Good bye France hello Germany

My last supper in this great city of Paris took place at the Indiana cafe in the very cosmopolitan suburb of Republic,the cafe life here is unbelievable and  I will always remember this down to earth area. Up early for our trip from Paris to Nuremburg on the 7.30 express to Stuttgart, the rocket we will ride today is the French engineered TGV, and can this thing fly and has been clocked in time trails at a gut wrenching speed of 515kph. 15 minutes out of Paris this this bad boy is cruising at a steady 320kph ,as the driver flogs the guts out of this metal monster all the way to Stuttgart.The country side is also passing very quickly when our breakfast arrives ,not even a ripple on my cup of tea . Arrival in Stuttgart in the early afternoon time to explore some of this beautiful city, tomorrow I have booked a private guide to lead us on a 3hr walking of the old city. See ya later.......WADDA

SORRY NO PICS TODAY bit tired.....hic

The best Eurodisney

Today is our last day in Paris and what a day it has been, we hit the tunnels early for our programmed trip to Eurodisney some 30 min by rail to  Chessy on the outskirts of Paris The children are at fever pitch on arrival so the pace is on from the start, WADDA and auntie Rachel are at the same level of excitement as the children. Bang first up is the is the spinning cup and saucer then the small boats, had enough of this small time kids stuff bring on some serious rides. Next up the mountain train ride this is still the kids section got to get out of fairyland and into adventure land, as we stroll past the Alomo we head for Thunder Canyon . This ride was all it was cracked up to be, with lots of squealing yelling we were in roller coaster heaven,as we snap out of one trance we spot the Indiana Jones ride and immediately begin preparing for this next piece of action. Well with the living be Jesus frightened out of us it is time to re access our next theme park thriller. Nan is having some retail therapy and staying away from these dangerous activities,so we push on. The day just keeps on getting better UNTIL  the children want to go on to Space Mountain and suggested that I should participate in one last thrill so I drag my sorry arse to this space adventure,never again. When this ride began my eyes shot back into my head about 2inches I knew this was not going to be pretty,and when it stopped my eyes landed on my cheek. I will return this favour to my grand children in the Swiss alps. But all in all a great day was had by all, see ya all in Germany tomorrow.........WADDA

Seen one castle seen em all

Today will forever be known as castle over load day ,this is the day 2 fine young blokes were reduced to castle ash. Let me start at the start of this horrendous trip to the castle of all castles, yep we are going to Chateau de Versailles on the outskirts of Paris. First up its to the hole in the ground known as the Metro we have virtually lived in this dark and dingy place for 3 days as we climbed slithered and wandered around like lost Aussie tourists trying to negotiate our way through this labyrinth of tunnels. We have scaled many flights of stairs and walked many cross tunnels and survived, I have placed Cooper Clydesdale my grandson in charge of all further journeys to the underground world of travel. Now back to the castle of all castles which you can't even enter without joining the lineup which seems to have no end. Once inside if you view the gardens first it's back to the end of the line and start all over again trying to see where some old French king slept or had a feed. There were literally thousands of idiots like us all trying to do the same thing at the same time, never again . Still not a bad gig if you like castles,we will test our stamina on Eurodisney tomorrow. As the crew starts to  fail WADDA makes a decision to forage the night meal alone in the seedy district of Republique . With food alcohol and people watching high on my list of activities BINGO I hit the mother lode what a place to see it all. Nothing to worry about here as I stroll back to the Paris France Hotel 30 euros lighter , the 1664 beer is now my preferred taste. If you ever decide to come to Paris do not miss little adventure ...........WADDA

Saturday in Paris when it rains

The weather forecast was for scattered showers today but we got a lot more than that, from 11am till 3 pm it fairly flogged down. Not being fair weathered tourists we set sail in pursuit of fun ignoring the gloomy weather forecast. Our first place of interest was the Church of Notre Dame a very spectacular piece of religious history, still no rain so we push on to the Lourve the home of most expensive painting ever painted bar none. Yes the MONA Lisa is hanging at this gallery, with 1.30 to 2 hr wait we burned this idea and moved on to the Champs Élysées, this awe inspiring walk to the Arc  de Triomphe looks very tempting so off we head . The rain starts to fall so we grab a motorised tut tut to complete this journey, the kids and I decide to climb the Arc to stay dry. What a stupid idea the kids struggle up for free I pay 9 euros and nearly died in the process, I was well and truly knackered on arrival at the top, rain now heavier at the top so time to decend. Catch the Metro home to re think our plans, hop on hop off bus sound fine but still flogging rain , back on the Metro to catch up with the bus. Welcome aboard the leakiest in bus Paris with water leaking out of the light above I move to the upper deck wet but better. Stopped raining the weather has fined up so we complete this tour and catch the metro back home. 7pm and the worms are biting time for dinner at Buffalo Chills for the second night in a row,bloody beautiful. After dinner WADDA wanders off on his own to check out our surroundings and becomes only slightly lost, WADDA now has a new friend called Marcel . I met him in a bar he doesn't speak English and I don't speak French so we chatted in a language we both understood,arrived home happy but safe ...........WADDA

The magic carpet ride

As we leave behind this beautiful city and head for the French capital of Paris ,i think of the city I am leaving behind . A clean and well set out city so easy to manoeuvre around just a great place.
The day starts early for the travellers with an 8.31am departure from St Pancres station,after clearing boarder security we wait for the time  to board the Euro Star express to Paris. As this journey begins I notice how smooth this beast is, as we clear the city we start to accelerate quite rapidly and pretty soon we are doing 200kph plus. As we slow down to go under the English Channel for 20 minute ride  to French soil I think how lucky am I. When we pop up again in the beautiful French country side the train speed is hovering around 300kph ,on this man made magic carpet. The weather is about 25c just beautiful, but at Paris metro station the well oiled machine of WADDA and Co has developed a slight squeak. We have no idea where we a going until Rebecca slides in the lead position and somehow I don't know how but managed to stumble on the right track,well done Rebecca. Alas more problems the new leader has lost her ticket, as she crashes the exit barrier like a wild rodeo bull we start to laugh all in good fun. We walk the streets of the vibrant suburb ofTemple which is a suburb in district 3 looking for a cool drink , unable to speak the lingo or work out the money side of things, life just couldn't get any better than this......................WADDA

I love London pretty

What a great city London ,this place has so much going on it makes my head spin. Yesterday the ranks became divided with one group heading for the fantasy land of Harry Potter and the other group staying in the fast lane of the big smoke. With the elder of my 2 daughters Rebecca our day of bonding begins ,firstly it's off to Westminster Abbey , 40 bucks to have look inside no way were this non God bothering pair having anything to do with this religious racket ,took some happy snaps then headed for Winnies War rooms . This cigar chomping English leader made a few blunders during his time as boss of the wash but all in all he was ok. With many miles under our belt a man needs a drink ,at nearby Trafalgar Square WADDA spots a pub and heads in for a pint. Rebecca's thousand yard stare soon warns me we may have a problem . You guessed it she needs some retail therapy,she then produces a map of the London tube and her eyes light up and her heart rate begins to steady Portobello markets here we come . On arrival at the world famous flea market I decide it is just another place full of shit so I zip my lip, grabbed aThai red curry and a beer this was lunch. With the weather warm the body starting to fall I do believe an afternoon nap is in order. Tomorrow we will catch the Euro Star to Paris HOO ROO...............WADDA

Poor old Betty

Wadda and co have been blessed with some history today, that's right old Betty has been sitting on the throne for 60 odd years today and set a new record. They gave her 4  honks from some shitty old navel vessel as a salute, I thought that the poms could have been a bit more on the generous side and maybe  shelled  out at least an 18 honk salute but obviously not. They also raised  London bridge, I could hardly contain myself all this for sixty years on the job . Times must be tough over here, but I reckon if they cashed in some of the trinkets from the Tower of London Betty could be better off in the long run. The 2 bob tourists took to the tube early today to chase our historic dream to see more old stuff, let me tell you there is plenty of it over here , as the pressure builds to see as much of this great city before our departure for Europe on Friday, fatigue is starting to show on the faces of the crew. Yes I think they need a few early nights or they won't make the distance, as day goes to night we are off to meet Jake White for a small family reunion. It time to head back to the Kings inn hotel because tomorrow it's off to the Harry Potter show for some and others are going to Winston Churchills war rooms,gotta go..........WADDA