Whispering sweet nothings.

[turtlemichael]

We are creatures of habit. Every visit to Paris for us includes a visit to Pere Lachaise Cemetery in the 20th. The clever thing is to start at the Gambetta metro station and walk down rather than the other end and walk up the hill.



Oscar Wilde's grave.

 

[turtlemichael]

After a week in Paris it is time to move on to London.

I have no real idea whey we decided to fly rather than take the train. It is so long since I booked. All I can think now is that I must have seen a BA flight from Orly to London City Airport and, as we planned to stay at the Hilton Bankside, that was reasonably convenient. I hadn't figured on the Orly zoo. No lounge access. No where even to sit inside Security. All up, the train was probably a lot more practical.

The flight was one of the last for BA, as I understand it, between ORY and LCY. The time for it changed a good few times before the day. In the end, it was 6 hours later than we had originally booked which could have been very inconvenient but didn't really matter to us as we hade no plans on arrival. It turned out to be operated, at short notice to us, by WDL Aviation and not BA. Googling it, this substitution is not uncommon but it is a weird look to be flying on BA on a German operated aircraft with no visible signs it was BA. It was a BA146 so reasonably comfortable being less than half full.

It was the first time we'd been through LCY. It is a good experience compared with Heathrow in that we were on the street within 10 minutes of arriving at the gate. It was also the first time we had used our Australian passports at the smart gate. There was absolutely no waiting and no questions. This should help a lot to avoid the lines at Heathrow too. The taxi was around 35 minutes to Hilton Bankside and cost 37 pounds before tip at peak afternoon on Sunday time.

Hilton Bankside is a decent hotel and certainly one of the better Hilton family products in London. We were using points (420k for 11 days - pretty good I think) so there was no upgrade but the standard kings are very comfortable and spacious. The only thing you have to get used to is looking at a brick wall out the window. After a walk it was time to hit the lounge.

 

[turtlemichael]

I lived in London for 7 years from my early 20's and have been back countless times since for visits and catch-ups with friends. In all that time I had never been to Kew Gardens so, on the May Bank holiday, what better than to go? Wrong. Half of London and its visitors had the same idea. We had planned to meet a friend there inside the gate at 10.00am. We eventually got in through the long lines just after noon. But for planning to meet a friend we would have gone home and tried another day.

Admission is near 20 pounds and the grounds themselves are no more special than any other decent botanical garden. What is special are the buildings and the hothouses. Truly amazing. As well, there was an exhibition of the glasswork of American Dale Chihuly Dale Chihuly - Wikipedia . We had seen some of his work on a trip to San Francisco and it is unique and worth going out of your way to see.

 

[tgh]

My GGrandfather donated a collection to Kew, C 1920….
I fantasise about rocking up and asking to view it.. but suspect that I will be disappointed

sorry too much incohol… great uncle...

 

[VPS]

I lived in London for 7 years from my early 20's and have been back countless times since for visits and catch-ups with friends. In all that time I had never been to Kew Gardens so, on the May Bank holiday, what better than to go? Wrong. Half of London and its visitors had the same idea. We had planned to meet a friend there inside the gate at 10.00am. We eventually got in through the long lines just after noon. But for planning to meet a friend we would have gone home and tried another day.

Admission is near 20 pounds and the grounds themselves are no more special than any other decent botanical garden. What is special are the buildings and the hothouses. Truly amazing. As well, there was an exhibition of the glasswork of American Dale Chihuly Dale Chihuly - Wikipedia . We had seen some of his work on a trip to San Francisco and it is unique and worth going out of your way to see.
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I was at Kew last Tuesday - just got back home so will write up a TR sometime this week - I went to the last Chihuly at Kew in 2005 and I only had one day in London this trip so it had to be Kew

 

[turtlemichael]

I was at Kew last Tuesday - just got back home so will write up a TR sometime this week - I went to the last Chihuly at Kew in 2005 and I only had one day in London this trip so it had to be Kew

Missed you by a day. Chihuly is well worth going out of your way to see. I saw a big exhibition at the de Young in San Francisco in 2008. Quite amazing. There is work by him in several Australian galleries including NGA and NGV.

 

[turtlemichael]

Another first for me was a visit to the Imperial War Museum in South London. There is a very thorough and moving exhibition on the Holocaust and galleries on the wars Britain has been involved in. There have been a few. The First World War gallery is very good but the Second World War gallery and those covering more recent conflicts are in need of a makeover.

 

[turtlemichael]

On a warm day we are off to Stratford to see the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of As You Like it. It has had very good reviews so we were full of anticipation. Our anticipation was fully rewarded as it's one of the best productions I've seen. The trip from London by train is a little over two hours each way from Marylebone station. As the trains, at least the direct ones, are not too frequent, a trip from London to see a matinee means about a 12 hour day door to door. Anybody who has the chance and likes Shakespeare should see it. As You Like It | Royal Shakespeare Company

Bicycle rack at Marylebone Station.

 

[turtlemichael]

Start of the trip home. We had a couple of hours in the Virgin Atlantic lounge in Terminal 3 at LHR. We decided to have dinner before VS206 21.50 to Hong Kong in order to maximise sleep time on the flight. The food was good as are all aspects of this lounge. The showers are excellent. The deli where you select what you want from cold meats, fish and salads, is excellent too. The highlight for me was saying hello to Daryl Steyn, the South African fast bowler who was on his way home after being forced out of the World Cup by injury.

 

[VPS]

Start of the trip home. We had a couple of hours in the Virgin Atlantic lounge in Terminal 3 at LHR. We decided to have dinner before VS206 21.50 to Hong Kong in order to maximise sleep time on the flight. The food was good as are all aspects of this lounge. The showers are excellent. The deli where you select what you want from cold meats, fish and salads, is excellent too. The highlight for me was saying hello to Daryl Steyn, the South African fast bowler who was on his way home after being forced out of the World Cup by injury.
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Wow - it's going to be really weird for you when you finally get home after all that time away - back to reality - good luck

 

[SuePa]

Thanks for sharing your amazing journey. I've thoroughly enjoyed tagging along.

 

[turtlemichael]

We are definitely in the home stretch now. To break the journey we had three nights in Hong Kong at the Conrad. I hadn't stayed there for over a year and it was noticeable that very few staff faces were familiar. The hotel was very busy because of a long weekend and there was even queueing to get into the Lounge and the breakfast restaurant. It remains one of my favourite hotels. Here are some pictures from the lounge in the evening and at breakfast time. We did nothing on the break other than sit round the pool and do a bit of walking. On the last full day there the mass march protesting against the proposed extradition laws occurred and we could see it from our room (just). It took 5 hours to pass.

We were on the CX day flight down to Melbourne and that was as expected. Nothing to see there.

So, 168 days after leaving Melbourne, we returned. It was the best trip of our lives and has created many memories. The next few months are busy with some domestic travel, a month in Singapore and Thailand and then a period for me following the Test matches against Pakistan and New Zealand. Next year in February we are doing a Silversea cruise for two weeks around the Pacific Islands Sydney to Sydney. We have also taken the plunge and booked for the Silversea World Cruise in 2021 but there is a lot of water to flow under the bridge before then.

Thanks for reading along and I hope this has been enjoyable.


What we could see of the protests from our window.

 

[love_the_life]

Thanks for the wonderful TR - loved reading about the adventure. Pity some bouts of ill health affected your activities but it sounded amazing.

 

[OZDUCK]

Thanks for all the work you put in to get this great TR up. You will definitely need a rest to recover after this marathon trip to prepare for your next ones.

 

[VPS]

What a marathon trip and well done for keeping up to date with it. Thanks for letting us follow along

 

[zig]

Thanks for taking us along on this trip, I have enjoyed travelling with you. I hope you have no re-entry problems as you settle back into life without a butler on hand

 

[craven morehead]

Simply outstanding !! Definitely the longest TR I have had the pleasure of following. This TR became my version of FB I looked forward to checking it every day. Cheers CM

 

[tgh]

Thanks for a great tr and looking forward to the next wc

 

[drron]

What a memorable TR and one fantastic trip.We both admire your stamina.I really don't think I could spend that long at sea.

 

[Pushka]

Echoing everything everyone else has said. I know how daunting it is to do a live TR and you just kept on hanging in there to complete it over the months. Loved it! Not sure I could last the distance.

Bring on 2021.