Final Entry

Wednesday 12^th October, 2011

Really winding down now as we had nothing planned for the morning except to head into town to get Kim a new suitcase so that she could fit all her purchases in. We stopped off at Macca’s on the way to send off what we thought might be the final entry but we thought we’d add another one.

Anne said for us to go down to Oxford Street so that’s where we went. We found more than one shop that sold suitcases so Kim made her choice and off we went to the ‘gherkin’. We were initially given the wrong directions but soon corrected that and were on our way. We were about 45 minutes early but that didn’t matter, we had a drink in a café across the road.

Anne arrived and in we went. There was a problem with the booking that Anne had someone do for her but as they weren’t busy they let us in anyway. We had to wait in the reception area for someone to come and collect us, and then we had to put our bags through a scanner along with ourselves. Security is a big deal in London for obvious reasons. Anyway after Anne and Kim set the machine off with their shoes up she took us to the very, very top.  Not just anyone gets to go up there, apparently you have to have a membership or something so we were feeling pretty special. We had lunch and a couple of drinks with all the suits up there and the view of London was amazing and then made our way back to Potters Bar to pack the bags.  We made sure we left enough time to redo them if we needed to. So both working frantically to get the bags packed we managed it. I had to do mine a couple of times and Kim was ok with the extra sized case.

Anne and Alan had organised a taxi driver for us who was Ram but affectionately called Rambo by them. They arranged for a 7:00pm pickup but when I looked out the window I noticed him out the front at 6:00pm. Apparently he is a bit of a panic merchant and wanted to make sure we got there on time, the flight wasn’t until 10:15pm though so we knew we would be ok. Neither Anne or Alan were home yet and we wanted to say goodbye so we didn’t acknowledge he was there.

Anne arrived home at about 6:30pm but Alan had got caught up with clients so we bid Anne a fond farewell and with best wishes to Alan and a huge thank you to both for allowing us to intrude on their lives for a few days. We jumped in with Ram who was a 70 odd year old gentleman that after what Alan had told us we didn’t have a lot of faith in but he proved to be very good and cheap. The only thing that was a little disconcerting was he put his foot on and off the accelerator so the trip was a little bit jolty. We arrived at the airport in about an hour and then it was on for young and old.

We went to check in our luggage and the guy we got was a bit of a joker, asking me if my name was Batman, etc. anyway he thought he was funny. When he asked whether our cabin bags had liquids we both said no and after he finished up checking our luggage in we wandered off but then Kim mentioned about whether the perfumes and champagne were ok and we were then in a dilemma. In our frantic state of trying to get everything packed we hadn’t thought about what was in what bag and the restrictions they have. We sat there thinking about it and decided we’d better go and fess up and find out what we could do cause we didn’t want those things taken off us. When we originally checked in our bags were only 25kg and we were allowed 30kg but our smaller cabin bags were well over the limit, we were allowed 7kg but both of us were double that. He let us go with that the first time, although he only checked Kim’s carry on and not mine. Luckily it wasn’t busy at all and he said that we still had 9kg with our checked in luggage to play with so we could take the liquids out of the bags and go and buy a bag and pack it with 9kgs and then we would be ok but to do it quickly. So off we went to where he directed us and bought a small bag, another 35 pounds, and packed the perfume and champagne in and tried to use as much padding as possible as it was a soft bag. We weighed it, and luckily it was within the 9kgs so back we went to him again. He said that was ok but checked Kim’s carry on again but once again not mine!! Anyway he asked if she could reduce hers by another couple of kilo’s which we added to the smaller bag. That was now exactly 9kg’s and although Kim’s was still over, and I knew mine was double what it should’ve been he let us go. We asked if he could put a fragile sticker on the bag which he did but I was still worried that I’d get the bag at the end and the bottles would be smashed!!

Anyway off we went ready for the long trip home. We filled in a bit of time wandering around the duty free and then got on the plane. Uneventful flight to Dubai where we got off and changed flights. We were only about an hour and a half in Dubai so we checked emails, etc. and thankfully a friend Kerrie had offered to pick us up so that was a relief not having to worry about how we were going to get home. We then checked in and got on the bus to take us to the plane for our next leg to Singapore. Another uneventful flight we all we seemed to do is eat. They feed you a couple of times whether it be lunch, dinner, breakfast and all you’re doing is sitting there, very hard to cope with when all we’d done for the past 6 weeks was walk and walk and walk. We had another hour and a half in Singapore and although we were on the same plane we had to get off, so we had a look at the duty free again and then it was once again time to reboard. We went through but this time both Kim and I got patted down! Never had that done before, can’t say that it was a great experience!! Back on the plane again for another flight of just over 6 hours.

We landed and we grabbed some grog on the way through to customs and then collected our luggage. The small bag came through on the carousel and wasn’t put where all the fragile collections were so I was a bit worried about it but luckily all was intact. We then went through and after declaring on our form that the food we had ticked was only chocolates from Harrod’s (yummy) we got straight through. Kerrie was there waiting for us and home we went, exhausted.

What a fantastic time we had and although it is good to back and catch up with everyone we would like to still be away seeing everything that we didn’t get to see. We hope you have enjoyed reading about our trip as much as we have enjoyed it…Arriva derci….au revoir….see ya.

London Day 3

Tuesday 11^th October, 2011

Didn’t have a lot planned for today so didn’t leave the house until a bit later which was good in that we were able to save a few dollars on an off peak travel pass, I’d like to add though that once again we still woke early. We went into town and had a look around some shops and then headed to the one and only ‘Harrods’ for some more shopping. What an amazing place. It was nice just walking around looking at all the things we couldn’t afford…actually there are a lot of affordable things as well. They also have a dedicated area for all the Harrod’s touristy stuff, like the tote bags (in just about every size) and keyrings, cups, pens, everything really.

We left there and walked over to Hyde Park and strolled through there. It is so big and we only saw a small section of it. There was a café at one end of the lake and we stopped there and had a drink and some cake. We then walked down to Poet’s Corner and Marble Arch and then back onto the Underground to check out a shopping centre. We’d had enough by that stage and it was about 3:30pm so we decided to head back to Potters Bar so that we could go to McDonalds and put the blog on for the past few days as we don’t have access where we are. So for the delay and lack of photo’s we’re sorry.

We arrived back home at about 5:30pm as Anne has booked us into an Indian Restaurant for tonight. Alan won’t be coming though because he will need to stay home with the dogs. They have two beautiful black german shepherds, Jet  who is about  9 years old and the puppy Beau who is about 17 weeks old. They are very funny together when they are playing and Jet certainly lets the playful Beau know when he’s had enough.

Tomorrow, our last day, Anne has booked us into the apparently renowned ‘gherkin’ for drinks. It is said to have a fantastic 360 degree view so we are really looking forward to that.

This will probably be the last entry as even though we don’t leave until tomorrow night we will probably be spending the afternoon trying to squish everything into our cases!!

Toodle pip for now.

London Day 2

Monday 10^th October, 2011

Another busy day ahead. Went to the train station early again which made it an expensive ticket as it wasn’t off-peak so instead of ten pound it cost us 19 pound. We certainly use it though, getting on and off all the time at different locations. We went to the London Eye first off but found it was too expensive and took too long so we decided to pass on that one. We went down to the bus stop to catch the hop on/hop off that we’d bought a ticket for the previous day. Whilst standing there we turned around and there was Big Ben (the bell), with the parliament buildings, very impressive. So we then jumped on the bus with the intention of getting to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard but we obviously got the wrong one that took us everywhere else first and by the time we got to Buckingham Palace the event had already started. We were a bit disappointed because they are only every second day at the moment and by the time we got there people were everywhere as you can imagine but we did manage to get a good spot directly in front for when they all came out. It is all a lot of pomp and ceremony but a great spectacle all the same.
We left there and headed for Westminster Abbey. We spent a good couple of hours in there, so much to see with the help of an audio guide to explain everything. We asked a gentleman who I think was a volunteer helper a question and stood and chatted with him for a bit near the end, he was very interesting, an ex commando.

By this stage it was 2:00pm and we were starving as we hadn’t had anything so we found a café and had some delicious home made soup. Then we headed to the dock as the hop on/hop off bus included a boat trip down the Thames. We got on that and it, although they say they are not guides, included a bit of commentary. Actually he didn’t stop from the moment we got on but he was very informative and quite funny at times, it was also good to get another perspective of the city.
After the boat trip we jumped back on the Underground and went to Piccadilly Circus. Having been there before I was quite disappointed as it just didn’t seem to be as it was before. In fact we have noticed a lot of work going on all over London with scaffolding and construction which is obviously in preparation for the Olympics but has put a bit of a dampener on some of the sights. Anyway it was getting late into the afternoon so we didn’t hang around long before getting the train back to Potter’s Bar. By the time we got there it was about 6:00pm so we went straight to the local pub for dinner. We walked in and ordered a drink and a guy standing at the bar starting talking to us obviously recognising our accents. We chatted to him for a bit, he had just come back from a 3 year stint in Perth and his girlfriend who is from Perth was coming over here to live for 2 years. We left him to have our dinner which we both enjoyed immensely. We had another couple of drinks and then made our way back to the house, exhausted once again. We chatted with Anne and Alan for a while and then headed to bed. I think it is all starting to catch up with us and unconsciously knowing it is nearly time to come home we are starting to feel the toll it is taking!! We have had a great time on our trip and although at times we want to continue and not come home we are looking forward to catching up with everyone but also have the hassle of how we are going to get home from the airport.

London

Saturday 8^th October, 2011

Ok, we got up early as usual and had decided to go upstairs for breakfast but then decided it was too expensive for what was on offer so we headed down the road for breakfast instead. Much better deal. With that underway and it only being 8:30 we decided to walk the streets again and have a look around. We went in another direction to what we usually do and found this area that was full of shops that we hadn’t discovered before that was right nearby where we were staying. Unfortunately being Saturday they didn’t open until later so we were unable to go into any, typical!! We wandered around for a couple of hours and then made sure we’d packed everything ready for our Eurostar trip from Paris to London that we’d booked a few days earlier. It wasn’t until 1:00pm but we decided that we wanted to get there early to be on the safe side especially with all our baggage. We both had a big suitcase, a smaller cabin bag and another couple of extra carry bags. We got the receptionist at the hotel, who had also been very helpful to us throughout our stay, to order a cab for us which because they were just around the corner came literally within a couple of minutes.

I’m not sure he was all that happy with the luggage we had and how heavy it was but he’ll get over it. We got to the station which cost 11.80 euro or something very close to that and I handed him 15 euro to which he pocketed it and that was that. The same happened when we got a cab from the airport to the hotel but the difference wasn’t as much. We couldn’t believe that was how they operated. We might’ve given them a tip anyway cause god knows they earn it with our luggage but the fact that you don’t get a choice really pissed us off.

Anyway we got ourselves together and walked into the train station. We had no idea where we had to go so asked for some assistance and when he told me upstairs I think I went white… until he told me there was a lift. Up we went and then after asking someone else we found out we had to fill out these cards before going through, which we did and then we saw the ticket office so we headed there as we’d booked the tickets online and I wasn’t able to print them. That nearly turned into a disaster as the ticket guy said someone had rung up and cancelled your tickets. We thought well nobody could have done that because no one knew we were even booking the train so we were very confused. Anyway the guy ended out sorting it out so in we went lugging everything behind us. Passed the immigration officer, through the scanners and we were ready for London.

Onto the train we got with a little bit of a struggle but with one passing the bags to the other we managed ok. We settled in for our journey of just over 2 hours, down to the food/drink carriage and we were set. The country side was lovely and the part through the tunnel was only 20 minutes. Once again though we were very disappointed in the lack of fanfare when crossing from one country to another. We obviously expect too much. Anyway into the station we pulled and that’s where it all began. Once again we managed with the bags using the one passing to the other method but then we had to lug this stuff the whole length of the bloody platform, we didn’t think it was ever going to end. Finally we came to the end and came through the doors and Kim spotted her friend Anne. We then left the St Pancras station and rounded the corner to the King’s Cross station where we caught the train to her place in Potter’s Bar. We had a 10 minute walk from the station to her place but fortunately we now had her to help carry our stuff, her face was priceless when she saw what we had.

Five minutes after arriving Anne’s next door neighbour rocked up for a sticky beak. She thought it was really funny as did we. He arrived under the cover of leaving some apples so Anne invited him in for a cuppa. We spent the afternoon with Kim and Anne catching up until Alan, Anne’s partner got home with the puppy from doggy training. We’d already met Jet who is a huge black German Shepherd as is Beau but jet is nine years old where Beau is only 17 weeks. We then walked into town to the local pub for a drink and then onto the local fish & chip restaurant for some dinner. Back to the house for a cuppa and then bed after a very, very long day. Anne and Alan are a lovely couple and have been very welcoming, not always easy adjusting to extra people in the house.

Sunday 9^th October 2011

We rose early again and sat around chatting and then headed into London on our 10 pound travel card. From here we go to Kings Cross Station and then from there we can go anywhere. We got off at Tower Hill and went straight to The Tower of London. We arrived there at about 10:00am which was right when it opened so there was only a short queue and we didn’t have to wait long. Anne had a 2 for 1 booklet for us which the tower was in so that saved us a few bucks. We’ve noticed it is quite expensive here for entry fees so every bit saved is good. The tower was bigger than we thought and contains some amazing history, armoury, weapons and the crown jewels.

We then walked to St Paul’s Cathedral and had a look around, no charge as it is Sunday. From there we went to Covent Gardens which was a nice little area. We wandered around there for a bit, actually found some more bags to compact down our luggage, and then made our way to Camden Market. That was a real eye opener, coming out of the underground the sign said turn right. Well we did and we were smack bang right into it. There were stalls selling all sorts of things all along the road and in shops, from the usual touristy stuff to more unusual stuff. We made our way up the street to the Camden Lock where it was like a big shed that contained more stalls. We managed to find a shop where we both bought something, what’s new. It was starting to get late so we started to make our way back to Potter’s Bar.

We arrived home to Anne & Alan and a delicious roast dinner with all the trimmings followed up with a fantastic apple crumble, just what we needed after another huge day.

Paris Day 3

Friday 7th October, 2011

We left the hotel at about ¼ past 8 and caught the train to Versailles to see the Palace of Versailles. It was very cold this morning but with a clear blue sky. We arrived there at about 9:15 and with a short trip around the corner from the station we were there. The palace is huge and we only wandered a very small portion of it, the apartments, with the assistance of our audio guide. It is full of large paintings and tapestries throughout, gold gilding everywhere and frescoes on the ceilings. The gardens are also fantastic and very well maintained. It is amazing that all these places we see and have so much acreage around them are in the middle of the cities. Oh, I just read that with this one and probably the others we’ve seen, the town was built around the palace. We didn’t hang around to see the Palaces of Trianon and Marie-Antoinette’s Estate as it didn’t open until 12:00. We grabbed a bite to eat and then jumped back on the train and headed back to Paris.

We once again went down the Champs Elysses, got caught in the rain again but not as bad as yesterday, for some shopping and through the streets of Paris eventually arriving home at about 3:45pm. We took the stuff up to our room and decided to go down for an early dinner so at about 4:00pm we left to go down the road to a restaurant that we’d already tried on our first night. Unfortunately though it was pissing down when we got downstairs, it wasn’t too far so we put the hoods of our jackets on and did a runner. I had a lovely warming French onion soup, not like anything I’ve made before and Kim had a pasta. I followed up with a chocolate mousse and in this instance I’ve probably made better myself and Kim had a Tarte Tatin which she said was really nice.

We leave here tomorrow and head to London. We’re not looking forward to lugging all our stuff around but I guess we’ll manage as we’ve done so far. Wish us luck!!

Gates at entrance to Palace of Versailles

Small part of the Palace of Versailles

Small part of the gardens surrounding the Palace of Versailles

Kim in another part of the gardens

Paris Day 2

Thursday 6th October, 2011

Thanks Eddie for your comments, it’s nice to know someone is still following us but I think you must’ve missed the bit in the article that mentioned us!!

Off we went at about 8:15am this morning to the Metro which is directly across the road from our hotel so that was handy and we didn’t need to change lines to get where we were going so that was even better. We went up to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur which are on a hill and can be seen from all the monuments around Paris. Much to our disappointment we had to wear long pants for the first time since starting our holiday. We went inside Sacre Coeur which of course was free and then decided to do the crypt and dome as well. There was another 300 steps to the bloody top, but unfortunately I had another bit of a panic attack as soon as I walked through the door. I think this time it was more because I was hot with a jacket on even though the steps were still quite narrow. I had to ask the woman to let me out which initially she seemed pretty miffed about but I think we sorted her out in the end and we walked around the crypt first and then gave the stairs to the dome another go. I was fine then and we both made it to the top. Once again more spectacular views over the city albeit very windy and cold on this occasion.

We left there and wandered the streets of Montmartre for a little while starting by heading down Rue Chappe. Then Kim remembered that Moulin Rouge was nearby as we’d talked about it last night so we set off looking for that but once again went in the wrong direction. We cannot for the life of us figure out why we get it so wrong over here, must be the different hemisphere or something like that. Anyway after asking some friendly people along the way we managed to find it. We weren’t  sure what we expected and this was obviously during the day when it is closed and we assume night would be a lot different with all the lights, etc. but it wasn’t much and is in what appears to be the King’s Cross of Paris with all the sex shops, etc. We took a couple of snaps and went on our way.

Next we jumped back on the Metro at Pigalle to go to the Musee du Louvre which we were told by the Metro staff to get off at Concorde and change to line 1. Well we got off at Concorde and obviously missed the place to change cause next thing we know were up on the street surrounded by a big black cloud. We checked our map and decided it wasn’t far to walk so off we trundled again down the Jardin des Tuileries until we found it. Unfortunately the big black cloud followed us and down she came. We found shelter under a little information booth until it eased off and then went on our way. We stopped at a food van and grabbed another baguette for lunch and once again asked if they would halve it and after getting a look was given a plastic knife with it.

We got to the Louvre and stood in the line which moved quite quickly, about 10-15 minutes and we were in only to stand in another queue to pay admission. We wandered around there for a while seeing the usual suspects, Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, some grand masterpieces including Leonardo da Vinci which we just thought were dark and depressing. We even managed to get lost in there and had to ask for help.

On from there we walked down toward Notre Dame where Sainte-Chapelle is because we didn’t make it there yesterday. We rounded the corner only to find another queue and as we were tired, well our legs and feet were, and it was cold and wintery we decided not to wait. We headed back home arriving at about 4:15pm after another very busy day. More kilometres added to the clock once again and more photo’s added to the collection. It is very hard to describe every day what we see and the feelings we have about everything but as anyone that has travelled will know there is something around every corner and monuments everywhere, it is so hard to take it all in sometimes.

Oh, when we were coming to the intersection which our hotel is located at where it runs off in about 5 or 6 different directions there were gendarmerie everywhere. We went down the corner to get some milk and one of them smiled and said Bonjour so I took the opportunity to ask what was going on. He said it was a manifestation but wouldn’t or couldn’t elaborate and the receptionist here wasn’t too sure either but we have since found out it is because of the Ministry being near by and had something to do with the Minister for Education. Always seems to be something going on when we get there!!

Paris Day 1

Wednesday 5th October, 2011

Ok so sometimes I’m not very bright, I went downstairs early this morning to get a feel for the weather and although it wasn’t quite light yet I thought our luck had run out and it had been raining all night and the sky did look a bit gloomy. Well when I said something to the receptionist here he said ‘no no madam, they have cleaned the streets’. Well I felt like a right wally, even though we were aware that they do that cause the streets are untidy when you go to bed and they’re nice and clean when you get up but I don’t think I’d noticed the water before!! Anyway as it turned out it was a bit overcast but I was assured by the receptionist that it wasn’t going to rain.

We went downstairs to the bar next door for a coffee, which is apparently associated with the hotel before we headed off this morning. Apparently being associated with hotel doesn’t make it cheaper because it was probably the most expensive cuppa we’ve had so far. Something I haven’t mentioned is that a lot of the hotels say they have tea/coffee making facilities but don’t have anything in the rooms and you have to ask but when you do they never have a ‘boiler’ available. This one had the boiler available as we requested but no fridge to put our bloody milk in. They’d freak with all the facilities they’d get at the hotels in Australia. They did say that they have a fridge on the 7^th floor and that they would get our milk whenever we needed it so that is what we’ve decided to do cause we like a cuppa at the end of the day and also first thing in the morning.

Blah, blah, blah, sorry I went on a bit but I couldn’t help but let you know exactly what we are doing. We got going after our coffee and headed by foot to the Eiffel Tower first. Luckily we checked the times on the internet cause the receptionist here said it opened at 10:00am but it actually opened at 9:30am. By the time we’d walked there it was about 9:00am so we jumped into the relatively small queue and waited. Boy was the queue long when we came out, thankfully we’re early starters. We went up to the top and even though it was a cool cloudy morning everything was visible. I must say having been there before my visit this time was much more enjoyable and it was on the top of Kim’s list of things to do as she said that this is one of the places that she has always dreamed of seeing and even though she was very apprehensive in the see-through lift travelling to the top, she was thrilled to have this dream become a reality. We spent as much time as we needed there and then came down and walked down Champ de Mars to take some more photo’s. We asked a couple standing there if they would take a photo of the two of us together and we then did the same for them. The man then started chatting with us about our holiday and was really interested which was nice, they were from Holland.

Kim & Jane at Eiffel Tower

We then went on our way back towards the Eiffel Tower and over to the Palais de Chaillot where we took some more photo’s of the Eiffel Tower and surrounding area. From there we walked to the Arc de Triomphe. We went under the road cause god knows you couldn’t get to it any other way, the traffic there is crazy, crazy. We purposely didn’t take the steps at the Eiffel Tower cause we figured we’d get enough exercise and boy were we right. Up the steps we went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. More photo opportunities and another overview of the surrounding areas. I did say to Kim how amazing it is that the Eiffel Tower seems to stand out from everywhere but when you are on the ground because of the buildings and the way the roads curve, etc. it is very hard to find it. On our way to it I think we got one glimpse of it and then it was just trying to go in the general vicinity of where we thought it was. In fact we did stop on our way to ask a very good looking young policeman where the Eiffel Tower was and he smiled and walked about 5 steps back to the nearest street and pointed, and voila there she was. I just had the impression you would be able to see it from anywhere, even on the ground.

Kim & Jane on top of Arc de Triomphe
(Eiffel Tower in background which we walked from)

We left the Arc and headed down Avenue des Champs Elysees. I wanted to pop across the road to Louis Vuitton but Kim wouldn’t let me, ha ha! We grabbed a baguette for lunch and halved it because they are always so long. We had to do that ourselves though with their plastic knife because the guy serving us said he wasn’t allowed. They eat a lot of bread over here, not sure how they stay thin. As we were walking down the street we spotted a Sephora shop which is apparently cheap for perfume so we started veering towards it. We noticed all these women standing around just near there and photographers and cameramen and wandered over. They all seem to be dressed similar and were holding little signs saying ‘be the woman you want to be’. We had no idea what was going on but they seem to be waiting for someone so we decided to head into the store. Well as we got closer we realised they had put the red carpet out for us and there were about 8 security men lined on either side of the entrance. We wandered down anyway and thought it was good of them to put the red carpet out for a couple of ordinary Aussie girls. Next thing we know as we’re checking out all the perfumes, the music starts playing and there is all this commotion. It was, and I don’t know if any of you have heard of her, but Diane von Furstenberg who was promoting her first fragrance. Apparently she is a designer but although I knew I’d heard her name I thought it was for something else. Anyway that was a bit of excitement for us. We eventually left there and headed further down when I spotted a WC sign so we went in search of that. We finally found it and had to pay which we thought we would (2 euro), but it was touted on entering as the ‘cleanest toilet in town’. It was certainly that, we had to wait at the desk like you would at the front of a restaurant waiting to be seated and then a girl came along and showed you to your toilet. I had no sooner come out and started to wash my hands when she whipped in there and sprayed something (not that she needed to!!) and I assume wiped everything over. We wouldn’t normally pay for the privilege of going to the loo but it was definitely an experience.

We kept going down the Champs Elysees passing the Place de la Concorde until we finally made it to Notre Dame. As is the case most of the churches/cathedrals, etc. are very grand and built on such a huge scale. Amazingly you don’t have to pay to enter which apparently should be the case for all churches but they usually get you in another way. We decided to climb the stairs to the towers and go up the top to have a look and this is where they sting you. We were happy to do this though and proceeded to stand in a relatively small queue. I think we waited longer here than we did in the queue at the Eiffel Tower. Eventually we made it to the top and once again the views were magnificent and as previously mentioned the Eiffel Tower was very visible again. We spent the allotted amount of time there and decided that was enough for one day.

We started to walk back to our hotel, which when making our way to Notre Dame we saw our street so we knew exactly how far we needed to go which I think was pure fluke. On the way back we stopped into a little Irish bar for a drink as we were both very parched. On we went again and as we were a little hungry again and we figured most places here let you eat when you want, we made our way to a restaurant that we’d previously noted not far from our hotel for a bite to eat. We both had a chicken salad and a drink, by this time it was about 5:15. The waiter was really nice and helped us with a bit of the local language. We sat outside and watched the people going about their business, smiling at some, getting smiles back, even a kiss blown our way. I don’t think they’re used to people just smiling at them over here, they’re quite a grumpy looking race most of the time but ok when you get to chat to them. We had also noticed a little patisserie around the corner so we decided to get another treat for our coffee tonight. Kim had a strawberry tart and I had a muille feuille (not sure we were set.

We are not sure how many kilometres and steps we’ve done today but our legs and feet are definitely feeling it, we will probably catch the Metro tomorrow!

Au revoir from gay paree.

Villers-Bretonneax

Tuesday 4th October, 2011

Kim had bought some bags with her for each of us that take the air out and compact all the clothes down so we spent a couple of hours trying to sort all that out and get all the odds and ends into our cases. We finally managed most of it but still had some extra carry bags!! God knows what we’ll do when it is time to come home cause we have Paris and London yet. We thought we’d pack up most of the summer stuff cause we had seen the weather forecast and it is going to be a lot cooler from herein apparently. We have been so lucky though because we didn’t expect to get what we have had and by all accounts all the locals have said how unusually warm the weather has been wherever we go.

As we’d had a big lunch we did what we usually do in that instance and bought a couple of treats at the patisserie on our way home so after getting the packing done we treated ourselves to that and a cuppa. Dinner done. Not sure if I’d mentioned it but we can’t believe how a lot of these things in the patisserie’s usually cost less than a cup of coffee and it looks like a lot of work goes into some of them.

Left this hotel, where the staff were fantastic, and Reims by about 8:45am to visit the Australian Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux. We arrived there at about 10:30am, we stopped in the middle of the road to ask this old man if he speaks English, he started to speak in French and continue to speak in French. Clearly we couldn’t understand him nor I imagine could he understand us but he did seem to get ‘Australian Memorial’ and by his hand gestures of what direction, left and right, etc. we got there. Just goes to show that you don’t necessarily need to know the other person’s language to be able to communicate.

We were both very impressed with the memorial as it is a very important part of our history and is situated on top of a hill overlooking the fields and a couple of little villages. It is also very well tended to and although the weather finally turned nasty on us we were both glad we made the trip. As we got further and further away from Reims it got greyer and greyer and by the time we got to the memorial it was quite chilly with a bit of drizzle. We stopped down in one of the little towns that the memorial overlooked which was Fouilloy and had a cup of coffee. You go into the ‘bars’ for coffee and they obviously sell alcohol as well and when we went to this one where they didn’t speak English we managed to get what we wanted but there was a lot of laughing and we got the impression it was at us. Probably cause we were clearly underdressed for the weather being that we were in shorts. It was also before midday and the alcohol was already being served which happens a lot here. I think they must live by the ‘one before eleven or eleven before one’ rule!!

We headed off to the Charles de Gaulle airport to drop Cindy our trusty Citroen off. As much as she’s been amazing and we’ve had no problems whatsoever there was no way we were going to be driving in Paris. Some people both here and at home thought we were mad driving at all, and there was a few times we thought it ourselves but we are very happy we did and were quite pleased with how we have done under some of the conditions we have had to deal with. Anyway as with when we picked the car up we had a hell of a time trying to find the damned drop off point. When we pulled over and asked someone another car stopped as he was looking for the same place so it wasn’t as if we were idiots, it was their directions. We eventually found it, the other car going off in another direction to us but funnily enough when we did get there he was pulling in just in front of us. So sadly we dropped her off and have packed Ruby away for a rest cause god knows we tested her at times, I think she was sick of saying ‘turn around where possible’!!

They grabbed a taxi for us to get into Paris who was a very pleasant black man that opened the doors for us and lifted our now very, very heavy cases into the boot. He said he didn’t speak English much the same as our Melbourne cab drivers but he understood enough to be able to find the hotel and when he got going he put the radio on which came up with a few English songs. We started singing along which he acknowledged with a smile. When I asked him about a stadium we saw he told us what it was and from then on became our tour guide, pointing out various points of interest. Kim got very excited when the Eiffel Tower came into view which he found amusing. As it turns out our hotels position is quite good, we are in the Saint-Germain area and close to the Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, etc. We arrived at the hotel at about 3.30pm to which the cabbie also unloaded all our bags and took them into the hotel so we took them upstairs and by 3:45 we were back out on the streets wandering around to familiarise ourselves a little. We did this for about an hour when we had seen some people in a café/restaurant eating and thought well that means we can too and as we hadn’t eaten anything all day took the opportunity to do so. This is rare cause by the time we usually feel like or get around to eating with all the sightseeing and stuff nobody is open for food, only coffees and drinks. Maybe here, because there are always people around, tourists, etc. they open at any time for eating, not sure but it suited us. We then made it back to our room to plan for the next few days here in Paris. This afternoon the clouds started to break up and the sun started shining again so hopefully the weather won’t be too bad. The receptionist said it should be much the same tomorrow maybe a little warmer and today was about 23 so here’s hoping our luck continues.

Australian Memorial - Villers-Bretonneax

Epernay/Reims

Monday 3^rd October, 2011

The receptionist at our hotel had recommended a restaurant on Saturday night which we didn’t make it to but it was closed last night being a Sunday night so we asked her again where we could get a meal and she gave us directions  to a 5-10 minute walk away. The first one that we came across in the area she recommended looked nice so in we went. We both really enjoyed our meals¸ Kim had lamb with roasted vegetables which she said was really nice especially the jus/sauce and I had salmon which was also very nice. We splurged and had a dessert also, Kim’s was a strawberry fondant with a shortbread base and I had a crème brulee. Very nice, very filling. We haven’t eaten out a lot as we are always so busy sightseeing, etc. and when we’re ready to eat it hasn’t been their mealtimes or we are so buggered after doing everything that we can’t be bothered and just have a snack. Back to our hotel for a coffee, ready for another wonderful day tomorrow.

Bit chilly this morning as it seems to be lately even though the weather is still in the high 20’s, again today about 27 and sunny. We left for Epernay just before 9:00am to make sure we had enough time to find Moet & Chandon. We found it ok so parked the car and went down the road a bit for a coffee. Whilst we were there a couple from America that we’d met and were chatting to yesterday at Pommery’s came in. I went over to say hello and they were so pleased to see us. We told them we had a 10:30 reservation at Moet & Chandon which they said they would try and make as well. We did go in a little early and didn’t see them there so figured they’d missed it. The tour again, like Mumm, was very informative, and as previously mentioned had another sample of the champagne all in the name of research. After we came out and were wandering through the shop they came over to greet us, they’d done the tour after us, apparently they didn’t like the Moet as much as they did the Pommery. We had no real opinion on any as we don’t usually drink champagne but it didn’t seem to stop us in the tasting rooms!

Kim at Moet & Chandon (tasting room)

We left there and wandered for a little while around Epernay and then stopped for lunch, I had a salad which came and was a bit like an egg and bacon on lettuce with a few slices of tomato which came in a bowl and Kim had lasagne and salad. Taking pot luck can be a gamble sometimes when you don’t understand the language but the salad was tasty all the same.

We then left to head back into Reims where we arrived at about 2.00pm. We went upstairs to unload and then headed across the street where the city centre is and wandered around there for the next couple of hours as we hadn’t had much of a chance to see the city sights because we had been out enjoying the champagne!! They have trams here that are longer than in Melbourne but some have the overhead lines and some don’t and they are extremely clean both inside and out.

Notre Dame Cathedral in Reims

Tramline in Reims

 Both Reims and Epernay are both nice towns, Reims being larger than Epernay. Unfortunately there weren’t a lot of shops open in Epernay being that it is Monday. The receptionist here wasn’t sure why that was but it has happened to us somewhere else because of it being Monday. Anyway it was nice to stroll the streets and have a look around at the different sights without having to go in and out of shops.

We have to try and compact all our luggage down tonight as we leave for Paris tomorrow and drop the car off. Wish us luck cause I think we are going to need it!

Reims

Sunday 2^nd October, 2011

The very friendly receptionist at our hotel organised a cellar tour for us for the Pommery champagne house at 11:00am so although we didn’t sleep in much we took our time and packed our bags to move into the next room. We were originally told that we could leave everything in reception whilst the next room was being made up but then they told us to leave it in the original room and they would move it for us when the new room was ready. That was great and very handy for us but you don’t understand how much stuff we are lugging around and couldn’t  help but feel sorry for the poor bugger that had to do that. Anyway we trundled off a bit early in case we got lost as we sometimes seem to do but in this instance all was good. We took some photo’s to kill time and then headed in for the tour. We chose the one that was recommended by the staff which had a choice of 2 flutes each from 4 champagnes so he said we could get 2 different one’s each and therefore taste all four. The tour takes an hour (although they do have a ½ hour one) and takes you right down to the cellars where it is 10 degrees. It was recommended in the brochures that you wear warm clothes but of course Kim and I forgot about that and off we went in singlet/tshirt being that it is another beautiful sunny day, albeit only 25 today and tomorrow. It wasn’t unbearable though so that was good but we were both very disappointed in the tour. We took the tour so as to learn about the champagne making etc. but it had art crap that most people never get the meaning of, music and noises playing through various speakers throughout the cellars and half the time we couldn’t hear our tour guide. When the tour finished back in the tasting room we were last up to the bar. We showed the barman our ticket and he referred us to the next barman at the end of the bar, obviously the special one (very good looking barmen by the way). He poured the first 3 flutes and for the last one he asked if we’d prefer rose or sweet and when we couldn’t decide he poured both so we ended out with 5 instead of 4 and when we took them back to a table to sample them everyone else was looking at us. Apparently most of them had just taken the standard which was one flute of the basic champagne. We polished those off and thought how well we were doing for a couple of chicks that don’t like champagne!

As Taittinger was just around the corner we decided to pop into there as well but alas without Ruby,  as we’d decided to walk, we got lost and couldn’t find it. Back to Pommery’s to get the car and set Ruby up, a couple of minutes by car around the corner and we were there. Just not the corner we took by foot. Now we are not stupid people, and maybe some will disagree, but you have no idea what the road signs, etc. are like over here. As we’d stuffed around trying to find it on foot we had to wait around for about ½ hour for it to reopen as it had closed between 1pm and 2pm. We didn’t do the tour there as we didn’t have enough time but had a look around anyway.

We arrived back at the hotel to find our luggage all moved into our new room and everything sorted. We had a quick break there before we headed off to our next appointment that the lovely reception staff organised for us at G. H. Mumm for 3:20pm. That one was within walking distance of about 15 minutes from our hotel but this morning’s receptionist did send us a little up the garden path! We did however find it with plenty of time to spare as we allowed enough for that very reason.  We started on the tour with a very informative guide who explained everything from the grapes grown to the crushing, fermentation, rotation, etc. Much, much better tour and just what we wanted without all the bloody arty farty crap. Then it was back to the tasting room….another couple of flutes, once again we’d taken the multiple choice where everyone else except for a couple of Columbian’s had gone for the one flute option. Kim downed both of those whilst I wasn’t impressed with the sweeter option so left that but walked back to our hotel very pleased with ourselves.

We have had a very enjoyable day, for obvious reasons, but both Kim and I expected the Champagne houses to be like they are in our Yarra Valley district not in the middle of a city like they are here. They are surrounded by gardens and their cellars underground go for many, many kilometres but we thought they’d be on a vast property surrounded by vines.

We are biding time now before going out to dinner and then tomorrow we head into Epernay for another appointment that the lovely receptionist has made for us at Moet & Chandon. Now don’t get the wrong impression here, this is all research that Kim is helping me with for my father Col and we are happy to oblige.

Jane at Pommery

Kim at Mumm

Chateau de Chaumont-sur-Loire

Saturday 1^st October, 2011

Left the hotel this morning to go and visit the Chateau of Chaumont-sur-Loire. Another chateau, of grand scale with many hectares of grounds, stables, etc. Because we get up early, and we still haven’t figured out what time they do things here we arrived early for it opening. We actually knew what time it opened but as we didn’t want to have breakfast where we were staying we thought we’d get some in the town before the Chateau opened. Big mistake, huge. Not much was open especially not for breakfast. We wandered around a bit and walked along the river to get a look at the Chateau from that angle as it overlooks the river. Then went into an accommodation place where we could see the patrons eating breakfast and asked if we could get a coffee. He obliged so we sat down and filled in some time there and warmed ourselves, chilly mornings. When we were walking out we realised they had opened the gates and we were literally the first in which was great to take photo’s without hordes of people all over the place. We spent a good couple of hours there wandering around and when we left we thought we’d try this other little place that we noticed had just opened for a coffee and something to eat, we still hadn’t had breakfast. We said can we get a coffee and we noticed crepes on the menu outside so asked for that. She said no and told us just drinks. We were a little undecided because we really wanted something to eat but then thought we’d get a coffee and have something from the patisserie we saw earlier. Well she directed us to a table, after shaking her head apparently at our indecision, and took our order, 1 cappucino & 1 tea. Other people were coming in and they were seated on the other side and given menus!! We apparently weren’t allowed to order food but everyone else was. We were sitting there dumbfounded, not really sure where we went wrong. Anyway then my cappuccino came and it had whipped cream on top, not froth, and chopped nuts!! Have you ever?? Weirdest thing I’ve had in a while and Kim’s tea looked like dirty dishwater.

Anyway we then took off and decided that we’d stop at one of the La Boutique’s (no more autogrills, although we still see the occasional one) and we got a jambon and fromage sandwich, which in actual fact is a ham and cheese roll or baguette. That hit the spot as it was now 1.00pm and on our way to Reims. Ruby got us a little bit lost because they had a new freeway, or whatever they call them here, but we soon managed to get back on track again. We arrived at our hotel at about 4.00pm after a couple more stops a bit hot and bothered. It has been another beautiful sunny day of over 30 but perhaps a couple of degrees cooler in this region now.

There had been a muck up with our booking which we found out about on email and they didn’t have the twin room available for tonight so we are in a double again and then will move to the twin for the next two nights. The girl at reception has been so nice and couldn’t have been more helpful with all the questions we have been up and down asking ever since we arrived. They are going to organise a tour of one of the champagne houses, Mumm for us tomorrow morning and we’ll probably do another on in the afternoon. In between each of those we will have a look around at the monuments here as we didn’t get time this afternoon.  She also told us they had some entertainment on tonight which we can hear just sitting here now. Not too loud thankfully. Another long day again today but who could complain, we’re in the champagne region of France for god’s sake.

Chateau De Chaumont-sur-Loire

Kim at Chateau du Chaumont-sur-Loire

Blois

Friday 30th September, 2011

Off to Blois today which is a halfway point for us on our way to Epernay/Reims. A 3 hour drive that was uneventful except that Ruby couldn’t locate our hotel and that is because she was looking for the street in Blois when even though that’s what the hotel touts itself to be they are actually in a suburb of Blois. We parked the car and went in search of the tourist office so that they could direct us to where we needed to be and the girl there couldn’t have been more helpful. For the little bit that we saw of Blois itself it seemed to be a really nice town. Once we got back into the car and put the correct address into Ruby we were fine. Unfortunately though once we found the hotel it wasn’t open, some of the hotels you can’t check into until late afternoon (god knows why) so when we arrived just after 12:00 we found a sign saying it was closed between 12:00 and 3:00pm. Bloody nuisance really but the others that we’ve chosen so far we’ve been able to get into no matter what time we’ve arrived. Anyway you get what you pay for, we haven’t even got a mini fridge in this one to keep our drinks cold, luckily it is only a quick stopover!!

We decided to head off to Chambord Chateau which is one of the many Castle’s & Chateau’s in the area and was only 30 minutes away. King Francis I started the building of it in 1519 but didn’t see it finished before his death in 1547 when his sons Henry II & Louis XIV finished it. We’re always amazed at the grand scale everything is done, it is all so huge. In the centre there is a spiral staircase that links the three floors. It consists of two concentric spiral flights of stairs that wind independently around a hollow central column, so if two people each take one flight of stairs they can see each other through the openings in the central column but will never meet! Yes straight from the brochure but we walked up them and it was really fascinating, amazing really. The estate covers 5440 hectares but only 800 hectares are open to the public, as if anyone would see all of that. Once again it is very hard to write exactly what we see and make it interesting for anyone else, we’re always saying even the photo’s don’t do justice to what we see.

Chambord Chateau

Kim at Chambord Chateau

Kim & Jane at Chambord Castle

As you can see by our attire, another sunny day of 30+ temperatures, beautiful one day, perfect the next. We asked a gentleman if he would take a photo of the both of us which he had a little trouble doing but eventually managed. But as we started walking back towards him he thought he'd take another and was very pleased with himself. I actually prefer this one (the above photo ), Kim not so much.

Heading into the champagne region tomorrow, after looking at another chateau here in the morning, look out!!

La Rochelle

Thursday 29^th September, 2011

We had a better night without any bugs and insects to contend with although the beds are never quite like your own and always hard to get used to. We got up early again this morning to a thick fog. We were worried that yesterday might be the last of our good fortune with the weather but at about 10:30am the skies cleared and the sun came out and it was another hot +30 day. We weren’t in any hurry to get anywhere and with the fog early we fluffed around in the room catching up on some stuff, booking accommodation for next few days, catching up on emails, etc.

We then headed off to the island, Ile de Re which was only about 20 minutes away and is accessible by car over the bridge but they do sting you for a 9 euro toll to get over. We’d heard people spend all day there so thought there must be plenty to see and do so off we went. It has about ½ dozen little villages there and some ruins dotted around but from what we could see not a lot else. We did stop in one of the towns, St-Martin which I think was one of the bigger one’s and parked the car which you had to get a ticket for and we thought that was a bit rich considering we’d had to pay to get on the bloody island in the first place. Anyway we wandered around for a while looking in the shops and doing the usual stuff but found it to be quite expensive for what it was. When we went to leave and we put the ticket in to pay for the parking it came up with something in French which of course we didn’t understand but it happened that the polizia were right next door and a couple of them happened to be walking back into their office. Kim asked if they spoke English to which one said yes and the other pointed and laughed. As it turned out the one that said yes didn’t and the other one did!! Anyway they told us to bring the car up and they would let us out so it didn’t cost us anything in the end, lucky us.

St-Martin on Ile de Re

We got back to our room at about 1.00pm and then headed down to the city centre of La Rochelle again. Not very French I know but we found a little Irish pub opposite the waterfront and decided to stop in there for a drink or two, or three, or four as it turned out. A nice couple of hours spent doing as they like to do over here, sitting side by side, facing the passersby, taking in the sun and just watching the world go by. We then came back to our room at about 5:30pm to fill in some time before dinner but whilst Kim was writing in her diary I very promptly fell asleep. Out to it apparently, snoring my head off, so much so that she took a photo that I was very unaware of and will never see the light of day!!

Kim & Jane in La Rochelle

I woke just before 6:30pm so we freshened up and headed back into town for dinner. We chose one of the many restaurants and sat down. The girl that seated us was very nice and spoke very good English and obviously catered for the tourist. I was tucked away and every time the waiter came over, who also spoke English quite well, leant down to Kim and his face was always about 6 inches from Kim’s face and after every question he would wink. He would sometimes stand behind Kim and ask a question and also wink then too, we were very amused by this but the funniest time was when he leant down and asked Kim if she wanted some wine with a bit of a wink. I found it really funny watching from the other side cause every time he did this Kim would lean back a couple of inches and laugh. Anyway Kim had a t-bone and I had a thai curry chicken, I know, once again not very French. Kim also enjoyed a glass of wine (Sancerre) that she tells me was very nice. They do like to ask you about dessert right after you’ve eaten we’ve noticed but we were too full so we just sat there for a while and enjoyed the atmosphere, once again watching the passersby. After doing that for a little while we decided to share a dessert (La Moelleux au chocolate) which was a chocolate fondant with vanilla ice-cream. Rich and delicious. Back to our room for a coffee and get ready for another day ahead.

La Rochelle

Wednesday 28^th September, 2011

Up we got early again after another restless night but with only having to swat about ½ mossies this time, it didn’t seem to stop the other bugs and beetles from coming in overnight though...anyway needless to say we packed up and left the bug ridden place under the cover of darkness!! We had a 7 hour drive ahead of us to get to La Rochelle so it worked out ok, we wanted to get as much space between us and the bugs. The drive, our longest yet, took us about 8 hours with stops along the way for coffee, toilet, etc. We sang most of the way and always have a laugh whatever we’re doing so life’s not too bad at the moment. It was going to be a beautiful day where we left and fortunately it stayed with us and was a very warm 30+ degrees on arriving in La Rochelle at about 3.00pm. We have been so lucky with the weather and have only had one day that wasn’t really warm and sunny and have been told that it is unseasonable but everywhere, even Paris is getting it so we are counting our blessings for that. We have noticed here in France that they don’t drive quite as fast as the Italian’s and they have more speed signs than they have so we tend to think they are a little more strict. We also found it amusing that they have a different speed limit when it is raining.

Anyway I digressed a bit but when we arrived here we were really pleased. A nice little, or not so little as it seems, seaside town which smells fresh and looks very clean. It has a very picturesque marina filled with boats and yachts and we took a couple of hours to familiarise ourselves with it by wandering the streets and browsing here and there. Something we noticed was how many restaurants there were and wondered how they all survive. We always find it hard to go past the patisserie’s and chocolate shops without looking in. The work that goes into some of these little sweet treats looks amazing and they aren’t that expensive, usually cheaper than a coffee (yes we’ve tried a couple, who could resist?) We got back to our room at 5.30pm starving having not had much throughout the day so made ourselves some dinner with a baguette and some bits and pieces we’d bought. We will go down to one of the restaurants tomorrow night which are all within walking distance. There is an island here that you can drive over to which apparently has lots to do so we will have a quiet, hopefully restful night before heading over there tomorrow.

La Rochelle

Ceze Valley

Tuesday 27^th September, 2011

Well it was another early start even though we didn’t really need to today but it was a warm night and we had to battle the mozzie’s again!! Damn nuisance but we only have one more night here to worry about them. We want to start by thanking Eddie for your suggestions. We had been given the same recommendations by others and seen some pamphlets also but had decided that as there didn’t seem too much else besides those particular things in each destination and that we’d probably seen the best of those types of things in Italy that we’d pass. But thanks for thinking of us especially as you are familiar with the area.

Today we set off on a round trip in the local area. We had about 5 towns to visit and didn’t expect it to take too long but as it turned out we left at 8:15am and didn’t arrive home until 4:30pm. It was another glorious day peaking at about 33 degrees, hopefully it follows us into the north.

We started the day by going to Lussan which is another town set high on the hill surrounded by a wall and had fantastic views of the surrounding area. Every where we go the bells start chiming, sometimes frightening the bejeezers out of us but it is hard to go anywhere without that happening seeing that there is at least one church in every single town, large or small.  Next stop was Montclus which according to the brochure has castle ruins with a unique keep still standing which it does. It also said that a walk through it’s narrow alleys is the best way to appreciate all the charm of the picturesque village with a note to say ‘it does not take long’ and it certainly didn’t.

From Montclus we then moved onto Cornillon, another village perched atop a rocky outcrop and is listed as a protected site. It has a wonderful view of the Ceze valley and the remains of an ancient feudal castle to roam around.  

Jane in the ruins at Cornillon

Then we headed to Goudargues which we’d seen on a postcard that looked pretty. It was also in the suggestions from our accommodation. We thought we’d probably stop there for lunch but as it turned out we were a little bit early for lunch and it seemed that the postcard showed all that Goudargues had to offer which was nice but made for a quick look around. The main street had a waterway down the centre cooled on either side by plane-trees and was quite pretty. There were a couple of restaurants that we could see but not a lot of choice. We had a coffee there and although the man didn’t speak English we managed to get what we wanted. As we were sitting outside drinking our coffee he walked past and spoke to us in French, we smiled and laughed as did he but it always amazes us that although these people know we don’t speak their language they continue to have a conversation with us. Not sure, but the same thing used to happen in Italy!! Maybe our happy smiling faces attract them.

We then decided to confuse Ruby and make a detour into Uzes for lunch as we knew it wouldn’t be too far away and as we’d been there for market day on Saturday knew what a nice place it was with lots to offer in the restaurant options. We found a place to eat, at the correct time, and sat down to a very enjoyable lunch. Kim had a jambon & fromage (ham & cheese) omelette and I had a nicoise salad which could have fed a family. We wandered around again to walk off lunch before heading to a patisserie that we visited on Saturday to pick up a little something to have with our coffee tonight.

After leaving Uzes we reset Ruby to take us to La Rogue sur Ceze. It is only accessible by foot so we parked the car and is the case with most of these villages they are on top of a hill, so up we went! Nice views once again and it also contained a medieval castle. Down the bottom is the Charles Martel bridge which is listed as an historical monument but nobody knows why it is so named. We then walked along the path to the Sautadet waterfalls which are more like cascades and documented as 5 million years old. How do they know that??? Not the best we’ve seen, especially having been to Tassie but not bad.

La Roque Sur Ceze

Back home as I said at 4:30 to relax with a drink and get ready to pack up for leaving tomorrow.  The last couple of days had been thoroughly enjoyable and have restored our faith in the area.

Au revoir, see you in La Rochelle. Hopefully with better wi-fi we can start adding some photo’s again as it has been too damned slow here to wait for them to load.

Back again as when we went to the top of the stairs (the only place to sit and use the internet) we couldn’t get on. James the owner insisted all was ok in their place and that was that. Try as I might though I couldn’t get connected so this blog is being posted late. We also told James that we were leaving a day early to which he replied ‘I’m sorry to hear that’ and followed up with ‘be sure to tell all your friends about us’. As we walked off Kim mumbled under her breath ‘don’t worry we will’. The funny thing is the first day we arrived there we asked him about Nimes and he said ‘oh Nimes is good but there are plenty of really nice towns right here in this area, we’ll sit down and have a chat’. Then he never came near us. Also when we first looked at this place and booked it we kept getting confused as they had different names for each accommodation, eg. The Rose House, The Apartment and ours which was The Bakehouse. Kim mistakenly kept calling it The Barn whenever we referred to it, that should’ve been our first sign but we are a bit slow on the uptake!

Marseille & Aix-en-Provence

Monday 26^th September, 2011

Bonjour. Well we closed the doors every time we went outside last night but that didn’t stop the bloody mossies coming in so again we spent the first half hour in bed up and down squashing them!! Very hard to sleep with the constant buzzing in your ear!!

We got up and got ready for our drive into Marseille which was about 1 hour 40 minutes away. Ruby got us there ok but it is a very large city with a lot of construction work going on and we weren’t able to turn up a lot of streets she wanted us to so I think she was getting overheated. We decided to park the car and turn her off and give her a rest. We found a spot but as usual we weren’t sure if we were allowed to park there or not but did anyway. I’m not sure why we are worried because as I think I have mentioned in Italy they park anywhere and they do the same here, on corners, blocking one way streets, basically anywhere you please.

We weren’t that impressed with Marseille especially at first glance but the very small area we found, with the help of a pharmacist was quite nice. We looked around for a couple of hours stopping for a cold drink before getting back to the car which thankfully didn’t have a ticket and we didn’t have to pay for parking for a change. Yeehah, things are looking up.

We took off for Aix-en-Provence after that which only took another half hour to get to. It was a much smaller town and we were very pleasantly surprised. As soon as we parked the car and started walking up the streets they were tree lined with lots of shops, café’s, restaurants and of course the usual monuments, etc. Just what we like. We arrived there at about 1.00pm and wandered around until 5.00pm stopping for a late lunch of a ham and cheese roll. We can’t seem to work our way into the times of eating here so trying to get something (sit down) outside of what they do is very hard. We didn’t stop to eat until about 3.00pm but the rolls (or sandwiches as it said on the menu) that we managed to get were really fresh and tasty so we were very happy with that. It also turned out to be another beautiful sunny day with a top of about  30 so we are back on track. We didn’t leave there until 5 .00pm, arriving home at about 6.30 very happy travellers.

We managed to decipher the French weather station here and it looks like it is going to stay warm for the next few days. We are going to look at some local towns tomorrow that have been recommended so hopefully we are in for another brilliant day.