Holiday instalment # 5 - Paris part 2

Paris.... what a city.

We walked from Palais de Chailot to the Eiffel Tower - via the Carousel to join the queue for the elevator to Level 2 ( not too long a wait - only about 20 mins) what a marvel this tower is. Once on Level 2 I decided that right to the top was for me..... so a bit more queuing and up we went..... TOTALLY AMAZING views from up there.  It is 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall...

 So worth the wait to get up there!!!!!! and the long wait to get back down.

Our next day in Paris was Sunday and we were up at 6.00am as we were taking a bus tour to Giverny to visit Claude Monet's gardens and then back to Versailles in the afternoon.  It was a beautiful still morning and I captured this amazing shot of the Seine River.

 

The Monet gardens were amazing.  I took so many photos of the flowers as they were so pretty and the pond.... it is exactly like you see in the Monet paintings.  Here are just a few of the photos

 I have already used a couple to make thank you cards ( see here and here )
After lunch at an amazing old mill we headed to Versailles.  The Mill has a wheel that still turns.

Versailles was the one of the highlights of the trip for Peter.  He was totally amazed at the opulence of the Palace.  The Hall of Mirrors was something special and all the amazing painting, the painted ceilings.... so much to see and then the gardens and fountains.

As you can see, we were very lucky with the weather.  The whole time we were in Paris we had sunshine... only one day a bit cooler and cloudy on and off and that was the day we visited the Louvre.....

Next instalment for that one....
Hope you are enjoying my trip.  I am so loving choosing the photos to show and reliving again each day.  So thanks for stopping by.

Hoilday instalment #4 - Paris part 1

Back again.... hope you are enjoying my trip despite the long posts!!!!

PARIS..... what can I say.... I LOVE this city....  we did so much and saw so much I'll split it up a bit as I really want to show why I loved this city....

We arrived by train... so quick from London to Paris.... and such pretty scenery on the way through France.   We arrived at Gard de Nord and found our way to the Metro... couldn't see our street on the map but knew it was called Hotel Central Saint Germain.... so took the underground to St Germain Notre Dame stop.. well that was a bit too far.... so had to walk for ages to find the hotel - off a side street off Boulevard Saint Michel  near the Sarbonne church. 

Isn't that just a spectacular sight.  It was taken at 9.00pm in the evening.

Next morning it was up and a walk over to Notre Dame to jump on the Hop On, Hop Off bus for a tour round the city to get our bearings......... once round to see everything then returning to the square outside Notre Dame to eat our bread and cheese ( snitched from the breakfast at the hotel)

this is one incredible church.  I have only show a few of the heaps of photos I took.... I found it so stunning.  We lit a candle and said some prayers for SIL Mary...
After visiting Notre Dame we walked along the Seine to the Louvre gardens and just sat taking in all the building, statues and the whole Louvre scene.

Had fun in the late afternoon sitting at a sidewalk cafe/bar that was on a corner.. just watching the traffic.....  chaos to say the least....
Next day we caught the bus again, this time getting off at the places we wanted to see.... me - I wanted to walk past all the designer shops.... Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuttion  - Peter to see the Ritz... ( of course I had to take his pic outside of the Ritz)

Next stop - along the Champs- Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe.  What an incredible structure.  I admired the statues and the tomb of the Unknown Solider and then we walked up to the top and looked back down the Champs-Elysees.

Back on the bus to the Trocadero stop and after lunch outside the Palais de Chailot it was a nice walk over to the Eiffel Tower for a visit,......  but I leave that till the next instalment!!!!   Be sure to come back tomorrow~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for stopping by

Holday Instalment #4 -London

Back again....

We had a great time visiting with Helen in London..The first day was Bank Holiday so we got to spend some time with her and then. as she had to work we visited the city - Tues and Wed. 

Day 1 -  a trip to the London Eye.  We got off the train at London Bridge stop and walked for about an hour till we found the London Eye only to find had we stayed on the train one more stop we would have been right there!!!   Still the walk along the waterfront was lovely and we got to see a couple of interesting sights.

First the Golden Hinde and then the Globe Theatre where Shakespeare put on his plays.

We finally made it to the London Eye and it was well worth it.... amazing views of the city and surrounds.

My camera's zoom is fabulous... as you can see it was a super day.... nice and clear.

After the Eye we were off to the London Tower.... back near London Bridge were we had got off the train but rather than walk back we decided to taxi a taxi.... a real London cab.

And the Tower was incredible.  We took a guided tour with a Beefeater to get to hear all about the history before just strolling round soaking it all in.

Just thinking about all those people in history who were imprisoned there or beheaded there really blows my mind.....

Finished the day by walking across London Bridge

Day 2 - we visited Trafalgar Square, Covent Gardens and St Paul's Cathedral.
At Covent Gardens watched the street performers for hours and then walked over to the cathedral.  Do you know there are 259 steps to the top to look out over London?  Well I do... I huffed and puffed my way up.... first to the Whispering Gallery inside the dome and then up the the outside viewing.  Very proud to make it all the way.

 So a very busy couple of days before heading off to Paris and the Thurs..... but that's another instalment.....

Please come back to see the wonderful sights of Paris....

Holiday instalment #3 - onwards to London

Hi again... another instalment of the holiday....

After completing 7 days on our canal trip with Michael and Yvonne.... it was heading back to London.... via Naseby to visit the site of the Battle of Naseby  This was an important battle in the civil war in England in 1645. 

Now it is corn fields.  There is a monument at the site and we had lunch here.  I have to say it was rather chilly but we enjoyed the history of the site.

After leaving Naseby we headed towards Cambridge ( where Michael who is a Professor of Social and Cultural Studies has been working on his sabbatical).  We made a slight detour towards Ely where there is an amazing cathedral.  On the way I was intrigued with the wonderful thatched roofs of some of the houses,

Once we got to Ely we spend some time walking through the Cathedral.  It is stunning..  just to think that it was built so long ago.  The first structure was built in the 11th century.  The current cathedral was built around the 1500's and restored in the 1800's.

Isn't it stunning.  As my hubby says " incredible - all done by hand - no Black and Deckers in those days!)

We spend the night in Cambridge and next day, Sunday, had a look around.  Cambridge is a university city... made up of lots of Colleges and the university... a different system of doing things than here in New Zealand.  One of the most famous is Kings College.   It has a spectacular chapel. This was founded in 1446 by Henry VI (1421-71) and took over a century to build. It has the largest fan vault ceiling in the world and some of the finest medieval stained glass. 

Peter was so impressed with the age and history of this chapel.  Henry VIII married Anne Boylen in this chapel.  New Zealand does not have history like this so it is amazing to us.

On our way out of Cambridge we stopped off at the American Cemetery and Memorial.
This is were many of the soldiers and sailors who died during World War II are buried.  This a wonderful memorial to these amazing men and women who helped save our world.

We finally returned to London late afternoon and spend the next 3 days with Peter's sister Helen, making daily visits into the city to see the sights,... but I'll leave that till the next instalment - followed by France ( Paris) and Italy ( Venice and Rome) - just to keep you coming back to visit!!!!!

thanks for stopping by and I hope you continue to enjoy reading about our trip