Metro Menace

An easy metro to the Gare Saint-Lazare to get tickets for Caen started a cool Paris day - cool weather that is. The RER person gave us the best route to avoid millions of steps for our exit from Paris with the baggage. Line 14 to the Gare de Lyon was highlighted by a cultural exchange with one of the ubiquitous Parisien Posures - snooty attitude, nose slightly raised as though avoiding the smell of the common herd and the pretence of reading a weighty tome on one of: politics, philosophy or, most common, one of Satre's exposition on the meaning of travelling on the metro. This dear lady gave me a lecture on how to hang-on when the train lurched into life. I was hanging-on for dear life whilst trying to support a women who had the misfortune to fall, unsupported, onto me. This woman apologised and, to my delight, quietly informed our intellectual what was afoot. Said intellectual found more gall and lectured me further. I quietly but, firmly as only a northern UK fellow can, told her she was mistaken and should be better advised to look to her own behaviour - oops, not at all to her liking. The fallen woman turn out to be a charming, mid-fifties person who spoke near perfect English so that we had a delightful conversation for the few minutes left of the trip. Note to self: note all Parisiens are snotty wankers ...

The afternoon saw us wander over to a church on the Boulevard Voltaire.

As expected all cafes serve excellent coffee so that getting a reviving "fix" is all too simple.

Day ends with a Monoprix stop.

Back at the hotel I had a long and interesting conversation with the receptionist. He was of the opinion that the last Presidential Ellection was the first time that there was felt to be a palpable division in the population. Some of the protests were very violent and he was disgusted that the Army had to be used to control some of the protests. Cars being set alight not being uncommon.

The "Traveller's Cold" seems to be abating ... gasp, wheeze, cough ...

Heathrow to Paris

Terminal 5 at Heathrow was much better than expected. The building is a triumph of modern engineering design and I particularly like the internal skeleton of steel. processing of passenger was a breeze. The biggest shock was a fantastic Italian resuraunt ... sadly we only had time for an excellent coffee (hey, this is England where the coffee is usually like acrid dish water). The BA flight was a simple up-down job but, they still served "refreshements" ... what a waste of time.

CDG was quiet and the walk to the RER trains gave us a good excuse for a coffee. This was served by a woman who had obviously been to the Paris School for Advanced Arrogant Indifference and Anti-Social Interaction. But, wait I was forgetting, we're in Frog Ville where the locals confuse snooty bad manners for "chic".

My terrible French proved to be sufficient to get the tickets to Paris ... with a smile from the RER person ... OMG! The Train from CDG to the Gare du Nord got to be a sardine can full of snotty sardines but, that was to be expected. Then, we entered the laborinth. After several attenpts we eventually got to Level 3 of what I assume to be a game called "The Tomb of the Lost in the Gare du Nord". Lifts and escallators that didn't work, dead ends, hords of the Wandering Zombies of  Paris and seemingly endless ticket barriers labled "Sortie". That's where the secret of the Key To The Exit revealed itself - our tickets worked every time. Now I know why the RER ticket person smiled; he knew the secret!

We got a taxi to the Hotel; there was no way we were going to battle the hordes on the metro. Booking in was simple and the room up two flights of winding, narrow stairs - no lift its an old building. The room looks like it should be part of a brothel. It's clean and tidy with en suite but, its the wall paper that gives that impression. Carmine Red almost velvet fabric ... different, yes, appealing no.

Duly nested we walk around the corner to Monoprix and shopped for dinner. This sounds a bit mundane but, if you could see the huge choice of googies on offer, you'd understand why we shop and don't just eat at cafes and resturaunts. We get what we like, fresh and un-mauled by would-be chefs. A bit of this a taste of that ...

Back at the hotel the TV news was full of Aunty E's Do at St Paul's ... it's seems that even the Sons of the Revolution find the event of interest.

That's a days events and the reason why we love to travel.

JAL Does It Again

Fortunately it took only two days off to get over the cold - most spent either sleeping or eating! The U-City hotel in Narita was, as before, excellent.

We left Tokyo on time and landed at Heathrow 25 mins early. The economy class was over half empty so I had 3 seats to lay out on to have several snoozes during the flight of just under 12 hours. Four films wasted a good deal of the time.

The Premier Inn provided excellent accommodation and the "meal deal" more than adequate dinner and breakfast. After Japan the portions of the meals seemed huge not to mention the ability of overly stuffed UKers stuffing themselves even more - with lashings of pints of beer to wash the food down. Don't mention obesity - it's a national pastime ...

The TV provided us with a ring-side view of the Jubilee Concert held outside Buck House. The odd cut to the Royals were short and sweet which was sensible because they looked bored most of the time ... duty calls and all that. RW&B everywhere. People everywhere. Part of the show was a projection on Buck House - that really look great. There will be a service in St Paul's today but, we're off to Paris using BA ...

Shaking All Over ...

A day off ... not by choice. I seem to have caught another "traveler's cold". I always do at some point in the expedition. It could be the pollution which, sadly, is always there.

Late afternoon - a violent thunder storm and then the hotel shakes noticeably because of an earthquake.

Me, to the hotel manager, "Was that an earthquake?"
Him, "Yeh, don't worry about it. It was only a little one."
Me, "Can I use the lift?"
Him, "Yeh, I'll tell you if there is a problem."
Me, to myself, "Oh, shite!"

Takashima To Tokyo On Time

After a substantial Japanese breakfast at the Toyoko-Inn Hotel we strolled into the JR station to catch the 0922 express to Takayama. The train arrived at Takamatsu on time.







Eight mins for transfer to the express to Okoyama. The train arrived at Okoyama on time.






Forty five mins later, after coffee, pancakes and ice cream, we boarded the shinkansen for Tokyo which, as you might have guessed, arrived on time.







A quick change to the Yamanote line and we were in Ueno at about 1720. A long, seamless trip and all to plan - that's train travel at it's very best. That's Japan folks!

We checked in to the Weekly Mansions Higashi-Ueno and made our way to Doutor for a reviving coffee.  Suitably energised we headed for the supermarket for provisions for the next couple of days.

Apple and pears needed climbing after filling our fuel bins ... we may be wrinkly but, we're not completely out of the running!

Trawling Tokushima

Another sunny day so we thought we'd catch the local bus to some temples. Not so easy ... there were only Japanese speaking people at the bus station and the information centre! Pointing to a map (in Japanese) and doing a Jacque Tati got us on a bus which did take us to the first temple we wanted. Or so we thought. We wandered from this temple to another which seemed to have the same name only to wander further to a third; yes it had the same name ... we think ..

With no prospect of getting any wiser we decided to head back to the town centre for lunch. Coffee and a very nice roll with salmon, shrimp and salad recharged our resolve.

Onto the train to Koh - three stops down the line - with the intention of visiting another temple. We wandered from the station and followed the sign pointing the way and which indicated the temple was about 800 m. Not so lucky again! The distance was to a road intersection which we didn't get to because we'd walked about 1500 m with no sign of another sign to the temple. That seemed like a sign to quit while we still had the energy to walk back to the station; the afternoon was getting hotter. Thankfully we arrived just in time to catch the train back to Tokushima.

Another fortification followed by shopping for dinner completed the day's expedition. We must have a slate loose because we still enjoyed the exercise!

Time to pack up for the trip back to Tokyo tommorow.

A Gorgeous Day For A Train Trip

Up, fed and watered we mounted the iron horse by 9 am which, for us, approaches miracle status. An excellent and fast journey to Oboke with a 6 min change at Awakawaguchi. The journey of about one and a half hours was through interesting countryside with more agriculture and market gardening than expected; rice everywhere.

The Yoshino River flows though a spectacular gorge and Oboke JR station is about 20 min walk to the tourist spot where you can get a trip on the more sedate part of the river as well as having an excellent restaurant. The gorge is geologically spectacular and visually stunning from all angles - even the road allows you to see this. The weather was hot and sunny so that the trip turned out to be really worth the effort.

We JRed it back to Tokushima in time for coffee and that yellow cake; I still have no idea of what it is made of.

Dinner was provided by the shops in the basement of a huge department store opposite the station - excellent selections of salads and all manner of Japanese food. The sashimi was one of the best selections I've had to date. We left the store just as an almighty thunderstorm centered over the city; thank G for the foresight of always having wet gear in the backpack ...

Time for Bedfordshire ...

Use That Rail Pass ...

Time to leave Takamatsu for Tokushima on the JR Express. The train had two carriages; one for those of us with booked seats and the other for the plebs. There was little or no room for our cases but, the driver allowed us to put them next to his driving compartment. The one and a half hour ride took us through agricultural countryside - it's quite a different environment to that which most people think of when the think of Japan. Rice, Lotus, orchards and every type of veggie that you could think of and more. The flat farmland set among steep sided, forest covered mountains. Sadly, the pollution still persists.

Coffee at Starbucks at the JR station and a 5 min walk to Toyoko Inn Ekimae. We signed in by noon so it was time to find out where the supermarkets and food malls were and have lunch. That done we took the JR train to Naruto - don't bother is my advice unless you intend to go Whirlpool Viewing; which we didn't.

The train back to Tokushima was the school run. The train filled with hormone enriched teenagers with their surgically attached mobiles. Obviously teenagers just out of school are the same the world over. To use a line from a Geordie song: 'They slap their lugs and talked a lot of nonsense" - allegro con spirito e piano. Oz birds twittering make a louder but similar sound - remember we don't understand Japanese so they sounded like some kind of music.

Back at the hotel, having shopped for dinner, we settled in for a long day tomorrow.

Prune This Lot ...

Another sunny day and an ideal time to visit the Ritsurin Koen in Takayama. A leisurely walk through the covered shopping arcade allowed us to have morning coffee and, since part of the arcade is at least 1km long in the direction of the koen, kept us shaded while we walked. The koen, or garden, is extensive. In the blossom season it would be fantastic. We spent at least 3 hours wandering the paths. Lakes, thousands of immaculately pruned trees and bushes, herons and the inevitably carp.

Back in town we had traditional local noodles with some tasty pickles. Afternoon coffee and cake - the yellow ochre coloured one which could be pumpkin - it's tastes great so who cares ...

After a quick look at the Takamatsu Art Gallery we walked down to the Castle Park. The gardens are fine but, we were fortunate to catch a bonsai exhibition. The plants were flowering and nothing like any we had seen before.

Time for rest, washing and dinner ...

Taking Steps To Enjoy Yourself

A semi-sunny, well polluted day gave us the opportunity to see two very interesting sights.

The Kotoden local private rail service took us from Takamatsu to Kotohira. We were energetic enough to climb the 785 steps to the main sanctuary of the Kotohira gu shrine. However, after about the same effort again, we turned around to start the decent back to town - hunger always wins plus, there were a total of 1368 steps to get to the Inner Shrine at the top of the mountain.

After a delicious lunch we caught the JR train to Sanukishioya and walked to Nakazu Bansho-en. This is one of the best sea-side gardens in Japan. The garden was built for Takatoyo Kyogoku who was the second lord of the Marugame clan. Marugame is the 'main' town nearby. We recharged batteries with ices while walking back to the station where we boarded the JR train to Takamatsu.

I'll not comment further on the behaviour of the little kids and school kids on the train other than to say that you'd never see such displayed by our Oz and UK animals - I just don't understand why ...

Back at Takamatsu we stopped for coffee and then raided the supermarket. That's a 9-to-4 outing ... who needs a gym?

Shhhhinkansen to Takamatsu

The Hikari shinkansen took us from Tokyo to Okayama on time and at speed. As expected the train was clean and quiet - no mobile phone jabbering or raucous conversations. Even the coffee from the trolly was good. Where do we Ozers and Ukers go wrong? It's beyond my understanding ...

The Mariner Express completed the journey from Okayama to Takamatsu as planned - again no mobile phone jabber and quiet.

We were given excellent tourist information at the JR station by a delightful woman who said she only spoke a little English - she was totally fluent and couldn't have been more helpful. The Toyoko Inn Takamatsu hotel is excellent and the staff very helpful and they have a great sense of humour ... always a big plus when most of the conversation is more a mime.

As per, we located an excellent supermarket and stocked up on goodies for dinner, supper and any nibble-times that seem to occur frequently.

That's a good day's travel ....

Modern Art, Musical Instruments and Korean Food

A second visit to the Tokyo Met to see an exhibition called 'Best Selection 2012' was well worth the 300 yen ... half price for wrinklies. Some really excellent painting and sculpture - an inspiration to a jaded art palette.

Ueno was buzzing with packs of school kids who all behaved in a civilized way, unlike the feral offspring we usually see around Oz and UK cities. We were reduced to a visit to Starbucks for a coffee and cake simply because they had tables in the sunshine so that we could people-watch while we rested our aged limbs.

A delicious lunch in the market area opposite the JR station recharged energy banks. On to the Yamanote line and to Shinokubo where we, eventually, found a music instrument store which must be the largest we've ever seen. Nothing was bought ... this time. The Shinokubo area seems to be the Korean restaurant and shopping area.

Back on the Yamanote to Ueno and the hotel via the supermarket ended today's exercise.

Six Foot Hours In The Sun

The day was blessed with glorious sunshine. We decided to brave the hoards and visit the Sky Tree. The engineering is brilliant and the retail outlets gob smacking ... if it can be marketed and it's cute they have it! We will have to book a ticket to go up the 30 odd floors for later this year ... it's booked out until late June.

Asakusa was a hive of visitors but, we found a locals' cafe that was quiet so that we had an excellent lunch. A visit to the Sensoji temple rounded out the morning.


A walk through Ueno park took us to the Metropolitan Art Museum. The Citizens Exhibition was boggling ... room after room of paintings and some excellent sculpture and ceramics. Some of the painting were great but, as with all huge exhibitions, some were "not to my taste", (cough, cough).

That got us to five and a-half foot hours so we beat a retreat to the supermarket for more sashimi and other goodies.

Six Foot Hours ... enough for one day ...

Rain And Tiredness Needs Coffee

Rain soaked Tokyo and a desire to sleep sort of compliment a visit to a Doutor cafe. Not that we ever need an excuse to visit a cafe.

Wandering around the old shopping streets in Ueno only increased our desire to roam despite the rain. The Japanese marketing designs are compelling and the fact that you can read any of the print only serves to emphasize the colours and designs. The influence of Manga and traditional folk lore images adds to the visual feast.

An excellent meal at one of the cafes in Asakusa shopping arcade followed by a visit to the Kiwaya ukulele shop and another of the local temples rounded out the afternoon. Shopping time ... food ... gave us another pleasant surprise. There is an even better supermarket just around the corner from the Weekly mansions ... and so to a dinner with some delicious sashimi.

Tokyo - On Time

We took off from Sydney on time and landed and embarked on time - JAL what need I say. The Skyliner got us to Ueno on time, We were at the supermarket, after registering at the Weekly Holiday Mansion Higashi-Ueno, in time. And had our dinner at the flat at about time for bed. An excellent travelling day!

It always come as a bit of a shock when we first arrive in Tokyo and wander the streets in Asakusa in the early evening - main shops are shut, traffic is moving and the is an air of peace and quiet which is hard to believe. That's what's pleasant about the place ...

Watch, Wallet, Spectacles and ... An Early Start

Four fifteen am is not on e of my usual times to be non-comatose. Shuttle to KSF and a croissant and coffee roused a few brain cells which enables us to be coherent enough to check-in. Passports and security passed though lead to the cafe - again - for more liquid and a slow full re-boot of the thinking equipment. No, I do not like very early starts to my day.

All good - so far - next stop Tokyo.

Mad Dash To The Starting Line

Time to pack all the goodies away, unplug the electronics and kick the cat out. It's always a series of ,"Oh my God have we ..." moments that make you realize it's time go go.

Apartment Secured

The last Panicable (it's a noun in this case) has been conquered! Not by any of my efforts but, by the pleasant and efficient offices of Abbeydale Hall. Again we have a 2BLK&B+P flat in Sheffield ... excellent! There is a build up of planned arty activities at the Millennium and Porterbrook Studios, and the prospect of further forages into Darkest Derbyshire and Ancient Lincolnshire only delights expectations.

All that remains is to pack ....

Countdown 2012

Here we are again at the frontier of exportation ready to retrace the steps of  our convict brothers and sisters but, in reverse and without the floggings that cured their ills. Are we packed, planned and panicking? That's a: yes, yes and sort-of.

Stand-by Transport by Mr Oates

Excitement mixed with trepidation. Will all the planning actually work? So far one hiccup ... flight cancelled and re-booked ... phew ... thank G we are not using pigeon post and square-rigger at present!

Apart from the unseen random events we should be able to actually pack the cases later this week. I prefer Friday, the day before we leave, so that the stuff we do pack doesn't get worn out while packing and re-packing. The re-packing syndrome is evidenced by a state of mind that is obsessed by the notion of "just in case"; just in case we've packed too much, too little, the wrong things and forgotten the cat ... we don't have a cat ... You get the general idea I'm sure.

Have we had our shots? Don't even start that ball rolling ...

THEY CANCELLED THE *@#!ing FLIGHT!!! (ad alta voce)

Oh dear what a catastrophe! Not really ... "If you keep your head when all about you are loosing theirs," as Uncle Rudyard always said. Dear Old BMIBaby has gone to the dogs so the flight from CDG to EMA is no more.

On to the Interwebnettydodah. Plastic on standby, fingers limbered, eyeballs set on max resolution and brain switched to turbo. Will it be a plane, train, boat or ... Shank's Pony? Well, worry not readers. Magic always comes in threes ...

We still hope be flying out of CDG (fingers and all else crossed) but, to Manchester instead of EMA.  FlyBe came to the rescue and First TransPennine Express takes us from Manchester to Sheffield for the tiny sum of  16 GBP. (If you've been watching "Five Days" you'll maybe have noticed that the train is one of theirs.)