Passing Through Paris

What a place!! An amazing number of old buildings and stunning architecture and art work. All quite overwhelming in many ways to have so many famous sights all within a small city centre area. I spent time at the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and of course the Louvre. I shared the time with Hannah who was on the MSF course in Bordeaux with me and some of her friends who visited for the weekend from London.

Traveling now in my thirties rather than my twenties is pretty weird. Most people at the hostel are younger and some are a whole lot younger. Quite off putting to find out the group of people you are chatting to haven’t even had their 21st birthday yet. I guess a quick train trip to Paris from London is pretty easy for uni students on holiday break.

I think it reinforces my view that I would like to travel with friends, family or a partner if possible in the future. Even if you get less done and there is lots of compromise at least you get to share the experience. Onto the train now to London to visit the Queen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Just Happened?

Image
The story of a surprise brain tumor diagnosis Symptoms and Diagnosis Three years ago I was giving a slide presentation which included some pictures from my time volunteering in Africa. There were pictures of some of the disadvantaged and malnourished HIV orphan kids I worked with in the highlands of Ethiopia and Cameroon. I suddenly felt uncontrollably emotional. Bit odd I thought, must be getting older, or maybe the effect of now being a real family man with kids? I skipped the next section of those slides, took and breath and continued on with the show. One year ago I went to unclip my foot from the pedals of my mountain bike on a difficult section of the sidle track along the Port Hills. I couldn’t get the little ankle action quite right on the left foot and promptly toppled over. My good friend Nic and I diagnosed rusty pedal cleats and I carried on with the ride with a bit of a bruise on my hip. Six months ago I had just had a long soak in the spa pool at our local leisu
Read more

Judith's Cameroon Visit

Image
Christmas this year was spent in Yaounde with some friends putting on a great feed at their house on the other side of town. Elodie and I then headed to Kirbi, with its wonderful long deserted stretches of white sand and some quiet beach time. We hoped to track down some rare turtles laying their eggs on the beach under the cover of darkness, but after two nights out walking and sleeping on the beaches we will have to try again another day for that experience. My sister Judith arrrived in Cameroon to visit our African outpost just before the year ended. We headed with her for the hills and spent New Years Eve beside a beautiful lake at the top of the Mananguba Mountains, about half way between the coast and where I work in Belo. The 'guide' turned out to be a right pain, but we got there in the end and enjoyed a swim, fresh fish, and christmas pudding all the way from New Zealand. My mate Andy also joined us for this little camping trip. Cameroon has featured in the movies
Read more

Castles and Chateaux

Image
France is a wonderfully beautiful country with many different landscapes and a seemingly endless supply of picturesque tilled villages and grand chateaux and castles. I was very lucky to visit so many different fantastic places in a short time. Some of my favorites included the grand bulk of Chambord with its double helix central staircase, the burial site of Leonardo De Vinci , and the ruins lit by the evening light of one of King Richard’s castles, my childhood hero, and of course the legendary San Michael perched on its rocky outcrop surrounded by the sea on all sides.
Read more