Time for another recap of Europe 2008. Last Sunday, we went to Cheddar (the birthplace of Cheddar, the cheese) and went into the Cheddar caves. It was pretty neat, much like the Roman Baths. Seeing all the4 history of things like that is pretty cool. Also at Cheddar were these steps up this steep hill and along the way, it had interesting facts about the prehistoric times and tidbits of how Earth evolved. Interesting. At the top of the steps was a tower and from the top, you could see the surrounding lands. Going to the top of the tower is not for someone who’s afraid of heights. Luckily, I’m not.

Cheddar Man, Britain’s oldest complete human skeleton.

 
Welcome to Cheddar.

The watchtower. 

There was this neat shop in Cheddar called The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company. They make different types of cheddar and you could sample them all. They all tasted great but I really liked the ‘cave matured’ cheddar the most. I bought some, which we subsequently devoured the next day. Following Cheddar, we went to nearby Wells. If you haven’t hear of Wells before, then perhaps you may have seen it because that’s where Hot Fuzz was filmed. Another nice little town. Sunday finished off with Nicki’s famous Sunday roast.

The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company. They make good cheddar here.

The bar from Hot Fuzz.

Wells Cathedral.

On Monday, it was a quiet day. We had to prepare for the next leg of our trip (Paris!). We took a walk along the canal in Bristol and were at one with nature. We came across an old smokestack and it was neat; you could go in at the bottom and when you looked up out the open top, it made you feel as if you were at the bottom of the well. Viewers of The Ring will find it eerily familiar (and a bit spooky).

Radio 1, bitches!

The chimney atop Troopers Hill.

Nicki and I inside the chimney.

This morning, we had to catch an early flight on easyJet to Paris. I was real excited to go to Paris because there was a lot I wanted to see (the Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, and Notre-Dame Cathedral, just to name a few). The weather wasn’t great when we arrived and we had to find somewhere to stay so not too much happened today. The highlight was probably finding the network of bike-hires. All over Paris, there are bicycle kiosks with bikes available for public use (for a fee). The prices ranged from €1 - €4 per day and I thought it was pretty great. Every few blocks, you could find these bike kiosks so you can get a bike from your starting location and return it at your destination. If I lived in Paris, I would totally use this everyday in lieu of a car. We took some bikes and proceeded to cruise around the city, just checking it out. Definitely enjoyable.

The bike-hires.

Depending on the weather tomorrow, I may go to the Eiffel Tower. However, if it’s still raining and gray, I may opt to spend the day indoors at the Louvre and Notré-Dame Cathedral. Vacations kick ass!