Family & Friends

It's been a while since we last did a blog so to pick up from where we left off...

We left London on the Eurostar and headed to Paris for the weekend with Jo, Nat and Stacey, Alli was catching a later train after work. Very comfortable train ride took around 2 hours from the heart of London to the heart of Paris, easy way to go.
Took a bus from Gare du Nord station which got us pretty close to the hotel we'd booked near the Eiffel Tower. Thought we might have trouble on a suburban bus with the 5 of us and suitcases however it was the start of the run so plenty of space initially, it did get pretty crowded over the 50 minute ride.
The bus route included the Opera, Madeleine area, Place de la Concorde, Champs Elysees, Trocadero, over the Seine past the Effiel Tower to our stop. Great sights for those who hadn't been to Paris before and all for only 1.70 euro!!
Jo got an apartment with a great view of the Eiffel Tower, our apartment next door had a view over the river but not the Effiel Tower. The hotel was about 15 minutes walk from the Effiel Tower so we headed up there after a quick bite to eat at a local restaurant. We'd picked a winner hotel to stay for the view, location, amenities, access to the metro and it was great value - sometimes you can be lucky booking hotels over the net!

Bit of a challenge for Alli to get to the hotel when she arrived much later so a taxi was the solution but she couldn't find an ATM and had no euros with her. Jo was to meet the taxi at the hotel and pay the fare. Alli was trying to explain the problem to the French taxi driver once she'd arrived at the hotel but he got a little annoyed that Alli had no euros however the hotel's friendly doorman came to the rescue paid the fare then Jo arrived and it all worked out. Another plus for the hotel.
Spent the weekend taking in all the sights of Paris, perfect weather possibly a little too hot! Terry took off to do his sightseeing on foot with a little help from the metro, the rest of us used the Hop On Hop Off bus. Amazingly we crossed paths a couple of times, totally unplanned. Jo had a touch of the flu so did extremely well with the sight seeing but crashed at night.

Terry's artistic photography!

Outside Notre Dame

The Eiffel Tower has a brilliant 5 minute light show on the hour once it gets dark, after 10pm, so Pam sat and watched it from the hotel window while the rest of the group got a little closer and went up to the tower's 1st level near midnight.

The next day we nearly lost Stacey on the metro when the doors closed a little too quickly and Stacey was left on the platform with the rest of the group on the train. Thankfully with text messages it wasn't too much of a drama, we were only going a few stops, so we got back together pretty quickly.

Where's Stacey?

The day was spent wandering around Montmartre and Sacre Coeur with loads of other tourists just like us. A fun weekend in Paris.

Alli headed back to London late on Sunday, Jo and Stacey stayed in Paris for an extra day before heading off to Venice and Florence for a few days then onto Prague. Nathan flew off to Barcelona to meet up with friends for a few days before reuniting with Jo and Stacey in Prague later in the week.

We got on a train to Lyon to catch up with friends, Priscilla and FX, for a few days. A little interesting trying to collect tickets from the machine at the station but the train conductors were extremely helpful and it all worked out. We haven't been to Lyon for many years so it was great to see all the sights with locals who live quite close to the centre. It's a beautiful city, some old some new, our friends showed us all the best places, we had a wonderful couple of days with them and a couple of home cooked meals, marvellous...

Priscilla, FX & Priscilla's parents - Franciose & Martine

Lyon

From Lyon we flew to Brussels picked up a hire car and drove to Tournai a small town about 2 hours south west of Brussels, thankfully the GPS knew where we were going. Our friend, Stephanie, lives in Tournai so we had a lovely couple of days, walked around the town climbed the central tower, a very narrow sprial staircase, to get an overview. Lovely day, more home cooked meals before we headed off to Laherie in the east of Belgium near Luxembourg.

Tournai

Terry & Stephanie in her garden

We took a slow trip through the secondary roads in the south of Belgium to see the  cute villages which border the northern edge of France. The weather has been perfect and makes the trip that much more enjoyable.
Our last stop in Europe was with Aline and Fredo and their adorable son, Robin (17 months) in the tiny village of Laherie. We have visited a few times in the past 6 years but this was our first meeting with Robin. Caught up with all their families as is the custom when we visit, lots of translation is needed but we had lots of laughs  and fun times during our stay. One house in the village has an amazing garden and we were honoured to be given a private viewing.

Robin, Fredo, Aline, our garden hosts & us

Our family lunch in Laherie

We love catching up with our European friends, they probably think we're a little crazy popping in for a few days every couple of years but we think we're very fortunate to have this opportunity.
We left Europe via Luxembourg to Heathrow to New York, a day of planes, trains and automobiles.
Now back in New York, we've moved into our apartment which will be home for the next 5 months. It's been a fairly tedious exercise as we had to supply our own furniture, linen, kitchen goods etc etc. A few visits to IKEA and other inexpensive bulk stores has covered most things but the co ordination of delivery, assembly and installation has been draining to say the least. It wasn't what we'd planned but we didn't have a lot of choice. The apartment is fantastic in a great location with spectacular views east over the Hudson River to New Jersey, south over  downtown Manhattan to the financial district with the Statue of Liberty beyond and west to the lights of Times Square.
It's Bastille Day and we've just watched an amazing 30 minute fireworks display from our living room, amazingly in the right place at the right time for a change!!
Last night we ventured over to Brooklyn for a relaxing free classical concert in Brooklyn Park, the area is called DUMBO - Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass - lots of acronyms in NY. It had been a pretty hot day and was a lovely balmy night however after the first song, the heavens opened and it poured, we got drenched, the temperature dropped dramatically in no time, the concert stopped, we headed home, just like a Melbourne summer really.
Jo, Alli, Nat and Stacey arrive on Saturday afternoon for 4 days in NY before they continue their adventure in Las Vegas and LA. No doubt we'll be busy for those 4 days with sight seeing, shows, concerts and shopping...

The blog will continue a little more regularly in the future now we're settled, hope you enjoy the ramblings of our ongoing adventure.

Pam & Terry