Tag:paris
We travelled to the arctic circle, Cairns, Qld, NZ, Melbourne, Stonehenge, and Norway on the first part of our imaginary travel journey. Then, we left Norway and sailed across to Greenland, continuing our imaginary journey. Finally, with a white wolf as our guide and a nosey penguin demanding to know why we were breaking quarantine, we observed the passage of Jupiter and Saturn across a dawn sky.
Before leaving Greenland, we checked in on the polar bears we repatriated. Two of them were off hunting, but we spent a pleasant half-hour with Brutus. Unfortunately, he had stayed behind due to an injured toe (he’d stubbed it on the nosy penguin).
We said goodbye to Brutus, ducked out on the nosy penguin, and sailed to Paris. We planned to shoot a sunset from the top of the Eiffel tower during the annual migration of the Dodo bird. Being an imaginary travel journey, our planning and timing worked perfectly with no real-life nasty border problems, and we arrived just in time to catch them fly past.
From Paris, we took the train to Munich, just in time to catch the second wave of Dodo’s as they flew past. Our view from the top of the town hall clock tower was superb.
After a few beers in a German beer hall, we climbed the narrow staircase to the attic and went through the wardrobe to Wilsons Prom, where Aslan was waiting for us.
We strolled along the beach with Aslan and listened to how things were going in Melbourne (badly), but he felt the tide was turning, and it was time to go. With that, we hopped in our boat and made our way to Kangaroo Island. Our guide this time was Gandalf. He had just arrived via eagle express and, knowing the SA police would be on our tail for sneaking in a back way. He was anxious to be on our way.
We travelled around Kangaroo Island for a few days – trying to look like locals and keeping to the backroads. Our last stop on KI was Seal Bay – a fabulous spot and final landfall before Antarctica – which we weren’t going to. We had enough of the cold in the arctic circle. So we were heading home now. One night at a curiously named hotel and then back to Melbourne.
We did wonder, though – if Hotel Hell would live up to its name or it was just a tourist trap.
That’s the end of our journey… I hope you enjoyed travelling with us.
The Eiffel Tower, La Tour Eiffel in French, an iconic symbol of France, was the main exhibit of the Paris Exposition or World’s Fair of 1889. It was constructed to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution and to demonstrate France’s industrial prowess to the world
The History (and some little known facts)
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“many were against the building and voiced their concern in a letter entitled “Artists Against Mr Eiffel’s Tower“, stating the tower to be a threat against the aesthetic nature of Paris. An iron tower erected smack in the heart of Paris was considered unacceptable, a stark contrast to the elegance and refined beauty of the city. For example, Verlaine nicknamed the Eiffel Tower the “Skeleton of Beffroi” to demonstrate the giant tower’s ungainly appearance that was bound to “disfigure” the city.”
Paris Vision History
Building the tower wasn’t all plain sailing. Iron was a new building material, previously only used in unimportant buildings or as internal bracing where appearance didn’t matter. (Eiffel also designed the internal iron structure of the Statue of Liberty in NY). Eiffel’s design used iron as a design element for the tower. He created an intricate latticework that structurally made the iron as strong as stone.
Engineering Wonder
Each of the 18,000 pieces used to build the tower was constructed specifically for the project in Eiffel’s factory on the outskirts of Paris. The wrought-iron structure comprises four massive arched legs. These are set on masonry piers that curve inward until joining in a single, tapered tower. The tower is 300 metres tall and 328 metres wide at the base.
Construction of the tower required 2.5 million thermally assembled rivets and 7,300 tons of iron. Workers painted every inch of the structure to protect the tower from the elements. A feat that required 60 tons of paint. The tower has since been repainted 18 times, on average, every seven years Going from a reddish-brown colour for its opening to yellow, yellow-brown, and chestnut before taking on the ‘Eiffel tower brown’ in 1968. The tower is painted in three shades. Each shade is progressively lighter as the height increases to augment the tower’s silhouette against the sky.
It Was Never planned to be permanent
Originally the tower was intended to be pulled down after 20 years. However, Gustave Eiffel provided 80% of the cost of the tower’s building budget. Therefore, he was allowed to manage it to recoup the costs. After this, it was passed to the Parisian Government, who planned to pull it down and sell it as scrap. Seeking to save the tower, Gustave erected a radio antenna on top and financed experiments with wireless telegraphy beginning in 1898. In 1909 when the concession expired, the government saw the benefit of using it for wireless messaging This was especially for the military and decided to keep it up.
During WWI, it played an essential role in the interception of German radio messages. One occasion enabled the french to organise a counter-attack during the Battle of Marne. Three years later, they intercepted a message leading to Mata Hari’s capture. Today there are over 100 radio antennas atop the tower.
Our Visit
We met our guide at the appointed location. We had a fast-track entry ticket, and the host was to take us through security and into the correct fast-track lane before she left us. Having the host smooth our way through was fantastic… we would have been totally lost without her. Eight million people visit the Eiffel tower each year, making it an excellent magnet for terrorism seeking a PR victory. Initially, the tower was open with grassy parks under each leg. Now it’s surrounded by inch-thick bombproof, bulletproof glass. Armed soldiers patrol the base, and getting in through the checkpoints is no easier than passing through airport security. How I would have loved to have seen it like it was 20 years ago before ISIS and terrorism reared their ugly head.
The ground floor elevators take you to the second level. From there, you change elevators and take another to the top level.
Going Up
Naturally, the 360-degree views are superb. There are gift shops and cafes on the second floor. The outside wasn’t too bad, the inside was packed with people
We took the elevator to the top level, the views were great on all sides. However, the sun was setting on one side, the view was great on that side and to the left. But, to the right and around the back, the wind was blowing us over. So we stuck to two sides
From the Top
At the top of the tower, Gustave Eiffel’s private apartment/office is on the third level. He used the space for entertaining and work. While invitations were rare, he did host a few ‘important’ people there. The space wasn’t large, but it was furnished comfortably with wallpapered walls, chintz furniture, even including a grand piano!.
Remaining largely untouched over time, you can’t enter the apartment but can view through the windows, still furnished and with wax mannequins of Eiffel and his daughter hosting Thomas Edison for a visit.
We were booked on the Illuminations tour – so we were mindful of time. We did, however, drag our feet longer than we should as the sunset looked like it was going to pop.
Then the sun went down. The lights came on. Considering how much I didn’t enjoy the illuminations tour – I wish I had stayed here and got some more night shots
Reluctantly leaving the tower to meet the rest of our travelling party for the illuminations tour, we waited forever for a lift.. we got one down to the second floor and had another long wait for the next left. In the end, we decided to take the stairs.. we were only on the second level, after all, umm the second level isn’t like the second floor – it was 376 feet up!. About 400 steps and jelly legs later, we reached the bottom… and got some last-minute shots on the way out of the tour lit up.
The Illuminations tour
Ummmm, nothing good to say about it. It was part cruise part bus. The boat part was on a huge boat that seemed to seat half of Paris… no outside area, so if you didn’t get a window seat, you had no hope of getting any sort of photo, let alone a decent one. The boat moved quite fast along the river, which added to the challenge even if you had a window. Landmarks moved past too fast to get anything better than phone pics or happy snaps on a camera. Ditto for the bus. They drive down the roads. Tell you what they are going past, not slowly, but by now, it’s in the rearview mirror. The only hope for photography is if they have to stop at the red light.
I didn’t take one image on the boat (I wish I had stayed at the Eiffel tower) and settled for street photography at red lights. The worst tour we ever did. (Before Salzburg)
Next: Munich Old Town
It was time to head from London to Paris via the Eurostar through the Channel. We had a transfer arranged already thanks to our travel agent, and he arrived earlier than expected to load the bags. Five adults, five big suitcases, plus camera bags, small travel bags. Down those two flights of steep stairs for the (thankfully) last time.
St Pancras Station
We arrived at St Pancras Station in plenty of time and checked the luggage through to Paris. Then it was our turn. Passport control out of London. Ten steps later, it was passport control into France. While still in London. Twilight zone stuff. After clearing passport control, we then battled through airport security. I understand that they have to be careful, and I am glad they are. But geez, I was so over doing a semi strip at every security counter. Passing through the barrier and hoping it stayed green, thus avoiding the pat-down. Then retrieving everything once through. While they open the bag, checking the camera’s, looking in every pocket. “do you have any more camera’s or electronics”?? no! isn’t this enough? Came, lenses, iPad, iPhone. Road trips are starting to look so good.
With the early arrival of the cabbie, we had about 90mins to wait after getting through passport and security. We were on the 10:24 to Paris, not much to do, which led me to people watching.
The Channnel Tunnel
Sometimes called ‘the chunnel’, the Channel Tunnel is an undersea tunnel linking southern England and northern France. The Tunnel is 31.5 miles long, or 50.45 km, with 23.5 miles (37.9 km) of the Channel Tunnel is under the English Channel, making it the world’s longest undersea tunnel. The Eurostar travels through the Channel Tunnel at a speed of 100 miles per hour (160kph), although when the train is outside the tunnel, it reaches the rate of 186 miles per hour (300 kph). The ride was comfortable and even though we were racing along at speed. Although walking and not swaying to the buffet car was easy.
Hello Paris
London to Paris was just a two-hour journey, and we arrived in Paris again to meet our transfer driver. Booking into the hotel, we were horrified and dismayed to find the elevator in the hotel was out of order. And being a Sunday, the engineer hadn’t turned up yet. So again we lugged the suitcases up two flights of stairs to our room..and one of our party was on the FOURTH floor, though thankfully, they weren’t as narrow or as steep this time. The hotel was charming, and the rooms were lovely.
After settling in, we all met up for dinner before a reasonably early night. The following day we met up for breakfast in the ‘salon’ (using the stairs still, no one trusted the tiny elevator) before heading out for the day. We jumped on the hop-on/off the bus and made our way into the city with all the signs in french, we had no idea where we were going. Eventually, we ended up on embassy row. The US embassy is off a side street, with many other embassies and fancy shops lining the street. Soldiers with machine guns told us not to take pictures of the checkpoints (who are we to argue?). Even some doors were off-limits. Oh well. Here are some of the pics I didn’t take.
Wandering up and down, I tried some street photography before heading back to the bus and the Palais Garnier.
Paris Opera House
The Palais Garnier (Paris Opera House) is an AMAZING building. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go in, but the exterior! OMG. Built from 1861 – 1875, the 1,979-seat theatre was designed to house the Paris opera. The building is a blend of baroque, classicism and renaissance architecture. I could so see the phantom of the opera haunting the place.
Leaving the Opera House, we jumped back on the hop of/off the bus, headed back to the hotel for some downtime before heading back out to dinner.
About 12 months ago, a group of us (all amateur photographers) signed on to do a 3-week trip covering Tromso, London, and Paris. The price looked excellent – too good to pass up. Add the lure of northern lights chasing, and we were all keen. But the initial cost proved to be only the beginning. I found there are many hidden costs of planning holidays.
While the price was undeniably great, there were hidden costs. Costs that I didn’t consider as a first-time long-haul overseas trip at the time before I said yes. Things you don’t think to factor in with the glow of excitement over an overseas trip to far-flung places. And no, I don’t mean travel insurance and spending money, which I had budgeted in.
No Regrets (do it all)
Considering the vast distances we are travelling to get there, (35 hrs travelling time Australia to Tromso with three plane changes). Add in the likelihood that, most likely, we are never going back due to distance and cost. Therefore, we all wanted to get shots worthy of bringing home. The last words I wanted on my lips at the end of the trip was “I wish”. I wish I had bought a wide-angle lens. I wish I had the new filters I have been looking at. I wish I had a better/bigger/smaller bag; I wish I had better clothing for the cold; I wish I could have afforded to take that extra tour. I wish, I wish, I wish. You see where I am going.
Gear
As it’s a photographic trip, we have upgraded our camera gear. Three of us have new cameras (two wholly changed over from Canon to Olympus. And yes, add all the new lenses that go with that. All of us bought extra batteries to cope with the cold. Some have new filters, others new camera bags, additional memory cards, lighter carbon fibre tripods, new smaller lighter laptops and externals to back up the images, and bigger camera bags to fit in snacks, water, and wet weather gear. The shopping went on and on and on and on.
Clothing
Also burning through the credit cards and savings was clothing. It’s forecast to be between 1C – 5C in Tromso. So thermal underwear, snow boots, waterproof hikers and photography gloves were on the shopping list. We also bought photographers gloves, designed to keep the hands warm but engineered work the cameras were purchased.
Add down coats, thermal hats, snow socks, and windproof, waterproof pants. London and Paris will be a little warmer. We had two nights booked out northern lights chasing. Plus day trips out on arctic wildlife spotting and night trips elsewhere, the arctic gear was the first thing we ordered
Hot Hands and Toes
Hot Hands (little heat-activated pouches that give off heat for 8-10 hours) have been purchased and stockpiled over the winter months to take with us. Sorry if you went to chemist’s warehouse and there was none left. But we needed them? One hot hand in each pocket to keep batteries warm (they go flat quicker in the cold), plus one in each glove. Buy packing cubes to find things when I need them instead of going through my suitcase like police with a search warrant. Add a couple of small laundry bags and cubes!
Electronics
Travelling overseas, everyone realises you need special power adapters. Travelling to Europe and the UK, we need one for each country. Add a powerboard to simultaneously charge camera batteries, watches, iPhones, iPods, and laptops. A power bank for charging phones on the go and recharging batteries quickly after being out shooting all day before going out again most of the night. Add a double camera battery charger.
Tours
Since we had some free days and followed on from the ‘no regrets’ mantra, we also planned to see and do as much as humanly possible while there. Cram as much in, see as much as we can, photograph everything, sleep when we get home. So, we needed to fill our ‘free days’ with tours, right?
In Tromso, add an arctic wildlife experience and add another night of northern light chasing to maximise our time. Add tours in London to Cornwall, white cliffs of Dover, Cotswolds, Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Cathedral, Tower of London, Alice in Wonderland High Tea. in Paris, add a skip the line Eiffel tower to the summit and Mont St Michel. Stay an extra few days, travel to Germany, and take the train rather than fly. It’s all about the experience, right?
Add tours to the Castles and another to Salzburg, Austria. Oh, excellent, look, another $2k gone. Tetanus shot (doctor’s orders). Oyster cards, global sim, convert Aussie dollars to cash in three currencies, so we have some folding stuff on landing. Letter from the doctor for medications. New packets of said medications have to stay in their boxes and not be in pillboxes.
Forgotten Anything?
Ummmm, I don’t think I have, but despite that, we have more gear, backups, and planning than Roald Amundsen or Scott of the Antarctic. Despite covering every eventuality I can think of, I am confident when I get on the plane. I will remember something I should have bought or packed!