May 10, 2006 - On to Paris!

We returned the rental car in Tours without a problem, and the next TGV (high speed train) heading to Paris was just 15 minutes away - perfect timing! The trip between Tours and Paris by car was over 2 hours, but by taking the high-speed train, we were able to make it in just under an hour. Sweet! We checked into our hotel, near la place de la Madeleine (a church modeled after a Greek temple), then set off to accomplish our main objective for our visit to Paris: go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Anything else besides the Eiffel tower was...

May 1, 2006 - Spring in Paris

So Paris is exciting! The first night we got here we stayed in the non-touristy 10e quarter in a hotel. It was a Saturday night and nothing was available - the hotel room didnt have a shower - it cost 4 euro extra! The keyboards in France are extremely different so this update is hard to do - so ignore the typos. on the first night I met a guy named Leigh from Calgary and he is travelling with us for a bit - he has no real plans so it is easier for hi, to start his vacation zith us and get to know Europe faster. Yesterday in Paris it...

May 1, 2006 - Paris, France

WARNING - back to French keyboards, Q may mean A, Z may mean W and , could stand for M After some worrying moments being the only ones at the bus stop at 5:45 and realising it was the May Day public holiday our bus did make and we got a lovely scenic trip through the Pyrenees. The snow fields looked excellent if anyone is ever over this way during winter. We then got a bus-train-train and twelve hours later we were in Paris. Our joy was soon overcome by a realisation that despite only being within metres of the Sacre Cçèr were were staying...

Apr 24, 2006 - Bonjour (Hello) Paris

Hello Paris! We took the nite train to get here and I had my first sleeper car experience. And it was not very good. The room was almost unbearably hot. Since Manny and I were in a room with 2 other guys it was not easy to just get up and just cool the place down...and we did not even know how to do it anyway...or if it was even possible. The good thing was that the train arrived into the station only 5 minutes late - pretty good for a 12 hour train ride. Those first 5 lines took forever to write..the keyboards in France are worse than any...

Apr 24, 2006 - sun glasses

Well our last morning of breakfast Dutch style- though we did take some uppa flappa for the train ride. first train out of holland was to Bruxelles, about 3 hours and then straight onto a TGV to Paris. the trains were great and simply as to use except i left my sunglasses on the last TGV, i lost my last pair in Dubai- grrrrrr. hit paris and started using my newly acquired french tentatively, half the people i speak to reply in english, oh well the other half think im french for the first few exchanges anyway. the train ride to our paris...

Apr 23, 2006 - Outtakes, B-Sides and Post-Trip Wrap-Up

Last Chance to See Shanhaiguan Mike Hamn Fast Food There are moments when working on a China guidebook is reminiscent of racing Formula 1 cars on foot. You just can't keep up - especially when changes involve, say, flattening an entire town (this time around it was Shanhaiguan). Okay, maybe not the entire town - the city walls are still there at least. But inside the walls? FYI, there's lots of rubble at present. The word on the street is that developers paid a certain county governor some additional cash to get the wrecking ball...