Paris - Louvre Museum

No trip to Paris is complete without visiting the Louvre! Stunning architecture and lots of famous art including the Mona Lisa, the victory of the Samothrace and the Venus De Milo.
Was interesting to also visit the Medieval section of the Louvre in the basement...this was a large section of the original castle dating back to 1193. Most of the castle was demolished in 1527 except for the walls and moat that are able to be seen in the basement.

Paris - Tourist sites

The Notre Dame














The Louvre museum.














Arc De Triomphe

Paris - General

Some photos of some nice french cafes and beautiful residential apartments (to give you a sense of what Paris is like if you have not been before).

Paris - Eiffel Tower views

Amazing views from the top of the Eiffel Tower. If you follow the green belt heading up the right hand side of the last photo, you can see the Arc De Triomphe.

Paris - Eiffel Tower

Looking up at a mass of steel.






























We walked to the second level (wasnt as hard as you would imagine even though it was 328 steps to the first level and then 340 steps to the second level) and we then took the lift to the top.
Beautiful building from every angle.
The building is 324 meters high and was the tallest building in the world from when it was built in 1889 until 1930.
Every 7 years or so the tower is repainted and they use 50-60 tonnes of paint each time!!

Paris

We had a ball in Paris in the weekend. Lots of photos to follow.
We arrived on Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. Got off the train on Grenelle Bvld and pretty much found the hotel opposite to where we got off!
Pretty good hotel (Eiffel Cambronne Hotel)..it was quiet even though it was near such a busy street. There were heaps of cafes in the area where we stayed.
That night we visited a great little french pub where nobody spoke a word of English! Great atmosphere though and although nobody could understand us, they were very friendly.
We took a walk and had a look at the Eiffel tower (about 10 mins walk away) that evening after having a nice dinner at a cafe called La Place, where Kirsty tried Escargo for the first time.

Gladstone's Land and St Giles

St Giles church. More information about this cathedral can be found here: St Giles





























































A few weeks ago we visited Gladstone's land which is a tenement building on the Royal Mile that was owned by a wealthy Edinburgh merchange in the 17th century. The building was let out to many different classes of people so was interesting to see how the different classes lived in the same building. While it was mildly insteresting, I would not have been pleased to pay the £5 entrance fee for it. We are members of the National Trust which means we didnt have to pay that entrance fee.

The Oz bar

A few weekends ago we visited the Oz bar on Candlemaker Row, which is a Kiwi and Ozzie pub near the famous Greyfriars Bobby pub near the George IV bridge.
Enjoyed some nice kiwi beers and hospitality of the locals. Good times.

Culross part II

They are right into Helloween over here! Lots of carved pumpkins about.

Culross

Check out the date of this building!




























The palace from 1597
















We visited Helen and Dan in Fife and they took us sight-seeing to a small village called Culross.
This village features many original homes from the 16th century and was well worth visiting.
We then headed back to Helen and Dan's and had a beautiful meal of Salmon! Afterwards we (well me and Dan anyway) enjoyed some nice 15 year old Glenmorangie.