Paris and London

May 2023

A 15-day adventure by Robert Read more

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Traveler Paris and London
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- May 13, 2023, 12:17pm
- ⛅ 19 °C
- Altitude: 8 m
- Australia New South Wales Botany Cooks River -33.949894, 151.18196833°56’60” S 151°10’55” E
Day 1
Here we go...
May 13, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Time to find my wife, she's in Europe somewhere. Managed to keep my check in down to 7kg. Not bad considering I have two sets of hiking poles.

No trains. Waited for bus that took to long so I booked an Uber. Nice guy named Robert drove me to the airport.

No waiting to board for the first leg to Singapore. Flight has been delayed, we're boarding 20min late. I have 4 hours in Changi so it should be ok. The flight is full though. The check in queue was huge.

Paris here I come.Read more
Traveler Have a wonderful time and give Grace a big hug from us 😊
5/13/23Reply
Traveler 7kg Well done Robert. Happy Landing 🤞
5/14/23Reply
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- May 14, 2023, 6:04pm
- ☁️ 20 °C
- Altitude: 72 m
- France Île-de-France Paris Paris 01 Ancien - Quartier Champs-Élysées Place de l'Etoile 48.875363, 2.29865548°52’31” N 2°17’55” E
Day 2
Paris
May 14, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
France is a long way from Sydney. The first leg via Singapore on a very full Scoot flight. It was half an hour late but I had 4 hours between flights.

The Air France flight from Singapore was a killer. And also half an hour late. I named almost 7 hours sleep but it wasn't a good sleep.

Today was a recovery day. Plus Grace want arriving until the afternoon. I found a supermarket to buy some supplies. French wine is cheap here so lunch was olives, cheese and red wine.

We managed to find the only English Mass in Paris. It's very near the Arc de Triomphe.Read more
Traveler Welcome to Europe Richard. Air travel isn’t luxury but part of the cost we pay living in wonderful Oz. I trust you will enjoy Paris 🤞🤣
5/15/23Reply
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- May 15, 2023, 10:47pm
- ☁️ 10 °C
- Altitude: 54 m
- France Île-de-France Paris Bastille Place de la Bastille 48.852038, 2.37166248°51’7” N 2°22’18” E
Day 3
Paris
May 15, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
Grace and I just finished the Eiffel Tower. We caught the lift because it's a long way up and we've already had a big day.

Morning stayed with a walk to the Botanic Garden and the Natural History Museum. We even saw some wallabies and kangaroos in the menagerie attached to the gardens.

This was followed by a walk to Notre Dame, but we stopped to look at the Grand Mosque of Paris along the way. The mosque had some beautiful tile work and rose gardens.

We had lunch that cost more than it should (but we're on holidays, who cares?), served by a very enthusiastic server.

This was followed by a tour through St Genevieve's basilica...I mean the Pantheon.

23,000 steps today.Read more
Traveler Wonderful memories together ❤️
5/16/23Reply
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- May 16, 2023, 5:30am
- 🌙 5 °C
- Altitude: 141 m
- France Île-de-France Versailles Palace of Versailles 48.804425, 2.12028548°48’16” N 2°7’13” E
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Day 4
Palace of Versailles
May 16, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌙 5 °C
In contrast to the previous day, yesterday was a nice sunny day. It was the perfect day to visit the Palace of Versailles. It turned out to be a popular day because the place was buzzing.

The place was amazing. So opulent and over the top. You could spent two days and not cover everything to see. I'm glad we chose this day. The original plan was to do this on our last day, but we might not get back in time for a train to London.

Desire the sun, it was cold outside due to the wind. Not unbearably so, but enough to wish I'd bought another layer.

The statues and paintings alone were worth the visit, but the Palace and the grounds were a sight, especially walking up to the entrance with the sun shining off the gold trim of the building.Read more
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5/17/23Reply
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5/17/23Reply
Traveler Stunning photos. Looks like a lovely sunny day to be there.
5/17/23Reply
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- May 17, 2023, 11:00am
- ☀️ 14 °C
- Altitude: 46 m
- France Île-de-France Paris 07 Paris 10 Ancien - Quartier Faubourg-Saint-Germain Orsay Museum 48.859918, 2.32658348°51’36” N 2°19’36” E
Day 5
Musee d'Orsay
May 17, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
First museum visit for the day. Musée d'Orsay. There is a Degas and Manet exhibition so I booked to see that. Not many people know I did at in high school, and my favourite style is the Impressionists. Technically these two are not Impressionists but they dabbled a little in the form.

The museum used to be a train station, evident by the large clocks. There are a number of more modern artworks. More modern in that they are 19th and 20th century. Unlike the Louvre Which had puces dating from 18th back to 200,000BC(?). I'm not sure that last date, but that's what the sign said.

There are also many artworks that are NFFF. Not Fit For Florida. Too many names bodies.Read more
Traveler Great photos Robert & Grace. My wife, June & I always preferred the Musée d’Orsay over the overcrowded Louvre
5/19/23Reply
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- May 17, 2023, 4:00pm
- ☁️ 17 °C
- Altitude: 44 m
- France Île-de-France Paris Palais-Royal Place du Palais Royal 48.862412, 2.33658948°51’45” N 2°20’12” E
Day 5
Musée du Louvre
May 17, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
I booked an afternoon at the Louvre, unaware of what we were in for. It's much bigger than I considered. It was confusing to navigate, though eventually we found a method to follow the map but it was still not easy.

We did make to find the Mona Lisa, but the queue filled the room and there was so much to see. Again, to many pieces of work that were NFFF.

This was our last full day in Paris. Tomorrow we head for London in the afternoon.Read more
Traveler I enjoy your photos and agree the Louvre is too crowded. Wishing you both happy times in London 🤗
5/19/23Reply
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- May 18, 2023, 11:00am
- ☁️ 13 °C
- Altitude: 137 m
- France Île-de-France Paris Paris 18 Buttes-Montmartre Sacré-Cœur Basilica 48.886806, 2.34301548°53’13” N 2°20’35” E
Day 6
Basilique du Sacré-Cœur
May 18, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart is situated on a very prominent hill with a 360° view over Paris. To get a better view you can pay €7 to climb the steps to the Dome. There are 300+ steps to climb, most in a narrow, claustrophobic staircase that just seemed to wind around forever.

We stayed for Mass because it was Ascension Thursday, a public holiday in France and a Holy Day of Obligation.Read more
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- May 18, 2023, 2:00pm
- ☁️ 16 °C
- Altitude: 49 m
- France Île-de-France Paris Paris 11 Ancien - Quartier Palais-de-Justice La Sainte Chapelle 48.855393, 2.34499448°51’19” N 2°20’42” E
Day 6
Sainte-Chapelle
May 18, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
I was looking forward to this chapel. It's out last so before travelling to London. It has over 1,000 pieces of stained glass, 70% are the original. The chapel was built to house relics of the Passion.

The chapel is two chapels in one, with one on top of the other. You walk into the lower chapel first, I was a little underwhelmed. Where is all the stained glass? There is some, but nothing like what I was expecting. Then we found the stairs to the upper chapel...

The upper chapel is amazing. Almost floor to ceiling stained glass panels. Each tell a story, being different books from the Bible. The appear more blue or purple depending on the light. Simply stunning.Read more
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- May 19, 2023, 8:00am
- ☁️ 11 °C
- Altitude: 27 m
- England City of London Monument to the Great Fire of London 51.510116, -0.08651°30’36” N 0°5’10” W
Day 7
Hello London
May 19, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
We arrived via the Eurostar. Very nice. Fast, comfortable and on time. We stayed in a very small room near the London Monument and London Bridge.

Next stop Ambleside in the lakes district.
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- May 19, 2023, 6:00pm
- ☁️ 17 °C
- Altitude: 55 m
- England South Lakeland District Ambleside 54.431954, -2.96305354°25’55” N 2°57’47” W
Day 7
Ambleside
May 19, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
We took the train up to Ambleside via Oxenholme and Windermere.

Another train broke down in front and we were stuck on the train for a couple of hours. We eventually made it to our accommodation and did a little walking tour before dinner.Read more
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