After being in Sheffield, before going back to Paris, it made sense to check out London
bye bye Sheffield :)
quick walk to the train station
St Pancras
After arriving, going for a Xmas lights bus tour sounded like a good idea. Unfortunately it was harder to setup than it should have been, with a despicable company, and the view was not always the best for pictures, but it was still nice to have a look:
West end tour at the same time:
More lights:
After a nice brazillian BBQ dinner, a musical that was available that night (pickings were slim on dec 29th):
The next day started with the canal museum as it was too late to get tickets for the tower bridge:
I tried to sign up for a canal ride, but they were also sold out
old tractor that used to pull the boats
Next, was a ride on the Thames and a walk:
Fun stores:
Then was time to see Faulty Power, the play. It was last minute, not many options available on Dec 30th. It was fun for me since I had seen the old TV show from the 70s:
The rest of the day was spent walking through neighborhoods with lights and go to winter wonderland in hyde park:
Going to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, it was nice inside but the security search detained me more than 5mn going through all the pockets of my scottevest, which is a lot of stuff, and the amount of things they prohibited, including hand sanitizer was such bullshit that it was very much a turn off, and enough for me not to go back had I been a local. The UK is really getting security wrong, at this level, I'm not interested in going back and dealing with such BS. It's a bummer because once inside it was very nice, but that doesn't make up for the level of ridiculous they are putting their customers, through (Paris was so much more reasonable in comparison):
yes, the rides were numerous and impressive
The last day and morning, I had a couple of hours before the train back to Paris, and used them to meet my good friend, Raster, for early brunch and catching up, that was a lovely time:
geeking out about enlightenment 17, he wrote and I still use
Found Mathias and Nicole in SFO airport, going in the same plane to Paris as I did:
first class looks nice, but hard to justify the price they want
this was more than good enough :)
I didn't have much time to get out, but still did a bit, the highlight was the Xmas market at la Défense:
cold, but beautiful day
yum!
my favorite, seared foie gras sandwich
double yum!
beautiful bottles
the bad news is the elevator to the top is now closed forever, bit downer :(
Beautiful sunset, selfie time!
A few more pictures of the beautiful weather and sky:
On Jan 2nd, it was time to go shopping:
that was yummy
chocolate dessert refill!
and my favorite, blood orange juice
heaven
just a few :)
this should do nicely :)
In the afternoon, a few hours to go in Paris:
Finally got to see Legay shock bakery:
The 1st arrondissement and nearby stores are always fun to visit:
Notre Dame was finally re-opened after many years to repair all the fire damage, although it still had scaffolding outside. Unsurprisingly, there was a ridiculous line (looked like maybe 2H) to get in, in the 'no reserved slot' line as well as the other line for people who had reserved slots (making them kin dof useless). It would have been nice to go back in, but I've been many times and it wasn't worth the wait:
Last time I tried to fly around Kauai, there were no rental planes available and the trikes I rented were barely able to keep up with the wind, so I didn't get very far. This time around, the one plane I could have rented was not available either, so I got a passenger flight. Sadly this time of the year, the weather around Kauai is seldom sunny around the entire island (it's the green island afterall), and the schedule for the week was inflexible enough due to many places having limited hours/days, I ended up opting to stay with the flight, even if it could not go around the entire island and missed the south and waimea canyon.
I got copilot seat, but was just passenger
The flight ended with the double/triple Wailua Falls close to the airport:
cool to see the parking lot I had just driven to a hour prior
It had been a good 15 years since I last went, so it was a good time to go back, revisit a few fun things, and check out a few new ones. Once planning and there, I got reminded that this is the least developed of the 4 islands, so lining up attractions and tours or even main national gardens, was not trivial as many things were only open a few days a week, and not all on the same days. Also many things were pre-booked tour only.
It took a lot of juggling to get everything to fit in a week, but after lots of shuffling, I managed to do so, although it did not offer any flexibility in changing things for weather....
One other thing I also found out was that of course the Hawaii islands are not cheap anymore (only the flight is cheap), but Kauai especially seemed especially expensive. Some tours like a simple garden and chocolate tour, would ask for $140 per person (!).
Anyway, here is the map:
after landing, had a quick drive to Wailua Falls while waiting for the flight time:
walked around a bit to burn time
quickly found a friend :)
happiest cat in the world
Day 1: Partial Island Flight
Then, it as time for the scenic flight, which sadly was partial due to weather, but realistically weather was not great for flying for over half the time there. It's the garden (green) island afterall, and that comes from all the rain... Flight details there
rode copilot
same waterfall
Smith Family Luau
After the flight was time for a nice dinner and show at Smith Family Luau
I then had to deal with the dive Kauai and their lying passive aggressive boat driver, Nick, who did his best to ruin my diving by showing how much of an lying p. he could be. Dive Kauai, only barely worthwhile for beginners, was totally not worth it. At least I'm making proper notes this time to make sure I never go back to those people (turns out I had old notes from 2008 saying I also picked them and regretted it, sigh...)
Despite the time wasted by them, had a bit of time to check out an evening art festival at Hanapepe:
Day 4: Diving, McBryde+Allterton Gardens, Koloa Zipline
I was supposed to start with 2 dives that morning, but with my previous night's injury and open wound, those were cancelled, so off to Waimea that was:
then it was time to drive up to Waimea Canyon:
the famous red dirt
beautiful scenery
After an mostly unimpeded quick drive down, and rental car brakes that didn't fade, and time for a few quick stops before the 2nd Luau:
Day 6: Aulii Beach Luau
how to open coconuts
yum
Day 7: North Island Tour to Road's End: Princeville Botanical Gardens
I decided to skip Na Aina Kai Botanical Gardens & Sculpture Park as they required slow and painful tours that didn't happen every day, and instead opted for the Princeville Botanical Garden 3H tour which was worth the drive and time.
Day 7: Princeville Botanical Gardens
Day 7: Limuhali Botanical Gardens
From there, 30mn drive to Limuhali Botanical Gardens, which unexplicably also required advance reservations for a limited parking spot and self guided tour:
After that, there was some time for a slower drive back and stop at a few places on the way:
more shaved ice with ice cream
Day 7: Kilauea, the northmost point of all of Hawaii, and Nenes
Went to Kilauea, the northmost point of all of Hawaii, and its famous Nenes ducks:
babies!
unfortunately the tip is now open only certain days with advance tickets, WTF?
one used to be able to just drive there :(
boobie!
Day 8: Kauai Museum
Day 8: Kauai Plantation Railway and Rhum Tasting
Then, finished the half day and the trip with the Plantation Railway and Rhum:
