OO Baby, I'm back

So!!!It has been a long time between posts. I have been busy! And by busy I mean international travelling. Yes I went to Paris! Long time I have waited to visit this city, and boy did it live up to the dream.
But I get ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning...
Last Saturday was the London Triathlon. No, I didn't compete but Crystal did the sprint (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run), Nathan did the cycle leg of a sprint team of which their friend Tim Sullivan swam. The event was massive, so many people. It turned out to be a really hot day, and long! It was fun to go to, and it was hilarious that it was sponsored by Michelob, a beer company! In the water for the swim, the bouys to swim around were massive inflatable beer bottles! A big group of us came along to cheer along the competitors, it was quite fun. Crystal did very well - in her event out of 600 women she came 8th!!! In her wave she was about 30th or so out of the water, and then during the cycle she went up to 5th place, and then some girl passed her on the run. All in all a super effort, in a time of 1hr20mins. She dominated on the cycle, very impressive, and stood out amongst most of the competitors men and women as a better athlete. Crystal=athelete? who would've guessed?
And coincidentally, Rebecca (Becs) Bragg was there and we caught up! Funny times. I mentioned her before but I met here in Sydney at the LaSallian leadership thing in 7th form. She is good and says hi to Natalie and Felicity, natalie -we even joked bout Jack liking you there funny!! Her and I caught some trains home together and we plan to catch up again soon - there's nothing like the feeling of making friends. I am nothing without friends.
Saturday night I went out to dinner with Crystal, Nathan, Katie Stringer and her boyfriend Mike to this mexican restaurant in Clapham. It was fun we drank (well, Katie and I drank) sangria.
I can't remember what I did Sunday now, so shall skip to Monday!
I got up early and went into town to open my bank account. Rosie I walked past that toy shop on regent street that you told me about! It looked awesome next time I am there I will go inside. OPening the account was bloody easy - all that work at Travellex on Colombo street in chch was worth it. I even got another credit card! After all the hassle with TSB about getting one and here they practically shoved it in my hands.
So we packed (we being Crystal and I not the royal we) and got ready to go on the train through the chunnel to Paris. Exciting! I was excited. Very. mainly because I got stamps in my passport!
We arrived in Paris at about 9pm local time. Our little 2star hotel was located in Pigalle, which is the sex district of Paris, at the foot of the hill where Sacre Coeur and Montmatre are. The metropolitan signs at the top of the stairs are just as cool as when you see them in pictures. We went for a walk up to Sacre Coeur that night, and from the hill could see down on Paris all lit up. The Eiffel Tower looked so amazing, and S-C itself was impressive with the lights. I was a bit overwhelmed, it was so cool, and I felt very happy and alive.
The next day we walked everywhere. From Pigalle we walked past Moulin Rouge, to the big old Opera House, then to the massive Galleries Lafayette, this shopping complex that had an enormous leadlight dome ceiling. So much more beautiful than Harrods. Here I perused the new season Chloe range, o so cool, and with a hefty price tag to match! From here we walked down Boulevard Haussmann, where Marcel Proust lived at no. 26. This led us to l'Arc de Triomphe. And didn't that just look amazing. Sitting proudly in the middle of the place de charles de gaulle, this Arch commissioned by Napoleon was a classics lesson bought to life. I opted not to climb up, but circled it, and walked under it and went ohh and ahh which the occasion neccessitated. Pretty cool stuff. From here it was down the Champs Elyssee. In Paris they don't seem to have car yards, but actual flash shops with cars in them. BMW shop, Range Rover shop, etc. Funny. This walk led us eventually down towards the place where the Obalisque is, this big phallic tower with hieroglyphics on it. Don't really know much about that. Anyways, we finally got to the Louvre. It is shut on Tuesday, but it was cool enough from the outside and we had decided to look inside another day anyway. The pyramids are cool, and I felt very Sophie Neveu. Near the Lourve is a statue for Joan of Arc, that was neat. We then went over the river to Notre Dame. This extremely gothic cathedral is amazing. I didn't see old Quasimodo, but did see his tower. Inside this is one incredible church. Really amazing. Crystal and I lit some prayer candles, which was special. Then we went to the Musee d'Orsay. We saw there some Van Gogh, Renoir, Degas, Gaugain, heaps more. That night we went up Montmartre to the Place de Tertre which is a little square where artists sell paintings and heaps of little restaurants. We ate at le Cremaillaire, or something like that. Very cool. Paris has a thing with dogs, I saw so many little dogs, but that night I also saw a rabbit on a leash! Crazy!
Wednesday - up early and to le Tour Eiffel. From the Trocadero gardens you get a great view. It really is a beautiful piece of architecture, in my mind. Something about it's shape and it's global identity really moves me. We got their early enough so that the wait in the queue was only hour and half. We went right to the top. the elevator to the top was freaky!!! I was bit scared, thought I might throw up, but once up their I was merely breathless. The city spreads out around a nice shade of white. Great view. Worth the wait.
After that we went back to the Louvre, and had a look around. There's too much there to see, so as the Lonely planet said, just choose one or two bits and pretend the rest isn't there. Incredible statues, and paintings, and loads of stuff, just too much too take in really. Saw the Venus de Milo, and ye olde Mona Lisa and some other stuff, was great. The building that houses all this stuff was amazing too. There was a section that was Napoleon's apartment, just the rooms put in there in tact. So ornate and beautiful. I read a letter there too, the original letter from Marie Antoinette to her sister, the last one she wrote, contemplating her impending death. It totally stretched my brain to read it in french but I think I understood most of it. Such history, unbelievable, it's a cliche but isn't NZ young??
That night we ate dinner in the Latin Quarter. I didn't know this, but it is thus called as it is the student and university section of the city and for a long time the students and the lecturers spoke to each other in Latin. We had a walk around eating cheese and salami crepes and looked in the little souvenir shops. We then walked up the road to the Pantheon there, where Voltaire, Emile Zola and some others are buried. It was pretty neat, and then we sat at a little bar and had a drink, with the spires of Notre Dame in the distance.
Thursday morning had a coffee at a cafe, yea, parisienne cafe. Was fun. Then we caught the Metro to the Pere-Lachaise cemetery, where we walked around visiting the graves of Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, Chopin, Jim Morrison and Modigliani. The cemetery was huge, with cobbled roads and mulitudes of graves and crypts.
We left Thursday late afternoon, and it was kind of sad. Now I'm back in London, I miss the french bill boards, the sights and the city of Paris. But c'est la vie, back to reality. Not that London is tremedous, it's just on high terroist alert and that's not fun!
Still looking for a flat and still looking for a job. But happy and smiling still and that's the story. Missing people heaps and wish I could share all this with you.
will from now get back to more regular posting.





Sorry that I haven't written much about it in detail, it would just take so long! I saw so much and would love to tell you everything. These are just some of the photos, and hope they represent well the trip. Hope you like it!