“The morning was cold and lonely

City lights old and grey

The tourists all had phones on sticks

They kept on clicking away

Hey St. Peter before you ring you’re bell

Could you send all these painful tourists down to tourist hell”

Apologies to Harry Vander and George Young but Hey St.Peter has been playing in my head for two days and I needed to vent my hatred of selfie sticks again somehow. Great song by the way.

Selfie sticks are evolving they now have motor driven swivel heads and telescopic extension so the would be documentary maker can pan and zoom their way through everyone else’s holiday. It’s very annoying when you are surveying a 200 year old painting and a smart phone elevates itself into your field of view, zooms in and flashes in your face. I’m confident it wont be too long before they come with a boom microphone and mini clapper board.

Me at the Louvre take 7, and action…… ” This is Me walking into The Louvre to look at the paintings………..cut, cut …did someone just walk into frame then?”

Me at the Louvre take 8, and action….“this is Me walking into The Louvre to look at the pictures.. I mean paintings, damit….cut cut, can someone check he teleprompter?”

Me at the Louvre Take 9, and acti…… Hang on hang on, is that a glossy patch there on my cheek, Bob does that look glossy to you? It is isn’t it……Make up!

Today Pushkin and Catherine Palace.

The  Catherine Palace museum covers the 300-year history of this outstanding building and presents the work of architects involved in its construction and decoration in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Almost totally destroyed by the Nazis it has taken till now to restore 32 of the 58 rooms destroyed, including the recently restored Amber Room (no photos allowed).

Dining Room

A section of ceiling

Pushkin, Russia’s Shakespeare? Maybe.

The Party Room.

The Garden

View from The Garden.

Guest House.

Bath House

The Amber Room

The Amber room lined and decorated with amber, the original Amber room was looted by the Germans during WW2. In 2003, after decades of work by Russian craftsmen and donations from Germany, the reconstructed Amber Room was inaugurated at the Catherine Palace.