Our Departure From Wells ....
We departed from our temporary home for the last 4 weeks in beautiful South Horrington
and headed for Bristol Airport on a warm and sunny day. We have
enjoyed the last 4 weeks here in Wells and Ireland and would hope
one day to return to England with its lush green landscape and
historical villages.
The apartment complex that we stayed in was just amazing and we thought it was worthwhile just including another photo of the complex on the website so friends can appreciate the size of this complex. If you click the photo on the left you will see a Google Earth image of the complex. It was the old Wells Mental Asylum from 1848 to 1991 and since then has been extensively renovated to now have 120 individual apartments situated on approximately 5 acres of rolling grasslands and garden surrounds. Tennants do not own the freehold outright but have a 1000 year lease. Typical apartment prices to purchase a property range from about £100,000 for a 1 bedroom to £240,000 plus for 3 bedroom.
A Very Warm Paris .... After dropping our Peugeot 3008 at Bristol Airport with the odometer showing an additional 2600 miles travelled, we relaxed at the airport until
our flight took us back to Paris. It was a very quick flight of 55
minutes and then a shuttle to the Hotel Wilson Opera which is situated in
8th arrondissement and a quieter area of Paris than our stay eight weeks
earlier. Eight weeks earlier we were in coats, jumpers and warm hats. On our return to Paris we 
arrived
with the temperature at 26 degrees so lighter clothing was definitely
needed. We thought we would be churched out by now but just
around the corner from our hotel was the Church of Saint Augustin,
built between 1861 and 1871 involving many 19th century artists.
Then just down the road we came across the Church of
Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, quite different as it was built on the plan of
a Roman temple in 1842. From
there it was a walk along Rue de
Honore where many of the top designers are located and then down to the
Place de la Concorde and along the Avenue des Champs Elysees before
taking the Metro to the Paris Opera House and a bite of lunch in the
very popular Galeries Lafayette restaurant. Galeries Lafayette is a
must stop in Paris just to see the dome if nothing else.
It was Sunday morning and Orchard Road was fairly quiet for a
weekend. We returned to the hotel and spent some time in the pool
and relaxing before we went out for a meal the first evening. After waking at 3.30am ready for the day, we somehow went back to sleep
and did not wake until 12.30pm with half the day gone. That is
jetlag for you. It was too late for breakfast so we set off
for lunch to Chinatown which is such a fascinating part of
Singapore. It is where the locals eat, meet, run their
businesses and make Singapore worth visiting. The old Chinatown
has been cleaned up with old buildings being renovated in the Chinese
architecture but the shopping is still the same. 
We decided
to take the Hop on - Hop off bus to see some of the sights. One stop was to ride on the Singapore Flyer the
world's largest observation wheel standing 165 metres. The 360
degree view around Singapore was fantastic and is well worth
doing. We also visited the Botanical Gardens, a 155 acre area with
lush tropical green gardens. The Orchid Gardens were a highlight
of our visit here with the different colourful varieties of orchids,
but there are many sections of the gardens that would take a full day
to cover. 
