Planet Ruby Starrs

We are citied out... we arecompletely cream crackered...4 solid days of tramping round this beautiful city and we havent even touched the sides. But we have done what we can and we are ready for some peace and quiet. Today we walked up through Monmartre to Sacré Coeur.. Its a vibrant busy area - packed with tourists, locals, artists and people trying sell you beer, drugs, water, mini eiffel towers (which I bought to hang on the christmas tree).  It was manic - crowded and very warm.  We admired the art and then the view.  We had lunch at a pavement cafe by the church.. it was pleasant but we both were starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by constant souveiner shops and flashing towers We walked back down the hill through a wee flea market - managed to resist more tat and back along via the red light district and of course the iconic Le Chat Noir and the Moulin Rouge.  Paris has delivered a brilliant experience but really...

Started late today after a really good nights sleep in a really comfy bed with no alarm or time constraints... so we wake up totally refreshed to a to a gloriously sunny day, not a cloud in the sky.   We ate our continental breakfast and then we head off walking back down towards the river, passing through the Place de Edouard VII - a beautiful but little visited square... across the various squares boulavards..rues... we are well lost by now 🤣 we chance upon a square commemorating  Napoleon - thereno lack of monuments, obelisks or squares.. until eventually we finally hit the unmissable Jardin des Tuileries where we sat and ate our 2nd brekie.. pain de raisons and then walked across the river to the Museum D'Orsay.  This is an amazing space.    It was originally built as a train station and has been restored keeping the original art nouveau decor to showcase an amazing collection of Modern Art mainly impressionists... ...

We were up at the crack of sparrows having booked the first admission up the Eiffel Tower and we had to get across Paris in the rush hour.   This was indeed a simple but interesting experience.   The Metro was packed to the gills and I'm just amazed how smartly people are dressed and also how many people smoke! (not on the Metro obviously but in between)....  It's easy to think of the Eiffel Tower as just being a lump of metal...  we're all really familiar with it - it's such an iconic landmark we just take it for granted... but looking at it across the Place de Trocadera in the  morning light was really quite special.  Everywhere we looked they were bridal couples having photographs taken and drinking champagne there were brides in white,  black,  green,  every color you could think of... and they seem to be quite a lot of different nationalities. We must have seen at least 40 couples all posing happily let's hope it do...

Finally we have made it to Paris.  It was a bit of a long travel day - we decided to come by train so we could experience the full glory of British Rail or whatever it's called now which actually delivered perfectly on time... and then the Eurostar which was incredibly disappointing!  All that beautiful St. Pancreas Station and the Eurostar is sited in the dungeon... overcrowded, dark, lousy facilitated space...  and then the train was an hour late it felt like a long time before we got any fresh air -  but eventually we wound up in gay Paree...  We navigated the metro and found our airbnb gaff.  A mere 70 steps to the fourth floor on a rather lovely winding wooden staircase to a very nice roof top flat which is comfortable and gives a view across a lovely Courtyard with some obviously much posher flats.  It's located really centrally about two minutes away from the Opera Garnier so a very good location ...

This post is way overdue... in my jet lagged... senior moments... whatever I forgot to post it and as it is written I am posting it several weeks after the event!!!! Well - we are home from the southern hemisphere safe and dry... its taken some readjustment ha ha - but the weather has picked up and while the tan faded really quick its good to be home.   The holiday feels a distant dream now but we are about to sort the extensive snaps - a lot of rock - sea - sand and various random other things... flowers,birds, endless bush.... a different world to where we are now!! I'm finding it hard to sum up the trip - it was so varied and the highlights were also quite different - the dolphins at Shelley beach took my breath away - as did in a completely different way - the snorkeling - both amazing experiences.  The land based wildlife - especially the kangaroos at Kalbarri were special and some of the views were just so vast and fabulous.....  We stayed in some brilliant cam...

6633 kilometres... 4121.5 miles... Its been a fabulous trip... amazing places, dark skies, fabulous wildlife, some catching up with old friends, new friends made...lots of stories to tell and memories to mull over. I won't miss the constant refrain 'theres another sand dune in the van' as Dr Fred once again sweeps the floor of the van...  Or the sand in the bed ... but its all worth it for the sunshine - long white beaches - dark red earth - and pure blues skies...  I have loved the different colours and and landscapes we have encountered.. as always our trip takes in a lot of rock but this has been incredibly varied and on a completely different scale to what we see in the UK. The echidnas continued to be elusive but we had some wonderful moments observing the local native wildlife... only picture I got of echidna ... stuffed in visitors centre! Its been uplifting to have the stunning light and warmth from day one.. even when we stepped ...