Our First Day In Paris

We arrived at Orly Airport in Paris at 9:00am this morning, and by 10:30am we were in Room 510 at Hotel d'Aubusson in Paris' 6th arrondissement, the Latin Quarter.

Hotel d'Aubusson

The Beautiful Lounge Area

Our Room

As soon as we had unpacked the essentials we were off exploring the immediate area around the hotel.. There is so much to see in this area we love it. I know this is going to sound stupid, but everything around here is so typically French....it's great!!!!

Great Streets, With Heaps Of Places To Eat

Beautiful Buildings

Fontaine Saint-Michel

Just 5 minutes away and we are at the River Seine and the magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral.....

Notre Dame Cathedral

Just near the cathedral we came across the cutest little Christmas market setup in a small park next to the River Seine.

Great Buildings Behind The Little Christmas Market

Little Christmas Market With Views Of Notre Dame

Quite by accident we came across the famous Shakespeare And Company bookshop that has appeared in so many movies....for us it was Meryl Streep playing the famous American TV Chef Julia Child, we even managed to get Lesley posing near where thay shot the movie scene here!

Lesley At The Shakespeare And Company Bookshop

Meryl Streep As Julia Child At The Shakespeare And Company Bookshop

This evening we had a quite evening in the hotel lounge room listening to live jazz, a great way to finish the day!

 

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Our Time In Seville - Part Four

We woke up to a beautiful blue skied and sunny day....a perfect day to visit the Reales Alcazeres, the royal palace in Seville.

Apparently, in 1364, after the Reconquista (the reconquest of Moorish Spain by Christians), King Pedro I commissioned the construction of a new palace, the Palacio Pedro I, at the site of the Al-Muwarak. Craftsmen from across Andalusia created a magnificent interior in Mudéjar style, arranged around a number of patios. Over the years, other monarchs kept expanding the palace, resulting in a diverse complex with different architectural styles. The top floor of the palace is still actively used by the Royal Family.

I must say that it is a very impressive place to visit, and it was easy to see how this palace has been added to continually over the years......

Walking To The Reales Alcazar

The following photos were taken inside different areas of the palace........

We then made our way outside to explore the beautiful gardens......

Even though we had a detailed map of the palace and its grounds we came across the underground baths quite by accident......

After a few hours we made our way out of the palace.....just outside of the gates we came across a water colour artist who specialised in painting pictures of the tilework throughout the palace......we now have a small collection of beautiful water colours to bring home with us!!!

Exploring the Reales Alcazeres took up the whole morning, so once we had finished we headed to La Catedral Tapas Bar just near the hotel for a tapas lunch. The owner here must love bull fighting, I have never seen so many dead animals on walls!!!!!

Dead Bulls Everywhere!!!

Tapas For Lunch

We continued the tapas theme into the evening...there are heaps of bars all around the hotel, but no matter how hard we tried we could not find any that had the quality of food as our favourite, La Pasaje, where we finished the night.....also the staff here are fantastiuc, so friendly!

Tapas Bars All Around

Back To The Best

So that finishes our time in Seville, and Spain. Tomorrow we are up at 4am to catch our flight to Paris!

 

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Our Time In Seville - Part Three

Today we went for a walk to the Plaza de Espana, which is about a 15 minute walk from our hotel, in the beautiful Parque de María Luisa. It was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929.

On our way we came across a small group of shops setup in the little Plaza del Cabildo just off of the main road, Avinida de la Constitucion, while not a tourist attraction it was still very lovely and nice to see.

Walking Into Plaza del Cabildo

Plaza del Cabildo

The whole area around the Plaza de Espana was built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition and there are a number of very nice buildings all around.

Costurero de la Reina Cebtro Tematico Exposicion 1929

The walk through the Parque de María Luisa at this time of the year just looks fantastic with all of the autumn colours and falling leaves..

Parque Maria Luisa

Fighting A Losing Battle!

The actual Plaza de Espana itself is quite spectacular....they just do not build buildings of this grandeur and detail any more. The building is built as a large semi circle with a moat at its front, which in the summer is full of small boats.

Views Around Plaza De Espana

On the way out we walked passed the Casino, also built for the occassion...

Casino de la Exposicion

This evening we had a nice quiet evening just around the corner from the hotel at the little tapas bar El Pasaje where we had a couple of wines and a great selection of their tapas.

Bar El Pasaje

Singers

Just next to the hotel there were a group of singers singing local folk songs so we sat and listened to them for a while before heading to bed..

 

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