Yesterday 88'F

It was the hottest day of the year, at least in my back garden it was.

France, before the memory fades.

I/we loved it!! Paris must be the tourist capital of the world it is a beautiful city.
I have never seen so many people doing nothing in my life. Thousands just sitting watching thousands milling about, strolling from place to place in no great hurry to get there.
So many people queuing with happy smiling faces.
We had a great adventure, yes France is a foreign country very few speak English, lots do speak
a leetle and that's it, I speak no French at all.
Saturday morning our plan was to take the train into Paris, I had been on google maps and found the station which was pretty close to the hotel really, only a few hundred yards away.
No one in the ticket office on the station could speak any English not even a leetle, but with hand gestures and point at the maps we finished up with two return tickets to Paris.
Once we were there another story starts.
We got off the train went up the escalator and found ourselves in a massive shopping mall, we walked from one end to the other trying to find the way out, no way.
We went up another escalator, another mall same again end to end no exit!
So we went up to someone in uniform, do you speak English? a leetle was the reply, could you tell us how to get out of here? I weel take you, so up two more escalators and we reached day light. The whole mall was underground I thought we were going to finish up on a rooftop car park. The guy in the photo is the one that rescued us from the mall.
I must say that when ever we asked anyone for help they would bend over backward to give it,
it was heart warming, the language barrier was no barrier.
On the return journey a young French girl saw that we were confused as to where the rail station was, we were actually walking on the road parallel to the road we should have been on,
so she took us all the way to the station like lost children.
The next day Sunday we were off to Versailles, this involved four train rides and a bus ride.
I don't know why I didn't do it yesterday but some months ago I bought a 4-language translator
Lexibook. Today I went armed with it, it has preset phrases, found the ones I needed press
the France button, no language barrier now!
We finished up with two all day runaround rail tickets a real bargain, freedom.
On yesterdays blog I've put photo links to all the places we visited. We have stories for each.
At the end of the two days we were Parisian, people were asking us the way.
We saw a lot of Paris the buildings, walked a lot of ground. The next time we go we will go in the Louvre we shall have the time to do it. I might even go in the Palace at Versailles both places take up the best part of a day to see at a leisurely pace. The one thing to be sure is
we will go again.
Two words of French I'll never forget sortie and gare.

Two days in Paris.

After 13 hours we arrived in Paris.
Just look on it as a sight seeing trip all the way from start to finish.

A week ago today we were strolling in the grounds of Versailles, cruising on the Seine, then to top it off up the Eiffel Tower we went.
A week ago yesterday we went in the most beautiful of churches, then the drabbest of Cathedrals Notre-Dame, then strolled in the grounds of the Louvre finishing off with a walk on the banks of the Seine. Paris is not a disappointment it is the most beautiful city I have seen.
Click on the links below for photos >
Saint Eustache church.share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMOm
A walk to Notre Dame.share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMK2
Notre Dameshare.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMLQ
A stroll to the Louvre.share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMLy
The Louvreshare.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMMM/
A stroll along the Seine. share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMPA
The EiffelTower second floor.share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMNI/AA4A2D32102C?source=pw980
Back to earth.share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMNq
Versailles the forecourtshare.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMMu
Versailles the gardens share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMRe
Back to Paris. share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMOE
A cruise on the Seine.share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMKU
Our Hotel room. share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMQa

Another late deal.

Tomorrow we're off to Paris by coach. We jump on the bus at Rotherham Bus Station at 6-30am
and get off at the hotel in Paris ?pm. Saturday and Sunday at leisure returning Monday.

Rotherham salutes returning troops. 3-8-09

After being given the freedom of the Borough the Yorkshire Regiment
exercised their right to march through the town with fixed bayonets.

The troops have just returned from a tour of duty in Iraq.
They were given a rousing welcome from all around the Town.
They did their duty and deserve respect, they got it!
The Iraq war was and is a very unpopular war. The government of the time went against the will of the people and started a bloody conflict. Time will tell.