Versailles

Versallies was a Royal town and le Chateau de Versailles was the residence of King Henry the IV and a number of King Louies... and of course Marie Antoinette. It is one of the most elaborate and breath taking places ever built. The gardens go for miles and miles and the Chateau is a HUUGE palace. They still hold official ceremonies and even congress meets here occasionally. King Louie the XIV really went nuts when it came to building this place. As people were starving he went building an unbelievably expansive residence. Even the "cottage" at the back is a palace unto its own.

Unfortunately as you can see, there was heaps of construction going on, so that wrecked it a bit.

Champs Elysee

We walked along the Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triumpe. Famous for the final stage of the Tour de France each year and the German army marching down it when they invaded France.

The Hugo Boss store even had F1 McClaren car in there.

Bonjour!

Bonjour. Je ne parle pah fransei. Vou parlei englei?

England felt a little bit like Australia because everyone spoke English. When we got to France, we definately felt like we were in another world. But what a wonderful world it is.

Paris kills other cities (not that Ive been to heaps) when it comes to presentation. It is the most asthetically pleasing place Ive ever been to. The buildings in the city are soo nice. In the center of the city all the buildings look the same but slightly different at the same time. All have a nice stone look, and are never higher than 6 or 7 stories so that they look classic and none dominates the sky line. Thats left to the monuments that are EVERYWHERE. Around every corner theres a museum, hall, statue, fountain, etc, etc. Its amazing what hundreds of years of culture leaves a city looking like.

We met up with Irena and Slavitza and they showed us around the best spots. We even got to pay 8 Euros for an Amstel at a typical French cafe.

Anfield

The next day we went to Anfield.

You get a real sense of history from these two clubs. More trophies than you can poke a stick at. Every part of the stadium has a story behind it. The tour guides and museums really fill out a rich background of success that these clubs have enjoyed.

With Liverpool winning its fifth European Cup last season, it got to keep the European Cup trophy and is now on display in the museum.

Why we went....

Many of you would be wondering why we went to a yukky industrial town like Manchester. Well here you go.

Manchester United. Great looking stadium just down the road from The Old Trafford cricket ground. We managed to get a hotel about a minute away from the stadium. Great way to spend a night under the shadow of this historic stadium.

We did the tour of the stadium that took you from where Alex Ferguson threw the boot at David Beckham to where they do the press conferences after the matches. And of course the tour finished at the gift shop where you could buy anything from a keyring to a bathrobe with Manchester United emblazened on it.

Midlands

The English country side is so beautiful. Lush green hills. On the way to Manchester, stone fences went for miles and miles. We found thi gorge on top of a hill. The photo doesnt do justice to it because it was huge. Lots of interesting rock formations that create these hills and dot the landscape.

The roads arent very wide here though. We were semi parked on the road while taking this photo so the cars were steering clear of us at this point. But that pretty normal to park where ever you like in England anyway. So we were just doing as the locals :)

Sunshine!

We couldnt believe our eyes. A bright sunny day. The first and last sunny day (..in London).

This is on our way to Manchester and Liverpool...

Everyone get in line...

Westminster Abbey. Quite a good looking building. Theres so much intricate detail on these buildings here. We didnt get to go inside though. The line to get inside was long enough to move our feet onto the next attraction.

If you're going to do a tour of London, the open top bus tours are great. This photo was taken on top of a bus. They take you right up the all the attractions through out the whole city. Dont have to worry about getting there, you can just sit back and relax as they take you everywhere. You can hop on and off where ever you like all day long.

British Museum

Just a couple of shots from the British Museum now. Possibly the most extensive collection of artifacts in the world... Couldve spent days in there....but we didnt. The building itself is quite impressive too. This is a piece from the Egyptian collection. The main attraction there was of course the Rosetta Stone. A great big piece of a stone with writing on it.

London Bridge is going up...going up...going up...

When we got to London Bridge it just happened to be going up :)

Sights and Sounds

Today we did a tour of London the ultra-touristy way... Via a big red bus. At 15 pounds it was a bit steep but well worth it. Nothing else will get you around to see all the main attractions with such ease. You can hop on and hop off anytime you like and if you're lucky you'll get a cool commentator that'll tell you everything from why the building's were built to King George's favourite colour.

The photo is me sitting infront of Buckingham Palace. It wasn't raining as hard as yesterday so we could hang around for a bit this time.

We're here!

Proof that we're finally here. British Houses of Parliament on a beautiful overcast day.

Cold, Wet and Windy

We said bye to Sydney on a perfect day. Got a look look over Sydney and the rest of Australia as we flew over sunny skies. On the left is a photo of Sydney as we took a right turn from Kurnell. You can see the airport on the top right.

First of all goto give full marks to Singapore Airlines. Great food, great service. Couldn't complain. Didnt get much sleep though. But what can you expect sitting in a seat with enough leg room for a 12 year old.


We came for the London experience and thats what we got. Weather has been pretty dreary but hey...its London.

Spent Friday exploring London with Steve. We discovered the underground. I can see now why people say Sydney transport is so bad. Havent had to wait more that 3 minutes for a train yet. Best thing since sliced bread. Had a quick look around some of the sights, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Houses of Parliment, but well get a closer look on monday.

Spent the whole of Saturday at the British Musem. That place is unbelievable. The amount of stuff there just blows your mind. Some things make you wonder just how they managed to scam priceless monuments and artifacts for the museum. Anyway its just amazing what a collection they have.


Got a bit sick though that night. Spent the rest of the next day in bed. YUK! But should be right to see the sights on Monday.

One week to go!

...tick...tock...tick...tock...