Impact Tours are no more.

I had some very sad news - Impact Tours are no more.

This is a photo I took when Robyn and me stole a day and escaped to the Isle of Wight in August last year; 

 

 

That day meant everything to us - we were able to find some time just to be together.

 

I've no idea what happened but the legendary West London day trips are no more.

 

It's a huge loss for me, even if I'm not really fit for the journeys these days.

 

In 2014 when my cancer treatment won me a short window of good health and whenever I could get cover (I was a carer) I went off on their daytrips to the continent.

 

If I'm anywhere near 'sane' today it's because of those escapes.  

 

In June 2014 I made it back to Amsterdam; 

 

 

 

In May I got back to my beloved Paris, and in October I managed to persuade Robyn to join me there again.

 

For anyone who doesn't know, these day trips involved catching a coach at midnight on Friday in West London, arriving at about 11 00am to give you 12 hours in the city before you caught the coach back at about 10 00pm to arrive back where you started on Sunday morning.

 

I loved it!

 

I'm not so sure about Robyn though, this is a picture she took of me sleeping on the ferry on the way to France last October;  

 

 

 



 

I don't think she was at all impressed but not bad for someone with advanced cancer - thanks Dr Feelgood!

 

Isn't this view worth it? 

 

 

 

And this is our padlock which we locked onto the little fence in the square above the Rue Azais at the top of Monmartre.

 

Very special, I hope it's still there.

 

 

 

 

Apart from anything else this year, it's been very sad to watch some favourite bands split up, to lose some wonderful music venues (The Hobgoblin's closure was a real blow) and now Impact has gone too.

 

Generations of West London people who were either short of money or short of time (or both) will now not have the chance to get to the Northern European cities for a day.

 

Neil Harris

(a don't stop till you drop production)

 

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

 

 



Un Américain a Paris.

After my little bit of bad luck at Charing Cross Hospital on Tuesday, I was so glad I did this; just after midnight on Friday me and Robyn caught an Impact Tours Coach for Paris!

It's cheap, there's no security, you don't have to struggle to central London or to an airport and quite frankly it's quite exciting (even to someone as old as me).

Our coach raced across London through the middle of the night - we got a quick glimpse of the Houses of Parliament and the Millenium Wheel on the Thames and then like Harry Potter's magic bus we were off through the dark night to The Port of Dover to catch a romantic ferry across the Channel.

We got to the Place de la Concorde by 11-00am (French Time) and bought our Carnet of Metro tickets.....we were off.

I'm not going to apologise for doing the whole tourist thing - it was Robyn's first visit to Paris and I did some more unusual things back in April when I went on my own - why don't you take a look?

We went to Pigalle to buy lunch in Carrefour and then struggled up the many steps to The Butte at the top of Montmartre.

I don't care if it's a tourist cliché - I love it there. The Paris of Picasso and Impressionism, the Paris of the film 'Le Flic', the Paris of 'Un Américain a Paris' too;

 

 

It's a joy to see, even if you have to fight through a crowd to get there.  

Of course, as with anywhere in Paris, there are secrets and tales to tell. The fairytale church at the top was actually built by public subscription amongst the opponents of The Paris Commune. It was a memorial but not to the fallen Communards or those imprisoned and deported but to those who fired the guns.

However, just beneath Sacré Coeur, is Place Louise Michel, a little square commemorating the great female Communard who became such a symbol of those inspiring days of revolution.

A just revenge.

Whatever your views, who could not love these narrow streets of picture book Paris;
 

Or a vista like this - my favourite view; the Eiffel Tower across the rooftops of Paris;

I took a different view back in April, my favourite shot of my favourite view.

There's street art (I'll do a special posting of graffiti as I usually do) and advertisements for businesses, full of charm like this one;

This is the water fountain at the Rue Azais, where I filled my bottle again like I did in April and which I used to create my exhibit for 'The Museum of Water'. That gets a couple of posts in June.

But I had a proper date at Rue Azais, we went back to have lunch at the best restaurant in Paris;

I wasn't allowed my usual lager - Robyn selected a rather fine Chardonnay (a Millegrand 2013) and it was a good choice.

We liked the Comté cheese which we hadn't tried before.

Aaaah!

But we had another reason to be up there, apart from the view and the food;

 

 

This place means so much to us both that this was the spot we chose to leave our padlock (R loves N), on the fence in the little square overlooking the Eiffel Tower.

 

Where we hope it will survive just a little while, to commemorate what that trip meant to us both.

 

Neil Harris

 

(a don't stop till you drop production)

 

More tomorrow!

 

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

 

Contact me:  neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

 



Summer Holiday.

 

It's 5 am, I've had 4 hours sleep and I'm panicking - the car in front is driving at about 11 miles an hour and even slow Neil needs to get past now, right now.

 

The coach leaves at 0615 am and that isn't a problem because I'm early. I'm in a hurry because I can see a conjunction of Venus and Jupiter high in the dawn sky and I'm desperate to get to Robyn's to show it to her before the Sun gets too bright or that big fat cloud gets in the way.

 

I made it, just in time, and we got to see 5 (or was it 7?) celestial bodies, all in the sky at the same time;

 

Venus, Jupiter, Sun, Moon and of course the Earth*.

 

What a great start to the day.

 

No holiday this year for me and not the last three years either, so this was a big deal for me - a day trip by coach to the Isle of Wight.

 

First time at the seaside for three years.

 

It's all packed lunches, fizzy drinks, biscuits and blue sky.

What more could anyone want? 

 

 

 

That's Southampton where we caught the boat and that's a speedy catamaran ferry zooming past us.

 

 

 





Southampton is a busy port city - this ship is bringing in new cars which line the docksides in great big car parks.

This is an area for sailing - mainly big fat expensive yachts even bigger than this one.

Cowes, the little port on the Island is home to a week of sailing for wealthy people every August.

They're starting to get ready, now.

We got a few hours in Sandown and Shanklin, two little 19th century resorts. There's a beach, a promenade and a pier but not too much going on. 

Then again it was sunny and we were like two Pit Ponies taken up out of the mine and released into the Sun for their once a year holiday in the light.

It's been tough recently so really today was just a chance to spend some time with Robyn.

None of it would have happened without some very special people; Manju who sorted out the carers for me; Rosie, Gurdeep and Ruby who did all the work and some very special thanks to Sharon for coming in for the afternoon.

Couldn't have done it without you.

So what did we get up to?

 

 

 

 

 

Check it out tomorrow, meanwhile if you click on any photo, you'll get better quality pictures in a slideshow.

 

* Those seven celestial bodies?

 

Earth, Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Sun, Robyn and Neil.

 

Neil Harris

(a don't stop till you drop production)

 

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com