Avoiding crowds

We're moving at a slow pace this trip.  The key to success is making sure the baby is well rested and fed before heading out the door.  So we got out the door around noon today and headed out for a 40 min metro ride to visit Montmartre. Marin started out smiling and making friends on the train and by the 15th stop, like us, she was ready to be off.  Out if the metro, we all headed up the hill towsrds Sacre Couer.  There were big crowds, tons a selfie sticks and an older man persistently yelling at some young petitioners - and he eventually chased them down and tried flinging some water from his water bottle on them.  I was quickly ready to continue on, skip the church and walk along the less busy roads of Montmarte.

We happily found a All Good Things cafe serving a 3-course Monday brunch and the day was saved.  We then wandered around, passed by Moulin Rouge and took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe were more crowds and wild scooters abounded. Brian showed interested in scaling the monument, wondering if there might be an elevator we could take up with marins's stroller.  I expressed doubt and no one was determined enough to try to find out.  We kept walking by the arc to a cafe for some beers before making it to our ultimate destination, the Bois de Boulogne park.  A nice change of pace, the walk through the park where Paris goes jogging, took us back to our home in the southern 16th arrondissement. 

First day in Paris with baby

We made it to our apartment in the 16th arrondissement after a sleepless overnight flight from Newark with baby mb on our laps.  Marin was great on the flight and before that, her cute face helped us cut ahead of the check-in and security lines.

Once we got to CDG, we walked to the train station, but as we were puzzling through the machine screens to purchase RER tickets, the station was evacuated and train lines suspended due to an abandoned bag.  After maybe a couple hours, things went back to normal and we were on our way.   Once we got to our place, we ended up falling asleep for the rest of the day.

So today was our true first day.  We headed towards the center of the city to wander around to eventually walk by the cathedral of Notre dame.  Lots of other people were also stopped to look at the fire damage outside the new fence that surround the church.  From there we walked over to Le Marais which was filled with people and families and lots of delicious looking brunch places.  We found a good place for lunch which accomodated Marin's stroller inside and where momentously, marin tried her first ever green bean and seemed to like it. She also found a nice woman to lock eyes with during our meal which kept her occupied and happy.  Not wanting to push our luck with Marin, we started heading back to our neighborhood taking the opportunity to go by Roland-Garros stadium were the French open final was happening.  We watched the last few sets from the apartment while Marin napped.  We took one more walk through the neighborhood, found a boulangerie and bought one flute and walked far enough to see the Eiffel Tower from the emille Zola 

Great Ocean Road Finale, With Detours (Grey River to Peterborough)

What a day!

We started it off at the off-main coffee roaster "Hello Coffee." Once properly fueled, we made our first stop at Cape Otway, home of Australia's first, and given the number of shipwrecks in the area, most important lighthouse. But for us, this visit was all about the koalas. We spotted our first koala shortly after entering the park, and once adjusted, got damn good at finding them - so good that we had a small group of tourists from China following us. After finding over 10 of the cutest animal on the planet, we headed off to Johanna Beach, home to rugged surf and the alternate to Bell's Beach for the Ripcurl events.

After some time at the beach, we took an upstate detour into agricultural Timboon. Our first stop was a 3rd generation German organic cheesery for a full spread and local craft beer in their garden. And our second stop was Timboon Ice Cream for enormous sundaes. Having fully indulged, we returned to the Great Ocean Road to hit some big sites east of Port Campbell: the Grotto, Bay of Islands, Bay of Martyrs and The Arch. But of that run of sites, the absolute highlight was when Amanda spotted a kangaroo in a field as dusk was approaching. We pulled over and spent some time observing it, to find out it had two children with it, and that it was part of a much larger clan of about 5 families. We were able to see them eat, graze and run at full speed across and open field - amazing!

That should have been enough to end the trip, but we were still lucky enough to see the Loch Ard (where a ship ran aground on its last night from England, killing everyone but two passengers) and the 12 Apostles just in time for sunset.

Until next time Oz!!

Crossing and Cruising (Portsea to Grey River)

Despite a hard sell from the desk manager at the Portsea Hotel to stay, we decided to leave the tip of the Mornington Peninsula to hit the Great Ocean road. After breakfast in Sorrento, we caught a ferry across Port Phillip Bay to Queenscliff.

The spotty weather continued today, so our first stop was the Ripcurl headquarters in Torquay (one of the major surf destinations in the world that launched a host of well-known brands), followed by a visit to Blackwell's brewery for a tasting. Afterwards, once the weather got a bit better, we visited the famous Bell's beach to see some surfing, followed by a short hike highlighting aborigines - also in Torquay. After that we began our ride down the Great Ocean road, stopping periodically to enjoy the thundering Southern Ocean. Right around sunset, and on the recommendation of the brewery we visited, we had dinner and drinks at the Wye River Hotel, which prominently looks out over the sea. Now halfway through our final road trip, we turned into our rental in Grey River (a town of 8 homes) to stay with the first non-European to ever wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France (11 times).

Overnight in the Bush (Wilsons Promonotory)

We spent the passes two days in Wilsons Promontory at the southern edge of Gippsland, which is simply breathtaking.

Day 1: After a nice breakfast outside Leongatha, drove the two hours down to the "Prom."  For the first leg of our hike, which was about 7.5 miles, we took a easy walk through Eucalyptus trees, before veering into a sandy plain, cut by moist fern forest (where we spotted our first kangaroo) and arriving at a wide, wild, unnamed and empty beach. Tracking it back north, we thought we were on the trail, despite the fact that we were climbing over and between enormous boulders over the ocean. Realizing this could not possibly be the path, we doubled back, found our path and were at Little Waterloo Bay within 30 minutes, where we set up camp for the night. As we approached the beach on the bay for a sunset dinner, we saw our second kangaroo of the day just feet from our campsite.

Day 2: we awoke at dawn for a 15 mile hike. No sooner than we packed our site up did it become clear that the weather was unsettled. Within 20 minutes of setting out, the skies opened up and held steady for the first 2.5 hours. After the first deluge, the rain would stop and sun appear just long enough to allow us to start drying, before the rain returning. And as if the rain wasn't sufficient, the wind was blowing storm force gales the entire hike. But despite all that, the hike was still beautiful. Our first leg took us up over the ridge protecting Little Waterloo Bay, into a gulley, over another crest and into Refuge Cove, which is an idyllic shelter harbor with a small opening accessible to a few small sailboats (we have no pictures from here because our electronics were stowed away from the rain. The next leg had us proceed further up the coast, up and down a few prominences before hitting Sealers Cove, which is another sheltered bay, this one with a mile long crescent beach rounding it out. As was a problem the day before, we were unable to find the path to our next destination. After some time we realized that we had to cross a tidal creek to get to the other side of the bay. After settling on a section to cross, which was going to require wadding through thigh-high water, Amanda got half way through before slipping and taking a small dunk (we were just starting to dry for a fourth time before this). Once we made it across, our final leg was 7 miles through fern gullets, up through forest and over a ridge that really emphasized the force of the winds...and windburned us. About 2 miles from the end of the hike, we hit a small clearing where Amanda all but had it. But we made it out essentially on schedule and can't say enough for how beautiful and unspoiled that park is.

Day 2 Night: we took a 3 hour ride to posh seaside area around Portsea and Sorrento and collapsed into our hotel/hostel.