Day 15

After getting another full English breakfast we headed out to Stonehenge to marvel at the large stones that can be used as a calendar. They stand in the middle of a large field in what is now the middle of nowhere, with the original henge appearing around 5000 years ago.We then headed to Stourhead which is a stately home with fantastic gardens (the house wasn’t too shabby either). It is what you would expect of a wealthy English person, the owner having made his money through banking…Hore Bank, of which there is still one branch around…a pity about the name.

Day 14

Started off the day with our first truly full English breakfast…no need to eat until tea time. Had a bit of a walk along the white cliff face in front of the hotel to walk off some of the breakfast before heading off to Brighton. We went for a walk along the Pier and then headed into town and had a look at the Brighton pavilion, which is a Royal residence with a twist. It is decorated almost entirely in an oriental style. Some of the rooms were unbelievably decorated with huge chandeliers that had dragons holding them up. Mid afternoon we headed off to Salisbury, which is where we are staying tonight.

Day 13

Picked up the car from Mayfair. There were quite a few other people in the same boat so I am glad I was there a bit earlier than the 10 am I indicated. Luckily they were able to upgrade me to a black BMW. The only problem is that it is a big squeeze to fit in all of our suitcases but we will live with that! What a godsend the Tomtom was, even just from getting from Mayfair to the hotel to pick up the bags. It was also great for getting out of London as there is no way I could have done it with a street directory.
We drove for a couple of hours before arriving at Arundel Castle, which is owned by the Duke of Norfolk. It was quite impressive as some of the rooms were used when Queen Victoria visited. Took us about 2 ½ hours to walk around and check it out.


Hopped back in the car and headed to Rottingdean near Brighton. Encountered a major accident along the way (not caused by me) which delayed us by ½ an hour. Had to turn around and take another route, which the Tomtom assisted greatly. The hotel we are staying at (the White Horse) is right on the white cliffs next to the traditional stony beach.

Day 12

Had a bit of a chance to sleep in but couldn’t resist heading out for one last caffe au lait before we left Paris. Caught the Eurostar around 1pm and got back to London in time to do some washing before heading out the city the next morning. Took it easy as we have an excellent room (more like the one in the catalog) where we could spread out a bit.

Day 11

Had a good sleep-in today and we went for a brunch at Rue Cler, which was only a couple of streets away from where we were staying. This street has just about everything you would want to see in a traditional French street…from chocolates, florists, books to of course plenty of food. We stopped and had a beautiful feed of baguettes and stopped for some macaroons and citrus tart on the way back to the hotel. Monny’s feet were still sore so she decided to have an easy day resting with Grace, while Larissa and I set out for a long walking day (6 hours in fact).

We set out to the Arc de Triomphe and once we got there decided to walk to the top….284 steps. I think Monny made a good choice! What a great view! We left there and walked down the Champs Elleyses and stopped for a snack in one of the gardens. Scammers were about in the Place de Concorde but we were too smart for that…they were pretty feeble really.



We continued on to the Louvre and Larissa and I looked at the Italian paintings including the Mona Lisa. Saw the Venus de Milo and because of the size of the Louvre we decided to concentrate on just one main area…the Egyptian antiquities. This makes our museum pieces of this region look like a joke as there was room after room of Egyptian tablets, coffins, stone and brass idols. We left and walked back to our hotel and arrived at 7pm…sore feet!

Day 10

We had a bit of a sleep in until 8:30, which made us hurry as we had a walking tour starting at 10am across town. After some quick showering and no time for breakfast, we were lucky to flag down a taxi in time. Our guide was Guillaume who was a former art student and very knowledgeable about all things Paris. The good thing was that we were the only ones on the tour so we could basically go anywhere that we wanted to so it was tailored for us, which was great because we stopped for a coffee outside the Louvre to have a quick rest and coffee break.

He showed us some of the back streets of Paris, ones that are non-touristy but very beautiful as well the standard beauties such as the Notre Dame Cathedral, which we went into (there was a bit of drizzle around this morning so it was good timing that we were could do this). From there we walked along the Seine up to the Louvre. I can’t get over the size of this place…plenty of tourists there of course. From there we walked to the Latin Quarter which is more of an area frequented by locals with heaps of restaurants, cafes and bars. We parted with our guide and had a late lunch before heading back to the hotel for a rest…Monny’s knee and ankles are starting to swell again from all the walking.


Certainly one of the highlights of the trip so far as we had dinner in the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. We were lucky that our table was next to the window where the sun was slowly setting. The food was tres bon and the view you can see for yourself from the picture below. After leaving the restaurant, the first floor had several areas set up for visitors interested in learning about how the Tower was built and used over the years. There was a tent that was showing how the Eiffel Tower was used in films, showing snippets from some really old films + James Bond, Superman & even Team America. Had some great views from this floor…we didn’t bother to go any higher as it was getting late. Had a leisurely walk back through the Champs De Mars to our hotel, after purchasing the obligatory Paris T-Shirts.

Day 9

Left a few bags with the hotel as we are returning there after our trip to Paris so that makes it a bit easier. Caught the Eurostar around lunchtime, which takes around 2.5 hours to get to Paris. Compared to other international travel it was very quick as they are quite organized. The actual amount of time under the English Channel surprised me as I thought we were just in a normal tunnel but when we reappeared at the surface, all the road signs were in French (a sure give away we were in France). Hopped on a long line for a taxi and made it to our Hotel by 4pm. The hotel itself is OK, we have a family room which is quite spacious but the bonus is that it is only a couple of blocks from the Eiffel Tower. After unpacking our gear we decided to go for a walk and stopped for some dinner at a nearby café. I can’t believe how many eating places there are, but I suppose anywhere there are tourists, there will be places to eat.

The Eiffel Tower was even more spectacular than I remember it, when I saw it 25 years ago. Its sheer size alone when standing next to it is just unbelievable.


We had booked a cruise on the Seine at 8pm so we could see the lights of Paris…and we weren’t disappointed. We went past the Louvre and D’Orsay museums, the island. The architecture is fantastic especially if you think that much of it was here many years before Australia was even founded. The end of the cruise brought us back to the Eiffel Tower and by now it was dark. The Tower was lit as you can see by the picture here but on the hour, fairy lights flash making a great spectacle.