Doing the sites!

Thursday (edited):   It may not have been entirely consistent with our objective to blend into the Parisian scene, but we admit that today we did some of the Paris tourist sites - starting with the Eiffel Tower.   We were undecided before we arrived whether we would go up, but our minds were made up for us when we got there. Not only was visibility pretty poor, but only one lift was operating (the other was out of service), and the extremely lengthy queue was hardly moving.   So we gazed at the tower from the ground and headed on to the Arc de Triumph.  Once again, there was a queue (not quite as long) to buy tickets, and Champs Elysées was beckoning, so again we admired it from the ground.

Champs Elysées was different!  We took our time to walk most of its length, pausing for lunch at one of the pavement cafés and briefly to note the queue to enter the Louis Vuitton store (couldn't help think  that scarcity, even if induced, creates desirability!)

We noted that the cost of items on the menu where we ate was not markedly higher than elsewhere  - except for coffees and especially cappuccinos.   Cappuccinos were on the menu for €7.50.    Obviously even if table rental isn't built in most of the meal prices,  there's a trap for the unwary who just sit down and order a coffee.  We didn't check the quality of the cappuccino (the one we had a day or so ago was only so-so), but the food was reasonably acceptable.

Opera Garnier

We progressed to Blvd Haussmann with the idea that we might look around the Opéra Garnier.  However, by the time we worked out where to go and so on, it was so close to the final admission time of 4.30 that a visit was impracticable.   The consolation prize was a visit to some of the department stores.

Our transport has wherever possible been by bus.  Only one of today's sectors was by Metro.   In fact the bus routes often provide a more direct route (for example, the 69 bus runs directly from Rue de Rivoli to Champ de Mars, directly in front of the Eiffel Tower).  This compensates to some extent to the fact that they can be slower than the Metro (although dedicated bus lanes help, too).   But we almost always get a seat  and we like looking out on the various parts of the city as we pass through them.  The near-absence of tourists on the buses means that the passengers are often quite polite to each other (in keeping with French tradition) and it's not unusual to exchange helpful comments - which immediately exposes our lack of French!
 EDIT:   Did I say "dedicated" bus lanes?    Bus lanes, yes, but maybe "dedicated" doesn't quite convey the correct impression.   They're not used only by buses!    They're used by motor-bikes, ordinary bikes, taxis and as parking space for delivery vehicles, too!    I'm not sure to what extent these other users re meant to be there, but certainly some of the bike readers (amongst others) don't leave much room for error, riding alongside buses and cutting in and out of the traffic.
I should also add that you need to be alert when you're travelling by bus.  Apart from the obvious requirement to get on the correct one (yes, I got the number wrong once and we headed off in the wrong direction), sometimes if they're late they don't go to the final destination (like Melbourne trams).  

Works in progress

Elizabeth St tramway works

I was recently in the city on a Saturday morning and was impressed at the amount of work that was taking place during this not-quite-as-busy-as usual time.   A section of Elizabeth Street was blocked off while major tramway replacement work was occurring. 

Waiting in Lonsdale St

Not only was Elizabeth Street a scene of activity, but trucks were waiting for their turn around the corner in Lonsdale Street.

In fact, tramway works at some location or other currently seem to be scheduled for just about every holiday break.   There has been recent publicity about work (and consequential changes to tram services) in St Kilda Rd (over Easter) and Swanston St, to name just two instances.   However, activity on the morning concerned was not limited to tramway works, as there was action at a number of other places, including the footpaths outside the Supreme Court in William Street.

Outside the Supreme Court

Of course various work in William Street has been  under way for some time.  First, there was the replacement of a major water main, and this has been followed by work on the kerbs on both sides of the street.   However, it is gratifying to see that some effort is apparently being made to perform at least some of the work at less-busy times, even if this comes at some cost to taxpayers in the form of penalty rates for working at weekends. 

From a bus window.....

Sitting in traffic, gotta keep in touch with the world I suppose. 

Bridgeworks (3)

I mentioned in January that the authorities were rebuilding the bridge over the railway line in High Street, and followed it up with a post that, after a couple of weeks of total closure (during which the work moved along at a reasonable pace), the roadway was re-opened reasonably quickly.

But work on the pipes and service ducts on one side is still not finished.   There seems to be no pressure at all, and things seem to be proceeding very slowly indeed.    One lane in High Street remains blocked, and access to the nearby side street is still not allowed (even though there appears no apparent reason not to allow traffic in at least one direction down this street).

The Chadstone car park

The car park at Chadstone is notorious for being over-crowded.  But this isn't always the case.  On a weekday visit a little while back, there were lots of spare spaces.

But just a couple of rows away, vehicles were prowling and waiting for a car to leave (you'll have to take my word for it that this is what the vehicles in the photo below are doing).

Is this a case of habits being hard to kick?    Or are some of us so unaccustomed to walking that every metre counts and thus it becomes important to park as close as possible to the entrance - even if it means waiting for a space?

The Caravan show

I've previously expressed my views on motor-homes.   And the recent homes and gardens exhibition we went to didn't really inspire us.    So, putting the two thoughts together, I don't think we'll be heading to the exhibition of motorhomes, campers and so on, notwithstanding the publicity  in nearby Dandenong Rd.

On the other hand, perhaps I need to see inside a modern motorhome so that I know what I'm missing?  Could it be that I might change my attitude?
 

A motorhome?

I have often said that a motorhome is not for us.    In spite of this, when I saw a book called "Explore Australia by Caravan and Motorhome" on the library shelf, I couldn't resist borrowing it.  I guess it's always useful to know how others live.

Some of the suggested routes were quite interesting, for example Melbourne to Rockhampton (via Dubbo, Goondiwindi and Miles) - useful, I suppose if you're heading north and don't want to go through the cities.  And Melbourne to Karumba (via Jerilderie, Barcaldine and Cloncurry) - not sure if anyone would travel this route in its entirety, but it is a way of describing a number of interesting sectors.

Other useful information contained in the book is a list of dog-friendly parks and numerous travel tips such as "If you have just arrived [in Tasmania], you may find that the mobile phone coverage throughout Tasmania is poor and in many places non-existent....".  Amongst other information, over 160 "public dump points" are marked on the maps (along with detail such as "rear of toilet block" and "at Gold Coast Sewerage Plant").  It's interesting that this feature is obscured by the library bar-code on the cover of the library copy.  But in any event, this is definitely in the TMI ("too much information") category so far as I am concerned! 

A love affair with drains and gutters?

 Stonnington Council seems to just l-o-v-e digging up gutters and drains.    Not so long ago, they spent months doing just that in a couple of nearby streets.  Now their efforts are concentrated in Glenferrie Rd (yet again) and, as a separate job but at the same time, in nearby Winter St.    Perhaps to prolong the pleasure, these jobs seem to move at an extremely leisurely pace.   The work in Winter St (see images) has been in progress for weeks,  with works extending for quite a distance down the street, and for a significant portion, the diggings are on both sides of the street at the same time!     There don't seem to be many indications that things here will be completed any time soon!

Mt Ainslie

Towards Parliament House

I had a few minutes to spare while in Canberra, so I drove to the Mt Ainslie lookout. From here you get a panoramic view over Canberra and there are panels that remind us of Walter Burley Griffin's masterplan for Canberra (which, as the information at the lookout states, was actually devised in conjunction with his wife). Mt Ainslie is at the end of the War Memorial/Parliamentary axis, so the view along this is really good. There's not much apart from the view at the summit - except for an out-of-place ice cream van. 

I wonder what Griffin would have thought about the Gungahlin?    Perhaps he would have approved of the concept of the various satellite town centres (of which Gungahlin is the latest), but I think he might have despaired at the lack of imagination that's evident in the design of Gungahlin.

Towards Gungahlin - note intervening open space

Although I've previously commented on this, I now appreciate that the retail heart is designed to consist of 4 quadrants, with the "boring" stuff being outside these.   The streets appear unstructured, with the designers apparently not able to have been able to decide which streets should carry the main traffic burden and which should be limited to local access.   Perhaps a good start would have been a designated ring road?   Of course, I readily acknowledge that I'm not qualified to comment on these matters, but if even I can discern the if matters I've mentioned,  what would the experts say.

Getting to Sydney

The drive from Canberra to our accommodation in Sydney was relatively painless.  I've hardly driven  around Sydney in recent years, and the M5 (the south-western link) was a new experience.   It certainly made for a hassle-free trip from the Cambelltown area into the city, and we then carefully followed the signs and got to Chatswood without incident - somewhat to our surprise and certainly to our relief! 

Of course this meant using the harbour tunnel, rather than the bridge, as we weren't in a mood to experiment in an endeavour to take a more scenic route! 

Our trip was early on a Sunday evening, when the traffic was manageable.   I don't like to think how these roads cope at busy times, given their limited capacity (only 2 lanes in many places).

Our e-tag beeped a number of times, so I will study the account with interest when it arrives to see how much this journey cost me!

To Canberra

We're about to leave for Canberra, where Sue will attend the festival at the Serbian monastery and I will otherwise occupy myself (although there are certain parts of the festival where my presence will be required).  So, a solid day's drive (at least, by our standards) lies ahead.

The Church in the Monastery grounds

Parking signs

So is it unrestricted on Wednesdays?  (Actually, yes)

Is it a symptom of the desire of our civic fathers to micro-manage our lives?    There are some incredibly difficult-to-comprehend parking signs around our streets!   I didn't even have to search for these examples - I go past each of them several times a week!

On Saturdays, ticket required on the left but not if you park on the right?

Arriving at 8 pm, how much money do you put in the meter if you park on the left?

No space here for buses in the afternoon?

Traffic Lights

I guess we're all experts on traffic lights.  After all, we sit in our cars long enough looking at them.   Perhaps there is indeed a big computer at VicRoads that synchronizes them in some way, but sometimes I wonder.    There are few things more frustrating than to sit at a red light while the next light is green, but that light turns to red just as you approach it.   This sometimes occurs in busy Dandenong Rd in Windsor, where to make matters worse, the second set of lights is a pedestrian crossing that extends only across one side of the road, and could easily and logically be programmed to fit in with the traffic flow without affecting traffic on any side street or even indeed the traffic coming in the other direction!

And there are a couple of other locations in the area - which I have consistently observed over a period of time -  where the synchronisation at most times of the day appears to be nearly as poor.

Given this, I wasn't sure what to make of a report in the Australian IT section this week, about a team researching a theoretical physics-based model.  They aim to design "novel algorithms to run traffic signals in a more intelligent way".  My initial reaction was that a bit of common sense applied to the worst of the existing settings would be a good place to start.

Meanwhile, yesterday there was a team with a laptop computer next to the open control cabinet at a nearby intersection.....not sure what they might have been up to!

Bridgeworks

The authorities are busy rebuilding the High Street bridge over the railway line.  Last year, it was the Wattletree Road bridge, so given the number of bridges in the area, this type of work might be an annual occurrence each January for a few years to come.    The road is completely closed but at this time of year the traffic diversions are manageable.

There are temporary crossovers to let the trams reverse on either side of the work (passengers have to walk the past the work, over the bridge), and plenty of workmen to keep the job moving along!

Drive safely

Although these signs have been on the Great Ocean Road for a few years now, they still amuse me!

Traffic

There can be great traffic congestion on the approaches to Lorne during summer, especially from late morning until mid-afternoon.   It's always a mystery to me where all these people are going!    I know some are headed to the Falls Festival, but not many were taking the turn off towards the festival site. Nevertheless, there was a tailback for several kms on Tuesday.

[Edit - another image, showing some traffic management in place]

Just a couple of hundred metres away from all the traffic, things couldn't have been quieter at the lily pond.

Rain Gardens

On 19 November, I commented on some innovative drainage arrangements in our area.   I'm indebted to Amy for the information that these are called "Rain Gardens".

I said in my previous post that I thought these were working quite well, and I thought that the images supported this.   However, in its wisdom, the Stonnington council apparently took a different view.  Perhaps they thought that the drains were prone to be blocked by the loose surface material.   Anyway, the two rain gardens near us have now been rebuilt!    Let's not ask how much ratepayer money was devoted to this project!   The images below are of the work in progress (over a period of a couple of days)  and the final (for now?) result.

 Final result (the reddish material is a layer of stones)

Traffic reports

I was in the car recently, and heard a traffic report.  The message was, avoid Mountain Hwy, Bayswater, the railways booms are still stuck down.   And where was I?  Yes, indeed, in Mountain Hwy in Bayswater, and I had just crossed the railway line without hindrance!   Just why I was there is another story, but the so-called "traffic update" was obviously past its use-by time.  And this was on the ABC!

This incident came to mind several times recently when I heard traffic reports on the radio.    I was listening for reports about the major disruptions in William Street.  The water main is being replaced, and for many weeks now, all north-bound traffic has been blocked off, a city block at a time.    While the work was in the city area, for much of the day, there were major delays at the point where the traffic had to divert.   Now I certainly don't spend my days listening to the traffic reports, but on the random selection that I heard, I did not hear a mention of this work.   It didn't seem to rate, perhaps because it was scheduled and presumably drivers were supposed to be aware of it.   Well, not the ones I saw sitting there in frustration (although admittedly there aren't any in the pic below!).  
I see that the suppliers of GPS devices now offer a real-time traffic update service.   I haven't invested in a service of this nature, but if was minded to do so, I would want to be assured that the services was better than those provided for free on the radio.  These seem often to be based on monitoring specific but limited sources and random information derived from callers.

"Walk" signs

I don't suppose it's of any real consequence, but sometimes objects that we take as just being "ordinary" become, for some reason, notable.  For example, Berliners take pride in their "Walk/Don't Walk" signs, in that the man with the hat dates from the East/West days, I understand.  He is said to be one of the few features of communist East Germany to have survived the end of the Iron Curtain with its popularity unscathed.    I don't have a photo of the real thing, but here's something in lieu.

I was reminded of this when I drove past some traffic lights in Orrong Rd. where there remains on just one corner one of the original "Walk/Don't Walk" signs that we had in Melbourne.  It's a bit battered, and probably won't last for long, but I wonder whether it's eventual destination will be the scrap heap or a museum!