29 June 2012

Here I am in Paris on the Pont AlexandreIII, and it is a lovely day. Not too hot or cold, I certainly did not need the coat I carried. There was a brief shower as we were about to leave our hotel so we took the coats just in case. We walked from our hotel to the Place de la Conorde, crossed the river and then followed it along to the Eiffel Tower. Then crossed over another bridge and walked the other side back to where we started. Then we walked into the gardens in front of the Louvre, but there was such a crowd there waiting to get in we decided to try early tomorrow. We went to lunch instead and had a lovely meal of duck and potatoes.

28th June 2012

Tonight we are in Paris. For a while I wondered if we would be. We were due to fly out of Dublin this morning just before midday, but it was 1pm before we left. We arrived at 2.35 Dublin time, but it was 3.35 in Paris. We were able to find our driver to be taken to our hotel, and what a shock. If we thought the traffic in Ireland was bad, they have nothing on these people! And it was hot too.

Tomorrow we are going to walk from the hotel to the Eiffel Tower, I have googled it and it is 3.7kms so that is not too bad.

The first photo is a squirrel in Hyde Park, I know that was weeks ago but it is cute.

The second photo is taken at the top of the Blarney Castle, and no I didn't kiss the stone. It was bad enough being that high up without going closer to the edge.

Tuesday 19th June
Today we have spent in the north of Ireland. We visited the Giant's Causeway, walking the long sloping road down to sea level, then back up the path up the hill followed by the 162 steps of the Shepard's path back to the cliff tops. Some really spectacular views of the coast, we could see Scotland from the top. We could not have asked for better weather. Like yesterday when we came over on the ferry from Scotland, the sea was as calm as it was possible to be. I could see the reflections of the cliffs on the sea.

After the Giants Causeway we went to Bushmills and visited the whiskey distillery of the same name. It is the oldest distillery in Ireland, celebrating their 400th year in 2008. After the tour we were given a choice of drinks to try. I do not think I will take up drinking whiskey any time soon.

Late this afternoon we drove the coastal road, and visited some of the beaches, seeing the chalk cliffs and several lime kilns from times past. There is so much flint on the beaches here but very few sea shells.

Today is Monday the 18th June, and I am sitting in the first class lounge of a Stena Line ship going from Cairnryan in Scotland to Belfast in Ireland. We have finished 5 weeks in England and Scotland touring around. It has been an experience with all the roundabouts, some of which we went round three times before finding the right exit! Still it has been worth it to see the history of the area, and to walk through the old oak forests, which we did a couple of days ago. Today we hope to see the Titanic exhibition when we arrive in Belfast, and then we will be off north to see the Giants Causeway. After that who knows?

4th June Monday.
It is the Queen's diamond jubilee weekend here, and a four day weekend (Saturday to Tuesday) Yesterday we saw the end of her flotilla on the Thames live on the TV. It was so cold and wet that we elected to spend the afternoon at the B&B we are staying at.

Today is fine and sunny again, although they are saying it won't last. We went to the safari park at Bewdley today, arrived early and parked the car with ease. Then took the tour bus around the park to see the animals roaming free, and didn't have to join the procession of cars doing the rounds. The minibus was on the grass to the side of the cars and we got a commentary too. This afternoon we returned to Stourport-on-Severn for a late lunch, then walked along the river path almost back to Bewdley. It has been a good day.