It has begun. I am on the road.and the first destination is Stockport (Greater Manchester) via a quick stop over on the way in Oxford. Heading to Ma&Pa for a few bowls of chicken soup, a ciao to Aunty then back south.
It was a tough start to the day as I had to drag myself out of bed at 5am and then drag my bags to the Gare du Nord. I think I underestimated the weight of my ruck sack. I had the image in my mind of being found spread eagled cartoon like on the pavement, being crushed by my gigantic ruck sack. This did not occur - which is a shame as I think it would have been a great photo opportunity (for someone else!). After the fire a couple of weeks ago in the chunnel, I was expecting a difficult journey to London but I was mistaken. At the Eurostar terminal, I was given a new booking for the next available train - the train I was originaly booked on was the following one.- checked in and boarded immedialtey the train. I think it was probably the quickest Paris-London.journey I have done. It was great to arrive in the rejuvenated St Pancras Station. The Grand Old Lady is looking good. The Eurostar travellers are just discovering this forgotten main line station - except to the few of us who used it in the past to come down from Leicester (my city), Notingham, Derby and Shefield. One of the great Cathedrals to the age of Rail. I may be sounding to much like a trainspotter, but it is magnificant example of gothic architecture, constructed with red brick. i would recomend a visit to the new home of the British Library, next door to St Pancras as a contrast. I digress a little. On leaving the Eurostar terminal I headed to the underground - passing on the way a bank to take out a loan to purchase my Underground ticket. After living in Paris, the cost of travel in London does come as a shock - for a short trip and then the coach to Oxford. A pit stop for coffee & noodles, and then heading up North.
Day 1 - Metro, Train & Buses but as yet no planes...
More to come...
After 8 years I am leaving the great City of Paris. So I thought how better to say goodbye to the City than to eat my last pain aux raisins and pain au chocolate in front of a great Paris icon. And I have certainly eaten a large quantity of pain aux raisins, pain au chocolate, croissants, chausson aux pommes, oranais and the list goes on and on. I think I averaged one of these a day Monday to Friday. So, if I ate 5 a week, for 52 weeks a year and for 8 years, then I ate at least 2080 Viennoiserie (666 432 calories). That is a lot of calories! Some at least burnt off running after a Metro. So, I leave Paris a bit wider than I arrived.
Off course my 8 years in Paris was more than just 2080 vienoiserie. So much more, but this is a blog about things to come and not what has passed. I am sad to leave friends behind from Fusac, CPI, Qualibris and more friends besides, but I know it is time to move on.
So, à bientôt Paris and thanks for all the pain aux raisins.
Surprisingly, I do not require a Visa for the UK - sometime it feels like I do. Last time I headed to the UK, they looked at my passport and seem to have doubts if I was who I was. Maybe I cannot blame them, I would question my Passport photo. I could be mistaken for a convict - but I do need one for India. For some apparent reason, I thought you did not need an advance Visa for India. However, whilst talking to Monica she asked me if I got my Indian (Visa). After I looked blankly at her, I meekly replied that I thought I do not need one. I was SO wrong. We have to apply a Visa prior to arriving in India. The Indian Embassy in Paris (and London) subcontracts the admin to an UK company. On their website, they say that it take 3 days. So I thought I had plenty of time. This was mid August. Unfortunately I did not read the whole website and that for non French citizens it takes a minimum of 10 working days.- once at school, they gave us an exercise to fill in a application form, they kept telling us that we should always read fully the instructions. I like most people just started to fill in the application form. Afterwards they told us that the last line of the instruction it said not to fill in the application form and just wait to the end of the exercise. A lesson not learnt it seems - So on reading this. I bounced out of my chair and I legged it to the Visa centre. After queueing for 2hrs, I handed in my application and was told again that it will take an minimum of 10 working days as I was not French.
My visa was ready in 4 days! I bloody panicked for nothing.
For practical reason, I decided to get my Nepalese Visa in advance (you can get the Visa at immigration on arrival in Nepal). I was told it takes 4-5 days. I made sure to get to the Embassy early to avoid any queue. I did, there was no queue. The place was empty. There was nobody. I got the Passport back within 4-5 days. With the low number of Visa demands, I believe that my application was processed on the same day.
So, now I am ready for the first leg of my trip!
Next Time : Salut Paris or So long and thanks for all the Pain aux Raisins
Before I can head off on my travels, there is the preparation. Or in my case the lack of preparation. it seems that to travel it is best to get a few vaccinations. Some are obligatory and some are advised. I though to myself no problem. A few jabs and it will be fine. As I unfortunately discovered, it was not a few jabs. I was recommended to go to the Institute Pasteur here in Paris. They have a service for travel vaccination. I was told this at the beginning of July, to get there early as there is a huge queue and they shut at 11. I made it there at the beginning of August - eh it is hard to get up first thing on a Saturday morning - and queued for 2 hrs to see the doctor. Based on my itinerary they advise me on what vaccines I needed to have. And it was a few. They are Rabies, Hepatitis A and B, Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Diptheria Tetanus Poliomyelitis (DTP) and Pertussis. Unfortunately it not just one Jab for each of them. This was the following course
Rabies x 3
Hep B x 3
Yellow Fever x 1
Thyphoid+Hep A x1
DTP x 2
Pertussis x 1
At one point, my left elbow grew a extra muscle. While watching TV one night, I notice out the corner of my left eye how muscular my left arm has become. I thought wow all that sitting around does make you fit. Then I realised that it did not match my right arm. Uhmm, me thinks a bit swollen.
Its does not end there! Lets talk Malaria (Paludism)! I had to make an appoint to discuss the risk of catching malaria with the consultant at the centre. Lets put it this way, after the meeting, I just wanted to go and hide in my flat. The problem is not that they scared me with the risk that I will get malaria, more that they scared me with the lack of a clear advise. They sat on the fence! They left it up to me if I wanted to take the anti malaria tablets or not. They just informed me what the regions are at risk, what protection to take against mosquitoes bite and then said it is up to you. I was no more clear after the meeting than before.
Never the less I decided that I would not lock myself in my flat and would indeed head towards London next week...
Ciao for now. Later today, the Doctors for my last jab (DTP n°2).
If anybody wants to post a comment on the blog, you do not need to register for a Google/Blogger username and password. You just need to choose in the Identities section the Name/URL option and just type a name. Its that simple! I think Google/Blogger are being a bit sneaky in giving the impression that you need to sign up for a Google/Blogger account.
Welcome to my blog. A blog about cooking, planes, IT... Well off course it isn't. The title of the blog is a small give away.
After 8 years living and working in Paris, I have decide to leave behind all those croissants, pain au chocolat, pain aux raisins, patisseries and go travelling around the world. Why now? well, I am attending a wedding in Nepal the 14-15th October - yes a wedding which last 2 days, I must admit I have not asked the question why the wedding lasts 2 days, I will find this out for myself in a months time - and I have been meaning to visit Claire for a long time In NZ. So I thought why not take the time and visit the world. Well parts of it anyway. My itinerary is London-India/Nepal-Thailand-Vietnam-South Korea-Japan-Australia-NZ-Chile-Peru-Barcelona-London. My ticket is valid 12 months, lets see how long i manage before I keel over in a corner. I leave Paris the 25th Sept and head to the UK. I know not an adventurous start to my travel but I need to start somewhere. The real beginning is the 6th with my flight to Delhi.
I was not planning at first to write a blog. However as more and more people kept asking me if I was going to write one, i thought I would bow to the modern world and set up a blog. And what a opportunity for me to go on and on and on and on about anything I choose. With photos as well! For the look of the blog, I need to thank Léna for the banner she created. I think it is great!
So if you want to follow The Travelling Dan as he makes his way around the world. To know how many baseball caps have been lost so far, the type of planes flown, the food eaten or not eaten as it may be - Uhmm, maybe it is a blog about cooking and planes!!!! - plus things you may actually find interesting, this is the place to be. Come fly with me and visit often, it will be worth it.
NEXT TIME :The Prologue or jabs, jabs, more jabs and visas
