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I was just reading a good article about A visit to the Eiffel Tower at the Retronine travel website. I have to say it brought back memories.

I was fortunate enough to visit Paris and the Eiffel Tower back in March of 1998. I remember catching a glimpse of the tower as I walked from the Gard du Nord train station to my hotel. It was an exciting moment. As I was buggered from all the traveling that day, having just flown in from Beijing, I crashed in my hotel room around 7pm, but not before sampling McDonalds French style.

Due to the time difference between Paris and Beijing I was wide awake at 4.00am the next day. As my time in Paris was limited to two nights I decided that I would have a shower and then hit the streets of Paris. At 5.30am I found myself strolling past Notre Dame and then along the River Seine. Having grown up in Australia’s capital city, Canberra, it was a whole new world for me.

After a bit more walking I decided it would be great if I could watch the sunrise at the Eiffel Tower. As I did not know how long it would take to walk from near Notre Dame to the tower I decided I would test the Paris Metro. I easily found my way to the nearest station which was St Michel-Notre Dame. I remember using a ticket vending machine to purchase my ticket. A short time later I was on my way.

The metro at this time of the morning was quite empty. Before I knew it I was exiting the station at Champ de Mars. It was an amazing sight when the Eiffel Tower came into full view. I walked down to the tower and found that there was a few hours to a wait until the doors opened for visitors. Around 7.30 the sun was starting to hit the tower making for some interesting photos. After looking at the Eiffel Tower from all angles I decided to do a bit more sightseeing around Paris.

After studying the Paris map I decided to walk over to the Champs Elysées with the Arc de Triomphe the next prized tourist destination. After a fairly easy walk there I was walking along the famed Champs Elysées with the Arc de Triomphe straight ahead. After seeing this so many times on television and in many movies it was like a dream to see this world famous landmark.

I was now feeling hungry as I had not eaten all morning. Not far from the Arc de Triomphe I saw another famous landmark. This time it was the golden arches or McDonald’s. I headed there for a quick bite to eat. Having studied French at school I should have braved an attempt to order food in a more traditional setting, but you can’t beat convenience.

After a few more photos I headed back over to the Eiffel Tower. It was getting closer to opening time so I queued up to purchase my ticket. The gates were open and I was on my way. Being the fitness fanatic I was back then I decided to take the challenge of a stair climb. The air was quite fresh as I made my way up this world famous landmark.

When I finally reached the viewing platform I was rewarded with a fantastic view of Paris. The skies were clear and I could see for miles. I once again clicked away with my camera and enjoyed the magnificent Paris scenery.

After several hours at the tower I made my way down and headed back to the subway. I was now on my way to the Palace of Versailles . More on that another day.

The only regret I had following my visit to the Eiffel Tower was that I was there all alone. I will one day have to return to Paris with my wife to enjoy one of the most romantic cities in the world.

Recently announced budget cuts for the National Capital Authority in Australia has put in doubt some of the events managed by that organisation. The main one on the chopping block is the Australia Day concert held on the lawns of Parliament House.

It has been a popular event over recent years with crowds of around 30 000. It was also broadcast live around Australia and provided good exposure for the nations capital of Canberra.

A tourist attraction in Canberra that also is likely to be hit by the budget cuts is Blundell’s Cottage. This is a historic homestead that is popular amongst locals and tourists. I remember first going there on a school excursion. I even had wedding photos around the farmhouse.

With the expected cuts to funding it is likely the farmhouse will only be open to the public one day a week. This will be a shame as it is a worthwhile tourist stop when visiting Canberra.

This post follows on from my previous post about a weekend getaway in Sydney.

On day two my wife wanted to go shopping while my daughter wanted a trip on a the harbour. After checking out of our hotel we split up

My wife first went to Paddy’s Market at the end of Chinatown. Here there is a huge market with a wide variety of products including toys, shoes, clothes, make-up and jewellery. Also in the same building there is a fruit and vegetable market and fish market. Above the markets there are several levels of traditional retail outlets including a food court when you start feeling hungry.

Meanwhile my daughter and I headed towards the nearest monorail station. I bought an all day pass for $9. My daughter got on for free as she is under 6. The monorail trains come about every 3-5 minutes so we did not wait long. We now jumped on and did a complete circuit of the track to have a look around. After that we got off at the Haymarket stop and walked to 10 minutes over to Central train station with the aim of getting to Circular Quay as quickly as possible.

From Central we took a train to Wynyard Station. At this station we changed trains and took another one to Circular Quay. Now that we were at the right place to catch a ferry on the harbour I just had to decide which one. As we had an hour to spare I decided to go to Darling Harbour. After a 25 minute wait (the ferry was 15 minutes behind schedule) we boarded the ferry. As it was a nice day in Sydney we sat at the back of the ferry on the outside deck. The ferry pulled out of Circular Quay and headed north and went under the harbour bridge. The views were awesome. The ferry actually docked at Milsons Point for a few minutes. This was right next to Luna Park. It then went back across the harbour to Darling Harbour.

My wife was now heading up George Street where there are shops everywhere. She was having a great time spending money as she went along. Finally she ended up at Myer, one of her favourite Sydney shopping locations. On the way back from Myer she went underground. There are several underground shopping area’s in the city. One starts below Myer and winds its way back to Town Hall.

After getting off the ferry at Darling Harbour my daughter and I walked past the Sydney Aquarium and headed over to the main shopping area. We will visit the aquarium on our next Sydney visit. In the Darling Harbour area there are heaps of shops and food outlets along with restaurants. All of this comes with great views of the Sydney skyline. In the Darling Harbour area you will also find the Chinese garden, Power House museum, Imax theatre and the Sydney Convention Centre.

There is so much to do and see in Sydney. When are you visiting?