Day 1 - Paris

So my journey started at St Pancras International Station where I was to meet my fellow Kumuka travellers at 7:45am. This meant that I had to get up at 5:30am! Didn't really matter as I had hardly slept due to being so nervous about the whole trip. Had I packed enough? Had I packed too much? Did I pack all the essentials? Was I going to make any friends? etc. I couldn't back out now so I said my goodbyes to Audrey, Jake and Jake's dad and I was on my way.

I was so nervous when I arrived at the station. I was one of the earliest there which meant I could observe and sus out everyone as they turned up. The group consisted majority of Australians, with a small group of New Zealanders and one token English guy. About half were couples or travelling in pairs and the rest were solo travellers like myself. Straight away you could pick out those who had the 'loud' personalities but friendly, those who werent loud or shy and introduced themselves to others straight away and those who were unsure about the whole situation and kept to themselves, which was me :)

I eventually got the courage to introduce myself to two girls, Janelle and Bec. We got talking while waiting to board the Eurostar but were later separated due to allocated seating on the train. It was good though as it forced me to meet other people. The train ride went by so quickly and before we knew it, we were on Parisian turf! The train travelled so fast and you only realised how fast it was actually going when you tried to walk to the toilet or get something to eat from the food carriage.

Two hours later and we were in Paris!

Our hotel was in a town called Bercy. It was slightly out of the city center but we were close to the Metro which made it easier to get around.

"Toto, we're not in London anymore!" :)

It took a while to sink in that we were no longer in London or an English speaking country.

Our first hotel. I did have the intentions of taking a photo of all the hotels we stayed out but I got slack. :)

My room for the night.

We also met our roomies that we were to share with for the entire trip. I shared my room with a girl called Lauren. First impressions, she seemed quiet. Not very talkative and shy. I thought I was shy but she was worse! I was a little bit worried sharing with her as when I tried to make conversation, she didn't seem interested. But it did get better and I couldnt have asked for a better roomie :) (photo to come later)

My first view of the Eiffel Tower :)

After we had freshened up at the hotel, we took a tour around the city where our tour guide pointed out key attractions we could visit the next day.

The first sighting, but definitely not the last, of the 'Bling Bling Boys'. These people were all over Paris trying to sell you cheap souviniers illegally. How do you know its illegal? Just watch what happens when police come into sighting - poof! They've all suddenly disappeared! :P

Our transportation vehicle :)

The man behind the wheel :)

Coco - no, it's not his real name. I never actually found out how he got that nickname.

I'm fascinated with the different pedestrian crossing buttons. Every city seemed to have a different one. Can you guess where the button to activate it is?
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Give up?
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At the bottom :) And when you pressed it, it would talk to you, in french that is. We couldn't really understand it but I think it was giving you safety instructions when crossing the road :)

There's a storm brewing :)

I can't actually remember the name or what the significance of this building was. If anyone knows, please let me know :)

Up close.

You don't realise how big the tower is until you're standing only a few metres away from it. I'd have to say I prefer looking at the Eiffel Tower from far away.

Up closer :)

Men, and women, in uniform constantly patrolled the bottom of the Eiffel Tower.

First restaurant of the tour and in Paris.

(Again, I had good intentions to take photos of all the places we ate on tour. But didnt happen.)

Group photo.

When you ordered wine it was served in this cute little jug. So I ordered some.

:)

Ok, no, not really. I just had apple juice in a wine glass. :P

My starter - melon salad

All the meals included on the tour were a 3 course meal. Sometimes I felt that's all we did on tour. Ate! hehe But it balanced out from all the walking we did everyday!

Main - Steak and potatoes

This was very yummy! The steak was cooked to perfection! :)

Dessert - Apple Tart

Delicious!

Dinner was followed by a river cruise down the Siene. One of my favourite experiences of the tour as not only was it magical sailing down the river and admiring Paris at night, but it was the beginning of amazing friendships :)

As the boat sailed along the river, it had powerful bright lights projecting from the sides which lit up buildings as we passed them. I thought this was a fantastic creation, making it so much easier to see buildings that weren't so lit up by themselves.

We passed under many bridges which became quite annoying towards the end. Somebody started the idea of when we were to pass under a bridge, we would make an 'oooo' or 'ahhh' sound that echoed as we passed. This was amusing at first and somewhat funny listening to the asian and european tourists enthusiastically participating. But after the 6th or 7th time, it just got annoying! lol

"ooooooooooooooooooooooo...!"

My favourite way of seeing the tower - at night when it's all lit up! :)

I'm sad I didn't get a shot of the tower when it was 'sparkling' with lights :( It was so pretty!

My beautiful friends:

Bec, 22, and Dale, 26 (Perth, WA)

These two lovely people were the couple in our small group. What I loved about them was that they put up with us the whole trip and not once complained about the lack of quality time they had together. Bec made me laugh so much with things she said and did in her ditzy moments. We shared many lame but fun times together. Dale entertained me with his cool dance moves (big fish, little fish, cardboard box) and amazed me with his knowledge of cartoon shows and theme songs! Such a big kid :)

Phil, 30, (Sydney, NSW) and Mark, 26 (Brisbane, QLD)
My two boys who were lost without each other when apart. lol. Solo travellers like me, they became friends at the beginning of the trip and then Bec, Janelle and I adopted them into our group :) Phil was the photographer of the group lugging around his 1kg SLR camera everywhere. He has a very high metabolism when you look at how skinny he is and the amount of food he eats! He was constantly thinking of where and what to eat! Mark was like a big kid. The clown of the group :) Later on you'll see his hobby of photo bombing (spoiling perfectly good photos with funny faces or getting in on photos he's not meant to be part of!) :P He definitely kept us entertained with his lame jokes and witty remarks.

My girls: Janelle, me, Bec

Janelle, 21 (Gold Coast, QLD)

The baby of the whole tour group yet the most mature and most organised 21 year old I've ever met! She looked after me well, even though it should have been the other way around. When I felt unwell, she checked up on me. When I was tired of socialising, she kept me company. When I was tipsy, she made sure I got to my room safely. She had a Mary Poppins bag where whatever you needed, she had it. Each city she had a plan of what she wanted to do and see. It was great having her part of the group.

One of the few 'normal' photos with Mark :)

From Paris to Rome in 13 days

I'm back! :)

I have just been on a 13 day tour of France, Switzerland and Italy with a tour company called Kumuka. 31 Aussies, 2 Kiwis and 1 token Pomm. How was it? Well, let's just say it definitely makes it into the category of been one of the best times of my life!

Now, updates and photos will be up soon but I ask for your patience. It will take me a while to post an entry for each city I visited but I promise to do my best and hopefully get it done before I go back to work. In the meantime, a quick snapshot of the cities I visited in order:

From London, England...

...to Paris, France...



...to Interlaken, Switzerland...



...to Annecy, France...


...to Monaco, France...



...to Nice, France...


...to Pisa, Italy...

...to Florence, Italy...

to Rome, Italy, where sadly my travels ended.

I saw breathtaking scenery, met some of the most amazing people (who I miss dearly) and experienced the most fun I've had since leaving Melbourne!

Edinburgh Castle

One of the 'must-see' and 'most visited' attractions in Edinburgh - approximately over 1 million people visit it each year. Now I can be included in that count :)

The Scottish National War Memorial - for the Scots who died in both World Wars.

It has scenes from the First World War in stone and stained glass as well as all the names listed in the Rolls of Honours.

Clock Tower: where the Scottish Crown Jewels live

The Great Hall: these two men played two characters from the Military Police (Blackwatch). They reenacted and explained their roles, how they were trained and crimes and punishment that occured in the army.

One section you could visit was called the 'Prisons of War'. A staircase that led underground to where prisoners were held at the castle during the 18th and 19th century.

Which way?

I thought this was cute. A small garden used as a burial ground for officers' dogs. It's one of two dog cemetery in Scotland.

View of Edinburgh from the castle.

( It was very windy that day hence my hair flying everywhere.)

St Margaret's Chapel - the oldest building in Edinburgh.

People still use this chapel to get married though you wouldn't be able to invite many people as it is tiny!

See below :)

Another attraction in Edinburgh is the Military Tattoo. Military Tattoo originally meant military drum performance. It was used to let the soilders who were out drinking at the end of the day know that it was time to come back to the barracks to get some shut eye. The process was known as 'doe den tap toe' - 'turn off the taps' - an instruction for the innkeepers to stop serving beer and send the soilders home for the night. So that's how it got its name: 'tap toe (dutch)= taptoo = tattoo'.

Held just out the front of Edinburgh castle, it caters for 9000 people.

Unfortunately I was unable to get tickets for the nights I was there.