Day 26 - Transit to Rwanda

A 4am taxi ride to Heathrow was the start of a very long day's travel. Rwanda is a bit tricky to get to as only a small number of airlines fly there.We flew with Brussels Airlines (Rwanda is a former Belgian colony) but it meant we had to transit through Brussels. We had two things against us. The hour & a half flight from London on the Avro RJ85 (above) was delayed & the airport in Brussels is a mess with the terminal splintered and connected only by bus. We even had to get on a bus from the first aircrat to the terminal. It was a major (and sometimes confusing) scramble but we made it onto the A330 (apologies for the blurred photo below) bound for Africa. The airline attendants are really nice and the service good on Brussels Airlines, but there's no entertainment system in the head rest in front of you. The scenery was clouds over Europe & Egypt & the Sudan were a featureless brown desert from the air. The long flight was very, very long. It was 9.30pm local time when we touched down in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.We were met at the airport by our personal guide, Robert (below). He was recommended by one of Kerri's work friends who had been over there with a medical team. Robert takes the team on safaris every year when they visit. One of the big problems with travelling in Africa is knowing who to trust. Robert is definitely one of those people. http://rwandaadventuresafaris.com/
Robert dropped us at the hotel and organised to pick us up in the morning.
The Africa Adventure was about to begin!

Day 25 - London Sights

The last day in England started with a tour of St Pauls Cathedral. It's an impressive structure but nowhere near as interesting as Notre Dame & they don't let you take photos inside! We did the self guided tour around the main floor. We climbed the many stairs to the whispering galley inside the bottom of the dome. From there we exited to the outside where we had an unobstructed view of the city (above). After admiring the view, we climbed the stairwell inside the skin of the dome to the top spire. It wasn't any better than where we'd just come from, but we had to say we'd done it. We also descended all the way to the crypt to check out all the famous dead people before exiting through the gift shop...???
From St Paul's we made our way to Buckingham Palace. After all, you just have to include the palace in a trip to London.The palace is guarded by both the police (below) & the army (above).

We walked along Constitution Hill (above) beside the palace all the way to Wellington Arch where the New Zealand & Australian war memorials are.

The Australian War Memorial is quite clever. They have every town in Australia written on the wall with some brighter so they spell out the places where the Australians have fought over the years.

As a joke I said to Kerri "I'll bet you can't find Mullumbimby" figuring that she'd never find it amongst so many towns. Almost immediately she said, "Found it!". Sure enough, there is was. Couldn't believe it!

We walked along the edge of Hyde Park for a little way. The squirrels were all busy stocking up for the winter.We arrived at The Serpentine (below) which is the big lake that dominates the park.

As for St James's Park, there's no shortage of birdlife.

We had to leave the park (passing the Albert memorial above) because Kerri & Julie had an appointment to have high tea at the Kensington Hotel.I would leave them for the rest of the afternoon opting instead to spend the time in the science museum & the Natual history Museum.

The Science museum has some very old & some very famous machines including Puffing Billy (below) which is the very first commercial locomotive. And it isn't just a replica.

Each area in its 4 floors has a different theme from plane to cars to space vehicles. There is a whole floor dedicated to water craft.

Next door is the Natuaral History Museum (entrance below). I was slightly creped out by this. I've become accustomed to visiting modern zoos with the animals not only alive, but in quite natural surroundings. Having not been to a museum for many years, I'd forgotten that stuffed animals are somewhat disturbing.There were some very cool dinosaur fossils including a large number of oceanic reptiles found on the English coastline. The second entrance was decorated for an exhibition (below). I'm not sure what it was about, but it looked the part. The dinosaur section had some lifelike animatronics including the two raptors (above) and a scary looking T-rex (below).

We all met back at the hotel at Earl's Court and had dinner at a pub around the corner. We said our final good-byes to Julie and spent the late evening trying to do our laundry so we'd have something to wear in Africa.

Day 24 - Regent's Canal

We had to be up early to catch the first Eurostar out of Paris. Fortunately the Metro was pretty empty being a Saturday so we were at the station in plenty of time. We were pretty subdued for the trip back. I guess the early start took its toll. After dropping our gear at our hotel (and Julie's at home) we met Julie at a place called Little Venice on Regent's Canal. There are canal boats that take you to Camden Lock.

The canal boats cruise along Regent's Canal where people live on boats (above) and even restaurants like the one below.

The boat stops at London Zoo before finishing the cruise at Camden Lock (below). At Camden Lock there's a huge market including some great food stalls. We were there on a Sunday so the markets were in full swing. The crowd plus market combination was a bit much for me but I toughed it out while the girls did their thing. I must say the steak sandwich at lunch was pretty nice if a tad messy to eat.

After escaping the markets we went back to central London. We'd arranged to meet up with some friends from our South American trip 2 years previous (Emma, Richard & Melissa). Tattershall Castle was the venue. Strangely enough its not a castle at all, its a floating river boat that's been converted into a floating pub.We said good-bye to our friends who had to head for home (being it was a school night).Julie took us to Brick Lane (above). Brick Lane is a street of Indian Restaurants, some very good & some not so good. A bit of local knowledge goes a long way.

We settled on one & ordered a couple of dishes. My choice was a prawn Jalfrezi which are normally medium heat. We were shocked when the first couple of bites nearly blew our heads off! It was a clear indication that what Aussies think is hot is a long way off. Julie made the mistake of eating a whole bean that wasn't a bean. I think I did as well because my mouth was well & truly one fire!

Day 23 - Paris Sights

The second day in Paris started with a bit of a sleep in. It was the first time in days that I'd been able to get back to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night.We lined up to be one of the first groups to go up the Eiffel Tower. We took the lift all the way to the top of the tower. Up there you can see most of Paris. Unfortunately the smog cuts the visibility back some. Looking into the sun is something of a trial as well (below).Looking away from the sun we could see a number of Paris land marks. The Arc de Triomphe was pretty easy to spot.The River Seine looks very different from high in the sky. We descended to the lower floors & found that with less smog to peer through that the view was in fact better. The modern business district can be seen behind Le Palais de Chaillot (below). If you get really keen you can throw some coins in a telescope and get an even closer look at the sights.Reluctantly we came down from the tower & set about more sightseeing. We walked across the concourse of le Palais de Chaillot & up to the Arc de Triomphe (below). We sat there for a while & watched the near car crashes for a while.After a short stint under the arch, we set off down the Champs Elysees (below). We had lunch along the way at one of the many cafes.

It's a fairly decent walk from the Arc de Triomphe to the Louvre. There are many public parks & ponds along the way. The halfway is marked by Place de la Concorde (below).It's very popular with tourist & local alike.Eventually we reached the Louvre (below).

We sat on the edge of the fountain pond next to the Louvre entrance for a while to rest our feet & cool off a bit.

We decided to split up. Kerri & Julie went on a bit of a shopping stroll near Notre Dame checking out street vendors (above) while I went into the Louvre to see some of the exhibits I couldn't find 10 years ago when I was last there.

I was very keen to find the Egyptian exhibits but found the Greek sculptures along the way including the famous Venus de Milo (above) with her missing arms. Not sure why it's so popular myself.

In the end I did manage to fine the Egyptian stuff. The Sphinx (above) was the first sculpture I found.
The Egyptian treasure was spread over two floors. The exhibits varied widely from the black stone sculpture of Ramessis II (above) to beautifully painted & carved reliefs (below).
The statue above stood out thanks to the gilding. The one below stood out for a different reason. I like to call him Sleazy Sanchez. He was centuries ahead of his time with style. This look didn't really take off until the 1970s.

Having seen what I'd come to see, it was time to go. Then it was just the matter of how to get out. I fumbled around for a good 15 mins before I finally found reached the entrance. I'd seen it plenty of times but couldn't get to it. The map I had with me didn't help at all.

Finally I smelt the sweet smell of freedom! The arc out the front of the Louvre is called Arc de Triomphe de Carrousel (below).

I met up with the girls and we set off again. We were all a bit weary & hot so we decided to head toward the hotel but not before checking out the Patheon (below). The one in Rome is far more impressive by the way.
We cheated a little & caught the Metro most of the way back to the hotel. We walked the last couple of hundred metres past a prime Eiffel Tower view point (below).

We kicked back in the room for a couple of hours before having dinner at a restaurant nearby. By the time we'd finished it was getting dark so we collected our cameras to go photograph the Eiffel Tower lit up at night.
It's an impressive monument lit up. At 8pm & 9pm the tower sparkles for 5 minutes. The normally yellow lights are overpowered by flahing bright white ones.

No Eiffel shoot is complete without putting oneself in it.