Category: Uncategorized

Steve from one of our services suppliers lives and works in Manchester and we have always said that if he was in Australia or I was in the UK, we would catch up in person for a few drinks. Well, since I was in the UK and I had a spare day, we decided to catch up in his home town of Manchester. I’d meant to post this on the weekend, or earlier this week, but just didn’t get the time, so its a few days late.

Getting to Manchester was super easy, I just booked through Virgin Trains for one leaving from Euston station. I booked the 8.20 am train, which would give me a few hours in Manchester. Sunday morning isn’t a particularly popular day for travel, so I managed to get a 1st class ticket for 2 pounds more than the standard. I left the apartment at 7 thinking I’d have stacks of time, but discovered that the tube line didn’t start running until 7.30, so the time I thought I’d have at Euston for breakfast was spend waiting for the tube at Bank. Still had plenty of time at Euston anyway, so grabbed a coffee, the choice of which was rather poor, and to be honest I wished I’d just skipped coffee today.

The train arrived, I took a few pics, and the doors closed before i got on. Mild panic for a second as I thought I’d missed it, but it was just the doors closing to keep the warmth in. Pushing the button opened the door and it still had 10 minutes to wait before it departed. 1st class was nice, some free fruit, coffee and snacks and comfortable seats. Hardly anyone else in the carriage. Before long we were hurtling through north London, some of the most interesting scenery were the canals we crossed with the very colourful boats on them, and the nice paths the canals have next to them used by joggers, walkers and cyclists.

Got to Manchester on time a found Steve with no trouble and we headed off. There were some protest groups marching around Manchester today, so we gave them a really wide berth and headed to the Museum of Science and Industry, a fascinating place that entry by donation. If I’d had longer in Manchester I think I could have spent an entire day here browsing all the stuff. Manchester was a key part of the industrial revolution and the engine of the 19th century British Empire, so they have a lot of cool stuff. Some very famous bands and music has come out of Manchester over the years. The city does really does have a lot to offer.

After some time here we headed for “Cloud 23” a bar in one of Manchester’s tallest buildings for a drink and some lunch. The food, drink and views were awesome. I’d really recommend going here if you are in Manchester. After this we visited a few of Steve’s favourite pubs before it was time for me to leave. I had an open ticket and could get any train back to London, but I had a reserved seat on the 5.35pm.

train. I made it back to the station and got on the train with only a few seconds to spare before the doors shut. The train was moving out of Manchester before I’d even had time to find my allocated seat it was that close.

Two hours later I was back in London, grabbed a quick burger for dinner at the station and came back to the apartment to crash for the night. An amazing busy weekend considering I’d only got back from Paris on Saturday night.

Sharon was due to arrive at Heathrow at around 4.30am today. Getting there at that exact time was going to be a bit of an issue since the tube and the Heathrow express don’t run at those times. The earliest Heathrow express I could get was 5.05am and I had to get an Uber to Paddington station for that one.

Sharon’s flight was slightly late and I missed the 5.05 express, but got their at 5.45am and Sharon had just got through customs.

Once settled in, Sharon met me at the Gherkin for coffee.

What a whirlwind of a weekend this as been. I Arrived in Paris on Friday and went to the Arc de Triomphe and had dinner in Momate before crashing in the hotel. I Woke up and was out of the hotel before 8. My food tour didn’t start till 11 so I just wandered down towards the gardens looking for a traditional French outdoor cafe where I could get a breakfast.

Found one that was just what I was looking for, reasonably quiet, shaded and of course looked like you would imagine a Parisian cafe should. I had coffee, orange juice, ham and eggs, a croissant, baguette and strawberry jam. After all this glorious food, I wandered down to the gardens and then and did the food tour.

After the tour I wandered up to the crypt under Notre Dame, spent some time in there, before checking out the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore, Then over to the E.Dehillerin kitchen supply store to check out all the amazing kitchen and cooking stuff they have. These these four things should be on your to-do list if visiting paris. See some history, have some amazing food, grab some great books from a Paris landmark and check out the amazing kitchen products.

This time of the afternoon it was really really warming up (around the 30c mark). I Then headed over to the Forum des Halles shopping area where there is a Lego store (not as good as London). Wasn’t really hungry after all the food but was super thirsty. Waked past a McDonalds and grabbed a cold coke and of course “a royal with cheese”, since I’m such a fan of the Pulp Fiction movie. Wandered around a few more shops before heading to the Eurostar terminal at Gare Du Nord. Unfortunately the waiting area at Paris is not as large or as good as the one in London, and it was crowded and hot.  Once on the train, 2.5 hrs later I was back in London, time for a quick cup of tea, some Vegemite toast and off to bed before my trip to Manchester on Sunday.

My main reason for visiting Paris this year whilst I was in London was to ride on the EuroStar again and go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe as I missed out on doing that last year. Doing the AdT wouldn’t take all day, so I had plenty of spare time to do something else, and searching trip advisor, one of the highly recommended things to do was a food tour. I thought about it, forgot about it, and by the time I remembered to book it (the week before I left Australia) they were all booked out. You can find their website here.

The night before I left for Paris, I doubled checked the site again, and unfortunately two of the tours were still booked out, but there was a new tour available that did the Latin Quarter instead. I quickly booked it.

The meeting point was at the Luxembourg RER entrance near the Jardin du Luxembourg. I was an hour early and it was a cracking day weather wise so I just wandered the gardens for a while and soaked up the morning sun and the Parisian atmosphere.

At 11am Emmanuel was there at the meeting point with his orange umbrella, just as the booking site said he would be. After introductions, we were given a beautiful crossiant freshly baked from a boulangerie. The first thing explained to us was the importance of the boulangerie to French people and some of the rules around what can be called a boulangerie and what can’t.

After a few minutes we headed off. First call was a fromagerie where we sampled some cheeses, Emmanuel purchased some, explained many types of cheeses and formal French processes around their classification, and how many cheeses were preserved before the invention of refrigeration. After this stop it was off to a meat store where we sampled even more cheeses, some drinks, cured meats and foie gras. Everything was phenomenally delicious and the vendors and Emmanuel were more than happy to answer any questions.

The third stop was a pastry store where we had the most delicate and delicious macaroons I’d ever tasted. At the fourth stop the “secret” food was collected. I won’t spoil it for you, if you want to know what we were offered, you will need to do the tour.

The fifth stop was a wine store where we went down into the basement to sit around a small table, eat all the foods collected and discuss the life, universe and everything with Emmanuel. Great opportunity to learn about how quality food, how it’s cooked and served is so central to French culture, and get a French perspective on anything else you want to discuss. Seeing all the sites in Paris is fantastic but it’s equally great to meet a local who is passionate about food and French culture and talk about it. In many respects this part of the tour is even better than the food itself.

I would happily recommend this tour to anyone who has a passing interest in French food and culture and has a few hours spare time.

Wow what a long day. Technically started at 1am as I had a conference call back in Sydney I really needed to be a part of. Finally got to bed at 2.30am and was in the office before 9. It was my choice for coffee this morning and I was dead keen to have a coffee from the cafe in the gherkin, even if it wasn’t fantastic. It was ok, part of the “Nero” chain, a little weak but otherwise acceptable. There must be a starbucks close to the office, cause Sharon iStalked me and I came up as in there. Too funny.
I left work early so that I’d have plenty of time to get to the station and get the train to Paris. As I’m only travelling with the one small backpack, I’m in Europe and crossing an international border, you could say I’m *technically* backpacking through Europe!! Anyone who knows me well knows how ridiculous the concept of me roughing it and backpacking is. At least I’m staying in a decent hotel, way to old and grumpy for that hostel shit!

I’m staying directly opposite the Gar Du Nord station. The hotel was originally about €160 for the night, but I checked at the last minute and rooms were down to €100 so I rebooked and cancelled. The hotel is being renovated so was a little hard to find, but the room is pretty comfortable and super convenient.

Whilst waiting for the Eurostar I of course had time to grab an additional coffee at St Pancras station, similar to this mornings coffee, a little weak but not bad.

After not too long I was seated on the train (spare seat next to me) as we rocketed through the southeast of England at around 200kph, then 22 minutes and 19 seconds under the English Channel (yes I timed it. Nerd alert….) we were in France and the train picked up more speed (300 kph) on its way to Paris we we arrived I headed straight to the newsagent on the platform so I could get a copy of Charlie.

A magic evening in Paris, sunset at the 10pm, clear skies and cool breeze. After checking into the hotel first item on the agenda was the Arc De Triomphe. Didn’t go up it last year, so made sure I did this year. View over Paris is spectacular. Glad I went up when I did as the queue later was massive (wanting to see it after sunset I guess). The roundabout / traffic circle is weird as traffic on the circle has to give way to traffic entering the circle. Opposite of roundabouts at home. It’s French so I’d expect nothing less ! There is a pedestrian subway onto to the Arc, and it illegal for pedestrian to cross, but witnessed heaps of people doing it, some with very small kids. 

It’s all stairs for the climb up the Arc, and spiral ones. Well worth the effort though. Entry is €12

I’d planned to go back to our favourite cafe from last year, the one where the chef’s cat tried to adopt Emma, but it had changed hands and become a trendy little bar rather than a family owned cafe. So I picked another one we went to last year. Food was still great. Had a coffee here and they gave me a liqueur to chase it down with on the house. Delicious.

Tomorrow is another massive day of things planned to do. You will need to wait till tomorrow for that one.