London, Paris

Loooong time since I've updated. Apologising. Ok, so I flew from NY to London via Zurich, and spent the whole way in awe of the Swiss air hostesses who not only spoke English, French and German, but remembered after pretty much one short conversation that i spoke English and my neighbour spoke French. Landed in London, fell asleep (well after getting to Brad's by AWESOME tube (damn I'm going to need to come up with more adjectives)). I didn't really see all that much of London, or at least the touristy side - it seemed weird to be a tourist in a country so similar to my own. I did see Westminster Abbey though, and Parliament House, and i walked up the South Bank which is pretty much the British, non Opera House version of Circular Quay. I love British buskers, though - it seems every country has their speciality, and while the United States was dancers (break and tap, to be precise), I discovered when the ancient Circular Quay art of painting yourself funny colours and standing perfectly still for money came from - the British.

I saw a lot of British parks (I have to say in this respect they own the Americans and even the French and put our measly Hyde Park to shame with their real one). What you have to understand about the British is they love their sun. People think Aussies love their sun - its not true. We are so inondated with sun, that we take it for granted. We enjoy doing things in the sun.

The British LOVE the sun. Because it happens so rarely. So Hyde Park and Regents Park and the other one attached to Hyde Park i've forgotten the name of (Kensington Gardens?) are absolutely packed to the brim when its sunny. I spent a lot of time in Regents Park, which is so beautiful, and very well balanced between flowers, lakes, and fottball fields. If only Australia was so balanced...

I saw Spring Awakening. If and when it comes to your nearest capital city, (i.e. Sydney for most of you) GO SEE IT. About teenagers but not for children. Very beautiful, and very painful.

Anyway, one thing i obsessed about when i was in both London and Paris was the Metro/Tube. (On another random note, there is a lot less tunnel involved in the Eurostar trip than I thought. Very beautiful, and soooo much more comfortable than a plane trip. You can bring your favourite sharp objects too.) These cities have spent a long time perfecting the single best way to get around a city (a well designed city. I have plans for Sydney though...they involve major cosmetic reconstruction), and they citizens reap the benefits every day. It is literally useless to own a car if you live in centralish Paris or London (especially Paris; when there is the awesome Velib bike system - www.velib.fr, although I think its in French). The roads are much more intimate than in cities designed for cars - although you probably have the same chance of getting run over in San Francisco and paris, it FEELS like you won't in Paris).

I arrived in Paris on a Monday, staying a week at the hippyish Woodstock Hostel. Very cool cat there, and cool people. I met a couple of South Americans with whom I have a long conversation in Portuguese, with only occasional detours into French or English (note; i don't speak Portuguese, although I would love to) I was in the trendy area of Montmartre; which is famous for the Moulin Rouge and the Sacre Coeur church, although i didn't see either while i was there because I'd seen them before.

I did see a few museums; the Louvre was one, although i found it as intimidating as I did the last time, and I think I had more fun painting the building while it was closed than going inside on the day it was open (who knew the French celebrate the 1st of May with flowers and closing everything?) I also saw the Kandinsky exhibition at the Centre Pompidou, which was awesome, it was like walking through the guy's life and it was a very colourful life (in a literal sense too - have you seen his paintings?) I bought watercolours after that too, so you may be seeing some interesting pictures when i come back. Again on the photo front, my memory card reader hates all of mankind, so I haven't been able to put up any photos. if and when i can, there'll be a deluge...

Anyway, i still haven't gotten up t present day at La Barraque, but I will post again in the next few days with other things i did in Paris, the wonders of the TGV (Train Grande Vitesse or high speed train, in case you were wondering) and wonderful farmlike things like milking cows, slug attacks and a very cute cat with no sense of balance...

See you all later!!!