There And Back Again

As you all know, I’m working toward my goal to become and extra in the Hobbit, which begins filming next year 2010. If I’m unable to take a year off of work and move there, then I’m going to go down at least a month and try to get into as many scenes as I can,. That’s a given. BUT 2 days ago, I signed the twins and i, up to a return to New Zealand !!!!  December 2011.  Red Carpet tours ( the tour company we went on in 2006) is taking reservations, for their tour for December 2011, anticipating that like with the LOTR Premiers there will be an overwhelming response. They had over 160 people attending.  They are giving everyone an option to reserve your seat, before then. After much mulling and pondering. I sent in my response. The Twins constantly talk of going back, and I knew we would someday, also, its 2 years away, exactly the same amount of time it took for me to raise the money last time,, Its Fate!  Not to mention, the boys will be out of high school, 18 years old, and hopefully have jobs, so they can pay their own way. I do expect them to be attending College, but they should be on Christmas break then..  I wrote Vic and Raewyn James owners of Red Carpet Tours, explaining that IF I don’t make it into the movie, then the next best thing would be to attend the premier. Tom is so excited he is already planning on a Tattoo!!!  Stay tuned, this blog was created to document our trials and tribulations in getting there 2 years ago,, ( that long ago! wow!). I expect the boys to start writing for the blog again, Namarie Max

Back home from Cancun. Shelly and I, had a wonderful time. Cancun is beautiful. the waves and the sun make for a perfect combination. the weather was perfect, it rained once, and at night. We stayed at  The Great Parnassus, an all inclusive, which was my first time with that. I enjoyed all inclusive, no worries about money. How Nice..Originally I thought 5 days wasn’t enough, but actually it was a just long enough. We had plenty of activities, and plenty of food and drink. And of course plenty of sun. Michelle didn’t listen to my wisdom and she got sun poisoning. Her face and body became so swollen I suggested a Doctors visit!. She refused, but bought allergy medication and it seemed to work. needless to say, she stayed out of the sun the rest of the vacation. But still had a nice time, so she tells me.  I read 3 books. That and the weather made me very happy.  The Hotel had a group of Entertainers that made everyone’s stay very enjoyable. The were in all the activities and then put on a cute show at night.  Shelly and I, are thinking about starting an annual trek to Cancun every February. Something to look forward to, esp when we have these crazy Winters,,,,   Brian

Shelly and I are off to Cancun for 5 days. Nobody better mention that we leave on VD. Its  just another day,, pics will be posted as soon as I take them,,,,,, I wanted to go to Cabo, but she wants Cancun and since she is the World to me, she got her way,,,, M

The plan to Not look American succeeded! A couple of times, I was Parley vous Anglais(ed). I’m sure it had more to do with the big nose, than anything else. Sue also had the French experience, everyone answered her in perfect French, she couldn’t understand them, but they thought she spoke fluent French.

Brian

Saint Chapelle,

  I wasn’t very impressed. It does have beautiful stain glass windows, but it was mostly under construction and all we were able to see was the main room. We really didnt do too much this day, because we had our Eiffel Tower, night-time river cruise and Moulin Rouge show, which took about 6 hrs, so it was a nice relaxing day.

Eiffel Tower dinner/River cruise/moulin rouge show.

Hated it. 

 Dinner stunk, the cruise was the best part, but because we were moving so fast down the river, I couldn’t take pictures, they came out blurry, I had some fool standing in front of me, blocking my view, didn’t speak English, so acted like he couldnt understand me, when I told him to move. The only highlight was when passing by Notre Dame, they played Ave Maria, and I thought of Mom. otherwise I wasn’t happy. The Moulin Rouge Show. I’m glad I went,  to say I was there, because I love the movie, but it was horrible, hot, crowded, we had terrible seats, I saw probably 10% of the 2 1/2 hr show. The show was so cheesey and bad, it would have been funny, if i didn’t pay so much to see it.  I bought a program and then left it in the bus. An end to a perfectly horrible evening.

Funny Story.

 Sue and I took a 6 week French course prior to our trip. We heard so many horror stories about how the French were going to treat us badly because we were American, and could not speak the language. So we thought a class might help us out.  The class was a nightmare. Anyway. We land in Paris and every chance she gets, Sue tries to use her French. She spoke it perfectly. So good in fact, that they answered her in perfect French, and therein lies the problem, We could not understand them! The looks on all of our faces was priceless. Because then they had to resort to English!! I didnt bother to try. Why look foolish. but that didn’t stop Sue, she persevered. While driving in  a small town, she needed to stop and use a restroom and we needed to use a telephone. We found a bar, so as she is walking towards the door, she is worried that in this small town, no one will speak english, so she is thinking to herself ” How do I ask for a public telephone in French?” “Avez vous un public telephone?” the lady behind the bar replies, ” no , but you can use the phone behind the bar.” IN PERFECT ENGLISH.  We laughed for miles on that story.

Notre Dame

 I cannot express, in words, how impressed I was. It was bigger and more beautiful than I thought it would be. The stained glass windows are incredibly beautiful. To think that it was built that well and with the magnificent detail that it is, so long ago is mind boggling. The day we went to visit, it was very sunny. The sun poured thru the multi colored windows and cast a kaliedesope of light inside the cathedral. It was very impressive, andit took my breath away. They played AVE MARIA,( my mothers favorite song)  thru the speakers, and it gave the atmosphere a surreal feeling. After walking thru the cathedral, we sat down and enjoyed the moment.  I lit a few candles for my Mom. I know she would have loved to have been there. I missed her then. People are allowed to climb up to the Bell Tower and up to the roof,, its an ungodly amount of stairs. But well worth it, The view of Paris with the gargoyles is amazing.

Just in front of Notre Dame is point zero. The exact center of Paris. Paris is a circular city. Its designed in a circle. From there we went to Sacre Coeur via the Metro.  The Paris Metro is fantastic. Once you figure it out, and its not too hard, you can get anywhere in the city. It was clean and fast. We actually saw someone singing karoake on a train! You don’t have to wait very long for a train, about every 3 minutes. It stops at 12:30 though, so you have to make that last train.

Sacre Coeur

After seeing Notre Dame, I didn’t think anything could compare, But Sacre Coeur comes very close. The church was dedicated to Sacred Heart of Jesus, and inside was very beautiful. Beautiful paintings and sculptures. Mass was going on, so we attended, thinking we could get pictures after Mass, but they wouldn’t allow pictures, inside. We found this out the hard way, after being threatened with the police!  I lit more candles inside. And attending Mass in French was very interesting. I enjoyed it.

Another very enjoyable day. Au Revoir Brian

The plane ride over was awful, I was pissed off. They seated us seperately. And both of us were stuck in the middle seat, which means we had to seat between 2 people. The plane was packed to capacity so we could not switch. So I sat there for 7 hrs staring at the seat in front of me! United will hear about this! That I think set the tone for the entire trip. Little things went wrong all the time, not enough to ruin anything but just enough to throw me off a little bit. But we made it safely, thats all that really counts I guess.

First day in Paris was wonderful, The weather was sunny and beautiful. We decide to take a walk and get our bearings. And really to stretch our legs after the long horrible flight. Went up one street, down another, and voila, there was the Eiffel Tower. I was immediately impressed. Its so imposing and much taller than I thought it was. We stopped to take some pics and I thought I heard singing. Sue heard it to too. So we followed the music. It came from under the Eiffel Tower. Thousands of Scottish men, (very few women), were partying under the Eiffel Tower! All wearing their clan kilts! It was simply amazing. The sang Que Sera Sera and Doe a deer, it was hysterical. They were there waiting for the start of the Scotland vs France rugby game. Both teams were in contention for first place. Scotland won. They were very rowdy, but fun and courteous with everyone, They even kept posing for pictures with everyone else. Sue enjoyed a Heineken with a small group of lads. we stayed there a couple of hours and then headed back to our rooms for a small nap. We were out for hours!!! We finally arose from bed and went to investigate the Paris night.

Paris at night is beautiful, so alive and energetic. Oh to be young and in love in Paris!!!!! Oh, wait I’m not in love. Anyway. To be young in Paris. Darn,, I’m not very young anymore either. Oh well, to be in Paris on a warm night in September is wonderful! We headed over to the ARC DE TRIOMPH and the CHAMPS ELYSEES. We were allowed to go tothe top and snap some pics. Paris is all lights at night, just like you heard, and its beautiful! The Eiffel Tower is all lights, yellow and green on the base, and every hour, it sparkles with white lights! We ate at a very nice restaraunt on the Champs Elysees, and encountered another Chicago couple, who were actually from Naperville. Funny. We had a very nice dinner and then headed back to our rooms, by this time it was very late. More Tomorrow . Au Revoir Brian

Sorry People,

We were so busy in Paris, I didn’t have time to blog, plus when I got a chance to sit at the Hotels computer, everything was in french and the keyboard was different, it was too frustrating to try and figure out at 2:00 am. So I gave up. I’m now busy downloading my incredible collection of pictures for Flickr. Sue and I took quite a lot. So in the next few days I will be returning to share some funny stories and some not soo funny, about our Wonderful adventure in France… Au revoir Brian

Tomorrow Paris.
Beyond excited. Mom and Dad came in to see me off. Mom helped with the packing. She ironed all my clothes. She’s wonderful! Dad gave me money. Am i spoiled? I talked Sue into allowing me another suitcase. I just couldn’t fit everything into one bag. Its impossible. Stay tuned and check back often. I’m going to try and blog and post pics everynight, hopefully I will be able.. Au revoir !!!

ps. There is a ling to my photos to the right, its listed under New Zealand photos, enjoy and feel free to comment,, Thanks