Sacre Coeur.  Yesterday, our day did not start off very well but somehow it transformed itself into one of our best days here in Paris.  We are walkers and thus far we have managed to walk to every place we have visited.  Yesterday though, we wanted to visit Sacre Coeur and it’s way too far to walk so it was our first experience with the Paris Metro system.

Parisian life. We’ve been in Paris for nine days now. I think we’re finally getting the lay of the land and figuring out how best to fit in.  Yesterday, we took our first day trip out of the city and managed to get on the right train without getting lost.  We only had to ask for help twice.  I would like to “lift the lid” off of the city and see the whole underground world known as the metro/RER system.

The Electronic Pickpocket.  You know how when you’re getting ready to travel everyone has an opinion; a word to the wise tidbit for you?  Mostly, you tend to smile, nod your head and feign interest in what they’re saying.  Today, I was given a tidbit that was awesome, something I had never thought about but will definitely do before we leave for Paris.  But before we get to the tidbit…

I googled the phrase, “How cold is it in Paris in the winter” and I am baffled by the number of different opinions out there.  But, before we get to the answer, how did we get along before we could use the word, Google, as a verb?  Remember encyclopedias?

October 8 & 9, 2004 – Abi and I rented a car and quickly learned to drive on the “wrong” side of the road.  Actually, it wasn’t the driving that was the hard part, it was turning on the blinker when you wanted the windshield wiper!  Everything is opposite of what you know, that’s the challenge!  Oh, and driving round-abouts when you’re on the wrong side of the road, those are tough.  We drove our rental to the Tongariro National Park, the land of the Lord of the Rings.

October 6, ‘2004 – Abi and I said farewell to Australia and boarded our flight to Auckland, New Zealand.  We arrived in the early evening and took a cab to our hotel, and when I say cab I mean a mini-van with a trailer attached which holds all of the luggage and you kind of hope your luggage doesn’t get unloaded at the wrong stop.

October 4, ‘2004 – We said good-bye to Dustin as he winged back to Melbourne, the night before Abi and I took a full day tour of the local wine country.

October 2, ‘2004 – After a 2 1/2 hour delay out of Melbourne, due to nasty weather in Sydney, our flight took off and the three of us bumpity, bump, bumped our way to Sydney; arriving to torrential rains.  Sydney is an awesome city, very cosmopolitan.  So much to see, so much to do.

The Great Ocean Road.  Gary, our guide for the day, along with his young son, Jamie, took us on a 12-hour drive. We experienced the beautiful coastline, The Twelve Apostles, kangaroos hanging out on a golf course fairway and Koala Bears in their natural environment.

Melbourne, Australia. In the fall of 2004, our son was an exchange student at the University of Melbourne for a semester. It was during his junior year at Georgetown University.  Of course, we had to go visit and help him celebrate his 21st birthday, right?