So, did you miss me?
Yes, it has been nearly a month since my last post. Yes, for a month before that the blog was serving up reheated old Christmas posts to cover for me while I got married. But no more! I am back, refreshed, married, honeymooned and bursting with goals and ideas for 2009.
A month travelling around England and Paris certainly inspired a lot of observations and ideas – some of which I am sure will appear on the blog over the next few weeks. In the meantime, I thought I’d share some titbits just so you know I’ve not been idle for the last month.
New Year in Paris Sucks
It sounded fantastic – a honeymoon in Paris over the New Year holiday. We stayed a couple of streets away from the Eiffel Tower and were rather excited about the spectacle we felt sure would happen on the evening of December 31st.
We should have stayed in bed.
The Parisians were out in force, blocking roads as they parked three-deep for a view of the illuminated tower. For hours before-hand it was hard to move for the crowds, drinking and partying beneath one of the most iconic structures in the world.
Then, at five to midnight, some lights flashed on the tower. Pretty, but as these same lights had been flashing on the hour throughout the night, it was hardly special. A few minutes later, two fireworks went off from next to one of the legs. I started up the video camera ready to capture the splendour that no doubt would follow. On the video, Shelley can be heard clearly saying “Any minute now…” before a Frenchman laughed behind her as he moved back to his car.
People started moving away. The parked cars started reversing and navigating around each other. It was one minute past midnight and it was all over!
Back in our hotel room, we watched news reports of massive firework displays in Sydney and London. We had just left Sydney and would be in London a week later. It just didn’t seem fair.
Teabags are More Valuable than I Thought
I’m considering placing my box of PG Tips in a safe deposit box after my experiences in a Paris brasserie. Yes, the Aussie dollar is soft at the moment against the Euro, but paying the equivalent of $8.00 for a small pot of hot water and a standard teabag still seems extortionate.
Don't misunderstand - Paris is still one of my favourite places on the planet. I'll just take a thermos flask next time.
Take the Lift
Eiffel Tower. Nuff said.
Travel Insurance is a Must
Yeah, I know. We all think it won't happen. Well, it did. Shelley spent a night in hospital in Paris and we would have been completely screwed were it not for our insurance. She was fine in 24 hours, but that wouldn't make the bills any smaller.
My Wife is a Souvenir Junkie
“Oh great, they have a little shop.” How often did I hear that phrase? Every monument, castle, chateau or art gallery. We now have more postcards, prints and wall-hangings than we have walls to hang them on.
If some industrious person had opened a little stall at our wedding reception, I’m sure Shelley would have been first in line to get a tea towel with our faces on.
Tomorrow, I’ll get stuck into the real work of ramping the blog up again with the usual mix of posts on marketing, scriptwriting and other nonsense that occurs to me when I’ve had too much caffeine.
