Keen's European Vacation - Day 2

Day 2 Friday 7 August 2015 - Arrive in Paris, FRANCE

Ooh La La

We arrived in Paris, France; where they speak French! We got through the gates and realised we needed to find our transfer driver. How to do this was a mystery? I left Pete with the bags and went for a walk to see if I could figure out the chaotic system. I ended up like a homing pigeon back to our arrival gate and low and behold; …..a guy standing there, holding a lopsided hand written sign with Keen Peter on it!  I told him that I was Keen Peter but he looked at me weird until I pointed to Smooth Pierre among the luggage! He told us to sit and relax….is he joking after 30 hours of sitting down I was ready for a 5km run to the hotel! Another family of 4 and a baby was collected and an Aussie lady Lynn from Tin Can Bay in Queensland made and appearance (we were the only 3 Aussies on the tour). We went to the cars and after a little shuffling around we were on our way to the hotel. 

Charles De Gaulle airport is massive and we passed a Concorde aircraft parked majestically next to the motorway, how did they ever get that thing off the ground? Amazing aeronautical engineering feat that Concorde, paving the way for the new super fast flights in the not too distant future. I hope they can do Australia to Paris in 6 hours! We passed the outer city limits of Paris on the Motorway with Lynn chipping the driver for looking at his phone and asking heaps of questions about every building we passed “do people live there?” And how long had he lived there? To which he replied “I was born here” we didn’t get much conversation out of him after that. 

Smooth Pierre at the Le Pierre Curie

We arrived at hotel Kiliad Porte D'lvry, no reservation they said! Holy moly, how was I going to talk to the desk clerk? I dug into my bag and came up with our travel, accommodation and tour booking information and walked back in. I smiled at the driver and showed him the papers and the hotel confirmation that we were in fact supposed to be there. A very quick conversation ensued and in walks 45 Korean people off a tour bus. Well, if I thought it was chaos before I had no idea!  Finally the desk clerk catches my eye, I elbowed past and broke into a massive smile when I was handed a key and we could get the hell out of the lobby! The room was ‘quaint’ which is French for bloody tiny! We had to put the chair on the bed to walk around the room, but it was clean and had tea and coffee making facilities, which I later learned, was a BIG luxury. We were still wired! 

I had changed to Paris time but Pete’s Fitbit was stuck on Oz time, so he kept telling me what time it was back home and if I should be asleep or eating breakfast or going to the gym….it got a tad annoying after the first few days! We showered and changed and went to explore on our own…. Being true to ourselves we headed down the first street and found a French pub! Drinks in Pierre’s bar in the 13th arrondissement seemed appropriate; we ended up with 2 beers as they couldn’t quiet understand my request for wine. I found a little grocer and they sold French Red wine (how civilised) every bottle has a cork not a twist top so he opened it for me and shoved the cork back in so I could take it back to our hotel. 

As you can appreciate, by this time we were WRECKED so we had lollies n Uncle Toby's cheese dip & bikies for dinner. We crashed by 4:00pm with good intention of getting up at 6pm and going out for dinner. I woke at 8:30am, WAKE UP PETE! We missed the bloody bus!!! I start running around the room (sorry stumbling) thinking it's the morning and 8:30am and we missed the bus. Nope it is 8:30pm and in my defence it was still broad daylight! We were buggered so we stayed in bed and....So I woke up at 4:30am and decided to start this journal.

Keen's European Vacation - Day 1

Day 1: 6 August 2015 Belmont North – Sydney – Dubai – Paris

Buy a Bentley he said....it's duty free he said!......

We packed egg and lettuce sandwiches (we both love em!) we bought snacks, including the verboten lollies and muesli bars and we charged off to Cardiff station. Bree was taking photos and getting us revved up like a dervish! We were Empowered! We could do this! Let us at Europe…..we are going to suck the life out of it!!!! 

The chatty guard at the station clued us in about how to change trains & platforms and negotiate Central station like professionals, and the first leg went like clockwork! 2.5 hours later we were all checked in (travel tip number one, check in online as soon as you can). We ended up with the last 2 seats together in the middle of the row! Bugger! I love the aisle seat and Pete the window, but we learned an early lesson! 

We had organised our Euro’s through the bank on a Cash Passport and we bought some cash to carry onto the flight, we had some Aussie dollars and looked for a coffee and a table to eat our egg and lettuce samiches! We cleared customs and went through security, then into DUTY FREE! Bugger, it was being renovated and was pretty disappointing; we didn’t buy anything cause we were on holidays for the experiences not to shop! Weren’t we? 

We boarded our flight at 4:00pm in Sydney and we were set! We really didn’t appreciate the change of time zones and the sheer distance until we got on the plane and realised the first leg was a 14-hour long haul to Dubai! The staff was great and we were fed the cutest little airline food at all times of the afternoon, evening and they even woke us in the middle of the night to feed us again! We had a wine and beer with dinner, which was really nice and tasty, who would have thought one of those little foil trays could fill you up? But we had been stagnant sitting in our cosy seats squeezed between a guy from Melbourne going to London to watch his Manchester United team play and Sam from Rockdale who was going back to the old country for a family reunion in Milan. They were very gracious gents and did not mind us squeezing past them to go to the loo and to stretch our legs…..GET THE AISLE SEAT PEEPS! We watched movies, read and wrote and chatted to pass the time. 

I take my eye off her for 5 mins....she finds a sheik!

We arrived in Dubai around midnight for a 4-hour stopover. OMG! The airport was massive and amazing, duty free on steroids! People from every country on Earth walking around and doing what people do… All the gorgeous white, black & cappuccino skins mixed together, robed men and women and people dressed up and down! I listened to languages I had no hope of understanding or identifying and they were all hurrying their way through the journey. Note: The smoking room was disgusting, you could smell it from 100mtrs away, no ventilation and crammed full of people puffing away, why do they do it to themselves? 

 We bought a bottle of scotch and bourbon to take with us – about $20US and found a seat to watch the sea of humanity and relax, still no sleep – we were wired!

Now, onto the massive Emirates airbus 380 for our final leg to Paris a mere 7 hours away!

Keen's European Vacation - YIPPPEEE!

We never thought we would do this!

Day Minus 90 - BLAST OFF! I will post a day per day for my own record and to share with those who are interested in to hear and see Europe through the eyes of a couple of novices!

The Keen's - Ready for Blast Off @ Cardiff NSW

Pete came home with Sunday paper about 4 months back and said, out of the blue, "do you want to go to India? To which I replied, not in a million years"! He then astounded me by saying, how about Europe, I know you've always wanted to go there! "How come?", I asked, "look at this" he says, as he shows me the add on the back page of the paper. "It looks like a bargain, even to me", says Smooth Pierre.

So within 24 hours, it was booked and we parted with more money than both of us ever conceived to spend on a holiday together. Still; bargain basement at around $4,000 AUD each. Also a few extras dollars were needed for admin fees and taxes and insurance but for under $5,000 each we were set!

We were a little trepidatious, we had heard about families and couples being ripped off by dodgy travel agents and scams, but I followed up and kept asking questions and eventually we were sent our tickets and booking confirmation....now we let ourselves believe that this trip of a lifetime, just might happen after all!

The itinerary blew us away, every iconic church, museum, region and sight we could dream up was included, and some must see's that we hadn't heard of. Could this really be happening to us?

The journey began weeks out with preparation for buying, packing and researching what you would need to take on such a journey. We are complete novices to this kind of travel. The bucket list tour of Europe! Seven countries in eighteen days on a bus with complete strangers! Needless to say, we probably left it a bit late to learn key phrases 2 days beforehand. Although Pete had done 4 years of French at school and was keen to get his Parisian on, with some locals! I seemed to be able to read Italian just as well as Siri, so we felt proud of ourselves and prepared to order beer and wine in 5 languages with gay abandon!

Our friends and neighbours and our kids helped us out in lots of different ways. Maddie who has dreamed of going to Europe since she was a little girl, was green with envy but very knowledgeable about it all and very encouraging. Nathan, with his travel tips and etiquette and our "last supper" dinner with him, Lee, Layne & Abby at Central Leagues Club. Kent's little chats and phone calls asking me lots of questions and his heartfelt text "Bi, see ya later! "

Mitch and Kylie and their little family being so excited for us; seeing them the day before at Mitchell's daring young men in their flying machines birthday experience. And Bree, Aaron, Blair and Alivia for our sleepover and day at the soccer the weekend before. Bree for driving us to the station and sending us off with lots of laughs and pictures, which is now becoming a tradition! She was more excited than we were! (She sent us off on our Bali trip five years before!).

Angela and Emma with their previous experience loaned us their amazing travel book collection from their 2 months spent in France and Italy and Ange and I spent many nights chatting and drinking wine discussing how amazing it would be.

Troy and Jess who are house sitting to look after our much loved Roxy, Whoopi, Kracka the bird, and the fish, with Ange's help (cause she knows the ropes as she has been saddled with it lots of times beforehand!) 

More organising to make sure our Wills were up to date and in place, my brother Brad notified, this precaution was for peace of mind, just in case of any emergency (it does happen, my friend Martin and Laurie's brother in law Gus both recently passed away overseas.) 

So with everything we could possibly think of being put in place, we left our lives in capable hands and hearts and took it on the toe!

I Do Celebrant Services - Lake Macquarie & Newcastle, Hunter Valley & Port Stephens

www.idocelebrantserevices.com.au

I have updated my site and I am excited that it is looking so stylish and contains so much information for people planning their wedding or any other ceremony for that matter!

I am here to help and I can't wait for people to find me and our fabulous region for their destination wedding!

Katy the Bride and Rhonda the Celebrant

Wedding at Lake Macquarie

Marriage and Weddings - Eloping

Elope - The Not So New Trend

Couples have been eloping for hundreds of years. Not everyone wants or needs a large wedding, after all it is all about you as a couple and your commitment to one another. Elopements can be arranged in a little over a month. I am willing and able to organise your ceremony and other arrangements for you to design and deliver your perfect wedding.

People choose to elope for many different reasons, they may decide to avoid the spotlight and fuss. They want to avoid the organisation and associated pressure and expectation of a large wedding. Older couples that have been together for years often choose to elope with only their nearest and dearest by their sides. Couples from different cultural backgrounds or whose relatives live in other countries. You can choose to be married through the week or on weekends or public holidays. Couples who want to save time and a less common reason for eloping - saving money.

The sheer romance and intimacy of celebrating privately does not mean you have to "go it alone". Sometimes couples choose to have only themselves and their two witnesses attend or you can have a small guest list up to 20 people at your elopement celebration or getaway - the choice is yours. 

Your venue or destination is entirely up to you and I can advise you on many different choices around beautiful Lake Macquarie, Newcastle, Port Stephens, The Hunter Valley Vineyards, The Hunter River or the Central Coast. The options are endless for your ceremony and your individual celebration......dinner for 2 or a few, or maybe an intimate cocktail party? A weekend on a house boat, a dinner cruise, restaurants and intimate private function rooms are all waiting for you to choose.

Please feel comfortable and confident contacting me to discuss your perfect elopement package. www.idocelebrantservices.com.au