Layouts 71 and 72

Hi!

Here we have it, the final two layouts in my Paris trip album.

This page was a bit of a mish-mash of bits and pieces that I collected along the way that didn't belong anywhere else.  The jigsaw of the Mona Lisa that we purchased at the Louvre that had an extra piece, the dollar to Euro conversion chart I made before we left home, some travel passes and some Euro coins left over from the trip.

This final page was, as you can see, a map of the city of Paris.  Most of the places we visited are marked on there, and I also added an arrow to show where our hotel was.  You can see it under the right side of my watermark.

Thanks for coming along with me as I relived my trip, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 69 and 70

Hi!

Just squeaking in for my weekend scrapbooking post!  Very close to the end of my Paris layouts now.

I had researched before we left and found out that there was a Titanic Exhibition on in Singapore while we were there.  I'd missed it when it was on in Australia, so I was determined to go to this one.  When we arrived we were given a passenger card each that was based on a real passenger on Titanic.  At the end we got to find out the fate of our passenger.

 

Sadly, Rob's passenger didn't survive, being a 'lower class' male.  I got a First Class female passenger, so I was pretty sure I was going to survive.

It was an amazing exhibition that included real artifacts recovered from the ship and the wreck site.  There were lots of recreated rooms, including the magnificent staircase, where we had a very dodgy tourist photo taken!

I didn't take any photos of our arrival home to Adelaide.  I remember that at the airport Hudson ignored both Rob and I, like he was upset we'd left him for nearly 2 weeks.  It didn't take long for him to warm to us again though!  I loved the pictures that Alex and Ada had drawn for us, especially as they had "missed our faces".  Funny!

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 67 and 68

Hi!

I'm nearing the end of my Paris trip layouts - only 2 more weeks to go after this week!  I hope you're not sick of them yet.

As exhausted as we were when we flew into Singapore on our way home, we decided that we wanted to get out and see a bit of the city while we were there.  It was really tempting to stay at the airport and try to sleep a little more,  but I didn't want to regret not going into the city, so off we went!

After discussions with the lady on the help desk we decided to splurge on taxis rather than to attempt the public transport system on the amount of sleep we'd had!  In the end it wasn't much of a splurge, as the taxis were quite cheap.  Our destination was the Marina Sands Resort and the Art Science Museum as there was a Titanic Exhibition there that we were both keen to see. We wandered around the Resort for a little while and saw the amazing Casino, which looks like it has a boat on top of 3 pillars!  We also saw people getting a fish pedicure (yuck!) and some costumes from Wicked!, which was showing there.  Sadly, we didn't have enough time to catch the show.

The Museum is an incredible building that is in the shape of a lotus flower.  So pretty!  There are several ponds surrounding the building that are full of lotus plants.  There weren't many flowers in bloom, but the ones that were blooming were beautiful.

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 65 and 66

Hi!

Apologies for the late posting of my layouts this weekend, the sunshiny weather has continued over the weekend, so we have been out riding bikes and enjoying the sunshine.  It's been a fabulous weekend!  So here they are now, better late than never, and with new layouts being planned in my head for the photos I took of us this weekend!

On our last night on Paris I took a few photos of our hotel room.  I'd booked it online and took a bit of a gamble that it was going to be OK.  It was actually better than OK!  We were given a room that was better than we'd booked (and paid for) so we were thrilled.  I'd done a lot of research before booking a room and had discovered that many rooms were absolutely tiny.  Some only had fold down beds - no thanks! It was still what you'd call a small room in Australia, but more than adequate for our needs.

When I booked the website said that the hotel had a laundry service, which was a huge bonus, but when I asked about it I was told to use the laundromat down the 'rue'.  That was an adventure in itself, as none of the instructions were in English and my French was clearly inadequate!  We eventually worked it all out, only to be accosted by a drunk, English speaking French man who was desperate to visit Australia and wanted to know all about it.  He kept asking us to tell him a joke!  It was such a strange experience, but very funny.

Sadly they next day we had to catch the Metro back to the airport.  We had all of our luggage with us and got a few dirty looks from the other travellers as we took up a lot of room.  It was a pretty uneventful trip back to Singapore except that we were unable to get much sleep and so we were very haggard by the time we touched down.  Our bodies were telling us it was the middle of the night, but it was morning in Singapore.  We found a couple of banana lounge type things and managed to get a few hours sleep, although it was hard to get much rest when we had to keep one eye on our carry on luggage.  Still, it was all an adventure!

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 63 and 64

Hi!

I'm nearing the end of my Paris album pages - only a few more weeks to go now!  Today I have some of the last pages from Paris itself.  The first is from Sainte Etienne Du Mont which was a gorgeous church next to the Pantheon that we went into on a whim.  So glad we did!

It is a church devoted to Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris.  It has this huge, carved staircase that lead up to the place where the choir sang. I can't recall the correct name!

It really was a magnificent church, and apparently has featured in a few movies.

These next pages are a heap of random photos of food related things that we took during our time in Paris.  We were quite grossed out by the 'Hummer' which looked like a cross between a hamburger and steak sandwich, but it had 4 layers of meat and cheese in between 5 layers of bread.  Heart attack on a plate!  Rob found Orangina, which was like a fizzy orange juice.  We also tried some Macarons, which were huge, sweet and delicious.  One was more than enough though!

This page showed some of the restaurants we ate at.  Le Moncey was a regular breakfast venue for us, where we ate croissants, juice and hot chocolate each morning.  Real, fresh croissants are devine, and sadly I have yet to find any back home that are as good.  Ours are too bready. Probably a good thing, or I'd be the size of a house!

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 61 and 62

Hi!

It's a picture-heavy post today as I bring you my next two Paris album layouts.  They are of the Catacombes of Paris and the Pantheon, both of which we found to be amazing places.

The Catacombes was one of the only places we had to wait in line to get in.  I think we waited around 30 minutes - luckily there was a crepe vendor nearby! There was a long climb down before we got to the tunnel entrance.  Rob was a bit creeped out by the dripping limestone, but it didn't worry me too much.

 

In case you weren't sure, the Catacombes are where the French government relocated the remains of millions of people were reburied after the cemeteries overflowed.  The tunnels were originally the quarries, and were starting to collapse under the city - so the government solved two problems at once! At first the bones were just thrown in, but then the workers began to arrange them into pretty patterns using the skulls and long bones.

According to the audio guide they even used to hold musical concerts in the part of the tunnels shown above!  We found it to be a very fascinating place, but we were very glad to be above ground again at the end of the tour.

Next stop was the Pantheon, which is this huge, magnificent building that now houses the remains of many of France's most notable citizens.

 

We toured the ground level first.  It was a huge, open area that had many sculptures and artworks.  My favourite was a scale model of the building with cut away sections to view the inside.  We then went underground to explore the crypt, where we viewed the resting places of people such as Voltaire, Dumas, Braille, Cure and Hugo.

Unfortunately the Dome was closed, so we were unable to take in the view from the top.  It was fun to do a little people watching from the steps at the front of the Pantheon.  It is located in a University Precinct so there are a lot of students in the area.  Many of them were enjoying the sunshine on the steps at the front of the building where you got a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower.

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 59 and 60

Hi!

As another weekend draws to a close I realise I have forgotten to do my 100 Layouts post.  For those of you new to my blog I have challenged myself to scrap 100 layouts this year and I'm posting them 2 at a time on the weekend.

LOL, I call this one my 'Pretty Woman' layout! Not because someone was rude to me in a shop, but because I was carrying so many bags by the end of my shopping trip.  Rob and I had a free afternoon so we decided to hit the Avenue des Champs Elysees for a spot of shopping.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I wanted to go shopping and Rob was happy to tag along and carry my bags for me!

I had lots of fun, especially choosing some things for the kids.  Ada's favourite was some Disney Princess perfume from the Disney shop.  I enjoyed the experience, but the strangest part for me was the communal change room in one shop.  I was in line waiting to try on a top and I was able to work out that the shop assistant was telling us that if we didn't mind an open change room we could jump to the front of the line. I said "oui" and went straight in!  It was women only, but a big open room.  A great idea to move things along a bit faster, but not so great for your self esteem if you happen to be next to a gorgeous, slim woman!

The next day we took the Metro out to Saint Denis to see the Cathedral out there.  It's kind of the 'sister' to Sacre-Coeur, as apparently St Denis had his head chopped off at Sacre-Coeur, picked it up and walked off to where the Cathedral at Saint Dennis now stands!

The Cathedral is where a lot of the French Royalty are buried, but it's a very long and turbulent history.  As fascinating place, but so very cold inside!  The guides all had very thick jackets and little heaters under the desks they sat at.

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 57 and 58

Hi!

I'm really late with this post - it's been a busy weekend!

On our walks around Paris we saw this cool graffiti.  We really loved the way that the grates in the ground were turned into the skeleton's rib cages.  So very clever!

Our next stop was Sacre Coeur.  We strolled through Montematre to get there and really enjoyed the feel of the area - it's known as an artistic area of Paris, although petty crime can be high!  Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) sits on the top of a very high hill - apparently when you are in the dome you are as high above sea level as you are at the top of the Eiffel Tower!

We chickened out of climbing the very steep stairs to the top and caught the Funicular instead.  It's basically a cable car that goes up and down the slope.  Rob was determined to have a nice sketch done of himself, but after getting scammed at the Eiffel Tower we were a little more careful this time.  We saw an artist drawing another lady so we watched him for a while.  Rob liked his work, so as he finished with the lady Rob approached him and he was willing to do the sketch.  I wasn't keen, so I wandered around trying to get a sneaky photo of Rob being sketched.  As I did I had another man approach me and start drawing me!  I couldn't get away as I didn't want to go too far from Rob, and being the non-confrontational type I ended up paying him for the sketch.  Sigh...

Sacre Coeur itself was beautiful and the views from the top of the dome were stunning.  We also toured the crypt and did some people watching out the front.  Lots of dodgy tourist trinket sellers and even some living statues.  It was a fabulous atmosphere and a beautifully sunny day.

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 55 and 56

Hi!

I'm a bit late this weekend, but here are the next installments from my Paris album.

After out trip out to Rouen, we had just enough time to dash off the train, get changed and walk down the rue to the Moulin Rouge.  We'd decided to splash out on tickets for a dinner and the show at the Moulin Rouge.  The photo above was actually taken on a different night - we weren't allowed to take our camera into the show so we left it at home rather than risk cloaking it.

The top left and bottom right photos are ones we took, the others are stock photos off the internet.  The middle left photo was one I was pleased to find, as it showed pretty much the exact table we sat st for the show!  We were about 3 rows back in the tiered section and nearly directly in the middle.  Perfect view!  We shared our table with a lovely couple from South Africa who we enjoyed chatting with during breaks in the show.  We loved the Moulin Rouge, it was a fabulous dinner and a spectacular show.

The next day we were up and going early, with our first stop being the Cemetery Montematre, near where we were staying.  There were lots more famous people buried there, including Adolph Sax, Offenbach, Degas and Alexandre Dumas.  Actually, Dumas has been shifted to the Pantheon, but his grave is still there. It was a pretty cemetery, not as gothic as the other one we visited - I can't recall it's name right now!

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 53 and 54

Hi!

In my last Paris post I showed the layouts about the Eiffel Tower and our behind the scenes tour.  I'd booked a late afternoon tour so that we could watch the sun set from the Tower. We also ascended to the top of the Tower to watch the light display.  Every hour, on the hour, for about 5 minutes the Tower sparkles as thousands of lights twinkle on and off.  It's so very pretty!

After watching it from the top of the Tower we descended and crossed the Seine to watch it again from the huge open space opposite the Tower.  While we settled in to wait we munched on crepes (what else!) and people watched.  It was about 11pm by this stage but the city was still bustling.

The next day we travelled out to Rouen to meet up with Rob's cousin.  Unfortunately the day was a shambles from start to nearly the finish!  We didn't realise it was the start/end (?) of Daylight Savings, so we slept in and only just made it to the train on time.  This was the only day I let Rob organise and he did a pretty poor job of it!  He hadn't managed to get in touch with his cousin before we got on the train, so we didn't even know if we'd meet him or not.  Rouen is a beautiful, old city and is the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.  So much history that we totally missed because we were waiting around!

We did tour their Notre Dame Cathedral, but there was so much more we could have done.  You may notice that in all the photos of me I had my arms crossed and in some I'm even scowling.  I was so very cross at Rob that day!

In the end we did catch up with Rob's cousin and his gorgeous son for a lovely, but very quick, lunch.  We were strongly encouraged to try some of the more rustic local cuisine but after watching a lady on the next table eat her frog's legs I just couldn't face it!  We then had another dash (uphill!) to make the train back into Paris as we had tickets for the Moulin Rouge that night.  I think we got onto the train about 30 seconds before the doors closed!

I can laugh now, another memorable day and memory of Paris!

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 51 and 52

Hi!

I'm a day late with my usual scrapbooking post, but better late than never I guess! It's a photo heavy post today as my layout of the Eiffel Tower spread over 4 pages!  First was the Musee Rodin though.

We pretty much went to the Musee Rodin to see the Thinker sculpture.  We'd seen the back of it from the Hop On Hop Off bus several times but we wanted to see it up close.  The Museum had 2 entry prices.  It was only €2 to tour the gardens and a bit more to add in the Museum.  As the Thinker was in the gardens we only paid the €2.  It was a lovely day to wander the gardens and see the sculptures.

I was actually a little surprised by the number of his sculptures I knew, even though I didn't know they were Rodin's.  I think most tourists pose by the top left sculpture.  The cheeky ones do the Beyonce pose, but I wasn't feeling cheeky that day!  Outside the museum was a light post where people leaving the museum leave the stickers you are given upon entry. We skipped that 'tradition'.

We then strolled around to the Eiffel Tower.  I'd prebooked a behind the scenes tour and we had a little time to kill before it started so we grabbed something to eat and sat and people watched.  We got scammed into having a portrait drawn of us and paid a ridiculous amount for a really bad caricature.  Sigh, you live and learn!  I'm glad I booked the tour as only one of the three lifts was working on the day so it was at least a 2 hour wait in line to ascend unless you wanted to take the stairs.  No thanks!  We got to go underground near the tower to a radio control room that was used during the War.  It's now mostly used as storage and as a secondary kitchen area for the restaurants on the Tower.

We then got to skip the line (yay!) for a behind the scenes look at the Tower itself.  We saw the machinery that powers the lifts and heard more about the history of the Tower.  We were then taken to the second level of the Tower and some of the landmarks pointed out to us.  I'd planned the timing of the tour so we would be on the Tower as the sun set.  It was very romantic!  It was also very cold up there, so we enjoyed a hot chocolate while we waited for the sunset.

We also went right up to the top of the Tower.  It was a bit scary in the lift as you can feel the structure swaying a little in the wind.  The views are incredible though!  We were up there while the lights were flashing on the Tower so we could see all the flashes going off as people took photos of the lights from the Trocedero.  The bottom right photo shows the finishing line of a marathon race.  It was on the second level of the Tower.  I felt so sorry for the runners - they started out near Versailles and after running all that way they had to finish the race by running up the stairs to the second level of the Tower!  There were quite a few runners getting treated for cramps at the finishing line.

As we were waiting in line to catch the lift back to the ground level we heard a few Australian voices, and then a whole lot more!  Some of them were runners and their support people and others were diners in the very posh Jules Verne restaurant.  We all had a chat while we waited and laughed about how you can't get away from Aussies - you're bound to find some no matter where you go!

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 49 and 50

Bonjour!

I'm a little late today, but here's a little more of my Parisian trip.

The Invalides, as the name suggests, was built as a hospital for those who were injured at war to recuperate.  It's now a museum dedicated to war related stuff, but I believe there's still a small part of it still used for it's original purpose. The war stuff didn't greatly interest me, but Rob was keen to see it, so we spent some time here.

I must admit though, that I was fascinated by the Relief Map part of the museum.  It housed these incredibly vast small scale 3D maps of areas that related to battles.  It was astounding to think that they were transported to the battle sites to aid the Generals to plot their moves, especially in the digital age!  Most of the maps would have required a cart all to themselves.

We also visited the chapels at the Invalides.  One side was for the soldiers and the other was for Royalty, separated by a giant window.  The difference between the two chapels was incredible. The top left picture shows a stained glass window in the soldier's side - pretty, but very plain.  The Royalty side was very opulent.  It also contains Napolean's Tomb, which was very grand.

The tomb is located under this huge gold dome - there's 12kg of gold just in the decoration!  It really was an incredible place to visit.

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 46, 47 and 48

Hi!

It's been a really miserable week in Adelaide.  Perfect weather for staying inside and scrapping.  I was hoping to finish my Paris album this weekend, but we have a very busy weekend so it looks like it probably won't happen.  Oh well, there's only one more school week until the holidays, so hopefully I can get it finished then.  In the meantime, here's a few more pages.

The Grand and Petit Palaces are opposite each other on the banks of the Seine.  We had planned to tour both, but after lining up for a short time at the Grand Palais we realised that the line was for a fashion photography exhibition.  We were unable to tour the building itself, so we left and headed across the Rue to the Petit Palais where we were able to tour the building.  It houses an art museum that focuses on the Fine Arts.

It was a gorgeous building, with many beautiful works of art. For me though, the highlight was the courtyard in the middle.  Paris was emerging from Winter into Spring and so the trees were just starting to blossom.  So pretty!

Our next destination was the Invalides and to get there we had to cross the Seine.  We crossed le Pont Alexandre III several times, and each time we were impressed with the beauty of the bridge.  I just had to devote a whole page to it!  The photos were taken on different days, hence the sunny and cloudy skies in the photos!

I hope you find some time to do something creative this weekend.

Bye for now,

Tina