We bid farewell to Paris, enjoying it so for all it had to offer.  Leaving with positive memories, friendships continued & some re-established.  Longing for the next visit. 

Bad photo of Great Apartment

Gare du Nord

It is worth noting that the Uno World Championship was continued on the return leg with me having a 3 game lead.  The X-man handed me my arse on a platter and was the eventual winner 30 games to 22.  I hearby hand over my title to the great man.

Out

Today we explored Paris a little further, however, it was around the local area we were staying in.  In fact, it was more a meander through the streets (and shops for the princess) working towards, probably my favourite place in Paris, Place des Vosges.  The Place des Vosges is the oldest square in Paris. It is located in le Marais, and is part of the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of Paris.  It is a square park with exact dimensions of 140m x 140m and is surrounded by buildings that are all identical.  Underneath all the buildings are arcades with arches.  Hard to describe but beautiful.  I was here last time we were in Paris and was so impressed that I lobbied the Laurimar crew to build something along these lines.  Unfortunately I was shot down in flames, something along the lines that this is a development in the middle of the suburbs of Melbourne not bloody Paris.  Their loss.  Place des Vosges is where Victor Hugo (author of Les Miserables & Hunchback of Notre-Dame) lived from 1832 – 1848.

Arcades

Architecture

Boys in the Place des Vosges

After finishing walking around the area we went and had lunch in a nearby cafe with the boys.  Then the moment came where my Princess was going to get to spend some time with her friend.  E lived just off the Champs-Élysées in a kick arse apartment.  It turns out his partner has rented this apartment for 15 years.  It is part of an estate that was left in trust and the laws of Paris prevent these properties from making a profit.  It was probably 200m2 which is enormous for Parisian standards and due to the laws very cheap rent.  Something that you would never let go of it you were fortunate enough to rent it.  It is really the luck of the draw because the first you know of the status of ownership is when you sign the rental contract.    

We quickly met with them and went and had a coffee in a park at the base of the Eifel Tower.  They had a son who was 9 and mad on soccer, so the X-man & he kicked the ball for hours.  

Photo at the park

We then returned to their apartment for a early dinner, which was Unique in itself.  We had ourselves an old fashioned Parisian BBQ.  Once ashes were established in went the tin foil wrapped spuds into the fire.  A little later on E came out with a tray of marinated steak and then proceded to cook the steak in the fireplace on a grill.  It was outstanding.  So 3 or maybe 4 bottles of wine later, the early 5pm dinner ended up finishing around 11.  The only reason it finished was they were heading off to the families farm that night an hour away.  Don’t worry, E’s partner was not drinking that much. 

Me on the couch (this room had 3 massive mirrors like the one behind me)

E tending to his Parisian BBQ

They drove us back to the apartment.  It felt strange to be driving past some of the most amazing sites in the world and then all of a sudden E would nonchalantly call out  “Oh this is the tunnel where Dianna died”,  “You can see the Notre Dame in the background there” etc, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.  An absolutely great night had by all.  One I will remember for a long time to come.

Out.

Firstly, Happy Birthday O’Kane.

Todays feat

The photo explains it all.  We did our tourist bit today and visited the Eifel Tower.  3 years ago when we were here last we visited the tower but did not go up.  X-Man bitches about this every time our last trip is discussed.  Consequently we have promised many times that next time we go we will climb it.  So the day came, unfortunately it was a crap day with low visibility.  Fortunately, it was not for the view but the bragging rights and the almost non existant cue to get up.  The other interested thing is my Princess lived in Paris for 5 years but had never gone up (probably because she has a little issue with heights).

For those that have not been there are 3 levels which are obvious when you look at the photo.  My princess was only going to the first.  X-Man & I were going to the top.  We dropped the Princess off on the 1st level and made our way up. 

X-Man on the 2nd level

View from the top

It was quite amazing, much higher than I had anticipated.  On a clear day the view would have been outstanding, but not to be.

Hotel des Invalides

After this we decided to visit Hotel des Invalides which is where Napoleon’s Tomb is located, which was just a stones throw away.  

The basic story behind his tomb is that after Waterloo Napoleon was exiled by the victorious European nations to the remote island of St-Helena, where he died and was buried in 1821. In 1840 King Louis – Philippe arranged for his remains to be brought to St Jerome’s Chapel in Paris in 1840. A renovation of Les Invalides took many years, but in 1861 Napoleon was moved to the most prominent location under the dome at Les Invalides

Hotel des Invalides was initially a hospital built for disables soldiers, initiated by by King Louis XIV in 1670 and completed in 1676.

Aerial Photo of the compound (Obviously not mine)

Hotel des Invalides (again not mine)

As you approach from the entrance gates

Napoleon’s Costume (he was a dwarf)

Napoleon’s Tomb

Napoleon lies in 6 coffins, made from various different materials, including mahogany, ebony & oak.  They lay inside each other.

After visiting Hotel des Invalides it was then off to see a dear friend of My Princess from her Parisian days.  Finally I get to meet this guy that, according to my Princess, has shaped her outlook on life in such a positive way.  We visit his new business and we all sit and chat.  It was 6 years since they saw each other last, and it was as if they saw each other yesterday.  As he was at work, we only had a limited chance to chat.  He was a great guy and plans were made to catch up the next day for an early dinner.  

Consequently my princess was on top of the world, which was just wonderful to see.

Out

They, whoever they are, say that Paris is better the 2nd time you visit it.  Well, in my experience, they usually don’t know their bums from their heads.  However, in this instance I must concur.  Paris is beautiful.  I knew this the first time I visited, but it is overwhelming, particularly for some dumbo from Australia.  I mean Notre Dame took longer to actually build than our wonderful country has been colonised.   

My first time, 3 years ago, messed with me in a monumental way; away that I have not experienced before.  It effected me physically.  I have never been so overwhelmed by a place.  I left after a 4 day visit, not knowing what to make of it.  Did I like it or not?  How could I not like it? The streets are a museum!  You don’t need to visit any of the real museums.  Everything is amazing, wonderful and the backbone of the city is so well planned.  I think the biggest thing that effected me was the fact that no matter where you went you passed something that you had heard about or seen, somewhere before.  After visiting last time I suffered tremendously from insomnia.  Weird I know, but I hardly slept more than 3 hours a night for the next 2 weeks.  As much as anything, we saw too much.  In one day, a friend of my Princess’, whom is very well versed in the history of Paris showed, us all the major sites with a run down of how it came about, which King, Era or leader was responsible.  It was too much information to process.

This time, I was determined to just be in Paris, rather than tour it.  I wanted to enjoy the atmosphere rather than just the sights.  So with this in mind off we set.  We left the tiger with Opa & Oma.

We travelled by train, which takes approximately 3 hours.  It was a very fast train.  Once in France the train speeds up to around 300km/h (I think).  X-Man & I entertained ourselves with the World cup Uno champtionship to which I was the eventual winner 18 wins to 15.

Uno World Cup

We arrived to the maddness of the Parisian Metro.  Paris is a funny unique place.  The Metro (underground train system) has trains that run on rubber wheels.  The trains also have purfume coming out of the vents.  It is also full of surprises.  Walking out of the Metro to drop our bags off we came across a symphony orchestra practising or busking.  They were absolutely amazing.

Symphony Orchestra Busking in Metro

We arrived midday and had 1/2 the day to kill until we could gain access to the place we were staying.  We decided to grab a bite to eat and then do a little Divinci Code sight seeing and went and saw St Sulpice another massive Church.

Princess & X-Man

My best french Impression at lunch

St Sulpice 1

St Sulpice 2

St Sulpice 3

Even walking through the streets is an education.  Below is a Butcher selling proccutio straight of the leg.

X-Man with Paris Island in background 

We picked up Stef’s friend R, from work and went back to his apartment, he lives with his boyfriend in the arrondissement 4, near the Georges Pompidou Centre.  This is where we stayed last time.  It is a beautiful 100m2 apartment, which belongs in a magazine and is the cleanest house in the world.  You feel at times by just sitting in it that you are disrupting the balance and making it dirty.  Another reason why the Tiger was left with the grandparents.  The boys have also renovated it since we were last there putting in a new kitchen & wet areas which really finished off the place nicely.  They were tellilng us that the price of their house has doubled in value since they bought it 5 years ago and now is worth plenty.  There goes moving to Paris…

Out

One thing I have notice no matter where you are in what part of the world you live in, if you call a company and ask a question that the operator is unsure of the answer, you will get a different answer every time you ring.  You see we are wanting to take a couple of bikes back to Australia.  You simply cannot find the Dutch bikes in Australia, which is a real shame.  So I call the airlines a week or so ago and go a mixed answer as to whether we would be able to take a bike back with our luggage.  The answer was only if you are on a biking holiday, I think.  So I call back this morning to the same no and ask the same question.  The answer is more favourable and we are able to take a bike back as long as it does not exceed 15kg’s.  With this news, we instantly get the Tiger ready & go to the closest bike shop to test ride different bikes trying to find the one and how much it is going to cost.  We are after a couple of good second hand bikes.  We come to a close decision but decide to sleep on it.  Princess call the airlines to see how the bikes need to be packaged and in what form.  We are told this time that you are only allowed to carry 20kg full stop, no extra allowance for bikes.  Thank god, we were not spontaneous purchasers, this time.  So I call Malaysia Airlines in Malaysia, hoping to get some clarification.  We spent 20 minutes establishing who I was and what flight we are on, only to get the vaguest of all answers.  So I call back to Schipol where Stef called an hour earlier and now we have to request in writing if we can take the extra baggage.  Time will only tell what the result will be.  A little deflating, as the alternatives are around $400AUD, which makes the already expensive bikes, unaffordable. 

The countdown to coming home has begun in our heads.  We are both starting to think about what is next.  Exciting, frustrating and a little depressing all in the one breath.  It is a real challenge, to keep your mind focussed on the present situation and enjoy our time that remains, making sure we do not get too consumed with the future.

Lucky there is Paris.  Yes, on Thursday morning we are jumping on a train, leaving the Tiger with the family and are off to Stef’s favourite city Paris.  We are returning Sunday.  It is a shame we have to leave the Tiger, however, we are staying with a couple of friends of Stef’s who have a house that is simply not child friendly.  In fact, I think they have a ban on children under 5 years old.   We stayed there 3 years ago and it is beautiful appartment in the best part of Paris.  It also belongs in a magazine and at times you feel just being there brings utter mayhem to the asthetic.  The other point is that we will have a little more freedom, not having to contend with a Tiger who rules our schedule with his moods, feeds & sleep times. 

X-Man returned from School and he and I decided to go to and have a kick of the ball down at the park.  Our little mates were there again already involved in a 1/2 court match.  We started kicking the ball at the other end and before too long we were in a game.  Fazail was there, full of tricks again.  The match kicked off and Fazail again hogged the ball and tried to rule the match.  The funny thing was he was deep in defense trying to get around X-Man, dodging and weaving.  Next thing you know X-Man stuck his foot out and Fazail lost the ball and X-Man walks and shoots a goal.  Fazail starts from defense with the ball again.  Determined to show up X-Man, again full of tricks.  X-Man sticks his foot out again, dispossesses Fazail, walks and kick his 2nd goal in 1 minute.  The same scenario repeats, with Fazail getting quite annoyed at this, and again the same thing happens.  3 goals in 1 1/2 mins.  One of the team mates is pissed at him and runs down and gets the ball and kicks it in.  The game continues until dark with our team the clear winners.

Out.

I have received an email from a dear life long friend of my Princess’ who lives in Tel Aviv.  He tells me via email that in fact I am incorrect in saying that the Dutch Football League consist of 2 famous football teams being PSV Eindenhoven & Amsterdam Ajax.   That there is one more. 

He writes “i must correct you by saying that beside ajax and psv, feyenoord (the team he supports) belongs to these 2 teams, well known as the big three (wikepedia)…feyenoord has the most loyal fan base throughout holland, has the most beautifull stadium (1937) and is the first dutch team to win the ec 1(known now as the champions leauge, 1970!!!)”

I have researched Wikpedia and he is correct as Wikpedia states “Feyenoord is a professional football team located in Rotterdam.^[1] Together with Ajax and PSV, Feyenoord is generally regarded as one of the “big three” clubs in the Netherlands.^[2] Apart from winning all the Dutch Championships since 1965 (but one by AZ Alkmaar in 1981) these are the only clubs to have never relegated outside the highest level of Dutch football.^[3] Feyenoord has won 14 Dutch Championships, 10 Dutch Cups, 2 Dutch Supercups, 2 UEFA Cups and both the European Cup and Intercontinental Cup once.^[4]“

The listing in Wikpedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feyenoord is quite extensive, so I extend my sincerest apologies to all those loyal Feyenoord fans out there, none of which would be reading my boring old blog but hey.  What is more embarassing is that our boy Brett Emerton played for them before moving to The Blackburn Rovers.

So to our friend in Tel Aviv, I hope this straightens the record .

 Out

Routine is a funny thing.  My routine in the mornings since being in Holland has followed the same pattern since we arrived in Amsterdam.  I amwoken by the Tiger anywhere from 7 – 8am by the sounds of his calling “BaBa.” Baba is a name that the lazy little turd has effectionately given both Princess & me as it saves him having to say 2 different names so everything is Baba, Baba.

Anyways today I am woken at 7.40am.  My routine follows, me getting up trying not to wake my sleeping beauty next to me.  I put on my clothes walk into Tiger’s bedroom and say “hey,” he replies “Hey, Baba.”  I pick him up, take him out of his sleeping bag, walk down the stairs to the kitchen and put him on the ground.  I rummage around the cupboards to find him a bottle, in the mean time I ask Tiger to get the milk.   By the time I have retrieved the bottle, Tiger has dutifully walked to the fridge and is standing at my feet with the carton of milk looking as me as if he has not had a drink in days.  I fill said bottle and place it in the microwave.  Using my best multi-tasking skills, I prepare my coffee pot and place it on the stove.  At this time the microwave has beeped and Tiger is standing at the base of it pointing to it.  I collect the top of the bottle and Tiger runs to the couch where he fluffs not one but both pillows (he will look for the second one if it is not there)and procedes to climb onto the couch and lay on his back.  I put the bottle in my mouth lean down and give him a kiss as he grabs it out of my mouth and begins to drink. 

From there I make my coffee and sit and drink it whilst he finishes his bottle whilst watching BBC news.  At 8am I walk up stairs with Tiger to wake “YiYa”, Tigers name for his brother.  YiYa usually takes his time dragging himself out of bed and coming down for breakfast.

What was different about this morning is that X-Man was awake just after Tiger when was in the process of making my coffee.  Then I hear the words we have all been waiting for “ITS BEEN SNOWING”.  I look out the window and there it is, snow.   

Photo out our kitchen window

Since being in Holland as I have mentioned man times previously, we have been experiencing a very warm winter by Dutch standards.  The past couple of days, however, it has been cold enough to snow, especially at the football, but these cold days have been clear and no moisture in the air.  The forecast was for it to be getting warmer again, so we all thought that our window of opportunity had vanished.  Lucky for us we were able to at least see it on the ground. 

Not wanting to rain on our own party, but the covering was very slight, barely enough to cover the ground and from 8.30 it started to drizzle so it was also melting fast.  The boys and I rushed down to at least get one photo with it.

Boys on the slide in the snow

If you were able to collect all the snow without it melting in you hand you may have been able to make a snow ball the size of a cricket ball.  Anyways we continue onto school and then ride back to Mama just rising from bed (she was at a function the night before and did not get home till 1am).  By this time the snow was completely gone, so Princess did not actually witness it first hand.

Being the patriotic Australians we are we all sat down to our 7Euro jar of Vegemite and ate it on our toast.  Truth be known we didn’t realise it was Australia Day until that evening, when we receive a SMS from Australia.  Is that bad? 

That night I was asked to recite the national anthem, to which I was able to repeat 90% of it which I thought was not bad for such a crap anthem.

Out

We set off to our 1st football match at the Ajax (pronounced I ax) Stadium, which is the Amsterdam team in the top Dutch League (the equivalent to an Essendon in AFL).  In fact they and Eidenhoven PSV (whom Guus Hiddink coached) are the 2 most famous teams in Holland.  They were playing Haarlem, which is a the city quite close to Amsterdam, so we thought that there would be some rivalry and perhaps a good game. 

The game started at 8.45pm on a Wednesday night mind you, so it was going to be a late one for the x-Man.  My princess’ best friend is babysitting for us and she lets us drive her brand new Audi something.  Sorry E & G, but it is a little bigger and more luxurious than Sonja (the Pergeot 106) that we have come with our house exchange.  So, we arrive is style, playing around with the climate control and the Ipod that is hard wired into the car stereo. 

So I am here to see how a sporting match is conducted in Amsterdam.  From this experience I will be able to either confirm or deny another of the Australia v’s Holland comparision made by my Princess.  In her mind all AFL supporters fit the mold of the “Strawnys” or Montmorency Kevins that follow Collingwood, whilst all the football supporters in Holland are eating scones and sipping on Tea.  I feel at times that this trip is a little like Myth Busters.

So we get out of the car and you’d swear you were looking at someone who has just come from cutting laps in Chapel Street on a Saturday night, with the outstanding attire of a complete white tracksuit with some little tartlet on his arm.  He gets out of his hotted up piece of crap something, turnsoff the doofdoof and is off to the game.  Not a good start for my princess.  The stadium is very much like Docklands (Telstra?) Dome in Melbourne with a closing roof and a capacity of about 50K. 

X-Man & Princess in front of Stadium

Waiting to get in

Now I havn’t mentioned.  It is cold.  Bloody cold.  The coldest night we have experienced.  Minus 6 degrees.  Who in their right mind goes out on a Wednesday night to watch football when it is so cold.  We get chatting to the guy who has taken this photo and he askes “where we are from?”, we obviously reply ”Melbourne, Australia” and his next sentence was a ripper”  Oh your from “who gives a flying fuck”.  At this stage I am pissing myself forgetting all about some of our more charming sayings.

Anyway back to myth busters, by the time I get into the game of the 25K’ish people who would have been there 24,990 were males.  I am stoned by the time I take a seat with all the joints getting smoked outside the stadium.  The seats we have are great, 3 rows from the front almost in the middle of the pitch.  The game is had started 5 minutes earlier.  It is a good paced match but Ajax are clearly the best team out there and within another 5 minutes a cross from an Ajax player results in a ricochet and own goal from a Haarlem player.

We are in what we thought was a relatively civilised part of the stadium with each end quite noisy.  Turns out as they game gets progressively more and more one sided, the Haarlem supporters are sitting above us, 1 level up.  Quite a large Haarlem banner falls from the upper balcony, which is then passed forward by the crowd and thrown over the edge, gone forever.  From here starts the banter, missiles, taunting from the lower level Ajax supporters to the upper level Haarlem.  Fortunately, we are just out of throwing distance for most of the Haarlem supporters as we procede to watch all manner of food, beer, balloons, boxes being thrown over the balcony.  Expletives were exchanged by everybody as were hand guestured death threats from the safety of 1 level to the next, with no actual fear of a fist being thrown.  It is funny how pissed men get all the bravado in the world with the safety of 20m height.  Mind you there were 2 of the 10 women in attendance near us and these particular “Shaza’s” were just as bad as the “Kevins” they were sitting next to with equally as filthy a mouth.  As the game progesses, it appears that not everybody has let off their entire arsonal from new years eve as there are 4 really loud explosions that go off each time when you least expect it.  

I smile to myself Knowing that this myth is  BUSTED.

Australian crowds are no worse behaved and my poor Princess’ perception of Civilised sport in Europe is no longer.  I do know that in Australia, if something is thrown, 9 times out of 10 that person would be swallowed by the police and thrown out.  For 75% of the game you were lucky to see an official.  It was only towards the end that the yellow coats became more visible as the crowd became more rowdy.

As for the football Ajax were by far a superior team and the score was 3-0 by 1/2 time and 4-0 by the end of the match with many of the better players being rested in the 2nd 1/2.  The captain of Ajax is Jaap Stan, who is a mid 30 year old defender, absolutely controlled the team and the game for the 1st 1/2 and probably was home in bed by the end of the match as he was one of the player rested.  It was great to watch.  The goals that were scored were all pretty reasonable.  It was a good match to watch, but really Haarlem were out of their depth.

Jaap Stan closest to camera

Much like the Telstra Dome

Foolishly we waiting until the end of the match and consequently spend 30 mins trying to get out of the car park, however, at least we had the Ipod and the nice very warm car to entertain us.

Out.

Today, Princess is working and x-man has a free day from school.  It is cold today.  Ice on the car, apparently minus 6deg overnight.  My princess was leaving to work today and the car was covered in ice. X-man went outside this morn to get some bread and came back in announcing that he was not going outside today.  Despite the chilly weather the day is beautiful with clear blue skies.  Very crisp. 

In 2 weeks we are off to Paris for the weekend so with some negotiations (or laying down the law), the boys decided to ride to centraal station with me to get our tickets.  After doing so we were a little peckish and decided, for acuracy of my blog of course, to ride to Jordaan to visit the Winkle Cafe to try the appel Taart again.  See picture below.

Clearly an awful looking piece of baking.

 The Square in front of cafe with typical houses behind.  Jordaan is definately my favourite place in Amsterdam.  The square in front is where the Nordermarkt is held.

The boys enjoying a lemonade together.

I must say being a house dad has its advantages when the days are like this.  I couldn’t think of a place I’d rather be in the world than right here, right now.  But alas the end is near.  We are only 3 weeks away from Oz.

Yes that is right folks.  Not a very charming title or subject matter, however, one needs to be accurate.  2 days ago Tiger was a little unwell and he eventually started to vomit.  Poor little fella, he had not really vomited before and wasn’t sure what the hell was going on.  Oddly enough though, he was pretty well spirited throughout the whole episode, jumping around, playing, eating well and then all of a sudden, a look would come across his face and his hand would go to his mouth, Papa would pick him up and run as quickly to the bathroom, toilet, kitchen sink to allow him to unload.  Then followed, and still continues, the first of the water bums.  Not very charming but needless to say everytime we changed his nappy we changed his clothes.  Papa had a shower with him in the middle of the night 2 nights ago it was that bad.  Again he was a little off the boil, but not like when he is normally sick and he just lays in your arms all day.  He is on the mend now.  Which leads me to the rest of the story.  Yesterday, I was feeling a little uneasy in the tum tum.  By lunch, I had it going both ends.  At dinner there was nothing left.  No fun let me tell you.  My princess makes the comment “are you just being a sooky boy” to which I reply “yes but I really am sick”.  A very small amount of simpathy was extended my way, but it was very small.  At 7 pm Muscles announces that he is feeling unwell and within 5 minutes is also visiting the smallest room in the house,  many times for different reasons.  At 7.30pm Princess foolishly make the comment “at least I am well and can look after my boys” At 7.45 she was in bed also having had the same experiences as us all.  Unfortunately for her, she gets it the worst and I am calling the doctor @12.30am in the morning to seek advice.  Obviouisly my amount of symphathy was far greater than hers as Tiger & I took a quick drive to the otherside of the city to find the only Pharmacy open in Amsterdam.  A magical pill inserted where us Aussies would think odd (apparently it is quite common here in Europe) and Princess is able to get a little sleep as the contractions subsided.  She likened the pain to childbirth so it must have been bad.  Its now 1pm and both Muscles and Princess are in bed.  Muscles seems to be a little better but I suspect without medication Princess would be much the same.  They are both asleep. 

To Top it off we have gail force 10 winds outside, so I think to myself a good day to catch up on the blog as it has been neglected for a little while.  Nothing else more to report today.

Out.