No Erik, phantom of the Opera, Marie-Antoinette or Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame

Having strolled around the Opera House and La Fayette we caught another bus to the island where Notre Dame is located.  As we alighted the bus DH saw the entrance to the Conciergerie, the former medieval palace and revolutionary prison. So feeling fresh and energetic we went in to check out another historic landmark. This was the prison and tribunal area where Marie Antoinette had been held prior to being executed. There is the cell which had held her during those times, as well as other cells which had held other revolutionary prisoners. We entered into the Conciergerie through the huge banqueting hall, with its massive fire places and arched  ceilings. You could imagine the noise, smell and sight of massive long tables laden with cooked carcasses, jugs of wine or beer, maybe plates of fruit, all surrounded by running children, dogs and adults jostling to get their fill of food or the heard.

Up and down spiral staircases, through open barred doorways, we walked through the prison areas.  Gee I am glad we didn't live through these times.

The great hall in the Conciergerie.

One of the fireplaces.

Marie-Antoinette's prison cell

Various keys and locks used.

Paris, our three night stay

As we had stayed in the Concorde Montparnasse Hotel last year and as it is just around the corner from the railway station, Gare Montparnasse, and also just a 100 metre walk from where the Air France shuttle bus from the airport terminates, we had decided to spend our three night stay here. It is a comfort to see familar landmarks as we again make our way around Paris. I am very chuffed to have sucessfully negotiated the bus transport system to explore Paris. It had cost two Euro each to catch a bus to go to La Fayette Department Store, Opera House, Notre Dame. By the time we had explored these wonderful sights we were ready to catch a taxi back to our hotel. Poor DH was exhusted and as he explained later on, he was ready plonk himself down in the gutter and tell me to get a 'f....n taxi'! I laugh now but fortunately it wasn't long before we were in a taxi on the way back to our hotel and the mood had passed.

Geting used to the time differnce here in France is still a process. We are in bed by 6pm, too tired to eat the salads I had purchased from the little supermarket from across the road, only to wake up 'bright eyed and bushy tailed' to eat our dinner at 4.30am!

Paul in the beautiful domed La Fayette department store.

Both us in the Great Hall in the Opera House

Great adventure and accomplishment to get our own way around.

Departure for our European River Cruises Adventure

After a stop/start preparation to our departure, we finally had our bags packed ready to catch our Cathy Pacific flight on Anzac Day. Much to our disappointment, our travel itinerary made it impossible for us to attend the Anzac Day Dawn Service we usually go to every year. However we still paused to reflect on those who have gone before and those still serving.

As we are always concerned about the long flying hours needed to arrive in Europe, we decided to fly Premium Economy. Business Class is now out of our financial choice.   To fly on Cathy Pacific we had to stop over in Hong Kong, for a 10 hour delay before connecting onto the second flight to Paris. What does one do in a 10 hour stop over when you were up, out of bed at 3.15am and it is now 2pm? Some have gone into the lounge at the airport but we decided to book into the Novotel, Sea Gate to have a couple of hours kip, shower and bite to eat. Not that we were hungry after having eaten the two meals offered to us on the plane.

The maze of escalators, walkways and shuttle trains and buses made our navigation through the airport tricky but we managed. The airport caters well for the numerous flights in and out of Hong Kong, a vase difference from our 'little' Adelaide airport.

Views from our Novotel, Sea Gate hotel room

Prague to Adelaide

We flew from Prague to Heathrow in economy which worked out to be less onerous than I had expected. Transit through the terminals in Heathrow proved to be a long distance foot race to get to our departure gate but we got there with only a couple minutes to spare, a shame as we missed out on Business Class Departure Lounge treats. We did not despair as we were soon on the plane sipping Singapore Slings! Yeh....Business Class..what a treat! Only problem is the cost, but for this long haul we considered the fact I had won the holiday, so we were in a position to upgrade.

After spending a comfortable overnight flight we arrived in Singapore ready and fresh for our overnight stay. Whilst we were in Singapore we caught up with two lovely couples we had travelled with us from Paris to Prague. They too were breaking their return flight. Unfortunately our stay in Singapore was marred by the smoke haze which had blown across from forest burn-offs in Java. We both had head colds, but DH decided to stay indoors in the airconditioning to help avoid the smoke.

Our economy flight back from Singapore left around midnight, landing in Adelaide in the morning. After our last flight, this was a real reality check for us. I can never sleep on our international flights however if there is a plus, I get to catch-up on the latest movies.

The head colds we caught on the river ship lingered a couple of weeks after arriving home. It is a real curse for travellers, adding jet lag compounds our lethagy.

What a fantastic holiday we had, even taking into account our head colds. The lovely travelling companions we met made our holiday even more special. It is a pity we all live so far away from each other, it's just not fair! Even the stranded river ship didn't discourage our holiday.

Our Business Class seats in the up-right position.

Plenty of leg room

Dinner table set with cloth, salt and pepper shakers, bread and butter plates, butter dish and cutlery. This is my entree of crab and prawn.

Seats are made up for sleeping, lights are dimmed, time for zzzz.