Last Days in France

Well since the last blog we were one more day in Paris doing our duty as good tourists. First stop was to be the Cathedral of Notre Dame but as usual we got off the metro and walked in the wrong direction heading for the Louve. Massive queue that went for miles but with our Paris Museum Pass we were able to join a much smaller queue and didn't have to wait long at all. Oh my god how big is this place and how many people only that I felt compelled to see the famous Mona Lisa, I think I would have sortied(exited) out of there.
Next was the Musee D'Orsay- a prestigious collection of impressionist paintings in an beautiful old, massive railway station that has been converted.
Then we trekked back to the Cathedral. Another very BIG day we were exhausted.
Paris is a city where you could spend weeks but it is very expensive.

Us at the entrance of the Louvre

Crossing the river Seine to get to the Notre Dame in the background

Mez's inventive way of getting clothes dry over the lamp shades and below how she did the ironing.

Friday we left Paris by picking up the car a Peugeot 308- very compact zippy car. Driving out of Paris was an experience thank god for the GPS. Only got tooted a few times but the best was when a motorcyclist tapped on the window of the car telling us to move over. In Paris the motorcyclists create their own lane in between the existing lanes and it is an unwritten rule that the cars move over to the left as far as they can- of course we learnt this by experience.

Our trusty mobile and the closest I will get to an MG(always wanted one) as part of the number plate is MG.

We were planning to travel to Dijon but decided to go to Beaune, near Dijon thinking it would be a smaller country town and not as busy. On arriving we tried to get accommodation only to find that we had landed ourselves in the Hunter Valley Wine Region of France. Think we got the last room in the place.
Buying petrol in this country is interesting most places are not manned and we were struggling to understand when we finally worked it out that if you press a certain button you get instructions in English- very confusing.
The other thing that has us baffled is the toll system, one minute you are taking a ticket the next you are paying by credit card, again instructions in French , the next you have to put notes in and then it will want coins. Well let me tell you we have had queues backed up behind us on more than one occasion.
The roads in France are great to drive on but we have paid about $140 in tolls in three days.


Before hitting the road again we stumbled on a wonderful market place that had the best produce France has to offer, we were in heaven. Bought cheese, salami and of course the delicious French baguette. Sim you will be impressed to know we found our first  Aldi in OS land and bought 1.15 euro( $1.60) wine which is actually good but could give us a headache tomorrow.

Market place in Beaune better that I not live near this place bad for the waistline.

Stopped for lunch to eat our goodies bought at the market and continued on till about 3pm when we decided to find a place to stay before going through the Mt Blanc tunnel and into Italy.

Typical French picnic minus the wine

Mez at our first picnic spot on the road

Another mistake there are no places to stay the night in this part of the woods. After roaming around small towns for two hours and trying to communicate with the locals, who I don't think have come across too many Aussies, we found a little Hotel in Cluses.
Our last meal in France ........... yes it was not French but Thai.

Small town of Cuses with hotel behind Mez's head

Today was my first driving day and headed to the Mt, Blanc tunnel and into Italy. Only came across a few very tight bends in the road and had to slow back to first gear in the car, I'm sure to the cursing of those following but better to be safe than sorry. Think Mez copped ok as she is usually the worst passenger in the world. This part of the world is so beautiful as we passed snow covered mountains and alpine villages.

On the road through the Alps

Stopped for the usual homemade lunch of ham, cheese and tomato baguette and are now in Alessandria in Italy. We decided to get smart and book this hotel before we left Cluses. Staying here two nights and then down to Cinque Terre - small fishing villages on the coast that are very touristy but looking forward to staying a few days.
Hope you are all well and happy.

Paris

Hi All

Well we arrived in Paris our first impressions were 'this is a beautiful city'. To get to our hotel the driver drove down the Avenue Des Champs Elysees- a wide, tree lined, expensive shop(every expensive brand you have ever heard of and of course millions that we hadn't)filled avenue it was grand.

Avenue Champs Elysees with the Louve at the very bottom of the picture and if you look very closely before that if you look closely you can see a monument called the Concorde.

Our hotel is a quaint little hotel in the middle of the Latin Quarter, an ideal position to access all the sites of Paris. This was a massive step up from the tumble down accommodation that we had in Athens. I forgot to tell you that we had to change rooms in Athens after another night of no sleep due to the demonstrations till early hours of the morning, the airconditioning not working in 200 degree heat and the final straw was when I got locked in the bathroom as the handle broke on the inside lucky Mez was there to save the day. Below is the view from the room down the street. I am so impressed with the neatness of this city they don't have awnings everywhere looking untidy and the architecture of the buildings is very Parisian.

Well we are sitting here very weary from being very good tourists in Paris. You lot think its tough being at work but let me tell you being a tourist is hard work. We have walked and walked and walked for three days, up so many stairs I wish I had worn a pedometer just to tell you how many, this is the land of steps. Mez even woke up this morning and was feeling exhausted just contemplating the day ahead. I think our jeans are going to run out the door if we put them on for one more day at least I only wore my for two of the three days not like Mez. 

It has been raining off and on here but that has not daunted us travellers. We took a river boat ferry on the Seine on Tuesday in the pouring rain and were of course the only ones standing outside in the rain frightened to miss anything. We still are getting lost a lot, when walking, but we have mastered the Paris transport system getting on and off Metros and RER's (fast trains)-fabulous transport system a shame we don't have one similar.

                     Me trying to battle the wind and rain with the umbrellas that we bought( that is another story) with the beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral in the background.

Day 2 headed to the Palace of Versailles, our first tourist attraction on our list to visit. We arrived to be confronted with thousands of people queuing up but as stoic tourists we joined the line and waited our turn. What opulence, you just can't imagine the wealth and imagination that the French had in the 17th century.

On the way back in the train I was playing with my camera when I dropped the memory card on the floor. It just disappeared - picture this - a grown women grovelling on the dirty floor, in a white shirt, searching for the card. I even had most of the carriage looking as well, even though they could't speak english, we managed to tell them what we were doing just in case they thought we were completely mad. It just disappeared when I was about to give up I thought of what Mum used to always say. Say a prayer to Saint Thomas( think I have the right saint) when you lose something and it will help. Well I did and I found it caught in a crevice. 

Next stop the Eiffel Tower. Had a quick look from the ground up and moved on.- very impressive structure.

                    Had to show you all this photo of the harbour bridge look alike with the eiffel tower in back ground and of course the weather that us terry tourists were coping with. Don't you feel sorry for us, I bet you do.

We then trekked to the Arc De Triomphe up the Champs Elysees, and I can now understand when Eli said that they were driving in this massive roundabout and there were no lanes as such you just find a space for your car.
Standing in line again and then came the steps 284 in a tight spiral on the way up and down. A very impressive view from the top.

                In the stair well of the Arc De Triomphe. If we have put on any weight in Paris something is going terribly wrong and we haven't even gone near the famous French pastries but have taken a pic - below.

       The view from the top of the Arc De Triomphe. Wanted to show you how symmetrical this famous city of Paris is- very impressive.

                                                          They are a work of art.

Thought I was heading for home when Mez wanted to see one more place to get one more pic.  So we mastered the metro again and walked and walked again and the resulting picture is below.

                                                           The top and most impressive part is missing - think we need to take a photography course or two when we get home.

Good day. Day 3 ....... to be continued - time for dinner.

       

                                                      

Athens

Hi Everyone hope you are all enjoying Australia in July. Since the last blog we have been in Athens and are now in Paris.
First, Athens - it was ok but we weren't rapped in Athens but we did manage to do the usual touristy trip. We went with a guided tour around Athens passing and stopping at many places eg. the Panathenaic Stadium which was first built in the 4th Century BC and refurbished in 1896 for the first modern day Olympics. The major part of this tour was the Acropolis and the Parthenon at which point we managed to lose the tour and the guide. After running all over the place, in 200 degree heat, we finally found them at the last stop which was the new Acropolis Museum. This building was unbelievable in its design and was well worth going on tour. There is one positive about us getting lost just about every day no matter where we are and that is we end up walking miles out of our way great for the weight seeing the food os is a trifle fattening.
We also did the usual flea market every place in the world has one of these - bought a few things so watch out here come the keyrings, magnets etc. Caught a tram to the Athens southern coast very hot and not very pleasant, I am going to be a broken record but we have the best beaches, you actually had to pay to walk on the sand in some of the Athens' beaches.
Two fun things that we did - we went to an open air cinema in the middle of Athens on a roof top. We were told to get there early to get a seat and ended up with the best seat in the place a balcony for two. We saw some little known movie called 'Oranges and Sunshine' it was lovely sitting in the warmth under the stars with the Acropolis in the background. The other was the changing of the Eyzones. They are the guards that look after the tomb of the unknown soldier outside The House of Parliament. They wear very elaborate uniforms and have to stand completely still for four 1 hour shifts every day. We had front row position as they paraded past on Sunday morning, marching in perfectly straight lines in perfect time.
We left Athens on Monday morning only to get stuck in a massive traffic jam as the taxi drivers were on strike and had parked themselves in the middle lanes of all major roads in and out of the city.

The House of parliament and steps down to Syntagma Square where all the rioting/demonstrations occurred most nights we were there.

Amphitheatre where the famous still sing today- beautiful

Us being tourists in front of one of the smaller temples of Athena, hard to see in the picture but the columns are women holding it all together, they did it back in those days as well.

Mez waiting patiently for the movie to start if you look closely you might be abke to see we were the only ones there but it was packed by start of movie

Us with the guard I think Mez thought she had better stand at attention herself.

All around Athens there are street dogs that lie and sleep most of the day. The government vaccinates them and this one in the picture is always there when ever the marching band starts to play and walks along side the band. I put this in for you Cath.

The Eyzones at the march past in their Sunday uniform of white but normally they are in a cream heavier material.

Goodbye Athens it has been an experience but I don't think I will be back.

Last Day Chania +Time on Santorini

Hi Everyone

Since the last post we spent one more day in Chania, Hania to the locals, and we did what we always avoid and that was to go on the typical tourist tour. It was a sunset cruise from Chania Harbour and it was only for an hour and thought why not give it a go. We boarded a lovely old sailing boat and motored out of the harbour went about 400 metres around a small island about the size of a soccer field and dropped anchor. Watched the sun go down and motored back. Now we know why we don't do tours. 

Got up early to be faced with another treacherous road trip this time to the hydrofoil- 140k of sheer terror which took 2 hours. Driving etc doesn't bother me USUALLY but we went on the transfer from hell. It took us about 2 hours driving on the windiest mountain roads with a driver who was falling asleep and driving like a maniac. I had my finger on the seat belt release button just in case god only knows what I was going to do and Mez finally asked him to slow down. It was horrendous to say the least. 

Arrived at the port of Santorini to absolute mayhem. Took one look at the track to the top and thought here we go again. Hundreds of people leaving and arriving from ships and hydrofoils, taxis, buses, motorbike taxis no organisation anywhere. 

First impressions of Santorini - dry, barren, dusty, sparsely populated, a lot larger, nothing like the postcard pics.

Hotel cute and clean and we finally got our bearings and found the "real Santorini".

Day 2- caught the local bus to Perivolas Beach on the south-east corner of the island. Nothing can compete with our beaches but the water here is aqua blue and so clear. Sand? well that's what they call it this beach had black tiny pebbles for sand and it was super hot, no walking on this without thongs even for the toughest of them all. Mez got a massage and I got a tatoo how touristy is that?

Food here in Santorini typical Greek and a bit too fattening so we went to the supermarket and made our first home cooked meal- tuna, tomatoes, cucumber, can of corn and lemon juice.

Day 3- did our usual walk but headed down to the remote farms on the east side of the island, very hot, dry and remote - Mez feeling a little uneasy but as always when you walk downhill the trek back in 200 degree heat is a little exhausting to say the least. Headed to Kamari Beach on the east side, a little windy, well a lot windy, beach didn't have small black pebbles it had large black pebbles like the ones I have on my back area at home. It was really funny at one stage I went for a swim and because of the roughness of the pebbles and the fact that I was laughing so much I could not get out of the water. Mez managed to get some pics of this and of course you are not going to get a look at them. 

Day4 - Massive walk to the north of the island absolutely beautiful scenery all the way, walked past where all the rich and famous stay right on the caldera - the basin where you see all the Santorini white and blue buildings stacked on top of each other. Got to the top and had to frantically find a toilet for Mez, yes she had the Bali belly in Santorini. Got back showered and caught bus to Oia where you are supposed to see the best sunsets on the island. This was another frightening trip as the road to Oia is totally mountainous and of course we had the front seat where you could see straight down the sides of the mountain and the usual 1000 bends. Walked around had lunch and got next bus back too touristy for us- BIG day. But we cant be in a place and not get ripped off and it happened with our last dinner....... to be continued have to get to the airport for Athens. 

Before I go just to let you know, due to the limited washing facilities and how easy it is to get ripped off, we have two new sayings -' can get another wear out of that' and 'the friendlier they are the more likely they are to rip you off'.

View from bus ride to Oia and the other face of Santorini

Sunset at Chania

Cooking facilities

Trying to order healthy tuna salad to have it served with HEAPS of mayo

View from room at Santorini

Beach at Perivolos

The Santorini in all the pics

The view on the way up to Santorini from the port

The road up

First home cooked meal(well not cooked created as Trace would say) from outside our room

1 Week of hols

Hi all
One week today we left home and we have already been here there and everywhere. Driving in Crete has been a baptism of fire. There has only been one other time in my life where I wanted to get out of the car and walk and that was in a blizzard in the snow fields without chains. BUT we survived and have had an interesting time exploring the island. Day one of car we headed to the remote west coast and found a lovely beach. We were swimming in the mediterranean and the water was so clear and cool. After that came the nightmare we headed to a remote mountain town where there is a restaurant run by an old woman and her husband. Food out of this world authentic greek but the drive was so treacherous on the way up that we had mountain goats sleeping in the shade of the cliff on the side of the road no guard rails just a sheer drop off the cliff - an experience to say the least. Thank god for the home made wine( I wasn't driving) at lunch to get me back down the mountain taking pics all the way to take mind off the trip poor Mez needed a few when we finally got back hard work this driving.
Day 2 decided to go to Rethimno about 60k. Would have normally taken a local about 1 hour max took us 3 hour round trip as we spent at least an hour in Chania lost. We have been lost every day in the car and also have to take a map walking. One of the major problems is that the name on the map does not match the one on the side of the street. They have a unique way of changing the names of everything.
Today Day 3 we went to a lovely beach that was the setting for the movie Zorba the Greek- Stavros Beach. Beautiful day everything going swimmingly only to find I had left without swimmers thank god for the trusty sarong as I swam in my clothes and relaxed in only a sarong- perfect.
One more day in Crete and then to Santorini.
Chania is definitely worth a visit.
Hope you are all well and happy.

No not a play area this is how you access the beach

4 pieces of ply and you have a change room on the beach

beach chairs, change room at west coast beach

Squid drying in the local car park for the restaurant

restaurant that we gained lots of more grey hairs for but worth it
on mountain

goat track to restaurant

view from the car heading down mountain and this was the wide section

Day 5 Chania in Crete

Since leaving Abu Dhabi we have been in Athens for a day and night and now are on the lovely island of Crete in Chania. Have had an eventful few days. Flight to Athens uneventful which is how I want every plane trip to be. Got a taxi from the airport and even with wide research into the number of ways Greek taxi drivers rip you off we still managed to get done by a slight of hand luckily only for an extra 10 euro. We arrived at the hotel to be confronted by a riot bus parked out the front with police and riot shields etc (dont tell Joan).

Room was the equivalent of going from the penthouse to the s..... house but in great location. Exhausted hit the sack early only to be serenaded all night by a very loud greek at a local club.

Short flight from Athens to Crete and upon arriving at the airport we ventured to the taxi stand. Can you picture two women with heaps of luggage waiting at a taxi stand alone wondering why there isnt a taxi in sight only to find out the taxi drivers are on strike for two days. What are we to do?? when a night in shining well not exactly shining but armor none the least offered us a lift in his car to the city for the price of the taxi fare.

Hotel is fab right on the water in old part of Chania which is the most picturesque. Picking up car tomorrow and not sure if you will want to here the tales of us trying to drive with no knowledge of the language and on the opposite side of the road. To be continued.

Stay safe.

view from hotel in Athens

View from hotel in Chania

What confronted us on arrival at Athens hotel

old Chania

View from front of hotel

lunch day 1 in Chania

Abu Dhabi - Day 3(Sunday)

Well I hope this works as you all know I'm am such an expert at this!!!
Haven't done a whole lot in Abu Dhabi. Been a bit exhausted.
It's like living in a sauna when you are outside and an icebox inside as everywhere the air con is on minus 10 or it feels that way.
Have got a room that looks over the Persian Gulf but it has been very hazy like looking through a sand storm without the wind.
Did attempt to lay by the pool today but they said it was about 49 or 50 degrees so we didn't last long.

Going to attempt to add a pic or 2 of the haze here and how to get things dry.

Heading to Athens tomorrow early so have to leave here by 6.30am.

Stay well love to all.