About a month ago now I went to Paris for the weekend with Emily, her sister and her Mum as Emily’s Mum was flying out of Paris back to Australia.

Although I’d been to Paris before it was nice to be back in Autumn when it was so damn cold. This time we got to do more exploring and managed to get up the Eiffel tower as it was fogged out last time.

After tracking our way to the hotel we found out that Emily had made up the address. So I used my trusty iPhone to find the actual hotel and GPS navigated our way there. That day we ventured out to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) which was amazing inside and out and then got a little lost (again) on the way back to the hotel. The first night we were booked into the Moulin Rouge and I must say it was fantastic and not *just* because of the topless dancers.

On the second day we went to the Eiffel tower and decided to walk to the second floor than take the lift, this wasn’t too bad but it was 701 steps altogether. The view from the top was amazing and I’m really glad we did it, the crowds however got a little much so we didn’t stick around up there too long.

On the last night we had a really nice dinner at a small café next door to the very place I spent New Year’s Eve last year. Fantastic service, very reasonably priced (for Paris) and I finally got to try escargot.

After dinner we walked back through the main street in Paris, the Champs-Élysées. This is where I found a mega Nespresso store (my new coffee machine).

On the last day it ended up pouring down rain which was fine as we were going to spend the day shopping. Unfortunately Paris closes down on Sunday’s and the shopping districts become homeless motels so we changed our Eurostar tickets and went home early.

It was good to see Emily’s Mum off back to Australia and finally use our free Eurostar tickets.

Where to next?

_B

A while ago during a complaining session about the quality of UK beef my boss Matt suggested I check out Donald Russell. Well to be honest I had forgotten all about it until the other week when a flyer with a rib-eye special arrived in my letterbox. I left it stuck on my fridge for a couple of days and finally made the decision to place an order. To my surprise it also included free delivery. A few days later this package arrived for Lord B Rawson

Unboxing

Dry ice - "Ice to see you!"

Private Reserve

The Queen's meat!

The finest of the fine

No no, thank you!

Individually wrapped parcels of love (meat)

Medium rare please

With salad and mash.

Now with a special Chinese beer - complete!

I’ve been back in Woking, UK for a couple of weeks now and settling back into routine nicely.
Everyone from work came out on the Friday I flew in and we all had a blinder, which despite the crazy hangover I had the next day was really nice.

I’ve had a massive couple of weeks at work, catching up on things, going to seminars and putting new features live. There’s so much happening lately so it’s really good to be back in the office with my team.

Planning another trip to France soon but still not sure what we’re doing for Xmas and NYE, I was thinking Thailand but we’re going to keep an eye out for packages.

Finally a couple of photos of English/European things that make me laugh.

Well I have been really slack!

Between my recent projects at work, staying up all night working, a really bad flu that lasted for weeks and being too tired to care about other things I haven’t blogged.

I’ve really enjoyed my time here and I guess having my Visa declined once and the entire process really drawn out has given me more time with my friends and family that I wouldn’t have got, which ultimately makes me feel better about heading back to the UK again.

Below are some photos of camping trips and drinking nights out with some  friends. I’m going to miss everyone and will hold you all to the promises of visits to London in the next couple of years.

_B

A big mud crab I caught with my Dad

Stubbie Coolers

Sunset on the river

Leyton & Blacky at the Vic

Cheese

Murder? What Murder?

The Big Pineapple!

After our night of absolute debauchery we rose to “wake up you bunch of fuck heads” in a thick German accent and beer cans being tossed at our tents. It would seem one of us had taught a rather large German these phrase the night before.
For those of us that didn’t wake up it was certainly inevitable once the Swiss started repeatedly banging on the race course armco with two hammers. It was like someone smashing saucepans together inside your head!

Once moving we all slowly made our way down to get some curry wurst for breakfast, this was perhaps one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Once back most of us got some more sleep and then finally we decided to make our way up to the festival, this is of course why we had crossed 5 Countries to get here.

After sussing out the grounds Neil, the Ben’s and I headed back to the camp for some rest while the others rocked on. After semi-recovering and putting on more clothes we ventured back for the night but not without finding ourselves a fantastic jungle shortcut.

The following day we were getting back on track however it absolutely bucketed down during the night and didnt stop until the early afternoon. So after an unsuccessful attempt at a gas burner breakfast we packed up and headed for town to look for more supplies and a hot meal. After ages in a local store laughing at all things German (and buying more sleeping bags and wet weather gear) we ventured over to Neil’s favourite hotel the ‘On-Road Cafe’ for a meal. A few beers, a massive schnitzel and a much needed toilet break we were ready to leave however not before Neil and I organised ourselves the next 2 nights and the rest of the guys the last night in their lovely warm and dry establishment.

That night we were all charged up again and made our way over to the festival (via our shortcut) but not without first getting a photo with some of our German friends.

The Gang

The shortcut

This evening we saw Machine “Fucking” Head and got down and dirty in the mosh pits for The Prodigy and Slipknot. After thank Neil and I snuck away and headed back to our warm hotel.
Once we got there I had a shower and meet Neil downstairs where a shot (of some Dutch drink) and a cold beer were waiting, it was fantastic. I think we sat downstairs talking to the owner and his wife until almost 2am again getting quite drunk.

Machine "Fucking" Head

Save on smoke machines, have your festival in the clouds

Slipknot tried warming things up

The On-Road Cafe

On the last day we spent the day at the hotel/cafe drinking and then went out for a fantastic steak on a stone, a local dish apparently. The first place we went to was closed because they were worried about the drunken festival goer coming in however the Taxi driver knew another place that served the dish so we all piled back in the cab and went there.

Steak on a Stone

Dig in

After walking back to the hotel (to burn off some of that protein) we pretty much settled in and decided to watch the last day of the festival on MTV in the warm bar. All except the determined Pete who layered up and set out on his own.

The last day we said our good byes and high tailed it to the French coast, all in all a fantastic trip, one I’ll never forget.

_B