ghotiindustries

Paris Part 2, Saturday

Posted on July 11, 2012July 9, 2012 by ghotiindustries

We disembarked from the Metro at the Place de la Concorde, stopping briefly to get rained on and take pictures of a dramatic sky over the Tour Eiffel.

Then it was a leisurely stroll through the Jardin Des Tuileries where we stopped for coffee and to spend time with the ducks absorbing the atmosphere.

We happened across a free photography exhibit going on in the gardens that was a single photographer who had taken over 2 million photographs out of his single window in Korea. It was in incredible display that highlighted for us what a difference decent equipment and printing/framing can make to the end product of your photography.

It was then on to the Musée du Louvre! This was such a big thing for me! I can’t even describe to you how excited I was. Of course the thousands of other patrons that day felt similar I’m sure…

The queue management was exceptional, and though the line was long, we didn’t wait long to go through the metal detectors, and we were under the giant glass pyramid!

With limited time we headed for medieval Louvre and the Egyptian artefacts. There is so much to see that we just had to make a decision and this wing won the coin toss for this visit. Next visit I’ll see paintings. But you can’t really complain when there’s this.

This just reminds me that I need to work on my hand writing!

Walking through crowds and photographing everything we saw was taking up time though, and we had tickets that night which required a sprucing up and a change of outfit! We had tickets to dinner and a show!

Dinner was at La Fermette Beuf. And my picture of their décor simply doesn’t do the place justice! Click on the link!

It was incredible, and the food delicious! I suddenly want a house decorated all in Art Nouveau! Oh no, wait … I’ve always wanted that …

But we had a show to get to, and time was running out! And we discovered the hard way that seating is not reserved and we would have done well to get there earlier, and will the next time we go.

But as a birthday present to Himself, we went to the Crazy Horse! (SFW Wiki link)

It was an awesome show! Some skits were better than others, some held our attention better, but all in all the show was well worth the trip!

And of course, the tower is a beacon in the night.

One day left!

Adventure is out there!

Posted on July 9, 2012July 9, 2012 by ghotiindustries

Oh the places you’ll go, the things you’ll see! – Dr Suess

So this post may not be entirely normal, as this weekend I did something that I’ve never done before. Actually, I did several things that I’ve never done before! The first was boarding a train to travel internationally.

Now, this may not mean much to most people, but when you grow up in Australia, when you catch a train, you can only ever get to other parts of Australia. Even traveling in a straight line for days, you still only reach more of Australia!

We were on a train for just over 3 hours (a trip to Canberra), and ended up here…

Yes, that’s right. We went to PARIS! *has a moment* Left on Friday night after work, and were back Sunday afternoon.

We have a gift though. We crossed countries (I’ve now been through Belgium! Another first!), and changed major international city, and still wound up in the Red Light District.

This is the day we woke up to. Weather was threatening rain, and given a friend of mine had just left Paris a few days earlier and it had been so hot she was unable to sleep, I was grateful for the respite in the heat.

This is the most comfortable bed I have slept in since arriving in Europe, and I’m not afraid to admit it. I can’t wait for our stuff to arrive. And the hotel had REAL black out curtains. *cries tears of joy*

Over breakfast we planned out our day. Wouldn’t be France without croissants and espresso. We’ll just gloss over the fact that this is what Himself has for breakfast every day…

Yet again, the architecture defines the city. The beautiful ironwork balustrades, covered with plant boxes, shutters, and the windows in the rooves. This is Paris.

Then it as off to the Metro to begin our days excitement!

I can’t get over how well looked after, clean, efficient, and old the metro is!

This’ll be a big week for posting folks, I hope you don’t mind too much following along on our adventure! 😀

Quiet week

Posted on July 6, 2012 by ghotiindustries

Hi everyone. I’m sorry for the radio silence after last Friday’s post. I guess what happened was inevitable. Once we moved and things got a little bit quieter for the first time in months, we both came down with some vicious head colds. I’m still trying to throw off a horrendous lung crunching cough. At least you can’t catch it through the internet!

We did take a little time out to head into town last Tuesday though (where I coughed and snotted all over everyone I met. I’m sure they were very grateful!)

It was on this excursion that for the first time I saw the cranes dredging the canals. It was quite mesmerising for a couple of minutes. I have yet to find a crane with a magnet hauling up all the bicycles that get dumped in the canals each day though!

In a final piece of news for this week, and it has taken me a week to get around to posting this, Himself got a delivery in the post recently that wasn’t entirely expected!

Knowing a Master Roaster as we do, it was wonderful to receive a birthday surprise of some of his wares in the post. We have been making good use of it too! It’s nice to be loved. 🙂

See you all after the weekend when hopefully things will have returned to normal!

Movements

Posted on June 29, 2012July 3, 2013 by ghotiindustries

For the past few months we have been living in the centre of it all.

Very near here in fact.

And on the other side …

For the hell of it, this is a photo of garbage night in Amsterdam. This takes place twice a week, and the piles of rubbish along the tiny narrow streets average 5’ high, 3’ deep, and 20’ long. It’s an experience! Especially when you’re surrounded by pubs, cafes, and restaurants!

In one hectic weekend, we went out of town to a wedding. This involved driving for the first time in Continental Europe. It was an experience! Sorry for the blur, but my eyes were having trouble focusing on the drive back at 1am!

We caught up with some more tourists who I took for a brief tour around Amsterdam. (though this wasn’t technically on the weekend, but a few days later. They were at the same wedding on the weekend… does that count?)

We also moved all our stuff to a new, and yet still temporary, abode. This is now what’s down the road from us. Still a canal, but just a touch greener!

I can’t wait to discover what’s at the end of this path!

I’ve also been getting lots of fabulous old fashioned post! So now I just have to write back to you all! Thank you so much! I’ve missed having pen pals! 😀

Solstice

Posted on June 25, 2012June 25, 2012 by ghotiindustries

As I was surfing around on Pinterest (my new internet obsession) the other day. I came across an outfit and thought to myself, “Oh DAMN Self! You HAVE to make that to wear to Winter Magic this year!” And then I remembered that it’s currently June. Therefore Winter Magic, though I’m in the middle of Summer at the moment, was this weekend.

So a couple of things; First, happy solstice for whichever hemisphere you are currently in. Your days are currently the longest they’ll be for the year, or the shortest. I know we’re getting dark about 11pm. Second, Happy Winter Magic Festival!

In honour of this occasion, here are some of my favourite photos from the last few years’ celebrations.

There is always so much fun to be had!