A Final France Post

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Well, we have been back just over a month now and I am only now getting round to uploading some photos of the trip and writing this final post (and the kids have absolutely trashed the house while I have been doing this – small price to pay for a bit of ‘me’ time I guess!).  We were only in Paris a month ago, but it feels like years now!!  Very hard to believe going back through the photos that we have actually been there!!  We are all back into the routines of work and school again and Lexi’s fractured arm has healed no problems at all!  She was hardly bothered by it but at least now we have plenty of ammunition to use against Grammy and Grunda for having a broken arm on their watch hehehehe.

Looking back on all the photos and reading our blog posts we squeezed soooo much in to ten short days and we really did get to see and do heaps and have a really wonderful time!  The funny thing about blogs and photos though is that they don’t show really how tired we were, or how grumpy at some points, or how some things didn’t quite go to plan etc!  So I think the thing to remind ourselves when we plan our next trip, is that travel is never perfect – things go wrong, you get tired, sometimes you get sick, you get lost, you have to wait in long lines sometimes to see the things you want, you lose things etc, etc, BUT often that is the fun and adventure of travelling – coping with the unexpected things!  You learn to be independent, adaptive, inventive, patient and resilient (and to learn to laugh at yourself!).

I wish (as always with the gift of hindsight!) that I could go back and do the trip all over again and soak it all up that little bit more!  Even though we tried to take it all in at the time – it is only since we have been home that I am really starting to appreciate all we got to see and do and just how lucky we were to be able to go and have our kids kept happy and looked after while we were away (thank you sooo much Mum and Dad).  Ten days with just the two of us doing what we wanted, whenever, eating and sleeping when we wanted seems a million miles away now!

I’ve uploaded an album of photos to Facebook if you are interested and more than happy to talk Paris to anyone who is thinking of going or is willing to listen to us prattle on!!  So that is it for our amazing trip to France, I have enjoyed the blogging so think I will start blogging our next adventure which we are planning for Matt’s long service leave in 2013 – so stay tuned!

Love Jess

The France Wrap Up – Jess Style

Jess Top 5 France ‘Things’

1. Riding a bike into the ‘Louvre Square’ at twilight with musicians playing in the entry ways. We did a loop around the fountain and the glass pyramid – it was a really fun and a beautiful ‘french’ moment! (oh – and I was very pleased I could still ride a bike – I had forgotten how fun it is to ride a bike – definitely want to get one when all the kids can ride)

2. Driving around the little country roads of the Loire Valley – just going wherever looked interesting and passing through pretty villages all with their own different chateaus.

3. Lying on the grass looking up at the sparkly Eiffel Tower.

4. Going into ‘boulangers’ and choosing something to eat out of all the yummy pastries and baguettes! I can still smell the beautiful smell!

5. Going to bed late and knowing that there would be no wakeups from the kids during the night and I could sleep in to whenever I woke in the morning! No kids hungry for breaky or fighting and no alarm clock!

My Worst Moment of the Trip?

Definitely feeling so sick on our second day and basically spending most of it in bed! A valuable day of the trip taken away! And not feeling like eating any of the yummy things all around! And I was frustrated when it took me so long to figure out how to get home from Galleries La Fayette shopping!

If I had more time?

Definitely wish I had more time to shop! Would really have liked time to buy a piece of jewelry each for Lex and I and perfume for mum, and Beth and Kate (sorry guys – next time!) and shoes and clothes. I just need time when I shop to really choose what I want!

And would have loved more time to have a proper look through the museums but I think you would need weeks to do this!

And wish we had more time just to lie in the pretty parks and sit in the cafes and watch the French world go by. We tried to balance some of this with sightseeing but with so much to see over there – we ended up being pretty busy!

It was a really great trip and a lovely memory for Matt and I to add to our life journey together! We both laughed and said we will go back in 20 years when all the kids have left home and get some photos in the same places and see how much we have aged! Hard to imagine 20 years on from now but something to aim for to get back there together!

We miss the kids though so definitely time to go home and plan our next family adventure!

Matt’s Top 5

To keep me distracted, and away from the plastic cutlery Jess has suggested I do a top 5, so here goes:

Top 5 worst things.
1. Right now
2. About 3 hours ago
3. About 14 hrs from now
4. Chambord castle, what a disappointment that was!
5. Arc de Triomphe and Champs Élysées, faaaaar to crowded for me!

Top 5 Things we missed and will do next time.
1. Basilique du Sacré Cœur: it is a church at the highest point of the city so affords some pretty spectacular views….. Apparently.
2. Cabaret show, not necessarily roulin mouge, but a good parisian cabaret would have been good
3. At least 1 more day in paris and one more day in the Loire valley just to wander.
4. Learn more French next time
5. Book the Concorde or some supersonic aircraft next time, this 28 hrs if traveling is just crap!

And Top 5 Favourite moments
1. Riding around Paris with a bunch of loud mouthed Americans ‘dominating’ the streets
2. Leonard da vinci’s last home Clos Luc, a very well presented monument to the great man who I idolized as a kid.
3. Our last supper, Jess and I got doll’d up on the last night and splurged a bit in dinner, what a treat
4. Sitting under the Eiffel tower at midnight watching the sky change from day to night. (while being offered 2€ bottles of plonk by some very suspicious african men)
5. Free driving around the Loire specifically staying off the main roads and seeing some really special little villages.

Ok, my eyes a slits, the man has told us to move to a different gate and I still need to pop 2 Neuro plus as part of my plan to drop a big F-bomb on these bloody ‘jumps’, the other part of the plan will include about 6 hard spirits on the rocks before takeoff.

That’ll fix ’em!!!

God help me!

We are in Abu Dhabi, only 6 hrs of flying down and I am dying! It is about 0700 Paris time and I haven’t slept a wink, which would not be too bad but it is because I have had the ‘jumps’ I can thank mum for this fabulous genetic phenomenon but basically every nerve ending in my arms and legs become electrified and ‘jitter’ causing the most annoying sensation possible and the uncontrollable need to make my limbs move and ‘jump’. Thanks mum! Of all your endearing qualities….

So less then a third of the way home and I am not in a good way. Jess of course didn’t make take off as usual and only woke when the wheel touched down on landing, so she is chipper and can’t understand why suddenly her normally bubbly husband is about to test the airport security limits and find out exactly what their protocol is when presented with a ‘crazy, lunatic australian man wanting to cut his limbs off with the plastic knife just used to eat a croissant’ which by the way, was the best croissant we have had all fortnight, yeah, 2 weeks in France and we have come to Abu Dhabi to get the best!

Anyhoo, I’m off to find a treadmill to punch out a couple of k’s and hope to fix these bloody ‘jumps’

Aaaarrrrggghhhhh!!!!!!

Au Revoir Paris

So our little trip to the other side of the planet comes to an end. We have just paid 40€ for some microwave lasagna and a piece of lettuce, some warm cokes and a stale sandwich. CDG is officially the worse airport I have ever been to. Including bandar seri bagawan, Denpasar and Sydney.

We got to the airport with plenty of time after driving to Paris this morning and doing a little more shopping. Lucky we did because I didn’t reconfirm the flights (I know, typical travel agent!) an they were an hours earlier then we thought! Oh well here now!

Boarding in 15 mins, might get a chance to blog some more from Abu dhabi or Singapore but who knows I might be too shagged, actually looking forward to the flight for some time to stop and rest.

Au Revoir!

A morning walk

Just a photo post of the walk we took before breaky this morning.

On the Motorway

Well we are on the Motorway back to Paris now. We have bitten the bullet this morning and opted for the fastest route back possible and allowed Tolls – so we are travelling at the min 130kms an hour and will be in Paris in 2.5 hrs. The cars are very good at keeping in the right line unless overtaking here in France.

We made it to the Chocolate Factory after Chambord castle yesterday but unfortunately all the tours had finished for the day. We had a few little tastes and I bought a couple of expensive choccies to try at home. The French chocolate is very rich!

We saw the horse show at Chambord yesterday too and it was not worth the €12 we paid each but kids would have loved it. There were a few good tricks of a horse lying on it’s back with it’s legs in the air, and riders doing handstands etc while their horses galloped and a little bit of jousting etc.

We decided to splash out and have a very nice French restaurant dinner for our last night in France. I even wore a dress and had time without rushing to do my hair and a bit of makeup – what a treat!

Our meals were nice but I think we have both decided we are not fans of the French ‘Foie gras’ (sort of a hard pate) – we just can’t get paste the texture! My wine was very nice though! French desserts are definitely our favourite! Matt loves the ‘cafe gourmand’ desserts which are an expresso coffee with usually 3 or 4 little samples of different desserts – yum! I just love all the pastries!

Ok – better get the Tom Tom back and running. We got away a little late this morning – as would you believe – we sat at breakfast with a kiwi couple who grew up in Pirongia! They run a B&B on the Coramandel coast now.

Hopefully I get a bit more shopping done in Paris later today! Wish us luck navigating the airport!

Just about out of clean undies …..

Just about out of clean undies which can only mean one thing – it is just about time to come home. Our trip has gone soooooooo quickly!

I am writing this laying on a picnic blanket (our blanket we pinched from the plane – thanks Etihad!) in front of Chambord castle. We have just had a picnic of an interesting French style hotdog and kebab for lunch and now have half an hour to wait before our horse spectacular here at the castle starts. Before we came here this morning we visited the chateau Clos de Luce where Leonardo Da Vinci spent the last 3 years of his life.

I had no idea Da Vinci was such an inventor, anatomist etc! It was quite an interesting visit and yes I really do need to get my act together if I am going to leave my mark on the world! Da Vinci is credited with sooooo many things! His painting, shifting spanners, the archimedes screw, early motor car ideas, his philosophies on life etc, etc, etc! Yes – left feeling very inconsequential!

Hoping to visit a chocolate factory on our way home tonight before heading out for a final French dinner – all going so fast!

Beaten by a banana & nutella crepe!

So I am soooooo full that I feel disgusting! I decided that my stomach was recovered enough to try a banana and nutella crepe tonight and it was delicious but sooooooo rich! The French love their crepes and nutella! You can buy nutella by the bucket load over here!

We have had a great day just adventuring around the Loire Valley today – we have seen the really pretty side of it today! We drove about an hour and a half to Chinon today and had a picnic lunch of cheese, olives and dips by the river. Chinon was a very medieval village with a big walled Chateau up on the hill.

Then we headed to Chateau de Ussy which was our favourite castle so far! We got there only an hour before closing and basically had the place to ourselves. It was great as we felt like we were just exploring this big old castle by ourselves – it was free entry too! A great castle for kids with a ‘sleeping beauty’ tower and even an attic to explore! We bought the boys a wooden sword each here so hopefully that will keep them happy!

We did a lot of driving around on little country roads through lots of corn and sunflower crops – and forestry tracks (yes not the GPS’s finest effort – she lead us a little astray a few times!). We went through a lovely little farming village called St Benois – wish we had of found a B&B there!

We also had a quick look at Chateau de Azalay which was really pretty in a very arty village. Finally we had dinner in Langlesis – again beside another Chateau! Every town has it’s own Chateau! It was really fun just heading off to whatever sign looked interesting next! And the weather did fine up for the afternoon!

Ok – well we are enjoying the slower pace and our Bed & Breakfast is just out of town so it is very quiet ! We have a beautiful big loft room reached by sn external spiral staircase which is part of a big old country farm house/chateau! There are two horses, two dogs and lots of cats here! And great views out over the paddocks. We are having yummy breakfasts of juice and a baskets of breads with cheese and jams and yogurt for breakfast. Took a little getting used to at first – always sooooo much bread with every meal here! But now we are quite enjoying it.

Matt is getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road and we have only had a couple of panic moments of quickly correcting to the other side so far! I still think it is funny driving around France in a car that sounds like Dad’s ute! (diesel Ford Fiesta).

Missing the kids like crazy now – especially poor little Lex with her sore arm but I know Grammy & Grunda have it all under control (we are surprised how well they are getting themselves all over Brisbane to doctors and xrays etc!). Can’t wait to come home but also don’t want the sleeping in and tripping around to end either!!!

A few more random French Facts

So just a few more things that I have noticed while over here;

Dogs are allowed everywhere in France! I have seen them in the super market, in the hotel and in the cafes! Jerry would be in heaven! Should have bought him in my back pack!

Exposed wooden beams in all the cafes and hotel rooms – very ‘old’ French interiors.

Yes the French do buy a baguette on the way home everyday – everybody seems to have a baguette tucked under their arms in the evening!

The French men spittting on the footpath is disgusting!

Yes the French do kiss on both cheeks to say hello and goodbye! Even teenagers do this with their friends!

There are Japanese restaurants everywhere in Paris!

It is not ok to talk on your mobile or talk loudly with friends on public transport – I have seen several old people get very cranky at young people for doing this!

It is not getting dark over here until 11pm and the light again by 5 or 6am (I am not up that early – I’m on holidays so I’m just guessing!)

The nighttime sounds of birds and owls are very different!

And I think that is all I can think of for now!