Tag Archives: Retirement abroad

France

Driving in Paris

We saw first hand just how intense and dangerous it can be to drive in Paris.  We were on the Hop-on bus touring the city of Paris and watched how the drivers navigated the streets.  The traffic is heavy and there are numerous scooters and motorcycles on the roads.

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Heavy traffic in downtown Paris

Some of the streets are multi-lane up to four or five lanes wide.

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The motorcycles and scooters swerve through traffic sometimes in very dangerous maneuvers.

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Motorcycles passing on the right of the bus and cutting off pedestrians crossing the road in Paris.

In order to demonstrate the intense traffic and dangerous driving of some motorist in Paris, we made a short YouTube video. The video is quickened to not be too long but you will get a good sense of the driving there. Take a look at the YouTube video and let us know what you think.

https://youtu.be/oeW-iZl1dhE

“Au revoir et bonne journée”

 

United Kingdom

Fish and Chips

We went to a traditional English Tavern when we were in London called “The Anchor Bankside”. It is located on the Bank of the Thames River in the heart of London. What makes this tavern special and unique is the fact that it is over 800 years old. It is one of the oldest Taverns in London.

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The Anchor Bankside Tavern in London England

We walked over the London Bridge in order to get to the Tavern. The London Bridge is a plain-looking bridge and not overly impressive.

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View of the London Bridge from the Thames River

There is a  small stone marker in the center of the bridge which identifies it as the London bridge.

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Marker for the London Bridge

We arrived at the tavern and saw the unique style of the exterior of the building. It certainly looked like it had been there for many years.

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We went inside the tavern and it was very busy. The tavern staff didn’t greet us at the door and we were left to find our own seats.  We wandered through the tavern looking for an empty table. Eventually, we found a table we could sit at and waited to be served. After waiting for over 10 minutes I managed to talk to a waitress and she told me that they do not take orders that way.

We were told to go to the bar and place our order with the bartender. So we placed our order with the bartender for Fish and Chips. We paid and waited for our meal which was delivered about ten minutes later.

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Authentic English fish and chips at the Anchor Tavern

The meal was good and the atmosphere was unique. It was a strange feeling having fish and chips in a tavern that has been there for over 800 years.

“Bob’s your uncle, Cheerio”

United Kingdom

A visit to London England

We went to London for a few days to tour the city. We took a hop-on bus, in order to view as many of the sites as possible. The capital of England is a very large city with a population of over 8.6 million people.

We started our day with a tour of the main section of London. We saw some beautiful and historic sites. The tower of London was interesting because the tower is not very high, certainly not what we expected.

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The Tower of London

We also saw “Big Ben” which is the nickname for the great bell in the clock tower. People refer to the clock tower as Big Ben, but the tower is officially called the “Elizabeth Tower” named in 2012 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The tower holds the second largest four-faced chiming clock in the world and is very impressive.

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Palace of Westminster with the Elizabeth Tower.

We also stopped at Buckingham Palace. The exterior of the Palace is very spectacular. We walked around the outside of Buckingham Palace admiring the building.

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Buckingham Palace in London

Buckingham Palace has a large steel fence with several gates at the front. The gates are very large and have the royal coat of arms prominently displayed on them.

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Ray and Shelley at the front of Buckingham Palace gates

Inside the fenced area of Buckingham Palace, we could see the Royal guards as well as regular police security.

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Royal Guard at the Buckingham Palace

We then took a riverboat cruise on the Thames River. The views from the water were different from seeing the sites from the hop-on bus. We traveled the Thames River up to the tower bridge which is an iconic symbol of London.

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Tower Bridge in London
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A view of the Tower Bridge in London from the Thames River
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Shelley and Ray on the shore of the Thames River with the Tower Bridge in the background

Along, our water cruise, we saw the London Eye which is basically a giant Ferris wheel with observation platforms.

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A view of the London Eye from the Thames River

We saw some very interesting buildings along the Thames River including a Pup called “The Anchor Bankside” which was a pup under different for over 800 years. It was also a location for a scene in the Mission Impossible movie.

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A view of the Anchor Bankside Pup on the south bank of the Thames River in London.

We also saw the London Bridge which was quite a surprise for us. The bridge was not very impressive and was plain.

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A view of the London Bridge from the Thames River
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Under the London Bridge

We spent the entire day traveling throughout London looking at the many historic sites. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to tour inside any of the sites. We will plan another trip to London in the future to visit this amazing city in more detail.

“Bob’s your uncle, Cheerio”

France

A walk to Sacre-Coeur Church

We stayed at a nice hotel in Paris called “Hotel des Arts Martre” which was close to the famous Moulin Rouge.

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Moulin Rouge in Paris

We decided to take a walk from our hotel and walk up the steep streets near our hotel.  We weaved in and out of the streets working our way up the hillside.

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stairs along the way  leading up the hilltop in Paris

We eventually reached the top of the hill and discovered a vibrant area with a large plaza in the middle. There were artists of every kind selling their art in the plaza. We were even approached by different artists wanting to do a portrait of us for about 10 euros. We walked around the entire plaza admiring all the artwork on display.

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Art on display for sale in the plaza
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Artist working on some art while waiting to sell his drawings.
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People looking at the art for sale

Afterward, we headed up towards the Sacre-Coeur Church which we could see in the distance. The church as a beautiful large domed structure with an amazing view of the city.

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Shelley and Ray on the steps of the Sacre-Coeur Church in Paris

We entered the church and there was a mass going on so we did not stay. We headed outside and walked around the church area admiring the views of Paris.

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View of Paris from the Sacre-Coeur Church

Unfortunately, there was fog which made it hard to see all of the city, but it was still very breathtaking.

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View of Paris from Sacre-Coeur Church area

After walking around looking at the beautiful views we headed down the main stairs of the Sacre-Coeur church. Along the walk down we came across some interesting sights. There was a person dressed completely in white as a statue and people were having their photo taken with him for a price.

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Person having photo taken with person in white

Further down the stairs, we came to a section which had a wall with several fountain bases inset into it. This was an area where everyone gathered to sit and enjoy the view.

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Wall area where people could sit and enjoy the views along the stairs of Sacre-Coeur Church

Further down the stairs, we came to an area that had a merry-go-round. There were kids playing and enjoying the ride.

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View of Merry-Go-Round with the Sacre-Coeur Church in the background.

The walk was very enjoyable and we spent almost 5 hours walking up and around the hill enjoying the views and atmosphere.

“Au revoir et bonne journée”

France

Le Petit Musee du Chocolat

We were exploring the streets of Paris and came across a great chocolate store. The display in the window caught our attention so we went inside to check it out.

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Inside the store, there were displays of Paris monuments made completely in chocolate.  The Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris was on display at the main entrance area. It took a total 210 hours of work and contains 58 kilograms of Chocolate. The detail and size of the replica were spectacular. It was 110 cm High, 140cm Long and 51 cm wide.

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Side view of the Notre Dame Cathedral Chocolate replica
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Rear view of the Notre Dame Cathedral Chocolate replica
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Front view of the Notre Dame Cathedral Chocolate replica

Inside the store, there were other displays made completely in Chocolate. Some displays were very large and highlighted under plexiglass.

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The Eiffel Tower made completely in chocolate
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The Arc de Triomphe made completely in chocolate
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A large replica of the Venus de milo completely in Chocolate

We walked around the large store looking at all the different items of display. The store was quite large and it seemed that everywhere we looked there were more chocolate displays with great details.

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Inside view of the Le Petit Musee de Chocolate

There was a large sail ship made completely from chocolate on display near the stairs to the lower basement area.

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Front view of the chocolate sail ship on display.
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Side view of the Chocolate Sail Ship

We saw all kinds of amazing and interesting chocolate displays. They also sold chocolate and you could buy chocolate items for Halloween or other themed events.

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Chocolate ghost for sale
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Chocolate tub with chocolate turtles inside

The store was an amazing spot with some very interesting chocolates and displays.

“Au revoir et bonne journée”