From London to Paris, and on to Lauterbrunnen

Hey Guys and Gals,

On thursday night we stayed at the Globetrotter hostel, which is where our trip was departing from on friday morning. We had a pre departure meeting and met up with some of the other people on our trip, as well as our tour leader Robbie (he is an aussie....no surprises there). After some dinner and a few drinks we retired to our room, which was a massive improvement on previous hostel experiences. The next morning we awoke at 5.30am, and boarded the coach to Dover to catch the ferry over to Calais. After a (slight) delay in the arrival of our vessel, we set off and only 90 mins later we were on French soil. Our driver Jimmy then set course for Paris, our first destination. Thanks to our delay in Dover we got a first hand introduction to peak hour traffic on a friday night in Paris, and we were rather late getting to our campsite. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as by the time we had set up camp, had dinner, and were ready to head off for our city tour, the sun had gone down and we were able to appreciate why they call Paris the city of lights!!

After our first night in our tent we headed off for a free day to explore Paris. We started at the Notre Dame Cathedral, and there was some kind of service being held, so while we couldnt go in, we were treated to a heck of a show with religious figures in their robes, and a massive choir belting out some tunes. From there it was off to the Louvre, we had been told that we should expect massive lines...but we waltzed in like we had a VIP pass and got to looking. It wasnt tough to find the Mona Lisa...you just had to follow the crowds. We would have loved to take a photo of this historic piece, but sadly, unlike the numerous Japanese tourists around us, we obeyed the rules that stated no photos.... bugger!! Once we had checked out the Venus de Milo, we strolled around for another couple of hours, found works by ALL the Ninja Turtles, and made our way to the exit, where we enjoyed our packed lunch by the fountain.

After that we headed up to the Opera House, Im pretty sure that its not actually called that...but the name escapes me at the moment. We has seen this place on the city tour the night before, and we just had to check it out again.... we were just as impressed the second time around!!

From there it was off for a stroll up the famous Champs de Elysee, where all the fancy shops are.... of course our budget didnt extend much past a sneaky ice cream on the side of the road, but its the thought that counts right?? At the top was the uber impressive Arc de Triumph, surrounded by the craziest roundabout known to man.... 12 roads entering it, no lane markings, and the people already on the thing are required to give way to those trying to get on.... why you would EVER go through there is beyond us.... the thing is so dangerous that your insurance is not valid while you are using it!! We had been advised by Robbie that there is on average an accident every 14 minutes, so we parked our butts on a seat, had our afternoon tea, and waited for 14 minutes to see if we could see any fireworks..... sadly although we saw many close calls (including some maniac that thought it would be a good idea to ride his PUSH BIKE through there) everyone made it through unscathed.

After a small detour to check out Napoleans tomb, we headed for the Eiffel Tower....even though we had been walking all day and could barely feel our legs.... we for some reason thought it would be a good idea to climb up instead of using the lifts. We did (surprisingly) make it, and spent the next hour snapping photos in a fashion that even the most avid asian tourist would have been proud of!!!

Once we were done we headed down, which you would think would be easier...but its not!! We were due in the park under the tower for a champagne picnic of epic proportions. There was bubbly, seafood by the truckload, and not to be forgotten.... ESCARGO!!! We both fulfilled our civic duty and tried a snail.... edible, but a second helping was not required.

Once were suitably wobbly on champers, it was off to the Seine River for our evening cruise.

Did you know?

There is a scaled down version of the statue of liberty in Paris....its true!!

The good news was that Jimmy had smuggled another dozen bottles of Champers onto the boat, and was selling them for 5 euros a bottle!!! Arnoux and I thought it would be rude not to take him up on his offer, and the night went along rosily from there!!

The next morning, after breakfast, we packed up our tent and boarded the coach for the drive to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. The campsite is the most amazing place, surrounded in all directions by the mountains of the swiss alps, and they have a stream outside the bar where the water (that is coming straight down from the mountains above) is so cold that you can put your beer in there to keep it cool until you are ready to consume it!! We took advantage of this nifty little trick.... and all was well!!

We woke up this morning and after breakfast we headed off to the town centre to hire ourselves a couple of mountain bikes for the day. A couple from Mackay in Australia joined us, and we set off through the hills. Not even the occasional rain shower could detract from the beauty of the place!! We finally found a sign pointing to Interlaken, and that is where we are now. We are going to go and check out the lake on the edge of the town, then hopefully head up to the water falls in the surrounding area.

Did you know?

The Swiss invented the internet.... and velcro!!

So that is about it for now, we are off to enjoy the bikes before we have to take them back.

I just want to say a slightly belated HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY to Gee!!! Happy birthday buddy, hope you had a great day!!!