Paris - 21.7.2008

Monday 21.7 - the last day in Paris

We are flying back home to Australia tomorrow.

Paris Plage (Paris Beach)

Every summer Paris creates an artificial beach along the Seine river. There are a lot of umbrellas with little cafes and there are even lounge chairs to sunbake on! There is sand, grass and it is all for free for any one to enjoy. We spent a couple of ours relaxing there.

Next we went to Musee du Moyen Age (Middle Ages) which holds a lot of medieval artifacts.

On Sunday 20.7 we went to Mont Martre which has a beautiful white church on high hill, the church is called Sacre-Coeur. There is a famous artists' market next to the church as well as many cafes and restaurants. You can get famous french crapes everyone.

On Saturday. 19.7 we visited Musee Rodin. Rodin was a very famous French romantic sculptor. Many of his sculptures are placed in the museum house in an extensive garden around the house.

Friday 18.7 - all day visit to Versailles

Versailles is just outside Paris, about 35 minutes from the center of Paris. It was a summer vacation palace for all the French kings and queens. Among them for Louis XV, Louis XIV and Marie-Antoinette. We walked around the palace and through the gardens and had a look at all the ponds. There was even a sort of maze that led you into an outdoor cafe! 

Paris - 17.7.2008

A day trip to Paris Disney Land!

This time it was only my sister, my dad and me becouse as you could imagine my mum would not like to go for such intense rides as the ones in in Disney Land.

First, we went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride just to warm up! It was a raft in a long cave with pirates all along the sides! It was rather mild with some thrills.

Next, was Indiana Jones. Scary rating 3/3. It was pretty scary. Big headache after the ride.

Next, relax over lunch at a very fakey Rodeo Camp-out BBQ with live american western country style music - quite an experience in Paris.

Next, with full stomachs, Space Mountain, an underground roller-coster. Rating 3/3. Extremely scary!

Next, Big Thunder Mountain, western roller-coster. An artificial island made out of cement. Under water and all around the island. Rating 2/3 - mild and comfortable.

Next, Big Tree House - La Cabane des Robinson - Robinson's Cabin. An enormous tree with many levels with cabins. Almost like the Faraway Tree. Very well made up!

Finally, to top all the excitement, an amazing parade of all Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Beauty and the Beast and many more.

We went home on the Metro. It was a very log day and a very late night.

Paris - 16.7.2008

The first thing we did was to head off on the metro to the Marie Curie-Skłodowska museum. Marie Skłodowska was the first person to discover and experiment with radioactivity! She was a Polish women who married a French scientist, whom she met at the University of Sorbone, Paris.

We went to have a look at the laboratory where she performed her experiments and where her office was! After visiting the museum we went for some relaxing time to the Jardin Du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens) which is a big park with a big pond in the middle.

Next, it was time for my mum to have some fun shopping at the Galleries Lafayuette shopping center. This is the biggest ad one of the oldest shopping centers in Paris and it is full of a wide range of fashion!

Paris - 14.7.2008

14th of July is a special day for all the Frech people. It is the Bastille Day. That day some 200 years ago, Paris famous bastion, castle and the prison was destroyed.

The Bastille was a fortress and a prison in Paris stormed by the people of Paris on 14 July 1789 with all prisoners set free. It was the beginning of the French Revolution. It is celebrated every year as the French national holiday and it is known in English as Bastille Day. Bastille is a French word meaning "castle", "stronghold" or "bastion"; la Bastille in French, the Bastille in English refers to the prison.

In the morning there was a large army parade along the Chanse Elisee starting at the Arc de Triumf. After waching the parade in a very crowdy streets we search for some peace in the Pompidou Centre, a galery of Modern Arts. It was full of unique looking sculptures and paintings.

Late in the evening there was a concert at Champ de Mars, in front of the Tour Eiffel with contemporary French artists performing in the open air. It finished with spectacular fire works above the Eiffel Tour, the size and beauty I have never seen before. It all finished very late, around midnight but fortunately we were only about 10 minutes walk from our apartment.

Paris - 13.7.2008

Local street market

This is our first real day in Paris as we came in very late in the afternoon the day before and were very tired. After we got up we had breakfast in the apartment and we went to the market which is held twice a week, every Sunday and Wednesday, right outside our apartment block.

Notre Dame, the Paris Cathedral

The market is held underneth the Metro system which runs elevated on the bridge above the boulevard! We come back to the apartment with various good from the market and after a short rest head off to the Notre Dame, the Paris Cathedral. Before we enter the church we visit the foundations underneath.

We found out that some 10-15 centuries ago the whole square where the Notre Dame stands today, had once been another city. We later climb up a very narrow, stone stair case up to the top of Notre Dame's Tower. The climb was very exiting and the view was exquisite.

Finally we cought the Metro back home.

Kraków - 10.7.2008

River ride on a light raft (Spływ Dunajcem)

Pigeons  

Meet my Cousin

Kraków - 9.7.2008

Just arrived at my grandpa's big house in Krakow and my sister and i went to see his two dogs because apparently one of his dogs he has is the same breed as ours.

After we settled in, we went to the city square market were you can buy bird seeds and the pigeons that live there will come and eat from your hand! There are many bird around you. In fact, there are so many that you can hardly move in the crowd of birds!

In the town square there are very old buildings called the Sukienice in Polish and they are the markets that I previously spoke about. They sell mostly Polish items including hand caved wooden boxes and replicated wooden guns.

At the top there are a few pictures of Krakow!