The Director's Cut
DRIVING - I have already mentioned our driving experiences in Ireland which may seem some what amusing but at times was quite frightening. This wasn't our only experience of unusual driving. The photo (above left) of Paris shows the Arc de Triomphe roundabout where there are no lanes and the traffic appears to go where ever it likes, along with the gendarmes weaving in and out on their motorbikes. Luckily we didn't have to navigate the motorhome around Paris on this trip.
Driving in South West England is also a skill. Firstly the roads are narrow. Secondly you have poor visibility because of the weather. Thirdly most houses don't have off-street parking so they just park in the driving lane. Fourthly the bus-stops are sometimes painted in the driving lane and lastly the road has been built within inches of house walls.
NORTHERN IRELAND - Northern Ireland is a funny country; some parts of it are so beautiful, green and peaceful, yet other parts are so grotesque, grey and disturbing.
The Beautiful & the Ugly
PARIS - Shopping isn't really my thing so don’t be fooled by the photo. Firstly I could never afford to shop at Cartier and secondly they probably wouldn't let me in the store dressed in a Holden t-shirt, sneakers, jeans and unshowered for two days.
Le chat avec la crème ou le chocolat!
Do believe the right-hand photo of the cat that got the cream. I have dreamed of going to Paris for a long time and trying out my two years of college French. My big moment came and I went into the pâtisserie and ordered, in French, a chocolate croissant and a coffee eclair. However my big moment was stolen when the till didn't display the money required to be paid and I had to ask in English how much she required (combien de l’argent).
RUGBY - Being great rugby fans we were devastated to find out we had booked our trip to England at the same time as the British/Irish Lions tour of NZ. To make up for this oversight we secured tickets to Martin Johnson’s testimonial game and the 1st day of the London 7s.
We also set about going to every rugby ground representing the four nations making up the Lions. First was of course Twickenham, which we went to by train and we forgot to photograph the outside. Besides what has already been mentioned the only other point of major entertainment was the Englishman's ability to queue. After the sevens we had an hour to spare before the big match. We went for tea but the queues were so long we gave in. However the guy behind us queued the whole time plus the whole of the first half only to return to his family and find the youngest needed to queue for the toilet.
