Paris, Je T'aime

Versailles

We went on a coach tour and visited the Palace of Versailles. It was a bit of a boring day. I liked Windsor Castle a lot better. We bought a ticket to go on a train ride through the gardens but we couldn't go on it because we would have missed our bus home : (

There was some pretty cool stuff there but my favourite part was eating an ice cream at the end.

 Versailles was pretty spectacular, those French kings had stacks of money!

 Gold gates with ornate sun symbols. Every home should have them.

Kael on the steps of the palace. He was kinda over palaces and cathedrals by this time. 

Crazy woman

When we got back from Versailles we did a long bus ride on the open top bus which took us around to see all of the sights of Paris as it was getting dark. But before we got on the bus, we went on this bridge where lovers put padlocks with their names on it on the bridge and throw the keys in the water. It is supposed to mean that the will love each other forever. I asked dad what happens if they don't - we both thought it sounded like a pretty silly idea.

When we were walking off the bridge, this old lady leaned down and picked up a gold ring, and asked us if it belonged to us. We said it didn't, and she looked around but then gave it to dad and wished him luck in Paris, then she walked off. We kept walking but a minute later she came back and started asking dad for money to buy a coke. An American woman walked past and said that she'd done the same to her - she was tricking dad for money. There are lots of dodgy people in Paris.

Checking out some of the zillions of padlocks - the city of love! Watch out for the dodgy lady!

Here are some of the sights of Paris from our bus tour:

Saussices, croissants et spaghetti bolognaise

One of the things I promised dad before we left was that I would try lots of new things. I ate some different foods like the sausages and potatoes from the man on the corner, and lots of croissants (they're better in Paris than Canberra). But dad reckons I had spaghetti bolognaise 4 times on this trip (I think I had it only twice). It is good to try new things, but dad did something crazy that I would never do...

Catching up with family, and snails (ewwwww!)

On our last night in Paris we went to a French restaurant with Nana, Darrel, dad's auntie Christine and uncle Phil. It was pretty good. I tried a sausage that was really horrible. Everybody else said it was horrible too. We didn't know but when dad asked it was made of pig's intestines (blleeeuuughhh!). But I still don't think it is as gross as what dad did. L'escargot - SNAILS! I wanted to vomit while I watched him. He said all trip he was going to try them but I didn't really think he would. He reckons they taste like stringy lamb.

Having a laugh with Darrel and Phil at dinner

Le Tour Eiffel la nuit

After dinner we raced off to see the Eiffel Tower lit up, which happens every night at 9pm and midnight. The tower itself looks amazing at night, but I didn't think the lights were all that great. We've attached a video for you to see for yourself (Editor update - this seems to take hours to upload, clearly I'm doing something wrong. I'll keep trying but might be more homework for Australia). It was really great to be there on our last night in Paris.

The view from our vantage point for the light show - It's so big it would be hard to get a bad spot, 

but this one sure was good!

Incroyable!

Adieu Paris, Dag Amsterdam

On Thursday we caught the train to Amsterdam. It is a bit of a strange place. Everybody is nice and speaks English, which is good because we don't know any Dutch at all. The whole city is built on canals, like rivers that run throughout the city. We spent our first afternoon wandering around looking at canals and fountains and eating frits (yummy Dutch chips) and dad drank Dutch beer. Dad likes Dutch beer.

 Having a giggle near the canals - for some reason lots of people giggle in Amsterdam.

For those with a keen eye, check out the old Rasta in the boat behind Kael. That's his home. He sits there in the afternoon drinking beer and consuming other substances, on his boat. He's a happy man, smiles and waves, not a care in the world. Made me contemplate the concept of happiness just a little.  

The ubiquitous canals and bikes. I've got millions of photos of Amsterdam. They all look just like this. 

The Rijksmuseum

We went to a place called the Rijksmuseum, which is a big art gallery but also has lots of cool things to look at. The building is really amazing, the towers look a bit like the ones on the tower bridge. I got a model of the building to make when I get home to Australia. Dad won't let me open it no matter how many times I ask.

The Rijksmuseum was so cool! Before we went, Dad showed me a video of a thing called a flash mob in an Amsterdam shopping mall. They played out this famous painting called The Nightwatch. Here is the link to the youtube video: Nightwatch Flash Mob

When we got to see the real painting, I was really excited. It was awesome! There were a bunch of other great things too, like a giant dutch battleship model and a real aeroplane, and another HUGE painting of the battle of Waterloo. But I think I loved watching an old video of people making radios and loudspeakers and lights most of all. I sat waching it for ages until dad said we had to go.

 The Rijksmuseum. A beautiful place that both of us loved very much

 Kael, gettin' a bit of kulcha into him!

 I used to make model aeroplanes as a kid...this is ridiculous!

 "Hello? Is it the Rijksmuseum your're looking for?"

(Some historical figure called Johann De Witt looks a lot like 80's pop icon Lionel Richie)

There's one of those model planes I built as a kid.

The end of the meal

When we left Dubai, we said that Dubai was the entree of our holiday, and that Paris and London were the main course and Amsterdam was the dessert. Tonight is our last night overseas. We've seen a lot of things, done a lot of walking, and got heaps of photos. I had a great time, and I hope some of you people reading my blog will be able to go overseas too sometime. If you do, have a good trip! But there's no place like home and I can't wait to get home. I'll see you all in Australia very very soon. Mum and Sien I can't wait to see you!

This moment is the spirit of the trip. Makes me laugh and cry. 

Love, Kael (and Pete).