Glassblowing and tapas

Emma writes:
Day 37 

Today we went on a boat to see glassblowing.  The glassblower has a little bit of glass to start with on a metal stick and then he puts it into a hot fire and it heats up.  He blows on the glass and it pops and goes bigger and bigger and bigger.  First he made a little bowl then a shiny horse. 

We went up a tower.  From the top of the tower we could see the whole of  Venice. I like Venice because we get to go on water.  We have been on a lot of boats.  It is just like a bus because you wait at a stop.  It is rocking really hard because it is on water and there are waves.  A boat comes along and you get on it.  After that we went and got gelato, I got strawberry, Holly got berry and James got cream caramel. 

We went out for dinner.  We got Italian tapas.  I got a huge fanta.  I ate musssels, prawns, squid rings, fried potato and I tried octopus.  It tasted like you would think an octopus tastes like.  I liked it. 

Venice

Holly writes:
Day 36

After last  night's adventures on the water we slept in a little late.  It took us two hours to get ready as you do on holiday. We walked back to St Marks Basilica to be greeted with a rush of tourists and a looooong line which we were about to join. The line squiggled inside a colourful church on the outside , and big and grand on the inside.  We climbed up the steep steps and surveyed the square from up high.

The restaurants down on the square were only differentiated from each other by the colour of their chairs. One would have the same style except blue, the next red.  At least one restaurant had a band playing on their matching stages.

A tower rose from the middle of the square high into the sky. Although we didn't climb it today there is a matching one on an island which is tomorrows 's destination.   St Mark's Square is beautiful and matching square because the buildings are all from stone and in the same style and the restaurants are all the same as well. We climbed back down to find that a mass was going on Italian.

We wandered back out to join another line. This one moved much slower. We explored the Palace Of Doges (dukes). My favourite place was the bridge of sighs. It was the prisoners last glimpse of freedom. They would get taken to the palace to be prosecuted, and as they were going over bridge to the prison there is one window to look out. For most of them that was the only outside world glimpse, possibly for the rest of their life.

After lunch at the apartment we did some Italian language studying and umed and aaah about a museum. Once we got there we (especially Mum) loved the old ballrooms, statues and chandeliers. We hunted out a good gelato shop, but here is a secret -It wasn't that good-. but I got peach and we sat on the side of the canal with our icecream. Some people (namely Emma) got iceream all over themselves.

A brilliant first sightseeing day in Venice

Arriverderci
Holly

To Venice! Or should that be 'come on Iceland'?

Scott writes:
Day 35

Today it was time to say goodbye to Villefranche and our magnificent view and say hello to Venice. After a slightly later start due to everyone being up so late last night (more below), we drove the six hours it took to get to Venice. There must be about 30 tunnels within the first hour of entering Italy - many of them very long. I commented to Theresa that this must have been a huge engineering undertaking as we drove across large bridges covering deep gulleys and through tunnels that went straight through mountains and rocky outcrops. The big toll ensured we helped pay for what we had just used.

We parked just on the edge of Venice and caught the Vaporetto (ferry boat) to San Marco Square. Our apartment is just off the square. Theresa and James found the supermarket and after a quick dinner we went for a ride down the Grand Canal to see the lights.

The late night last night, at least on my part, was because I went to the Euro 2016 last 16 game between England and Iceland. I bought second hand tickets on the internet and went to pick them up on my way to the ground, hoping for the best. It was remarkably smooth (much better than I was imagining) finding the meeting place, collecting the ticket, finding the park and ride place then catching the bus to the ground. My ticket was right in amongst the Iceland supporters, third row from the front, with a small smattering of neutrals and England supporters.

Because things had gone smoothly I had 3 hours to kill before the games started and I wondered just what I would do. But after finding a beer and a hotdog, the fans started their game two hours before kick off. Hardly any England supporters were even in their seats when the cries of Eesland (spelt "Island" here but we spell it "Iceland") were ringing out. They simply never stopped. Two hours before the game, 90+ minutes of football (where did all that injury time appear from?) and 30 minutes after the game, they just made a wall of noise.

Iceland supporters filled only one corner of the stadium, well less than a quarter of the 35,000 seat stadium, yet you could have been forgiven for thinking that, apart for a few moments when England scored from a (dubious) penalty after 5 minutes, the ground was filled to capacity with Iceland supporters. I am sure it was a significant factor in lifting their team. Every tackle and every touch of the ball was greeted with massive cheers and cries of "I'm from eesland". By that stage I was from eesland too, born and bred.

At the end of the game it was as if Iceland had just lifted the trophy. On the full time whistle the entire team came running over to where the fans were and they celebrated for a long time. I didn't want to leave but eventually had to go and get my bus. However for the 30 minutes I stayed after the final whistle and the England fans had all left, dejected and out of the competition, Iceland's fans continued to chant and cheer with the players and managers joining in - they were still in full song when I left. The players were hugging and high fiving each other and the crowd. It was the biggest win of the small country's history. It was simply luck that I was with the Iceland supporters but in the end it was the best sporting experience I have ever been to.

Rooney taking a penalty

Island Supporters

Relaxing Day on the French Riviera

Theresa writes:

Day 34

This morning we woke up and threw open the French doors to admire our amazing view.  Our apartment is five floors up so we enjoy a sweeping view of the bay from the terracotta colours of Villefranche old town on our right to the green peninsula  of Cape Ferrat on the left.  The flat has a long deck and three sets of French doors so both bedrooms and the living space open onto the balcony.

The flat itself is worthy of comment.  It was built in the early 60’s and hasn’t been renovated since.  The lino on the floor, the brown/orange pelmets and couch coverings are a homage to this bygone decade.  All the furnishings are also  of the era – obviously the current owner bought the flot lock stock and barrel off the original owners.  It has a certain charm and the wide open spaces of the living areas mean its perfect for our stay but the lack of a shower and the dodgy wiring are the downsides to their unmodernised flat.

No food in the house for breakfast so we headed over to Monaco.  Its only the next bay over but we enjoy the novelty of popping to another country for a meal.  Filled with croissants, pastries and coffee we spend couple of hours exploring the city.  Its highly built up with lots of construction going on – a quick look in the real estate window shows average price for a 2 bed flat is around 2.5 million euros…  Loads of superyachts in the marina, expensive supercars on the streets and tourists everywhere.

Home for lunch and then a short walk down to the beach where we while away the afternoon.  Scott leaves us at 4 to head to Nice for a football game and the kids and I stay for another hour before grabbing an ice-cream and heading home to get changed for dinner.  We are going to eat out in Villefranche tonight and grab the bus to town. Unfortunately I stay on the bus one stop too long and we have a good 10 minute walk back into town which the kids are unimpressed with. 

One street back from the beach we start our search for a good restaurant to eat at.  The kids select an Italian place la tavola and to our delight we are given a table on a private terrace.  We are separated from the other areas by bamboo and greenery with a peep of ocean to look at.  The food is fabulous and the kids well behaved and I enjoy one of the nicest meals of the trip.    The last bus has stopped running so we walk home via the waterfront with it sparkling lights from restaurants and me pigging backing Emma most of the way….

Goodbye Villefranche I think we are all a little sad to leave here so soon.

HOT, SUNNY BEACH

James writes:
Day 33

Today we had a 2 1/2 hour drive through Provence to Villefranche sur Mer. It was pretty boring. Once we had found our apartment and gotten into our togs we went on a 2 minute walk to the beach.


The Apartment

Our apartment only has 5 rooms.1 bath room, 1 kitchen (smaller than the bathroom,
2 living / dining rooms and one bedroom.  The best thing about the apartment is the view.  We are on the 5th floor and can see the whole bay


The BEACH!!!!!

The beach is pretty small but crammed full of people.  When I first saw all the people I asked Mum and Dad if there was going to be room for us.  But we did find a space to put our towels.

The only thing to hate about it is that it's salty. It is warm, it is big, it is hot so whats not to like.  We swam for about 3 hours until we got hungry for lunch.   Holly had a tuna panini, Emma had a ham and cheese panini,  Dad had a ham and cheese panini, Mum had a pesto and chesse panini and I had a nutella panini.

HERE ARE SOME PICTURES
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Train Train

Emma writes
Day 32

Today we went to Avignon and went on a train around the city.  It was a small tourist train and it told us about lots of stuff.  No 2 was English language.  There was a big gold statue of Mary, one of her hands blesses the people and the other hand protects it.  There was a bridge but it didn't make it to the other side of the river.  It was destroyed in the 17th century and they haven't fixed it.

After the train we bought new clothes.  Holly got a blue dress with black feathers, James got two singlets (one was dark blue and plain, the other was green and grey stripes).  James also got a football France T-shirt and he is No 10.  I bought a new skirt which is blue with blue butterflies and a pink dress with lots of coloured butterflies.

When we got home we went in the pool.  Yesterday Holly told me you can open your eyes underwater with no goggles because the pool has salt water instead of chlorine.  My friend Marie who lives upstairs is at a birthday party until 7.  I missed her in the pool.

Today is leftovers day.  We are moving to a new town tomorrow so we get to eat up all the food in the fridge.  We have Orangina Rouge and we are going to drink it all.  I like leftovers day because you can eat everything.

Jumping Bulls

Holly writes: 

Day 31

Unfortunately today was a little slow. Yesterday I wacked my foot on the bottom of the pool and this morning I woke up limping. We went off to Aix determined to have a relaxing day. There was a mini train which did a 40 minute tour, brilliant! That is until we found out they had cancelled the 11 and 12 o'clock trains and you have to wait till 2:15.

We decided against that and set off (slowly) down Main Street. Covered in old buildings and fancy restaurants we wandered down it before turning into the shopping district. Everyone was a little hungry and sore (namely-me).  We sat downstairs a little restaurant. The waiter was a little rude and we were seated by the service entrance while fresh food was being dropped off. Dad was a little annoyed but the food was miam (yum in français). I now officially like my steak medium rare (it's delish). 

We went back to the car (I only just made it) and drove to Noves to see bull fighting Provence style. A bull is released into an arena with 10 men all dressed in white. They get it wound up so it will then run at them. They try and grab a rosette which is dangling off one of there horns. When the bull runs at them the run to the side and jump out. Preferably with the rosette. You only get 15 mins with each bull. Occasionally the Bulls would jump out of the arena after the man. On man slipped and his leg got slammed by the bull, he then fell behind the protective barrier. Everyone was quite worried but he got clapped to the first aid section. 

After getting home we played in the pool for a while. We will be sad to leave Provence and the kids upstairs. It is nice to be with someone other than family, like a bit of a break. 

Here are some photos from today

An old fountain in Aix⬇️⬇️

A man try's to grab the rosette from the bull's forehead⬇️⬇️

A bull jumps over the barrier after a man⬇️⬇️

Exploring the Luberon

Scott writes:
Day 30

It was a busy day and a hot day. We started out earlyish (9am) after discovering that closing the wooden shutters kept the room dark (thanks for the tip Amanda Rooney). We had a three stop strategy.

After the routine stop at a boulangerie to buy bread we headed for Gourdes. Like so many around here it was an extremely pretty medieval town built in a defensible position at the top of a hill. We did a walk around for about 45 mins. The kids favourite part was the church because it was cool. They are adjusting slowly to the hot days and to walking around villages. The church was very elaborately decorated on its walls, unlike most in this neck of the woods.

Second stop Rousillon, after an obligatory stop in a lavender field for photos. Fortunately we avoided the lavender museum and won't be doing the all-day lavender fields tour (Theresa out-voted 4 to 1). The town was again on top of a hill. However this town's point of difference is that it is coloured orangey- red, using the local ochre to colour the cladding materials. Again the church was the favourite spot because it was cool. Keeping people religious around here might be easier than many other places.

Our third stop was Fort de Buoux, an old medieval fort. For an old ruin it was pretty interesting and it even managed to keep the children's interest despite climbing up a hill through the various defence lines and fortifications in hot weather. The best part was the steep escape route we took to exit. Unlike many historical places this one had hardly any people and no barriers before deep precipices.

On the way home we stopped for cold beer and icecream at a little place called Bonnieux and sat with a glorious view overlooking a valley in Provence.  We could see for miles, looking down at churches, towns, vineyards and, yes, lavender fields.

Back home for a late afternoon swim in the pool and chat with the owner, Pierre - a born and bred local. Apparently house prices have increased in recent years as Parisians buy up houses down here. It is only 2 hours 40 min from the centre of Paris to Avignon (not far away).

All in all a good day. Hot, but nice to have a pool to come home to.

St-Remy de Provence

Theresa writes
Day 29

We have arrived in the gorgeous town of St Remy in beautiful Provence. The weather is hot and the lavender is just starting to flower.  Our home for the next 6 days has a beautiful pool (now clean and free of blue spots) and is just on the outskirts of the town.  We can sit out in the evenings on our terrasse and drink wine and eat olives.

Today was another hot 32 degrees.  We were slow moving this morning due to our late night yesterday. We headed into St Remy for the market day about 10am.  These markets are amazing - hundreds of stalls selling food, clothes, toys, jewellery and art. Street after street is filled with people and noise and colour.  It would be wonderful to take your time to come here and do the bulk of your shopping each week - meat, veg, cheese and bread.  

After the market we headed to Le Baux a small hillside village nearby with the remains of a chateau.  The village and chateau are built on a rocky hillside in a regional park.  We found shade under a tree and enjoyed our usual picnic of baguette, ham, cheese and salad.   Food here is delicious and it is cheaper than NZ for most things. Baguettes are usually between 85c and 1 euro.  Camembert as cheap as 2 euro at the supermarket for oozy delicious cheese full of flavour.

The views are stunning from the top of the hill where the chateau is and the walk through the picturesque cobbled village was interesting.  The heat was getting to be a bit much for the children so we rested in the shade of some rocks whilst Scott finished touring the keep and the ramparts.

Enough sightseeing done for the day so we returned home to swim in the pool.  The family we are staying with have 4 children and the youngest two who are 7 & 13 came and joined our kids in the pool which they loved. The children are trying out their french on their new friends and it is interesting seeing them realise that its good to be able to communicate with french people in their langugage.  James was asking how to say particular phrases and Holly is working out how to make sentences with the language that she does know which is great.

Canoeing and seeing the Ryans

James writes
Day 28

First of all we went to Kayakvert (green). We did the 8k track down a river. Along the way we stopped and jumped off rocks.  There were three school groups on the river at the same time.  One group of girls got their kayak stuck on a log and they turned sideways. Then Mum, Holly and Emma ran over the top of the girl's kayak.   But everything was all right.  Mum and Emma had to get out of the kayak to free their kayak.

After 6k we saw Pont de Gard, Pont de Gard is a brige built by the Romans in 60AD to carry water.   We went another 2k and then finally found the stop where we hopped onto the bus to take us to our car.

Then it was time to walk across Pont de Gard and see the kids museum. Pond de Gard is not a very long brige but it goes pretty high.  After we went to a kids museum about Pont de Gard which looked pretty small but you go through a door into a massive maze of rooms.

Finally it was time to see Amanda, James, Joe and Pat.  We met them at Place aux Herbes in Uzès. We had to pick Joe and Pat up from school, then when we got back to the parents we asked if we could have ice creams they said yes.  So we went to a place down the road I had creme brûlée, Holly had brownie, Emma had candyfloss, Joe had chocolate nut and Pat had biscuit.

It was fun catching up with our NZ friends.  We swam in their tiny pool and played tag. 

                                                Here Are Some Photos

In the car

Emma writes
Day 26

Today we went to St Remy en Provence.  After driving half way we stopped at a picnic stop.  We could see the valley and the beautiful bridge - Millau Viaduct.  The bridge is the highest multi span bridge and the longest suspended bridge in the world. 

We have arrived at our new house and it is a little silly because WIFI only works in half the house. So in the morning we have to sit in the bathroom to watch screens so we don't wake up people sleeping. 

The pool was nice and warm but it had funny blue spots in it.  The pool cover was breaking down and there were lots of small blue spots we had to scoop out before we swam.  So we had a swim and then had pizza for dinner.

Up And Down The Hill

Holly writes:
Day 26

Today we woke up to it pouring with rain. YUCK!!! It finally cleard around 10 and we set out for a location a little further away then normal. It was a little town called Rocamadour. Here we went climbed down a hill, to get there you had to walk through some old ruin and the "paddock of the poor people". Once we got to the road we marveled at some of the beautiful and old architecture.

At the very bottom there was a  church with some great views. To donate money to the church you could buy pin and stick it in a log (it sounds kind of stupid I know, but the end result was a big gold rock which looked like it was crying gold tear drops). We climbed 216 steps to get to the church. Which is nothing compared to the 700 steps leading to some church which in future we have to climb. On the way back as we climbed, there were the 14 stages of the cross.

When we got back to the top, we scouted out one of the best restaurants in town. With an entree of melon, a main of steak and a pudding or icecream we were all very happy and very full. I would just like to point out that as we sat there for two hours, twice two girls on horses road past. VERY important detail for me.

Unfortunately we were frozen from sitting outside for lunch so the proposed jousting show was ruled out by everyone as it meant more sitting outside.  After a struggle with the gps to get home, we got in the pool and swam for a bit before eating the raspberries that had not been gotten at by the bugs. This is our last day here, so as a thank you to Rosemary (the friendly lady who rented us this place) for being kind and bringing us warm brownies Dad put together a set of drawers she was struggling to put together.

Can't wait for Provence!

Au revoir
Holly

Market Day

Scott writes:
Day 25

After a leisurely start to the day we went to the Saturday market at Salat, about a 20 minute drive from where we are staying at Domme. While I am generally not into markets, this one was pretty good - a stunning setting in an immacualate medieval town. It also had good stuff for sale. Lots of quality food, fruit and veg, pastries, clothing, all well presented and not pushy sales people. There was not much of the usual junk you find at markets. And it was huge, strethching about a kilometer and running down two parallel streets.

Fortunately while wandering through the market we found a cafe that had the All Blacks playing Wales, so stopped for a coffee and saw the last 10 minutes. The kids then purchased some giant marshmallows. We bought plenty of food supplies, including duck breast which Theresa has cooked beautifully for dinner, with crispy potatoes cooked in the duck fat. The region is famous for fois gras and duck, caves and castles.

The afternoon was spent around the pool and lying in the sun where we are staying. The owner of the place, Rosemary, lives upstairs and we have the downstairs unit. It is still raining quite a lot so it was good to have an afternoon of sun. There is also plenty of time to watch lots of football.

The French roads are interesting. It is clearly your patriotic duty as a Frenchman (or Frenchwoman) to drive a Renault, Peugeot or Citreon and to drive it as fast as the car will go at all times. The narrower the road, the faster you should drive. Whatever happens, do not slow down when traffic is coming the other way, especially it is not clear there is room for both vehicles to pass safely. The rule at that point is drive even faster if you can. Speed limits are for tourists and in particular Germans who come to almost a complete stop at the sight of a French car approaching at 120km/h on a narrow winding country road. I find I am holding my breath quite a bit and hoping for the best.

Birds of Prey

Theresa writes:
Day 24

This morning we went to Chateau les Milandes.  This was a much smaller castle than others we have seen as a rich man built it for his wife 600 years ago.  It was never lived in by kings or queens but it is still very beautiful. 

Its most famous owner was Josphine Baker, an American dancer/singer from the 1940's, She lived there with her 12 adopted children and she put in lots of bathrooms.  It was one of the first castles in the area to have indoor plumbing.

There were a lot of owls and falcons at this castle.  In the Middle Ages having birds of prey was a hobby for the rich lords.  They would employ falconers to look after their birds and they would train them to chase rabbits and other small animals.  We saw a magnificent display of these birds - they would fly about from post to post and also landing on the special glove. 

We had lunch at a picnic table by the Dordogne river.  It is still swollen and fast due to all the recent rain so we won't be able to canoe as we had hopped.  Whilst we were having our lunch the rain begun but luckily there was a massive empty circus tent nearby so we took shelter there and finished our picnic along with another family. It was a pretty awesome spot to have our lunch.

Afterwards we went to Domme, a small walled city.  They put a massive wall around it so they could protect themselves from attacks by their enemies.  We walked all around these old walls and saw the fantastic views. 

Then we came home and the children swam in the pool.  They had to get out when a thunderstorm started as I was afraid they would be hit by lightening.  We have had a lot of rain whilst we have bee in the Dordogne but the children have swum everyday.