One man touring party

Hello my readers...if there are any out there... Well I've reached that point in my travels where I am sitting anxiously waiting for a few fellow traveller friends to come over to this sun kissed land before I can venture some more counrties in Europe. Furthermore, it gets a bit tiring having to do the old "out stretched arm reverse photo" trick just to get a photo with me in it. So for the past week I have looked in my London Guide (gifted to me by the lovely people at GE) to find things I can do on my own. My first stop was the London Zoo out in Camden, and I'm not talking about the markets. Now there is surely a few people thinking, "why would you go to a zoo in London when you can do that back at home?". Good question, I asked myself that exact thing after I went. Now don't get me wrong, it was great to see the many fascinating creatures that roam the world, but these animals were lazy! The Lion is aptly named because it was just lyin' around (Get it - Lion = lyin'). The Tiger did a similar trick but on it's back and I didn't even get to see the Pigmy Hippo, which I was really excited about. I saw Timon and Pumba chilling out and a Llama eating grass. The coolest animal was a little monkey which was the smallest known monkey in the world. He/She was having a great time juming from tree to tree and eating unsuspecting Grasshoppers. I managed to get through most of the zoo in a few hours, seeing Otters, Reptiles and the Aquarium. All in all a good way to kill a few hours and not lye around all day, just watch animals that did.

On friday I went to the British Museum which was a great experience that I enjoyed immensely. I saw ancient Egypt and Greece sculptures and artifacts; items that had been collected throughout the history of developing Europe; African art; American Indian tools and dress; and Egyptian Mummy's. I was most impressed with the African exhibition, mostly the "weapons for tools" exhibition which focussed on the civil war in Mozambique from the 1970's through to the 1990's. An initiative was put in place to trade the hundreds of illegal weapons that had made their way into Mozambique over the many years of unrest, for tools for work such as farming. A few people had taken these weapons and created pieces of art from them such as the chair pictured.

After seeing the museum I think I hit my lowest point this holiday. Here I digest...I caught the tube out to Leicester Square with the intention of looking at what musicals were on offer for my viewing pleasure. There was Lion King (Hopefully not a King that sleeps all day), Wicked, Les Miserables, Joseph, Spamalot, We Will Rock You, Jersey Boys, and many more. All very appealing but there are friends that want to do these things too, like my sister who said, "Hey Cam go and see Wicked and tell me what it it like. Oh no, actually don't see it and when I arrive we can watch it together."
"Oh okay, no problems, that sounds good, when do you get here?" I replied.
"I'm not sure yet, maybe August or September." She responded.
See my problem people. So you ask, "What was the low point Cameron?"
I came across a cinema and watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall for 12 pound!! The worst thing was that I actually sat on the grass in Leicester Square for 30 minutes contemplating whether I should spend that kind of money on a movie. Funny movie, go see it!

Sunday saw London's fifth straight day of sunshine and myself, Kurt and the many people that we are staying with all headed out to a restaurant/bar called "Old Ship" which is on the banks of the Thames near Hammersmith, and we sat on the grass and enjoyed the day with a few drinks. Today was the last day of the English Premier League and Manchester United has to win their game against Wigan Athletic to claim the title ahead of Chelsea. They won 2-0. The day concluded what was a great week weather wise and a successful week for Cameron on the tourist front. Upcoming adventures may be a trip south to see a bit of the English countryside or a visit to the Lord's Cricket Ground and Museum. I will keep you all posted.

A week in Paris

My last day in Nice was a cliche - Aaron and I hired bikes out for 10 euro and rode along Cote D'Azur (D'Azur Coast) enjoying the scenery on offer, and also the Mediterranean Sea on a beautiful spring day.

On Monday the 28th of April I caught the TGV (which stands for the Train that Goes Very fast) from Nice up to Paris which was a 5.5 hour trip through the heart of France. When I arrived I did my best to navigate myself through the Paris underground train network out to a little town called Marnes-la-Coquette where I met Parisian friend, former housemate, and soon to be translator, Jean-Louis Afonso. Jean-Louis was kind enough to let me stay at his family home and I had the pleasure of meeting his Mum, Dad, Brother and dogs. On my first night there, Jean took me around and showed me one of the most famous places near Paris, Versailles, which is only a 5 minute drive form his place. On the way there we made an important stop off at the mall to buy GTA IV, which would provide hours of entertainment on the days to come. On the way home we stopped off at a little cocktail bar, had a quiet drink and.....um... reminisced about the past.

On Tuesday I had a rendezvous (thought I'd throw in a French word for the flavour of the post) with my Mum and her partner Paul. We met at Luxembourg Gardens in the morning and began our expidition across Paris. Our first stop off was Notre Dame, then past the Louvre, up Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triumph. From there we headed back down Champs Elysee, past the tunnel where Princess Diana died and on to the Eiffel Tower. The walk took a few hours and my feet were sore, however it was a great was to see Paris during the day.

That evening Mum had organised to have dinner with some distant French relatives who have the "Langoulant" name (The family name from my Mum's side). This gave Mum an opportunity to practice all the French she had been learning, and it gave the French Langoulant's an opportunity to practice their Engligh on me and Paul. It is here that I would like to say that I was not ignorant with French (believe me I did try), however to save us all the pain of trying to hear me ruin their wonderful language, it was far better for them to speak English. This was a very common theme during my time in Paris as I found the locals very accomodating and willing to speak English to me.

On Wednesday we had planned to visit Versailles and see the castle where King Loius XIV, and XV lived, and where the most famous Monarch, Marie-Antionette spent her days. Well sometimes people things just don't go as you plan and Mum and Paul failed to arrive, leaving me sitting on a post for 1 hour all alone in a foreign country at the hands of beggars and dodgy Nigerians trying to sell dodgy "souvenirs". Later on Mum would claim that there was maintenance taking place on one of the lines and they couldn't get out to Versailles.

That night Jean-Louis and I headed out into town with his friends to celebrate someone's birthday. Our first stop off was a bar called Ice Kube, which is a bar made completely of Ice even the glasses are ice. The only downside was that it cost 38 euros to enter however I was told that it was all you can drink. This sounded like a great night out: 38 euros, all you can drink all night. Wrong! I then found out it was for only 30 minutes and it was only vodka on offer. Well how much vodka could I drink in 30 minutes just to get my money's worth? The question was answered for me too. You were only allowed 4 drinks. Unfortunately I got through two drinks when they called last drinks so I only ended up with 3 drinks in total. The experience was great but no surprises why Ice Kube doesn't make it into my Lonely Planet Guide "Europe on a Shoestring." The night was topped off when we all headed out to a place called "Strictly House", and one of the guys (who works in promotions for Heineken) got us into the VIP section and we were given free drinks all night.

Thursday was a public holiday and it was spent sleeping until midday then later that night I went out with Jean-Louis and his friend Steven for dinner then went and played poker in the evening with some of their friends that I met the previous night.

Friday: Take 2 Versailles - On friday afternoon I met Mum and Paul at Versailles and we went to the Castle with the intention of exploring the Castle and the grounds. Unfortunately there were a herd of tourists and the lines were enormous so we decided instead to explore the gardens which were free to enter. The grounds are immaculately maintained and span a vast area which seem to stretch as far as the eye can see. We ventured down from the castle and towards the cross shaped lake, then onto the Grand Trianon which was built by Louis XIV as a place to escape the hectic life of the Castle. We then went to see Marie-Antoinette's House which had hoards of people outside of it. We didn't go inside the house, just looked from the outside, then slowly made our way back to the Castle to end our visit to Versialles. For those interested in the history of the French Monarchy, the Castle of Versailles was built after Louis XIV was married and they moved from their castle in Paris (now the Louvre), into the Castle of Versailles. The Monarchy contninued to reign in France until the French Revolution where they were driven out of Versailles and dismantled.

On friday night I went and watched Iron Man (In english with French subtitles) and on Saturday I booked my train ticket home to London, thus concluding my week in Paris.

Unfortunately on Friday night after watching the movie, some bad news came through that my Grandfather who had been in poor health had passed away. Mum was able to fly home the next day to be with the family and I want to send my love to all of the Lovell/Langoulant family who knew Donny and say that we are all going to miss him greatly but are so much better people to have known such a great man. I was lucky enough to see Nanna and Donny before I flew out to London, knowing that it would be the last time I got to see him. While I was there I told them how I would take lots of photos and make sure I kept them up to date on my travels so they could share the experience with me. Donny said to me, "Do this for yourself and not for us". These words really stuck with me as they epitomise how selfless and caring he was, that he didn't want me to be concerned about their wellbeing but to just enjoy myself. From London, with all my love I am thinking of you.