Jen's Ramblings In Europe

What we do at work...

2007-07-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

For those of you who always wondered what I actually do for a job here's a look at my office last Friday...

Me Being Lazy...

2007-06-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

... or actually, I prefer the word efficient!

Actually what it means is that instead of uploading every photo to my blog, I'll upload to flickr which is just soooooo much easier. Now that I have a full time job, I don't have the time to spend so from now on, I'll be sending you to my Flickr site to view all of my adventures.

So what's the latest from me? Well a few things have happened since I posted last.

1) I moved into a bigger room in my flat. I feel so much more comfortable now and its still really cheap (yet surprisingly nice for London).

2) Lots more work - I've been hanging out with Paul McCartney! I did a shoot with him one afternoon a few weeks ago. I'm even on a video with him - I'll send you a link when I can.

3) Lots of hanging out in parks with friends around London and enjoying my much needed summer.

4) Also, lots of nights out with the guys from work. They're so great! I really feel like I've found my niche.

5) I went to Rome/Naples/Amalfi Coast last week which was amazing.

6) I'm going to Royal Ascot (the races) this weekend, so stay tuned for photos of me all dressed up with my girlfiends here.

7) Another upcoming trip is to Croatia with my friend Adele for a music festival. www.thegardenfestival2007.com

8) I went to Normandy at Easter this year. Its incredibly beautiful with the most amazing food markets. I came back with bucket loads of cheese and a real french market basket which I quite proudly show off at many of London's farmers markets most weekends! The history of this area is incredible.

9) I spent St Patrick's Day in Leicester with my cousin Adam, his girlfriend Clare and their friends and had a ball.

10) I chose what I think was the wettest and stormiest day of the year to visit Windsor Castle a couple of weeks ago. I threw out my umbrella at the end of it. Sigh. Amazing to see though, and I loved the quaint little village streets.

Ok, so to see photos of my trip last week to the Amalfi Coast click here. Enjoy!

And when I get slightly more organised, you'll be able to see more photos!!

Last night

2007-04-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

So its been a while since I posted anything - very sorry! There's a million and one photos I need to add but just haven't found the time. I promise to do it soon though!

In the meantime, I thought I'd put up a photo from last night. I went to the Long Way Down launch party in Hammersmith with some work guys (we're doing the website for the new series, soon to air on the BBC).

Anyway, here we all are with Ewan McGregor: (loving it!)

Blog Update

2007-02-15T11:00:00.001-08:00

Nothing huge to tell you all, just that I've updated the blog slightly to reflect the fact that I'm now living in London longer term than I expected when I left Australia 6 months ago. If you missed the last post, I'm now living in London and working as a Studio Manager. I'm absolutely loving it and its all happened so easily for me. I'm really starting to get into living in this amazing city.

I love the constant buzz and the incredible history. I love that Europe is its backyard and that there is always something happening around the corner from wherever you are. Yes, it is uncomfortably cold ALL THE TIME at the moment, but I'm told spring is fantastic here and that summer is worth the wait.

Its funny, I'd heard a lot of doom and gloom about living in London before I got here, but really I haven't felt that way at all. Yes in January it gets dark at 4pm. Its cold. Its wet. And the people can be incredibly rude and pushy. But when I got here in August the days were extremely long, and this is the trade off for short days in January. Yes its cold and wet, but it snows sometimes and that's magical! And people in any big city can be rude, but there are some really nice people here as well. I've had a fairly even experience with this I think.

I have some more photos to upload too. I just have to remember to bring my USB cable to work with me and we'll be in business.

Hope you are all well. Would love to hear from you! I'm planning a holiday back for a few weeks in August so keep that in mind:) Was great to see photos of Sarah and Lee's wedding from a couple of weeks ago too - thanks Rinnie!

Must go - I'm starving!

xx

Happy Australia Day... and some news from London

2007-01-26T00:52:00.000-08:00

Ok, first things first - Happy Australia Day!! A funny thing happens when you spend a significant amount of time overseas. You become reeeeeeeally patriotic! Not that I wasn't before, but today I'm overly so. So tonight I am off to a bar in Clapham (one of the Aussie dominated areas of London) with a swag of Australian expats who are determined to celebrate. Should be fun, and we may even annoy some more poms (don't mention the cricket!).

Secondly I have some other rather cool news. I have just been offered a job as Studio Manager for a great digital marketing agency in central London. For those who didn't know, this is what I was doing in Sydney before I left, so its perfect for the career - London experience. They are called Outside Line (www.outsideline.co.uk) and they seem like really cool guys. So I guess that means I'm staying here much longer than I originally thought! I'll try and come back for a holiday in the next few months though.

And that's about it for now. Have a great long weekend and I'll hopefully be in contact with you all soon.

x

Winter Wonderland

2007-01-25T04:48:00.000-08:00

As promised yesterday, here are the photos of what I found when I left my house yesterday morning. I was the most excited person in London I think - you should have seen me! I took about 100 photos. Unfortunately because of London's lack of light this time of year and me shivering in the freezing temperature, it was hard to get nice clear shots. But here are a couple. Oh yeah, and they were mostly taken around where I live in Greenwich.

This is the view just outside my front door

And looking down into the courtyard

The street in front of my house - the Thames is just over that fence.

No description necessary!

The Royal Naval College grounds.

The entrance to Greenwich park

And streets around Greenwich - how funny is this!

This is Southwark Cathederal near where I work

As you can see it started to melt later that morning. But they say there's plenty more to come:)

IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!

2007-01-24T01:33:00.000-08:00

Guess what?! I woke up this morning to a very white London!!! I think I woke my whole building up with cries of 'Its Snowiiiiing!!!!' I have a million photos but in my excitement I ran out of the house without my USB cable so you'll have to wait til tomorrow for the photos. Its supposed to snow more tonight too - YAY!!!!

Keep you posted....

Oh and just so you have a taste of what my photos are like, here is someone else's shot which looks a lot like mine...

Staying put for a bit!

2006-12-28T04:37:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I haven't updated this in ages - sorry to all those of you who've been hassling me about it!! Anyway - here's what's been happening in reverse order... just to be different.

This is boxing day in Leicester...

Me, Aunty Julie, Clare and Lisa.

Adam, me and Lisa's dad.

James, Tess and Adam

We're eating again.
Julie, Harry and James.

Lisa's dad, Lisa and Clare.

At the pub earlier that morning...
Me and Harry

And Christmas Day (after dinner obviously) - its strange going backwards!
Tess and Adam.

Tess, Clare and Aunty Julie in the kitchen on Christmas day.

The ruins of a castle in Bradgate Park on Christmas eve. This is where Lady Jane Grey lived when she was Queen of England for 9 days.

Me and Aunty Julie in Bradgate Park.

Spot the aussie! Tess rugged up in Bradgate Park.

Friday before Christmas we went ice skating... this is me afterwards. It was sooooooo cold (like below zero) that night so it was much colder on the ice. You can tell by the pinkness of my cheeks! It was so beautiful - in the moat of the Tower of London. And there was so much fog around is was very atmospheric. I don't know if you guys heard how bad it was but they cancelled all domestic and a lot of international flights from Heathrow for 3 days (the 3 days before Christmas!), and a few of the other airports had similar cancellations.

Me and Tess

Me and Leon

That's fog in the foreground by the way - not snow unfortunately!

Leon and I went for drinks at the top of Tate Modern a couple of weeks ago... this is me with my cocktail looking at the view.

Work Christmas party at Canary Wharf. This was such a great day/night.
Me and my boss, Simon.

Some of the guys I work with...

Check out the view:)

And dinner... just look at that cellar behind us!!

Southwark Cathederal... this is actually where the Queen did her Christmas speech a couple of days ago. I work around the corner from this.

Me and Tess after work one night in a bar. She works down the road from me so its really handy. Its been so good having another Aussie who arrived the same time and is going through the same stuff as I am. She's been a savior! Thanks Tess!!

Covent Garden at Christmas... so beautiful!

And London from Waterloo bridge. The movement is a mix of my shivering and the wind. I thought I was going to blow over! This is the same night that the tornado ripped through north London.

Me with the family in Leicester for my birthday...

First night officially living in London...

Canal just outside Leicester - so pretty, and there's a tea room right on the banks.

London Christmas Lights. This is Oxford Street.

The famous Hamley's toy shop on Regent Street.

Regent Street.

One night out in Leicester soon after I got back from Europe.

The London Eye. This was taken the day after I got back from travelling Europe. I was still having trouble working out which language I should be speaking and what side of the road to look at first when crossing!

Greenwich Park at sunset. I didn't know then that I'd be living literally a 5 minute walk from here.

And Paris the 2nd time I was there - had to get a few more shots in!

What's wrong with this picture...?

Anyway, must be off... I'll add another post soon and try not to let it be so long this time!!

People I met

2006-10-31T04:45:00.000-08:00

I met so many amazing people along the way and one of my biggest regrets is not having my camera as handy in the evenings with them as I did during the day at all the sights. Here are a few photos I promised I would post. To all of you who I don't have photos with - I hope the rest of your trip is amazing and maybe I'll bump into you again soon!

These are the guys I had my first big adventure with... Looking for our hostel and accidentally stumbling across the Vatican instead. This is us out to dinner in a palazzo near Campo di Fiori in Rome. Thanks guys! I had so much fun with you! And Scott and Dana - see you in Balmain!

Ok - he's not a person, but he followed us on our walk so far and was so happy to be a friend that he had to make it onto the blog.

Spanish Steps.

Ok - I don't know this couple, but the got married in front of this huge crowd on the Spanish Steps and this was them posing for photos. Incredible.

Some of us from the great hostel I stayed in in Nice. We had this huge group going at one point and this is the last of us. And yes, Kirsty at the back does have spaghetti in her hair. Don't ask.

This is my friend Jasmine who I really miss now that she has gone back to the States. We travelled Nice and back to Paris together and had an awesome time! This is her on the train to Paris. She spent a lot of the time laughing at me for being a wuss about the train going 300km per hour.

Cities and Towns

2006-10-31T03:34:00.000-08:00

Every place I went to was beautiful, but sometimes there were stand out situations. I'm not quite sure what made me like Rome more than Florence or Nice, or Umbria more than all of them. It definitely wasn't the way I thought it was going to be! Anyway, here are a few photos of the cities and towns that I've been through over the last few weeks...

Rome - everywhere you turn in this place there is something amazing to look at. I loved the sky in this shot - which is really what I took the photo of.

Bari Gotic in Barcelona. Sometimes I felt like I'd been transported back 1000 years.

Gaudi of course - in Barcelona. This building was designed to resemble a dragon.

This was the view from my bedroom window in Barcelona.

These are the colours I'll remember Barcelona for.

This bar was very interesting. It was the meeting place of the Catalan resistance against the occupying French in Barcelona and has tunnels that lead from the back. One night the French broke in and hung the Spanish men inside, and the hooks they were hung from are still above the bar.

More Barcelona. I had Sangria one night with a few other travellers and this is what we were watching while we drank and talked.

Rome - the Pantheon.

The Pantheon again.

Umbria - this was the view from my bedroom window in Perugia.

An Etruscan Arch that formed one of the doors through the original city walls in Perugia. They were invaded more than once through this one. Its incredible to think that it has been there since about 400BC.

More Perugia. You can see the old walls in this photo.

Perugia - you can see the main aqueduct in this one - and also the steepness of the streets around the old town.

There was a chocolate festival on in Perugia -yum! Perugia is famous for its chocolate.

Medieval Gardens at the bottom of the old town. It now forms part of one of the Universities.

I want to live here! We went for a walk through the Umbrian hills and ate grapes from the vines, apples from abandoned farm house orchards and the last blackberries of the season.

Florence before sunset. It is a very photogenic city, even if it's rather dirty and non-descript the majority of the time.

The Arno in Florence.

The old city walls of Florence - the gates are still the ancient oak doors covered in hundreds of years of scars. Its strange to watch modern cars take their turn to drive through them. I took this from where I was staying up on the hill.

Again - I took this from where I was staying.
A great place to relax with a drink at happy hour with other travellers.

This is the olive grove we camped in. You can't have hard topped accommodation here because the olive grove is protected. So its tents only!

Pont Vecchio - it used to have Butcher's shops all along it, but one of the Dukes decided that he didn't like the smell of it, so he leased all the shops to Jewellers. There are still there today.

Ok, back to the sign saga. This is the metro in Rome. (Actually the one that crashed a week or so ago.) I don't think I really need to comment on these pictures. Couldn't get more graphic really! I love the one where he's stuck in the door!

Rome has so much charm!

The Trevi Fountain. And yes I did throw a coin in. Anyone up for a trip to Rome?

I wan't looking for this at all, but I turned the corner one day and there it was!

There's just something about Rome...

The Vatican.

A view of Rome from a hill to the north of it. You can make out St Peter's Basillica in the distance.

One of the hill towns in the Cinque Terra.

And another - this one was my favourite.

The tiny hill-top town of Eze just outside of Nice.

Hotel de Paris in Monaco.

The casino in Monaco - and yes I did go in, and no I didn't make a bet! I satisfied myself by watching men in bow-ties bet huge sums of cash.

Another tiny town outside of Nice. The French really know how to make things pretty!

Churches

2006-10-31T02:44:00.000-08:00

I've seen so many churches (and beautiful ones at that) in my travels, that they needed their own post.

Sangrada Familia, Barcelona. Gaudi's last work that is still not complete, as modern day architects and builders try to finish using his original plans and are not doing so well.

The Gaudi-built facade.

A modern stained glass window (built to Gaudi's plan).

The modern facade - so different.

This is cool - its a door at the front of the building.

This is not actually a church, but a shrine to Mary in the side of a building in Barcelona.

Another church in Barcelona.

This church was open at the top and had a tropical style garden on the inside, but still seems to function as a church!

One of my favourites. First built about the 4th century, and not a lot done to it since. Its in Perugia (Umbria) in Italy.

The Duomo in Perugia. Europeans love to gather on steps of churches and other ancient buildings, I've noticed. They don't do anything really. Just sit and talk and sometimes read or eat.

The Duomo in Florence. This is spectacular.

The Duomo in Florence from afar. Actually from the hill I was staying on. Great place to watch the sunset.

A cathederal in Rome. They were having a church service so I had to be careful about taking photos - hence so far back.

The organ in the same cathederal. I managed to hear this play which was fantastic.

Earlier... a procession from the same cathederal. It was so loud!

The Duomo in Florence again.

Very un-spectacular, but it was nice to see this tiny church in the Cinque Terra which is still used today and doesn't have all the decorative arts adorning it.

Again, not a church. But this was a shrine to Mary along the walk of the Cinque Terra. They are everywhere!

Yet another.

I loved this church. It was in a tiny village in the hills outside Nice. This was the most spectacular part of it and it was really plain on the inside, but you could tell that it is well looked after by its people and and lot of love goes into it.

Markets

2006-10-31T02:25:00.000-08:00

I think you can tell a lot about a city and the people who inhabit it by the the markets. Paris has the markets built into its daily lifestyle while some other cities are more discreet about it and tuck them away in hard to find places.

Barcelona was my favourite. The fruit and vegies are immaculately displayed and are so vibrabant and fresh looking. They are also really cheap and the produce is of an amazing quality. I had the best pineapple I've ever had there.

I don't know what it is about the Spaniards that make them so good at making lollies, but they are incredible. My favourites were the sugar coated bananas.

These bowls of candied fruit were massive. I couldn't have put both arms around them.

Mmmmm.....

Nice, France... they are also great at making sweets. These are marzipan fruits.

Leave it to the french to be so creative.

I must also mention the Mercato Centrale in Florence. This place was fantastic as well, and actually a lot like Adelaide Central Markets - don't laugh!- I've realised how lucky we are in Adelaide to have them.

The Mediterranean

2006-10-31T01:49:00.000-08:00

I absolutely loved everything about the mediterranean sea. No matter which country I saw it from, it was just so beautiful, so I thought I'd put together a few photos in a post to demonstrate this.

This is the port at Barcelona which has been made tourist friendly and is really pretty. Look at the colour of that water!

Not technically the sea itself, this was my favourite part of it - sailing from Spain to Italy on a huge ferry with a pool and a cocktail bar. There was nothing else to do but enjoy it! I took this photo before we left Barcelona in the evening.

Sunset...

And sunrise the next morning. It was incredible!

This is the Cinque Terra in Italy.

There's a path that follows the coast and goes through 5 towns along the way. They are all so beautiful in their pastel colours perched on the cliff tops and down into the sea. It is a protected area and there are huge efforts to combat errosion of the soil by keeping the hills around it as vineyards and olive groves as they have been for hundreds of years. The towns were apparently built so much like fortresses so that they would be protected from pirates.

I walked the entire path and struggled at times, more with my fear of heights than my fitness! The paths are all hand made and are a little scary at times.

You walk up this high, and down to the bottom several times along the walk.

One of the towns along the way. This is where I stopped for lunch.

And this is the beach where I got stung by a jelly fish. I'm sure you've read that story by now!

More Italy and now back in France

2006-10-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

Ok so first of all I have to say thanks for all the texts, but I'm ok. I was on that metro line 1 in rome all the time a couple of weeks ago, but am nowhere near there now.

Secondly, I'm typing in a german computer in a hostel in Nice so you'll have to excuse the odd punctuation again.

Thirdly I have to say sorry, but there will be no photos at the moment still cause this connection is way too slow so Ill try again tomorrow.

So after the last post I went to Perugia in Umbria which I have to say was the most 'fairy tale' place I have ever been. Its the second largest producer of chocolate outside Belgium - yum! Its a little hill town that dates back to the Etruscan times (like 500 bc) and still has arches and aqueducts that are this old. Its incredible and I can't wait to post some photos. It was a much needed break after the cities I've been doing so far. My hostel was 1350 years old and had real frescoes on the ceilings and my room overlooked endless Umbrian hills and villas with vineyards.

From there I went to Florence and saw all the Michelangelo and Leonardo artworks, etc. I stayed in a camping place on a hill 10 minutes to Central Florence in an olive grove. The view there was amazing too. I wasn't quite as impressed with Florence as I thought I would be though. Still, I have some great photos.

Then I went to the Cinque Terra which is 5 towns on the Italian coast on the Mediteranean. You can do a walk along all of them which is supposed to be 5 hours but I managed to do it in 3.5 which gave me enough time to enjoy the last beach before some aweful jellyfish stung me! A nice local family sent their little girl over with a bottle of water and she handed to me and said 'acqua!'. I assumed they had seem my ungraceful exit from the water and assumed I'd been stung. It made me feel better cause I wasn't sure if I should be getting serious help there for a moment! Again, some amazing photos to come. The walk is actually pretty challenging at the end and is so high up it really was great for my fear of heights!

So I travelled all day today and now I'm in an old monastery in the hills of Nice which has been converted to a hostel. Looks great so far too, and its apparently top 10 in the world.

Anyway, must go - I have dinner waiting for me! I'll hopefully get some photos up soon.

Barcelona and Rome

2006-10-08T01:59:00.000-07:00

Im in an internet cafe in central Rome at the moment on a computer with no USB (hence no photos for this post, but I promise them as soon as I can get the up), and a crazy keyboard that has all the punctuation and some letters in the wrong spots! So Ill do my best and excuse the lack of proper english punctuation etc!

So on Tuesday morning I flew to Barcelona from London and arrived about midday. It was so hot. Like 34 degrees and sunny! I found a hostel pretty quickly in the heart of the Bari Gotic quarter in Las Ramblas. This area is amazing! Its all tiny little cobblestones streets with little restaurants selling tapas and sangria. I dropped my things off in the hostel and just walked around all the streets and explored several cathederals dating from the 15th century and earlier. The waterfront area feels like there should be pirate ships and men with wooden legs and eye patches!

The next day I explored Gaudi°s works in much detail and wish I could show you photos! I also stuffed myself with spanish food and sangria.

I loved Barcelona but its such a party town that travelling by myself just didnt feel quite right, so I left after 3 days and caught the Grimaldi ferry to Rome. It took a little over 20 hours and was fantastic. I met some aussies and canadians on the boat and we all lazed on the pool deck in the sun and did nothing for a day which was fabulous! Im developing quite a tan now! Its been so warm here which I didnt expect.

Rome is great. The 5 of us all decided to stay at the same place in Rome to save some cash and have some people to hang out with. When we got off the train in Rome we had to find a metro station which is where the free shuttle to the camp site was going to be. It took us ages to find it and we ended up stopping for a beer to discuss options after an hour of looking carrying all our luggage! At one stage we asked a guy in a service station if he knew where it was and he gave us directions to go down a road, through a little square and turn down another road. Well we did, but the little square ended up being the vatican! So there we are, 3 Aussies and 2 Canadians, sunburned, in singlets and rolled up jeans and thongs with rucksacks wandering through the side entrance to the Popes front yard! We nearly fell over!

Im off to the Vatican tomorrow morning, and today Ill explore central Rome. Saw all the excavations around ancient Rome yesterday which was incredible. I have some great photos, but youll have to wait unfortunately! I think Ill head to Tuscany/Umbria tomorrow afternoon.

Till later!

Last Paris post - for now...

2006-10-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

So I have left Paris now - the month is over unfortunately. I loved it though and I am really sad that I had to leave actually. I am in London now eating chocolate and drinking Spanish wine with Leon in preparation for my trip to Barcelona tomorrow morning (and I also have to leave at 3am for my flight and its currently 10.45 and I haven't finished packing)!

I've uploaded some of the better shots from the final week I was in Paris, so enjoy! But before I let you scroll through - like you haven't already! - I'd like to write about some of the things I did in the last week that were so cool that I forgot to take photos...

I went to The Tennessee Bar (which is like a sister bar to La Cameleon and I have previously spoken about) quite a bit. I have made friends with the bar staff and took various other friends there so that they could experience such a friendly, beautiful bar too. Its become like my 'cheers'! Then the bar manager said he wanted to show me the caberet before I left so I went there with him one night after the bar closed and it was sensational! I didn't pay for it which is great because its sooooo expensive to get it. It runs all night till 6am - and we stayed until then. I have to say that the highlight of the night was the little black guy with an afro who sang R.E.S.P.E.C.T so much like Aretha Franklin that it was disturbing and wonderful at the same time. This is the cabaret that the girls from the Moulin Rouge go to on their night off. In fact there were 5 or so there that night who were dragged on stage to participate. In fact it is so small (in a little wine cave under a piano bar restaurant) that every audience member is encouraged to get up. This was such an incredible night!

Also, last night I watched a french film with no subtitles and I understood 90% of what was said! I'm so excited!!

Anyway - enough rambling... enjoy...

Jardin du Luxembourg. This is my favourite place in Paris for a picnic lunch.

And the Catacombs which run under Paris. They were originally mines for the stone to build with, but 200 years ago Paris had a big sanitary problem with the cemetaries, so they dug up the bones and transported them at night under priest escort. Absolutely fascinating. The bones are all lined up neatly by type and labelled by date and where they were dug up from. There are even alters where they had services down there (20m underground). It was also used during ww2 by the resistance. I'm not the sort of person who is worried by small spaces but I have to say that half way down the tiny spiral staircase, I was feeling a little less than ok!

This was the only candle in the whole place. I don't know what it was for specifically. Its so dark down there and it drips water from above.

Pont de Bir Hakeim

The Musee de Rodin - or at least the garden. This is amazing. I went on a Sunday morning and it was a little grey and overcast - the first day I had in Paris that actually felt cool. I wandered around with my iPod on listening to Radiohead and it was sensational. Then I sat by the pond for half an hour. Its such a peaceful place.

The famous Le Penseur (or The Thinker in English) It sits in the garden along with all the others. I can't believe how relaxed the French are about their beautiful artworks and monuments in general. I guess they just have so much...

So now I'm in London and I took this photo last night in China Town. Hehe.

Sit tight for Spain...

Another great jazz bar

2006-09-27T07:22:00.000-07:00

I don't have any photos of this so you'll just have to believe me on this one!

Last night I went out for dinner with Richard and Alex and we had Japonese (au francais, Japonais). So ordering Japanese in French is really hiliarious! Then we stopped past one of our favourite bars called The Tennessee Bar. They happened to be having a jazz jam session on downstairs which our favourite bartender told us about when we walked in. I love it: we walk in and he says 'bonsoir Jenny! Ca va?' so cool!

So we sit down and he gives us cocktails for 5 euro each (and he makes a mean mojito). The music was fantastic - these guys really know how to improvise. And then before I know it Richard is up singing the blues with the band! It was so funny - and he's good!

I'm off to London on Saturday, then I fly to Barcelona on Tuesday. I got one of those flights on Ryan Air that costs 79 pence plus taxes, so that was pretty cool. Not sure where I'm staying yet, but I'll work that out soon!

Must be off...

Keep the emails coming guys, I've been a little homesick for the last week so emails from home are great!

Love Jen

Paris - the quirks.

2006-09-26T06:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, I thought I'd add a post in here about the little oddities of Paris that I've noticed so far. Alex is helping me on this one - there are so many little things.

Before I get into it I wanted to add these photos... some of the girls from my class went to the Champ de Mars for a picnic lunch the other day. It was so warm and the food from the boulangerie was amazing! I actually got a little sunburned and I now have a petit parisian tan!

Ok...

Parisians walk their cats on a leash. Hmm... can't imagine buddy enjoying this at all.
Watch those wet patches on the footpath - its not water. Little doggies love to leave their mark.
Pedestrian crossings are for show only. Although if you take a step out and act like its your right of way ALL traffic (except bicycles), will stop. Cyclists will hurl abuse at you.
The proportion of pregnant women is extremely high. Not sure what happened 7 months ago...
Layering of clothes in the wierdest ways is the norm. As long as the colours don't clash, it was meant to be. Oh yeah and women don't wear heals - its ballet flats only.
Parisians walk at an annoying rate (too slow, but too fast to pass) and they meander all over the road. Nothing here happens in a hurry. Alex has been here for a month and still has no key for her mail box.
At the slightest mention of the word 'rain', out come the trench coats. Everyone has them. I feel left out...
They drive on the wrong side of the road - but I realise that is an Australian and Brit quirk. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to step off the footpath and suddenly realised the traffic is on my left.
Sliced bread is sliced so thinly you can almost see through it. Although the bagette is a much better option.
On bagettes - I now understand why the french buy them every day - they only last for about 12 hours before they go stale. And they are so good that you don't let that thing sit around for more than that anyway. They are eaten in excess!
2 hour lunch breaks - all the parks and cafes fill up around 12.30 and are full until about 2.30. I don't understand how they get any work done when they start at 10?!
All the dogs look like their owners - seriously.
The french are so well behaved in public. There are vast areas of grass and most have signs that say not to walk or sit on it. So they don't. They line up neatly around the outside so as to enjoy it, yet keep it pristine.
They are also extremely patient with tourists. So polite in general.

That's all for now. I know I've missed so many things - but this will do for a start.

I'll try for one more post before I leave Paris on Saturday.

A Bientot!

Technical Difficulties

2006-09-22T05:25:00.000-07:00

So I'm having a few technical difficulties with the blog - uploading photos is painfully slow when it works at all for the last few days. So sit tight - there will be an update soon! There's so much to tell you!

Weeks Deux et Trois...

2006-09-18T07:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, apologies for the long delay... Had numerous technical and time difficulties with this blog! I won't bore you with the details. Here are weeks 2 and 3. I'll do the most recent afterwards...

So something that Alex and I found in the local Monoprix (kind of like Woolies or Coles) is this... You can buy sangria by the brick in 2 litre boxes! We had to buy it and try - it was only 2 euros! Oh yeah, and you can also buy white wine by 3 pack of fruit boxes (that's poppers to you guys in NSW). We drew the line at that one.

And the promised next installment of the sign thing.... This is on all the doors in the metro. Yeah it has english on it too, but its much more fun to think about what it actually looks like. The general consensus here is that if you see an easter bunny wearing a yellow track suit, you should slam his hands in the doors immediately and don't let him on. There have been other suggestions involving him being a public menace as he has lightning bolts that zap from his hands, but that's a little more far fetched.

The Pantheon

The Latin Quarter

The Seine looking towards Hotel des Invalides

More Seine and looking towards Ile de Cite

College des Beaux Arts

More Seine - looking north from the left bank.

Alex and I went to Versailles last week and got up really early to try to avoid the crowds. We packed a lunch from the market at Saint Germain du Pres (right next to Alex's place), and jumped on the RER for Versailles. This was way more complicated than we had expected, so by the time we got there we were exhausted and the first thing we thought of was "I need a coffee". So we went to a little kiosk and after arguing with the woman in french over the finer points of cafe creme or cafe au lait (it seems these are different outside Paris proper??), we got our much needed coffees. However you can see how unimpressed we were at the size - especially Alex who is American!

The Gardens of Versailles from the chateau. I didn't take photos inside even though it is amazingly beautiful as it is forbidden. This didn't stop an annoying number of Japanese tourists from doing this even after being told off. Grrrr! The flashes were sooooo annoying! The inside is over the top and fascinating to say the least. You get an audioguide and it goes through the whole history of the place and how it all worked. The hall of mirrors and the sun king's rooms were amazing.

Petit Venice - this is where you can hire a boat and paddle about on the grand canals. This is looking towards the chateau in the distance.

Marie Antoinette's little chateau at the opposite end of the garden. Note the pink marble. Yes it is marble!

More gardens

I spent an afternoon wandering around Cimetiere Pere Lachaise. This is where there are many famous people buried, but I was more interested in the beauty of the place.

Paris - the first week

2006-09-10T05:59:00.000-07:00

Its been a little while since I posted here cause I've been busy exploring and haven't had net access for a while. I've been having a great time though. So lets start from the beginning. Last Friday morning I left London on the Eurostar....

This is me organising myself for my 2 hour trip to Paris from Waterloo Station.

And this is my first look at the Eiffel Tower later that day! Yay! It was so hot and I walked into the 6th where the Alliance Francaise is. I had to register to start my 1 month course. It was such a shock to have to speak french all of a sudden and actually really hard. Every little exchange was such an effort at first, but now I'm getting a kick out of speaking to shop assistants and waiters in french. My course is helping a lot because its taught all in french, so you have to learn quickly. Also, the lady I am staying with doesn't really speak more than a few words in english, so I've really had to try hard.

The next day I went to Monmartre which is absolutely beautiful. It is quintessentially parisian. This is the Sacre Coeur right at the top of the hill. The area is surrounded in pretty little cobble-stoned streets lined with cafes and artists.

This is the view from the top.

And the Sacre Coeur again.

Ok, next installment of the sign thing. I love how Paris is so clean and nice, but its just like they say with the little dogs. They are everywhere and they are treated like children! I love how graphic all the signs are here. And there's one more on the Metro I have to take a photo of to show you. It involves the easter bunny - more on that to come!

This is Parc Monceau. The parks here are so green and pristine. And they have statues and beautiful fountains. A couple of days ago Alex and I sat in the Jardin du Luxembourg and ate a fresh baguette (and let me tell you, when its still warm from the oven it is amazing) and some cheeses we bought from the markets. Sensational!

This is the Arc de Triomphe. One of those things you just have to see. Quite amazing (and big) in real life.

And the memorial under it.

This is my bedroom. Not bad in central Paris. I have everything I could possibly need and its walking distance to most things. Although I have my carte orange which gives me unlimited metro use for a month and cost about $80 Australian dollars, so its pretty useful.

Yeah, so the Louvre is Awesome! So big you need a month to do it any kind of justice. This is one of the entrances. You can see the pyramid in the background. When I got into the main place there were military police with automatic weapons for security. It kind of freaked me out a bit there. They are also at the Eiffel Tower as well. Apparently the french are really scared of a terrist attack. But yeah, the Louvre... wow.

And more of the Louvre. What I didn't know is that about 20 years ago they excavated around the building that is there now and found that it was built on the sight of a grand chateau from about 1200. You can actually walk around the base of it in the basement of the louvre and there is a model they built to show what it looked like. Its like something from the Loire Valley. Unbelieveable!

I went for a wander out to Place du Vosges which is so beautiful. It was built around 1600 by Henri IV and Victor Hugo lived there and Madame de Sevigne was born there. There was a string section playing there which was gorgeous and sounded amazing under the 17th century arches.

On the opposite side of the square there was a little jazz quartet. So french! This is also in my new favourite part of Paris - the Marais. I just love the vibrancy and the mix of different cultures. There is a Jewish quartier which is great for 4 euro falafel and pastries, and then there's the fashion part, and then there are all the bars and restaurants. The buildings there are also older and have more character. They are just gorgeous.

So I made friends with an American girl in my class called Alex who is here with her husband for a year while he studies at Le Cordon Bleu. This is her husband Richard cooking us all dinner last Monday in their studio in St Germain des Pres. Such a good night!

And this is Richard's friend from Le Cordon Bleu, Rodolfo (he's brazillian). We bought 3 bottles of french wine to drink with dinner and have decided that due to our budgets we needed to find some decent low cost varieties. So this is Rodolfo trying to drink the cote du rhone that we paid 1.83 euros for! We did, however, have huge success with the 2.50 euro red from Cahors. It was really good!

This is Alex and I.

Then one night I went out at dusk and took photos of the Eiffel tower. This is right next to it on the Seine. Paris has so many statues and monuments!

And you know what this is!

For 10 minutes every hour it lights up with little lights and shimmers. Very pretty.

In the park next to my house, there is a hot air baloon that is tethered to the ground. You can go up in it and look around Paris for 15 minutes at a time. This particular day was really hot. All the children were running under the fountains in the park and people were lying on the grass til 8pm. They also rig up misting systems in the cafes so that thier patrons are kept cool. Its been really warm here most of the week. I've been living in my summer dresses.

This is the most beautiful bridge I've seen so far. Pont Alexandre III.

And the view from the bridge.

More bridge.

Near the bridge(!)

Alex and I having an afternoon glass of red in the Latin Quartier. Love it.

More of the Marais. I love it!

A Jewish gourmet food store. This shop was unlike anything I've ever seen before. It had everything you could want (and its tiny) and so may other things that I've never seen before. It has dates still on their stalk.

More Marais.

At the back of the Notre Dame. Check out the jet streams!

I love the back more than the front. And it doesn't have the tourists.

And the front of the Notre Dame.

Saint Michel fountain in the Latin Quartier.

This is a gorgeous little jazz club called Le Cameleon. It is not touristy at all and we made friends with the bartender. We are on a first name basis with him now! He reserves the front booth overlooking the road for us whenever we want it! This is the view from it.

The jazz was great. Its excellent to hear french jazz in a french accent. Beautiful.

Alex and I before it got crowded downstairs. I love this place. It feels like you are in a cave with the unfinished walls. Almost like a tiny wine cellar.

Until next time:)

Au Revoir!

All the Sights...

2006-08-31T11:52:00.000-07:00

Before I get started telling you about the sights I've been seeing and the places I've been going, I just wanted to show you another sign I found that I think is hilarious... on the side of a champagne bottle.

Ok, what's the one thing you have to see if you say you've been to London? Buckingham Palace! Underwhelming, but nonetheless important to have seen it. I got there in time for the changing of the guards, but it didn't happen on Wednesday. Oh well.

This is really as close as you get. But then I walked around and took some photos of the entrance. Impressive!

A humble fence at Buckingham Palace.

The fountain outside the gates and a lamp post. I have a thing for lamp posts, you may have noticed.

The same fountain.

So then I left and walked through the gardens that surround the palace (the parts you can get to), and I noticed there are already a few autumn leaves on the grass. The gardens are so beautiful.

Bet you already know what this is... Big Ben of course. And before you all comment and tell me, yes I know its not the real one. Its still Big Ben to me.

Westminster Abbey through some trees.

Walking up from Charing Cross and the Thames I came across this sign. Its right near the ministry for defence buildings so I guess that makes sense.

Trafalgar Square - this place is HUGE!

The National Gallery to the left in this shot. That's an amazing place. You walk from room to room (and there are like 50 of them), and you keep running into paintings by Raphael, Van Gogh, Michaelangelo, Dali, and the list goes on. Wow...

More of Trafalar Square.

And chasing the famous pigeons of Trafalgar square. Speaking of - I totally embarassed myself a week ago when I went to visit my Aunty Julie. I was sitting in her backyard and there was this strange bird flying around. I asked what it was and she looked at me funny and said "uh... its a pigeon..." I said no, pigeons have things on their heads. Apparently not here. Oops!

And more of the square from the steps of the National Gallery.

I came across these guys busking in Covent Garden and they were so good I had to buy their CD. Its funk, jazz, a bit breaky and just really fun. Its gone straight to the iPod.

On my way to Tate Modern I came across this... St Paul's Cathederal from the steps of the Millenium Bridge. The one they had to close for ages 'cause it was swaying in the breeze.
The Cathederal looks tiny here but every time I see it I'm struck by the size of it. Its apparently the second largest dome in the world behind the Taj Mahal.

The Thames from the Millenium Bridge. You can just make out Tower Bridge in the distance if you look hard enough! Oh yeah and check out the building on the left. Instead of just scaffolding a building here they cover it in a picture of what it will look like when its done. Crazy. But kind of nice I guess.

Me being creative. There's a whole lot of poetry written on the Millenium Bridge and you can just see the river behind it in this shot.

Shakespeare's Globe theatre. Or at least the re-built one. I've been staying just down from this all week - right near London Bridge.

We went out for Thai (I had a hankering), and this was the desert menu. What do you suppose is 'floater coffee'?? I'll have one to go thanks.

Without a doubt, the pinkest restaurant I've ever eaten in. Its in Soho, so maybe that explains it? Great food though.

These signs are everywhere around London at the moment. This one is at Picadilly Tube station. Its a big campaign about not letting the terrorist attacks change the city, etc. Really good. Its a constant reminder.

A lamp (see, told you) in Covent Garden Markets.

A Busker in Covent Garden.

More Covent Garden. Its so pretty.

And the carousel in Covent Garden. I love how its all open and not shut behind cyclone fencing like they normally are now.

Oh yeah, and I'm signing off from this chapter of London now 'cause I'm off to Paris at a rude hour tomorrow morning. I'll keep you posted... hehehe.

Notting Hill Carnival

2006-08-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

Notting Hill Carnival was amazing! It started off being really stupid. We were stuck in a crush of people for about an hour. You couldn't move, couldn't see anything, and there was only a float going past every 15 minutes.

We were actually about to leave in a huff and were trying to find the quickest route out of there when funnily enough we stumbled upon an 'unofficial' part of the carnival where the crowd control was relaxed and you could get in amongst it all. The crowd was relaxed and having a good time and the people on the floats were mingling. From that point on it was excellent! Here are the shots so you can see what went on.

Talk about packed! This is what we faced when we first got there.

The locals really get into it - or they leave and rent their places out for the weekend!

This guy was hilarious. He was pretending to be be pope from his flat window. There was a massive crowd below him taking photos.

Everyone just jumps in behind a float and dances to the massive sound system. Then you just follow and find another when you want a change. That's Leon in yellow at the front... and we're dancin'.... Oh yeah, and that whole back of the semi trailer is made of speakers.

And there I am dancing too:)

Some of the security really didn't want to be there. Check out the earplugs and the bored look...

These women were great. Read what's on their hats - hilarious! And spring roll princess was posing for us too. Love it:)

Camden Markets

2006-08-28T16:48:00.000-07:00

I really like Camden Markets actually. Kind of eclectic and rough, but not in a threatening way. Where else do you get punks, goths, preppies and tourists all in the same place?!

I spotted this in the Market. Read the note on it. Its a time machine of course.

Oh yeah, and I've got another odd sign for you...

So graphic.

London

2006-08-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

So London. This place is very cool. I've now been here 2 and a half days and I really like it so far. Instead of telling you the story I think I might just let the photos do most of the talking, so here you go:)

This is a great fresh produce market that Leon took me to the first day I arrived (Saturday). Its stocked to the brim with beautiful fresh food. Love it.

My first view of the Thames. This was on the way to movie we went to see on Saturday night which was an old black and white. Night train to Munich. It was screening at the National Film Theatre and it was fantastic.

After the movie we stumbled across one of the summer events they hold on South Bank. This one was ballroom dancing to a live big band. V.cool. If random.

Please don't look at the hair! We got caught in a downpour!
Oh yeah, and the worst Australian chardonnay I've ever had. In plastic bottles served in plastic cups. Just to give it a little more class!

So then we went to a bar in a theatre not too far removed from the Opera House (or was like it on the inside). Old school sort of stuff but very funky. On the way out we saw a very drunk Gandalf from Lord of the Rings. Or the actor who played him anyway. From there we got a little carried away and ended up in a bar in Soho called Ghetto. We danced til 5am.

This is me after eating Mexican food for breakfast, sitting in a park as the sun rises.

One last view of London for the night.... I mean morning.