June 11 - 19

Caught the Eurostar to Paris at 300K/Hr. The lift in our hotel was a little squeezier than we are accustomed to in Aus, it measured 600x900 centimetres. Walked 15k on our first day taking in Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Arc DeTriumph, the Champs De Lyesee and much more.Also wined and dined our way through the day in the French's wonderful Cafe culture.

Arrived at the Lourve early on day 2 to join a hoard of people lining up for tickets to enjoy the best the art world has to offer. We were lucky that we had purchased our tickets the day before and were able to go straight in and begin a wonderful experience.

After slaying Goliath, David returns home triumphantly with Goliath's head in hand.

 We spent over 4 hours in the Lourve. It got to the stage when we could not look another statue in the eye without beginning to hallucinate.

On June 14 we caught a fast train to Munich via Stuttgart passing through beautiful German countryside. Mother hen was thrilled to catch up with her baby chicken at the World Cup Rowing.

The Germans love to sit, drink, eat and be happy. We reluctantly embraced their culture.

One of the highlights of Munich was without doubt the English Gardens, established in 1789 and covering 370 hectares. It is one the world's largest urban public parks. Thousands of people flock there every day.

Being a rowing supporter is a tough gig.

Surfing in the English Gardens, one at a time from dawn until dusk.                                        

The other highlight in Munich was the Hofbrauhaus, the best known beer hall in the world. We frequented the establishment on four seperate occasions, enjoying traditional german food,cold beer and merriment. I now understand why my father enjoyed Munich so much in 1972. I doubt if he found time to visit the English Gardens. We flew back to London on June 19 for some R&R after a very memorable week.