Dubai to Bangkok

Sunday 28th October (Dubai - Bangkok)

Paul looked around local shops this morning for a video camera and I met up with Marty and Naomi to visit a shopping complex (?Al Kyaman) which has “real fakes”. Met a young man (called Elvis) who asked us if we wanted “cheap Gucci etc handbags” so we followed him up a hallway, into a tiny room and up even tinier stairs through a doorway for a midget (my hands were dragging on the floor like an ape) and into the roof where there were more handbags than I had ever seen before. Had a great time and would definitely go back – Marty and Naomi bought 5 bags and numerous other bits and pieces and also had a ball. Very hot today. After this we met up with Paul at the Radisson for a beer and then onto a boat for a river cruise (it is not known as a river in Dubai but a creek). This was very interesting and is a great way to get a handle on the city. Tour took around 1 hour and had an excellent English speaking guide. It was provided for free as part of the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour. Took a taxi back to the Sofitel and checked out. Paul and Marty had a few beers at the Churchill Bar in the Sofitel and Naomi and I did some more last minute shopping in the Deira Centre again. Said goodbye to Marty and Naomi – don’t know what we would have done without them. Flight left Dubai at 10:50pm for a 6 hour flight – no flat beds so no sleep. Dubai was a desert 30 years ago and is setting itself up to be the financial and medical centre of the Middle East – a Middle East version of Zurich. Amazing architecture and they are building a huge “one stop shop” for all medical care within the next 2 years. They’ll need nurses and they pay well! Extremely low crime rate (no alcohol and no guns). Felt extremely safe here, treated with great respect by everyone and a lot of the women are amazingly beautiful. If you are a national and you marry another national the Government will give you a lovely home for free plus UAD70,000 (around A$175,000) for your first wife and UAD40,000 for your second wife. 80% of people are expats. and 70% of the workers are Pakistani. We left Dubai at 22.50 and onto Bangkok on Thai Airways. Not as good as Air NZ but they don’t fly this way.

Monday 29th October (Bangkok)

Arrived in Bangkok at 8.00am local time (5.00 am Dubai time) and Pam had not slept at all but Paul had an hour or so. Arrived at the Peninsula at 9.30am and went straight to bed and slept until 3:30pm then off to explore the hotel and surroundings. This hotel was recommended by Karen and Ray Martin and it was an excellent recommendation as this was one of the best hotels we have stayed at and not as expensive as some. Some of the features of this hotel include great room size including a working desk and fax machine, TV in room with one also at the end of the bath and built into the marble wall with the controls next to the bath, and also built into the wall. Bath was too big for me. I want one. Built in phone in the bath as well. Amazing! Floor to ceiling glass windows all round with views over the river and the city. Automatic curtain opening and closing at the press of a button. Beautiful unusual fresh fruit delivered each night as well as bottles of water – no charge.. We caught the Peninsula boat across the river to the Skytrain. This train runs on elevated tracks above the streets and we had been given free tickets for the time we are here. Ended up at the Patpong Night Markets. Paul thought we should get into the swing of the city so we walked though the red light section of the markets to get to the actual night markets. I was not too happy about this as the first place we walked through was for men who wanted to pick up men. Not very pleasant at all. Ugly, unsavoury and very sad. Then walked through the section where there were ladies of the night. Not ugly or particularly unsavoury but again, very sad. Some of these girls were very young. Would hate to think what their overall lifestyle would be like or what disease they have. Onto the general night markets which were great fun. Paul called in to have a beer and I had a coke at one of the many “pole dancing” type venues. Very interesting. We bought a few things at the market, then back on the Skytrain, onto the little boat and back to our very beautiful hotel overlooking the river on 23rd floor. Everyone puts their hands together and gives a slight bow and we do likewise. What a lovely custom. Every time we get off the boat we are helped and saluted. I could get used to this. Nothing is too much trouble and the Thai people are lovely and very gentle souls. I do not feel as safe here as I did in Dubai however. Off to bed so we can explore more in the morning.

Tuesday 30th October (Bangkok)

Only had about 3 hours sleep as I had slept until late yesterday, not to worry. I’ll catch up tonight. After a leisurely breakfast by the pool we went to the pool area and claimed a lounge cabana which is a double sun bed elevated and with a roof. We also had wireless internet connection so we were able to catch up on emails and even used the skype phone to speak to the kids. Just fantastic to think you can be this far away but still close. We even had lunch by the pool and then decided we should do something so after dressing we caught boat/Skytrain to Panthip Plaza. This plaza is solely for electrical goods such as computers, camera’s etc. We needed to purchase a video camera for Alexa so she could film her upcoming wedding. We were spoiled for choice but eventually decided on one after many visits to many stores. After all the paperwork was done we could not use the replacement Mastercard so had to arrange to come back tomorrow when we sorted it out. Continued on to the night markets and brought a few more genuine fakes and some clothes. Skytrain, boat and back to hotel.

Vienna to Dubai and lost wallet - No money or cards

Thursday 25th October (Vienna to Dubai)

Today the lovely Nicola is 8 and the lovely Sue Kenny is (not game to ask!). Rang them both to wish them a Happy Birthday. Off this morning early to see The Spanish Horses in their training session from 10am – 12md. What magnificent creatures. They start training them from the age of 4 and they were amazing. Back to our hotel where we tried once again to reboot our computer. Success, albeit probably short lived! We are now off to the airport for our flight to Dubai which arrives at 1:05am local time. Am looking forward to Dubai – don’t do cold and wet very well! We were told yesterday that last year, at this time, it was actually snowing!! Have the ability to drop our bags into the city only a couple of blocks from our hotel, so we thought this was a good option as we could then catch the fast train straight to the airport knowing that our bags had already been checked through. Did this with ease and then purchased our tickets to catch the train to the airport. Only had to wait a few minutes & hopped on the fast train. It had pulled into the station and was waiting for around 5 minutes before it was due to depart. When we got on board we did the usual cross check of “have we got the airline tickets, passports, camera and wallet”. Alarm!!! No wallet!! Hopped off the train to check where we had been sitting as maybe it was on the seat or had dropped onto the platform. No such luck. It was gone! It contained all the usual – credit cards, money (thankfully only around 40 Euro), licence etc. So........our 15 minute trip to the airport was spent on the train cancelling all our cards. I (Pam) had a separate credit card on me, but as our cards are all linked this meant that mine also got cancelled. The sum total of our money was 4 Euro in silver and we were heading for Dubai! We have worked out that when Paul was putting everything away in his pockets after purchasing our tickets that he may have put his wallet in his pocket or on the seat for 2 seconds and, it was gone. At this stage I was just annoyed, but felt sure that our credit card companies would be able to arrange emergency funds and cards when we hit Dubai. Had been told the shopping here was excellent. We were very glad however, that we realised almost immediately that the wallet had been taken as we were able to cancel the cards within a very short space of time. Arrived in Dubai at 1:05am and even though we were in the fast track lane through customs it still took until 2:45am. Exhausted when we got to our hotel and then spent until 5:30am trying to chase up dollars and credit cards. This proved to be the most frustrating experience ever!

Friday 26th October (Dubai)

Slept till 10am then back onto phone and computer to try and get money and credit cards. Hopeless! Absolute farce. Had advice from Australia about how easy it would be to obtain emergency funds and replacement card but had to end up ringing America anyway. Lass on end of phone had never heard of Dubai, or the Sofitel so that gives you some idea of what we were up against. (Thankfully we had a courtesy bus to our hotel the previous night, but when they asked for a credit card imprint we of course had nothing!) I could go on for hours about this saga (because it did go on for hours and hours with Paul about to kill someone) but needless to say there was not going to be anything forthcoming other than perhaps an emergency credit card in Thailand if we were lucky. To compound the situation, Friday and Saturday is the weekend in Dubai and the banks are not open anyway and on Sunday the Australian banks are not open either. Don’t get your credit cards stolen when overseas and make sure that you have separate credit cards for each of you and keep them in separate places. We eventually realised that Paul’s cousin Marty and Naomi were in Dubai at the same time as us, so we meet them this morning, they bought us breakfast (imagine me without food – nearly suicidal!!) and gave us some money which would tide us over until we got to Bangkok. We were very, very grateful – I guess our next step would have been the Australian Embassy in Dubai if they had not come to our rescue. Anway, we then had a look at one of the expensive malls in Dubai – beautiful stuff and then went back to the Sofitel where there was a more “cost effective” shopping mall called Deira. The Sofitel were very pleased with themselves as they had upgraded us to a 3 bedroom apartment which we did not want or need, but the rest of the hotel was booked out so we ended up staying here. At least if we got tired of each other we could go to a separate end of the apartment with another full bathroom! Marty and Naomi were well over Dubai by the time we saw them today as they had encountered a few problems with bookings etc. Today was to be no exception as they had booked to go on a desert safari ride and stay out there for dinner. When they arrived late in the afternoon to do this the tour company had only booked one of them in and there was no room for 2 so they were not happy campers and wanted to go home early! We all laughed about this and had a lovely buffet dinner together at the Sofitel and then we went shopping again at the Deira until around 11:30pm. Off to bed as we will do some sightseeing tomorrow.

Saturday 27th October (Dubai)

Caught the old favourite (the Red Bus) for a tour around the city going on the red and blue routes, with Marty and Naomi. Stopped off at the Gold Souk – so much gold. You would need a whole day here to compare prices and made an informed decision. We just enjoyed looking. After this tour Paul and I went to Burj Al Arab for an English high tea. We had to book at least 6 months ahead for this 7 star hotel. Unreal! Could not even got onto the premises, let alone into the driveway, without security checks and a booking. Wonderful views and afternoon tea. Hermes perfume and hand lotion in toilets and all toilet seats are heated. I want one! I “borrowed” some toilet paper from here as the other toilets outside the complex do not have loo paper. Reminded me of France. Met Marty and Naomi at the Kampinski Hotel ad Kampinski shops. Did some looking and had tapas for dinner at the Kampinski then taxi home to pack for Bangkok tomorrow night 10:50pm flight. We have to be out of the hotel at 12md but they will hold our bags for us.

Paris to Vienna

Monday 22nd October (Paris to Vienna)

Uneventful 1 hr 40 minute flight to Vienna, arriving around lunch time at the airport. Caught the airport fast train direct to the city (with all our bags!) and then a taxi to the Sofitel Vienna where we are staying. Walked into town to get our bearings, passing many beautiful old buildings. On our walk back to our hotel it was just starting to rain and was around 4 degrees!! Dinner back at our hotel included Weiner Schnitzel which we both thought needed some sort of sauce as it was a little dry. Started to catch up on our diary which was many, many weeks behind, handled a few emails and off to bed. We still only have CNN &BBC news as English channels!

Tuesday 23rd October (Vienna)

Had a wonderful sleep in at Sofitel Vienna. Woke to more rain and around 2 degrees. Downstairs for buffet breakfast then to see the concierge to find a dentist as I (Pam) have broken off a back tooth and it is sharp and ragged. Into a taxi to see the dentist who was very professional, (but did not wear gloves!) and had a large surgery with 3 or 4 dentist chairs where his patients were in various stages of treatment. He just flitted from one to the other – like mass production which we do in some of our colo-rectal clinics in Sydney. Filed off the jagged tooth, charged me only Euro10 then Paul and I were off to find a cup of hot coffee as we were freezing and it was raining. At this stage we had about 4 layers on, finished off by a big overcoat and then a raincoat. Eventually found one of the Hop On Hop Off buses for our tour of Vienna. Difficult for me to appreciate the beauty here as the weather was so miserable and we were wet and cold but did manage to have a lovely tour in the warm bus then back to our hotel where it was warmer, to catch up on our diary. Some beautiful winter clothes here but very expensive. Am actually rather pleased that we already have around 60ks and cannot really afford (weight wise) to buy anything. Its not that I have purchased a lot of gear – it’s simply because we have been away for 3 months, and gone through a number of different climates, that our bags are full. Paul thinks that this comment is rubbish as we have already sent home 20kgs of gear and we still have 2 large carry on bags which we do not want the airline to weight. I find it hard sometimes to pretend that my carry on bag is as light as a feather. It nearly pulls me over! Just watched the weather on the T.V. and am very pleased to see that Dubai is around 36 degrees. Much more to my liking!

Wednesday 24th October (Vienna)

Great sleep. Downloaded emails x 35 – then computer crashed without us having read any of them! Unable to boot or restore any. Luckily we had backed up our diary and photos the night before. Off on the red bus today to explore the Danube River area then rang the family to advise them of the computer crash. Off again at 3:30pm to visit Schonbrunner Palace, which was the residence of the Hofburg dynasty and home to the last Austrian emperor as Austria became a republic after WW1 in 1918. Did a tour of the palace which was opulent, very large and made Warragal Road look like a dog kennel/out house. The grounds and gardens were very formal and the size of a small farm. Beautiful. Then had dinner at the “Cafe Restaurant Residenz Schonbrunn” which consisted of smoked salmon pate, turkey-hen fillet Colbert on paprika foam and a chocolate tartlet. After this we were off to the Orangerie Hall in the grounds of the palace to listen to the Schonbrunn Palace Orchestra playing a selection of Mozart & Strauss e.g. The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro as well as melodies such as The Blue Danube Waltz (one of my Mum’s favourites). A male and female ballerina which were excellent as well as a soprano and a baritone. Such culture for us..... we thoroughly enjoyed it. Still very cold and rainy!!

Paris and the Finals of the World Cup

Friday 19th October (Paris)

Started the day with a thought for Pauls Mum as it would have been her birthday. Even though they are gone these days bring back so many fond memories.

Today we decided to go to Sacre Coeur Cathedral (Sacred Heart) which is a Paris landmark, being built on a hill with wonderful views over Paris in the Montmarte area. The Metro was on strike, except for limited lines and some people believed that this is so the English cannot get across to the final! We caught one metro line, but had to change to get to where we wanted to be. Unfortunately that train never came and as we did no understand the French announcements we decided to take an alternative route so we caught another line which took us near Montmaerte. This gave us a small walk up many, many steps to Sacre Coeur. The view was well worth it, as was the Cathedral, however Paul decided that he is “cathedralled out” as we have seen so many very old, very beautiful churches in the past 3 months. Walked back to our hotel (all downhill thankfully), purchased another suitcase along the way (Euro55) and made it in time to join the bus for a group cruise and dinner on the River Seine on the Bateaux-Mouches. This was one of the most amazing experiences of our trip and is a must for anyone going to Paris. The boat is equipped with spotlights which highlight the buildings all along the Seine and there are many, many beautiful and historic buildings in the area between the Eiffel Tower and just below the Notre Dame Cathedral which is the area we visited. After this wonderful cruise, the coach took us back to the hotel. Earlier in the day we had booked to see Moulin Rouge at 11pm tonight with Di and Grant, as we could not get into the 9pm show. (If you ring for tickets you will be told there are none, so we got onto the net and purchased them from there as this has a different allocation.) We then caught a metro to Montemarte (they were no longer on strike) and walked through the very seedy part of Paris to where the Moulin Rouge is situated. An amazing show. Topless ladies but very tastefully done and much better than we expected, with not only wonderful dancing but also a ventriloquist with a cute little white dog who spoke and an acrobatic couple. We had seen a documentary in Sydney prior to leaving on our trip and knew that there were quite a few Australians in the troupe, who were all highly trained in classical ballet and who had worked very hard to be part of Moulin Rouge. The costumes were beautiful for both the men and the women. A truly memorable show! After the show, with some difficulty, we managed to get a taxi back to the hotel and fell into bed at 2:30am!

Saturday 20th October (Paris)

Today we slept in and then decided to do some more “touristy” activities so off for a walk and lunch on Champs Elysee. The atmosphere here was electric with hundreds of English and South African supports all dressed up and fired up. Many people had obviously gone to a lot of trouble with their face paint and costumes. Great lunch except that a beer cost Euro12 which is around A$20!! After lunch we went to the Eiffel Tower and queued for around an hour before going up with Grant and Di. The lift driver obviously thought he had a sense of humour as he made the lift shudder and bounce up and down in the one spot. Not funny Jan!! Di was particularly frightened. We only went to the 2nd level (there are 3) which was quite high enough as there was a further 1 hour queue to get to the next level. Back to the hotel and then off to a lovely Irish pub to have dinner and watch the final between South Africa and England. A number of our group met here and all the guys thought that the final was boring, with no tries scored and too much kicking. South Africa won and have secured the World Cup until the next one in New Zealand in 2011.

Sunday 21st October (Paris)

Our last day in Paris, so an early start and off to the Louvre to visit Mona Lisa and many other art treasures. In 2 hours we had only covered less than 1/10th of the whole Louvre collection which is massive. A stunning building with an interesting history having been a palace for many years prior to the French Revolution. Back to our hotel to pack up and meet the N.Z. tour group for a final lunch before we all go our separate ways. It was a very friendly lunch as we had got to know many of the people well over the 3 weeks of the tour, and it was sad that we were going our own ways again. (I cried!). Marty and Pete, as the tour organisers were thanked as they had done a fantastic job in organising and running the tour. We had decided rather than face the rush of Paris traffic on a Monday morning after a World Cup Final , that we would stay at the Sofitel Hotel at the airport so we caught a taxi with our 5 bags, (3 large & 2 medium carry-ons)and headed there. We had left a couple of other bags at this hotel prior to joining the tour, so these were also collected and added to our luggage! A massive re-pack then took place ready for our trip to Vienna in the morning.

Nice Monte Carlo and back to Paris

Tuesday 16th October (Day trip to Monte Carlo)

This morning we all took the train to Monte Carlo where we were to be met by a guide and taken on a walking tour. She however, did not turn up so we hopped on another bus and went to visit the Royal Palace. Due to our lack of language skills and a less then helpful bus driver, we actually overshot the palace and continued on around Monte Carlo before working out where we should have gotten off! Eventually got off at the palace, passing many great yachts and apartments, and made it just in time to see the changing of the guard. The palace is high on the hill overlooking Monte Carlo with magnificent views. Paul and I had lunch here, then back down the hill to meet the coach for a trip back to our hotel in Nice, via Eze which is a medieval village perched high on the top of a hill overlooking the Mediterranean. This was supposed to be a little stop for us, but the driver was not aware of this proposed stop and continued around the narrow winding road to Nice. Paul, Grant, Di and myself went into town for dinner. Had a lovely meal in a very busy open air mall which was closed to traffic. We were entertained by a young man playing an electric guitar, with a developmentally delayed boy with a tin can next to him, asking for money. The boy had the most gorgeous little dog with him who sat patiently for around 2 hours, albeit barking at every other dog in the area. I noticed that one lady instead of giving money in the can, gave the dog a can of dog food! We weakened and made a donation as the guy playing was excellent. He was very grateful. There are a number of gypsies in the area and we have been warned about our bags. When we got back to our hotel later that evening a woman in our group had had her wallet taken from inside her zipped up handbag. She was most upset as it had all her credit cards in it, as well as her drivers licence. Paul has been wearing our important documents around his neck, and I had separated out my credit cards from Day 1 so they did not all get stolen. Just imagine what a nuisance it would be to have to cancel all of them!

Wednesday 17th October (Day trip to Canne, Antibes & Grasse)

My birthday (Pam)!!!!!!!!! A full day tour of Provence with a local guide which included a visit to a local vineyard where the owner produced his wine in huge 50 litre glass containers which were left out in the elements for around 2 years, before being bottled. Very different to how we do it in Australia. Onto Cannes, and then to Antibes which is a medieval walled city by the sea, where we had a beer, but no shopping as it was lunch time! A few miles further up the coast we pulled into a lovely restaurant for lunch overlooking the Mediterranean. The girls on the tour were fascinated by a hunky looking guy in short swimmers (who spent some time arranging his “bits”) before going for a run along the beach. We all clapped and wolf whistled which prompted my dear husband to tie a knotted hanky onto his head (it was hot), strip to his singlet and mimic the hunk in the immortal frames of Chariots of Fire running along the beach in slow motion.!!!! It is probably important to point out at this stage that all of the people of the tour are more than comfortably well off and the women on the tour (me being the exception) think that buying Prada is an everyday event! After the hilarity of this event we were off to Grasse, which is world famous for its perfumes. We visited the Fragonard factory which was very interesting but as I did not like any of the perfumes (and my bags are overweight) my money stayed in my pocket. Tonight we all had a lovely buffet dinner on the roof of our hotel overlooking the lights of Nice – absolutely gorgeous. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to me and out came a series of lovely little French cakes complete with 3 candles. I had a lovely day – there would be something drastically wrong with me if I did not appreciate a birthday on the Cote d’Azur of Nice.

Thursday 18th October (Nice to Paris)

This morning we slept in which was wonderful and were then collected by our coach at 12md for our flight back to Paris (Orly airport), where we were transferred to the Concorde du Louvre Hotel. The room was typically smallish being in the centre of Paris, but very comfortable and overlooked the Louvre. From our window we could see some of the exhibits in this magnificent museum! Had a great meal with Marty, Naomi, Grant and Di at the restaurant across the road called Cafe Du Roc then off to bed.

Paris to Nice

Saturday 13th October (Paris)

Today is the first semi final between France and England at Stade de France, so we are all going to go. Almost all of us have decided to sell our finals tickets as neither Australia or N.Z. will be there. We again caught the Hop On Hop Off bus and toured around Paris for a number of hours, stopping for lunch at a little restaurant next to Maxim’s, called Minum’s!. Returned to the hotel and caught a coach to the ground at 6pm and made our way to our seats. The stadium is spectacular with a great atmosphere, especially with France playing. Not a great game as there was too much kicking, which seems to be England’s only game play, but it did result with England winning and therefore going into the finals. I (Pam) met a lovely man from England and casually mentioned that we could have some tickets for the final available. He was very interested and we arranged to make contact with him again tomorrow.

Sunday 14th October (Paris)

Paul and I (with Grant and Di) went to the top of one of the tallest buildings in Paris, called the Montparnasse Tower, which has 360degree views over Paris. Very interesting and we took some great photos and had lunch. Dreadful service here which is most unusual as the French have been wonderful to us. Had an Asian French lady who really did not want to be a waitress! Never mind! Di and I then went into town as the sales were on and the boys went back to the hotel to catch up on emails and business. Anothe semi-final this evening between Argentina and South Africa. Paul and Grant went to this match and Di and I watched it from our hotel after having dinner together. The boys felt that the game could have gone to Argentina until the final quarter when South Africa picked up the pace. It would have been nice to see the underdog get up but this was not to be. To date, neither Paul nor I have managed to pick any winning teams in this World Cup. We also packed up tonight ready for our trip to Nice in the morning.

Monday 15th October (Paris to Nice)

Collected by our coach ready for an 11 am departure to Nice, where we are staying at the Radisson SAS for the next three nights. Beautiful hotel with a wonderful view over the Cote d’Azur from our room. Caught the courtesy bus into town with Ken and Judith and had a wonderful lunch together, left the boys, and had a look at the shops. Back to the boys for a very naughty afternoon tea then to our hotel for a light room service dinner. Beautiful weather but too cool to swim although one of our team did venture into the sea, but being a Kiwi and a Christchurch Surf Lifesaver, I don’t think he feels the cold!

Cornwall to Annecy to Paris

Wednesday 10th October (Cornwall, Bristol, Geneva Annecy)

This morning we travelled north by coach to Bristol for our flight to Geneva. Good flight and arrived in Geneva at 3pm and met the coach, loaded the bags and headed for the absolutely beautiful city of Annecy in France. Stayed at L’Imperial Palace on the banks of the lake which is supposed to be the cleanest lake in Europe. This hotel is absolutely amazing and well worth a look at on the internet. Stunning room and stunning views over the lake. Unpacked then off for an exploratory walk to find a hairdresser. Went with a friend from the tour, Dianne, to a lovely little salon where not one person spoke English and we both wanted our hair coloured! How game were we! What fun trying to explain what “streaks” were in French and choosing a colour! The hairdressers were delightful, offered us coffee (which is France is always black) and when Di and I asked if they had any milk they went to the shop next door to buy us some cream. Very kind. I was concerned that my hair would all fall out because of the language problem, but thankfully it didn’t! Walked into town along the side of the beautiful lake, had dinner (which was a hit and miss affair because of the language) but, again the food was delicious.

Thursday 11th October (Day trip to Chamonix-Mont Blanc)

Amazing buffet breakfast then off for a full day tour with a local guide to Chamonix. On arrival we took the cable car up to the top of Mont Blanc, which is the highest mountain in Europe (3,812metres high which is taller than Mount Cook in N.Z.) When we walked up the stairs to the platform on top we were both breathless and dizzy and the temperature outside was 0 degrees. Rang family in Sydney from here – reception great! It was amazing to be up above the clouds looking down. The area is known as Savoy and we had lunch at a lovely restaurant in the village called Atmosphere Restaurant. Back on the bus and back to Annecy where we walked into town again and had dinner with some of the people from the tour, then walked back along the lake to our hotel. Felt very safe here.

Friday 12th October (Annecy to Paris)

This morning we took the high speed TGV train from Annecy to Paris, leaving at 9:30 and arriving in Paris at 1:30pm, travelling at speeds in excess of 200kms at times! We were met by the coach and transferred to the Hotel Concorde Montparnasse where will stay for the next 3 nights. Had a late lunch at the pub across the road then Di and I went shopping at La Fayette in Montparnasse for a short while and at night we had a dreadful steak down the road. This was our first bad meal in France – the French seem to have a different idea entirely of what medium and well done means. Not to worry – we need an early night.

Salisbury to Fowey in Cornwall

Monday 8th October Salisbury to Fowey (pronounced Foy) on Cornwall coast

Continued south into Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon and Cornwell with a stop at the Eden Project, one of England’s top landmark Millennium Projects. In a disused quarry, they have installed 3 of the largest Geodesic Domes in the world to house plants from all over the globe in an atmospheres that duplicates their natural environment i.e. Tropical, Mediterranean etc. Very interesting , especially for those on tour who had won the House and Garden award in Christchurch. Continued to Cornwall and booked into Fowey Hall Hotel which must have been a Manor house in a previous life. It was high on the hill overlooking the fishing village of Fowey. Walked down to the village and stopped at a church dating back to the 1200’s and then had a drink at a pub overlooking the bay. Very picturesque. Back to the hotel where we have arranged for a group dinner and we put on our good attire. Not quite dinner suit but certainly very smart casual. The actual dinner was a disaster as the catering was totally inadequate and Marty made sure we got a substantial reduction on the previously agreed price for the dinner.

Tuesday 9th October (Day trip to St Ives in Cornwall)

Kenneth Graham, the author of “Wind in the Willows” lived in the area and the mansion we stayed at was the setting for this book. Fowey Hall is managed by the von Essen hotel group which has numerous castles and mansions throughout Europe. Had an early start today preceded by a lovely buffet breakfast at this amazing old mansion, then off on the bus for a 2 hour trip to an old fishing on the other side of the Cornwall coast called St Ives. On the way we stopped off at a village which was a constructed port in the 1700’s. This tiny beautiful cove is also used as a film base for such films as Horatio Hornblower as the port contains 4 x three masted schooners. At St Ives the bus cannot drive into the village because of the narrow streets, so we parked in a coach parking area and caught a mini bus into the town. Had a lovely clam chowder (using clotted cream of course which Cornwall is famous for – back to Weight Watcher’s when I get home) and a Cornish beer called “Drectly”. According to our guide the Cornish people are well known for using the word “Drectly” when asked when they are going to do something. Has the same connotation as “manyana” apparently. Rows and rows of Cornish and Georgian houses – very, very picture postcard and even though the day was overcast and it was low tide it was easy to see just how beautiful this would be in summer. Had a lovely 2 hour wander around. Had some lovely Cornish clotted cream fudge – so naughty! On the way to St Ives we passed a lot of the old housing for the machinery for the tin mines which have now all closed. Such a shame for the locals. Back to Fowey and as we entered the township we passed a bus shelter that the locals have done up and painted with pictures on the walls and with quaint lilac pillows on the seats. Unreal! On the way the guide mentioned that Daphne du Maurier also lived in this neck of the woods and many of her stories are set here. (When I caught a taxi back from Fowey tonight after dinner the taxi driver told me that people would not look so romantically upon this author if they could have seen her in the last years of her life, wandering around the streets as the local “bag lady” and talking to herself! Old age is not for the fainthearted!) Dinner in Fowey at local pub on the water – sausages & mash cooked inside a Yorkshire pudding. Early to bed tonight as a long day tomorrow. Have to be up at 6am. Unheard of!

Cardiff to Salisbury and the quarter finals

Saturday 6th October (Cardiff)

It is now the 22nd of October and only now, some 3 weeks later, are we able to continue with our diary. The 6th October 2007 was a day of great sorrow for all Kiwi’s and Australians and we have suffered a three week mourning period and have been unable to write about it.

The morning of the 6th started well with a good breakfast and high spirits, and a trip to town showed much festivity in the streets including footballs being kicked high in the main street. We caught the hop on hop off bus for a quick tour of Cardiff which is now a thriving tourist destination having gone thru some boom times in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s due to the coal exports and then suffered a major downturn in the 1950’s – 1980’s when the coal exports dropped to nearly nothing . A re-development of the port area and an upsurge in tourism means that now there is much development and the town looks prosperous again. After lunch we headed back to the Hotel (Park Inn) where we watched Australia get beaten by a very dogged English team 12-10. Not a good game but most of the Kiwis on the tour had little sympathy for our sole Wallaby supporter, Pam, as they figured NZ would rather play England in the semi’s rather than Australia. We had a beautiful dinner of lamb shanks and then off to the game to watch NZ v’s France. The game started well and at half time we were quietly confident. However a sense of anger and disbelief came over all the many Kiwi’s at the ground as the final whistle blew with the All Blacks being beaten in the quarter final when they were favourites to win the cup. No celebration just home to bed.

Sunday 7th October (Cardiff to Salisbury)

Today we left Cardiff at 9.30 after a major problem getting all the bags on the bus. The bereavement process continues as we go thru the steps.

- Why me (how could this happen to us).
- Anger (blame the coach, the players, the referee)
- Loss (don’t want to watch any more games)
- Acceptance (lets have a good holiday without the complication of any rugby).

We picked up a guide and headed to Bath for a quick stop. Interesting town with its Roman History and striking Georgian architecture . Headed to Salisbury where we checked in and went straight to the pub across the road to watch the next quarter final which was Fiji v’s South Africa. We all wanted Fiji to win and at 20 all it looked possible but South Africa ground them down and won 37-20. That’s three games I have picked wrong. Went to Salisbury Cathedral and had a look around to discover some Fullers were part of the history. Also had a look at the Magna Carta which is only one of four remaining copies and one of the best preserved. Interesting to look at the history and to realise it is the basis of much of today’s laws. Back to the hotel for drinks in the typical English courtyard and over to the pub to watch Scotland play Argentina and again we barracked for the losing team as Scotland got beaten 13-19 and again were in with a chance right to the end. 4 losing teams out of 4 games, lucky I am not a bookie.

London to Cardiff and ready for the big game

Thursday 4th October (London)

The usual gentlemen’s hours with breakfast at 9.30am and out touring by 11.00am. Today we decided to catch the London Hop On Hop Off red bus to have a trip round London. We started at Marble Arch and had a great cockney guide who had a great sense of humour and knowledge of the city. In fact it is two cities. The City of London and the City of Westminster. Every entrance into the city of London has a gargoyle on each side of the road to show you are entering or leaving the city. When we got to St. Thomas Hospital the guide mentioned that it contained the Florence Nightingale museum so we got off and spent a couple of hours here as Pam has a particular interest with this history. One of my relatives (Pam typing) was a lady called Bessie (Simpson) nee Chant who was one of Florence Nightingale’s probationers in the U.K. She came to Sydney Hospital as one of the original Nightingale nurses to ever set foot in Australia and this initial group of nurses were based at Sydney Hospital. I’ve purchased an interesting book from the Nightingale Museum which is all about the original group and the problems, squalor, infection & disease they encountered. Apparently this relative was the only one of the original group who did not have a bad temper, but I get the impression she was a little more than friendly with one of her patients, whom she eventually married after becoming pregnant! Fascinating museum especially as Nightingale was extremely well bred & educated, had plenty of money and was supposed to have married a nobleman! She had a great deal of trouble convincing her family that she wanted to nurse and because of the families connections with member of Parliament she was able to affect change very well. Even in those days she was interested in management and efficiencies! Remarkable lady who spent all of the last years of her life in bed due to ill health, writing articles and submissions about architectural layout etc. Fascinating! Called into Harrods for a little look – amazing store and then walked back to our hotel via the park and the Serpentine which was lovely as the sun was just setting. Cool and fresh but wonderful.
Had tea at another pub and after tea Pam managed a bit more of Oxford Street shopping and Paul caught the underground to meet a mate who he had not seen since high school days and had caught up with via an internet site called Old Friends. He had a very interesting night it was resolved that they should not wait another 40 years.

Friday 5th October (London to Cardiff)

A reasonable start time with a 10.30am “be at the bus with your bags”. A bit of consternation on the part of the bus driver as he tried to get all the bags in the coach. This is not a backbackers tour and every one has at least one big suitcase and a reasonable pull along. Trying to fit 47 large and 40 odd small cases in a coach is not an easy task but we did make it and then off to Cardiff for the long awaited quarter final between Australia and England (which we will watch on TV and NZ and France which we will watch at Millennium Stadium. Lunch at a motorway services which was notable only for the bad service and very average food. To go from quaint French village food to England motorway services is really from the sublime to the ridiculous. We arrive in Cardiff about 3.00pm and after checking into our fairly average room especially after our lovely room at The Thistle in London. Off to check out the shops and a bank as we are a bit low on “Poonds”.

Chateauroux to Paris and then to London

Monday 1st October (Chateauroux to Paris)

Today was not as long a drive but it sure was scary driving around the outskirts of Paris to Charles de Gaulle Airport to firstly check into the Sofitel at the airport and then return the car to Peugot. We had effectively purchased the car new on the understanding that Peugot would buy the car back at the end of our travels. For this we effectively paid around A$65 per day which is cheaper than hiring a car. I (Pam) drove and did not see anything at all of the surrounds of Paris as I was concentrating so much on the road. Garman was amazing – cannot imagine how people found their way around before. I hope whoever came up with the programme made a lot of money as it was a lifesaver. I think I would still be driving around the city trying to get to the airport without it. Beautiful sleep at the Sofitel, repacked our bags as we have to leave 2 here at the hotel while we are touring with the Kiwis, as we would be overweight otherwise.

Tuesday 2nd October (Paris to London)
Awoke to fog. All flights delayed or cancelled so down to a lovely breakfast, found out our flight would be only an hour late (supposedly) so requested a 1pm checkout for our flight at 4ish to London. Here we’ll catch up with cousin Martin, Naomi, cousin Duncan and Pat for dinner before meeting the rest of the Kiwi tour group tomorrow. Not sure how I’ll go being the only Aussie supporter with 40 All Black supporters, but I’ll do my best to keep the flag flying. N.Z. are the undoubted favourites over here and they do look very impressive. A huge number of the French support them – I guess because of their distain of the English they prefer someone in the southern hemisphere. Flight eventually took off an hour late and we arrived into Heathrow to an overcast dismal London day with light rain. We were undecided about how to get into London but we saw that the non-stop train to Paddington only took 15 minutes so, as it was peak hour and a cab would cost UKP75, we caught the train (UKP 31). What a grand “old dame” was Paddington station. Reminded me of old WW11 movies. From here we caught a taxi to the Thistle Hotel in Marble Arch. Sounds just like Monopoly type place doesn’t it. Checked into our lovely room (after Paul secured an upgrade), and met Martin and Naomi at the Glen Miller Bar for a drink. Some confusion re who was to get in touch with cousin Duncan and Pat but after a few phone calls to N.Z. to get his number this was sorted out. We did not end up catching up with them but we spoke to them on the phone and they will be at Paul’s 60th in New Zealand. Met some of the other All Black supporters who will be on tour with us and then to a wonderful old pub called the The Five Tons for dinner. Wonderful ladies and men’s toilet entrance doorways which looked like a bookcase on a massive wall. No signs where you would expect to normally see them, just signs on the floor! Very quirky! Had a great dinner of bangers and mash. Back to the hotel and watched our first TV for a while because it was in English. It’s interesting the things you miss and get excited about.

Wednesday 3rd October (London)

Woke up at 8.30am which was 9.30am Paris time. It seems to be getting later each day although we never go to bed until 11.30 or 12.00 so I guess it is to be expected. Had lovely smorgasbord breakfast and after a fairly slow start, Pam went off to the shops. We are only 50 metres from Oxford Street so Pam was in her element. Paul had some emails and business to catch up on so stayed at the hotel. We met up at Selfridges cafeteria for lunch where we had a couple of “salt beef”, or corned beef as we know it, on Rye sandwiches with mustard. The corned beef is warm and they cut it and make a very generous sandwich as you order it. Two sandwiches a drink of water and a mango smoothie cost UKP20 or $A45. Nothing is cheap in London. More shopping after lunch and Paul went back to hotel to finish business/emails, to read the paper and for a bit of R & R. (It has been such a busy day). Being away for such a long time we organised for the mail to be sent to Natalie and if there are any bills to pay she emails the details to us and then I use internet banking to pay them. It really is a global environment when you get a bill in Australia receive details in the UK and the physically pay the bill in the UK from a bank in Australia. We all met in the Glen Miller lounge for a few sherbets and to meet a few more arrivals then, Pam and I had dinner at the hotel, made arrangements for touring tomorrow, watched a bit more TV, updated the blog and bed at 11.45 after ringing James our grandson to sing him happy 2nd birthday.