Arivée

BRIXTON: Waking up before five to catch the third Eurostar of the morning at Waterloo is not an ideal way of starting a holiday but it is the cheap option, gives you extra time at your destination and is an infinitely better option than it's similarly timed Gatwick or Stanstead cousins. And we were in Paris, on our way to our hostel in Republique by 10:30, including winding our watches forward an hour.

First stop after depositing our bags was a coffee shop and an abrupt lesson in the cities extortionate prices for anything liquid. A good coffee and a light wallet later,we hopped on the Metro to visit Le Cimetière du Père-Lachaise and pay respects to the graves of Balzac, Proust, Stein, Wilde, Modigliani, Piaf, Bizet and the original TomKat Heloise et Abelard. A visit to Apollinaire's tomb was also in order but we couldn't find it. In fact even with our map we were luck to find the modest flab marble slab, just off a main path, that honoured Proust. With the map though, and it's sometimes ambiguous grave markings, the whole thing feels like a Celebrity Death Treasure Hunt.



James Joyce isn't buried their though. So our next stop was to find the bookstore Shakespeare and Co. on the Left Bank. The bookstore was something of a lending library to the Lost Generation writers in the 20's. It's original owner, Sylvia Beach, was actually the first person to publish Joyce's Ulysses. (She continued to champion the book long after Joyce cunningly sold the rights to Random House for $50,000 leaving poor Beach with nothing.) The bookstore is rather average but we both bought over priced books as souvenirs. At least I got John Ashbery's new book.

Paris has probably the most recognisable over sized metal phallus in the world and it was off to the Eiffel Tower next to queue and ascend. Up the top I didn't want to pretentious prick (contrary to my very nature I know) but I couldn't help thinking it was no World Trade Centre. We picked out the landmarks and then walked up the Champs Elysees for that other source of Gaulish testosterone, the Arc de Triomphe. Kate took photos while I marveled the delicate artistry that makes up the truly monumental thing.



Then we walked back to the Eiffel Tower to watch it's (albeit crappy) light show before grabbing some French toasties (over here they call them Croque Monsieur and charge you 7 euros for the pleasure) and heading back to the hostel.

Poetry is memorable speech

ST LUKE'S: Finally visited Westminster Abbey last night. They were hosting a reading to celebrate the centenary of Auden's birth. As pleasent as it was to sit in Poet's Corner and listen to the well recited versions of some of the poet's most famous works, the acoustics of the space meant that echoes inevitably swallowed up the succeeding syllables in the lines making them unintelligible for large parts of the evening. But then you can't pass up a free beer and it mean I got to see the floor tiles and tombs of Chaucer, Byron, Shelly, Southey and the rest.

On the way out I noticed the tiles for various prime ministers including Clement Atlee and Lloyd George. I was thinking to myself "Gee, Tony... if only Iraq hadn't been a complete and utter clusterfuck you might have ended up here." Then I saw Neville Chamberlain.

Teenage Riot

ST LUKE'S: All Tomorrow's Parties are a group in the UK who put on concerts and festivals including the well regarded Don't Look Back which features legendary bands performing their seminal works in their entirety. This year's lineup includes Slint and Sonic Youth. I have tickets to see Ronaldo, Moore and Co. performing "Daydream Nation".

You don't.

However, if you do, get in touch because at the moment I'm going on my own.

Ed: This post might seem like it gloats a little bit. That's because The Pixies are coming to Australia. I wont get to see them but I have a feeling most of my friends will.

London, Paris, Bracken Ridge

ST LUKE'S: I have a feeling I'm getting behind on the blog but then again other than visiting Germany for the wedding I haven't exactly done a lot this month.

The other week I did go visit my first West End play. Richard Schiff, Toby of The West Wing was starring in a one man show called "Underneath the Lintel" which started strongly and ended up rambling. The play follows a librarian who attempts to track down the borrower of a book returned 118 years late. His travels take him to the corners of the globe including a small town outside of Brisbane. Seriously. It wasn't great but it was good and we did have a pre-theatre meal in one of the little West End restaurants.

Last week I seemed to do not much other than watch films and write. You can see my evaluation in the Recently Viewed box in the right hand column.

I suppose it's worth mentioning that Flo and Louise had their London reception on Saturday at a pub in Highbury & Islington so we went along to that.

What else?... Counting down the minutes to Paris and hoping we can get our house in order for the World Cup.

Travel Advice

ST LUKE'S: Off to Paris this weekend. If anybody has any travel advice feel free to email me or leave it in comment form.

Reasons to Vote Obama #798

ACRE LANE: "It was here, in Springfield, where North, South, East and West come together that I was reminded of the essential decency of the American people — where I came to believe that through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America."

Things I Did On The Weekend

ST LUKE'S:

#1: Hosted my own horror film festival for an audience of one on Friday night.

#2: Worked Saturday.

#3: Went to Simon's birthday party then bought a pair of jeans online.

#4: Visited the Museum of Docklands in Canary Wharf and then ate some Tesco sushi.

Let It Snow

ST LUKE'S: It's snowing today. Again. Buckets.

So who bounds out of bend runs downstairs in her pajamas to make a snowman named Bernard?

And, despite the Tube being absolutely bollocked, the city did look quite magical this morning. Well as magical as London can look.

Ole Ole Ole Ole Ole Ole

ST LUKE'S: Finally got to see Australia play football last night and while our undermanned squad did go down 3-1 (the referee did pull two of our goals out of the back of the net) it was a pleasure to sit amongst some of the most ignorant football goers I have ever encountered. Imagine the most ignorant Gabba Aussie rules crowd, then multiply it by the kind of number NASA uses.

We might have lost but we did play some good football and I've now seen 10 goals in 2 games at Loftus Road so I did go home frozen but happy.

What Not to Do in the Kitchen

ST LUKE'S: I'm back from Munich, the wedding was beautiful and I will post details however today I'm working like a blue arsed fly and somebody sent me something I'd like to share with you: