I'm baaack

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Chaos Butterfly:
I found the little public toilet you had to put coins in to open the door a bit unnerving; I mean what if it got stuck while I was in it.

---

<font size="2" face="Comic sans ms, Helvetica, sans-serif">We used to have those kinds of washrooms here when I was a kid, but they got removed from everywhere. I mean, why should you have to pay to use the facilities? That's just inhuman. [img]graemlins/sure.gif[/img]

By the way, since you originally said I could post your pic on the sip forum, I have decided to do so. Especially in light of the fact that you are now talking about your travels over there. I can remove it if you want me to.

We in Italy have a new way: there is an automatic door that leads to the toilet, if you're not fast enough a leg or another slice of your meat will be cut and fly directly in the little basket near the entrance.

So don't you ever dare say we Italian are chaotic...

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Gem F:
I mean, why should you have to pay to use the facilities? That's just inhuman. [img]graemlins/sure.gif[/img]
[/QB]

---

<font size="2" face="Comic sans ms, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hehe one of the new facts of life I learnt in London and Europe, if you wanna pee then you better have change.

There are even people paid to sit there and make sure nobody gets in/out without paying. (I think some of them are cleaners but some of them looked like that was their specific job).

So I can pee in peace and for free when i get to Canada Gem ? [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Day 17

We drove to Avignon, the Papal city with huge walls and a big castle. There?s a famous bridge there too but only a section of it is left. It was a long drive so we played a few coach games on the way. We played scavenger hunt, Paul?s Posse on one side of the coach and Steph?s Swiss Military on the other side. Steph would yell out an item and if you had it had to be passed to the back of the bus then all the way back up to her. The twist you could try to steal the other team?s item and they could steal yours as long as no one?s butt left the seat. You got extra points for getting your item and the other team?s item to the front. I was the first to be sinbinned [img]biggrin.gif[/img] after virtually ending up on the other side of the bus trying to steal from the other team. Our team the Swiss Military still won tho?.

We had a short wander around Avignon and had lunch there at one of the caf?s. I had some yummy duck with green pepper sauce with fries and garlic beans (although it would be fair to say it could have been called garlic with some beans added for colour and texture). So the stereotype does apply French food and loads of garlic.

We continued on to Lyon where we would stay for the night. It was a really lovely city and I would love to go back there. We walked into the old city for dinner and basically left were left to choose one of the many restaurants available. I found a really nice wine shop, which is what I had been looking for considering we were in the heart of one of the best wine regions in France. The owner spoke great English and was really helpful, he had in fact spent 2 months in NZ going through the wine regions. I bought 4 bottles of wine then noticed he had an open bottle of Porto Barros 20 years old port. I asked him if he had it in stock but he didn?t he did however happen to be one of the biggest importers of port in the region, he showed me a whole room out the back which is full of just bottles of port. I bought one of the other bottles he suggested.

I went to the Irish Pub ( [img]confused.gif[/img] in the middle of France) where I knew I?d find the Contiki group. I hooked up with Vanessa and we tried to find a restaurant for dinner. One guy was trying to get us to dine at his restaurant but he refused to show us a menu in English so we went to the restaurant opposite, which was one of the few to display a menu in French and English. I got to practise my French ?Un table pour deux s?il vous pl?it.? But was basically in trouble when the waitress started spouting sentences at a quick rate [img]eek.gif[/img] , oh well, at least I made an effort and the waitress spoke English as well anyway. We got a pretty good deal, a 3 course meal for 16 euro. Started with a famous Salade Lyonaise which was huge. Then I went for the roast quail with Riesling sauce which came with some vegetables and 2 little pancake things which soaked up the sauce very nicely. The there was cr?me caramel for dessert. I was so full. We wandered back to the pub to join the others then some of the other girls helped me carry my box of wine back to the hotel

You know CB, I get really jealous of you every time I read one of these reports. I'd have love to have done something like this in my life time.

There's still time Rich. You're not that old...are you?

Was going to post some photos but haven't been quite organised enough maybe tomorrow.

Day 18

We travelled fairly uneventfully to Paris. On our arrival we went straight to the Eiffel Tower. We took the lift to the top for a great view of Paris. We then went to our hotel for dinner. Dinner turned out to be quite amusing as 5 of us sat at a table set for 6 and found the entr?e served to the 6th empty place as well as us. So between us we ate that as well. Thinking they would realise that it was an empty place we decided to have a go at inventing our imaginary friend Johnny, who, whenever the waiter came, was outside having a smoke, or in the toilet. By the time dessert came they had realised our ruse but served his dessert with a wink saying perhaps we could help him eat it. So we spent our dinner in hysterics talking about our imaginary friend who was a chain smoker and either incontinent or had diarrhoea, all the while sharing an extra helping of dinner from his plate. [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

After dinner we went on a tour of Paris by night. We saw the Madeline?? Church lit up, the Paris Opera House (where the supposed Phantom lives) and Napoleon?s tomb. Steph tried to distract us as we took a round-a-bout route to the Eiffel Tower, then suddenly there it was all lit up and sparkling with fantastic sparkles which sparkle for 15 minutes every hour on the hour. Paul then drove through one of the tiny archways at le Louvre then up the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe.

The Arc de Triomphe is a huge archway in the middle of a big roundabout, but its not just any roundabout. It is 12 roads leading into a 6 lane non-marked roundabout. There are cars everywhere. We thought Paul was going to slow down but he floored it right into the middle, cars seemed to come at us from all directions and we just missed one little car of whom the occupants must have been just about in shock as we bore down upon them. We we?re certainly going Sh****t! [img]eek.gif[/img] Apparently once you are on the Arc de Triomphe you cease to be covered by your vehicle insurance until you get off it. There is an accident every 10 minutes. Paul the crazy bastard went round 3-4 times before managing to get off. After our little tour it was back to the hotel bar for a well-deserved drink.

OK So I finally get around to this and the online photo website is going down for the rest of the week. The good news is that as soon as its up I have quite a few photos to post. In the mean time you'll have to settle for more stories.

Day 19

We awoke to our free day in Paris with pouring rain [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img] . Sad faces as we made our way in, Paul and Steph were sweet enough to drop us off in the underground park of Le Louvre. We spent the morning wandering around there as it was still pouring. There were some really good paintings. Went and saw the Mona Lisa, the Victory statue, got a bit lost saw some crown jewels and then stumbled onto some amazing bronze statues. They were impressively detailed and dynamic statues. Found the statue of Cupid and Athena and the Venus di Milo.

By now it had stopped raining a bit so attempted to find the exit. I wandered up the road towards the shops. The first shop I went into had these really cute Asterix T- shirts. I was trying to hold one up against me (a bit difficult because my bag was in the way) to check the size. The shopkeeper came up to ask me if I wanted it. I tried to explain I wanted to hold it up to see the size and she got rather irate about me touching the T-shirt (No touching). Who buys a T-shirt without touching it?? She got grumpy and started saying Au Revoir many times. So I left. So I was essentially thrown out of the first shop I went to in Paris Haha! As Steph says, ?It?s not wrong, it?s just different, take a picture? Although I didn?t take a picture in case I got arrested. [img]graemlins/handcuffs.gif[/img]

I caught the Metro to Notre Dame, wandered inside, and lit a candle by St. Therese. I didn?t go up the tower the line was too long. I walked by the Palais du Justice and went to St. Chappel. At first glance it was pretty but not amazing, that is until I found the stairway to the 2nd level. St. Chappel has the most gorgeous and amazing stained glass windows you will ever see, way better than anything at Notre Dame. I walked along the Latin Quarter side of the river, and had a ham crepe. I took the Metro at lunchtime it was crazy, totally crowded. I went to the Arc de Triomphe, there is a tunnel under the road so you can get to it. I climbed the many stairs to the top but it was worth it as there was a great view, especially of the roundabout. I walked down the Champs Elysees and checked out the beautiful shops. Did you know that the McDonalds in Paris is the only one with white arches not gold because the guy that invented neon lights came from there. I had a banana crepe and wandered to Place de la Concorde with its obelisk (a gift to the king of France) and fountains. The fountains have in fact taken the place of the guillotine; the entrance to the area is flanked on either side by the Morley horses. (Two big statues of men trying to control rearing horses.) This is because back in the old days the horses would refuse to step inside the Place de la Concorde, as they smelt the blood and death of the guillotine. [img]eek.gif[/img]

I tried to take the Metro back to the hotel but I got really confused at the station and mad the fatal error of jumping on the train without checking its endpoint. So I started off alright but then I looked at my map and instead of turning right the train had turned left. Um, I thought as I hit a station that was not the way I wanted to go. Err, I said as the next station arrived and it was in fact outside the Metro map. Aaargh! Blind panic I?m off the map going in the wrong direction. I saw a woman reading a book?in English Hurray! As I said, ?um I think I?m going the wrong way I want to go here?. She told me to get off the train at the next stop and catch one back to the Eiffel Tower then change trains. So I managed to get back to the hotel just in time to get ready to go out to the cabaret show and dinner.

We went out to Nouvelle Eve cabaret we had a nice dinner and there was a great show with some good dancers, sometimes topless J What? Don?t look at me like that it a normal part of cabarets over here. There was an excellent guy who made shadows with his hands. Dog, cat, swan, little Chinese fisherman, Michael Jackson, and various other famous people, amazing. There was a very good contortionist, a rope spinner, and a couple of great jugglers. They grabbed a guy from the audience and set him up with a hat, some spec and a ciggie. They then told him to not move and proceeded to knock all three off with juggling clubs flying from one guy to the other. There was a great illusionist guy with 2 heads I can?t explain it as I still don?t know how he did it, it was really something else.

At the end of the show they asked for 4 guy volunteers so we nominated Meliss and virtually threw him on stage. Three other guys got up 2 older ?European guys and one young Aussie guy who thought he was hot shit. They had to follow the leading lady in a dance, the young Aussie was a bit of a dick, the 2 older guys were very cool, Meliss was OK but not stunning, hmm he ain?t got rhythm. He was funny when we threw him on stage, he moved so far along he hid behind the curtain. Then they had to do a solo on their own. Once again 2 older guys were cool, the Aussie sucked and it was looking bad for Meliss? chances. Then ohmiGod aliens must?ve switched Meliss? body, with us cheering like mad things he was feeling the pressure he was doing this total hoedown thing all the way to both sides of the stage wit some butt wiggling in the middle; who would?ve thought from his first little performance. The judging was done by cheering. We probably had one of the smallest groups there but we made the most noise and Meliss won! He had to collect his prize of course. A young bride in a full on floaty wedding dress came on stage. Meliss had this sheepish grin on his face as his wife was in the front row taking photos. LOL. But wait for it?. The girl undid 2 buttons and the whole dress falls off and all she?s wearing is a G-string, stockings and suspenders; Meliss is looking a little shocked as he?s led offstage by this woman and we are falling off our chairs in laughter. The other guys were thanked and sent off stage and Meliss walks on holding a baby (doll). ?Fast worker isn?t he!? It was such a crack up. [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

We went to an Irish pub after the show it was very crowded and more like a club than a pub, dance music was playing and it was full of kinda dirty Frenchmen and Dutch guys who kept trying to dance with you. It was worse than Italy.

Day 20

Everyone?s sleeping on the bus on the way back. We stopped at a Canadian War Memorial (Canadian soil in France). There are huge craters in the ground where bombs or mines exploded and there are areas that are roped off and only sheep allowed to graze just in case there are some unexploded mines still around [img]graemlins/sheep.gif[/img] (Baah!?BOOM). We went back over the channel on the ferry and when we arrived in London Tarin and I checked in at The Generator (a hostel) for the night and walked back to the pub for a final drink and photo op. with all our new Contiki friends. There was much drinking; talking, photo taking, hugging and teary goodbyes and Steph got really wasted.

Day 21

Tarin?s cousin Matt and his wife Heather came to meet us and take us to their house in Grove Park (20 minute train ride out of London) where we were staying for a couple of days. We met Jenny, Craig and Rob and were welcomed with a real Kiwi BBQ with salad, sausages, chicken, pork, Wattie?s tomato sauce Yay! And for desert Pavlova with cream, strawberries and Kiwifruit. I tell you now how much more I appreciate this after eating in London for 10 more days.

Day 22

An opportunity to finally do all our washing Woohoo! We went into Bromley to the shopping centre and I managed to pick up an Eddie Izzard DVD that I had been hunting for. Basically just had a cruisy day, went to the supermarket was fascinated by the ?just add water? reconstituted potato - sweet corn and tuna flavour so bought one to try later on. [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] Had spaghetti on toast for dinner and then ended up watching Jackass ? The Movie (definitely a group activity).
[img]eek.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 10, 2004 04:48 AM: Message edited by: Chaos Butterfly ]</font>

Day 23

Today we went to Madame Tussaud?s wax museum; it was a bit smaller than I thought it would be. The girls weren?t as good as the guys I thought but Princess Diana was very good. There was a Sarah Michelle Geller one, man she must be short. [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img] Morgan Freeman was excellent, from behind I mistook him for a real person and the face was perfect. I had my photo taken with some of my favourites, Samuel L. Jackson, The Rock, Patrick Stewart, Pierce Brosnan, Arnie and The Hulk. It wasn?t too bad but not really a ?worth going again? sort of thing. We wandered down Regent St. We went to the big Hamley?s toy store, which took at least an hour to go through the 5 floors. They didn?t have a Stitch soft toy that I was looking for but it was fun playing with all the toys. We went and had dinner in Chinatown and got a pretty good meal for 12 pounds. We wandered through SOHO to check out Tarin?s digs for the next few weeks as she is apartment sitting. Haha we discovered she?s going to be living right across the road from the ?Bunny Club?, [img]wink.gif[/img] it?s going to be a fun few weeks. Soho looked fun and interesting and of course a bit of shopping happened, I got Tarin to talk me into a bag that I fancied.

We went to a performance of The Lion King (which had been at the top of my list of things to see). It was a real spectacle, the set was quite technical rather than flashy although the Wildebeest stampede was very well done. The nuances of the actors and dancers to become animals and control the costume/puppets was amazing. The giraffes were people with stilts on their arms and legs (they must be really strong). Springboks, zebras, birds all WOW! Then a rhino and a huge elephant walked up the aisles for the first number. Zazu had a superb voice and puppet you actually forgot there was a man in full view controlling and speaking for him. Scar was good and the hyenas were superb (yes they did have a moody elephant skeleton set). The whole jungle came alive, trees and all. When Mufasa died the lionesses actually cried (can?t really explain how you had to be there). Pumbaa and Timon were very funny and the human-size Timon puppet/costume was very interesting. The people playing the adult Simba and Nala had superb voices. Rafiki was fantastic, better than the film (and a woman). Some extra songs were good and there was more African singing and dancing. Had to buy a Lion King polar fleece. Totally Excellent!
[img]graemlins/star.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/music.gif[/img]

Ok photo time.

They do things big in Rome.

Me in front of one of the doors of St. Peter's

http://photo.starblvd.net/Chaos/2-2-5.jpg

Me in front of one of the marble pillars of the Pantheon

http://photo.starblvd.net/Chaos/2-1-1.jpg

Colosseum

http://photo.starblvd.net/Chaos/1-4-2.jpg

St. Peters

http://photo.starblvd.net/Chaos/2-2-4.jpg