Interesting quick update on skin prompted by Manda´s comments yesterday!
Brad - looks ´´jaundice, a funny yellow colour´´ as per Manda! Does she mean bronzed??? Hope so!
Manda - looks pink but is gradually losing her flouresence! Feet are brown! Has recently ventured into shorts with the warmer weather.
Off now to airport to collect car and head back to France. Provence here we come!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Barcelona!
Spain! Warm wonderful Spain! Home of tapas and sangria right?! Yes and no. After our first afternoon here (drove from dordogne to Barcelona airport and caught train to town) I'd have said it was home of scantly clad women (some more beautiful than others) on the roadside looking to promote the 'stop revive survive' campaigns by getting weary drivers (or was that horney drivers?!!) off the road and into the back seat/bush (pun intended!). We, or at least I, must have seen 10 or more on one short stretch of road: can only assume the local government has identified this 'sextion' as a 'black spot' danger zone!! My other impression was that of dodgy street people selling these whistles which can only be appreciated truly after 2+ hours of listening to them and being offered the purchase of one. Arrrrgh! You'll be glad to know the tapas and sangria experience did come. Along with Antoni Gaudo. He for Manda and I has really made Barcelona what it is. He must have had a brilliantly intelligent mind for art and architecture as his works are inspirational and certainly mind boggling. Not surprisingly Manda has gone Japanese on anything Gaudi with the camera, to the point of suggesting to me we get up at 5am, yes in the morning, and go and get photos when no one else is there (ie get photos like in the books or better!). We bought a book instead! His works here are indeed amazing with the most brilliant still 15 years from completion; the sagrada familia. Long lines (4000 people a day), expensive admission (15€+ for a student more if an adult: we are both students, so the ID card says!!! And the church call it a donation!!!) and tourist central (constant stream of tourist coaches ALL day) but well and truly worth the wait. English tour a must.
Also have done the beach thing. It was ok, good atmosphere but usual poor surf. Watch your bag! Thieves as always in operation.
Markets here great. Preserved ham amazing! At 150€ per kg it'd want to be I guess (3€ a slice for the record). Also worthy of mention was their fresh juice 200ml cup 1.50€ a bottle for 3€ and the flavours and combinations of fruits seemed endless. Manda had raspberry and coconut and I had pineapple and lime one day mango and coconut the other! Gig!
Lunch at gaudi park had an impressive view over Barcelona! Puts it all in perspective. Scalpers sold Manda some cute little bracelets which she managed to bargain them down to less than 1/2 price! Good job I thought. Will make lovely souvenirs!
The citadel park was also beaut but we very nearly had our bag stolen from right beneath our noses! 3 young blokes (15 maybe) came round as we were having lunch (bag open of course) and asked us to sign a petition for something to do with the deaf. I figured the best idea was to sign it and they'd piss off. I took the clip board from one of them and Manda followed my lead. I read the top of the form and was dubious but proceeded to sign as did Manda. Next thing we knew they wanted a donation, ie where is your money, and when we said no they were right up in our faces pushing the board really close hence blocking our view of the bag, camera etc on the ground. I felt like something was going and instinctively grabbed at where the bag was and by chance caught 1 of the 3 of the blokes had in our bag so grabbed it extra hard and pushed him and his mates back. They looked sheepish and all started yabbering away in spanish before disappearing. A close call as he would only have been literally 2 seconds from pocketing the iPod as it was on top of the bag and in clear view! Phew! A timely reminder to be more vigilant and street smart!
Otherwise time here has been wonderful and couldn't say a bad word. A few amazing dinners and sangria along the way also. When we return home I think a sangria and tapas party will be in order; the Spanish certainly know how to have a good time!
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| Gaudi chimney on rooftop |
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| Manda on rooftop |
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| Front of Gaudi house |
Markets here great. Preserved ham amazing! At 150€ per kg it'd want to be I guess (3€ a slice for the record). Also worthy of mention was their fresh juice 200ml cup 1.50€ a bottle for 3€ and the flavours and combinations of fruits seemed endless. Manda had raspberry and coconut and I had pineapple and lime one day mango and coconut the other! Gig!
Lunch at gaudi park had an impressive view over Barcelona! Puts it all in perspective. Scalpers sold Manda some cute little bracelets which she managed to bargain them down to less than 1/2 price! Good job I thought. Will make lovely souvenirs!
The citadel park was also beaut but we very nearly had our bag stolen from right beneath our noses! 3 young blokes (15 maybe) came round as we were having lunch (bag open of course) and asked us to sign a petition for something to do with the deaf. I figured the best idea was to sign it and they'd piss off. I took the clip board from one of them and Manda followed my lead. I read the top of the form and was dubious but proceeded to sign as did Manda. Next thing we knew they wanted a donation, ie where is your money, and when we said no they were right up in our faces pushing the board really close hence blocking our view of the bag, camera etc on the ground. I felt like something was going and instinctively grabbed at where the bag was and by chance caught 1 of the 3 of the blokes had in our bag so grabbed it extra hard and pushed him and his mates back. They looked sheepish and all started yabbering away in spanish before disappearing. A close call as he would only have been literally 2 seconds from pocketing the iPod as it was on top of the bag and in clear view! Phew! A timely reminder to be more vigilant and street smart!
Otherwise time here has been wonderful and couldn't say a bad word. A few amazing dinners and sangria along the way also. When we return home I think a sangria and tapas party will be in order; the Spanish certainly know how to have a good time!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Honfleur to the Dordogne (Vitrac/Sarlat)
Despite the fact we were trying to leave the Honfleur area we were still bumsteered left and right and any which way by the gendarmerie protecting the G8 people; on the bright side it was a pleasant drive however narrow the roads became! Our mission was to get to Mont St Michel via the Normandy D-Day beaches. We called in at a blustery cold sword beach to start (most easterly of the 5 beaches) and worked west. Typically not much to see; the odd monument, museum, and a little strip of sand and terrace style homes usually. No where near as pretty as France generally.
Eventually, after a night along the way, we rolled into Mont Saint Michel which really was a sight to behold!
The imposing abbey atop the larger of 2 rocky islands in the bay. The road connecting it to the mainland sadly dry today as it would have been fantastic to see it at during high high tide. Rather tide was out. Sadly the abbey wasn't open frustrating Manda and I immensely (someone was striking?!?) along with about 10000 other tourists there that day! Ouch! Manda opt to wander the village there (home to 40 permanent residents and maybe 200 shops) whilst I walked around it carefully avoiding the quick sand and any deep streams of sea water. Quick sand incidentally a real risk - I watched one goose try and pull himself out from being bogged to the knee before he ended up bogged to the waist. I left him when his hips went under... Saw him later so assume he got out!!! Otherwise it was a really cool place! Cider, another of the Normandy regions specialities, was alas not so goo but for 1.50€ per L at 5% alcohol it was tolerable!
From here we headed south over a few pleasant but uneventful days to the Dordogne region where Manda had booked us a little gite/cottage close to the river. It was a terrific place to relax and recuperate from the travels! Hahaha! Our time here was indeed very relaxing and comparatively taken at a slow steady pace!
Activities included;
1. chateau de castlenaud: amazingly lavish chateau perched high above river; Manda saved Fransour from a certain death and won a fabulous poster!
2. le roque gageac: A pretty little town built around the cliffside troglodyte dwellings and tightly hemmed in against a big bend in the Dordogne river.
3. le roque st Christophe: another rather large and impressive troglodyte cave/rock shelter used over the eras (approx 25000 years of history)
4. a monkey park where we fed them popcorn and I found a long lost brother! See Manda welcoming him to the clan!
5. the jardin marsquees: another close favourite. Incredible topiary work in gardens solely dedicated to hedges with 360 views of the Dordogne.
6. the little villages of domme, Sarlat, and les ezysie again very picturesque.
7. Canoeing with picnic lunch and a capsized vessel and embarrassed and cold captain (me). Just ask Manda who advised against it and thought in advance to film it.... Great way as always to see the area. Manda paddled us about 25km, quite impressive really!
8. Markets markets and more markets with great fresh produce and CHEESE! Raspberries, Manda's favourite for 1.50€ a punnet picked the day prior from their farm - nearly as good/fresh as dads berries at home!
9. Without doubt our favourite, the Font de gaume caves: prehistoric polychrome paintings by the Neanderthal man believed to have been done some 15000 years ago. No photos and only 12 people per tour group (170 per day max) so it is booked out before time generally (we only managed to get a French tour!?! Guide, thanks to Manda asking her in French, did some in English much to most of the groups delight and benefit - thanks M!). I suspect our future generations may not get access as they have closed to the public all the other caves with original paintings in the Perigord region and the Font de gaume is very much limited in where you go/what you see. All in the name of preservation! What a contrast to good old slap stick Turkey where you live for the day!
Eventually, after a night along the way, we rolled into Mont Saint Michel which really was a sight to behold!
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| Mont Saint Michel |
From here we headed south over a few pleasant but uneventful days to the Dordogne region where Manda had booked us a little gite/cottage close to the river. It was a terrific place to relax and recuperate from the travels! Hahaha! Our time here was indeed very relaxing and comparatively taken at a slow steady pace!
 |
| View of Dordogne from town of Domm - wow! |
1. chateau de castlenaud: amazingly lavish chateau perched high above river; Manda saved Fransour from a certain death and won a fabulous poster!
2. le roque gageac: A pretty little town built around the cliffside troglodyte dwellings and tightly hemmed in against a big bend in the Dordogne river.
3. le roque st Christophe: another rather large and impressive troglodyte cave/rock shelter used over the eras (approx 25000 years of history)
4. a monkey park where we fed them popcorn and I found a long lost brother! See Manda welcoming him to the clan!
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| Our long lost brother Hugh |
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| Manda at gardins looking over the Dordogne River |
7. Canoeing with picnic lunch and a capsized vessel and embarrassed and cold captain (me). Just ask Manda who advised against it and thought in advance to film it.... Great way as always to see the area. Manda paddled us about 25km, quite impressive really!
8. Markets markets and more markets with great fresh produce and CHEESE! Raspberries, Manda's favourite for 1.50€ a punnet picked the day prior from their farm - nearly as good/fresh as dads berries at home!
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| Market at Sarlat - largest town in the Dordogne, 6 minutes from Vitrac/cottage |
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Epernay to Honfleur via Rouen - text
Goodbye relaxed casual orderly country feel of Epernay and hello hustle bustle noise and chaos of Rouen. Rouen, another town on the Seine, was a had to do; mainly for my benefit as another of my grandmothers uncles is buried in the war cemetery there. Finding the cemetery kept us busy and frustrated; we tried late arvo without a map (massive test for my driving and Manda's patience in afternoon rush hour) and early morning with a map (but it still took us a while)! The cemetery, considering it's large size, was immaculately manicured, I felt it a real mark of respect to the diggers buried there. Thankfully there were 4 or 5 rather thick consecutive alphanumeric volumes with all the diggers names and home town which also provided a code as to where in the cemetery one could find them. Invaluable! It would have taken hours to find without this. Interesting, the cemetery is open between set hours unlike Gallipoli which is open all the time so check opening hours before tuning up!
Camped in just outside Rouen but it was dodgy and freezing cold; I gave up on sleep at 5am when the car thermometer read -1 degrees. Bizarrely enough Manda slept on through seemingly happy enough so I managed to get a long walk in and do some exploring of the local village.
Once my princess awoke from her slumber (7am) we headed back to Rouen (5 min drive) and saw the site where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in the 1400's and the rather large, impressive and ornate Rouen cathedral. From here went to the cemetery and then left Rouen as quick as possible. Don't think we're the big city type!
Our prospects and spirits, having left Rouen finally having done what we went there for, were revived almost instantly as we headed south to Giverney, home to Claude Monet and his famous gardens. His home and more so the gardens were beautiful and certainly inspirational; the water gardens, featured in so many of his works, were simply stunning. I can only imagine the staff required to keep everything here so perfect. Favorite plant here was perhaps 10 apple trees grown to a meter tall to create a boxed hedge look! Incredible!
We then headed deeper into Normandy and did the 5 D-Day beaches before stopping in a little medieval village named Honfleur for the night. It to was pretty as a picture and had amazing fresh seafood (we couldn't have asked for more)!
Also, interestingly, on our trip to Honfleur we came across quite possibly 1000+ French police?!? Manda and I had all sorts of theories as to what they were all doing (searching cars, blocking road entries, big dogs, swat looking vehicles, wearing camo, hiding in bushes, on bikes, in helicopters; the district was swarming with them!) - murder/man hunt seemed most exciting and therefore appealing!!! Alas it was to keep a little seaside village next to Honfleur tight as a fish's posterior for the bloody G8 summit?!? No murderer? No terrorist? No drug bust? No secret mission?! What a let down. The bright side is that we haven't seen 1 police officer anywhere otherwise; clearly they are all at the G8!!!
Camped in just outside Rouen but it was dodgy and freezing cold; I gave up on sleep at 5am when the car thermometer read -1 degrees. Bizarrely enough Manda slept on through seemingly happy enough so I managed to get a long walk in and do some exploring of the local village.
Once my princess awoke from her slumber (7am) we headed back to Rouen (5 min drive) and saw the site where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in the 1400's and the rather large, impressive and ornate Rouen cathedral. From here went to the cemetery and then left Rouen as quick as possible. Don't think we're the big city type!
Our prospects and spirits, having left Rouen finally having done what we went there for, were revived almost instantly as we headed south to Giverney, home to Claude Monet and his famous gardens. His home and more so the gardens were beautiful and certainly inspirational; the water gardens, featured in so many of his works, were simply stunning. I can only imagine the staff required to keep everything here so perfect. Favorite plant here was perhaps 10 apple trees grown to a meter tall to create a boxed hedge look! Incredible!
We then headed deeper into Normandy and did the 5 D-Day beaches before stopping in a little medieval village named Honfleur for the night. It to was pretty as a picture and had amazing fresh seafood (we couldn't have asked for more)!
Also, interestingly, on our trip to Honfleur we came across quite possibly 1000+ French police?!? Manda and I had all sorts of theories as to what they were all doing (searching cars, blocking road entries, big dogs, swat looking vehicles, wearing camo, hiding in bushes, on bikes, in helicopters; the district was swarming with them!) - murder/man hunt seemed most exciting and therefore appealing!!! Alas it was to keep a little seaside village next to Honfleur tight as a fish's posterior for the bloody G8 summit?!? No murderer? No terrorist? No drug bust? No secret mission?! What a let down. The bright side is that we haven't seen 1 police officer anywhere otherwise; clearly they are all at the G8!!!
Epernay to Honfleur via Rouen - pictures to accompany text
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| Mont Saint Michel at low tide |
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| Monet's water garden |
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| Monet's house |
Manda the map reader
To date Manda has been a terrific map reader; we have somehow managed to navigate over 2000km in France with hardly an issue!
That is when she is not sleeping of course!
Picture not allowed to be put on....
That is when she is not sleeping of course!
Picture not allowed to be put on....
There once was a man from Lille
From Brussels in Belgium we headed to Lille in France to see our good friend from Armidale, Thibaut. He put us up for 3 nights at his bachelors pad where and kept us well entertained; chocolate every meal in one form or another, flamin' banana pan fried with rum, microwaved banana with chocolate, crepes, markets, bowling, picnics, karaoke, guitar lessons, dodgy SFR Internet and football celebrations as Lilles team won the French league amongst others! Thibauts friend Baptiste was also a great host and ended up spending a lot of time with us which was good.
Lille was wherewe collected our little Opal hire car (from now on known as Olivia). I can now say that driving her is a pleasure but the relationship to start was a but rocky. 2 minutes practice in the airport carpark on her left hand drive and manual box and I had it, so I thought; we/I hadn't taken into account the mad french drivers, the multitude of french road signs (whattttt do they all say?!? There's not enough time to read them all!!!), and that we didn't have the map book at the ready (no gps here; fortunately Manda is an extraordinary map reader!). Let's just say it got a little crazy!
Once on the open road, map book in hand, we successfully got to the "birthplace" of champagne, Epernay in north-eastern France. This to date is the only toll road we've taken (11€ for about 30 min!! Hence we're not looking to take too many more). Epernay plays host to all things important to champagne;
1. Home of monk Dom Peringon (who was integral to it's creation-being a monk is starting to sound good!)
2. Moet and Chandon who still are the official suppliers of the Royal family (their vintage drops highly recommended; taste them next to the always good normal expense stuff from Aus and notice the difference!) and who also produce the champagne called Don Peringon; their flagship line. Interestingly here a nice bottle of Moet like we get at home sells for 25€ here in their supermarkets. The good gear, vintage, sells for less than 50€! Bit of a bargain really!
3. Underground cellars. This is where it's all stored; millions of bottles are stowed away maturing. The cellars (Moet and Mercier perhaps two of the largest houses) have a combined total length of about 40km. Amazing.
The countryside in the region was spectacular and the perfect weather over our time here made it even more amazing; just to drive the back roads and see the vineyards, hills, fields of wheat etc and picture perfect little villages was blissful. And that was before the tastings! (which had a cost and generally include a tour at the larger places)
Epernay was our first campsite; for 13€ we got a private little tent site, showers etc and a beaut river view. Champagne not included and nor was wifi (both available at a price!). Little orange tent held up well but doesn't breathe well and ends up dripping with condensation in the morning. Can't complain for a 25€ tent thats smaller to carry than my sleeping bag. There will be more camping to come!!!
Finally a little ditty to Thibaut;
There once was Frenchman from Lille,
Who could cook crepes with chocolate and dill (yum!),
The combos kept rollin',
Till the rumanas (rum on bananas) start smokin'
And the whole damned contraption caught fire!
Thibaut was the Masterchef behind the pan fried bananas with flaming white rum which was actually not to bad! We later tried microwaved banana with chocolate; this was a disaster... Hahahaha. Thanks for a great time in Lille Thibaut and Baptiste!
Lille was wherewe collected our little Opal hire car (from now on known as Olivia). I can now say that driving her is a pleasure but the relationship to start was a but rocky. 2 minutes practice in the airport carpark on her left hand drive and manual box and I had it, so I thought; we/I hadn't taken into account the mad french drivers, the multitude of french road signs (whattttt do they all say?!? There's not enough time to read them all!!!), and that we didn't have the map book at the ready (no gps here; fortunately Manda is an extraordinary map reader!). Let's just say it got a little crazy!
Once on the open road, map book in hand, we successfully got to the "birthplace" of champagne, Epernay in north-eastern France. This to date is the only toll road we've taken (11€ for about 30 min!! Hence we're not looking to take too many more). Epernay plays host to all things important to champagne;
1. Home of monk Dom Peringon (who was integral to it's creation-being a monk is starting to sound good!)
2. Moet and Chandon who still are the official suppliers of the Royal family (their vintage drops highly recommended; taste them next to the always good normal expense stuff from Aus and notice the difference!) and who also produce the champagne called Don Peringon; their flagship line. Interestingly here a nice bottle of Moet like we get at home sells for 25€ here in their supermarkets. The good gear, vintage, sells for less than 50€! Bit of a bargain really!
3. Underground cellars. This is where it's all stored; millions of bottles are stowed away maturing. The cellars (Moet and Mercier perhaps two of the largest houses) have a combined total length of about 40km. Amazing.
The countryside in the region was spectacular and the perfect weather over our time here made it even more amazing; just to drive the back roads and see the vineyards, hills, fields of wheat etc and picture perfect little villages was blissful. And that was before the tastings! (which had a cost and generally include a tour at the larger places)
Epernay was our first campsite; for 13€ we got a private little tent site, showers etc and a beaut river view. Champagne not included and nor was wifi (both available at a price!). Little orange tent held up well but doesn't breathe well and ends up dripping with condensation in the morning. Can't complain for a 25€ tent thats smaller to carry than my sleeping bag. There will be more camping to come!!!
Finally a little ditty to Thibaut;
There once was Frenchman from Lille,
Who could cook crepes with chocolate and dill (yum!),
The combos kept rollin',
Till the rumanas (rum on bananas) start smokin'
And the whole damned contraption caught fire!
Thibaut was the Masterchef behind the pan fried bananas with flaming white rum which was actually not to bad! We later tried microwaved banana with chocolate; this was a disaster... Hahahaha. Thanks for a great time in Lille Thibaut and Baptiste!
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