Chez Speedies

Au Revoir to Chez Speedies

2009-08-24T14:57:00.005+02:00

I was asked by a friend "So, was it all worth it?" Yes, definitely. Not that we found it easy some of the time but overall we have had more good times than bad and it's been a positive life experience. Missing family and friends was hard but the year went by so amazingly quickly because we kept busy doing things and we tried to make the most of the time we had away.

This will be my last post for Chez Speedies. I've enjoyed keeping a record of our trip over the year and would like to thank my readers. I was quite flattered to receive comments from people who were enjoying reading the blog. THANK YOU readers. Bye for now.

Back in Oz

2009-08-24T07:09:00.001+02:00

Ahhhh……………it's bliss to be home. It feels strange to hear Aussies talking. They talk funny. After being in Europe and not understanding what people are saying alot of the time it feels like we’re eavesdropping on people’s conversations because we can understand everything that they're saying.

The Long Road Home

2009-08-24T07:06:00.002+02:00

We closed the door on Paris at 8.05 am Thursday morning and walked to the train station, Chatelet Les Halles to catch RER B to Charles de Gaulle airport. Our bags were heavy as hell. We weighed in at 95 kg all up for four checked in bags, one for each of us plus Andrew thinks we would have had at least 30 kg in our carry on bags. Andrew had the laptop in his carryon backpack and the ham and cheese baguettes I prepared for our snack and I had my cabin bag. It took us 20 long minutes to drag our bags to the station. We bought train tickets (€28) and minutes later were heading to the airport.

Everything went smoothly with checkin and we were ready and waiting in the departure lounge a good hour and a half before the flight. Ella and Samuel were both excited to be going home and said it was a good day for them. Flying scares me. When you consider the size of the aircraft and the number of people they carry one wonders how the planes stay up in the air? I try not to think about it…it’s too terrifying. It was a long, long flight. Ella was the only one who managed to get some sleep for a couple of hours from Paris to Singapore. She’s so little. She curled up into a ball in her seat and dozed off and she was quite sprightly when we landed at Singapore. The rest of us were red-eyed and very tired.

We’re all happy to be going home. The last 2 ½ months of on-the-road travelling has really worn us out. The kids have hated it. I love France but I don’t know when we will come back again. We want to visit other countries when we go overseas next time but I doubt we would go overseas for such a long time again.

It’s a real learning experience when you travel. You find out a lot about yourself and also about the practicalities of travel. A big one for us is to take less stuff next time. We carried way too much stuff with us that we didn’t need. It was a nightmare.

Physically Andrew and I feel like wrecks. He has to see a doctor about his shoulder which hasn’t been right since April. He thinks it’s because of all the luggage we’ve been carrying around.

Leaving France

2009-08-20T07:13:00.006+02:00

Today we fly home. We had the worst night last night. It was so hot. We both kept waking up sweating. It was 35 degrees in Paris yesterday. According to the CNN weather guy it was 8-10 degrees hotter than normal for this time of year. We had the air conditioner on for some of the time but it was spitting out so much water it had to be turned off.

Don’t you think they should tell you that the apartment you’re paying a squillion dollars for is in the red light district? I’m debating with myself about writing a mean review about this apartment. Either that or send a detailed list of all the plumbing problems with this unit to the owners. Actually I’ll probably do nothing. I don’t think the owners care and when we leave here I’m going to have plenty of other things to think about.

2009-08-19T13:11:00.019+02:00

Tuesday 18 August 2009

We’ve been sitting around all day. The kids don’t want to go anywhere. The kids are watching Tom and Jerry cartoons. Andrew found another few hundred tv channels. I wonder how they will feel when we get back to Australia and they realise we won’t be in safe secure Mount Isa anymore. That we’re going to a place where none of us will know anyone and we’ll have to start again from the beginning. They think when we’re back in Australia life will be perfect and they’ll never have a problem again especially since everyone speaks English.

Last Day in France

2009-08-19T13:11:00.018+02:00

I liked this statue on the side of the building

We spent our last day in Paris at home in the apartment packing up and working out how we were going to organise ourselves to get to the airport on time tomorrow. The kids refused to go anywhere. They watched cartoons and picked fights with each other. I went out for a couple of hours down to Les Halles to look for some souvenirs and was horrified to see the stuff in the tourist shops there was almost double the price of the souvenirs at the Louvre shops.

Personally we're quite impressed with ourselves that we lasted the distance. Travelling is hard work and travelling with kids, well, I think we expect alot of them, maybe too much, and it causes alot of conflict. It'll be interesting when we get home and hear what the kids have to say to others about their experiences. I'll be keeping my ears open to listen. Who knows what anxieties they have. You can't imagine they would have much to worry about but their day to day behaviour shows up that they get stressed too.

Eiffel Tower Walk - Tuesday 18 August 2009

2009-08-17T20:28:00.012+02:00

Looking down Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe

We took the metro to the Eiffel Tower to save our legs and then walked back along the Champs Elysees to the Jardin de Tuilleries with stops along the way to play and to take some photos. It was such a contrast from the cold hardness of winter to the hot sunny brightness of a summer’s day and boy it sure was hot. I remember queuing to go up the Eiffel Tower, toes numb in shoes. The kids remember kicking the slabs of ice along the footpath and walking on the frozen water in the fountains. That tickled their fancy… walking on water. Just past the Louvre Ella started looking in souvenir shops and Andrew and Samuel kept walking home while Ella and I stayed and shopped in peace.

Louvre

2009-08-17T20:28:00.010+02:00

We visited the Louvre today. It was chaotic and mostly unenjoyable. The kids hated it. The place is too big and it’s all quite overwhelming. I particularly didn’t like being shoved by people trying to get in to see the Mona Lisa.

Paris Plage

2009-08-17T20:27:00.006+02:00

We planned to spend our last few days enjoying Paris, relaxing in our 2 bedroom apartment, doing a little bit of sightseeing, nothing too strenuous. We also needed to spend a bit of time searching the internet for somewhere to live when we get back to Australia seeing as we’re homeless, looking for a school for the kids that teaches French as their lote and a heap of other things which we wanted to organise before we arrived. Having the computer sh*t itself at this time is most inconvenient and has been a real pain. Sadam, our Lebanese computer whizz that we met at the newsstand, loaded a couple of security and cleaning things on our laptop but it hasn’t solved the problem because the computer still randomly switches itself off in the middle of doing stuff.

Also our unit is really noisy and hot at night but we can’t leave the windows open because of the nocturnal goings on in the street outside. I mentioned before I think about the location of our unit in the redlight area of St Denis. We didn’t realise we were in the thick of it when we booked here.

So we’re all worn out and basically fed up and want to go home now. The kids are more excited about going home than they’ve been the whole trip but I live in hope they will have good memories of the trip and forget all the things we’ve complained about.

PARIS PLAGE

We spent our last Sunday in France visiting Paris Plage, which is a section of river embankment along the River Seine which has been turned into a “beach” with umbrellas, deck chairs and spray mist machines. It was a boiling hot day and the chance of a swim was appealing.

I’d have to say the general idea is a success. There was hundreds of people there but it was so hot and I found it pretty grim that there was no where to swim or get relief from the sweltering sun except under the bridge arches along the roadway.

We found a pool for the kids to swim in but it was complet meaning they were full and couldn’t take any more kids in. Only certain ages could swim at certain times and we were told we could come back in an hour. Men aren’t allowed to swim in shorts. They have to wear speedo style togs, and also everyone has to wear a bathing cap. All for hygiene. Andrew and I expected to be able to sit and watch the kids in the pool from the side but that’s not allowed. One parent has to be with the kids in the pool at all times.

Cimetiere - Friday 14 August 2009

2009-08-16T09:46:00.004+02:00

Oscar Wilde's lipstick-marked grave

Today I went to visit the Cimetière du Père Lachaise, the world’s most visited graveyard according to the Lonely Planet. It took me 40 minutes to get there from Boulevard St Denis all the way down Avenue de la Republique. It didn’t look that far on the map. The cemetery is huge like a small suburb with roads and street signs. There’s 800 000 people buried here and the conservation office gives out free maps showing the location of some of the famous graves that people want to visit. I saw Oscar Wilde’s and Jim Morrison’s grave. Oscar Wilde’s grave is covered in lipstick kisses.

2009-08-16T09:36:00.003+02:00

We've been having a torrid time with the laptop so I haven't been able to update the blog. The computer just goes off at the most awkward times, so annoying. But I've been writing in Word so I will post these as soon as I can.

CHEZ PRUNE

We were going to lunch at Chez Adel where they have chansonniers singing French songs in the style of Edith Piaf but they were closed and it looked really sleazy anyway so that was probably a good thing. Instead we stumbled across Chez Prune nearby which turned out to be a scrumptious second choice. The food was delicious and the service was efficient and friendly.

After lunch we took the metro to the Marché aux Puces de Montreuil, a flea market in the 20e. It wasn’t quite what I anticipated. It’s funny how you get a picture in your head about something and then it’s not what you thought. People were sitting on the ground with the stuff they were selling in front of them on mats. The market snaked its way along the side of the road peripherique. The Lonely Planet describes this as a market of 500 stalls but there was nothing like that where we were. Maybe we were in the wrong place. It wouldn’t be the first time.

So we got back on the metro and went to another market at Porte de Clignancourt which is said to be the biggest flea market in Europe. This market was more what I expected but I don’t think we saw all of it because each market is located in a different section. Anyway by this time the kids needed the toilet, they were thirsty, tired and wanted to go home. We didn’t stay long after that.

2009-08-14T07:36:00.010+02:00

Thursday 13 August 2009

I’ve really been going on about my kids not enjoying what we’re doing, the travel, the sightseeing. My children are wonderful and I think I’ve been too hard on them. The travel wears them out and I haven’t appreciated how tired they are and how much it affects their mood and behaviour. I think they’ve missed their friends and having other kids to play with regularly and they don’t understand why we would want to travel and leave our own home for such a long time. I love history and old things and imagining how life must have been in the olden days for different people. I don’t think children at 7 ¾ years old can really understand the meaning of history and the hundreds of years of time involved. I have been trying to make the most of Paris without the kids joining in because they’re happier playing at home in the unit than looking at all the beauty and history of Paris. I wonder how other people with kids cope.

Passage Brady

2009-08-14T07:36:00.006+02:00

Our Indian dinner at Passage Brady was good fun. Not that we’re big fans of spicy food but we wanted to try something different. Passage Brady is one of the many covered shopping arcades in this area. Some of them are quite beautiful. This particular passage is within easy walking distance of our unit and full of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi restaurants from one end to the other. We ordered two mild chicken dishes and a lamb biryani and the waiter was most insistent we try some cheese bread which was a warm tortilla with cheese melted in the middle of it, quite yummy.

Montmartre

2009-08-13T09:51:00.006+02:00

My first important task of the day was going for a walk to the Boulanger to buy baguettes for our lunch. Then I went to the Franprix to get a few essentials like milk and bikkies. After Andrew made us lunch, everyone settled down for a quiet afternoon. Ella was playing with her new Tinkerbell and Minnie toy dressups. Samuel was playing computer games on the laptop and Andrew was reading his Dan Brown book. So as no-one wanted to accompany me I ventured out on my own to walk up to Montmartre. I wanted to visit Place du Tertre where the artists have their easels set up and they’ll paint your portrait or draw a caricature of you.

Place du Tertre was lively and buzzy, just as I’d imagined and all those stairs to climb. Exhausting. I had to get a photo. No wonder French women are so slim with all the walking they do. Many of the streets around the Butte de Montmartre are cobbled and the views are great.

I walked up, down and around. It was bliss being alone without anyone whining at me. I saw the moulins used for flour milling years ago and the famous Moulin Rouge. I was carrying the Lonely Planet with me. It’s good practice for me to work things out for myself instead of relying on Andrew all the time. He finds everything so easy and I don’t but I get there in the end at my own pace – it’s just not as fast as him.

2009-08-13T09:50:00.002+02:00

Today we’re going back to Disneyland. The tickets we bought gave us four days for the price of three but we didn’t tell the kids in case we didn’t end up going back. The long waits in the queues for a ride that lasts only a minute or two doesn’t seem worth it. For some rides you can get a fastpass ticket which cuts the wait time down by about half. We wanted to stay for the fireworks but they’re on so late and we’re not keen about the safety of the trains coming back to Paris so late at night.

Monday 10 August 2009

2009-08-13T09:21:00.014+02:00

This morning Andrew walked to Rue Tiquetonne to collect our two bags we had in storage for a month. I went out on my own to find a supermarche so we can make dinner at home tonight. It was good fun walking along looking at the shops, lots of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi restaurants and I found a laverie and internet café.

This afternoon we took the washing down to the laverie. I had to bribe the kids with lollies to leave the unit. They didn’t want to go anywhere. Good to have the washing up to date.

2009-08-13T09:21:00.013+02:00

Basilique Sacre Couer

Tuesday 11 August 2009

We are still sitting around at lunchtime. The Kids don’t want to go anywhere. Andrew went for a walk and found Boulanger to buy baguettes for lunch.

After we had lunch we went to get our shopping for dinner tonight and then we went for a walk to see if we could find a computer repair shop. I had an idea to buy a newspaper to check out the classies and we stopped at a newsstand and a man there asked us something which I didn’t understand and I told him my idea and that we were looking for a computer fix It shop and he asked what was wrong with our computer. He said computers are his job and he might be able to help us. It all sounded really sus but we got chatting to the man whose name was Sadam and he said if we wanted to accompany him to his house which was nearby he would have a look at the computer for us. Our gut feel was that he was trustworthy despite the situation seeming dodgy.

So Andrew went with this Lebanese guy to his house to fix our computer and I took the kids to the park a couple of streets away. We met up with Andrew shortly after €30 lighter. Andrew wasn’t sure that the guy had done anything but he did remove 4 gig of temporary files which he thought could be part of the problem.

After all this excitement we walked up to the Basilique Sacre Couer. What an amazing sight! And a stunning view of Paris because of the highupness of it. Andrew and the kids waited on the steps near the entrance while I joined the funnel of people going in to look at the church. There was such a huge crowd they had to cordon the entrance to make the entry and exit points a bit easier for people not to get crushed.

What a place! People everywhere. The streets we walked to get to the basilique had hundreds of shops with rolls and rolls of dressmaking materials. Half way up on the many steps of the church some young folk were set up with a microphone and amplifier and were entertaining the throng of people happily sitting on the steps.

Disney Weekend

2009-08-13T09:20:00.010+02:00

We’ve survived three days at Disneyland. No mean feat. I think you just about need to go into training to get through a visit to Disney. It’s full on…the mega crowds and the endless queuing. The main thing is the kids enjoyed it.

Monday 10 August 2009

2009-08-13T09:20:00.007+02:00

My initial feeling when we found our unit in Paris was disappointment. My expectations were high for some reason. Andrew wasn’t disappointed at all. It was exactly what he expected. I assumed the unit would have a washing machine and searched high and low for one. Why did I assume it would have a washing machine? I don’t know but now we'll have to waste our precious remaining time in Paris finding a laverie and hauling clothes down to wash.

Our unit is in Rue D’Aboukir which is in an interesting area. During the day it’s constant hustle and bustle of delivery people and shoppers but from early evening the professional women appear literally outside our front door. The street is full of clothes shops with the most beautiful designer evening wear and bags, shoes and glittery jewellery at reduced prices.

The location of the unit is great. If it had a really good clean and had a few things fixed it would be ok. Andrew had to do a few minor maintenance jobs when we arrived. Not what you would expect when you’re paying over €1500 for 11 nights. The main things were plumbing things like the airconditioner water dripping down the wall, the bathtub water wouldn’t drain and the shower head was broken. Painful.

Friday 7 August 2009

2009-08-13T09:19:00.003+02:00

Disneyland was fantastic. We arrived after lunch and launched ourselves into Walt Disney Studios. After a long wait, we went on our first ride, Crush’s Coaster. Crush was the turtle in the Nemo movie so I thought it would be a tame ride. It was terrifying. I had my eyes shut the whole time and couldn’t wait for it to end. I always think I’ll be okay and I never am and I don’t know why I bother. I guess I want to enjoy the experience like other people and it’s just not my thing. Everyone else got off the ride laughing and all smiles. I got off feeling nauseous and nearly in tears. Ella initially seemed afraid but later said she enjoyed herself and Samuel was fine with it.

Thursday 6 August 2009

2009-08-13T09:17:00.001+02:00

Sitting on the Eurostar watching the beautiful French countryside whizz by. It’s relaxing travelling by train. You can appreciate the scenery instead of worrying about the traffic and taking a wrong turn.

Paris Problems

2009-08-11T13:55:00.005+02:00

zeùre qt the internet cqfe in &àe: That's code for I'm at the internet cafe on a f***g french keyboard and the keys are all over the place. Can you tell I'm frustrated? The laptop has sh*t itself on arrival in Paris and we are trying to find someone to clean up the hard drive for us. So my blog might not be happening. We have 9 more days here before we go home. It's hard to believe it's nearly the end. The kids can't wait to get on the plane and play those computer games. I just want to get out and see as much as I can of Paris before it's au revoir.

Eurodisney

2009-08-07T08:24:00.002+02:00

We're back in Paris today...yayyyy....heading off to Disneyland for three days. The kidlets can't wait.

Goodbyes

2009-08-06T08:09:00.003+02:00

We said goodbye to The Beasley's today. We're into the last two weeks of our 12 month adventure and they are just beginning. It was nice to catch up with them and it was fun for the kids to have someone to play with. Our last night we went out for a meal at Ye Olde Bell, a little pub in the village of Hurley. The pub was built in 1352. It was a gorgeous little place and the food we had was really yummy. There was a large outdoor area with long wooden trestle tables and a huge grassy area and shady trees and swings for the kids. It was great. The kids played out the back all night apart from when they came up to have their dinner.

Maidenhead

2009-08-05T08:24:00.010+02:00

Little crooked building in Eton

Pretty flowers in the centre of the road

The Speedie and Beasley kids having a snack before going into Windsor Castle

Another grey day in the UK. So much for summer. We're in Maidenhead for one more day. We've been catching up with The Beasley's who are about to start their travelling adventures as we prepare to go home to Australia. Yesterday the nine of us visited Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. The size of the place was incredible and the State Apartments were magnificent.

Tomorrow we take our hire car back to Euston Avis and then get the Eurostar at St Pancras back to Paris. We'll have a night in Paris then on Friday morning we're going to Paris Disney for the weekend.

After the weekend we come back to Paris where we have an apartment booked for 9 days then we fly home. All over red rover.

Wax Museum

2009-07-31T20:35:00.018+02:00

Ella with Mary Queen of Scots
Ella with Julia Roberts
Ella with the fairies

I was so disappointed with our visit to Madame Tussauds today. Apart from having to take out a bank loan to pay for the tickets the crowds were unbelievable. We queued for almost 2 hours to get in, then when we finally got in I was surprised to see the expected visit time was only 1.5 hours. I planned to spend most of the afternoon there but found the masses of people was really giving me the sh*ts and we cut our visit short because it was so hard to see things with 50 million other people hanging around. But on a lighter note the wax figures are amazing, so lifelike. I mistook wax figures for real people a couple of times.

Afterwards we went for a walk in nearby Regent’s Park; it was such a beautiful day today. But then we made the mistake of spotting the London Zoo and foolishly thinking it might be a reasonable price to enter but fat chance. We weren’t prepared to outlay another small fortune to go to the zoo.

Yesterday we visited the Science Museum which was fantastic and FREE!!! The crowds were massive for this museum too; in fact when we came out of the tube station and walked onto the footpath we thought we were walking along with the pedestrians but it was actually the museum queue which extended a block down the road into the next street but it did move fairly quickly. London has some great museums which are free which makes a nice change.

Science Museum

2009-07-31T07:42:00.005+02:00

Medicine Cabinet around 500 years old Mummified head

London Sightseeing...Wednesday 29 July 2009

2009-07-30T10:16:00.011+02:00

Standing in front of the pirate ship in Diana Memorial Playground

We managed to cram quite a lot into our day today. Considering how long it takes to get anywhere using the tube we did pretty well. The accommodation we're staying in is great but it's kind of out in the sticks at Excel and we have to get the DLR in to where we can get on the tube.

I googled "free things to do in London" and got a heap of things. One of them was the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. We milled around the front gates for a while with the thousands of other people. The kids were able to sit down at the front of us and have a good view. We couldn't see anything inside the gates because of the crowds but two bands marched past and we got a good look at them.

Then we took a London cab to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground near Kensington Palace which the kids loved and so did the other thousand kids there. It was very crowded but we played for a while and then headed over to Covent Garden to find the Disney Shop to get our Eurodisney tickets for next week. Covent Garden was very exciting. I haven't been there before. Masses of people, fantastic street entertainers and lots of restaurants, shops and stuff going on.

Our day finished off with a movie at the Odeon in Shaftsbury Avenue. We watched the new Ice Age movie in 3D which everyone enjoyed.

London Sightseeing (hopefully)

2009-07-29T09:25:00.003+02:00

I've got some things planned for us to do today...now if I can just get the kids off the couch...

London Excel

2009-07-28T17:18:00.004+02:00

It's 4.20 pm and no-one feels like doing anything. We're in one of the most exciting cities in the world with so much going on and we're sitting here in our unit watching tv on the huge screen.

Brighton

2009-07-27T09:28:00.005+02:00

Ella standing in front of Meryl's house in Brighton

Meeting Noreen

2009-07-26T11:46:00.004+02:00

Bo-Min's 8th birthday
Andrew, Noreen, Meryl and Samuel

We had a fun day today. We played mini golf with Meryl's two boys and took a picnic lunch down to the playground. Later in the afternoon after the golf we all piled into the car and headed over to Noreen's house for dinner. Noreen is another friend of the family who worked on Buka and it was my first time meeting her. She made a lovely dinner for us and we all talked late into the night and had to wake the kids up from in front of the tv to go home.

Brighton Walk...Saturday 25 July 2009

2009-07-26T09:55:00.008+02:00

Brighton Pier

Ella on the rocky beach

Our first morning in Brighton was sunny and kind of warm but a tad windy. The summer here has been not very summery. We did a big healthwalk (as it’s called) along the beach to Brighton Pier. The kids love the rock beaches. They love finding all the different rocks. The ocean looked inviting but I didn’t see any people swimming. At Brighton Pier we bought fish and chips and tried to find a spot out of the wind to sit and eat them. Then we wandered up to the Royal Pavillion and walked around the gardens and through The Lanes shopping area. By this time is was about 4 o’clock and we were ready for a sit down and we bought tickets on the little train along the beach back to where we started.

Brighton...Friday 24 July 2009

2009-07-25T10:13:00.004+02:00

We've arrived in Brighton, Britain's premier seaside location and it looks like a fun place to explore. We turned up on Meryl's doorstep just after lunch. Meryl is another of the Williams' clan from Andrew's days in New Guinea. We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with Meryl and Samuel and Ella were very happy to have two other children to play with.

Brighton Unit

2009-07-25T08:14:00.007+02:00

Our unit in Lewes Crescent is lovely. Lewes Crescent is an upmarket part of Brighton. There is a private garden which we were given a key to access and in the garden there's a secret tunnel leading down to the beach which we're told is the inspiration for the Alice in Wonderland story.

I was very happy to see a washing machine and dryer so I could do the washing. Keeping us in clean clothes is a total pain when we're on the road. But the washing machine wasn’t working for some reason. Then we realised that the floorboards in the kitchen were all squelchy and water was squishing up and it turns out there's some major plumbing problem going on and the water isn’t draining away properly and has blocked up the pipes hence the flooded floorboards in the kitchen which is on the other side of the wall from the washing machine. It has obviously been happening for a while before we arrived because of the state of the floor but my fear now is that they’ll blame us for the damage and keep our ₤250 deposit which is meant to be refunded in 10 days.

Cambridge Photos

2009-07-25T01:10:00.011+02:00

Just about to embark on our punt ride

Punts on the River Cam
In front of the beautiful buildings of the University

Cambridge 23 July 2009

2009-07-25T01:00:00.004+02:00

We had to drive to a place more than halfway between York and Brighton so we picked Cambridge to have a look around. What a beautiful place. The university is 800 years old this year (1209 – 2009). We went for a relaxing chaffeured ride on a punt along the River Cam which was fun apart from being bumped into by all the self hire punts. Our young driver who I thought looked abit like Prince William gave us a commentary about the history of the university colleges. There are 31 colleges with 17 000 students who eat, live and study in these majestic looking buildings. Late in the 1800’s women began studying at Cambridge but could not actually graduate with a degree until 1948.

Countdown...

2009-07-25T00:39:00.003+02:00

The countdown has begun … we’re on the homeward stretch now. There’s less than a month to go till we fly home. The time has gone so quickly. I’m glad I’ve kept blogging because I don’t think I would remember half of what’s happened in the last year if I hadn’t written it all down. We also have a heap of things to organise for when we arrive back in Australia.

1. We need to book accommodation in Sydney because we’ll stay and visit Sis for a few days;
2. We need to book cheapie flights from Sydney to the Gold Coast where our accommodation is already reserved at Chez Speedies II (Andrew’s parents);
3. We plan to use our Frequent flyer points to fly back to The Isa where Andrew’s got a heap of stuff to do;
4. We’ve got to get the landcruiser and the ute roadworthied and registered;
5. We have to work out how we’re going to get all our stuff down to Brisbane;
6. Drive back to Brisbane, find a new house, get the kids in school and get back into the groove of the real world again.

I think it’s going to be very hard to settle down into normal life after so long. We’re looking forward to it with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. After all we've lived in Mount Isa for a long time and it’s going to be a major life adjustment.

York

2009-07-21T11:18:00.010+02:00

Street scene recreated inside the Castle Museum

On the way over from Kirkcudbright we called in at Lockerbie to visit the memorial for the people who died in the air disaster of 1988. There’s a small visitor centre at the front and the memorial plaques are in a separate area at the back of the village cemetery. Reading about what happened and looking at the names and stories of the people who died is all so sad. I suppose knowing we’re going on a long flight ourselves soon and after two recent horrible air disasters I’m a bit scared to be going on a plane.

Our first day in York we visited the York Castle Museum which is in the original prison building which makes the displays seem more realistic. It showed life in the olden days in York and how hard it was and how people lived and worked and died. There was a whole street recreated as it would have been in those early days of York and people in costume dressed as they would have been in the olden days.

On our second day in York we had planned to do the 4km walk around the top of the city walls and visit the gardens but the day was rainy and cold and instead we ended up going to see the The Jorvik viking museum. It was interesting but it was a bit too brief for the money. The museum is housed over the archaeological digs where they have found a whole viking village around about 900BC. Everyone gets to have a ride in a little motorised cart with audio describing each scene. There is also a whole skeleton of a farmer laid out in a glass cabinet and there’s a description of his injuries leading to his death probably defending his land and property. Again I liked how the staff were dressed in viking costumes.

Loving the UK

2009-07-21T11:18:00.005+02:00

We’ve all been enjoying Britain very much. It’s so nice to be able to understand what people are saying and we’ve been enjoying talking to random strangers we meet in our normal day which we couldn’t ever do in France. As soon as we open our mouths people want to know where we’re from and they usually tell us a story about a family member or friend living in Australia. One guy even said his wife was a nurse and had just scored a job in Mackay and she would be emigrating in a few weeks and he wouldn’t be far behind her. People are very friendly to us. It makes a nice change to feel comfortable in a place. I don’t think we realised how stressed out it made us feel being constantly linguistically isolated.

Turnberry - Saturday 18 July 2009

2009-07-19T19:05:00.008+02:00

Andrew is going to be at the British Open all day today. He left early because the traffic is expected to be heavy and he wants to be there in good time. The place we’re staying is about 50 miles away from Turnberry. We’re on a farm in a cottage near Kirkcudbright (pronounced kirkoobree) but there’s a ping pong table, trampolines, tennis court and other things for the kids to play with as long as it doesn’t rain. And then there’s always the pesky DS’s.

This morning I was trying to be quiet so I didn’t wake the kids up. The lack of sleep catches up with them. Sometimes we need to get them up early because of our travel plans but there’s other times when it would be good if they could sleep longer but can’t because the morning light is so bright coming into the bedroom and the curtains aren’t dark enough. Anyway I’m trying to be as quiet as I can but the stillness here makes every little sound seem magnified. These old places make more noises than normal with their creaky, squeaky floorboards and doors not to mention my joints cracking as I try to tip toe down the hallway.

The Puzzling Place - 16 July 2009

2009-07-17T10:58:00.009+02:00

This morning we took the kids to The Puzzling Place which was a collection of exhibits of optical illusions. The hologram gallery was my favourite. I’d love to know how they make those pictures. They seem to jump out at you depending on where you’re standing.

In the afternoon we played a round of obstacle mini golf. It was fun with the kids. Andrew kept score. Andrew and Samuel both had 3 holes in one, Ella had 2 and I had 4.

We were forced to go to the tourist office to ask them to find a place for us to stay for the next two nights because Andrew wants to go to the British Open at Turnberry. As usual we haven’t been able to finalise our plans and there’s no accommodation left anywhere near Turnberry. The tourist office said people are travelling from as far as Glasgow and Edinburgh for the day because everywhere is booked out.

Scotland

2009-07-17T10:58:00.005+02:00

Today we’re crossing the border into Scotland. We drive north to Dumphries then across to Castle Douglas near where tourist office found a cottage for us for two nights. It was raining this morning when we woke up in Keswick and it’s rained the whole way to Castle Douglas and the temperature is 13 degrees. Brrr…cold.

After we found our cottage and took our bags in we went looking for a supermarket. We found a Spar in the main street and bought a few essentials. Wouldn’t you know it, on the way home we discovered a big Tesco. Tesco is great. It’s great shopping there because their range of stuff is great whereas Spar is kind of corner store expensive.

The Lakes District - 15 July 2009

2009-07-15T08:32:00.009+02:00

Derwent Water

A short drive this morning to Keswick where we’ve booked two nights. Keswick is super touristy and full of outdoor equipment shops and tea rooms and B&B's. Stacks of people base themselves here for their hiking expeditions in the area.

We ate lunch at Bryson’s Traditional Tea Room. I was hanging out for scones with jam and whipped cream. We ordered the Cumberland tea for two which sounded like a massive amount of food when we read it on the menu. We planned to share among the four of us but when it arrived everything was miniature size on this 3 tier tray and we ate our way through it quite easily. Samuel was still hungry and wanted to buy a sausage roll on the way out.

We visited the Cumberland Pencil Museum which shows the history of pencil making in Cumbria. The famous Derwent coloured pencils are made here. When we walked in the kids were given an activity sheet and a pencil each and they filled in the answers as we walked around the museum. At the end they were given a prize of a choice of two coloured pencils each to take home.

After the pencil museum we thought we’d go and look at the Bond Museum but the entrance price was a bit steep ₤6 for an adult and ₤4 for a child. Considering the kids don’t have a clue who James Bond is yet we thought maybe Andrew could have a look at that one on his own some time.

We ate dinner at the Dog and Gun free house. I love the names of the pubs here. I ordered goulash and Andrew lamb shank but we swapped meals because mine was too spicy. The kids shared a Pie of the Day with mash and peas and gravy. After dinner we walked to the Derwent Water lake where there was ducks galore and we sat there for a while enjoying the cool breeze and peaceful surroundings.

Slate Museum & Caenarfon Castle - Monday 13 July 2009

2009-07-14T21:40:00.011+02:00

Climbing all over Caenarfon Castle

Tree outside Caban Cafe
Showing how timber moulds were used
Slate splitting demo

This morning we took the kids to visit the National Slate Museum near Llanberis. It was interesting to see how the quarry operated in the area. The museum is housed in the original industrial engineering workshops of the Dinorwig Slate Quarry. We enjoyed watching the slate splitting demonstration. The man was interesting to listen to and had a dry sense of humour. It was interesting how the slate could be split so evenly without shattering into lots of pieces.

The quarrymen’s houses were interesting. Four little houses in a row. The houses were brought to this location from another town piece by piece. Each piece was individually numbered and then transported to the new site to be rebuilt as part of the Museum display.

Beddgelert - Sunday 12 July 2009

2009-07-14T00:38:00.003+02:00

This morning we arranged to meet up at Bethan’s house to go and catch the steam train which runs from Caenarfon to Beddgelert where John and Mary live. Beddgelert is very pretty. The name means Gelert’s Grave and comes from a local legend of Prince Llewlyn’s dog Gelert which he killed after he thought that the dog had killed his baby son but it turned out the dog had killed a wolf that was attacking the baby.

The old fashioned steam train ride was fun and after a lovely lunch prepared by Mary and John we all wandered down for a walk along Fisherman’s Path. The kids stripped off to play in the chilly water on the way back but didn’t stay in for long especially when we bribed them out with the promise of an ice cream on the walk home.

Meeting The Williams' - Saturday 11 July 2009

2009-07-14T00:37:00.009+02:00

John, Mary, Andrew, Bethan

Bethan, Andrew, Seren, Aneirin, Samuel and Ella

We’ve no organised plans for doing things in England but one thing Andrew really wanted to do was visit The Williams’ Family who were family friends on Buka in New Guinea.

Andrew has always talked about all the fun stuff he got up to when he was a boy on Buka so it was lovely to meet all these people from his stories.

Everyone had their own recollection of different events which made it all very entertaining and in between reminiscing Bethan whipped up an impressive dinner and we sat and talked into the night. Most enjoyable.

Eurostar - Friday 10 July 2009

2009-07-10T06:45:00.008+02:00

Oh happy day! We’ve found a left luggage place on the internet to store our luggage and this morning we took our two overflow bags to the nice man to mind for us while we are in the UK for four weeks. What a relief! The place looked a bit dodgy to me and the guy said he takes the bags to his apartment where he has a spare room...hmmm… well we may never see our bags or money again but yet again, I guess you have to have some trust sometimes. We’re down to two big cases with all our clothes and toiletries, the kids’ spiderman and tinkerbell bags and my handbag and video camera bag.

Our overnight hotel near the Gare was excellent €145 including a great breakfast, beds were comfy, the room was big and it was a pleasant stay. We’ve booked in there again on the way back and got a cheaper rate on the internet this time.

At 11am we checked out of the hotel and walked around to the Gare to get the Eurostar to London St Pancras. There was hundreds of people already there queuing for the trains. Check in was painless except for the woman yelling at me to stop videoing. I didn’t think it was any big deal. Then when we were getting our passports stamped, the man in British border control was firing all these questions at me so rapidly I started to get abit nervous and we had to open one of our suitcases because they wanted to check something they’d noticed on the xray. It was all abit embarrassing having your suitcase opened and gone through. Eventually got through all the checks and had a breezy trip to London.

We arrived at St Pancras at 2.30 pm. The Eurostar was excellent. It took 2.5 hours from Paris Gare du Nord to London St Pancras with two stops on the way. We walked around to Euston Station where we had to collect the hire car. It took us a while to find the Avis office because we didn’t have the address. We thought we would be able to see the office when we were standing in front of the station.

Anyway finally got everything organised and headed off down the M40 heading towards Wales and ended up pulling up not much before Oxford where we stayed at a motorway hotel for ₤65. You wouldn’t believe how busy this place was. Where were all these people coming from and where were they going?

Watering Timber

2009-07-09T06:48:00.005+02:00

It was interesting to see these huge piles of timber logs being watered with gigantic sprinklers. We wondered why the timber would be getting watered and it's basically to stop it drying out and being eaten by insects. Some of the timber we saw was all green and mossy.

Leaving Troyes - Thursday 9 July 2009

2009-07-09T06:47:00.005+02:00

Today we left Troyes to drive to Paris sud to drop off the car at the dealer. We were abit frazzled about the whole process. When we finally found the place the guy spoke as much English as we speak french but Andrew liaised by phone with the English agent and then signed an agreement which was in English for them to sell our car. We just have to trust that they’re all above board and it’ll be ok. I was sad saying goodbye to the little Renault. It’s been a great car.

After organising the vehicle we got a ride to the Gare where we had to finally face up to the nightmare that is our luggage – 11 pieces in all. Very difficult to manage and going up and down stairs is the worst when there’s no lift. The lovely man at SNCF was tres helpful with Eurostar tickets to London but the two next Eurostar trains were fully booked and the first available train didn’t leave till 9pm that night which was way too late for us. We decided the best thing to do was stay in Paris overnight and leave the next day. The SNCF guy booked us a night near Paris Gare du Nord. So we stayed the night in Paris and then booked the Eurostar to London St Pancras at lunchtime the next day.

Leaving Strasbourg - Wednesday 8 July 2009

2009-07-08T07:15:00.004+02:00

We left Strasbourg heading for Reims on our way to Paris but changed our plans after a phone call to one of the car dealers we’ve been talking to. They’ve offered us 6000 euros for our beautiful car and we’re devastated because it’s such a good car and we think it’s worth more than that. Anyway the upshot is that this dealer has a car yard outside Paris and we can leave the car with them and they will sell our car for us on a commission basis, hopefully before we have to leave the country. For this reason we decided to detour to Troyes instead of going to Reims so we could take the car to the dealership in the south of Paris.

Troyes is a really interesting place. The old city is full of those unique half timbered houses. Troyes burnt down and was rebuilt in 1524 and it’s an interesting place to walk around. It’s funny how you can get such a different impression of a place by how everything works out when you arrive.

When we arrived it was pouring rain and we had no accommodation booked. The very first hotel I rang had a family room available for 82 euros and the lady spoke English and she was so friendly and helpful. Parking was not far away and wifi was gratuit too. The hotel was 2 stars and was one of those gorgeous old fashioned places full of character and charm although with brand new bathroom. My sense of charm doesn’t extend to outdated bathroom fittings.

Later in the afternoon we went for a quick trip to the outlet shopping centre. Troyes is famous like brands like Lacoste and Petite Bateau but even with the hugely discounted prices the conversion still made the clothes expensive. For dinner the kids decided they fancied chinese food so we found a restaurant close to the hotel and enjoyed noodles and veges and then walked back to the hotel. Tomorrow we plan to take the car to the dealer and maybe I’ll get to go to Fountainbleu after all.

Le Vaisseau - 7 July 2009

2009-07-08T07:14:00.008+02:00

Samuel Kangaroo

The igloo the kids built
Ella Turtle

This afternoon we took the kids to Le Vaisseau which is a science and technology museum. It had lots of exhibits to look at and lots of things to push, poke and things for the kids to work out. We were there for about 4 hours which is a new record for us at a museum. Usually we’re in and out in the space of 1-11/2 hours. The kids really enjoyed it. Samuel’s favourite thing was building the igloo and Ella like climbing into the kangaroo joey pouch.

The day ended happily when Ella spotted a 10 euro note on the floor in the shopping centre.

Our Day Today - Monday 6 July 2009

2009-07-07T06:36:00.008+02:00

This morning I awoke to the kids telling me they’d broken the glass lamp in the bedroom of the unit we're renting. That pretty much set the tone for the day.

Most of my morning was spent doing laundry. This meant carting the dirty clothes down to the hotel at the end of the street because our hotel has no facility for washing clothes, so back and forth, back and forth. Ho hum.

The rest of the day was spent arguing with the kids about the noise they were making and fighting about whose turn it was on the computer. Fun stuff.

On a brighter note, when we booked into the unit in Strasbourg we thought the wifi was 8 euros per hour. When Andrew checked it out it turns out it’s one euro for 24 hours of use which has to be the best buy of the trip.

Selling Car

2009-07-07T06:36:00.006+02:00

We’ve had contact with two different people who we found on the internet about selling our car. One is French and one is English. Hmmm, I wonder who we’ll go with…Both have places near Paris which suits us because that’s the way we’re heading on our way to the UK. Maybe we can even take it to the UK but we’re not sure about whether it’s legal to drive a French registered car in the UK.

We originally planned to sell the car in Slovenia where the people are very obliging and helpful. But we didn’t get around to it. There’s quite a few things I wanted to do in Slovenia which I didn’t get around to doing only because we couldn’t get ourselves organised.

Petit France - Sightseeing - 5 July 2009

2009-07-06T15:51:00.013+02:00

Interesting head in a fountain
Samuel on a curly bridge

Dinner at mexican restaurant
Houses on canal

Strasbourg has lots of interesting places to walk around. One of these areas is Petite France which is full of half timbered houses from the 16th and 17th century. In the past these houses were occupied by fishermen, millers and tanners. Almost all the houses have a first floor overhang which protrudes into the street and some of the roofs have open galleries where the tanners hung the skins to dry after they’d been cleaned in the canal waters. These days tourism is the main industry and the area is full of restaurants and souvenir shops.

After our walk obligatoire before dinner we found a place to eat and the man serving us was so charming and friendly and he spoke the most beautiful French….beautiful because I could understand what he was saying. The French we hear being spoken in Strasbourg is a mix of French and german – lots of words that make no sense to me. So I’m back to giving that blank look whenever anyone speaks to me.

Concentration Camp - Sunday 5 July 2009

2009-07-05T08:04:00.006+02:00

Memorial

Today we went to visit Natzweiler Struthof Concentration Camp. This camp is the only camp constructed on French territory by the Nazis and is situated in a peaceful wilderness forested area on the side of a mountain. The landscape is just stunning. It’s hard to imagine the terrible things that happened in this beautiful place but the barbed wire fences and gates are still there and the museum has photos and descriptions of what went on.

Parc de L'Orangerie - Saturday 4 July 2009

2009-07-05T07:28:00.012+02:00

Storks

Having fun in the old cars

The gorgeous trees

We spent the day at the wonderful Parc De L’Orangerie, the oldest and largest park in Strasbourg which was built to impress Napoleon’s wife Josephine. I’d never heard of this place but I read about it on a blog somewhere and I thought it was somewhere the kids would like to go. There are animal enclosures with monkeys, curly horned African goats, lots of birds, kookaburras (would you believe) and a mini petting zoo where the kids could feed goats, lambs and guinea pigs. The horse took Samuel’s whole cup of food, cup and all! The park has a programme to encourage stork breeding and they have built these tall platforms where the birds can build their nests. The storks have also made their homes on top of the chateau in the park grounds which looks kind of funny seeing this grand chateau with huge storks’ nests in the roof.

The park is obviously a popular place for wedding photos too as I saw five couples in the space of ten minutes having their wedding photos taken. It’s a very beautiful park to visit. We spent most of the day there and when it was lunchtime we went to find a supermarche so we could get some picnic things and have our lunch there.

Reunion at Sevlje - Saturday 27 June 2009

2009-07-03T22:30:00.008+02:00

Willi and Tine
Ella and Polona

Picnic table

My Slovenian rellies on Dad’s side of the family have a family get-together once a year. It’s a picnic held at Sevlje, the family farm, and is usually held in June when the weather is nice.

This year we timed our return visit to co-incide with the picnic and it turned out to be an excellent day. We’ve already met everyone on our first trip in April. It was fantastic to see everyone together yabbering away and cracking jokes in Slovenian, none of which Andrew and I understood. But aside from the language difficulty, Andrew still managed to make everyone laugh. There was lots of food and drink and the kids played happily with all the other kids. It was a good day.

Selling the Car

2009-07-03T22:27:00.003+02:00

Today we had another slight inkling that selling the car was not going to be a straightforward process. This was after we went to four different garages and they all said no we’re not interested in buying your car from you. Andrew rang a guy whose name we found on the internet and he told Andrew that all the dealers were overstocked with cars at the moment because people were buying new cars because there was good bonuses being offered for people to trade in their old cars. Internet guy offered to sell our car for us but we will have to bring it to Lyon. Well it’s an option I guess but I don’t fancy driving 500 km in the opposite direction. We’ll see…

Thursday 2 July 2009

2009-07-03T22:25:00.004+02:00

Andrew washed and vacuumed the car today. In the afternoon we took it to the Renault dealer and asked about selling it. The lady said it was “too new” for them. I thought that was hilarious. I've never heard of a car being too new. I thought it was a good thing that it was still new. Anyway, she suggested we try the garages that do mechanical repairs which also sell cars. I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I can see it turning into a big drama. We had originally planned to sell the car in Slovenia where everybody seems so obliging and helpful. But we didn’t get around to it. There’s a few things I wanted to do which I didn’t get around to doing only because we couldn’t get ourselves organised.

Also, today we tried to find out about getting on the Eurostar from Calais over to Dover. It’s all so complicated. The cheapest way to go over is if we take a car but seeing as we won’t have a car (we’ll have sold it by then, won't we!?) the ferry is the next best option. We wanted to travel via the chunnel but it’s really expensive. Something like ₤301.

Strasbourg 1 July 2009

2009-07-03T22:03:00.004+02:00

We arrived in Strasbourg around lunchtime, found underground parking at a shopping centre and bought a snack and a drink for the kidlets. Then I went off on my own to look for the tourist office at the Gare. It wasn’t far to the gare and it was quicker without the kids once I worked out which way I was meant to be going. I think I need to pack a compass on my next trip. I can never tell which way is up. It was kind of exciting walking along on my own in a strange town. Eventually when I found the tourist office I saw that the map cost a euro and I only had the small change purse on me with 87 cents in it because Andrew always carries the money with him in his wallet and we’re never apart. It was abit embarrassing not having any money to pay for a map but I found some change in my pocket.

Augsburg

2009-06-30T07:42:00.005+02:00

It rained sporadically on the drive from Bled to Augsburg in Germany. The rain fell in those hard sudden summer showers that make driving visibility difficult. We ate lunch at one of those expensive roadside cafés which I hate. But self catering wasn’t an option today. €34 for lunch, a bit exxie in my book.

The plan was to drive towards Munich and wherever we were around 2pm we would start looking for a hotel. Well at 5pm we were still driving around looking for a hotel. Usually there’s always hotels on the outskirts of town as you drive in. Maybe we were in the wrong part of town. The tourist office offered us a dorm room at the youth hostel which we initially declined but later ended up going back to because we couldn’t find anything else.

The youth hostel room was ok apart from the rampaging young folk banging on doors and hollering up and down the hallways. The breakfast was as good as any hotel breakfast we've paid 14 euros for. We scored a free carpark at the front of the building and we only brought up what we needed for the night rather than lugging suitcases up 4 flights of stairs. I guess you could say it was a learning experience. I learned that I never want to stay at a youth hostel again!

Augsburg is full of people riding their pushbikes all over the place. It’s great to see a city really set up for cyclists. The footpaths and roads all have a separate marked bicycle lane. I wonder how safe it is to ride a bike amongst all that traffic.

A Day in Bled

2009-06-29T19:03:00.011+02:00

Castle looking over Lake Bled

In the Gondola going over to the island

Pulling the rope to ring the church bell

Church on the island in Lake Bled

We packed up quickly this morning. Tomaz couldn’t believe how fast we could pack up. I think they’ll be glad to have some peace and quiet after the noisy Speedies. A big THANK YOU to Tomaz and Ksenija for their hospitality.

When we left Budanje we headed to Bled where we had booked a unit. I’ve been looking at photos of Lake Bled my whole life and I was so happy to finally see it for real. It is even more beautiful than any photos could show.

We had a lovely walk around the perimeter of the lake. The forest trees across the path were so thick that when it started raining, we could still walk along and not get wet. The rain was pouring down and the sun was still shining. People were swimming in the lake. The lake water is a gorgeous translucent aqua colour with these huge fish clearly visible. Samuel was rapt to see the fish.

The town of Bled is pretty too. So clean. Everywhere in Slovenia is clean and tidy. You often see people in the street at the front of their houses sweeping up the leaves and keeping things looking tidy.

Sveta Gora

2009-06-26T10:23:00.005+02:00

On the front steps of the church
Old buildings at rear of church
View looking down towards Nova Gorica

Cross collection

Here's some information about Sveta Gora. http://http://www.slovenia.info/?sakralne_znamenitosti=3816&bigfont=1&rnd=0.74092446671271

Kobilica - A Walk in the Forest

2009-06-25T21:23:00.008+02:00

Looking for wild strawberries

Leaf umbrella

Ostrich Pate

2009-06-24T10:02:00.003+02:00

I was disturbed to see ostrich steaks and ostrich pate on the menu in the guest house where we had dinner. I didn't know that people ate ostriches.

Slovenia Photos

2009-06-23T09:23:00.009+02:00

Medieval battle at Zemono
Getting ready to bake biscuits

Rack to dry hay

Budanje

2009-06-22T10:31:00.011+02:00

At Portoroz, swimming in the Adriatic

Everyone at lunch at Jurman

Ella sitting on one of the unusual chairs in the Museum at Bistra

Samuel and Luka

Picking veges in the garden

We’ve been here in Slovenia a week already. It’s been good fun. We’re staying at my cousin’s house in Budanje, which is near Adjovscina in the southwest. We’ve been catching up on things, like washing clothes, cleaning out the car, sorting out stuff and working out what we should do next after we leave here. We’re thinking of selling the car in Slovenia and getting the train up north through Austria, Czech Republic then Germany.

The lifestyle here is much quieter than some other places we’ve been to recently and it is very nice to be able to rest awhile. Slovenia is a very beautiful country. It’s small but there’s a lot to see and do. I’d be quite happy to stay for several weeks but we’re coming to the end of our 12 months away and we have to hurry up and do a few more things before it’s time to go home.

On Our Way to Slovenia 16 Jun 09

2009-06-22T10:13:00.004+02:00

This morning we packed up for the millionth time and headed off to Slovenia for a couple of weeks. We stayed on the autostrade all day. The toll was €27.60 when we crossed the Italy-Slovenia border at 3 o’clock. The drive was long and uneventful with the usual heavy haulage trucks bumper to bumper.

We haven't booked any accommodation. We'll stay with some cousins for a few days. It’s nice being with people. It gets a bit lonely being on our own all the time.

We wouldn’t normally stay with rellies because it’s hard staying in someone else’s house especially because there’s four of us and we’re noisy and make a lot of mess in a short time. Also I don’t want to be rousing on the kids every minute about picking up their stuff all the time. But, like I said, a few days should be ok.

Genoa 15 Jun 2009

2009-06-19T23:22:00.012+02:00

Kids standing in the arch in the street of Christopher Columbus' house

Writing on the archway

Some motorbikes

Door knocker

Today we leave the ship, sad. It’s been fun but if the cruise had been any longer, I would have to be wheeled off on a trolley because I ate so much food.

The disembarkation procedure from the ship was excellent. It was very well organised considering there was a couple of thousand people leaving the ship this morning. We had a short wait and they were ready for us to go ¾ hr earlier than the expected time. We picked up the car keys, loaded up with the luggage and were on our way. It was all painless which was a pleasant surprise. For some reason we were thinking it would be hard.

It was a short 50km drive from Savona to Genoa where we checked into a hotel for the night, got rid of the car and bussed into town to find lunch. We enjoyed our afternoon in Genoa walking around the medieval and renaissance streets which were marked on our tourist map. The narrow bumpy streets led us to some of the most interesting buildings we’ve seen anywhere. Totally unexpected because Genoa doesn’t give a good impression when you first arrive. It’s grimy and rundown and chaotic but we found it an interesting place.

Palermo Photos

2009-06-19T23:17:00.009+02:00

Hand painted Palermo map on the ballroom floor of the Countess
Chopping up the octopus to taste

Tuna at the market

Decoration inside Church

Palermo building

Doorknocker

Fountain with statues

Cathedral

Ficus

Shore Excursions Photos from Malta, Tunis, Mallorca

2009-06-19T23:10:00.018+02:00

Palazzo in Malta
War Memorials in the Barracca Gardens in Malta

Central Bus station in Malta

Silk rug for sale in Tunis

Lady making rug

Andrew on the ruins at Carthage

At Carthage in Tunis

Cathedral in Mallorca

Park in Mallorca

Fountain, Mallorca

Last Day of Cruise...Sad!! 14 Jun 09

2009-06-17T11:25:00.003+02:00

Today is the last day of the cruise and we are lazing around the ship. There was excursions into Rome today but it was a 2 hour train trip there and 2 hours back and we didn’t feel like trying to cram the many amazing sights of Rome into such a short time in one day.

The Cruise

2009-06-17T11:15:00.006+02:00

One of the best bits of cruising is when you leave the port and sail out into the open ocean. When you’re out in the middle of the ocean and there is absolutely nothing else to look at just the neverending sea and sky. It's very relaxing. The ship glides along the water. You can hardly feel you're moving at all.

I would have liked for the English speaking people to get together and meet up before the cruise finished. We seemed to start chatting to people just as it was time to leave. Apparently there was an official greeting in English at the start of the cruise but we missed it because our information was given to us in german not english. We think they thought we were Austrian and not Australian.

The food on the cruise was fantastic. I ate an absolute mountain of food. It was impossible to resist overeating. I had to try abit of everything. Andrew is calling me his little buffet muffin because of the vast amount of food I've been eating. The food is non stop and lots of variety of everything. My favourite is the afternoon tea with tray after tray of scrumptious sweets, cakes and slices. Yum.

Cruising

2009-06-17T11:04:00.009+02:00

The kids club onboard was great. Andrew and I did a few shore excursions and we put the kids in to the kids club while we went out.

Tunisia was so interesting and different to any place we’d been before. We walked through the rabbit warren of the medina and Fattie the tour guide took us to a shop selling handmade carpets and also a perfume shop. The silk and cashmere rugs were beautiful. There was a lady sitting at the loom showing how the rugs are made. What a painstaking process, loop by loop, knot by knot.

In Malta the streets are built in a checkerboard pattern, all straight lines and square making it easy for people like myself with zero sense of direction to find my way around. We looked at the beautiful church of St John Co-Cathedral. The outside was plain but once you’re inside, like all the churches we’ve been to, the decoration of the church is unbelievable – ornate and every surface covered with some type of ornamentation and paintings.

We also went into St Paul’s Shipwreck church which was full of very beautiful artwork. St Paul’s right wrist bone is displayed in a case in one of the little side chapels.

In Palermo we did another brief 4 hour tour looking at famous churches, the names of which I don't know because I didn't write them down. Italian churches are unbelievable in their ornamentation.

We visited a real life palazzo, the home of a real life Countess who greeted us in person and showed us around. Her home has been in the family for 500 or so years. The working areas like the kitchen and upstairs certainly looked medieval and didn't look like any renovation work had ever been done.

We visited the noisy and smelly Mercato di Ballaro where they had the usual array of fresh food and unusual bits and pieces. One of the vendors chopped up a freshly cooked octopus about the size of a man's hand for us to try. He sprinkled lemon juice on it. It tasted a tad rubbery but not unpleasant if you like the taste of rubber.

Costa Pacifica 6 June 2009

2009-06-17T10:51:00.015+02:00

Our first sighting of the cruise ship behind the terminal building
Kids in their lifejackets

Sitting in the cabin window

Level 12

Waiting for the water slide

Samuel

Ella

Andrew

The people looked like ants on the ground waving the ship goodbye

Sundeck

It was a real thrill seeing our cruise ship, the Costa Pacifica for the first time. You have to see it in real life to appreciate the beauty and size of it. It’s a brand new ship and totally luxurious in decor and we are the first group of passengers to sail on it. Lucky us!

The car was booked into parking at Savona Port for the time we’re on the cruise. The checking in of the car and drop off of our luggage went smoothly. The terminal for the cruise at Savona looked brand new and when we arrived upstairs there was already a couple of thousand people there before us. There’s about 3000 people on our cruise. This is our first ever cruise and I can’t believe how many people cruise all the time.

We were given a card with a number on it which was our number for embarkation. At a quick glance our cruise companions all look like older people (maybe in their 60’s) and couples without kids. But we’ve seen a few kids who might be in the Maxi Kids Club with Samuel and Ella.

Our itinerary departs Savona and then we sail to Marseille, Barcelona, Mallorca, Tunisia, Malta, Palermo, Civitavecchia then back to Savona, 9 nights in all. The ship arrives in port every morning about 7 am and sails through the night to the next port.

Shore excursions are available at each port. I initially thought the excursions were quite expensive but after we’d been on a couple and found it so relaxing not having to organise everything by yourself, we considered it money well spent.

We’d been to Marseille a week ago so we stayed on the ship for that day. In Barcelona we got the shuttle bus in to town and wandered along the Ramblas for a while. In Mallorca we walked into town ourselves which was a lot further than it looked on the map. The kids were whining early on and it was very hot. We made our way to the cathedral and walked around with hundreds of other tourists. The view of the island from the steps of the church was beautiful.
We tried to haggle on the price of a horse and buggy ride back to the boat but the cheapest we could get was €50 – still too much for a 5 km ride. We ended up getting a cab back to the port for €8.

That night the four of us went to a fantastic show at Son Amar which had a variety of different entertainment. There was a magician, a comedian, singers and flamenco dancers. I’d never seen flamenco before and the dancers were magnificent to watch clack clacking their way across the stage.

There was a mini drama when we had our first dinner on the boat because our Costa card wouldn’t work. This is the card that we use to open our cabin door and also to pay for anything you buy on the boat. All was revealed when they discovered that we hadn’t actually been embarked by Immigration officials even though we were already on the ship and in our cabin. Anyway that was soon sorted out. But then we get a phone call from our travel agent (my sister) in the middle of the night in a panic because she had received an email at work saying the Speedie’s hadn’t been checked in to board the ship on Saturday. So Irene thought something had happened to us because of the mixup with Immigration. But all was fine.

Leaving Nice 6 June 2009

2009-06-17T10:47:00.001+02:00

Packing up and leaving Nice was painful. The luggage situation is dire. We make such a mess in the hotel room and have to repack everything every time we move. Honestly, I feel like throwing the whole lot in the bin. We took awhile finding the Toutes Directions. We were driving up a hill and kept climbing higher and higher and soon realised we were heading in the opposite direction to what we wanted. The traffic was horrible and I couldn’t wait to get out of there. It took about 3 1/2 hours to drive from Nice to Savona with a stop for lunch at one of those expensive roadside cafés.

Nice 4 June to 6 June 2009

2009-06-17T10:44:00.010+02:00

Marche des Fleurs

Paying beach at Nice

We bought lunch from a beachside stall

The drive to Nice took ages. It took 4½ hours to drive 130 kms. I tried to enjoy the drive along the Cote D’Azur but the universe was conspiring against me. The traffic was heavy and I was a bit scared of the high up and windingness of the road. Also when we left Le Lavandou our car started making this strange grinding noise when the steering was turned to the right and then of course I kept getting this picture in my head of our car plunging hundreds of metres through the flimsy barriers and landing down the side of the mountain where we stayed not to be found for days.

Anyway apart from that the views were extremely scenic and beautiful even if I was terrified.

We found the hotel easily but then drove around in circles for hours trying to find the entrance to the car park. Parking at the Gare cost €23 for 24 hours. Our hotel was located in the Kings Cross of Nice, quite a sleazy area yet minutes away was all the evidence of the existence of the super rich. Nice is like that but then so many places are the same with the extremes between rich and poor.

It was bliss to be rid of the car which we left for 2 days at the Gare and walked everywhere after that. We wandered up and down the Promenade des Anglais and then had a drinks stop before going back to the hotel.

On Friday the kids had fun playing on the pebbly beach at the Baie des Anges just on the other side of the Vieux Nice. The water was a beautiful bluey colour and not too cold (so the kids tell me). Samuel enjoyed swimming into the waves and tasted the salt when he was swamped a couple of times by a big wave.

We walked down Av Jean Médicin which is a long shopping street and comes out at Place Masséna which then leads down into the old town and Cours Saleya where the Marché is held. We walked through the Marché des Fleurs which was a great big florist market with rows and rows of the most beautiful flowers and plants for sale.

That evening we went to dinner at a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet called Nissa Socca in the back streets of Vieux Nice. I tried socca which is a chickpea pancake. It was yummy. My plate of food was huge. Andrew and I could have shared but you never know how big your meal is going to be until you get it. Ella and Samuel shared a plate of carbonara but Ella didn’t like the taste and was still hungry so we stopped at mackers on the way home and Ella had nuggets for dinner with a cornet de glace for dessert.

Bandol/Le Lavandou 3 June to 4 June 2009

2009-06-17T10:38:00.008+02:00

Daniela

Samuel and Frigo enjoying the beach.

Frigo was very funny digging himself a little bunker to snuggle down in.

This morning Daniela and Frigo met us at our hotel and followed us to Bandol where we stopped for a few hours to go to the beach. It was very hot and I was freaking out about the kids getting sunburnt. We had our hats and swim shirts but it was 37°C. Scorching!

Dogs aren’t allowed on the beach here so we had to keep a hold of Frigo when Daniela went for a swim. Andrew had done very well keeping him under control but right when we were leaving Frigo took off and was running all over the place and he went barrelling over these two old ducks' towels who then proceeded to tell us off for having a dog there. Anyway they were right so we couldn’t argue but he had been so good the rest of the time.

Bandol is gorgeous – another rich people’s playground with expensive real estate and beautiful boats in the harbour.

We said goodbye to Daniela around 4 o’clock because we had a 70 km drive to Le Lavandou which doesn't sound like far but the coastal roads are very busy at this time and it takes ages.

At Le Lavandou we were booked in at a one star hotel which really lived up to its one star. The girl there was really nice and because they had some vacancies she offered us 2 rooms for the price of one so we could spread ourselves out abit.

Catch Up

2009-06-17T10:31:00.007+02:00

Sorry if some of these posts seem abit disjointed but I haven't had internet for a couple of weeks and I get in such a mess if I don't write regularly. The days fly by so quickly and I've already forgotten what's happened if I don't write it down straightaway. Photos are a good memory jogger but I need to sift through them all and sort out what I can use.

Cassis and La Ciotat 1 June 2009

2009-06-17T09:59:00.013+02:00

Frigo and Ella

We stopped at Cassis this morning on the way to La Ciotat. Cassis is a gorgeous little seaside village with expensive looking resort style shops and lots of boats in the harbour. It kind of reminded me of Banyuls and Collioure near Barcelona. We had breakfast in a café overlooking the mariner and watched people going by.

At La Ciotat, we couldn’t check into our apartment till 4 o’clock so we parked the car strategically in the apartment carpark (reversed in so you couldn’t open the boot) and went down to the beach for a couple of hours. Samuel hurt his knee on a rock when he slipped over. He’s so dramatic when he’s injured but then he gets over it quickly.

The apartment we booked turned out to be great value with 2 bedrooms and a kitchenette which suits us because we can organise our own food if we want to.

We’ve had 3 days of our car being chockablock full of stuff since we left Cavaillon and we realise we can’t possibly travel around lugging this much stuff in and out of the car and hotels all the time. This morning I had another repack and have had to be ruthless and toss out more things which we won’t be using anymore.

We’re staying here for 2 days so we can go enjoy the beach. Daniela and Frigo (her faithful friend) came down from L’Isle to go to the beach with us. It was a hot day but the water was still very cold.

Marseille 30 & 31 May 2009

2009-06-15T12:07:00.017+02:00

Inside the upper level of the Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde

Wandering around the streets of Marseille
Mosaic floors in the Cathedrale de la Nouvelle Major

Cathedrale de la Nouvelle Major

The kids in front of a pointy tree at the Palais

Ella standing halfway up the stone stairs of the Palais

Fountain in front of Palais de Longchamp

Palais de Longchamp

We enjoyed Marseille despite the nightmare of navigating and the expense of parking in a big city when you don’t know where things are or which way to go. The city is grimy, seething and sometimes creepy yet still an exciting and interesting place to visit. There was lots of people everywhere which is probably normal but there was a big football match on that night and lots of white and blue everywhere.

We took a ride on the petite train up to the Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde. It was a steep 20 minute ride up a hill where the views of the city of Marseille were stunning.

On Sunday morning we went to Palais de Longchamp which was built in the 1800’s for the purpose of disguising a water tower. Pretty fancy disguise! We chose the Palais because it had the jardins as well as two museums but bad luck for us, both museums were closed for renovation work.

Last day of school

2009-05-30T07:13:00.009+02:00

The kid's class is in the top floor right hand corner

The kids had their final day at french school on Friday. When we picked them up we said goodbye to Monsieur Lanas, the school director and Monsiuer Baldayrou, their teacher. They wished us bonne chance and bon voyage. Monsieur Lanas praised Samuel and Ella’s behaviour and said he hoped that they would remember the French they’d learned when they were older. They received a goodbye card which when you open it a big Eiffel Tower pops out. And they had a little party with gateau and softdrink.

Last day in Cavaillon

2009-05-30T07:07:00.005+02:00

We're leaving Cavaillon today. It's been good here. The kids have been happy and they have loved running around and playing in the big yard. The last two days the kids have had canteen lunches so Andrew and I could pack up everything and clean the house before we go. So we have 7 nights before we join the cruise in Savona. We plan to drive along the coast road from Marseilles to Nice spending a couple of nights at a few different places so we can enjoy the beaches along the way.

Trois bisous

2009-05-29T07:49:00.003+02:00

Today I said goodbye to my wonderful Boulanger, the lovely man who we’ve been buying our baguettes from since we’ve been in Cavaillon. I don’t know how I will survive without those divine baguettes. No-one else’s bread is as good as his! He and I have had some awkward conversations where he has been very patient and understanding with me trying to speak French. When I left he leaned over the counter for trois bisous. As far as I know, 3 kisses are usually reserved only for people you know well and very good friends so I feel honoured. He's a nice man.

Picnic

2009-05-27T06:03:00.008+02:00

Samuel picking cherries off the tree at Daniela's gite

Today we went to visit Daniela and Frigo at the gite they've moved into at Isle sur la Sorgue. Darren and Daniela were our neighbours until a week ago. We’d organised to have a picnic along the river. Isle is one of the prettiest places we have been to. The river winds right through the town and there’s lots of places to sit and eat and relax.

It was a beautiful day but a bit windy which was painful trying to put things on the table without them blowing away. We packed our normal picnic food of baguettes, ham, salami, tomato, camembert, cheddar and some fresh cherries off the tree for dessert. Daniella brought a rosé to drink and we sat and had our picnic on the banks of the river and watched the ducks squabbling.

Colis économique International

2009-05-26T19:29:00.004+02:00

Well the three cartons were finally sent today. 24 kg's of mainly children's treasures which we've accumulated. The cost was still quite ugly (€240) but anyway they're gone now. 24 kg's less of luggage we have to cart around Europe/UK for the next 2 1/2 months. The cartons should be there in 10 days or maybe 3 months, not sure really. I didn't understand a word the La Poste guy said and he didn't understand a word I said either so we're even.

Meeting Penny (aka soupedujour.blogspot.com)

2009-05-26T18:03:00.011+02:00

On Thursday we met up with Penny and David and their two children Lily and Jasper. Penny's blog soupedujour is my favourite blog which I've been reading long before we even left Mount Isa. It has been an invaluable source of information about moving to France and the ups and downs of what to expect on the way and also when you arrive.

We actually bumped into Penny on her way to the shops before we were due to meet up for lunch which was funny because I saw her walking toward us and thought to myself "That has to be Penny!" and it was. It was nice. I'd seen photos of the family on the blog and real life is usually different but I recognized her when I saw her and she recognized us.

Meeting friends for lunch was lovely. Penny made raclette which we hadn't had before. She had this nifty little appliance which has little tiny shovels to put the special raclette cheese on to melt and then you tip it on your potato and it melts over the potato and is really yummy. Dessert was chocolate mousse which was scrumptious.

We spent a very pleasant afternoon chatting on the balcony overlooking the beautiful canal and the kids played happily together. We were looking over at a restaurant on the other side of the canal and we thought to ourselves I bet those people are looking over at us and thinking how lucky we are to have friends with a balcony apartment in the centre of Annecy to sit and enjoy. It was pretty special.

Tuesday 26 May 2009

2009-05-26T08:42:00.008+02:00

Andrew is out for his morning walk. Lots of people stop and ask Andrew for directions when he's out walking. Usually he can't help them but once we were asked for directions to the Dechetterie (rubbish dump) by these people in a car and we were right beside it when they asked. Kind of funny that they didn't realise they were already at the dechetterie.

Today we have to ring Credit Agricole in Carcassonne to find out why our internet banking still isn't working. These sort of little problems are difficult for us without speaking french. We just have to persevere until we can find someone to help us.

Also we're sending our cartons back to Australia today. So that will be interesting to see what they charge us. I wanted to send them by Sea Mail but I don't think there is such a thing in France.

We'll pick up the kids for lunch today. There's no school tomorrow and then we've got two days left of school on Thursday and Friday and they'll have canteen lunch. We'll be able to finish packing up and cleaning so we're ready to leave on Saturday.

2009-05-25T18:53:00.005+02:00

I think I'm losing my mind. Today I left my handbag in the change room at the shops. We bought the few things we wanted and walked out and I thought "Sh*t, where is my handbag?" We walked quickly back inside (can't run yet) and raced up to the security desk with total panic written all over my face and thank goodness it was there and the nice man handed it over pas de problem. Phew!

Sunday 24 May 2009

2009-05-24T16:57:00.008+02:00

Ahhh bliss!!!! The hottest day we've had for months and we finally arrived home at Cavaillon and after dumping everything inside all jumped in for a dip in the pool. What more could you want! This morning when we left Besancon it was already 28 degrees. When we arrived back at Cavaillon after 2 pm it was 37 degrees. Just perfect. We're all really enjoying the warm weather.

Besancon Photos

2009-05-23T07:12:00.025+02:00

Buildings along le River Doubs

Doubs River

The grand entrance to University Hospital Saint Jacques

Basilique Saint Ferjeux

Front steps of Basilique Saint Ferjeux

Laneway leading to the Chateau

Building in the courtyard of the Chateau

Chapel of the village St Laurent

Outside wall of Chateau

Entranceway to courtyard of Chateau (and the window Madame D.

was looking out of when we spotted her)

Domaine St Laurent

Front view of Chateau

Domaine St Laurent

Cathedrale Saint-Jean Horloge astonomique

Place du 8 Septembre - lots of cafes and restaurants

This photo was taken out an upper window of the Musee du Temps

Massive tapestries in the Musee du Temps

Besancon

2009-05-23T07:11:00.008+02:00

The main reason we returned to Besancon is that I was interested in seeing some more of my birthplace and also finding the chateau where Mum worked and also the lady who Mum worked for. It has all been a bit mysterious because I didn’t have any proper address to go to but we tracked down some people who used to be our neighbours in Montboucons where we lived for 2 years before we left France to come to Australia. My brother and I played with them as little kids. The woman I spoke to had never heard of the chateau or Madam D.

The addresses and numbering of houses in the villages is unusual. Houses are built in a random fashion not often in straight rows with the odd and even numbering system. We drove around the area where we thought the chateau was located but there was so many high rise apartment blocks and big shopping areas we were getting disheartened until we found the street where one of Madame D.'s children lives and then we found the chateau.

It is a very old and stately looking property. Madame D. just happened to be looking out an upper window as we drove by. Andrew spotted her so we stopped and told her we were looking for Madame D. and it was her. So we had a very short conversation and had a look around the grounds and took a few photos of the buildings. She gave me a red rose. I would have loved to go inside and have a good look around but we weren’t invited.

After leaving the chateau we went to St Ferjeux to look at the church where Mum and Dad were married and my brother and I were baptised. One of Mum and Dad's wedding photos shows them standing on the steps of the church with Madame D. so it was nice to see that in real life.

We did other things in Besancon besides tracing my family history. We ate out at restaurants every night, sat in cafes in Place du 8 Septembre to have coffee and people watch and managed to do a couple of tourist things. Like visit the Musee du Temps and the amazing Horloge Astronomique in the Cathedrale St Jean.

The city was so alive. It was an amazing transformation from January when it was death-defyingly cold.

Annecy Photos

2009-05-22T08:49:00.018+02:00

In front of Pont des Amours (Lovers' Bridge)
The kids enjoying icecream in front of the Canal and Palais de L'Isle
Canal and buildings alongside

Ella ogling the Helly Kitty stuff
Samuel helping the street performer
Playground at a rest stop on the way to Annecy

Annecy

2009-05-22T08:48:00.004+02:00

Our visit to Annecy started off badly after Samuel spotted our hotel not too far in the distance as we drove into Centre Ville but we couldn’t work out how to get to it. The one way streets and pedestrian only streets nearly got the better of us. We drove around in circles for ages even with me holding a map. (We won’t go into my map reading skills here.) After about half an hour I said I’ve just about had enough of this and Ella said that she’s just about had enough of us too arguing and we all started laughing because it was funny.

Annecy is absolutely gorgeous. It’s bustling and pretty and full of tourists. We were happy for the sunny day and so was everyone else judging by the crowds everywhere. Annecy is made for walking. Lots of little cobbled streets and old, old village buildings. There’s a beautiful park right next to the lake with grass which you’re permitted to walk on and gorgeous big old trees. We wandered around the park then along the canal and had to stop for beer by then and afterwards we kept walking along the streets faire du leche vitrine (window shopping – or window licking as they say in France).

There was a street performer making balloon toys for kids and Samuel and Ella really wanted one so we hung around and she ended up doing a magic show and lots of people gathered round and she kept telling everyone we were from Australia and we had come here just to see her show. It was very funny.

Wednesday 20 May 2009

2009-05-20T06:46:00.005+02:00

Today we're driving to Annecy for two nights and then to Besancon for two nights. Back Sunday.

Le Mas Du Coq - Villa Tamaris

2009-05-19T17:57:00.014+02:00

The backyard which the kids have really enjoyed

Our villa

The view from the back door

Lacoste

2009-05-19T16:00:00.015+02:00

Statue of Maquis du Sade

We spent the day wandering around the pretty villages of Menerbes and Lacoste. The castle in the photos once belonged to the family of Marquis du Sade but has been bought by Pierre Cardin who has begun restoration work.

Photos of Menerbes

2009-05-19T15:52:00.015+02:00

Faire le pont...

2009-05-19T06:47:00.015+02:00

We have a whole day to ourselves today. The kids are having canteen for lunch so we don't have to pick them up today. Normally there is no school on a Wednesday but this week Thursday is a public holiday so just for this week the kids are meant to go to school on Wednesday and have Thursday and Friday as holidays.

When a public holiday falls on a Thursday or Tuesday, it is common practice to "make the bridge" (faire le pont) by taking off the Friday or Monday so creating a very long weekend. When this happens businesses run on short staff or smaller family run businesses close for the full period.

We're actually going away tomorrow for a few days up north to Annecy and Besancon. We have been to both places before but it was so freezing cold it was hard to enjoy them properly. I'm looking forward to seeing both places now that it's warmer.