Day 21:Rome Wasn't Built In A Day

And today's hop on hop off bus tour confirmed that. We decided this morning after last nights google map debacle that we would use someone who actually knew where they were going. Anyway being the tightarses that we are we opted for the cheaper tour ( gives us an extra 5 euro for crap souvenirs) which although good wasn't as descriptive/informative as we liked, so we drove past a lot of spectacular sights we had no idea what they were. Here's one!

Obviously some were recognisable like the colosseum. Seriously this city would have been absolutely amazing back then. Finally my year 8 and 9 Latin classes are making sense. 

We alighted the bus at the Fontana Di Trevi, which was probably what Sandy was looking forward to most, (mine was the colosseum  and I wasn't disappointed ) but when we got there it was covered in scaffolding and not operational. You can sort of imagine what it is like and it is about 10x bigger than I thought but still disappointing.

Please note the hat which was purchased because we bought the cheaper tour. So with the fountain not fountaining we decided to eat our sorrows at a gorgeous little restaurant just around the corner.

After lunch we got back on the bus and headed back to our mood hotel for an afternoon siesta. This evening we went for a walk ( successful) and located some fantastic Italian leather boots for Sandy, so we are now both even in the new shoe dept, 2 each. 

Tomorrow is Vatican day, I hope The Pope isn't as rude as the queen and actually stays in for our visit. We drove past today and he did have a huge number of visitors, but it is Sunday after all.

Souvenir Of The Day:  A calendar of young good looking priests. I mean really, pin up priests, whats next, naughty nuns, monk of the month??

Day 20, Rome If You Want Too

We arrived in Rome about midday, having organised a transfer from the airport to the hotel, as had thousands of others. Never have I seen so many men holding up people's names. Finding it was like picking the powerball number, but it was our lucky day, I only had to do one lap to find our driver. Driving in Rome is completely chaotic and exactly like it is portrayed in film. 

We arrived white knuckled but in one piece to our hotel, opposite the train station. The hotel has a rather unique feature of mood lighting, and you can choose your color, still haven't worked out why and apart from that our room is good.

I had pre booked a night time colosseum tour for 9 pm, so we thought we would go and get some sustenance, Carbonaras all round and best ever cafe latte!

After lunch we headed to the supermarket, I love foreign supermarkets and I could browse for hours, but hours we didn't have, so a bottle of red, some beer and a packet of fonzies ( Italian for twisties??) later we left.

Tonight was colosseum night and I had myself prepared, I had printed out the google map directions, supposed to be 2 kms and about 25 mins so off we went. Well I think we missed the first turn, so after walking probably 15 mins, we decided to get the map out, just like the ancient Romans used to do, we got ourselves back on track and 45 mins later we arrived.

The tour was awesome and being a night tour not many people were there as it wasn't open to the public. Just amazing and you can completely imagine what it was like in its day, just the fact that it is still standing after 2000 years is a credit to its builders. I mean our house is about 40 years old and it will be lucky if it sees another 10.

Now back to google maps, we thought perhaps if we tried the opposite on the way home it would be fine, well it wasn't, we missed the first street again and that was it but this time it was about an hour and about 4kms. Neither of us could read the maps properly because we didn't have our night vision on, a man told us it was about 800 mtres up the road, it was 1800! Finally we made it, and  we haven't been able to get off the bed since.

Today's Learnings: Google your maps are crap, and can't be trusted backwards or forwards...something you need to work on!

Day 19: Au Revoir et Merci Paris,

It's our last day in Paris, so we have had a semi quiet day as we or should I say Sandy has packed our suitcases, but not before some ironing of clothes that were about to get packed?

Our goal today was to try Escargot, surprisingly quite tasty, although after looking at the close up photo it doesn't look that good. Apparently they were giant snails, we went for 6 between us and they came with their own snail extraction utensils, tongs to hold the shells and a 2 pronged fork to get the little suckers out. We liked to think we were doing the gardens of Paris a favour by getting rid of these pests.

Snails down and then it was fish with best ever mash.... Delicious. With every meal they serve about a half a baguette, I think I'm addicted, there is something about a fresh French baguette that says eat me, something my taste buds will miss and my waistline ( if I had one) won't.

We have seen so much of Paris but yet so little. We did not end up at any museums although we walked past them several times, I am unsure if I feel I should have gone because "that's what you do" when in Paris, but we walked and looked, we had a fantastic day tour around " our" neighbourhood. We learnt so much about Champagne, and fast trains that send you to sleep at the drop of a hat. We cruised on the Seine and ate at the Eiffel Tower, we explored inside passages and dined with the locals. We have even had some time to relax. So tonight we celebrate our time in Paris with a visit to Stohrer. ( I have been waiting all week for this).

And believe me it was worth waiting for.

The people of Paris have been nothing but friendly and hospitable and I wonder if the more effort you put in the better the reward, I mean honestly our French is crap and we now probably have 10 words in our repertoire instead of the 2 we began with but we have tried and we have always been polite, and we have recieved the same in return. 

Our appartment is incredible and we would always come back here, google Key2Paris if you are interested.

And what better way to finish it off but by seeing the google street view car, so here's hoping that next time I google map Rue Ettienne Marcel in Paris there is a picture of me taking a picture of the car.

Rome you have a lot to live up too.

Day 18: Short and Sweet

This will probably be the shortest blog yet as there really weren't too many adventures, we went for another 5km walk to Place des Vosges a beautiful park in the Marais area,

We seldom get lost now. We walked back and stopped for lunch where we had hamburger French style, mince cooked how you like it topped with an egg, no bun, no salad, no bacon, it was ok. We then came back home for a rest before our 9pm appt for dinner at the Eiffel Tower. 

We got a cab there and went through the wildest roundabout you have ever seen, I would never ever drive here, it's hard enough walking!! Dinner was beautiful, and the setting was amazing, although we didn't get a window seat we were only one away. The tower does look spectacular at night.

Tomorrow it's Escargot and pastries as it's our last day in Paris.... I can't wait.

Day 17: Its the Bubbles of Nothing That Make it All Something.

I It was champagne day today, so we were  up at 6am, so we could be on the train to Reims for 8. We arrived in Reims just before 9, I was expecting a small French village but instead it was a large town/city. We had a morning tour to Haute Villiers ( a beautiful little village on a hillside ) to the Dom Perignon vineyards and also 2 small champagne houses, we learnt how the champagne is made and also got to taste some. 

The highlight for me was the sabreage, getting to take the top off the bottle of champagne with a large sabre, much easier than I anticipated and I can't wait to try it again at home, just need a very large knife!! 

Dom Perignon was watching over our every move. We also went to the Abbey where he is buried. A fantastic morning, we learnt so much and it went so so quick.

We got dropped off in the centre of Reims at 1 pm, which was a good thing, because the tastings weren't small, so lunch was very much in order. We both ordered Croque Monsieur ( ham and cheese toastie), and some fries, which Sandy seasoned quite generously with pepper, her way of portion control perhaps???

We didn't have time to eat them anyway as we were running late ( and couldn't stop sneezing) for our Veuve Cliquot tour. Very similar information to this mornings tour apart from the storage in 24 kms of chalk tunnels.

French Word of The Day: Crayere: this is the name of the chalk tunnels that were initially mined for many buildings, but is now used to house leading champagnes, as  they are a constant 12 degrees.

Tour over and more tastings and it was time to leave to make the 5.15 train back to Paris. The train was fantastic and it was 1st Class all the way... none of this economy stuff for us... 

We are up on the 2nd level and it is obvious how much my French has improved, as here I am reading the train magazine which was completely French. 

I don't think I have mentioned before how fast these trains go but if you have a look in the top left corner you will see the speed.

It did reach 330 kms/ hr but even at 296km/hr the G Forces where too great for Sandy to keep her eyes open....( sorry if the picture misled you into thinking she was sleeping).

All in all another fantastic day in France., 2 more to go.

Day 16: And I Would Walk 500 Miles....

500 Miles, maybe I am stretching the truth a little bit, but try telling our feet that! 

Today was our walking tour with Martinn, the owner of the fantastic appartment we are staying in. We started at 9.30am and explored the area we are staying in, Les Halles, which used to be a major food market in the 17th Century and is now still quite foody and with so much character.

Paris has so much history and Martinn is a very passionate Parissiene who obviously loves sharing her knowledge. There are quite a few cooking shops as well that we visited which make General Trader look like a poor cousin( I am still working on Sandy about what I can bring home  but with not a lot of luck). We stopped for a coffee break, and I managed to order coffee with milk, Cafe au Lait, my French is improving no end. We walked for a further 50 miles looking at all the fantastic architecture and then it was lunchtime.

Lunch was at a delightful Restaurant La Comptoir de la Gastronomie, a restaurant renowned for its foie gras. We tried this previously, I thought it was ok but Sandy didn't like it. We had a set menu which was steak and the standout desert Tarte Tartin with Creme Fraiche.. delicious! The Restaurant is also attached to a store selling foie gras, snails and any other French delicacy you could think of.

After lunch we walked another 250 miles, exploring Paris some more and it's inside passages, these are a lot like our arcades only much older and much nicer, containing high end shops like Jean Paul Gaultier and some very exclusive restaurants and charcuteries.

Another 100 miles and more sights and history it was cafe au Lait time again, but this time it was at an exclusive eclair shop, so many choices although we did manage to choose finally and they were as tasty as they looked.

We saw some fantastic sights and I took a whole heap of photos and we learned a lot about Paris, it's history and it's food.

Today the food, tomorrow the champagne!!

Day 15: 5kms in 5 hours and more.

It's Monday and once again the weather is perfect about 24 deg and sunny. We have been away for 2 weeks now, and I have only bugged the house sitter 3 times, we do miss Rory but there are also a few Westies around to satisfy our puppy needs. Today was a free day, we thought about going back to the Louvre, and we are still tossing it around, but may change to the Pompidou Centre instead, I'm sure Mona won't mind..

We decided on a leisurely walk around the city and The Marais area. We walked past some fantastic pattisieres and chocolate stores, much like Acland St Saint Kilda, although every street here is like that but better.

We stopped for lunch at a small bistrot where Sandy was more than impressed with her little jug of wine, not to mention the food as well.

Lunch over and we just happened to stumble across the shopping area, never have I seen so many shoe shops with so many fantastic shoes, seriously I could have bought at least 10 pair, instead I just settled for the 1, as did Sandy as I had already purchased a pair in London. We finally made our way home after a 5km round trip ( at about 1km/ hr, broke no records here) without getting lost, we are getting good at this! 

Back out this evening for French Onion Soup then home to relax ready for tomorrow's big tour day with the owner of the appartment.

Today's Question: With so many bakeries, patissieres, chocolatiers, everything cooked in butter why are French people so slim? I want their secret!!