nice to get to Karen & Jeans' & relax for the rest of the day & take a dip in their very inviting pool. Jean also prepared us a lovely lunch of " piosson cru " which is a meal of raw fish marinated in lime juice with chopped up tomato & onion, it is really moorish.

We spent the next couple of days re-discovering Papeete & went to the market in town to once again mingle with the locals selling their wares whether it be fruit & vege, jewellery, baskets, shell leis or meat & poultry, still a great market with plenty of choices. From there it was a quick trip to the Sheraton Hotel to see the Polynesian Jewellery Exhibition which was a stunning display of some superb creations, most of them out of our price range but the girls still managed to get a couple of nice items for the collection.

The next few days saw us relaxing in the pool as it was particularly hot & humid so the pool offered soothing relief from the heat. We did venture out to take a trip around the island just to see what changes had taken place & were sad to see that a lot of the lovely views of the ocean have now been blocked out by high fences that have been put up for security reasons, such a pity as some of the views out to Moorea were picture postcard stuff & now you only get fleeting glances of this beautiful creation.

We continued around the island stopping for a welcome beer at the golf club before driving down to the world renowned surf break at Teahupu where some of the world's best waves crash down onto the rocky reef during the Winter months in Tahiti, unfortunately we missed out this day as the waves were quite docile & not very rideable. We left a little disappointed & made it back to the house & relaxed for the remainder of the day.

Over the next couple of days we managed to catch up with some of our friends from my squash coaching days back in 1980 namely Franck Valgresy, Henri Yansaud, Ronnie Simon & his lovely wife Marie Therese we all enjoyed a lovely lunch at one of the many Chinese restaurants that operate around the town area of Papeete.

We were also lucky enough to be invited to a Tahitian ceremony at Jean's church which was really unique as there was no musical backing just the beautiful voices of the chior resonating throughout the church quite a treat.

The parishiners had also gone to a lot of trouble to decorate the interior with woven palm fronds, bougainvillea, hibiscus as well as the amazing bouquet of the tiare flower ( which is used in the flower caronne or crown of the dancing festivals ), & later during the mass people brought many different gifts such as coconuts, taro, yams, tomatoes, mangoes & other gifts to place in front of the altar as an offering to the " Almighty ".

To make it more special the Bishop said part of the mass in the Paumotu language which is the main language spoken in the Tuamotu Islands so I'm sure that they were impressed that he had learnt to communcate to them in their native tongue, I must say that the whole scene was great & it was a very special privelidge to be part of this particular ceremony.

We were also priveliged to share Chinese New Year with the whole Chong family with Jean doing all the preparation & cooking, there was so much to pick from I'm sure that he was expecting the rest of Papeete to turn up for this most fabulous feast.

A couple of days later Sara & I joined up with Ronnie for a quick 9 holes of golf ( Sara drove the golf cart ), it was a very enjoyable morning made even nicer by the surrounding views of the mountains & the lush fairways but thought that 9 holes were enough as Marie - Therese was preparing a Tahitian feast for us back at their house.

The view from the rear of their house was just superb with the back of their property lapping the water while in the distance one could see the waves breaking on the reef while in the background the the mountains on the smaller Tahiti Iti sloped their way down to the water's edge - all quite spectacular.

The lunch turned out to be a very " local " affair with many different Tahitian dishes set up around quite a large table including poisson cru, marinated mollusc from the pearl shell, fafaruu ( this is fish placed in a gourd for 4 to 6 weeks & left in the sun ) & then it is ready for consumption, if you can overcome the overwhelming smell it is a real delicacy, but it is not for everyone.
There was also a spicy chicken done with taro & yams, garlic prawns, mussels, large dish of bar-b-qued calamari, shredded chicken with Tahitian spinach, poi ( pawpaw ) suckling pork with an exotic vegetable dish done with coconut milk, absolutely fantastic, by the time we had finished lunch we were all lying around like beached whales.

Unfortunately our time had once again come to an end in paradise, we said our goodbyes to Karen that night as she was leaving early in the morning for Sydney on a 5.00am Air Tahiti Nui flight where she was seeing her son Moava before he headed off to Kapooka Army base to commence his basic training, we would catch up later on our way through Sydney on our way to Melbourne.

W e said our goodbyes to Jean & thanked him for his hospitality & for getting us to the airport, it was great to see Franck Valgresy there to see us off. We hoped that we could all catch up in the near future either here or back in OZ.

We were quickly through security & soon boarding our flight to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, we left on time at 7.00am. As we took off we grabbed our last glimpse of the amazing island of Moorea with its craggy peaks & beautiful bays surrounded by various reefs with rolling surf breaking on to their lagoons with some of the most superb shades of blue & green that make up these island paradises.

Tahiti was soon a wonderful distant memory so we just sat back & enjoyed the flight to Rarotonga & Auckland, at least this time the crew were friendly so the time past very quickly.
We had a couple of hours in Auckland so we made sure that we bought our " duty free " allowances before boarding our flight to Brisbane.

Our flight touched down a little ahead of schedule at 4.30pm & we were soon exchanging hugs & kisses with Kim ( Sara's sister ) & her husband Keith, the talking continued unabated from the time we picked up our luggage until we arrived back at their house, once there we relaxed with a very welcome cool drink.

After nearly 8 months away we could finally sit down & reflect on what we had managed to see & do during that time, as well as having the opportunity to stay in the Loire Valley for 4 months at Mareuil-sur-Cher we used our time to see all of the immediate area around us which included visiting all the major Chateaux.

During our time there we travelled extensively throughout the valley visiting some of the most lovely villages one could ever imagine to see, we also enjoyed the feel of a small village while living in a genuine " longere " farmhouse complete with our own vegie garden & fruit trees all very civilised & certainly a once in a lifetime experience for which we thank Joe & Kerin McGirr
for giving us the opportunity to persue a long held dream.

We thoroughly recommend that if any of our friends have the same opportunity to spend some time in this beautiful part of the world they should grab it with both hands as we now have lasting memories that will be with us for many years to come.

A special thankyou from both of us to our special friends Roger & Christiane ( Paris ), Jerry & Carol ( Salt Lake City ), Dave & Geri ( Tucson ) & finally Karen & Jean in Tahiti for allowing us to stay in their houses it was certainly great to see you all again, we just hope that we can repay all of you in Australia in the near future.

We hope that the blogger has been informative & has given you a closer look at what we were experiencing as it was certainly a lot of fun compiling it for all our friends, until next time whenever that may be our love & best wishes go out to you all,

Au revoir a bientot, Harv & Sara.

Salt Lake City & back to Tucson.

We were all still a buzz after the Cirque du Soleil performance of last night as we sat down for a nice breakfast in the MGM Restaurant. We sated our appetites, grabbed our bags & headed for Vegas Airport. Dave & Geri left us there to catch our flight to Salt Lake City before they headed for their long drive back to Tucson.

We were eagerly awaiting our arrival in SLC as it had been some 27 years since we had last seen Carol & Jerry Allen back in our Bougainville days. We landed at 3.15 pm & quickly had our luggage in hand. Carol & Jerry both looked fantastic & had hardly changed at all in those ensuing years- it was great seeing them after all this time it was just like we had never been apart.

After nice big hugs & kisses we took a drive into the city centre to re -orient ourselves since our last visit back in 1978, unfortunately the city is far bigger & busier since those days. We drove back through the outlying suburbs ( which had all developed since our last visit ) finally making to the Allens where we sat & reminicsed for the rest of the afternoon. We all went out for a nice meal at the local " Applebees " restaurant before settling down for some late night catch-up stories.

After a late start we took a drive around the surrounding lower slopes & discovered some really fantastic houses snuggled into the hillside with most of them having spectacular views back over Salt Lake. Later in the afternoon we watched our first Super Bowl final between the Indianapolis Colts & Chicago Bears. After leading 16-14 at half time the Colts through their dominant quarter-back Peyton Manning pulled away to win 29-17. Even though I didn't fully understand the rules of the game it was very entertaining to watch a full match, we certainly came away with a better understanding of the game. Half-time entertainment was from " Prince " but I'm afraid that some of the impact was lost because of an average sound coming from the arena.

We had another late start to Heber City before stopping at " Sundance " ski lodge owned by Robert Redford for a coffee ( we were a little disappointed as he wasn't there ) before heading off to Park City which is another very popular town for snow skiing. It is a lovely town with such a cute main street which is all heritage listed & maintains an 1880's facade on all the buildings. We decided that it was better to stay in Park City for dinner before heading back to SLC.

We spent the next afternoon driving past the Kennecott mine & part of the Great Salt Lake before returning home as we had Jerry's daughter Cathy & her husband Russell coming for dinner, we had another lovely meal prepared by Carol & the night & company turned out to be very nice indeed.

Unfortunately our time had come to an end and we said goodbye to our friends Carol & Jerry & hoped that we could catch up much sooner either in OZ or in the US. It was one of the special reunions of our travels around the world, it was just terrific to see them both looking so well.

Over the next couple of days we just lazed around the house in the nice temperate climate of Tucson, during this time we had a 2 hour walk into the neighboring Pima Canyon which was very good exercise for the legs.

We had a special last night in Tucson at the Westward Way Resort at the " Gold Room "
restaurant. We had a beautiful setting looking back over the Tucson city lights, backed up with a succulent & very imaginative meal, all very nice.

Our day of departure had finally come, Geri prepared yet another lovely lunch before our trip to the airport. This was an even harder goodbye as Dave & Geri had done so much for us during our stay there we look forward to repaying the favour back in OZ in the near future. We left nearly 90 minutes late out of Tucson but had time up our sleeve in Los Angeles so that was OK.

Another lengthy security check saw us finally through to get our Air NZ flight to Papeete. Like all longer legs on a plane it was quite boring & to make things worse the Air NZ staff were quite morose & very unfriendly. It is the only airline that we have travelled on that only provided dinner during this 9.5 hr leg, about 3.00 am a sandwich was offered with a glass of water- nothing else, very poor Air NZ. We arrived about 45 minutes late into Papeete at 6.15am.

At the Thomas' in Tucson & further North

After having spent a nice relaxing time in Vancouver we then headed south to San Francisco arriving there by mid afternoon. It was a 2 hour stopover before catching our flight to Tucson finally touching down by 8.30pm.

It was great to see our mates Dave & Geri after a couple of years & as usual we were soon into a conversation that would continue into the night. After all these years of us talking about visiting them in Tucson we had finally made it to visit their beautiful home, & what a spectacular house it is very spacious & open plan with lovely views back into Tucson from their foothills location.

As well as having loads of space to prepare food & cook, the kitchen also had a view out to the rear of the house to the surrounding rugged mountains that stretch around the perimeter of greater Tucson & a view over the inground pool & front garden down to downtown Tucson a truelly sensational aspect.

We managed to fit in a couple of walks over the next few days so we saw at close range just how all the housing blends in with the surrounding countryside with most of the houses painted in a light chocolate brown or beige. Most houses are on an acre of land so no one is that close to their neighbour so plenty of privacy abounds.

We also visited the local shopping complex " La Encantada " where we discovered AJ's, a very laviously appointed super market with the most beautiful displays in their fruit & vege, deli, meat & liquor areas, much much better than back home, makes Coles & Safeway look really 2nd rate, but no doubt you pay for the priveledge. The most amazing setup was the Costco store which is like the size of Bunnings in Australia but with every conceivable thing available - you name it they have it.

Dave & Geri had planned a 3 day trip away so we headed to Sedona which is in the north of Arizona & turned out to be an area full of amazing mountains that surrounded the whole area.
Unfortunately by the late afternoon the weather had changed & a heavy mist blocked our view of these rock beauties.

We headed further north through Flagstaff but by then the scenery was completely covered by a thick white blanket of snow while the trees groaned under the weight of the white carpet. It continued to fall as we arrived at the south rim of the Grand Canyon & by now the temperature was at minus 3 deg C so it was time to rug up as the wind had also picked up in strength.

Geri said that this was the best that she had ever seen the Canyon from this side because normally there is a lot of dust that tends to give a hazy appearance to the Canyon. We took some really lovely pics of the area before heading onto Zions National Park.

As we arrived late in the afternoon we decided to return next morning to take full advantage of this sensational spectacle. In the morning the temperature was still hovering near the minus 3 deg C so we made sure that we were well rugged up. On arrival at the park we were totally over awed by the size of these truelly spectacular mountains surrounding you like sentinels guarding the park, some of them rising more than 400 metres straight up making one feel very insignificent, nature certainly is amazing.

We walked through this amazing wonderland for the best part of an hour taking in this breathtaking panorama before heading onto St.George near the Utah & Nevada border & then onto our ultimate destination LAS VEGAS.

We arrived by 2.00pm & while we waited for our room to be prepared we walked down the main strip of Vegas taking in all the glitz & glamour of this most amazing metropolis. Some of the buildings are exact replicas of the originals like the Eiffel Tower, Empire State, Chrysler Building, Venice plus the Temple of Luxor & the Pyramid to name just a few.

We finally got our room but not before an upgrade from a room to a suite of 1500 sq.ft for an extra US$50.00 each, so that meant that we paid US$300.00 each for our night in Vegas ( normally US$900.00 ) what the heck we decided to shout ourselves one night of total luxury.
The suite had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a large lounge area that included a nice bar & chairs, all very opulent.

We had booked tickets to see the production of Cirque du Soleil " KA "which had been given rave reviews by the critics. The audatorium had taken more than 15 months to transform the old setup into this new sound stage which in itself was a remarkable piece of engineering.

The main stage was a revolving platform that could move from the horizontal to vertical attached to a huge hydraulic ram which in itself was supported by massive columns, the total weight of this was an impressive 46000 kgs which we were told was as heavy as a Boeing 767 fully laden so you can imagine what a sight this was. The show turned out to be the most spectacular live show that we had ever seen.

Dave & Geri were stunned by the overall immensity of the production, it was certainly the most daring choreography ever attempted on stage as all dancers were attached to cables operated by riggers so they had to be precise with the operation of the cables to land the dancers back on the rotating platform-simply brilliant.

After the show we all enjoyed a lovely Dinner over at the Mandalay Bay Resort in their " Raffles Restaurant " before returning to our suite to take in as much of the atmosphere as we could before our departure next morning. We had breakfast in the MGM before Dave & Geri dropped us off at the airport to catch our flight to Salt Lake City to visit Jerry & Carol Allen. We will catch up next from Salt Lake.

Our time in Europe

Thought that I should bring you all up to date with our movements since leaving France on the 5th January.

Our 1st stop was Budapest in Hungary & while the city itself has some great architecture & lovely old buildings it was a very depressing place to visit. I remember working with a Hungarian lady in the 60's ( her family had fled Hungary to escape the Russian invasion of 1956 ) & she just hated them for what they had done to her country. I remember in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics during the water polo game between Hungary & USSR that there was no love lost between the teams with players on both sides emerging from the water with blood pouring down their faces, very dramatic.

From that time until their final departure in 1989 the Russians have obviously bled the economy dry as there seems to have been no major developments or economic growth that has taken place as the whole city seems to have been caught in a time warp & is certainly an ecomony well behind the majority of the rest of Europe, we also failed to see much enthusiasm in the people at all.

All the museums & other stately buildings are all in need of a good clean as everything is grey & rundown certainly in need of a good coat of paint. The city itself has loads of potential but until they do something positive like cleaning up all the graffiti & general rubbish in the streets they will suffer in their tourist industry. Even after all of that we were glad that we saw Budapest.

Our next stop was Vienna & what a complete change that was, everything was spotless with nice wide roads with lovely cafes & restaurants with plenty of bars dotted around the area. We took a couple of tours while we were there including a half day to Schonnbrun Castle which is absolutely stunning & is set in hundreds of acres of beautiful gardens, unfortunately being Winter there were no flowers out in bloom but one could imagine just how spectacukar it would be in Spring & Summer.

We also took a trip into the Vienna woods outside Vienna where we visited the old Hunting Lodge that was once owned by the " Hapsburgs " & then onto an underground lake which was originally a limestone mine before water from a spring broke through & flooded the mine, these days it is a tourist attraction. We loved the beautiful buildings that adorn the city centre & make this one of the reasons why so many people visit each year.

Our 3rd stop was Prague in the Czech Republic & was a real eye opener, not only from an architectural point of view but from a cultural one as well as it has a very strong Jewish history over the years even though that has changed as there are only a handfull living in Prague these days. It was probably the most interesting city to walk around as there was plenty to see & digest with many buildings & monuments reflecting their colourful history.

As Czechoslavakia back in 1968 they were also invaded by Russia under the guise of the Warsaw Pact & thankfully no one was killed during this period even though the Russians had captured Alexander Dupcech's children & would have killed them had he not agreed to their terms to enter the country. They finally got kicked out in 1989 when the USSR collapsed. The city is full of very nice & relatively cheap bars & restaurants so we would highly recommend to go there.

We then had 5 days in that amazing place New York, what can one say there is so much to do there & where we were was so central, our hotel was at 33rd Street & 8th Avenue at the Pennsylvania Hotel which is across the road from Madison Square Gardens & about 10 blocks from Times Square so we couldn't have had a better location.

We had 4 full days there so we tried to use our time as well as we could, we took a 48hr bus pass which allowed us to go around 4 different areas of N.Y. including one to the Nth of the island up around the Central Park & Harlem area, one to the Sth around " Ground Zero ", Chinatown, Little Italy, Greenwhich Village & Soho. The 3rd took us across the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn which in itself a very interesting part of N.Y. life. Included in the same ticket were entrance to the Empire State building & the Statue of Liberty all for $US 156.00 for the 2 of us really great value.

It was a quick stop in Toronto as we wanted to take the trip to Niagara Falls & we were so glad we did as it turned out to be awesome. I didn't mention earlier but in all our time in Europe it hadn't snowed as it has been one of the mildest Winters for 100's of years. We finally had some on arrival in Toronto & the temperature was hovering around -4 degrees C. Niagara was just spectacular all covered with snow with ice formed around all the trees quite bizarre but truelly magnificent & as I said before the power of the water going over the falls is just mind-boggling.

We also went down under the falls in their tunnel system just to view the falls down at the bottom & you could feel the vibration of the water as it passed overhead, what power. It must be even more spectacular in Summer because they reduce the volume of water going over the falls in Winter to 19 million gallons/ minute ( 85 million litres/ minute ) instead of 34 million gallons or 150 million litres/ minute during the Summer, evidently that is enough to fill 1 million bath tubs/ minute.

Seeing this amazing performance certainly makes it one of the wonders of the world & one should get to see it during their lifetime, we were completely blown away by its power & beauty.

We are currently in Vancouver & are loving just walking around this most beautiful city which is set in a lovely setting, the city is set around a series of bays with a mountain range situated directly behind Nth Vancouver, the view at night from our 38th floor Hotel room is quite spectacular with a number of ski slopes open, the closest being less than an hour from the centre of town. We have once again utilised the " Hop on- Hop off " bus to get ourselves around as we find them the best value when we have limited time here.

We leave here on Saturday 27th for Tucson where we will spend some time with our dear friends Dave & Geri Thomas (ex-Bougainville & Sydney ) showing us parts of their state of Arizona, while there we will also be visiting another couple from Bougainville, Carol & Jerry Allen who live in Salt Lake City so it will be nice to see them after nearly 30 years, for you that may have been in Bougainville you would have remembered Jerry as the Goodyear Tyre Manager & Carol was the B.C.L. company photographer so there will be lots to catch up on in Tucson & SLC.

Sorry for the delay in sending today's posting but getting an internet cafe is not always that easy so I hope this brings you up to date with our movements,best wishes to all.

Until our next posting, Harv & Sar.

Around London & Edinburgh

We were finally on our way to see Tom in London but not by plane that had been mucked up by Air N.Z. so we were now going over by the TGV ( very fast train ) leaving from Gare du Nord & arriving at Waterloo in London.

It was a wet & early start on our day of departure getting up at 5.00am for a 7.00am exit from Paris, right on time I might add & as we discovered this is the best way to travel between Paris & London because the time you take to get to Charles de Gaulle just outside Paris, catch a flight to Heathrow & then take the connecting tube train into central London would take approximately the same time as the TGV.

It travels at close to 300kms/hour from Paris to the under channel tunnel, this then takes 20 minutes to traverse before it slows down once we were on the English side from there it is also non-stop into Waterloo, the whole trip completed in around 3 hrs.

One major thing was quite evident to us as we approached the outskirts of London just how dirty & drab London was compared to Paris qite a marked difference between the 2 cities.

We managed to get to Tom's office just near Farringdon underground station where we left our luggage & then headed to Madame Toussards to see all the famous wax figures of statesmen & movie ( check out the pics of Sara & Brad Pitt & me with Marilyn ) stars throughout the years. We had to queue for about an hour before finally getting inside, it turned out to be a most fascinating collection people from all around the world.

We then took the time to pay a visit to " Liz " at Buckingham Palace before walking back along Bond St to Oxford St. By this time it was starting to get dark & it was only 4.15pm quite unusual seeing it get dark this early.

Saturday 8th December saw us invited by Tom to have lunch at the " Reindeer Restaurant "which had been set up in a vacant warehouse & was only open for the festive season so it was hard to get a reservation, it turned out to be just fantastic, great atmosphere & great cuisine, something like that would do well in Melbourne around chrissy time.

From there it was a race against time as we had to get to the " London Eye " as Tom had booked a specific time over the phone, as it turned out so had everyone else so we still had to stand in a snake-like line for more than an hour. The " Eye " is the biggest ferris wheel in the world reaching a height of 135metres above the Thames ( see the pic ) & the view afforded from the top is absolutely brilliant & one revolution takes about 45 minutes, each capsule can hold more than 12 people at a time & are probably similar to the ones used on the ski slopes, a most awe inspiring ride.

Over the next couple of days we did the touristy thing & visited Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Harrods department store ( which is owned by Mahommed Al Fayed ) with a lot of the interior done in beautiful marble & granite depicting Pharoahs & their gods, it was as if you were visiting one of their palaces in Egypt, it must have cost millions.

We also managed to get to see 2 of the best Museums that we have visited on our trip namely the Victoria & Albert Museum in Sth Kensington & the British Museum up in Russell Square, it would take 2 or 3 full days at each to do them justice.

Our departure for Edinburgh was also an early one leaving at 7.00 am, & once again spot on time. The trip took us through a variety of countryside from the very industrial midlands to the soft rolling hills of northern England, as we approached Edinburgh the train skirted the cliffs just above the sea so it was quite open & spectacular with a number of links golf courses dotted along the coastline one could imagine just how hard it would be to play out there on a windy & rainy day, not pleasant.

After dropping off our luggage we walked down the main street Princes' street & up to Edinburgh Castle, it was bitterly cold walking around the exterior as it is perched high up on a volcanic outcrop & therefore quite exposed to the elements, never the less we enjoyed discovering the rich history of these tough Celts who have always stood very proud against the ever oppressive English.

The next day saw us visiting the Royal yacht " Britannia " which was de-commisioned back in 1997 & is now permanently moored at Leith harbour, it was a reminder of just how the royals lived away from their palaces, nothing was spared to make their time on board as comfortable as possible & one could just imagine how many famous people have graced the yacht with their presence. It was certainly worth the couple of hours looking over her.

With the temperature hovering around 3 or 4 degrees we went down to check out the German Xmas market which is set up each year in the gardens near Princes' street & has some 40 or 50 stalls set up selling all sorts of " goodies " including cakes, crockery, bratwurst & sauekraut rolls, beer & of course " gluewein " which we grabbed quickly to warm our insides.

On Sunday 17th December we went to see the Queens' official residence in Edinburgh at Holyroodhouse Palace. It turned out to be well done & gave one a good inside into the royals history over the past 500 years, each summer the Queen hosts a garden party for some 8000 invited guests. From there we just meandered through the streets back to the centre & took in some Scottish culture by visiting both the National Arts & the National Gallery both full of some exceptional pieces of work. That night the 3 of us enjoyed a very nice meal in beautiful surroundings at the George Hotel in their " Tempus Restaurant ".

We were sad to leave Edinburgh as it is a lovely city & still quite compact by world standards, the trip back was un-eventful & we arrived in London at 9.00 pm. The last couple of days in London saw us at Portobello Road, Notting Hill ( as in the film ) where we saw some absolute mansions, we looked in one of the local real estate windows only to see that to buy one of these gems you would need £ 2,500000.00 or $AUD 6,250000.00 just a little out of our league, we also got to Tower Bridge ( see pic ) but it was too late in the afternoon to go through the Tower of London so that will have to wait for our next visit to this bustling & vibrant city.

We said our goodbyes to Tom & thanked him for his generosity during our stay in London, we arrived back into Paris on time at 4.00 pm after a most enjoyable couple of weeks.
The following day I had some good news on my leg, the doppler scan revealed that the clot had now reduced in size significantly enough for me to travel in January but I still had to keep taking the anti-coagulant & wear the full length stocking each day until we return to OZ.

We enjoyed a very different Xmas this year being much colder than we normally experience
( but no snow up until now ) it is nice walking around nicely rugged up with your gloves, hat & scarf & we now look forward to visiting Budapest, Vienna, Prague & Zurich on our way home.

Sara & I wish all of you a very Happy & safe 2007, hopefully during our time on the way back we can squeeze in posting to keep you up to date. Until next time.

Our time in gay Paree

Well people I thought that I should bring you up to date with our travels since my last posting back in November.

Our drive up from Mareuil was without incident except that we got a little lost driving through Fontainbleu but still managed to get to Orly Airport to drop off the car to Peugoet.

As usual our dear friends Roger & Christiane were there to meet us, we had travelled 9200kms in the 3 months & had seen some amazing countryside & the car had performed superbly over the entire period returning amazing economy of 19.4kms/litre.

We just relaxed over the next couple of days taking in the ultra mild French autumn with beautiful blue skies, it was a real treat to just walk around taking in all the magnificent sights of this spectacular city. We did receive some disturbing news from Alana that our dear friend Dottie had had a stroke during the week & was currently in the Alfred Hospital, we just hope that she makes a full recovery very soon.

We also caught up with Tim Lyons ( Hazel & Tony's nephew ) & had a nice meal at a local Italian restaurant just near our apartment.We also had the opportunity to go to Champagne with R & C to visit a small producer called Lete-Vautrain, great quality but only produces 75000 bottles per year so only for local consumption.

We decided to buy a weekly ticket for the train & bus as it works out to be very cheap & would recommend that anyone coming to visit Paris for an extended stay purchase one. This new freedom allowed us to discover places like the Jardin du Plante which houses the Musee Nationale d'Histoire Naturelle Grande Galerie de l'Evolution, what a mouthful but a wonderful display of animals & skeletons from all around the world.

From there it was to the Catacombes ( see pic ) a very interesting but macarbe assembly of skulls & bones from various cemeteries around Paris placed there after mining ceased in an underground mine back in the early 1800's to make way for land that was needed for an expanding Paris, quite incredible. The view from the Arc de Triomph is superb as it takes in the whole 360 degrees spectrum with each avenue splaying out like 12 spokes of a bicycle wheel, a magic sight to behold. The Champs Elysee ( thats us with Arc de Triomph in the background ) itself is a beautiful boulevard it's easy to see why millions of tourists pass down this street each year.

Another way of seeing another side of Paris is to take a ride on the Bateaux Mouche or river boat that passes by a lot of the great buildings & landmarks that line the Seine, from there we took the bus to Isle de Cite which is where the original city of Paris first started back in the 7th or 8th century but was then known as Lutece.If you want to go back much further in their history you can trace their beginnings to the Gallo-Roman times when the tribe called Parisii were here in 52BC, so you can see they have a long tradition to call on

In this same area is the Place de Vosges where the royals held court for many years, one of the most famous people to live in this very upper class sector was the famous writer Victor Hugo who lived here from 1826 to 1851 before he was exiled to Guernsey for his views against the then Emperor Napoleon 3. He returned to France when Napoleon was ousted in 1870.

One of the most interesting things we have done in Paris was to visit " les Egouts " or the underground sewers that service this vast metropolis.Until the middle ages, the drinking water in Paris was taken from the Seine, wastewater was poured on to fields or unpaved streets,& finally filtered back into the Seine.

Around 1200, Philippe Auguste had the Parisian streets paved, incorporating a drain for waste water in their middle. In 1370, Hugues Aubriot, a Parisian provost, had a vaulted, stone-walled sewer built in the " rue Montmarte ". This sewer collected the waste water & took it to the
" Menilmontant " brook, however the wastewater was still drained in the open air.

Under the reign of Louis 14th, a large ring sewer was built on the right bank & the Bievre river was used as a sewer for the left bank of the Seine. Under Napoleon 1st, the first Parisian vaulted sewer network was built ( 30km long ).

It was only in 1850 that baron Haussmann, the prefect for the Seine & the engineer Eugene Belgrand designed the present Parisian sewer & water supply networks. Thus was built more than a century ago a double water supply network ( one for drinking water & one for non drinking water ) & a sewer network the length of which was 600km in 1878.

Belgrand's successors went on extending the Parisian network from 1914 to 1977 with more than 1000km of new sewers being built. No other city in the world has a sewer network like the one found in Paris, it now has 2100km of tunnels. Every day 1.2 million cubic metres of waste water have to be collected. Every year 15000 cubic metres of solid waste are taken out & disposed of.

A general sewerage treatment programme designed to meet the needs for 50 years was drawn up & became state-approved in 1935, this was the beginning of industrial sewerage treatment.
Since then the Acheres plant has gone on growing, at the end of 1970 it was one of the biggest sewerage treatment plants in Europe with a capacity of more than 2 million cubic metres/day.

I know that was a longed winded explanation of a subject that is normally not referred to but I thought that it was such an interesting visit that you all should know about it.

We also took a day trip down to Chateau Fontainbleu & this turned out to be the most opulent of all the Chateaux ( see the 2 pics ) that we have visited during our time here, it would be too difficult to describe just how ornate the furniture, jewellery, paintings, tapestries are plus the magnificent gardens only surpassed by the gardens at Versailles. This was the Chateau that Napoleon signed his abdication & bid a final farewell to his generals before he entered exile on the island of Elba.
My next posting will be from our time in the U.K.

The Chateaux - some historical information for you.

I decided to dig out some pertinent facts on 4 of the main Chateaux in the immediate area for any of you who have an historical bent. There are many more Chateaux that all have a story to tell but thought that I would concentrate on the following as I feel that they are the most popular.

CHAMBORD: ( The one with 4 large towers-top left )
The young King Francois 1st was 25 years old in 1519 when he initiated the huge enterprise of building the Chateau of Chambord. England at that time was being affected by major changes in continental Europe: conflicts engendered by the Reformation were troubling the kingdom & Renaissance tastes were being adapted through the Tudor style of architecture as seen in Somerset House.

As soon as he acceded to the throne in 1515, Francois 1st set out to reconquer the Italian province of Milan, which his predecessor, Louis 12th, had lost. On his return to France, this ambitious young king & very keen huntsman, stimulated by his victory at Marignano & influenced by Italy's Renaissance architecture, undertook to build the Chateau of Chambord.

Chambord was intended as a hunting lodge but its architecture makes it an extravagant chateau since it is 156m long & 56m tall with 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces & 426 rooms. Yet despite these vast dimensions, from the outside the chateau still appears delightfully graceful & well balanced. Of all the materials used in its construction, it is the " tufa " that really catches the eye; although employed at most Loire Valley sites, it is definately at Chambord that this calcareous stone, soft & friable, was worked with greatest virtuosity.

Francois 1st reigned for 32 yrs, during which he spent only 72 days at Chambord; he never saw his project completed for on his death in 1547 only the keep & the royal wing had been finished.During this time Francois 1st kept 1800 workers & artisans busy for 15 years. It was his son Henry 2nd, & Louis 14th, both likewise fond of hunting, who were responsible for making Chambord look the way we see it today.

Two other interesting facts about the chateau :
Tha chateau's famed double -helix staircase, attributed by some to Leonardo da Vinci who lived in Amboise ( 34 km S-W ) at the invitation of Francois 1st from 1516 until his death 3 yrs later, consists of 2 spiral staircases that wind around a central axis but never meet. The ornamentation is early French Renaissance.
The chateau is in the middle of the " Domaine National de Chambord ", a 54 sq-km hunting preserve reserved solely for the use of the president of France ( a right that Jacques Chirac has chosen not to exercise. A 32km stone wall built between 1542 & 1645 surrounds the estate.

CHENONCEAU: ( It straddles the Cher River )
Chenonceau's vast park, landscaped gardens & forests covering an area of 70 hectares either side of the River Cher, afford stunning views of the chateau exterior. Alongside the famed gardens of Diane de Poitiers & Catherine de Medicis there is also a beautifully restored 16th century farm to explore.

Nowhere is the power of the Renaissance woman more obvious than at Chenonceau, an architectural & horticultural feat that rose purely from the efforts of 5 strong-willed women. As royal mistress to Henry 2nd ( Francois 1st son ) the beautiful & brilliant Diane de Poitiers
( 1499-1566 ) was showered with fabulous gifts by the king - who made her a duchess & on the death of her cuckold husband in 1547 - gave her Chateau de Chenonceau. Thus the riverside chateau was transformed into a palace fit for a queen. A bridge was built across the river & 12000m of low lying land were raised to create a royal garden. Today 12 gardeners ensure that its vast lawn is cut 70 times a year & its beds potted out with 32000 plants twice yearly.

Ironically, Diane de Poitiers failed to realise her ambitious 5 yr landscaping project. In 1559 Henry 2nd died, prompting his royal mistress to cede the chateau to her archrival, the queen: Catherine de Medicis ( 1519-1589 ) & move to the less spectacular but still very impressive Chateau de Chaumont where she resided until she died in 1566.

Louise de Lorraine ( 1553-1601 ) cast a grey cloud over Chenonceau. Her husband, Henry 3rd, was assassinated the same year she inherited it from Catherine de Medicis, prompting the bereaved queen to drape its interior in black while donning nothing but white - the royal colour of mourning - herself. With the death of " la dame blanche " ( the white lady ) Chenonceau passed into the hands of Louise's neice, Francoise de Lorraine, & thus oput of royal hands.

The flamboyant Louise Dupin ( 1706-1799 ) , daughter of an actress, was the 4th femme fatale to leave her indelible mark on Chenonceau. She brought Jean-Jacques Rousseau to Chenonceau as a tutor for her son. During the French Revolution, the affection with which the peasantry regarded Madame Dupin saved the chateau from the violent fate of many of its neighbours. She finally died at the ripe old age of 93.

UNder Marguerite Pelouze from 1864, a rigorous renovation project aimed at restoring Chenonceau 16th century form was embarked upon. In1888 Pelouze was declared bankrupt, paving the way for the 1st male proprietor - industrialist & chocolatier Henri Menier - to adopt Chateau de Chenonceau as his queen.

VALENCAY ( the one with the beautiful garden above )
In 1540 on the ruins of a 12th century medieval castle, Jacques d'Etampes built a great chateau to rival the string of royal chateaux that were then being built along the Loire river Valley. Along with the Chateaux at Chambord & Chenonceau, its keep is one of the finest masterpieces of French Renaissance architecture.

In 1770, Louis 15th's farmer general Legendre de Villemorien extended the west wing by adding a roof " a la Mansart ", together with domes on the top of the corner towers, he also added a classical facade in the main courtyard.

In 1803, Napoleon's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, purchased Valencay so that he could entertain guests of honour. It was from there that from 1808-1814 the Princes of the Spanish Royal family took residence, following Napoleon's orders.

At the time, it was one of the 3 biggest estates in France, comprising 12000 hectares of land, 100 farms, as well as fields, vineyards & woodland together with a closed park covering 100 hect. After Talleyrand's death in 1838, the estate remained in the hands of his heirs until 1979.

CHEVERNY: ( The photo looking straight down the avenue to the chateau )
Cheverny, one of the best known Loire chateaux, belongs to the descendants of the Hurault family, well known in Blois from the 13th century. This family of financiers & officers has given distinguished service to 5 kings of France, including Jacques ( Treasurer to Louis 12th ), Philippe ( Chancellor to Henri 3rd & Henri 4th ) & his son Henri, Count of Cheverny, the builder of the chateau.

An officer of King Louis 13th, Count Henri & his Countess Marguerite decided to build a new chateau, inspired by the work of the best artists of the period. Cheverny's architect Boyer of Blois & its painter & decorator Jean Monier had worked for Queen Marie de Medici at the Chateau of Blois & the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. Cheverny was in the forefront of architectural development & can be said to have invented the French style in 1630-1640.

The Chateau, which is richly furnished, is still owned by the Hurault de Vibraye family, descendants of the original builders. Each suceeding generation has enhanced, maintained & preserved the beauty & character of the Chateau of Count Henri, guided by their own taste & that of the period. Hope this extra information has been helpful to you, until next time.