(backdated post) How fast can you get a passport renewal? Pretty fast if you’re prepared to pay. With about a week until the holiday, the travel agent pointed out that I had just five months left on my passport. I was already aware of this. I’d checked, and five was enough for the countries we’d ... [More]
(backdated post) Friday morning: time to head for Europe! Thankfully not an early morning flight – they are not my favourite. I finished packing then caught a train to Footscray to collect my travelling companion, then (for reasons of speed and convenience) we caught an Uber to the airport. They recommend arriving 2-3 hours early ... [More]
Surviving jet-lag
Sunday! After breakfast in the hotel, we had a morning walk around the neighbourhood, ending up back at Hyde Park. The Royal Parks Half Marathon was underway, with organisers cordoning off paths, getting ready for the energetic people to come through. Though busy, the park was still enjoyable, and while overcast, it was looking like ... [More]
One last full day in London before we headed elsewhere. After breakfast we hopped on the Circle Line and headed to Blackfriars -the train was packed, and it’s an indirect route but potentially the fastest by avoiding changes. From there we walked along the river to the Tate Modern. It’s in an old power station ... [More]
(Backdated post. I’m falling a bit behind on these, but expect more soon) Time to change countries! We packed up our luggage and walked to Edgware Road tube, which we caught to St Pancras. (Looking at this picture, I just realised I’ve misspelt Edgware in an earlier post. It only has two Es. Now fixed.) ... [More]
We’d been warned about scams and pickpockets in Paris. This seems to be backed up by any number of online videos showing examples of the problems. Apparently it’s phones rather than wallets that are the most commonly stolen items. Phone theft is also a problem in London. Seems like the thieves have worked out that ... [More]
Another fine Paris morning. We hopped on the Metro… I was beginning to think everything in Paris is about 30 minutes away: a 10 minute walk to the Metro, a 10 minute Metro ride, and a 10 minute walk at the other end… but of course it was a product of where we were staying ... [More]
More sights in Paris
Good morning Paris! We took a morning walk to find some baked goods for the excursion later. At 9am on a Saturday, the streets were pretty quiet, even at the famous Moulin Rouge. Moulin is French for mill, by the way, eg red (wind) mill. It was our last full day in Paris, but we’d ... [More]
As the Louvre gets raided, we head out of town at high speed
Good morning Lyon! Some Googling overnight, and I felt like we could navigate the local public transport. Step one: the Lyon Metro. It’s got four lines and 42 stations, and carries a similar number of passenger trips as Melbourne’s suburban rail system – pretty good going for a metropolitan area with about half Melbourne’s population. ... [More]
Another day in Lyon, and we’d heard about a riverside market not too far away, so made that our first port of call. The old centre of Lyon sits between two rivers – the Rhรดne (which runs through Switzerland and France) and the Saรดne, which flows into it just south at La Confluence. We were ... [More]
One more full day in Lyon before we move on. We walked down to a bus stop just outside the Lyon Perrache station. I couldn’t help but notice the interesting wiring on the outside of the adjacent building while we waited for our bus. We caught the bus to the Gadagne building, which dates back ... [More]
In our last exciting instalment, SNCF had cancelled one of our trains for today. I’d scoured the web, and worked out an alternative plan to get us from Lyon to Arles. Originally it had been: This latter train was the one that was cancelled, and although it’s fairly a short journey, there didn’t seem to ... [More]
Good morning Arles! We headed out to the nearby Musรฉe dรฉpartemental Arles antique – a museum about the history of the area, but some especially interesting exhibits about Roman times. The centrepiece is a Gallo-Roman barge found in the river nearby in 2003. Fascinating. Short stay home rentals in Europe have been problematic. The locals ... [More]