Well, after a nice relaxing evening, and not having to answer to early morning wake-up calls, we were re-energized and ready to crack the winter sales in London.  All the shops along Oxford Street had SALES signs plastered on the shop front and unless you had loads of time, you needed a plan as to how best to tackle the sales.  Luckily, Tony knows the scene pretty well, so we hit Selfridges first to check out what we could find under this one roof.  My eyes feasted on the racks of beautiful clothing from Kenzo, Cavalli, Gucci, McQueen, etc., however, given the strength of Sterling, the prices were still pretty steep, inspite of being discounted by 50%.  The shoes and boots were fabulous and I did end up buying one pair of boots.

After Selfridges, we went to nearby South Molton Street to see what luxury labels were available there.  It was an attractive street, but unfortunately most of the shops were closed for the holidays.  We walked along Bond Street and saw more big names there, but knew that prices would be high at these places.  Fortunately, I had my shopping fix in Rome and I was no longer craving to acquire more designer goodies.  We then moved along to Carnaby Street as I hadn’t been there for a very long time. It’s quite developed and is more mainstream now with many chain stores and restaurants.  Those who grew up in the swinging sixties will remember the Kinks and their song “Dedicated follower of fashion” in which reference was made to Carnaby Street.  Unfortunately, it’s lost the trendy, pop edge and today it feels very bland.

I must say I preferred my shopping spree in Rome and Paris, and London you’ll have to work a bit harder to get my shopping vote.

Helen

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London’s New Year’s Eve countdown is a popular event that gets televised around the world. As the clock strikes 12:00 and Big Ben chimes away, London revellers welcome the new year in such party spirits, making you envious that you’re not there.

Each year, after we’ve ushered in our Sydney New Year, it’s enjoyable watching New Year’s Day countdown happening around the world and of course London is one of the major centres covered by the telecasts.

I’ve always thought that it would be fun being part of New Year’s Eve celebrations in a different country,  it doesn’t matter where, so this year we’ve extended our stay in London so that we can be part of London’s famous New Year’s Day countdown.

The Big Scrum to Get to the Fireworks

Having been through one New Year’s countdown in London, I must say that I’ve now got it out of my system. As people made their way to the Embankment to watch the fireworks displays at the London Eye, the police would progressively close off areas and re-direct people elsewhere. You follow their instructions and then half way along the route, they’d close off that access as well and re-direct you somewhere else. This happened a few times and towards the end the situation got quite rough and there was almost a stampede.

As the police put up new barricades there was confusion and people were jostled about. It became quite dangerous, so Tony decided that we should retreat to our hotel.

The crowd control was particularly bad and it was as though the police did not anticipate the large number of people to show up or had no orderly plans to manage the situation.

It was disappointing that lots of tourists had particularly come to London to be part of the New Year’s countdown celebrations but missed the event.

p.s. – Poor Tony, the last time I dragged him through a New Year’s eve celebration in Bangkok, he got pick-pocketed.

Helen

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This morning we leave Paris and we’re on our final stretch back to London.  There was an air of sadness about as the tour was coming to an end and some passengers were already taking off in different directions.  We tried to rest as much as possible on the journey back to London, although at this stage we were pretty tired of the same old music that was being played on the coach.  This particular guide lacked taste in music and it was interesting that her collection of music did not include any classicals. 

It was after 5 p.m. when we arrived back in London and everyone was dropped off at the Thistle Hotel at Marble Arch.  We then caught a cab to the Thistle at Trafalgar Square which was our base for the next few days.  We’ll be able to catch the New Year’s Eve celebrations from here .. although it’s no big deal for Tony since he hails from the old country.

Helen   

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When we were here in summer, we spent a lot of time doing outdoor photography as the weather was brilliant.  Therefore, on this trip, we very much looked forward to going into the Louvre.  In spite of being off-peak, it was still extremely crowded inside .. imagine what it’d be like in the peak tourist season.

Our local guide took us around in lightning speed and some in the group were really annoyed as this was their first trip to the Louvre and they resented the pace at which we were being rushed through.  When we got to the Mona Lisa, the room was packed and as you got to the front row, you had a minute to admire her before the museum guard started moving people along.  We were glad when the guided tour was over and we could make our own way around to appreciate the artwork before moving along.  We also decided to look for the seated Gudea so that we could see the real version of the replica that we have. Gudea was the ruler of the city state of Lagash and he ruled from 2144-2124 B.C. We were amazed at the huge hall full of mesopotamian history.  One would need weeks to truly appreciate the amazing collection of artwork, but we had to be satisfied with a day’s visit.

Helen

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As indicated previously, Bercy was once a wine trading centre, just east of the city centre.  The previously grim riverside warehouses and slum housing have now been transformed into an ultra-modern zone beside the Seine.  Commercial and administrative buildings dominate the skyline, including the Ministry of Finance Building.  Former wine stores and cellars along Cours St. Emilion have been converted into restaurants, bars and shops with a very village feel to the place.  Being the holiday season, most of the shops were closed.  It must be nicer here in the peak holiday season with the shops open for trade and people milling about.

There is a new metro line right in Bercy Village and Line 14 will take you to the centre of Paris.  Rivertrips are available from the Marina de Bercy.  If you don’t feel like going into town in the cold winter night, it is possible to dine in the village.  There are a number of restaurants to choose from and tonight we decided on the Italian restaurant.  The restaurant was quite packed and the atmostphere was good, but I thought the food lacked punch. 

Helen

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Today’s travel from Lucerne to Paris was a long journey and although we were glad when we finally hit the outer ringroad to Paris, we weren’t too excited about being based in Bercy.  In the 1880’s, Bercy was known as the “cellar of the world” with wine arriving by boat.  Today, it is a bustling commercial center with lots of high-rise office blocks, apartments and hotels like the Sofitel Bercy where we stayed for the next couple of nights.

Tonight we intended to have our traditional moules & frites meal and we established that Ligne 14 from Cour Saint Emilion takes us into town.   We got off near the top of the Champs-Elysees and as we got onto street level we were amazed at the Christmas decorations and street lights.  Paris, city of lights and city of romance, it sure was.  The Champs-Elysees was so absolutely beautiful that lots of people got to the centre isle and started taking shots, not worrying too much about the traffic. 

After the photo-shoot we walked down the street and luckily Tony roughly remembered where Leon-de-Bruxelles was.  There was a large queue waiting to get in and we were a little disheartened.  Luckily, a pleading smile to the waiter and we were beckoned in and shown to our table.  Our moules came in its traditional iron-cast pot with a bowl of chips.  It was delicious.

Helen

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It’s Boxing Day evening and except for a few restaurants, the place was pretty shut.  It’s a pity as there were some interesting shops in the back alleys that I would have liked to explore.  A couple of restaurants were suggested and given the cold weather  a raclette meal at the Fondue House sounded like a good idea.  We walked in and first impression was that the place looked a little kitsch, but when the restaurant manager came around, he was very authoritative and knew exactly what we needed.  He must have learned this technique to avoid tourists dilly dallying over the order and wasting his time!  Anyway, with Swiss precision, the meal started to happen.  The raclette grill was turned on, a basket of French bread and a bowl of boiled vegetables were placed on the table and then the block of cheese was placed under the grill.  As the top of the cheese melted and formed a little crust, you scrape it onto your plate to have with the bread or vegetables.  The cooking cheese smelled heavenly and it was delicious.  The people at the other tables had fondue, but we could see them envying our raclette.

Apparently raclette existed as far back as the Middle Ages.  Shepherds would place half a wheel of cheese by the stove where it would be heated.  As the cheese melted and bubbled they would scrape off the top layer for their meal. The term raclette probably originated from the French word ‘racler’ which is to scrape off.

Well the dinner was enjoyable and up to this day that meal is imprinted in our memory.  Raclette now forms part of our dinner routine, although I’ve yet to acquire the real grill.

Helen

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After lunch we went off to visit Mount Pilatus.  We’ve never been up Pilatus before so this was a new adventure.  There was quite a crowd wanting to go up, so it was handy having someone who knows the scene buy the tickets for us as well as marshall us through to the front of the queue.  The journey to the top is completed in two stages.  Firstly, the panorama gondola takes you from base level to Fräkmüntegg at the foot of the mighty Mount Pilatus.  This trip takes around 30 minutes and as the gondola glided uphill, we were awestruck by the beautiful sight of snow covered pine trees.  At ground level, it was pure white too, except for the occasional ski track where some kids may have been playing. When we got to Fräkmüntegg, many of the younger ones couldn’t wait to get out to touch the snow.  Some used their padded jackets as sleighs to glide down the slopes.  It looked like a lot of fun for them.

The next stage of the trip was by the aerial cableway which takes about five minutes to ferry visitors from the station at Fräkmüntegg up to Pilatus Kulm. It was strange that it was much warmer at 2,132 metres than it was at ground level.  Up at the top, as we had gone past the thick grey clouds, it was sunny and the views were simply stunning.  One of the cafes at the top rented out deckchairs and people were enjoying their little altitude sun-tanning.  What a top experience!

Helen

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Lucerne was already known as the city of bridges back in the Middle Ages and by 1400 it was the only European city to boast of four bridges.  This morning we headed for the Chapel Bridge which was constructed in first half of the 14th century as a part of the city’s fortifications and named after the nearby St. Peter’s Chapel.  Look up towards the roof and you’ll see panels of paintings that were added in the 17th century to illustrate scenes of Swiss and local history, including the biographies of the city’s patron saints, St. Leodegar and St. Maurice.  Next to the bridge is the landmark octagonal Water Tower which was built around 1300 as part of the city wall and used as an archive, treasury, prison and torture chamber. If you’re able to join a guided tour, you’ll be able to learn more about what it was like to be incarcerated in the dungeons of the Water Tower in the Middle Ages and then be led to the gallows.  It was biting cold this morning, but the visit to the Chapel Bridge was certainly worthwhile.

Helen

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Our journey this morning took us from Firenze to Lucerne.  We had our usual morning stop, lunch stop in Switzerland and arrived at Lake Lucerne in the early afternoon to do our lake cruise.  It was grey and foggy and I wondered if there was any point in doing a cruise in this bad weather.  No one else appeared to have shared my whimpy thoughts and the cruise proceeded.   The boat captain reckoned that it was 0ºC on the lake and with the windchill factor it felt much colder.  A few of us decided to brave the cold and stayed on the open deck.  It must be wonderful doing this cruise in warmer weather.

After the cruise, we were happy to be back on the coach to defrost a little.  We were dropped off in the city and by foot we made our way, a little north of Löwenplatz, to visit the famous Lion Monument (Löwendenkmal).  This huge figure of a dying lion, carved out of the rock face, was to commemorate the heroic death of the Swiss Guards (26 officers and over 700 troops) who were killed during the attack on the Tuileries during the French Revolution (1792).

Our hotel in Lucerne was the Hotel Astoria.  Although quite central, it was away from the old town.  It was also very much in renovation mode.  Being Christmas night, we had drinks in the penthouse and Kris Kringle presents were distributed.  Dinner was in-house tonight.  Can’t remember too much about the meal, but I do remember the nice waiter feeling sorry for us and he smuggled in two cups of espressos from the bar.

Helen
 

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