Monday, March 9, 2009
Feu à l’école
The kids were meant to start back at school today after a 2 week holiday. It was a bit of a struggle to get up earlier and get organised but we managed to leave sort of on time at 8am. When we arrived at the school we were met with two fire engines, flashing lights and miles of fire hoses unravelled down our street. I finally got up the courage to ask one of the firemen what was happening. I said "Pourquoi vous êtes ici?" which translates to "why you are here?" And it turns out there was a fire in the school kitchen. So all the kids were sent home. Samuel and Ella were happy about it.
L'Isle sur la Sorgue - Sunday 8 March 2009
House perched at the edge of the river
Big wheel used for power in the olden days
Samuel enjoying his day out 
Andrew, Ella and someone's faithful friend
Ella in the yard with a toy workbench she made with little plastic blocks
Andrew and Samuel at the dining tableAfter the mistral winds driving us mad for the last two days (and also the tv's broken), we took advantage of the beautiful weather on Sunday to go for a drive to L'Isle sur la Sorgue. It's such a pretty place. Can you believe the temperature was 22 degrees, and hardly any wind. Bliss! Daniella our next door neighbour came with us. We spent the afternoon walking along the markets and sitting by the river. It was so nice.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
How Clean is your House
Today I washed all our bed linen right down to the mattress cover. I think I’ve developed some new phobias since we’ve been travelling like being weird about sleeping in other beds. It’s mainly related to cleanliness I think especially when a place looks clean at first glance and then you find stuff like stray hair, ugh! I didn’t wash the quilt. It was too big to fit in the 5kg machine but I might take it to the drycleaners.
There's a show on tv here called "How Clean is your House" where these two women called Kim and Aggie go to people's houses who have lost the plot in the housework department. It's just amazing to see how people can live in such squalid and grotty conditions. They come in with their team of cleaners and they also do scientific testing for various bacteria and germs then transform the house and return a couple of weeks later to see if the people have kept up the house.
There's a show on tv here called "How Clean is your House" where these two women called Kim and Aggie go to people's houses who have lost the plot in the housework department. It's just amazing to see how people can live in such squalid and grotty conditions. They come in with their team of cleaners and they also do scientific testing for various bacteria and germs then transform the house and return a couple of weeks later to see if the people have kept up the house.
Camera Joy
Oh happy happy day!! Today I found out why my camera won’t work properly. I’ve been making jokes about the camera not liking the cold weather and that's exactly what it is. Acccording to the Fujifilm website, if the battery is in temperatures lower than 10°C it has a shorter life span and won’t charge properly. Probably sounds obvious to some people but I didn't know. The battery needs to be kept warm and then inserted into the camera when you’re ready to take a photo. How inconvenient. But I guess better than not having any camera at all. I should have thought of looking at the website a bit sooner. Before we paid €49 for another battery.
Friday, March 6, 2009
The Willows Guest House - Tuesday 3 March 2009
Finally arrived back to Stansted Airport to drop off the hire car. Kevin at The Willows Guest House came to pick us up from the airport and suggested a traditional pub nearby for dinner (The Three Horseshoes) where he dropped us off and then came back again when we’d finished dinner to collect us. What service!! Our room at The Willows Guest House was beautifully decorated and very comfortable and spotlessly clean. Such a pleasure to be somewhere really nice.
In the morning we had a yummy semi continental breakfast and then Kevin drove us back to the airport to catch our lunch time flight back to Carcassonne. It was a pleasant end to a busy 5 days in the UK.
On arrival back in Carcassonne it was raining and it rained the whole way back to Cavaillon. We took a short cut across from Nimes instead of driving up to Avignon and back down on the peage road. I don’t think it saved much time but it was a nice drive even in the rain via Beaucaire and St Remy de Provence.
Much of the long windy country roads are lined with the majestic plane trees which I love and which still look beautiful even in their leafless winter state. The trees are said to have been planted by Napoleon to shade his troops from the heat of the midday sun but that could just be a myth. A lot of the plane trees have been marked to be chopped down because of road safety issues and mad speeding drivers who crash into them. But I'm not sure if the chopping is still happening because there was such a big protest from the french people.
In the morning we had a yummy semi continental breakfast and then Kevin drove us back to the airport to catch our lunch time flight back to Carcassonne. It was a pleasant end to a busy 5 days in the UK.
On arrival back in Carcassonne it was raining and it rained the whole way back to Cavaillon. We took a short cut across from Nimes instead of driving up to Avignon and back down on the peage road. I don’t think it saved much time but it was a nice drive even in the rain via Beaucaire and St Remy de Provence.
Much of the long windy country roads are lined with the majestic plane trees which I love and which still look beautiful even in their leafless winter state. The trees are said to have been planted by Napoleon to shade his troops from the heat of the midday sun but that could just be a myth. A lot of the plane trees have been marked to be chopped down because of road safety issues and mad speeding drivers who crash into them. But I'm not sure if the chopping is still happening because there was such a big protest from the french people.
Cadbury World - Tuesday 3 March 2009
On the way back to London this morning, we decided a detour to Birmingham to visit the Cadbury Factory would be a crowd pleaser. And it was. As we drove down the motorway reading the purple signs showing the way to Cadbury World we felt a bit like the Griswalds turning up to visit Wally World only to find it closed but we had checked at the tourist office to see that it was open so that was a promising start.
The tour was fun for the kids. There was stories and displays which showed how the cocoa bean was first discovered by the Aztecs and how chocolate is made. Then there was a story of how the Cadbury Family started in the early days and how the Cadbury Family helped build the town of Bournville. There was a little Beanmobile ride called Cadabra which wound its way through a Cadbury play world of chocolate which Ella loved. It had all these talking, singing and dancing chocolates. We didn’t actually get as much free chocolate as I would have liked considering the admission price but at the end of the tour you can buy chocolate at reduced prices at their factory store.
The tour was fun for the kids. There was stories and displays which showed how the cocoa bean was first discovered by the Aztecs and how chocolate is made. Then there was a story of how the Cadbury Family started in the early days and how the Cadbury Family helped build the town of Bournville. There was a little Beanmobile ride called Cadabra which wound its way through a Cadbury play world of chocolate which Ella loved. It had all these talking, singing and dancing chocolates. We didn’t actually get as much free chocolate as I would have liked considering the admission price but at the end of the tour you can buy chocolate at reduced prices at their factory store.
Royal Armouries, Leeds - Monday 2 March 2009
We spent the morning shopping in Leeds. We took the kids to Clarkes and had them measured and fitted for new shoes. The woman who served us was very thorough and most helpful. The kids have both gone through several pairs of shoes since we’ve been away. I don’t know if they’re especially hard on their shoes but they just seem to fall to bits in weeks...could it be the supermarket shoes I'm buying?
In the afternoon we chose a visit to the Royal Armouries as something the kids would find interesting. The Royal Armouries contains the UK’s national collection of arms and armour. Of the 9 different galleries we managed to get through War, Hunting, Oriental and Self Defence galleries. There was replicas of war scenes and people dressed as they would have looked to fight in wars over the centuries and displays of the different weapons of war, guns, swords and descriptions of strategies used in wars. Quite horrific really. We watched a demonstration of two men showing their sword fighting prowess. That was a bit scarey even though it was all staged. Samuel enjoyed watching that presentation.
In the afternoon we chose a visit to the Royal Armouries as something the kids would find interesting. The Royal Armouries contains the UK’s national collection of arms and armour. Of the 9 different galleries we managed to get through War, Hunting, Oriental and Self Defence galleries. There was replicas of war scenes and people dressed as they would have looked to fight in wars over the centuries and displays of the different weapons of war, guns, swords and descriptions of strategies used in wars. Quite horrific really. We watched a demonstration of two men showing their sword fighting prowess. That was a bit scarey even though it was all staged. Samuel enjoyed watching that presentation.
Manly Sea Eagles 28 Leeds Rhinos 20
We checked out of The Grainstore early and headed up to Leeds for the Manly game. After a brusque welcome at Novotel reception we were told our room wasn’t ready so we went for a walk around the city which was bustling for a Sunday afternoon. All the shops were open which is a change from France.
Going to see Manly play was a great experience. It was so exciting to be at a live game. We had other Manly supporters wishing our team luck and people chatted to us. We were totally outnumbered by the Leeds Rhinos blue and gold colours everywhere but Andrew had his Manly jersey on and his Manly scarf and the kids wore Manly caps. We sat amongst the 50 or so Manly supporters most of whom had flown over on a specially organised tour from Australia for the game.
It was a great game to watch, very entertaining and thrilling. The noise of the home crowd chanting their team songs and banging on their drums and cheering when their team scored a try was incredible. The Manly supporters made noise too but it couldn't compare to the crescendo of the home crowd. Both teams played well but I must say it was good to be on the winning side. According to Andrew, Manly dominated the game for the first 60-70 minutes but close to the end Manly let a couple of quick tries through in the far corner which made the finish closer and very exciting for the crowd. The atmosphere was competitive but we felt like we were among friends.
At the end of the game a Leeds Rhinos supporter sitting in front of us with his two young boys turned to Samuel, shook his hand and handed Samuel his Leeds Rhinos Gold Member's scarf with a commemorative game pin and said "Son, your team is the best in the world". We didn't know what to say. The crowd was very vocal but at the end of the game they were gracious losers and we had a good chat with a few of them. Andrew wore his Manly scarf around the markets the next morning and got a few "You've got a hide wearing that around here laddy" .
Going to see Manly play was a great experience. It was so exciting to be at a live game. We had other Manly supporters wishing our team luck and people chatted to us. We were totally outnumbered by the Leeds Rhinos blue and gold colours everywhere but Andrew had his Manly jersey on and his Manly scarf and the kids wore Manly caps. We sat amongst the 50 or so Manly supporters most of whom had flown over on a specially organised tour from Australia for the game.
It was a great game to watch, very entertaining and thrilling. The noise of the home crowd chanting their team songs and banging on their drums and cheering when their team scored a try was incredible. The Manly supporters made noise too but it couldn't compare to the crescendo of the home crowd. Both teams played well but I must say it was good to be on the winning side. According to Andrew, Manly dominated the game for the first 60-70 minutes but close to the end Manly let a couple of quick tries through in the far corner which made the finish closer and very exciting for the crowd. The atmosphere was competitive but we felt like we were among friends.
At the end of the game a Leeds Rhinos supporter sitting in front of us with his two young boys turned to Samuel, shook his hand and handed Samuel his Leeds Rhinos Gold Member's scarf with a commemorative game pin and said "Son, your team is the best in the world". We didn't know what to say. The crowd was very vocal but at the end of the game they were gracious losers and we had a good chat with a few of them. Andrew wore his Manly scarf around the markets the next morning and got a few "You've got a hide wearing that around here laddy" .
Natural History Museum - Saturday 28 February 2009
The kids at the dinosaur exhibition (apologies for the photo, sorry). You can only just see the dinosaur skeleton behind them.
This morning after a yummy greasy English breakfast of bacon, eggs, tomato, sausages and piles of hot buttered toast, we went to London City Airport which is just round the corner from us, to collect our hire car. We had researched train travel on the internet and found that it was going to be lots cheaper to have a car than pay for the 4 of us to go to Leeds by train and back. It was a bit disappointing because I love train travel, much more relaxing than driving. The car hire was £200 which was about half what it would have cost to go by train.
We spent the rest of the day on the tube getting to the Natural History Museum. It took ages because the Jubilee line which is the direct train we would normally have got on was shut for maintenance so we had to take this circuitous route around inner London. By the time we finally arrived I nearly couldn’t be bothered. But the museum was so fantastic and absorbing – so much to see. A few of the highlights for us were the lifesize dinosaur exhibition, the massive mammals including the blue whale and the marine fossils display. There was way too much for us for one afternoon. The museum building itself is also very beautiful and is a world famous London landmark known as the Waterhouse Building named after the young architect Alfred Waterhouse who designed it after the originally commissioned architect died.
The area of Kensington has several other museums too but the kids can only take in so much at a time so we promised them an outdoor activity afterwards at Hyde Park which was fun. The kids spotted some cute squirrels which were quite funny to watch scampering about and up and down trees and gathering their bits and pieces.
We walked back to catch our train via Harrods just to say we’d been there. It was packed with Saturday afternoon shoppers. The crowds and traffic and the constant police sirens made it all quite hectic. For some reason I kept thinking that they bomb places like this where the rich people shop. We didn't hang around too long. It was about 5pm by this time and we were all starting to feel a bit ragged. We finished the day at a small restaurant near our hotel where we had nachos and club sandwiches for dinner.
We spent the rest of the day on the tube getting to the Natural History Museum. It took ages because the Jubilee line which is the direct train we would normally have got on was shut for maintenance so we had to take this circuitous route around inner London. By the time we finally arrived I nearly couldn’t be bothered. But the museum was so fantastic and absorbing – so much to see. A few of the highlights for us were the lifesize dinosaur exhibition, the massive mammals including the blue whale and the marine fossils display. There was way too much for us for one afternoon. The museum building itself is also very beautiful and is a world famous London landmark known as the Waterhouse Building named after the young architect Alfred Waterhouse who designed it after the originally commissioned architect died.
The area of Kensington has several other museums too but the kids can only take in so much at a time so we promised them an outdoor activity afterwards at Hyde Park which was fun. The kids spotted some cute squirrels which were quite funny to watch scampering about and up and down trees and gathering their bits and pieces.
We walked back to catch our train via Harrods just to say we’d been there. It was packed with Saturday afternoon shoppers. The crowds and traffic and the constant police sirens made it all quite hectic. For some reason I kept thinking that they bomb places like this where the rich people shop. We didn't hang around too long. It was about 5pm by this time and we were all starting to feel a bit ragged. We finished the day at a small restaurant near our hotel where we had nachos and club sandwiches for dinner.
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