Stephen & Jen

We woke early on Monday morning and packed up camp. Now it’s important to note here that Jen and I purchased an excellent tent, which is produced by Quecha. It has a permanent frame, which is able to be packed down to a reasonably small size, and weighs only 1.5kg. This means you can, essentially, take it out of its bag … shake it a little… and it sits fully set up needing only to be pegged down. Fantastic! Perfect for someone like me. The instructions state that it can be setup in just 2 seconds… and it can. The instructions also state that it can be packed away in only 20 seconds. Suffice it to say that after a somewhat protracted period of folding, bending, pushing and squashing bits it was in its bag again. This was to be an on-going challenge for us and, as we observed throughout the trip, so too for many other campers following the tour. Anyway more on that later…

We drove down to the port at Dover and, after purchasing and fitting some headlight deflectors, we boarded the ferry and were on our way across the channel to Dunkirk. The previous evening had been a little cloudy however today the bright morning sun was shining on the cliffs and they certainly lived up to their name. We imagined the relief those young soldiers must have had upon spotting them in the distance and knowing they were soon to be back on home soil again. We took the mandatory snaps from the deck before settling in for a coffee at one of the lounge bars. The trip was over in a couple of hours and we were through customs and on the road… in France! Now we felt like the trip had truly commenced. Adam was at the wheel and had no problem in converting to life on the other side. I assume it was due to the time he spent in Sydney. We let out a collective “woooo”, exchanged high fives and we were on the road.

We would only be in France for a short while. From Dunkirk we headed across the northern tip of France to the Belgian border and about 150km further East to a town named Gent.

On route we stopped at Ieper and then walked further along the route to see the race pass at a little town named Boezinge,

Ieper

Our spot

The Peleton passing

Boezinge Statue

pronounced Boo-zing-err which seemed somehow apt for Australians, then drove to Villiers-Brettoneaux. This is a place of enormous significance for Australians as a great many of our soldiers lay at rest there.

The area owes a great deal to the young men of the Allied forces who fought to protect the town. We visited the Franco - Australian museum which housed memorabilia including items donated by a Mt Eliza family. It underlined the link between this small town on the other side of the planet and a place so close to those at home.

We travelled a few kilometers to the allied war memorial before continuing to the finish line in Gent. Appropriately, Australian rider Robbie McKeon won the stage. We battled the massive crowd to catch a glimpse, and a few snaps, of him before searching for a place to camp. We eventually found a campsite in emmerang, or something like that, donned the Gilligan style promotional Skoda hats thrown to us from the carnival cars, had dinner and turned in.

Hi All

Yesterday Stephen and I headed down to Notting Hill for the annual Notting Hill Carnival which has been held every August Bank Holiday Weekend since 1966, and is the largest celebration of its kind in Europe.

It originally started as a local festival set up by the West Indian immigrants of the area and has now become a full-blooded Caribbean carnival, attracting millions of visitors from around the world. With scores of massive sound systems, many spectacular floats and, of course, the traditional steel drum bands, plus hundreds of stalls lining the streets. Music is at the heart of Notting Hill Carnival - Historically steel bands, Soca & Calypso Music have been at the heart of Carnival but in recent years these the website reports that these have been overtaken by the static sound systems playing anything from Reggae to R&B, Funk, House, and Dub.

Stephen and I arrived and were met with some awesome sounds as soon as we got off the tube - the music was coming from the nearby church and there were people everywhere of every nationality headed down towards Portobello Road. There was the smells of awesome Caribbean food in the air, Curried Goat, Rice & Peas, Jerk Chicken and Red Beans and Rice everywhere and the soungs of whistles coming from every second person (Its tradition to blow whistles when the parade goes past).

We made our way down to the parade (Mas) area just in time to see them start to come past - and loved the spectacular costumes, headpieces, dancing and music that came from each of the floats.

As you can see - so much effort goes into the costumes for Mas and people really get into it, both in the parade and those watching from the sidelines. We stayed for a few hours and soaked it all in but did not feel game to go into any of the venues that had live music, as they were so jam packed that we would have had to fight and push our way in - people were spilling out of every doorway....

Loved the Carnival and will definitely go again next yeat if we are still around London (we have new hopes of winning the Euro-Millions Lotto and buying a house on Portobello Road with a Balcony so we have prime position next year but we will have to see how that pans out.... )

Lots of love to all at home and scattered across the planet....

Jen & Stephen x

Hi folks,
after a long period of recovery we are finally ready to start our blog of Le Tour. We have been sleeping at every opportunity and struggling with being back at work. We hope you enjoy reading this. It was an amazing trip and will take a few entries to describe.

Our adventure started here in London with a Friday night presentation of the teams in Trafalgar Square. It gave us a chance to get a look at the team colours and also got me a Stuart O'Grady autograph. A huge crowd turned out and the scene was set for an exciting time trial on the following day.

Crowd at Trafalgar Square

Team AG2R

Crowd at Trafalgar Square

Team Caisse Depargne

On the Saturday we headed down to Hyde Park. We settled in beside Serpentine Rd, where we usually rollerblade, and positioned ourselves in front of the big screen to enjoy the event.

Big Screen at Hyde Park

CSC Time Trial

Hyde Park Crowd

Liquigas Time Trial

The first bit of bad luck for the Australians was Stuart O'Grady taking a corner too wide and enjoying a short flight over the handles and onto the road, he lost a lot of time but was able to get back on the bike and finish the stage. Bradley Wiggins was the local boy and when he went past our position a huge roar went up and the air was filled with excitement. It was all very enjoyable but over such a short distance (about 5 km) each ride was over very quickly. We were eager for the first proper road stage to begin and for our own road trip to commence also.

The van was filled with all the provisions and we were finally on the road. It was nice to see the city slowly give way to more open expanses as we headed south east toward the coast. We decided to have our first look at the race at a little place in the country called Sellinge Common. We parked the van and walked up to the route. We found a good position on a bend just before the end of one of the "King of the mountain" climbs. It was a good photo oportunity and we had the added drama of riders getting tangled up right in front of us. We got a taste of the despair a rider experiences when losing time due to an accident. One of the riders had to have his bike repaired and was almost in tears as he stood watching the peleton disappear up the hill in front of him. We all gave him heaps of applause and encouragement as he recommenced his climb. He looked broken.

Walking up to Sellinge Common

Our spot at Sellinge Common

The Peleton zipping by at Sellinge Common

We ended the day at a caravan park a few miles inland from Dover. It was a nice quiet spot with lush green grass and was crawling with rabbits.

Rabbit

First Tent Set Up

We bought some fish and chips and sat atop the famous white cliffs to consume them.

White Cliffs of Dover

White Cliffs of Dover

Jen on a Fence atop the Cliffs

Stephen at Dover

As we gazed across the water toward Calais I wondered what the next 22 days held for us.

I could only imagine what this amazing race would bring us. And the best was definately yet to come!

Over the weekend Hyde Park hosted a two day concert called “Hyde Park Calling” … we answered the call.

The main stage at Hyde Park Calling

This ride rocks - Adam and Jen braved it and survived

After a short time in the queue, we found ourselves in the midst of a peculiarly reasonable and courteous bunch of concert goers. I think it was, largely, due to the fact that the headline acts on the first day were Crowded House and Peter Gabriel. We expected to struggle to find a spot close to the action as we had made the decision not to get to the park early. When we walked to the staging area we were surprised to find there was plenty of room on the grassy expanse to lay out a tarp and stretch out our legs. It was a relatively warm and sunny day and a picnic atmosphere predominated.

Surprise packet for the day was local outfit The Feeling restored my faith in diversity. Check them out.

We had a few fleeting moment of scattered rain and when Neil Finn sang "Weather with you" we found the wide blue sky and sunshine a further reminder of home.

Sally & Phil enjoying Crowded House in the sunshine....

Jen & Megs

Stephen & Jen

BUT THEN... the wind picked up, the clouds blackened the sky and it bucketted down. It was some of the heaviest rain we have ever been in, and it didn't look like letting up. Roadies leapt into action and pulled covers over the gear nearer the front of the stage. Neil Finn stood at the back and did a solo set to steel the spirit of the crowd... it worked. We all sang along loudly and felt a kind of bond as the legs of our jeans soaked with rain and turned the backs of our legs icy cold. The band finished and shortly thereafter so did the rain.

Neil Finn - Crowded House

This is Londons Summer?

Phil - Still during Crowded House

The headline act was Peter Gabriel and I, for one, was very excited to finally see him live. His set was amazing! His voice was brilliant as was the band. Wayne would be happy to know that Tony Levin and his Stick were both in fine form. We all jumped about to "Steam" and "Sledgehammer" and felt somewhat connected to "Salisbury Hill" when it rang out around Hyde Park London.

Peter Gabriel

Stephen during Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel

Day Two we went better prepared for what promised to be an even wetter day. Suffice it to say, over the two days of the concert the country received the equivilent to a months rain! We were covered in Rain coats and packed umbrellas (for the intervals between the bands). The first couple of bands were a bit ordinary but by the time Irish rock outfit, the Answer, hit the stage it felt like a 1970's festival. The set was heavily derivative of all the most important British rock acts of the late 60's and early 70's. Jet followed and the day was building momentum nicely. We felt great when they introduced themselves as a band from Melbourne... So are we!...except for the band bit that is.

Jet

Adam and Megs

Chris Cornell opened his set with "Spoonman" and the place went nuts, His voice was brilliant and the band was tight. I can't fault the performance.

Chris Cornell

Chris Cornell

By the time he had finished we were all feeling a little fatigued and, not being big Aerosmith fans, had felt we had already got what we came for. After a little while the rain suddenly cleared and the giant screens lit up with a video clip featuring a long list of Aerosmith hits. Suddenly the stage was bathed in light and the band kicked out "Love in an elevator" Steve Tyler subtly decked out in a white suit and white cowboy hat! Now, I have to admit... I thought the band would put on a good show but sound pretty terrible. Boy was I wrong. These old guys were polished, sounded great and delivered every rock cliche in the book. Shirts off, prancing down the ego ramp ( a VERY long peice of stage ramp from the middle of the stage well into the crowd). Fantastic! If only we had lighters for "Don't wanna miss a thing" nobody does cheesy rock ballads like Aerosmith. The encore for the night was "Walk this Way" - complete with Darryl Mac from Run DMC.

Aerosmith

All in all we had a very wet, very enjoyable time. Rock lives on and the bands didn't let us down.

HI all,
As you know, we are in our new place now. We wanted to get together with a few close friends to celebrate finding a new dig. What better way to start our summer than with a low key soiree with a few familiar faces. So, come on in...

Hi everyone,
big it up for our new dig in White City! We finally found a place to call home. After looking at countless places all over London, we decided to go for somewhere very close to central London so we can take advantage of proximity to all the action. White City is about a 20min tube ride from the heart of town and is about to undergo a massive re-development. We are aptly living on Australia Rd, not far away from Canberra Primary School (bizarre). We are nestled in amongst a predominately Caribbean community. We have met our immediate neighbours - Rene, "Pansy" and Auntie Shah, who are very friendly and quiet (as is the whole block). We do, however, also share the block with a somewhat "Clampett like" grubby little white kid (in-bred, semi retarded, with a face like a bucket of smashed crabs) but he mostly keeps to himself and has only once mentioned to us that we "like sheep"! We pointed out that we are Australian not Kiwi but he just did a "what's eating Gilbert Grape" impersonation and left. We are in a pretty good spot here. We are a short walk from Shepards Bush which has a selection of pubs and shops we can frequent as well as a cinema to keep Jen happy.

We have continued our rollerblading and, apart from what we thought may have be a broken arm (Xrays determined severe bruising of the bone but no break), are progressing quite well. We are getting down to Hyde Park several times a week, when the weather permits, and we are hoping to skate a bit when we go abroad again.

Adam and Megs will be in town in about three weeks. We are very eager to see them again. Making new friends in a new country is great but family makes you feel safer and connected, thank goodness we have had Jane here, she has been a great support, fun to spend time with and a great tour guide!

We are saving like crazy for the next few weeks because, when A & M arrive, the four of us are going to head to France and follow Le Tour around. We have also spied some very cool music festivals, in several European countries, in August so we are hoping we might all be able to quickly head over for some live music.

respekt to the downunder massive,
peace!

WCM.

Okay - so apologies to those few who have been hopefully logging on to this site to see the much anticipated Belgium trip and other adventures detailed!

For the Evans and Winkley families - you know the crazy mis-adventures we have been having over the past 6 or so weeks, but for those that dont... look forward to the updates on our new flat (we "grew out" of the old one), our trip to Belgium, Jens hospital adventure, Stephens job as a receptionist, "London Swelters in a heatwave" and a beautiful day at Richmond Park to name a few....

We are staying at the Hilton at the moment (how posh!) and moving into our new place Monday & Tuesday with our best buddy Dave so will get our internet sorted out and update the site the second we do!

Hope you are all well and look forward to more email from each and everyone of you - its always nice to get news from home - though Aunty Kath - you need not have gotten into a car crash to get one from us - we would have sent you one anyway! Hope you are feeling better and that Arthur is waiting on you hand and foot (sorry Arthur....)

Take care all and we will update properly soon

Love Always & Missing You all Heaps

Jen & Stephen

Let us warn you - some images in this blog may be offensive to some readers - the blog contains graphic images and descriptions of ridiculous amounts of chocolate and beer. You have been warned.

So we went to Brussels on good friday - arriving early on a lovely warm day and checking into our awesome hotel. We have come to not expect too much from our hotels that are often included with budget flights (star ratings mean nothing overhere) and we are usually pretty happy. This time we were ecstatic. We got there and were staying in an NH Hotel which is a (real) 4 star place... it was clean, safe and service was awesome!

So after checking in we went for breakfast of Chocolate waffles and sat to adjust to a new country. Stephen prepared himself to again be the French interpreter and as always - did marvellously for the duration of the trip.

Brussels

We wandered around town for the first day, takiing in sites like the Grand Place, the shopping strip, had more waffles and started our beer tasting... mainly fruit beers which have become our favourites!

Stephen in Brussels

Brussels

Bon Homme

We met this little guy called Bon Homme (good boy) begging in a street in Brussels for money for food. His owner was sitting off to one side and looked suspiciously like Hunter S Thompson (but alive). He was so good, and it worked on us as we popped a few coins in his kick - mainly just an excuse to pat him really... VERY CUTE.

Kettle collection in a waffle house
One thing we noticed about Belgium was that the place is very good at making things just that little more interesting, like the kettle collection in a waffle house.... things like this are everywhere in Brussels particularly. They are just so good at building and displaying things just a bit more creatively - a stark contrast to London - where everything is the same! There is great art in the streets and the shops are so much cooler and unique...

Another good thing about Belgium is the chocolate. It feels like every second shop is a chocolatier or candy shop. The whole place smells of chocolate and they realy take it very seriously there - i thought i was serious about chocolate but they are just crazy!

A big easter egg in Brussels. They get bigger - much bigger.

Like a kid in a candy store....

There are so many beautiful old buildings in Belgium and there are cobblestones everywhere - which look beautiful but do have a tendency to wear the feet out of weary tourists.

The place is like postcard in every direction and really like the romantic image we had of Big European cities... without so much progress and modernisation as Paris has...

Stephen in Brussels

We headed off to Brugge for a day for the Chocolate Festival and to have a look around. Its only an hour on the train from Brussles. If we thought that Brussels was nice, Brugge was amazing. Brugge still has horses and carts, cobbled streets (of course), lace-makers, people getting everywhere on pushbikes and yet more chocolatiers. Though there were a lot of tourists - its not hard to see why. Sounds corny but it really has managed to keep a kind of "old world charm" about it.

Stephen just off the train to Brugge

Streetscape in Brugge

So - we paid 10 Euro to get into the Chocolate Festival - and it was worth every bit. We grabbed a showbag and picked up samples from most of the people displaying their wares. There were chocolates everywhere to taste, displays on people doing chocolate sculpture, painting with chocolate, a guy painting chocolate on nude woman, and HUGE sculptures out of chocolate .... the smell was overpowering but it only made us more hungry for the good stuff.

We watched in awe (and with our mouths watering) as a guy created a chocolate Pinocchio to go with his already completed Giupetto. Amazing. That was just one of many amazing sculptures we saw that day (see the pics of these by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page).

We did actually show some restraint when we purchased a couple of eggs for friends and workmates from the Guilian stall - and our restraint was rewarded with 4 extra huge eggs as a bonus with our purchases. They were doing us no favours - as by this stage we were already wondering how we could possible get so much chocolate through customs at Heathrow on our return!

Jen with the loot after the chocolate festival

We loved Brugge and took so many photos there as we walked around and took our canal boat tour. It was such a nice place - and i suspect it would be even quieter on a weekday... so can highly recommend if anyone is visiting Europe to add Brugge to the list of places to see.

Us in Brugge (hiding the chocolate behind us)

We headed back to Brussels and spent some more time exploring the city by foot.

I was very excited to visit the Brussels Beer museum - as i thought that it would be something that i could really get into.... but i was wrong. We paid our 5 euro entry and walked in. We saw a few modern beer making machines with very little explanation of what they are used for, watched a video in french, and looked for the rest of the museum - and realised that there was no more. There were other displays that were not working and others inside looked as confused as we were.... We left feeling very disappointed and then realised that we had not been given a beer like everyone else had - supposed to be included in the price apparently.... ah well....

We headed off and found a great restaurant down a cobbled laneway and spoilt ourselves with a beautiful meal and more fruit beer. Stephen fought the Mussels from Brussels (and won) and i had the best steak i have ever had (not including Dads BBQ steaks which i love). Very tasty. Public transport in Belgium is very affordable - you can buy an all day ticket for about 2.50 euro and use it on trams, trains and buses - and its very smooth compared to the Tube too... a very nice ride!

Anyway - we explored the Brussels flea market and though we did not actually see any fleas, we saw some awesome old jewellery, and kitsch furniture and homewares that would sell for loads at home. We also stumbled across a castle in the middle of the city that was closed and had no sign explaining what it was. After doing some research we found out that it was one of the last standing gates that surrounded the city. Quite random as it was just standing in a neglected part of town surrounded by cheap shops and not much else.

So we headed back to London and successfully got through Customs with our haul of chocolate (it was somewhat depleted for some reason), and were amazed that it actually took us more that twice the time to get through Heathrow as it did to get from Belgium to England on a plane.

Remind us never to go away on a long weekend again! Next time we have decided we will register for the Iris Recognition system - allows you to check yourself through immigration - past the queues of people waiting impatiently with their passports in hand.... (and its a bit James Bond - which we like...)

So as you can see - there are not a great deal of photos on this blog - because our site upload limit has not allowed us to show you more - but if you click here - you will see our full album from this trip - definitely worth the look - but that chocolate warning still stands.....

We have been working very hard over the last couple of weeks and it occurred to us that we were already falling into the trap of using the weekend simply to recharge for more work on monday. With this in mind we sat in bed and wrote down a list of places, here in London, that we wanted to see. We made a pact to ensure that we cross something off the list every weekend.

First cab off the rank was Jen's desire to visit Hyde Park. Now, as we may have mentioned before, we live with a guy named Dave. He's very nice and also loves in-line skating (and is very good at it) so he suggested that we all go out for a Saturday afternoon of skating at Hyde Park. Sounded good. Jen likes skating, so do Kelly and Mark, and they assured me that, even though I had never skated in my life, that it would be fun and I probably wouldn't kill myself. I viewed that as a positive!

We boarded the tube and headed to Marble Arch. Dave took us to a store run by some skater dudes he knows and in no time we were tooled up with wikid skates..innit! Jen and I decided not to skate from the shop to the park - alongside the road... down a long flight of stairs - and opted to put the wheels on when we got there.

Jen looked very comfortable and competent, how hard could it be, I thought. I was about to find out. Now, I don't know how many of you have skated, but I found the journey from sitting down on the ground to standing up on wheels nearly impossible. However I soon got the knack of standing... still that is. It was really only when I commenced any type of movement what-so-ever that I ran into a wall of fear and an acute awareness of the frailty of human life! I needed help! And help was not far away. All it took was a slow, romantic skate... hand in hand. Good old Dave (cue first very gay looking moment). That good old housemate of ours babysat me the whole day. He explained the basics and pushed, stopped, guided or stopped me skating into the water. I was slowly getting better, and Jen kept telling me I was doing fine, which helped.

Stephen & Dave in Hyde Park

And again....

Halfway through the day we stopped for a drink by the lake. Now this is when I discovered why beer is good. We each had a long neck of Stella before starting off again... it was a miracle... I could skate a bit! I felt like I had been doing it my whole life. It was wonderful! A few moments later I remembered that, in fact, it wasn't, I couldn't, I hadn't and got all wobbly again.

By the time we got to the Princess Diana Memorial I was feeling like I was going to survive the outing. The memorial is very simple in design and was surrounded by kids. It seemed appropriate that this place would enable kids to relax and enjoy themselves, given her dedication to children.
Jen was still telling me I was doing well... as she skated around me... backwards! Anyway, I survived the day without a fall and we have decided to give a go again really soon. We loved it.

Beautiful daffodils everywhere in Hyde Park and in full bloom....

Hyde Park....

After skating we headed along the Lebanese strip and, on Dave's recommendation, entered a restaurant for a drink, some tiny cakes, and shisha. Shisha is that glass lamp looking device with a rubber tube coming out of it, the guy brings it out and gives you a disposible plastic tip for hygiene. It didn't know quite where to place the rubber hose... in your mouth apparently! There is water in the bottom (of the device that is) and tobacco mixed with dried apple near the top. They place hot coals on the top of a vented thingy and you smoke it like a pipe. After a bit of effort and adjusting how much we drew in, we were smoking like we were back in Coburg. It was ok, although our throats were a bit dry. Can't see us taking it up professionally.

Stephen smoking double-apple Shisha

Sunday morning we crossed one of my items off the list. We headed back to Hyde Park to visit 'Speakers corner'. The lonely planet described this place as being facinating 'especially if you like nutters'. Well, they were in abundance that morning. Essentially, anyone who has the inclination, brings along something to stand on and starts to rant on whatever subject they like.The crowd ebbs and flows as people tune in or out to the speaker. The area is predominated by religious orators.

The first speaker we encountered was a guy on a small step ladder ranting at the crowd. We decided to stay and listen. He was a sunglass wearing cockney and was angrily attacking the crowd.

Yelling at the top of his voice that they were stupid, had no morals, and that they believed in a "namby pamby Jesus". He was there to let everyone know that he loved God... and God hated us. "You are all going to an endless, painful hell" he told the crowd. Not me, I thought, if God hated me I would have crashed into the lake yesterday!

Jen getting a free hug...

It was not all fire and brimstone though - and Jen managed to get a free hug from the free hug guy.... they will both, no doubt, be going to hell as a result! The guy told Jen "that's a good hug", and he would know... he hugs professionally! I have to agree with him too.

Learn more about the Free Hug movement here

I hope the deliberately misleading title of this entry has some of you wondering how I made such a speedy rise to the top of the operatic tree here in London! Sadly, I am yet to make my Royal Opera debut. Last week, however, I was lucky enough to attend a final full dress rehearsal of Handel's Orlando. Jane has a director friend associated with the production and she very kindly asked me if I would like to come along. Australian Charles MacKerras was conducting so we were well represented. I had been very ill most of the previous night and was less than sparkling company. Jane was her usual polite self and tolerated my vagueness and rambling. She had warned me that the performance was quite lengthy and said I could make an early exit if it became too taxing. While it was long, there were two intervals which allowed us to get some air and stretch our legs. The theatre is glorious. Beautifully ornate in deep red and gold. I felt very regal sitting so close to the Royal box.

The Royal Opera House

Inside

The theatre has gowns worn by Dame Joan Sutherland and others on display as well as photos of famous performances from opera and ballet including Nureyev and Fonteyn.
The performances in Orlando were excellent, particularly the two female leads, fine voices and engaging performances all round. We had no inclination to leave early and enjoyed ourselves very much.
Before leaving Covent Garden, Jane showed me a specialty shop which stocks items perculiar to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa. It had all the things an Aussie craves - Vita brits, Tim Tams, proper Milo and the biggest jars of Vegemite in the known universe. I got some licorice for Jen, Jane got some Vita wheat biscuits and we hopped on a bus for home. It was a fabulous day!

On the following weekend we went to the Half Moon hotel, in Putney, to help celebrate our friend Phil's birthday. Sally and Phil had taken us there previously to check out some Sunday jazz. It was a rainy old day but that didn't stop us having a good time. We met Phil's other friends and headed in to listen to the music. Dick Laurie has been the resident band leader at the Half Moon for about nine years. He heads a seven piece band including horn, sax and bone. I had a chat to him during one of the breaks and requested a song. During the last break, he invited me to have a sing with the band. Naturally I was keen to perform and when he called me up to the stage I sang a Nat King Cole song called 'Straighten up and fly right'. The arrangement was shaky but we pulled it off no problem. The crowd were very warm and Dick asked me if I would sing one more. I sang 'My funny valentine'. The band played it so well, great dynamics and it sounded a treat. The crowd loved it. I loved hving the opportunity to perform. The band are all middle aged and beyond and, as is often the case, were pros without ego. It was very generous to let me sing and it was wonderful to perform in London. I am inspired to do it some more.

Day three we wanted to hit a couple more of the iconic Paris landmarks. After yet more crepes we jumped on the metro to Cluny-La Sorbonne and walked about two blocks to Notre Dame. It is an impressive building and we were excited to see the famous gargoyles on its facade. We arrived in time to witness midday mass and the organist belted out a few slightly eerie tunes. It was magnificent. We could feel the history of this place, plus I'm sure I saw a hunchback... (may only have been an old woman). We wanted to climb up to the bell tower but, on this occasion, the line was lengthy and, after realising it was'nt moving, we decided to move on.

Notre Dame

After quick stop for coffee, we headed to the Hotel for a quick kip and camera battery recharge.

As the afternoon light was fading we began our walk to the Obelisque at Place De Concorde. Evening fell as we strolled with the crowds along the Avenue De Champs Elysees. Arm in arm we were acutely aware how fortunate we were to be together, on this special day, in such a beautiful part of the world. The experience seemed more the stuff of movies, books or other people's lives, yet here we were... we had to pinch ourselves.

We could see, in the distance, Arc De Triomphe.

It was bathed in light and looked magnificent. When we arrived we headed for a traffic crossing where we were able to pause and take this photograph

We climbed the steep stairs to the top of the arc and, legs like jelly and gasping for breath, we took a look around the surrounding area. The Avenues looked amazing.

We spent some time just taking in the view before heading for home.

We stopped at a smallish restaurant for dinner, followed by some of the best cheese we have ever eaten and a good glass of merlot. On the way home we passed over the tunnel where Diana Spencer perished. People had left all manner of tributes there, and had written tributes on the bridge rail. We headed home via the Eiffel. At night, on the hour until ten past, the Eiffel lights up like a christmas tree. Hundreds of sparkling lights light up the city, reflecting off the windows of all the adjacent buildings. It is wonderful. Upon arriving at the tower, we waited for a few minutes and were lucky enough to end our evening with this photo.

perfect!

Our first day had ended with a really nice evening walk about town followed by dinner at the nearby brasserie on Grenelle.

Sunday started with petit dejeuner at a local bistro. We only ordered items which I could confidently pronounce, namely crepes with chocolate or jam and vienna coffee, and as a result Jen almost went into a sugar coma.

We decided to head to the Louvre. We took a long scenic route past the tower and along the Seine to the Place De La Concorde. It was another perfect day and it was nice to see the locals seated on the grassed areas or around the fountains, while the children floated old style wooden sailing boats pushing them away from the fountain edges with long thin canes. We continued up Jardin Des Tuileries until we saw the famous glass pyramid of the Musee Du Louvre (a la Da Vinci code).

We had read that it would take about 9 months to see everything in the museum and, as we had some time constraints, we decided to see the big drawcards. After getting a bit lost, we came to a packed room and there on the wall, and as everyone says... much smaller than we had imagined, hung the Mona Lisa. It was quite surreal. Not the painting... the experience. We were not permitted to take a photo, so you can't see it here but let me tell you folks, the Mona Lisa is a hard act to follow. We found a contender though...

Jen (and some chick who likes milo)

We had a look at some of the French painters before heading back to the hotel and dressing up for a special night out.

One of the things Jen had especially wanted to do in Paris was to see a burlesque show at the legendary Moulin Rouge. We took the metro into the seedy part of Paris (Pigalle) and looked for the famous windmill that sits atop the Moulin Rouge.

The room was magnificent. A deep red theme, bathed in lamplight. We were seated at the front of the second tier of tables with a lovely French couple. We had very limited French and they had very limited English but we managed to exchange pleasantries and explained that this was our anniversary weekend. The meal was delicious, complete with the mandatory escargot. Our tablemates disappeared for a moment after dinner before returning with a gift to mark our first wedding anniversary- a moulin rouge keyring with a small windmill which spins - we were very touched. The show itself was pretty cheesy and, to be honest, the dancing was a bit ordinary. The girls were all unbelievably attractive with perfect figures but, as is often the case, tall people can't dance well. The show included a number of variety acts including comics and a magician. The show came to a conclusion with the much anticipated can can. We all clapped along in time and the room was filled with energy and national pride on the part of the French.
It was a wonderful evening out to celebrate our first year of marriage. Just Jen and myself.... and 30 topless women... ahhhh romance!

Our short trip to Paris started with an early departure from Waterloo station aboard the Eurostar. After an informative taxi ride with our driver Hal (itosis). We finally breathed in again and jumped onto our train. We were very happy to receive a stamp in our passports. We want to be able to look back at all the countries we visit.
The eurostar is very comfortable and the journey was very speedy indeed in only a couple of hours we found ourselves in France at the Gare Du Nord rail station. We found the ticket machines for the metro, but found we had no coins. I had done some, very last minute, language study on the train and managed to negotiate the purchase of Coca Cola in order to get change. We worked out which line we needed and were off to Dupleix. Our hotel, the Eiffel Capitol, was conveniently close to the station, so we checked in and quickly headed out for a walk to get our bearings. As we have found throughout our time in Europe thus far, the weather has smiled upon us. We found ourselves in the middle of a glorious, sun-filled afternoon in Paris (note the irony Wayne, AB and other jazz players).

The first cab off the rank was something to eat. On the corner of the Boulevard De Grenelle was a creperie. Feeling full of confidence I ordered in French. Hazelnut chocolate for Jen, same for me but with the addition of Banana. "Britain?" asked the vendor. "Australie" I answered. He looked confused... Jen looked confused..."No thanks, not for me" jen said. He made our food, we paid and kept walking. It turned out he had asked if we wanted butter. Ooops.

We walked about a block and Jen nudged me. She grinned and I looked up over the buildings... at the Eiffel Tower. Man! is it tall.

Look what we found around a corner

We speedily made our way in it's direction. We had heard stories of the enormous lines and lengthy waits for the trip up the tower, but a sunny day in the middle of winter seemed to have caught the public by suprise and in less than 30 mins we were packing into the elevator and heading for the second level. I thought the lift was never going to stop and we were a little freaked out by the height. When we stepped out and caught the sight of Paris from above we were struck by its beauty. We will let the pics speak for themselves. The only thing left to say is that if we thought that was high... the top was like looking out of a plane! An entirely amazing place, in a lovely town.

Jen gets very high

View over the Seine to Palais De Chaillot

View accross Champ De Mars. The large building at the end is Ecole Militaire

View of Arc De Triomphe

Jen at one of the Eiffel Telescopes

In recent days Jen, myself and our housemate Dave have been trotting down to one of our local public houses, The Wheatsheaf. It has a very warm and relaxed atmosphere, comfy (well worn in) big armchairs and lounges, many fine ales and lagers, a friendly host and his charming bitch.. Maggie.

When we first met Maggie she was lying in a heap on the floor... naked. She was begging for food at an adjacent table and eventually came to us looking for a hand out. We dropped a bit of the fat left from our meals and she seemed gratified. We tried to extend our hands in friendship, but she was reticent to return our greeting. After some coaxing with a bit of food she mounted the back of our lounge and I was able to rub her tummy for a while. By closing time we felt sure we would eventually become friends.

Last night our entire household - Jen, Mark, Kelly, myself and Dave (plus Dave's pseudo Canadian cousin Sarah) - decided to visit the Wheat for a rollicking night of trivia. It was quite busy and most of the groups participated in the trivia. Our witty Irish host collected our 1 pound coins, we collected a jug of Fosters and a jug of something called "Snakebite" (beer, cider & grenadine) and we were off and running.

We had a very good first round and were positioned about 4th. Our second round started with a football question.. we all looked to Mark (sport nut) he didn't let us down! Kellys thorough knowledge of all things celebrity had us icorrectly identifying Anna Nicole Smiths chin (if only we listened to her about the Lasagna question!)

With questions spanning food, history, picture questions on movies and music, and many others, we felt a little shaky... maybe it was that fourth jug... not quite sure. We exchanged our answer sheets and waited. When the dust settled we had finished in equal first place! We were ecstatic!

It was then... a lone voice, in a low Irish tone, said those immortal words.... SUDDEN DEATH PLAY-OFF. I reluctantly rose and stepped to the centre of the room. A hush fell over the crowd (and I think some women fainted) "Name the year" said our host. My throat dried, body tensed. The clues ensued. 1998 is shrieked. WRONG! 1997 shouted the opposition. Wrong! And so it went, guess for guess. Like two proud heavyweight boxers in a world title fight ( bearing in mind we were both middle-aged, overweight and had no clue what bloody year it was). It seemed that everyone else in the room apart from the two of us actually able to answer knew the answer! 1995 is screamed. Wrong! '1994' said the little balding Indian man. We have a winner!

But a fleeting moment in the sun. A lifetime in shame.
Although the publican did reward our fine performance with a free jug of snakebite.

We will re-group and return to the Wheat next week... and cover ourselves in glory, for we are brave... we are easily intoxicated... and damn it... we are AUSTRALIANS!!

Flying the Flag....

Stephen.

Jen & Kelly

Kelly, Mark & Stephen

Dave & Sarah

Maggie

Stephen & Maggie

To see all the pics - click here

BTW: regarding "why our favourite" etc. The very coolest thing about London pubs is the fact that you are able to take your best (four legged) friend inside with you for a drink. I wish our little black buddy was here to share a night out! Having Maggie come and attack our shoelaces or play fetch or just fall asleep in the armchair beside us, warms our hearts. Having said farewell to our own dogs,having Maggie (and an array of other local dogs) to pat is very nice indeed.

Bye all and give your pets a pat (they're worth it).

Stephen.

Hi everyone!

Happy Valentines Day! For those of you that dont already know - Stephen and I actually celebrated Valentines Day twice! We woke up on the 13th, had showers and got dressed up nicely before one of the housemates informed us that we were a day early!
You lose track of dates when you are in holiday mode....

Anyway.... On the 14th we got up and got dressed up again and headed to the London Eye for a special champagne flight - thanks to Stephen! He took me on the thing i most wanted to do in London... despite being scared of heights!

The London Eye

We got to check in and wait in the Belvedere Room, where i was given a single rose and we each got a delicious chocolate for the "flight". At 2pm we were ushered through straight into our pod on the eye (much to the dismay of those people who had normal tickets and had to queue!), with about 5 other couples.

Stephen and I on the Eye!

We coped marvellously with the whole fear of heights issue, and only suffered a brief spell of vertigo as we neared the top of the eye. It is a VERY long way down.... We were given champage and looked out over every angle of London for 30 minutes. It was Awesome!

One of the views from the London Eye

Best Valentines Day ever! (Though we had hoped to see someone propose - no-one did... though our "host" mentioned that last year there had been 50 proposals on the eye).

That afternoon we headed down to Trafalgar Square and had a wander round in the sunshine... saw one person feeding the pigeons but unfortunately they have now officially banned the feeding of them in this area.... Trafalgar Square is cool, especially on such a sunny day... there were people everywhere....

Stephen at Trafalgar Square

To see LOTS more photos of London Eye & Trafalgar Square - click here