26: The last few days of our holiday...

We caught the Roisy bus back to the airport - very uneventful passage through immigration etc - the bird at the desk so busy chatting to her friend that she didn't even bother looking up at us while she stamped our passports.   So off we flew to Singapore (7am arrival) - again an easy exit and on the the MRT to Lavender to check into our hotel - luckily they had a room available so we had a nap for a couple of hours before setting off back into the city.  

It's been about 20 years since Ive been to Singapore and things have really changed - so much development and so many shopping centres - but the prices - there are not too many bargains to be had here anymore.  

We bought tickets for the open topped bus and did a few rounds of the city to get oriented - hopping off at various points of interest.  The skyscrapers here are amazing - I think they must have had some contest to come up with the weirdest concepts for building designs - the cruise ship on stilts (Marina Bay Sands) probably has to take the prize!

We stopped for a drink in the Singapore equivalent to Darling Harbour - again we were shocked at the drink prices - that was until the drinks arrived and we saw the size!  Now this is a Mojito!!!

Do not talk to me, or stand between me and my Mojito!

Of course, when you are in Singapore you must go to Raffles for a Singapore Sling...

25: Versailles

Finally, we found a really helpful woman at the metro who gave us a great little çheat sheet' on how to get the train to Versailles - just a list of the stations where you need to change and the symbols for the lines that we needed to follow - a really good simple idea that worked perfectly.

We bought our entry tickets at the Info Centre - the queue here seemed less than the place near the station or at the actual gates - very impressive they are too!

Wow this place is really big - 2000 hectares and so much to see -  room after room of paintings, sculptures, furniture, mirrors - a pity there were so many other people there trying to see it as well, and a pity many are so inconsiderate [read rude] about pushing in front of you when they want to look at something you might happen to be looking at. 

We spent a couple of hours inside the palace, then headed out into the gardens (for a loo break and a bit of lunch), and then down to Grand Trianon and Petite Trianon.  It was nice to see that the parklands are open (for free) to the public for picnics, cycling, etc.  There were lots of Parisians out enjoying the sunshine. 

Yes Joey, this is a really big hedge!

Joey doing a bad impression of a topiary

This couple were having their wedding pics taken outside the Grand Trianon.  The poor bride was melting a little in the heat - very cute kids though!

The other Noble/Clegg party were also at Versaille on the same day, but got there an hour or so after us - the place is so big we never managed to catch up with each other!

We finished up a really great day with the Musical Fountain Shows - it was interesting to hear that Australia is not the only place with drought issues - at Versailles they have restricted the use of some of the fountains due to water shortages.

24: And now for Paris

Off we go to Paris c/- "Easy Jet" - line up, have your passports open at the right page, onto the plane and find a seat you like - none of that seat allocation stuff - and arrive at Charles de Gaulle about 90 mins later - it was easy!  Caught the bus into the city - just one stop and it let is off at "Opera" right near where we are staying - a bit of map orientation (ie walking in the wrong direction) till we find the right street and Francois waiting out the front of our apartment to let us in.  As Joe described, 'petite' on room size, but clean and comfortable, has all we need and is close to the centre of the city. 

We nipped downstairs and to the Marche Prix (supermarket) for some things for dinner, breakky, drinks etc - all quite reasonable - then stopped for a drink at the cafe/bar downstairs for the apartment and were quite shocked by the prices.  Found another little place next to the boulangerie where we wanted to buy some bread, only to find it was shut.  Lucky though, the baker was in the bar and had two baguettes under his arm and gave us one for free!  

Back to the apartment to make dinner (spag bol) in the 'kitchen in a cupboard'.

Thursday 29/9/11

Joey back to the boulangerie this morning for an almond croissant (my favourite), raisin snail, chocolate/pistachio snail, and some brown sourdough bread.  Sampled a little of all for breakfast (packed the rest up to snack on during the day), then headed off to see the sights.  First stop is the Louvre, only about a 10 min walk from our apartment, then the Arc de Triumphe via the Champs Elysees.  We then headed down to the Seine and to the Eiffel Tower.  We can't believe how big and impressive everything is - but the queues....

The queue to get the lift up the tower went forever so we decided to take the stairs instead - I almost made it to the first level before the fear of heights thing kicked in, so I came down and Joey climbed on up to the second level, then took the lift to the top.  His pics of the views were very impressive, but the smog made it hard to see too far.

From there we caught the river bus (hop on, hop off) down to Notre Dame - what a fabulous cathedral - I loved all the gargoyles - wish you could buy copies of these to take back home, back on the boatbus to get us a bit closer to home (getting tired). 

The final bit of the walk home was though a great 'foodie' street Joe had found on his morning walk.   Got a few more veggies to add to our leftovers, ogled things that are not good for the waistline, then home for dinner.  A BIG day's sightseeing!!!

Friday 30/9/11

Paid the lovely Francois the rest of our rent money this morning, then we head off to Montmatre.  Caught a bus part of the way there, then walked the rest of the way up the hill to Sacre-Coeur.  Another impressive building at the highest point of Paris and we were lucky to be there while a mass was taking place.  It's nice being able to go into the French churches without having to pay the exhorbitant entry fees that you have to pay in England.  We had a bit of a walk around the artists area and thought we'd stop for a cuppa until we looked at the menu's and saw that a coffee was 5.50 euros!!  Wandered further down towards the city (on a seach for cheaper coffee) till we found another great street will great florists, fishmongers, deli's, butchers, and a hot meat shop where we bought a sausage as a snack (a bit rich for our liking), and finally stopped for coffee - hang the cost. 

We went past Moulin Rouge, and stopped in at the Galleria L'affayette - a very impressive (and expensive) department store - well more of a shopping centre really - and checked out the home store building (no purchases made).   From there back to the apartment to collect our laundry and find a laundromat.  Of course in Paris you can find a very nice bar to have a drink in and relax while you wait for the clothes to wash/dry. 

Very pleased to have clean clothes again, we caught the Metro over the Republique to meet up with Pete, Mandy, Narelle, Lyn and Des - their apartment rather grander than ours - we have the inner city pad while they have the surburban 3 bedder.  P+M+N had come across from Engand on the Eurostar which Pete clocked on his garmin as going 300 km/hr.  Lots of stories to exchange before we headed home. 

23: Edinburgh

A few housekeeping things to attend to this morning - checked email at an internet cafe and packed up some unwanted stuff and posted it back to save lugging to Paris, then walked to Edinburgh Castle.  It's set on a cliff above the city, quite like Stirling Castle was, where it would be impossible for anyone to mount a surprise attack.  We decided to take a guided tour - worth the 15 minute wait till it started as it gave a good overview and some recommendations of what else to look at without being long and boring. 

Edinburgh Castle is still a working castle, used as the barracks for part of the Scottish military, houses their war memorial, and includes a chapel still popular for weddings - they need to be small though as it only seats 23!  We stopped for a coffee, which turned out to be possibly the best we have had in the UK (though in reality it wouldn't have had to be much to be the best as coffee standards are not high here) while we waited for the 1pm gun.  Got distracted by the yummy scone and nearly had our daylights scared out of us when the canon went off!  Our tour guide had given us an explanation of why Edinburgh has a 1 pm canon instead of the midday canon other ports often use - those canny Scots - why use 12 shots when 1 will do the same job?

The 1pm gun

No, the 1pm gun doesn't fire these....

Joe was very impressed by the temporary (yes temporary) seating used for the military tatoo each year...  They were in the process of dismantling it after the tattoo in July - this year was the first time this new seating had been used and there were signs around listing how much more cost effective it was because it was quicker to put up and take down and could seat more people.

Headed back into town via the Royal Mile (castle at one end, Palace at the other), the Royal Terrace where we saw this very cute car, and the city where I may have sampled a couple of rather good whisky's...