Enjoying Life is Good

Niort, We Disliked You Once but Now We Love You. Part 1

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 03:39:00 GMT

It is true at the beginning of our time in Niort we did not speak glowingly of it. For one it was a long walk from the train station to our B and B and it was warm. That was not a great start and couple this with the fact that we were walking through some rather ordinary looking areas of town made it even worse. We found the B and B though but guess what no one was there even though we had sorted out the time to be about 3pm that we were arriving, yep not a great start. As it turned out we had to hobo it outside of the front door for over an hour until our host Agnes turned up and things started to get better. It is probably a good time to say that we now love Agnes as she has been the greatest of all of our hosts to date, not just on this trip but on all our trips and we have had some good ones over they years. So Niort what have you got to show us?

The day that we arrived was all about showering, getting our gear together and heading out into the centre ville to see what was out there. On our first trip out to look about old Rolfey started to crack it as per usual and had to be drawn back into line by Tara who as per usual found the way to soothe the Rolfe beast within - with beer. So after a Leffe Blonde the world and Niort was a better place again. Food beckoned so off the the supermarket to buy provisions and wine and then it was back to our massive room to eat out on the balcony and watch the bats, yes bats, fly around the backyard. Pretty cool hey, maybe things here are not going to be as bad as we, or Rollfey thought.

Day 2 Wednesday : Day 2 in Niort was going to be our stressy day as we were picking up a car that had the steering wheel on the wrong side because we were going to have to drive on the wrong side of the road. Argh! Whatever happened to International Driving Standards? Oh well breakfast first and it was a lovely breakfast with toast, cheese so,uffle and coffee - loads of gorgeous, thic, strong coffee! It was wonderful and we were both ready for the adventure ahead of driving. That was not to say that the two of us were not nervous. Au contraire! No, no we were as was proven by the amount of times that Rolfey had to go and pee that morning whilst walking around passing time before the car pickup. Oh wel,l wandering over via the Centre ville park, it was time to go to EuropeCar and pick up the beast.

Oh and what a beast but none of that until we get through the trying to talk our level of French with the man that speaks at the same level of English. It seemed like it would be troublesome but it all worked out great an the man was very patient with us and soon enough we had signed for the full insurance and we were out in the pickup area waiting to see what was going to be driven down to us. We had signed up for a Renault Megane so when we saw the Hyundai I20 roll along Rolfey for one was a touch disappointed. It was die,sel however which was a big tick. A quick walk around the car to see that it was not a wreck that was being handed to us and then it was left to Tara to drive first as Rolfey is a big chicken. It was not going to be a big drive only back to the B and B for starters but that was scary enough and Tara did a fabulous job getting us there in 1 piece.....HOORAY. the rondpont points equalled what felt like 30 for the 2km drive, but was probably only about 5.

Back at L'Horizon, a 1910 Tanners' summer residence with beautiful walled gardens, we planned our onward journey, and named the car Dippy. our first goal was to reach Coulon in one piece - it was only about 15kms from Niort, in the Marais Poitevin - or the Green Venice- for all of the canals that run through here to water the fields.

Paul took over for the next legs and it was getting easier and easier. Anyone would think that no-one else in the world had even driven on both sides of the car and road before...some people just think that the world revolves around them! we then found an intermarche and quickly bought some wine and an aperitif, before we wer summarily evicted as it was closing time at 12.30. Desolee!

We did find a great little boulangerie though on the way back to the car, meaning that we had a loveley picnic lunch on a canal coming up! this was also the first time that we had used our Garmin GPS - there is still not 100% trust here - hence Michelin maps! - but all seemed to be working out in that area too!

After a bit more drive time, we thought that we had the hang of it in general and headed back to the BNB, not before we tried to go to St Maixent L'Ecole and the Garmin (Jenny) decided to take us south to La Rochelle...hmm, trust not going well here...

back at the ranch, we high 5'd, went out and had an apertif at the same place as the night before, then headed up to the park and had tapas and a pizza (where are we again???) before heading back much later and being offered some hash for 5 Eu along the way..

Oakley to London to Paris to Niort in 2 Days

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Wed, 2 Oct 2013 02:12:00 GMT

Yes get your maps out and just see how far we travelled in two days or really it was in about 26 hours and you will all see that we truly are AMAZING TRAVELLERS toot toot. We are actually not that amazing but here is the story anyhow.

We left Oakley after the 50th Wedding Anniversary of the year with Maureen and Joe and headed into Oxford to drop the car off and catch the train to London. Of course we ended up heading back into Oxford a different way to normal which not only freaked us out a little but gave us a chance to see a different side of Oxford. It was not however the "Houso's" side that I got to see back in 2006 thank goodness but a side of grand houses and wide streets, very nice indeed. We followed the train signs all the way to the station where Tara dropped me off with the bags and she continued to Avis to deposit the car. No sooner than he had left she was back after running back to the station. Great effort that as it allowed us to catch the earlier train and thus ease the time pressures that could arise in London. Job done Tara great work.

The train trip was easy we just sat in seats and let the train do the rest. We ate a yummy roll and headed into Paddington Station. We needed to get to St Pancras so a quick trip on tube sorted that out and soon enough we were in the departure lounge for the EuroStar trip to Paris. Funny feeling in there as it felt a bit like everyone was waiting for an EasyJet flight even when everyone has their own seats, weird. Why people race off to get to the train first and get off the train first will always confuse us but hey that is just how it is right? The EuroStar to be fair is a great service but is starting to look just a tad tired to us. Frayed seats and outdated decore makes you feel like you are on the 60 bus route back home but then again where else can you get to another country for so cheap? Righto stop complaining now.

Arriving in Paris we had to obtain Metro tickets and unlike in London where we had the use of Mark and Jayne's Oyster cards (thanks so much they were awesome!) we had to buy those little tickets. This is the onle thing that we reckon Paris could fix up but in their defence the tickets are cheap so they are allowed to have something wrong with them. Oh and Tara's big bag had a real struggle to fit through the turnstiles too but she managed, Aussie ingenuity at it's best. A short trip to the Latin Quarter on a busy metro had us walking around a familiar area and feeling pretty good about ourselves too. Hotel du Commerce was our stop and when checking in the lady at the desk made a great song and dance that we were in the "Superior Double Room". Come on lady we only wanted the room with a shower and a toilet!! We checked in, showered up and headed out for a walk and some food.

Being in the Latin Quarter is great as we know our way around, it is close to the Notre Dame and it is really close to Rolfey's favourite restaurant "Le Palais". That place is freaking awesome, cous cous til the cows come home and big beers, ooh we love you Affligem. So much food and such a great place we will go there every time that we are in Paris. A photo was taken outside of this place to prove it's authenticity.

A quick walk down to the Notre Dame saw us watching fire eaters and other nutty stuff afer taking some photos of that lovely church at night. We will never tire of that place. So tired now back to the room for sleeps.

Waking in the morning we headed to the patisserie at the bottom of the road and bought escargot's, not the garden variety but the pastry type and set of to eat in front of the church again. This would be the last time for a few weeks that we would be in Paris and so it seemed like a great place to eat and relax and it was. A quick stroll back to the hotel had us packing our things and Metro-ing it off to Gare du Montparnasse to catch the TGV to Niort a place that neither of us knew anything about but a place that was going to be in the middle of our house hunt of so we thought. It turned out that it wasn't but that is just how things go. The TGV ran on time and very quickly and we disembarked in Niort on a very warm day. It was not long before the walk started to make us sweat and when we got to our B and B we were ready for a rest. Unfortunately that rest came in the form of us sitting outside the door as there was a mix up with time but it all turned out OK even if we did look like hobo's for an hour or so. Alls well that ends well.

So we were in Niort after a great train ride, we do love the TGV especially in first class. Next story will be all about our house hunt and Niort.

Tara and Paul

Photos: Tour of UK and France 2013

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:13:00 GMT

It was a trip 4 years in the making but now we are doing it and loving it. Go Us!

50th Wedding Anniversary

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 17:40:00 GMT

So we left the dull surrounds of London for the bright lights of Oakley or have we got that the wrong way around, no matter we went to Oakley to celebrate a 50th Wedding Anniversary with Maureen and Joe. We call them our second parents for they are who we have spent the most time with over the years so fair enough we reckon, not that we call them Mum and Dad or even Aunty and Uncle they are just Maureen and Joe.

We caught the train to Oxford from Paddington station where along the way it stopped at such well known locations as Slough and Reading and before you ask yes we were tempted to hop off before we got to Oxford but of course we resisted the temptation. Once in Oxford we walked to the car hire place just near the station, jumped into our little black 308 and drove somehow to Oakley for we did not really know what direction we were heading in but none the less we got there with the help of some screen shots that Tara took on her phone and some good guess work. Once at Oakley after the hugs and kisses it was normality all over again like an old jumper that just feels right. It is always a great feeling coming back to Oakley.

We had absolutely nothing planned to do apart from celebrate the 50th so we sort of filled in the gaps as we went. The first day we went back to Aylesbury and saw that the town was in a slow down mode. Both of the shops that we worked at in 98/99 had gone and the place in general was looking a little sad, even the Woolworths had gone, OH NO NO MORE CHEAP CHOCOLATE! In all the doom and gloom there was one place that had survived the downturn and that was the old kebab shop that used to serve big unhealthy serves from the spinning stick to drunk and hungry folk just like us. Hooray for people who like bad food.

After Oakley we went off outlet shopping at Bicester Village and along the way passed the very location that we traded in our old car "Pumps" for a fiver. Yep sad day that and it was a little sad to see the place again but hey life goes on and who knows maybe just maybe that little car did not get scrapped but is still out there fixed up and tootling along the Motorways right now? Bicester Village is an interesting place that brings people with a lot of money in to buy from the likes of Prada, Gucci and the like. Most things that we looked at were way too expensive but Tara bought some shoes and a jacket that I found for her and I tried one thing on but was talked out of spending 150 pound, thatnks guys. It was worth the look but bloody busy and full of toffs.

Other than that expedition we went to Wendover a lovely little town and had cream tea......YUMMO! It was worth taking a drive out there as the views from the woods were beatiful and it was a great place to just veg out.

Waddesdon Bowls on the Sunday saw us drink a lot at very cheap prices and catch up with many of the old faces that we have seen on a number of times before. It is such a friendly place down there and it was a stunning day too which made it all the better. A big dinner of Chilli con Carne had me feeling the effects the next morning but it was all worth it a great afternoon and evening.

The Saturday however apart from a quick trip out in the morning to buy presents belonged to Maureen and Joe as it should. In all the times that the we have stayed there we have never seen so many people come in to visit or hear the phone ring so many times. It was great to see them willingly take presents and accolades as they NEVER do this and gees why shouldn't they on their 50th, a bloody awesome achievement in anyone's book. Dinner was at a pub in Worminghall and the food and seeting was awesome. Old neighbours Beryl and John came along to make a party of 6 and we ate, drank and added a lot of noise to the place, it was great. It was pretty much everything that we could have wanted from our stay with Maureen and Joe just fabulous.

On the Monday we are not to proud that a little tear was shed as usual as we drove out of College Crescent as they usually are but hey not worries in 6 months tim we get to see them again and that will be great.

Next stop is London and then Paris all in one afternoon, should be great.

Tara and Paul

London What Is There To Do?

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Sun, 22 Sep 2013 02:05:00 GMT

5 nights in London hety so what are we going to do? We had no real plans but thought that considering that we were in one of the biggest cities in the world that we should be able to spend our time in a way that is both constructive and fun so hey let's give it a shot.

We flew in on a Saturday and by a little after 3pm we had found our apartment near Paddington and were getting settled. It was a great place with a bedroom 2 toilets, bathroom and living area with a complete kitchen to use also. This was going to be a totally different stay in London to what we had been used to. All those years ago we stayed with T near Ladbroke Grove in his apartment and then we were lucky enough to stay with Glenn and Cath numerous times in Southfields. Both of these were great but you are staying in someone elses place so you always feel like you are having to be on your best behaviour. After that we stayed again in a B and B in Southfields and then a B and B near St Pancras so this was the very first time that we had a whole apartment to ourselves. Hooray! Lets see how it goes then.

We tried to stay awake on the first night for as long as we could which meant that we made it to about 8pm before we crashed. That gave us enough time to find a coupe of pubs and eat out so that was in our eyes a pretty good start to the trip and also got us back on the road to a normal sleep pattern.

The rest of the stay in London afer that fisrt night revolved around numerous pubs, and visits to different places both in and out of London and a heap of walking. No joke we walked a hell of a lot in London and it was not because of the weather as that was not that great but simply the fact that walking is still the best way of seeing the city. Anyhow we did see a heap of good stuff but I will keep it to a couple of things to talk about and here they are.

1) The Mousetrap: no not the instrument to catch little rodents but the play. Yep this play has been running for 37 years non stop I think although Tara would know better than I and in fact took a photo of the number of consecutive shows as we left the theatre. Either way this show is lengendary and is one of the few shows that does not give discounted tickets to the patrons. It may be because of this that the theatre was only ha;lf full but hey who cares it meant that we had better seats. The show itself is a murder mystery thingo that is a bit tricky at the end and the crowd is sworn to secrecy about who did it. It was bloody entertaining and we worth the money and was even better because the crowd was small and the theatre intimate. The meal beforehand, curry, was also really great which meant that we had a great night out in London....Hooray!

2) Harry Potter World: Whilst not totally in London but actually in Watford this place is simply awesome. Not the cheapest or easiest place to get to it is certainly worth the effort and has everything that a Pothead nerd needs to stay happy for a number of hours. All of the sets, props and cars, buses and bikes were there and it was bloody great. Butter Beer was also on offer and of course we had some and it tasted just like a SPIDER!!!!!! YUM! We walked around that place for hours looking at everything that there was to see and I found out that the major stars of the show were all mini people. Yep they were all tiny! It was a pretty miserable old day outside that day so to spend som much time undercover was great. The olnly dodgy thing was the cost of the shop at the end......jesus christ! It was incredibly expensive and we both passed on bueying anything as we left the place but both had a great time.

3) Harrods: The best shopping department store in the world did not disappoint us again as we as per ususal bought new treats for the dogs there. Lots of good stuff on offer in the pet section and we were sitting up there on level 4 umming and arghing about what to but them for agaes. After the purchases we headed to the food hal bout morning tea and ate it outside on the path. The most expensive store in the world is still a better place to buy cheap food that tastes great than anywhere in Perth. Go figure.

So that was a quick look at London in a visit that we really enjoyed. It was different to normal as we had a lot more of a "homely" stay and enjoyed it immensely. We also went to the Houses of Parliament and the Churchill War Rooms but hey maybe Tara can talk about that a little later. It was all great and I am just about done right now saddened by the fact that Liverpool have just lost at home to Southampton....what a load of crap!

Next entry we will be in France so wish us luck.

Paul and Tara

And So It Starts

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 01:42:00 GMT

With a pile of cleaning and general running around and with one of us , Tara having to work. Yep Friday was a busy day that was highlighted with having lunch with KB, eating Marios Pizza while drinking Cape Mentel Zinfandel with Manno and by spending time with our beloved dogs. We love them so much and we are missing them heaps but the good thing is they got toys from Harrods today...HOORAY!

So chores done, food eaten, clothes packed and we were off on a new ebenture to Doha and London and then to France. The flights were great and the service was excellent so I suggest that if you are planning a trip to anywhere then give Qatar a go as they are pretty bloody good especially when you get three seats to share between the two of you.

Got to Heathrow, jumped on the Heathrow Express to Paddington and then found out Air BnB house and the host Lindsay. Lovely person and fantastic apartment so Tara and I are STOKED! We went out after shoering and had a look around the area, downed a couple of pints and then had something to eat at the Royal Exchange pub and then went home and crashed. We were in bed by 7 and 8pm and gone for the night.

We were in London again but our trip had only just begun. We think that it is going to be a good one.

Kerry and Skellig Rings and a New Word

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 14:13:00 GMT

OK so the title says the Ring of Kerry but really it is more about the Skellig Ring as that, apart from driving along with the caterpillars (this is Tara and Paul speak for tour buses), we pretty much stayed on the Ring of Skellig. This was mainly due to there being no tour buses allowed on this ring and the fact that it took in more of the coast that we wanted to see.

We had four days in total along this beautiful stretch of countryside that took us to 3 different overnight stays one that included a stay with an Irish celeb but more about that later.

So Kerry; let us start with the fact that their colours are green and yellow which could work for those of you out there who are Australian or South African although Kerry unlike those two nations have a chance of winning something in September ha!

Anyhow did I mention that we met the coach of the Kerry Gaelic Football team? Yep we did. In fact he invited us to stay at his house...well when we say he invited us what I really meant was that we paid to stay at his house but he did serve us breakfast one morning and very good service it was too.

So anyway our stay in the Ring of Kerry / Skellig Ring started at a little place near Kells called Caitins. Caitins was not a town as such, more a pub and tourist stop. Yep a bit of a halfway house between the real start of the ring in Killarney where the bloody Irish Open was on, yep the fuel consumption increased dramatically on the run into the city, stupid golfers. Killarney however was quite a nice town and they had a summer festival type thing on in the streets that night which was kind of cool and the B and B was good too but it was just the Irish Open that sticks in my throat and the fact that none of these golfing types can walk to watch the golf, they all have to drive there, argh! Back on it now about Caitins which was a great little stop that had a great little pub downstairs that served good food and had cool enough people there that let us check in early. See Caitins was a great stop even if it was only one night but it did give us chance to get Merv rested up for his next run at the ring and stunning views of Dingle Bay and the Heineken sign from our window. Also got to chat to a couple touring around on a GS 1200 and we got to wash our clothes in the next town Cahersiveen! Oh yeah, the smell of clean clothes...if only we could have that right now.

So next stop the B and B in St Finans Bay just outside of Ballinskelligs. This was the place that the coach of Kerry lived at and it had it’s own beautiful views out over the bay - in fact this place was just over the road from the bay and was simply unbelievable. Never to be built out we had uninterrupted views of the beach from our breakfast table so I am not quite sure how marmalade on toast could taste any better than this let alone black and white pudding. The little township was very nice although as it has been said it had no “dynamique” ie no pub or place to eat other than breakfast that is. On our first night there we decided to go for a walk to find somewhere to eat but all we found were a couple of dogs that wanted to eat us! They breed Border Collies tough down here let us tell you although maybe they were not familiar with people that do not wear wellington boots at 4 in the afternoon. Stupid bumpkin dogs.

The area around the bay, sounds like we are talking about Home and Away doesn’t it, if only. Anyhow the surrounding areas where pretty awesome and ranged from beautiful beaches to sea cliffs. What else would you want? (although there were no Puffins here either and because of the Puffin failure at the Cliffs of Moher and here on the Ring Tara has come up with a new word called “puffination”). Of course puffination is the act of something supposedly being real only for it to not be real at all but just one big con. Tara thinks that puffins fall squarely into this basket. I told her to grow up and said that of course they are real....just like bunyips.

Oh what else did we do, oh we went to a cool island called Valentia Island that was connected via a bridge to Portmagee. Yep this place was ace and had great views, a port where some scared looking kids donned wetsuits to hop into the water in summer to learn how to swim. We both saw the state of the water they were jumping into as well and we both understand why they were so scared, YUK! The Island also had Tetrapod footprints of maybe they are flipper prints who knows. Gees 350 million years ago this little bugger walked along leaving prints and I will tell you all exactly how it went.

Urgh that was tough oh look I am out of the water cool now what do I do? How about I just keep going straight? Oh no something has stopped my progress, no worries I will go right. Oh that’s better back in the water again.

No crap that was what the footprints told me. Tara said that something must have scared it and that was why it turned and I said “it was the first thing on land what could possibly have scared it other than a rock?” Tara agreed with this and that was the end of the conversation.

OK enough of the Ring of Kerry as it is nearly 12 and I have a lot of red still to drink so how about a summary.

1) It is a great place and you all should go

2) It is very diverse and you all should go

3) The people are great and you all should go

4) We have a lot of photos that will make you go

We loved it and we will go back and spend more time but hey other fish to fry first, next stop Kenmare and Kilkenny the home of the Kilkenny Cats.

The Burren and Stuff

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Sat, 6 Aug 2011 06:21:00 GMT

OK a mate of ours has been banging on for years about just how great the Burren was and his name is Kim Bamblett and Kim guess what you are right. The Burren is awesome and our stay in Lisdoonvarna showed us just how good it was. Yep good old Lisdoonvarna. Tara and I had some sort of idea that it would be a tiny little place with maybe a street or two with a pub or maybe not even that but no we were so wrong. This place is a thriving tourist mecca and has been for a long time what with this place having a natural spring with people coming from far and wide for its healing properties although I am not sure just how true that is. Either way even though the spa is now not in use anymore people still come from far and wide and use Lisdoonvarna as a springboard into the Burren.

Lisdoonvarna is a pretty cool place actually and has a wide range of pubs from a Celtic mad pub to a rustic old local joint where you can count the number of bugs buzzing around the light Cletus style. You might think that this is a bad thing but this place the Roadside Tavern brews its own beer in stout, ale and lager form and calls it Burren Black, Red and Gold now that is cool. In fact in all the places that we have been to we have never had own brewed beer so this place becomes instantly memorable. I think that for a pub to brew its own beer is a bit of a novelty so we appreciate this immensely even with the buzzy things near the light.

Right the Burren, it is a cool place. Big bits of limestone and eroded hillsides make it at first glance look a rather barren place but when you walk over the area it is totally different as the array of plant life is quite amazing. Yes it would be at this time if either of us were David Attenborough we would crouch down in front of the camera, hold a plant gently, lower our voice and whisper into the camera. Gees David get a grip it is a freaking plant, it cannot understand you but I digress. The Burren is as I said a cool place with plants rocks and other things like cows, sheep and birds. Doesn’t sound all that interesting right, well you are wrong it was.

It is hard to explain a place that you struggle to understand but I will try and put it in a way that may help you get your head around it. You know the moon landing, that dodgy old film that America has palmed off as their landing on the moon the one that stopped the whole world well if it was not filmed on the moon then I reckon that it could have been filmed at the Burren.

The place is a wonder of natural beauty that stretches from the sea to the tops of hills some 800m with the majority of the land being limestone and being used by farmers for sheep and cows. Added to this you are able to travel around the area and see Stone Forts and Megalithic structures that span centuries and all for the price of petrol and on occasions a small entrance fee. If you ever get the chance do not ever pass up the opportunity to see these places as they are truly mind blowing well for us at least.

Yep the Burren, KB spoke highly of it and it truly lived up to the hype and we thank him for all of his good words about it for without them we may just have passed it by like many others have. Thanks to him we did not and if we ever come back we again will return to see some more of it. It is truly a magical place and one not to be missed.

Derry and Sligo Adventures

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Wed, 3 Aug 2011 16:42:00 GMT

Hello from cloudy but fine Kenmare quite possibly the culinary capital of the world and in real time a few weeks further along than the places that we are writing about today. Yes we have been enjoying ourselves too much to sit on the computer and type away but all of that will change as I have started to turn over a new leaf today due to the fact that I cannot sleep. Oh well here goes.

Derry and Sligo are two towns or maybe cities it is hard to figure out sometimes, that lie in the North of this great Island. One is in Northern Ireland and one in Ireland, right that is teh geography lesson over. Both of them however are quiet and a little bit sleepy or that is what we thought anyway. Gees where am I going with this?

To be fair we did not really like Derry. Yes it had the murals on the walls from the Bogside Artists and there were a few things to see like the oldest complete city walls in Ireland but it just did not do it for us. The new peace bridge was nice but there was nothing on the other side of it to really do, it felt like a place that had a bit of a chip on it's shoulder with big brother Belfast looking over at it all the time much like Freo and the West Coast Eagles. Whatever it was it was not much chop and the food options were nearly zero. Gees we ate at an all you can eat Chinese place and a run of the mill manufactured gastro pub because we could not find anywhere else better. These were OK but come on people give us some better choices.

The one saving grace that it had was that we went on a great tour of the city with a local bloke called Garvin (please do not quote me on this). He told of the changes that were sweeping over the city and how he and the rest of the city are very grateful for any visitors that come along. They are very proud of the new peace bridge and that things are getting better in the city. Big plans are in store for the city so maybe in a few years time it may well be worth another look.

Issues still are about the city though as on one of our walks through the city we stopped and talked to a tradie who was doing some work on a Sunday with a couple of others. Tara asked why were they all working on a Sunday and that it was a bit rough having to do so. He agreed but said that they had a time limit for the job as it was a bank. Yep a few weeks before this place had been blown up, something of a warning by those that give warnings. No one was hurt he said but I guess that is something that we in Perth just do not have to deal with. Gees it is a big thing when there is a Police chase for goodness sakes!

The other great thing about the city is that it has the oldest intact city walls in Ireland which to be fair were very lovely and a great way to see the city. Oh and I think we did OK in the B and B stakes too as we had a lovely room to stay in and watch Cadel Evans smash those Schlecks to pieces on the final time trial, now that was awesome!

So Derry was interesting to say the least. It looked a little run down and dirty but the Bogside was a bit surreal as the people were living right on top of the murals. It seemed a bit more real to me than Belfast did as the neighbourhood was all there and totally visible when looking at the walls. Don't ask me why I feel this but I just do. The one thing they do need to do to make some tourists happy though is get their hands on some more places to eat but please keep the music because what we heard there was simply awesome.

Sligo on the other hand caught our imagination a little more. It was not that there was a great deal of difference between the two cities other than Sligo was further south and was maybe a little prettier but there were a few things that got us thinking that this city was pretty cool. We will name them below..

1) Michael Quirk: The once butcher turned wood carver still works out of his old shop on the main street but instead of crafting meat he now crafts wood. Yep this bloke is amazing and has forearms that resemble tree trunks all veined and gnarled but is simply the friendliest bloke we could have come across. The man will stop and talk to anyone and spend not just a few minutes but 10 or 20 minutes just chatting about his passion. So what does he carve? Well he carves Irish mythological figures that are simply stunning. He will pick one up and tell you the story of it and then pick up another and go again. Hopefully if we get the go ahead from Australian Customs you all will be able to see just how amazing his talent is but for the meantime you can all come and see the little Malamute carving that he did for us, really cute.

2) Cafe du Paris: This was our afternoon tea place then breakfast place and it too was an absolute diamond. We had been in Paris a few weeks ago so when we saw in the display cabinet that there were Almond Croissants then there was only one thing to do and that was jump on in and try them. It was a good decision as they were amazing and the bloke that runs the store does them all himself. Yep they would put many patisseries in France to shame and needless to say were about a million times better than anything that can be bought in BOOM TOWN. The owner was also full of stories telling of his disapproval of the people who run the town saying that they were backward thinkers and telling us pretty much to get out of town as there was nothing good in it. Well we knew that was a fib because his cafe was there and that was more than enough to keep us there. He said that the town/city was going through a really rough time which I guess is pretty much the same throughout all of Ireland and he hoped that he could ride out the tough times. We hope so too because if we are ever in the neighbourhood then we are coming back for a croissant and a coffee.

It was not all good there though. We did go to a very dodgey pub just around the corner from us and I do not think that I will ever remove the memory of 3 flies buzzing around the hostel room when we opened the door. You might think that is a little petty but let us tell you they are pretty tough to get rid of when the room only has skylights and no windows!!

We did a great walking tour of the city there with a young teacher called "Art" and ate some fabulous food there also at an award winning pub just across the road from the dodgey one.

All in all these two places were pretty good even though Derry gave us nothing on the first day. That was pretty much the only day of our whole trip that we felt ripped off so I guess we should not really moan.

We give Derry and Sligo 3 cities out of 5.

The Giants Causeway and the Tale of a Cow

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 03:31:00 GMT

Odd title huh well not as odd as the tale of a chased Giant who dressed up as a baby to scare off the Scottish Giants. Yep drugs have been around for a very long time. The story goes that the Scottish Giants were so scared that a baby could be this big that they though that the parents must be huge so they turned tail and ran smashing up the causeway as they went. What a story! I want to live in a place where they tell tales like that, oh that's right we do but they are aboriginal tales, got to get me talking to some aboriginal people.

OK enough of all that time to talk about the Giants Causeway and how great that place is. It was our next stop on from the wonderful Belfast, so great and will so be heading back to that place again if and when we get the chance. Anyhow all of that is in the past time to talk about Bushmills or at least the little place where the Giants Causeway sits.

The beauty of this was that our fabulous B and B was within walking distance of the causeway so there was no need to park the car and hence it was FREE!!! Oh yeah natural beauty at a beautiful price. The walk however was a little dangerous as we had to trek along the road but did I mention that this trek would make it FREE!!

Right back on the story. We walked there from our place and got there just in time to have paninis at the pub. These were very nice but the pub was a little tired. I guess that it is just too costly to shut down any of the pub at any time to do some renos. Really that have an absolute gold mine there with all of the bus loads of tourists that roll in and out, unbelievable amount of people really although hey we are doing the exact same aren't we?

So the Causeway what can I say, freaking unbelievable. I think that we have been influenced too much by Geologists as we were very excited to be here and looked upon these rocks like we knew what was going on with them. The fact is that we have no idea what is going on with them but we like them all the same.

The causeway is a wonderful thing, stretching out into the ocean like some sort of dipping travellator in an airport although in the airport everyone just stands still. Gees I hate that! The causeway is simply something that everyone should see if they get the chance. I am guessing that we will have the same gushing emotion when we finally get to see Uluru but that is another trip.

The place itself really does not look real. All of these little hexagonal colomns all at different levels all with different colouring, really amazing. Not only that but the landscape around it is amazing too with walks and trails both along the cliff face and up on top too. You really have to see it yourself because words cannot do it justice.

Anyhow Tara and I just wandered around taking photos and looking at this place through every possible angle. We started thinking that we would be camping here we were there so long but we would not get another chance to do this for a long time so we might as well make the most of it.

Well not much more to say about it but that it was one of the most memorable places that we have ever been to and the few hours that we spent there on this beautifully sunny day rivalled the Sagrada visit and that is a big call. Look at the photos and I think that you will agree.

When we risked our lives getting back to the B and B we took note of cows in the field making an awful racket. Not being the "farmy" types we had no idea what was happening but we knew that something was up. Oh well lets go have dinner anyway. We headed out ate at a great little place that served the greatest duck and steak on wood, yes WOOD! Gee I love travelling. Anyhow when we came back there was another cow! HUH how did that happen. Yes the racket that we witnessed was a cow in labour, der. It was an amazing thing actually and a memory that we will have forever and one that we feel truly lucky to have been able to experience.

So that is it, the circle of life continues. Giant turns into baby in a field of cows. Paul eats cow and then comes back to a brand new cow and so on. Life truly is amazing.

By the way we loved the Giants Causeway, put it on your list of must do's because we reckon that you will love it to.

Righto We Are In Derry But This Is About Belfast

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 06:54:00 GMT

Yep we are falling behind a bit but this is not due to us being lazy but more because of that fact that it is light until freaking 10pm. By the time we stop doing stuff it is just about time for bed. Anyhow we will try and get stuff back on track from here on in and this is the start.

OK Belfast hey, maybe a bit dangerous with the recent unrest? Well that is what we were thinking but it could not have been further from that, the place we encountered was one of the friendliest places we have travelled to ever.

Yep terribly friendly but not all that warm and for the 3 days that we were there we shivered our way through the streets seeing the sights under the gloom of cloud and mizzle. Those that do not know what this is can ask us about it when we get home.

Belfast on landing seemed a very organised place. There was a great public transport system that took us right to the middle of the city and it was super cheap. So far so good. When we got off the bus the city looked beautiful with fabulous buildings and great wide paths to wander about on and it was clean. No wonder England wanted to keep hold of this city, it has everything that London doesn't. Just jokes people.

So what to do in Belfast? Well we first need to find a place for breakfast. Check, we found a great place near the Alice clock (a clock that spins around the characters from Alice in Wonderland on the hour, very cool), that sold us scones for breakfast YUM!

What else to do, go and have a look at all of the murals that have been painted over the years because of the us and them troubles. Check, we walked all through the Shankhill district and the Falls Road looking and it was very interesting indeed. So many things to see but if I read one more crappy quote from a Lennon song I think that I would have puked.

Find places to drink beer? Check. We went to as many of the cool looking bars as our livers would allow us to including the absolutely amazing Crown Bar, if you ever get to Belfast you simply have to see that place as it is unbelievable.

So Belfast was actually a lot better than I was expecting to tell you the truth and the people there were simply great. I don't think that we got even half of the stares that we received in the 3 days in Belfast as what we did walking into one bar in Cornwall and people on the street would just stop and talk to you, where does that happen?

If we were to give the city a rating what would it be Tara?

Tara says 4 out of 5 pints and that is a winner in anyones language. Make Tara's a Harp.

London, Oakley and Cornwall watch out - here we come!

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 07:54:00 GMT

Righto, as Paul mentions, we've been burning the candle from both ends rather a lot. This has only been sustainable at times with strategically placed nana naps in the late afternoon (but don't tell anyone!!!). Caught the Eurostar from Paris to London, which was really convenient and time effective - would recommend it! Our B&B was only a 3 minute walk from Kings Cross St Pancras station; some would say how lucky, but others would know better! Our first day saw us walk down to Regents park - and we had SHADOWS!!!! This is a great thing to have in London. We take them for granted in sunny Perth, but you do start to miss your shadow when it isn't there for extended periods. Tara in particular as the tolerance for cold is not that high! We spent an hilarious afternoon watching an amateur cricket match, ably commentated by Paul Rolfe OBE (Order of Beer and Entertainment). He had me in stitches - and we bought our latte's from the "Honest Sausage" - the English have the best names for things! Oh, and we walked past Cath's old workplace too, on the Euston road (is that right Cath?). London is always a fantastic place to visit - as Samuel Johnson said 'A man who is tired of London is tired of life', or words to that effect. We were also very excited about going to the Tower, for the first time in how many times to London!? You always have to save something for next time though!!! It is a funny thing watching your husband on the travelator going past the Queen's Jewels and waving to you with a big goofy smile on his face...and then going back the other side of the jewels a second time with the same big cheesy on his face. Who needs jewels when you've got that!!!??? We also took in a West End show of Chicago at the Cambridge theatre - it was brilliant and we both enjoyed it. Our times in London - as with Paris and many other places is always different, but always brilliant. I guess because we are relaxed and, well...on holidays!

3 nights in London is never enough, though we did cram a lot in - and you may be interested to know that we were privileged to be in the room next to the "Ergh Brothers". They are a famous European duo who come in really late in the night, grunt to each other and go 'eeeerrrrggghhhhh' a lot at the end of sentences - sometimes in the middle of sentences even to perhaps accentuate a point being made. they were also incredibly talented at slamming doors and snoring so loudly you could hear them through the walls. Like I said, privileged we were to have them next to us for 2 nights. We definitely missed them on our last night - slept far too soundly!

A stay in London must be punctuated by an obligatory trip to Harrods. Wearing our best jeans, sneakers and t-shirts, we asserted our spending capacities amiably...in the pet section. Yes, Rooby is the lucky recipient of our only purchases from Harrods (aside from our lunch of course). Unfortunately, there will be no purchase for fluffy Tigger this time, poor little fluff - miss her so much.

London was a big shopping expedition for Paul once again - Football Manager, Motorhead t-shirt, cd's, tube map poster (quote of the day from the guy who served us ' you can get smaller versions of these for free at the tube station you know' HAHAHHHAAA! Then i said we forgot to bring our glasses...good one Tara).

Next stop, our much awaited visit to Oakley via Oxford by train. Picking up our car in Oxford we obviously made a good impression on the young man as he upgraded us from a perky little Astra to a flash Mondeo (we called it Monty, which is an irony as we don't name our cars at home, only those we hire). After a minor directional mishap (kinda going south on the A 34 instead of West on the A 40...) we got to Oakley like homing pigeons. BIIIIGGGG hugs to Maureen and Joe (most affectionately called Mo n Joe from now on) and were even wonderfully surprised by a visit from Josie as well (these are Paul's dad's family. We stayed with Mo and Joe for 6 months when we were in England in 1998-99). Is always brilliant to meet up with them and slip into our chairs and look out the window over the fields, sit out on the patio and have a cuppa, counting butterflies for 15 minutes because David Attenborough told us to on the beebs. I thoroughly recommend Joey's sloe gin if you are ever in the area - superb!!! And there is a crisis in butterfly numbers in Britain at the moment; I counted 8 in 15 minutes. DO you know how hard it is to count butterflies and try not to count the same ones twice!!??? try it some day, preferably with a Pimms or similar in hand.

Our times with Mo and Joe are never long enough and we look forward to having them over in 2013 - we're holding you to it!!! Thinking that we'd be down in Cornwall within 4 hours or so, we were proven sadly wrong, and instead of arriving at 4 as thought, we rocked in about 7.45 to find that the B&B owners wouldn't be back unitl 8.30. What to do??!! Go next door to the pub, have a pint and eat lambs fry and bacon is what you do! We also worked out in Cornwall that it pays to have a thick skin, as every set of eyes turn your way when you walk in. it's like there is a stranger alert signal go through the room. Heads turn in slow motion as you walk past, like a Mexican wave except in Cornwall and with people's heads instead of arms...maybe you can imagine that, or maybe the people in a crowd at a fashion show (though this is a long bow to draw as like I said, jeans, sneakers...).

We thoroughly recommend Portreath though as a place to stay - little beach 200 metres away, good food, close to lots of places and friendly people, once you get over the staring thingy. We were here for some possibly surfing and for Tara to do a bit of ancestor hunting in illogan, Redruth, Gwithian (which was a goldmine) and Phillack. We also had the worst (Truro) Cornish Cream Tea and best (St Ives) Cream tea, bought a limited edition print from the wife of an artist, visited some cemetaries - a bit weird i have to admit! - and drank an awful lot of beer and ate even more bacon and eggs. The trip just seems to get better and better!

Thanks to everyone who is taking the time to read our blogs - if you have any hints, tips or comments on what we should talk about then just let us know! A big thanks to Phil, Hellen and Britta for their comment what seems like 3 million years ago! Love to you all and hope all is well!

Oh God I am Surrounded By NERDS!

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 07:15:00 GMT

Right now there is no need to get the wrong idea about all of this as I actually enjoyed it even if the majority of people were the academic types. So of course I am talking about the Cartographic conference in Paris that I attended at the beginning of July at Port Maillot, a big shopping come conference centre that is found on the street that runs off the Arc de Triumpf. Yep it was a pretty good location to go to each day even if it was a way away from where Tara and I were staying.

So where do I start? OK lets start on the Sunday.

Tara and I got into Paris on the Saturday and went through little Dakar, so named because within one corner we were walking through the middle of a total Afro-Franco neighbourhood. Yep we were the only white folks walking the street and I reckon that Tara was the only girl that did not have her hair braided. It was a little freaky and to be totally honest a little off putting so we took a quick turn left and we were out of it as soon as we got onto it. Sometimes places just don't feel right and this was one of those places.

Anyhow we got in on the Saturday got to our hotel and had a bit of a look about in a brand new area of Paris that we had not stayed in before and settled in for the night with a bottle of wine. Nothing all that different to the norm but it had to be an early easy day as tomorrow I was heading out to the conference centre to register and of course Tara was coming along with me to make sure that I did not get lost, bless her.

Sunday came and we got out there and amidst all of the workers I got to register and pick up the all important conference bag and my pass which made me feel strangely good. This must mean that some part of me is rather nerdy but I am OK with this afterall I am starting to enter my "mature years". After picking this up we left after a photo or two and got on with the holiday. It would be my last holiday day in Paris for starting tomorrow I was "working" again and even had to iron my shits and trousers. You should have seen what this fine craftsman had to work with....a freaking travel iron and a table!! Can you believe that, but it was a job well done and one that would have been applauded in the backroom of any Perth drycleaning establishment.

OK now to the run down of the conference. I will do it all in one hit as a day by day account really is not needed especially when really the only thing that changed day to day was what I had for lunch. The conference started with the opening talks which for the most part were given in French but all of the useless English only speakers like me were given these headphones that allowed you to tune into the translators who spat out what was said in English. This was really great but inbetween you also got to hear them bitch and moan about the person giving the talk about the speed or poor grammar they were using. Note to translators....this is not required.

The speakers throughout the conference on the most part were academics who were either still at uni as a study bod or a lecturer at uni who taught stuff. Not many people giving the presentations were actually in the field of production which made be scratch my head a little but either way not much I could do about that. The fact was that a lot of the things that they were talking about were just studies into things or a method that they were using to create generalisation and the like. A lot of it was pretty interesting but some of it was a little blah. A lot of the blah came from Americans which got me thinking how many universities are there in America and maybe just maybe some of them should be closed.

It was good however to talk to a few different people in the field about things that were in the pipeline technology wise and a lot of these things are now being sent on the back of a turtle from Long Crendon to Mandurah so that we do not have to lug them about Ireland.

Another good part of the whole experience was the end of day drinks with my beautiful wife at our little bar just around the corner who seemed to have a cute barmaid for every day of the week. That was OK but the greates thing was being able to live a bit like a Parisian for a week catching the metro with all of the workers, dressed like a worker and actually getting treated better than I would have if I had a camera hung around my neck. Couple this with the little coffee bar that I frequented before the conference for my short black and it truly made the whole experience magical.

Would I do it again, yep and hopefully that can be in Dresden in August 2013. Might even be able to present if the whole 3d thing gets off the ground but that is two years away and at this moment I will just remember the experience that I just had in Paris July 2011.

More Tales from the Catalan Capital

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 07:15:00 GMT

Okay the Sagrada is amazing, and if you ever get the opportunity it is an awesome experience visually, architecturally and spiritually. It is also a great way to tone up your abdominal muscles, practice avoidance of other people looking up at the vaulted tree-like pillars to the ceiling and ensure a trip to the chiropractor for neck re-alignment! After we left, we were both famished as we hadn't eaten for 4 hours. Happened across a market on the way back and ended up sitting at...a tapas bar! wHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT! Ordered 2 cervaza por favor and some tortilla for each of us - OMG, so good! We told the bar dude how good it was and he started talking to us and then came around the bar, went to the next stall and picked up an aubergine! WOW! Paul's first taste of aubergine in a very unlikely place! We then asked what was in a dish in front of us - the bar keep acted out intestines. We said tripe? and he nodded yes, along with chorizo and morcilla. When in Rone we thought and ordered that too. It was accompanied by tomato bread and normal bread. Tara bravely went in first, and it was strangely textured like the fat that you get on the inside of a great pork crackling. Very tasty but quite fatty. Needless to say Paul almost overdosed on this! Not quite to tara's liking, but it can now be checked off of the list! Happened across the Casa battlo on our return to the hotel. They now offer drinks at night on the terrace, so Paul went and bought some. not often you get the opportunity to spend some night time in such a beautiful place! went and bought some yummy food for a quiet night in, happily polishing off yet another lovely bottle of spanish wine when Paul says - what's the date? tara answers, Paul throws out expletives and says that the tix he bought for tomorrow are actually for tonight!!! Curse, splutter, curse. Tara laughs, they walk up to the building on a gorgeous night and into this most amazing house, built for a very priveleged family at the turn of the 20th century, get some lovely cava, wander the rooms of this stunning home, listen to an amazing solo artist in the front salon, overlooking Passeig Gracias, and then sit out on the terrace in the humid night with light rain falling gently. Such an amazing experience! Needless to say Paul ended up having a good time too! All for 25 euro each - priceless! We also walked up to the magic fountain one night after doing an all day bus tour around the city. Found a cool place to eat and once again absolutley porked out on tapas - tara's tapas tummy is coming along well, aided by the beer belly and wine wobble! The magic fountain was awesome, purely for the prowess that Paul has developed with his camera finger! There are something like 7 million photos of the fountain still waiting to be downloaded from the poor pentax! One of the last woderful things that we did here in beautiful Barcelona was - go out for lunch!!! at the 4 Cats, another Modernisme haunt, with wonderful food, incredible service - Perth waiters listen up!!! - and great ambience. Sigh, do we have to go???? Yes, the jeans are not going to fit if you keep this up! Oh, and as usual, Paul has already outshopped tara (not hard really!), buying clothes and shoes... is there such a word as effeminated???!!!

back in Paris, we are in the 10th arrondisement this time - a stones throw from Republique for those who know, and an easy 30min walk to the Marais, where Tara spent a lot of time just wandering, sitting and going to museums and art galleries. This is a week of Paul at the Cartographic conference that he can put into a separate blog. When going to register we came across the Champs Eleysees (as you do!) closed to traffic! no, not for the Tour de France(which we are following avidly by the way) but for some Afro-Franco demonstration. The French riot police (girls - read hot and spunky!) were out in force. Tara has worked out from extensive empirical observation that in France, as a male you are placed into levels of police based on your looks and how well you carry off your outfit. The very spunkiest are reserved for the pompiers (fire men!!!). Believe me, you need a strong constitution as a female in Paris - I could easily become a pyromaniac, just to get the pompiers out!!! Also, we found out that Kronenburg is not Krononburg, it is 1664, which had Paul pffting and foffing for a moment or 2!

The Paris experience wouldn't be as it is though, without a strike or 2 to curtail your plans. A train strike to Versailles put tara into a spin on our 2nd last proper day in Paris

Barcelona 2011 Part 2

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Tue, 5 Jul 2011 05:21:00 GMT

Not quite sure where we got up to but I think that we might have had 2 days in this great city which means that it was time for the SAGRADA!! Oh yeah all of those people at Worley mark this day as soon Paul Rolfe will be archiving the 1999 photo that has been on his desk for donkeys and bringing in a new one. I doubt that there will be anyone quite as happy as that photo itself as after countless desk and building moves it can finally rest up. Chin up little Sagrada you have done a great job.

So today was the day that we were off to see the greatest building in the world, well other than the bell tower of course. In recent times the Sagrada Familia has been put into fast forward partially due to the amount of fat Americans that waddle through those huge doors but mostly because the Pope was coming to town and the Pope I hear does not approve of cement dust.

So we set off on foot through the streets towards the great now Basilica, thanks Popey boy, and of course when taking directions from Paul Rolfe you are bound to go the wrong way and we did. I think the call was "no we are not at the right road yet as we have not passed Battlo". Well we would have passed Battlo if we were on the right freaking road! So after a small mishap we got back on track thanks to Tara and then got in line. It was said that Paul was so excited that he did not even arc up about the Americans behind us talking total crap, gee he must have been excited.

The line moved really quite quickly and after peering at the Sagrada through bars like a prisoner waiting for the warden to open the door were in and old Rolfey was loving it already and started to cut sick with the gooder camera. The Passion Facade had not changed one bit but that did not stop the constant clicking as with the speed of a Japanese tourist he struck again and again. At least unlike some others he was not stupid enough to have the flash on. We headed to the headphone counter and then it was on.

Time to get serious now and speak from the heart. I bloody love this building. It is the greatest thing that I have ever seen on all of my travels and that includes seeing Arch play at the G. I can thank my beautiful wife for dragging me along to one more "stupid church" as from that day I was sold and in 19 years or maybe even sooner I will get to see it finished totally. OK back to the third person again.

As we walked into the Cathedral it was so different to what we had seen in 2004 as it was pretty much finished and the place looked beautiful. We will stick some photos in so you can look at it but really it was something else. In fact we both shared tears of joy or at least Paul did and we pretty much stood around open jawed just looking at the place, it was truly magical. The columns stretched to the roof, the stain glass windows were all in and the light was filtering through them beautifully and the floor looked amazing and shiney. Yep the Sagrada had scrubbed up beautifully and now we were here looking at it with 5000 other people none of them appreciating it like we were.

There is not really a great deal else that I can say about it but that in a funny kind of way I am happy that we never made it to Barcelona in 2009 as we certainly would not have seen what we saw today and we would not have been back two years later to see this.

I guess sometimes life kicks you in the nuts for a reason.

Barcelona 2011

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Sat, 2 Jul 2011 01:42:00 GMT

OK so it is nearly 6pm on our last day in Barcelona and even though we thought that we would be able to get a few comments in before now it just has not happened. If some of you out there are unaware there is actually one or two things to do in this fantastic city so we decided to try them.

Our Barcelona trip started in Paris at CDG and oh my god what a pain in the arse that was. Just picture trying to get on a plane in the Easyjet line boarding with a bunch of Spaniards and being served by the French. Yeah not the greates cocktail but it did end up being one of the longest cocktails though. We go slugged another 60 Euro for not paying for our bags up front but other than that and the fact that the Spanish Bogan Society chartered the jet all the rest was good and we touched down in Barcelona on time and in good spirits.

Once outside we jumped on a very easy shuttle bus and made our way to Place Catalunya, the big square/round at the top end of Las Ramblas, not the end with Columbus. Our hotel was situated right across the road so it was a very quick walk and we were in and settling down as you do, you know the way that you can make a very clean room messy within about 5 seconds. How does that happen?? After a short rest and shower we headed out on foot to see how this city had changed.

Barcelona itself since the last time we visited had become a little more touristy which for us was not a bad thing. The fact that we had put a lot of effort into our French speaking and stuff all into our Spanish meant that we were a little worried about how we were going to communicate with people but never fear the universal language of English saved us again. Thank the goodness sakeses for that one. The city was just as we remembered even down to the occasional waft of some ungodly smell that seems to punch you in the face every now and again so we were rather comfortable getting about the place. We were also comfortable sitting down to our first Tapas dinner in Placa Reial were the big beers are a descent size of a litre and the smalls are a pint. Now that is civilised. Barcelona so far was living up to the memories that we had of it.

Day 2 was all about just bumming about the back streets of the Barri Gotic and visiting places that we had seen in times gone by. It is amazing that you can still get a sense of where you are some 6.5 years later, well at least Tara can. In the evening we did a Modernisme walk that took us to some of the turn of the Century bars and fooderies that were made famous by artists, writers and architects alike and at the end of it we bumped into a lone American named George and a Spaniard name Ivan who collected beer bottle caps. He mentioned that he only had one Coopers cap so we got his address and told him that we would send him the rest. With that news he seemed rather happy. After a few beers in the bar and a big meal at our local fooderie named Nuria we bailed back and went to sleep.

So that is the first two days good huh, the rest will follow.

P and T

Tara's first blog EVER!!!

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 05:55:00 GMT

Hey everyone! Well, I've been on hols for a bit longer than Paul and have already forgotten how to type! I was lucky enough to have a row of seats to myself on both legs of my flight to Paris, which was fantastic as I got some great sleep. Got into Paris and arrived at my hotel for about 9am on 17th June to find that the room was available - this never happens usually! Overcast day, but it is Paris, so had to walk straight over to the Notre Dame (where I ate some baguette too!) which is about a 5 minute walk from the hotel in Latin Quartier. Wandered through the old streets of the quartier, people watching, bought a kebab and wandered back to Pont neuf to again just watch the world go by. I have however, reignited my long-lost love affair with pain au chocolat aux amandes -YUMMO! Next day was again overcast, but with big bursts of rain - just like Perth (except a lot more amazing things to look at!). The Marais was a great place to spend time, have a coffee and just get used to not being at work or having Paul around. Strangely uncomfortable! Anyway, also went up to Montparnasse, up the tower - some great photos and views up here - you must do it! Got rained on next to John Paul Satre's mausoleum in the cemetiere and really started to feel tired and a tad alone! Nothing like a cemetery to bring you back to earth! I'm taking lots of photos, and once we've worked out how to, we'll put some up! Hope everyone is doing well and that the Perth winter isn't too chilly! I'll be back on tomorrow with a bit of info about my tour through the Loire Atlantique!

Tara's French House tour

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 02:52:00 GMT

Did I mention that I'm not big on travelling by myself? There's no-one to say 'hey, look at that!' or 'remember when...' Anyway, less whining, more typing! My trip to Nantes on the train was uneventful, except that getting to Gare Montparnasse on the metro involved about 100 metres of stairs - up and down. Times you really wish you had your husband next to you to do all the lifting! Got myself checked in really easily and then headed out into Nantes - which I do thoroughly recommend. It is an ancienne city, so you have the beautiful architecture, then fantastic shopping if you're that way inclined, but the most important is that it is the home of gallette and crepes!!! OMG!!! I got straight into cultivating my crepe tummy with a crepe banane et cafe svp! Soooooo good! Sometimes it's not such a bad thing to eat by yourself - you just have to remember not to mumble too much to yourself about how good the crepe is! Had to work off some of the sugar, so followed my ears to the Chateau, where I just happened to walk into the nantes cultural exchange fete in the Chateau walls! Cool! Food, dress, culture and song and dance from around the world all around me! Fantastic - except i'd left my camera back at the room. Oh well! Spent a handy few hours here in the light drizzle - but who cares about that when there is a visual and aural feast to be enjoyed. Was an absolute loner about dinner though - bought a baguette and went back to my room to eat about 8.30 after the latin american samba party.

Next morning, got up early and quite nervously made my way the 400 metres to David's hotel - my tour guide for the next 5 days - as I walked in, this tall very Aussie looking guy in an old Oz rugby jersey walks in and just starts talking to me - asking if I was waiting for anyone. I said I'm Tara are you David? and all was great! David was really down to earth, and I found that another couple who were supposed to be on the tour had pulled at the last moment so it was just 4 of us, including Jacqui and Steve from Adelaide! Cool! Did quick intro's and then went on a walking tour of Nantes, had a coffee in a little cafe across from the Galleries Lafayette, wandered some more, got some free samples of maccaroons in the covered passage - divine! - then David left us to find food for ourselves while he did some last minute sorting. Wandered around the old town before settling on one of the most renowned places in nantes. of course I had the Super Pave Nantais! This gallette was massive - I have the photo to prove it and it beat me - i was unable to finish it! So yummy though. Will have to learn how to make them - Caroline, help!!! First stop on our tour was Les Sables d'olonne, on the Atlantic coast of the Vendee. Beautiful beaches and fantastic views were definitely the go. I took some photos of the waves in case Paul thinks that this may be the place he'd like to surf! great coffee here too (yes, another photo!). Next we headed back inland to the place we'd be staying tonight - Chateau Colbert - via some beautifully picturesque towns and countryside. It's very similar to English countryside (though don't tell the French or English!). The Chateau was awesome. It appears I got the best room of the group - yay me! Got sorted and headed down at 7 for drinks in the bar, followed by a 5 course meal. This tour is turning out to be incredibly difficult as you can read! In the grand Louis XIV dining room, I dined on salmon, tuna, veal kidney (yes, you read correctly! You should have seen Jacqui's face when this came out as our main meal!!! Her's was quickly swapped for David's mackeral!). The kidney was lovely though, and our meal was topped off by an amazing caramel concoction - needless to say, I was unable to invoke the power of the second stomach, and fairly rolled off to my room at the end of it. What an awesome first day! Did I mention that my room overlooks the biggest Japanese garden in Europe??? Day two started with us meeting for breakfast in the dining room again. I was still full from the night before, but it didn't stop me eating croissant, pain and yogurt! Day 2 saw us straight into business. Off to Pouzauges, where we will be based the next 2 nights. Straight off to meet Renan, our guide for the day. He is a service immobilier in the Notaires office, which means he is generally less inclined to be pushy with house purchasing and is good with honesty about the homes we were looking at today. I think we went through about 8-9 houses in Pouzauges and surrounding villages this day, including a 3 course lunch with both champagne and rose, and dinner that night! By golly! Day 3 saw me eating croissants and introducing jacqui and Steve to chocolat chaud - I did warn them that they would be ruined for life though! After breakfast, drove the 3 minutes to AIP, a real estate agents and met with Christine, an ex-pat Brit teacher working as a real estate agent. Again, spent the day travelling the countryside, looking at a variety of homes, asking a million questions, eating 3 course meals with wine for less than 10 euro. I'm telling you, this is a really tough tour! :-) The Vendee is a great place for reasonable prices, good employment and 'dynamique' - the energy that you want to ensure is in the village you purchase! Did you know that Gordon Ramsay's kitchen nightmares is called 'Cauchemar en cuisine' in french??? Day 4 saw us packed and moving on to La Roche Posay, at the other end of the Vendee. Before that though, we wandered down through the local market, bought lunch - goats cheese, saucisse and baguettes for less than 10 euro - and went through David's little 1 bed apartment. This is what we'd probably being looking for. Stopped in Thouars, where we had cafe, walked through an antique store and then had our gourmet lunch with champagne next to the chateau - tough life I know! Stopped again in Richelieu for another cafe (very similar, but smaller than Canterbury) before hitting La Roche Posay, a beautiful spa town. Got ourselves checked into our art deco hotel, then I met a cool couple (courtesy of their little dog!) from Bowral, who have recently moved to France. Annette and Steve were lovely, as was the very friendly tonic Petit Lou! Am really missing Rooby (and Paul of course!). Went and had a bottle of rose in Angles sur Anglin, the prettiest village in France at the moment - for good reason! We visited and looked in a few very average houses here on the last day, with our lovely guide Anthony - a La Roche Posay Real estate agent. Again, the motto is location, location, location! Day 5 was a great summary of the week. we ended on another 3 course lunch, drove up to Chattellerault - which is definitely nthing to write home about - and caught the tgv back up to Paris. Phew! What an amazing week!

Righto This is My Last One Just About Me

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 06:30:00 GMT

OK so I think that I got up to Friday where I was sad sitting in an empty house with no wife, dog or cat and not enough time to watch football or drink nearly enough beer. Well that continued on Saturday with the hours disappearing away under the vacuum, scrubbing brush and washing machine. My day was only paused in the car park of Coles to take a lovely phone call from Smithster wishing me all the best for the trip and by a coffee in the front room while listening to red neck radio. Yep it was a busy day but that ended a bit before 2pm when Brinno and son Jameson came around to pick me up and take me to the airport. Yep that was good and after a beer and a chat I was on my way through the gates of the "Palacial" boom town airport setting sail for Paris. I bummed about for a while and then when at the gate ready to board I had realised that I left my jacket down in the scanning area, AAAARRRRGGGHHH! Zoom I was down there is a flash and grabbed that little sucker and back up to the gate after a plastic explosive swabbing from some bloke with a cloth. After all of that I was on the plane and on my way to KL. The flight itself was fine but the loosely termed "In Flight Entertainment" was not. Poor films and the only good music on there came from the 60's and 70's. Why on earth would you people think that I would like to listen to Kanye West and Lady Gaga. If these two clowns are still being listened to in 40 years I will start supporting West Perth. Tomorrow the rest of the stuff will come from Tara when I get to Paris and the Pride parade that was held in my honour may also crack a mention.

One More Sleep

tara_and_paul_go_travelling — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:44:00 GMT

OK I stuffed up last night and forgot to write I am very sorry but it was a night where I really did not want to do anything but sit on my bum and do nothing and that is what I did. It was the end of a heavy week but now it is over and I can start to finalise things for the flight tomorrow HOORAY. Got my seats all done via the on-line check-in which will in turn stop me from having to line up at Perth airport, yep no hamster maze for me. I am rather glad that it is only tomorrow too because I am not sure that I could handle too many nights away from my wife Tara and our dog Rooby as the house seems rather empty and quiet right now. In the past there has always been Tigger to keep me company but now with her passing I don't even have to stay alert while she is zig zagging in front of me in search of food and the once plentiful "Midnight Snacks". I miss that little fluffball right now more than I ever would have thought.

Today Rooby was taken on a big 7 week adventure to "Manjah" where she will be staying with Nanny and Poppy and dog rellie Buddy. She seemed ok with it all apart from jumping into the boot of the car to lay on her beds, yes I have photos and then escaping off lead out of the car at the other end and running directly to the back gate, yes I just about had a hearty! I am sure that she will be spoilt rotten while she is down there so that makes me feel a bit better about leaving her for such a long time. Who knows the next time that we go to France she might even be coming along with us?

Have handed the keys to the castle over to our house sitter Manno and he will do a bloody great job I am sure of it. He even mentioned that he would mow the lawn if I did not get around to it so I guess that means that I can have two coffee's outside tomorrow and just leave it to Manno.

The next instalment will more than likely be in a few days time as I will be up in the air but it will be worth the wait as we will be in the beautiful city of Barcelona and I will not just be bitching about how sad I am.

Right time to get moving with some cleaning.