Sunday and Monday in Paris we were joined on our wanderings with my friend Sally who is kindly putting us up for our stay here

So off we went on Sunday….keeping a close eye on the rain forecast to Montmartre in Place de Clichy….if you watched the Olympic cycling road race you would have seen them traverse the cobbled streets of this area!

So here we were in the queue to take the cable car up…

To the cathedral on the top of the hill, we persevered with the queues as the 300 (or so) step climb did not look inviting…

The last bit we could easily manage….and then the crowds..

Viewing the church….

And the view of Paris!!!

Padlock fences have certainly become a thing in Paris (and many other parts of Europe these days)…

And you can buy your padlock(and key) and cheap nasty tin Eiffel towers from the hawkers laying their wares on a mat!

We the wandered into the village…

Trudi fascinated by this statue(actually a human) who she waited to move for 30 minutes….he didn’t and she eventually did and joined Sally and I for our morning coffee…

Next to a plethora of souvenir shops…

Art (oil painting) galleries

Caricature artists…

And Throngs of people!!!

Not being one for crowds we headed downhill (this time on foot)

Shadows on walls…another piece of art…

Steep cobbled streets…

Chained up bikes…

More steep streets and finally….

The famous Moulin Rouge theatre..booked out well in advance….then…

Sally’s favourite Irish pub…lunch and a drink…the day that promised rain was holding out beautifully!!

Where Trudi almost (S instead of P) found her name on the vinegar bottle for our chips!

After lunch we went around the corner to the 2nd largest cemetery in Paris – Montmartre Cemetery…

Where family’s have houses…

The original owner of the Moulin Rouge has statues!

And Rugby players have carved plaques!

Many more famous muscians and Jewish family’s…a very interesting visit as Sally could tell us about many of the people lying at rest here.

Nearing late afternoon we utilised our three day transport pass and took a bus home to Clichy…just beating the rain for an evening in, and a light dinner of baguette, cheese and pate!

Today…Monday, promised to be very wet but changed overnight so we roared off to the metro(train) and headed towards the River Seine to take our Baton riverboat trip! We arrived at the Champs Élysées and headed towards the river…

Passing the Petit Palace

And the Grand Palace as we walked to the Bateau Mouche(the riverboat operator of choice) catching the 11am one as the sun was breaking through…

Off we go!!! Down the river…

The grand Palace glass top dome where the Olympic Taekwondo was held!

Under the first of many bridges spanning the River Seine

The bridge to Des Invalides with its golden statues!

The Louvre museum (home of the Mona Lisa)…

The riverboats moored along the shores of the river…

Hotel De Ville which has been the headquarters of the municipality of Paris since 1357…

And Notre Dame cathedral dating back to the 4th century now under reconstruction after a five destroyed its roofs in 2019!

We then headed back up river past…

The Eiffel Tower, after a sunny break in the weather, the clouds were once again rolling in..

Making a U-Turn, by the railway bridge, opposite where the Parisian Australian Embassy is, where Kevin, Rols and Sally have all worked..

Having done the tourist trip and spying most of Paris’ landmarks, with less humans, we left the city centre and trained back to place de Clichy for lunch…

Trudi’s fabulous rectangular pizza, and Sue lashing out and taking dessert for lunch….

The infamous, Crepe Suzette! Butter, syrup and liquor added to flames at the table…delicious and rich, but I had to have (at least one time)!!

At this time rain was threatening, having left us alone all day, Sally headed home and Sue and Trudi dug around in the op shops (that mum and I had found many years ago!) came out to RAIN, umbrellas up, poncho on and we battled on to look for bargains..however gave up and jumped on bus and headed home around 4pm!

And the day ends with Sue writing and Trudi, Sally and Stephanie (Sally’s daughter) playing cards!

Yesterday was fairly uneventful as a full travelling day from Lisbon to Paris….taxi…plane….bus….taxi, leaving at 7.30am and arriving at our destination at 5.00pm…Apart from the crazy taxi ride to the airport in Portugal where the driver thought he was in an F1 race!

Today we set off to visit the palace of Versailles……

Which meant navigating the Paris metro (train system)…. And three trains, many stairs, escalators….and walking around in circles (underground) we finally arrived at Versailles…in the south of Paris around midday!

Along with thousands of other tourists…

Already having decided that we were not queueing to enter the castle…and a wander around the outside and the gardens (and not lining up for three hours to get inside) was our best option…

This palace was the home to the French king Louis XIV in the 17th century and also the French government…

Lots of gold…fences…to keep the non paying tourists out!

We then wandered through the archways…

To the gardens….which are now also fenced off, another queue and another entry fee…

A glimpse through the fences…

The palace and the tourists!

Statues

Water fountains…

So bucket list ticked, we left the palace and the bedlam and wandered through the town of Versailles…in search of a coffee…stumbling on a produce market…selling….

Flowers, fresh fruit and vegetables…

Dried fruit and nuts and…

A smorgasbord of olives…

Also a great coffee and a not so great loo!

We commenced our homeward journey…taking the first train through to the Eiffel Tower stop…

The centre of Paris still sporting the remnants of the 2024 summer Olympics…and again the crowds of tourists!

This driving bridge is still only a walking bridge where the Olympic rings stand proud and where many of the events (triathlons, marathons) crossed to their finish line.

Getting really hungry by this time we followed our noses until we found a cafe area, many of whom were closing as it was after the 12-2pm lunchtime slot. We did find a pizza place open and shared one between us….before walking off the main drag towards the Metro (train) back to our abode in Clichy!

More residential and much quieter than walking on the edge of the Seine River…clutching our bags!

Again the maze of stairs, escalators and train options…to be finally helped by a young French girl who assured us we were finally on the correct platform for our final train leg!!! The trains all day were full and several times we were swinging from the bars as standing room only! No such thing as giving up your seat for the old gals!

Not to waste a moment…up and out by 9am to catch a train from Lisbon to the seaside town of Cascais….

Zooming under The Vasco da Gama Bridge, spanning the Tagus River near Lisbon, Portugal, it is the longest bridge in Europe, stretching over 17 kilometers and arriving in Cascais around 10am….in need of a coffee and snack!

Not particularly successful, as it was the smallest cappuccino and americano we have had to date (even though we asked for large- would hate to see their regular!) and what looked like bacon and egg pie turned out to be a (cold) nasty odd looking meat wrap which neither of us could eat….and to add insult to injury – the Loo was closed for cleaning….

Take 2 – another coffee (mainly to find a loo) and no food! At least this time the coffee was good and the loos were open!

Things were really just starting to open….

We left the cobbled streets of the same old tourist shops (full of faded Ronaldo t-shirts!)

Past a Merry go round without children (yet) …. and headed to the waterfront of this fishing town…

Beach volleyball but NO hands only kicking and heads!!!

The fishing boats in the harbour…

The entrance to the fort and Marina….

Entering The Cidadela de Cascais – Forte de Nossa Senhora da Luz e Torre on the point overlooking the Marina…

Art structures and bikes….

Old and new…yellow is definitely a colour of choice for buildings in this area…

The entrance to the Marina…

And a cool drink overlooking the sea…

Complete with a doggy cafe…

Which was actually full of cardboard boxes!

Seagulls perched high on the wall looking back to Cascais township…

Flagpoles through the fortress walls..

Taking in the architecture and villas along the waterfront…

Still a slight hint of gothic…

more yellow…

Bougainvillea and mural art on all walls….adorning the town…

More seagulls!!! (And Trudi!)

Sandy (and rocky) beaches being enjoyed in the late summer warmth of the afternoon…

Back to the train station for a 50cent loo stop, I must say public toilets in this part of the world are sadly lacking…and there is a limit to how many coffees or drinks one can imbibe out on a day of exploring…and it becomes a viscious cycle…drink – loo – drink – loo….

We caught our train back to Lisbon centre..and stopped in at a bottle shop on our 20 minute walk back…

Greeted by some cute cork art and a terrible smell of dried fish for sale…yes in this bottle shop one obviously adds dried fish and sardines as their snacks to their wine!!!

So the late afternoon is to be jamming all our travelling possessions into our little rolly bags ready for an early start tomorrow!!! Next stop Paris!

This morning we decided to walk to the new town (Lisbon city centre)

We got to the main square and went in search of our morning coffee!

This monument is in the middle of the huge empty square…

In thru the gates and the busy tourist area..,

We found a coffee further down where the prices got cheaper …

And we brought a snack (pastry) …. then as all the shops were opening at 10am we strolled the street..,

Superman holding fort in the sweet shop…

And Spider-Man inside…this is where it got interesting…as the lady in the shop told Trudi to hold onto our bags as pickpocketing is rife…a little nervous we clutched our back packs on our fronts as we navigated beggars and shop owners following us around (obviously thinking we might steal). Feeling decidedly uncomfortable we headed back to the waterfront and …took a seat to decide our next move…

This chap was moving rocks, with a container out for money…there are a lot of beggars here…After catching our breath we decided to stick to the waterfront – more tourist less beggars…and here we lucked out…a fabulous girl in a TukTuk offered us a deal we couldn’t refuse…a tour round Alfama….our hood…where we felt safe!!!!

She was fabulous, our car all to ourselves and she took us to all the places we didn’t see yesterday!!!

Gardens..,

Viewpoints!

Castles….

More viewpoints….

Out to the city…

And down to the sea…

Cops moving cars with a jack….

And “love” padlocks on the fences..

This area felt so much safer as our crazy driver chatted and laughed with us to a photo shoot…

In our electric vintage car!!!

She then took us back down to the Fado(Portuguese music) museum, where we took our mid arvo refreshments …

Listening to an English busker…who we of course encouraged…(with coins)

Then it was a visit to the Fado (Portuguese music) museum…

Trudi listening to the music…

These guitars and ukeleles which play the thoughtful music…

And the faces of Fado music…

We were not far from our house so wandered back home resting for our last day of exploring Lisbon tomorrow!

Fantastic sleep in our little apartment in Alfama, Lisbon! With luxurious bathroom facilities after the Barcelona boat!

The visit to Lisbon was booked around the weekly flea/steet market, held on Tuesdays above the Basilica De St. Clara…so it was an uphill cobbled climb!

Without the encumbrance of our rolly bags…

A pleasant stroll taking in the colours and sights of Alfama, the old town of Lisbon…

Actually retracing some of yesterday’s steps when we were gasping and sweating!!

To the bustling market…filled with new and old collections of people’s wares!

Sue checking out the €2 bargains…and after a coffee we took in the 2nd half, where we lashed out and got a new wardrobe for €6!

Time for a rest in the park, with a doggy free run area…

And a view of the sea!

After which we headed higher to the Church and Monastery of São Vicente de Fora…

Definitely a tourist area…but found a human free spot for a photo shoot!

The adjoining gardens

And baths…

Time for a refreshment we took the tram street down…

Choosing to not ride the tram as standing room only and looking decidedly uncomfortable we found a cafe to sit for a while before trying to google navigate our way home!

Wall art…

Street cafes…

Dollhouse homes…

Tiled (outside) houses…

Narrow streets….and home without a hitch…

We are now sitting in our window seats (one each!) relaxing and waving to all the other tourists who think we are locals and sisters! Before we shower and change to go in search of some local cuisine for dinner

As with budget European airlines, our easyJet flight was delayed by an hour! All good check in time at our Airbnb was not until 2pm – we landed at 1.15 plenty of time to meet our host! Or so we thought – we booked a bolt from the airport ….. finally found him in the chaos! And headed towards Alfama… which was only a half hour drive!

Here we go …. Alfama (the old town) had two parts! He got to a one way street and said he had to let us out! Took the money and drove off…,.

Little did we know Google walk does not understand the Lisbon old town….there we were dragging rolly bags up and down cobbled streets for an hour before we reached our destination (only with the help from some very kind locals!) sweat and tears (literally) and we finally arrived!

The host was very understanding and we gasped into our apartment for the next four days!

We needed supplies… and after gathering ourselves went in search of the basics! But first a cocktail (Pina Colada) then amino mart…for water, beer, bread, butter, wine! Back in our room it was time to do some washing… like all Maltese gals… hung out the window!

We are so happy to have a loo that works…

And a quirky little apartment in the middle of the old town….

With two bedrooms and functioning bathroom!

The bar across the road …setting up for cocktails… not tonight..we relished in a shower and snacks from the minimart!

This is our street, the walking tours (of tourists) keep stopping and taking pics of this and our washing…..

There is life outside, background music as we climb into our respective beds….tomorrow we will wander without suitcases and in a happy frame of mind!

Once again sitting at a transport hub in Barcelona to board a delayed flight!!!

Barcelona is a beautiful city…barring the toilet issues on our boat! The only thing we are not sorry to say goodbye to is the nighttime bucket!!!

Yesterday we walked north…

To wide expanses of concrete, tagged walls and beaches…

Then inland, past a major power plant…

And its outlet…

As the morning wind had a definite chill…we were hunting for a hot coffee..

Which we finally found as we circled back into our area…

The afternoon was spent resting (for Sue) and hanging out on the yacht watching the boaters come and go (for Trudi)

A nice (early) dinner at a local restaurant, a chat with our new neighbours, a bunch of young French lads, who then headed into town around 10pm and came back this morning as we were leaving at 7am….somewhat quieter than last night!

This morning a quick final pack and waited for the taxi as the sun rose over the port…

Barcelona is a fascinating place…full of fit, running, cycling, rollerblading humans….and huge open expanses of concrete and green parks…new and old, young and old…just so much to see…

Today we were determined to see some racing (yacht) on the big screen….so we set off and headed south!

Down a different street and came to a children’s paradise!

Not open early but thought of our grand babies and how much they would enjoy…

In our wanderings we came across the first actual fan zone setting up for the afternoon

And the sea antics in anticipation of the upcoming racing…

A great day ahead with people enjoying the beach..I can see why team NZ chose Barcelona as the venue…

We made a snap decision to head towards the old town, as recommended as we had a couple of hour before racing began!

It got busier and busier…

Barcelona’s version of l’arc de triomphe

And the streets of the old town Barcelona littered with the new high end stores of today!

Getting hungry and needing to eat before we settled in for the afternoon at the Americas cup village….and looking for a cafe (rather than restaurant style) snack we zigged and zagged…

Taking in the gothic old town…

Citadel gardens….

Streets and street art…

Banksy museum…

Spanish fashion…

Fruit and vege stores…

Cars in shops…

Cows in shops…

Restaurant arcades…and finally found a seat in a plaza to eat!!!…

Nearing the waterfront once again we arrived at our destination to enjoy 3 of the four races….having missed the first one…

And settled in for the afternoon in front of the big screen! Sporting our team NZ t-shirts which immediately attracted a few fellow kiwis!

The chef from this boat…

Khalilah – the gold boat….who is a kiwi now based in Poland joined us for drinks…and then pizza before we taxied back to our little boat!

Unfortunately we are moored near a beach club which for the last two nights and tonight is booming out terrible disco, Spanish remix music (on steroids) at 100 decibels! Kind of destroys the ambience of being in a boat on the sea….as we return to our home!

One more day in Barcelona with another 20k steps under our belt…we might have a beach day!!!

At least today we got to see some racing, with teams Great Britain and Italy dominating the first two races in their pool!

1st day of the Americas cup semifinals…the girls decided an afternoon at the fan zone was in order, with big screens etc…so a leisurely morning with a big breakky at one of the local cafes!

All going well so far – eggs on toast, coffee and off we headed at around midday…a visit to the local mall, which was a bit overwhelming as we really cannot fit any more in our little rolly bags….we then headed towards (what we thought was) the Americas cup fan zone!

Dressed in our new groupie t-shirts …..

Waiting patiently for the action to begin – gates opening at 2pm…meanwhile ….

The boats are warming up….zooming up and down the coast!

The beach was sporting a few more people in the sunshine…

There was even a fenced off doggy (and owners) area, where the dogs can run free!

We’d spied the seat we wanted to aim for in the grandstand ….so joined the queue….ready to race in!!! Getting a bit thirsty by this time.

Waiting in line we noticed groups of people in matching T Shirts, and athletic gear…we thought we were pretty cool in our matching (new) Team NZ t shirts….didnt feel out of place!(yet)

Average age 20! (That was a worry) Whilst waiting we were hearing very loud music and the big screens we could glimpse were showing…

WODELONA…which we thought was odd! But as we went to enter they asked to see our competitors band….to which we replied “they told us yesterday it was free” …. We were sent to another gate for supporters!!!

The penny dropped!….we were at the Barcelona Three day CrossFit competition..No wonder everyone was very fit and Young! And wearing athletic matching team gear!

Oh well, we were an hours walk away from the (Actual) Americas cup village, so decided we might as well act like we were meant to be here!

In we went…

With the rest of the supporters wandered through the merchandise tents, refrained from buying a sports bra and leggings, and….

Finally found the bar! Not even water! protein drinks and muesli bars!

The warmups had begun so we raced to the main grandstand and got our seat up the top…

Where we could still see the boats racing in the distance…

Loud music and CrossFit races followed…

We watched about three, clapped appropriately for the winners, and left to head to the nearest cabana for a drink!

Where we cooled off and watched the beach sights….some not so pleasant, but we could lift our gaze and see the yachts out to sea!

Nearing 4pm we headed back to one of our local cafes…

Taking a new route over the roads below…

And through more deserted open spaces, Trudi clutching her bag safely and both of us aware of any young people on scooters!

And….the Pizza place was closed, so we ordered a drink…and a Tex Mex meal to go…realising we were the only females at a Mexican restaurant….specialising in Shisha, Full of North African men (Moroccan I’m guessing) only…watching arrivals sniff some drug from tinfoil before settling in to smoking the Shisa pipes, which were about a meter tall….clutching our bags(again) whilst waiting for our takeaway order. Note the ladies toilet was very clean, possibly because never used by the all male clientele!

We had twice today found ourselves in places we least expected to be…oh well, again, might as well see the place while we are here…

Tomorrow, however we will resume our roles as yachting groupies!!!

Day two in Barcelona…the wanderers set off on foot (again) not having much luck in working out the public transport!!! Decided on a coast route…

There seems to be huge expanses of concrete heading south from our marina…looking back at the Lego hotels and apartments…

We stumbled into the most northern Americas cup fan zone…

And couldn’t get out the other side…a couple of blokes came and asked us what we wanted … reply “we are just trying to get out” high fences all around…after explaining how we got in, they then told us come back tomorrow when the racing is on (it’s free!) Good outcome!

What started out as a warm morning quickly turned into a very strong onshore wind…we stopped at a beach cafe for a coffee…

The beaches were quite deserted and definitely not swimming weather. As we continued down the coast this all became a little more interesting….

There is a gay beach…followed by…

A nudist beach…Sue got an unexpected flash as she sat down for a pic….other sights were not so pretty either! But rude to take photos!

We continued down towards the Americas Cup village…and as today was a practice day all the boats were out honing their skills…

Got a little excited as the signs were all there for a fun day!

It was very windy…and you can see the cup boats in the distance…we then saw all the respective(teams) tenders setting out to bring them back in…so as we had arrived at a vantage point right on the breakwater we thought we would settle in for some groupie action!

These were the teams out there today…as they start the semifinals tomorrow.

So we hung out at the end of the breakwater…in what had become very strong (and cool) winds just sporting our T’shirts….but fame has no pain! They all arrived back one by one either towed or supported by their tenders…

Rounding this point into the calm waters of the marina…

Now a little photo dump of the boats…hard to see who was who until we heard them speak!

Surrounded by security, support boats and police…

A very exciting hour or more, and Trudi got a wave from the French crew!!

We then wandered marina side back along the breakwater..

The team rooms on one side and all the boats…

Lined up on the other side…

Possibly the closest we will get to these boats as they begin their racing tomorrow!

The actual village was another 2 kms south, and, as now we were totally in the zone…we carried on past the marina and more beachfront…

Entering the port Olympic…where all the action (public) will be happening for the next few days…

The women’s village…

Eco catamaran…

And the biggest girl so far! To finally find our kiwi Team Emirates camp…

Somewhere along the way we sidetracked into a Spanish area selling street food where we enjoyed a spicy chicken burger and had a loo stop! As now we were more than 10kms from our little boat (and 15000 steps on our feet) and nearing the 5pm alarm!!! it was time to do a u-turn and head home for the evening!

We thought to catch a bus…but couldn’t really work these out so after another half hour of walking during which time…a young chap on an electric scooter took aim at Trudis backpack only to be foiled by the yellow plastic poncho (which was covering her and backpack!!) Saved by the $2 poncho but alas the poncho was destroyed and not saveable. After this incident we ordered a taxi…and came directly home….to our safe peaceful superyacht haven!

Oh and after sending a message to the owner of the boat about the toilet issue, they have been and emptied the tank…so the night time bucket can now go back to being a rubbish bin!

We are now official Americas Cup groupies as we have purchased our Team Emirates t’shirts to wear with our Peter Blake red socks which have travelled all the way from NZ with us!!