A wet day in Paris!

"Today is quite wet and miserable. We haven't ventured out yet but I imagine it will be quite cold. The France page has more info on yesterday's doings.

The Arc de Triomphe

The gates leading into Parc Monceau - there are at least 3 of these spread along the park

This is the auction house we strolled into - a beautiful house with gardens at the back

More churches!

Yesterday was a very cold day though it was fine. Today is not so great and looks to be quite cold again. Have been to a few new places over the last couple of days.

A batobus 

Notre Dame

Rainy weather in Paris

A wet day today but we managed to see two of the most important sights - the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.

Mona Lisa

Maree in front of the Eiffel Tower

This eclair seat was in front of a patisserie in Rue Cler.

New posts

I apologise that we haven't put anything up in the last couple of days but we couldn't access the web in Switzerland so are doing a big catch up here in beautiful Paris. New bits have been added to the Switzerland and France pages.

Maree checking her latest photo

Didi, Maree and me

The mountains near Bulle with the ancient town of Gruyere on the hill

Near our apartment in Paris

Venice

Check out the latest post on Venice - a beautiful city.  Photos will come when we are in Switzerland.

Florence (Firenze)

Had a wonderful time in Florence. Check out the news on the Italy page. Next stop is Venice (Venezia).

Maree is making friends with the local police in Florence.

Our B & B faced this square.

Yum!!!

Pompeii

See the post about Pompeii on the Italy page. I am having trouble adding photos to a page so the photos will go here on the post until I get a chance to work it out. Just for Maddie and co I have added a photo of Maree smiling. I have to say that she really hasn't stopped smiling since we arrived :-)!

See first post for Italy

Check out the Italy page for our first post there. Will upload photos soon. This is one of Maree in front of one of the Vatican buildings. The bulge at the front is her money belt!

We have arrived in Rome!!

By Maree 

Cath and I are now finally in Rome after around 35 hours of flying and sitting in airports.  We are certainly pleased to be on firm ground.

Sue took us to the airport in Brisbane and we met Lynn there as well. At the airport Lynn saw an old friend who worked at the airport so he kindly took us through as priority clients and gave us express passes for customs once we arrived in Sydney.   It is lucky we did go earlier and met up with Lynn - she is very useful to know!!!!!!!!

The plane for most the journey was on the A380 Airbus - huge to say the least.  The seats in Premium Economy were fantastic and the food and drink delicious.  We were up on the upper level so it was very quiet.  I was like a kid at Christmas.  We think we have put on a few kilos already.  The entertainment too was the best.  We would say that the Australian staff from Sydney to Dubai were the best crew - very respectful and could not do enough for you. From Dubai on the crew was mainly British - not very friendly and did not bother to check things.

We have to say that we  were pleased to leave Dubai airport - not a place we will visit again,  Heathrow Airport is huge and we had around 6 hours wait before heading to Rome.  We only had minor issues going through customs and most of the time it was Cath they pulled aside - criminal aspirations I think!!!!!!  The security from London to Rome was terrible and both Cath and I had to wait for around one hour while they scanned our knapsacks and handbags - maybe again it was the company Maree was keeping.

What an adventure Rome airport is - straight through customs - not a lot of help from the locals given for questions.  Took the Leonardo Express train in to Rome from the airport. The Hotel Columbia is great and the manager is very lovely.  So tired last night that we got pizza and sat in our room in our PJ's to eat. Managed a few hours sleep which was enough to reinvigorate us.

Only one more night

 Not long now all the bags are packed - Cath has everything well organised.  We head out of Brisbane tomorrow lunch time to Sydney and then out of Australia in the afternoon around 4pm. I am very excited - looking forward to everything.

Food on a plane (like snakes, only better!)

Maree and I are flying Premium Economy with Qantas on the A380 so we will be up in the top deck of the plane. There are 35 Premium Economy, 30 Economy and 64 Business seats on this level and it is supposed to be much quieter as downstairs has 371 Economy seats and 14 First Class suites.

One of the neat aspects of the trip is that Qantas now lets you preorder your meals online for this flight from Sydney to London.  Maree has opted for vegetarian (Oriental - there are about 5 different vegetarian choices) for the whole trip while I have selected from the 'Neil Perry inspired menu'.  So, for the gourmands amongst you, this is what I have selected (from 4 choices for each leg).

Sydney to Dubai: Chicken salad with toasted peptic seeds, broccoli, green beans and aioli dressing
Dubai to London: Chicken and spinach spiced puff

We select the return meals once we are 7 days out from our departure.

The images of the meals look wonderful of course but they might be like the packet shots on The Checkout - the real deal looks nothing like the picture!!

If friends and family would like to post comments, please do but it would be appreciated if you put your first name on the comment (so that we can bring back a special treat for those people who have taken the time to read the blog - I hope you're reading this Michael and Sue :-)).

Accommodation for the trip

Most of our accommodation for the trip is either apartments or B & Bs. We are staying in a hotel in Rome and may end up in one in Scotland, but that is likely to be it.  In Dublin we are staying in the Mercy International Centre and will most likely be in B&Bs throughout the north and south of Ireland. I thought it might be interesting to provide links so you can check out our booked accommodation.
Rome - Hotel Columbia
When Kirby, the boys and I travelled in 2008, we stayed in this hotel because it came highly recommended on TripAdvisor.  We stayed in the suite which had steps leading from the main area to a mezzanine floor with two single beds, ideal for the boys.  It is very close to Termini, the main railway station for Rome, so it was easy for us to catch trains and buses.  Maree and I are staying in a twin superior room so here's hoping that this will be as good as the last time.  The reviews for the hotel are still very good 7 years later.
http://www.hotelcolumbia.com
Florence - B&B Emozioni Fiorentine
Again this was selected because of excellent reviews on TripAdvisor. It is a short walk from the train station and is centrally located to the most historic sights of Florence. The B&B only has 6 rooms so I'm hoping that we get one that has a good view of the square and isn't too noisy.
http://www.emozionifiorentine.it/en/index.php
Venice - B&B  il Giardino di Giulia
Can't remember where I found this B&B in Venice but I liked it because again, it is a short walk from the train station, so it makes it easier to wheel our luggage to it. All emails to Marco, the host were answered promptly which I think is a good sign and all of the reviews say that he is an excellent host. The B&B has 3 rooms and we are staying in the Marcello room which faces an old church.
http://www.ilgiardinodigiulia.com/venice.html

Work has finished!

Well finished work now have ten weeks off  :-)  -  I am so excited about the trip.  So glad Cathie encouraged me to be a risk taker and say yes.   I too am so grateful to Cath for all the wonderful planning and organisation.  I have told Cath to be prepared for me taking photos of everything.  Suitcase not packed yet but have written notes.  Not long to a great adventure. Maree

Only 12 days to go!!!

The bags aren't packed as yet (well mine aren't but Maree's might be) but I am organising myself a bit more.  Trying to get the house and garden sorted before I leave is my main priority but I am printing out important pieces of paper that we need to take.  The suitcase is a Samonsite medium hard shell and I think that it will be big enough for me to take what I need.  It did the job on the last trip in 2008.  Maree is also taking a Samonsite and hers is about the same size but is a soft cover.  I think that hers will be better because it has more flexibility if you are trying to cram stuff in - those hard shells don't give one little bit!

I'm still debating on the backpack - do I need one and if so, should it be a lockable one rather than the el cheapo that I am considering at the moment? We both bought great handbags from Stand Bags.  They are cross body ones and can easily fit my iPad in as well as other important bits and pieces.  Has lots of nooks and crannies to put passports, other docs etc.

Next thing to dig out is the little clothes line and the plastic bags that we used on the last trip in 2008.  The bags are great as they are ziplock and once the air is out they flatten down wonderfully and keep ironed clothes that way without crushing.

I've found all of the electrical adaptors and have all of my bits and pieces for the iPad - HDMI connector for TVs, SD card reader, Seagate wireless drive to store our photos as well as a subscription to DropBox for backups of stuff.  All important documents have been scanned and are now on the iPad and they will also be put on the latest addition to the family - the iPhone 6.