The bus ride to start with wasn’t too long, we were all doing okay, but then, as we got to the boarder area and all had to pile off the bus with all your bags and goods and go through customs and pass port checks, we began to become weary. It seemed to take along time to get through these two areas, and then, once we all piled back onto the bus and went through a toll gate, we all had to pile back off the bus and go through this again for the UK side of things, it was really rather tiring. Finally, with everyone on board and our passports filled with an extra two stamps, the bus drove onto a train. Yes, you read that right, the bus drove onto a train, which was then going in a tunnel under the English Channel. It was really odd and for me, slightly claustrophobic inducing! I had to get off the bus and go and wait on the side lines where I felt there was more space. This part of the trip didn’t take too long, about 40 minutes, and it wasn’t too bad, gave us a chance to walk about a little and stretch the legs. Back on the bus then and a further two hours until we got to London.

Off we got at Victoria Station and onto the tube, up to Kings Cross, onto another train to Royston and then a taxi from Royston to Chipping… and home just in time to see the start of Jamie Oliver’s new show… phew! It was a loooong day

written by  Chris and Emily on September 1, 2009 from Buntingford, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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The boys took their time and once they returned and we had some photos, we head off towards the Eiffel Tower. I love this place. The Eiffel Tower itself is not that amazing, infact you’d almost say it was a little ugly, but the atmosphere around this place, and all the parks that you can sit in, are just lovely. So, as Luke went up the tower and had a bit of a look about, Chris and I took refuge under a shady tree in the park and rest a little. Your feet tend to hurt a bit when you’re in Paris. Luke was suitably impressed with the Eiffel Tower too, and when he returned we head to the best spot we know of and took some pictures in front of the Tower, I love these photos too!

The next spot to see was the Arch De Triumph, which we walked too. It didn’t seem like it was that far away, but my gosh were our legs a little sore by the time we got there. We walked to the middle of the Arch and took a little break and watched in horror as 4 silly people ran from the other side of the road to the middle with suitcases. I am completely surprised that they were not hit by a car, though, several horns did blare at them!

We then took a little tour down the ritz streets that come off the Arch De Triumph, Louis Vutton, Chanel etc etc, all those big names that are meant to cause mass excitement in women and make us “ooohhh and ahhhhh” but do nothing for me. I just don’t understand why anyone would want to pay thousands of Euros on a little clutch bag, which for the record, I believe are really quite disgusting design wise… anyhow, we passed these stores and continued on until we found smaller, nicer stores to stick our heads into and look about, one being the Nescafe store which sell all sorts of amazing coffee machines and flavours of coffee, it was Chris’ heaven and it was hard for us to pull him away from here.

The day was getting on now and we were all in need of a good rest and or, lie down, so we head back to the hostel for a bit of a break. While Chris and I took a walk to find some dinner (and in the process walked down the canals and found some lovely relaxed little spots to sit and have a picnic) Luke met up with some of his friends who are also staying at the hostel, it’s a small little world! Chris and I returned from having a yummy Chinese meal and said bye to Luke who was heading out with his friends to see the Eiffel Tower at night and have a bit of dinner. While Luke did this Chris and I relaxed at the hostel down in the bar area… but then, a little drama happened…

Chris and I sat at a large window, which, on the other side was the designated smoking area for the hostel. We were chatting away and on the computer when we couldn’t help but smell a burning sort of smell, we looked about but couldn’t see anything to indicate a fire so didn’t think much more of it, until we saw the bar man grab two carafes of water and rush out side and on the other side of the window to us, pour this water down a grate, and then do so again and then, satisfied with his effort went back to the bar… I was watching all this with interest (plus, Chris was on the P.C so I was a bit bored by myself) then, one of the really nice waitress’ went and had a look and then raced inside yelled at the reception in French and then RACED off down the road to the fire station that, thankfully for her, only 200 meters away (they were our neighbors across the road, handy!) she came rushing back with a fireman who was later joined by two of his colleagues and they were all looking down this grate, pulling it up, shining their torch, pouring water etc etc, they stayed for a little while until I guess they were satisfied and left. Very entertaining for myself! Thankfully, apart from the liters and liters of water that was poured down this grate, no more action was required and we all went to bed safe and sound.

written by  Chris and Emily on August 31, 2009 from Paris, France
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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Everything was going okay, but we eventually needed a stop to refuel, buy up on some edibles and go to the loo etc etc… and I’m so glad we did it when we did… We just pulled out back onto the highway and were happily toddling along when we saw it… brake lights in front of us coming on and traffic coming to a stop. Oh bugger another traffic jam. We came to a stop and watched as smoke began to billow from a vehicle about 400 meters in front of us. Luke and I got out of the car to stretch our legs (as was everyone else around us) and then we saw flames leaping into the air and a small “BOOM” something had exploded. Thick black smoke continued to pour into the sky and all we could think was “Geez, hope everyone’s alright and no one was hurt” and “oh boy, this is going to take a loooong time” We looked behind us and sure enough traffic was banking up fast. Fire engines, ambulances, police and later Hazard spill vehicles whizzed by us in great numbers and all we could do was sit here, waiting and waiting. We then noticed that a lot of the cars behind us were being incredibly illegal and turning around and driving down the one way street emergency lane. Then the cars in front of us began to do this and we were left wondering “do we do this too?” Behind us, about 400 meters away was a turn off, it just meant that we’d be going up a down ramp, but so was everyone else, and besides which it seemed that no one was allowed down this at the moment… so, after about an hour debating this, we decided to go for it. Max turned the car around and we whizzed up the road in the wrong direction and were instructed by police to head up the ramp. If the police were suggesting it then it wasn’t so bad to be doing it we figured later.

On the road again Max got us to our train station in time for the next train that left in an hour, so we head off on a small wander about the town looking through the windows as the shops were mostly closed being a Sunday. Time passed quickly and it was soon time for us to be getting on the train back to Paris. This meant saying goodbye to Max for the last time. It was hard. Max is such a wonderful, kind and friendly guy, we just wanted to bring him with us! It was sad to say goodbye to Max but know that we will keep in touch with him and will see him again sometime. We really think that he should come out to Australia, he’d love it there!

The train seemed to take FOREVER (reality it was only 3 hours) but it just seemed to trundle along at an incredibly slow pace. We eventually, after what seemed like eternity made it to our back packers and we happily crashed into bed that night and slept soundly.

written by  Chris and Emily on August 30, 2009 from Paris, France
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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The drive to Carnac was suppost to be a 3 hour one, which is just the right amount of time really for a ‘short trip’ but, to our despair it took a few hours longer than that thanks to a large traffic jam. This was was not fun. We sat in the line of traffic for hours, in the sun and worst of all, needing to go to the loo really really badly!! Poor Max, the pressure was on with us all whining “Maaaax! It’s getting desperate now!!” but he rallied like a true hero and found us a detour and then a Maccas where we were able to relief our poor bladders. I think the French should be more equipped for these moments and have portaloos every km or so on the highways, it would make sense and put an end to embarrassing deaths such as “burst bladder” What really annoyed us was the fact that the ‘accident’ we had to jostle to pass was nothing more than a little rear ender, no huge damage and no one hurt, but still, everyone passing felt they had to slow riiiiiiiight down and have a good look, hence causing the long delay. Oh well. It’s over now!

We eventually made it to Carnac and it has to be said that this is a lovely, relaxed little town. It just has this lovely feel to it and we all felt ourselves relaxing the moment we got out of the car. We stopped by the information desk and picked up some ideas for accommodation and then went on a walk to find this one B&B. It was a 15 minute walk (the very nice but drunk French man we had been bailed up by told us that it was a 5 minute walk… he was lying) and took us down to the sea side, it was lovely! The B&B had room for us all and we couldn’t help but marvel at the rooms… they were… wow, quite bad! The rooms were themed by colours, which isn’t so bad really, but the orange room that Luke and Max had the joy of staying in was insanely orange and the pink room Chris and I had the pleasure of sleeping in was also pretty, well, pink. So much so that these rooms kind of hurt your eyes after awhile, so it’s a good thing that you’re only in the room really to sleep.

Chris and Max took off to check out the Carnac rocks and Luke and I took off to discover the rest of the beach side town. There were many many tourists here but it didn’t have that over whelming feel to it, it just felt really relaxed and chilled out, it was nice.

The boys eventually returned from there rock site seeing and we then head out to grab a bite to eat at a little restaurant down the road topped it off with a crepe for dessert and then hit the amusement arcade for a bit of stress relief. The boys had quite a large gathering around them as they played some zombie killing game and again as Luke played a boxing game, and roused a cheer from the audience as he knocked out his opponent with one second remaining, it was quite an ordeal! Just as we were leaving the boys all turned, a game had caught there eye… it was robot soccer. So, they all had to have a turn and I have to say it did look like fun and again they drew quite a crowd of onlookers. To bad we weren’t charging people to watch, we’d have made a few extra bucks. After all this amusement we head back to the B&B where we watched a few episodes of the IT Crowd, an English show we’re all in love with and think is hilarious before going to bed and shutting our eyes very very tight to escape the glare of colour!

written by  Chris and Emily on August 29, 2009 from Carnac, France
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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It was a lazy day, one filled with coffee consumption and lazing about in the sun. It was a nice way to finish off our stay in Gruse with our good friends Max and Inga. We head off to Carnac tomorrow with Max, another little beach side town with the added bonus of fields that are just covered in stones, similar to “Stonehenge” Inga sadly, won’t be joining us, so we will be saying goodbye to her tomorrow and again, she is another good friend that we don’t know how to thank for all her hospitality and kindness, she has been amazing and caring and has opened her home to us. She is another good friend that it will be sad to say goodbye too.

It was a quiet night with a yummy dinner, some packing and then a few hands of the game “Ba*%ard” a card game that we taught the guys, and who picked it up very quickly and managed to beat us in a few times. After this it was time to say goodnight and head off for some good old shut eye.

written by  Chris and Emily on August 28, 2009 from Grues, France
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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After wondering about the cool underwater landscape for several hours we made our way back to our meeting spot and met up again with Chris and Inga and then head off to find a nice restaurant for dinner. We eventually found one that was quiet and comfortable and with a lovely, friendly waitress. Our meal was lovely and relaxed and we all left feeling full and content.

After this we took a little stroll around the town, taking in the port as it was all lit up beautifully with a golden glow. We walked on until we found a nice little pub and stopped for a drink and a game of ‘fuse ball’ which we have not played before but were taught the rules by Max. Max was the reigning champion in this game and I can honestly say that we were in no way shape or form a match for him! As we walked back to the car we passed a great busking band who were singing all sorts of fun, thigh slapping, feet tapping tunes you had to clap along too, they were great! We watched for a little while before heading to the car where we made the quiet trip home, we were exhausted!

written by  Chris and Emily on August 27, 2009 from La Rochelle, France
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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The market was about a half hour drive away and we all squished into Ingas car and toddled off for the ‘day out’ The market was held in a large old shed and was filled with stalls selling all sorts of edible goods ranging from nuts and vegetables to bread, cheese and seafood. It took a little while to collect all our goods and once purchased we decided to reward ourselves with a coffee across the road before heading to an old church that proudly juttered out across the town. It was a nice old church, stain glass windows and big portraits of Christ being crucified everywhere. I quite like looking at paintings of Christ but I do have to say, I am becoming quite tired of seeing him look so pitiful and sad upon the cross. Surely there must be an artist out there somewhere who could paint him in happier times? Perhaps when he was turning water into wine or healing the sick, or even say, rising the dead, or with His apostles. There are many factors of Christ’s life that could be depicted but it seems everyone is set on showing Him in a pitiful state and when it’s all doom and gloom. Oh well. I’d draw one but I’m fairly sure the church wouldn’t proudly frame a stick figure Christ in bright crayon colours.

After this we all head back to the house to relax in our own ways, reading, writing, running, cooking… it was a nice afternoon.

The boys then got onto the seafood extravaganza that was tonight’s meal. Mussels, Langoustines, Cod etc etc, they tell me it was good. As I’m allergic to all things that live in the sea I was the odd one out today and had some grilled chicken instead, but that was fine, it was done to perfection so it was yummy.

We spent some time sitting outside looking at the stars and chatting before calling it a night and heading to bed.

written by  Chris and Emily on August 26, 2009 from Grues, France
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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It wasn’t so bad, we decided to show the boys the beach that we had found yesterday and we again looked about the little town, picking up some postcards for those back home and head back home.

Inga took to her wind surfing class today and seemed to have a great time learning this. While Inga was at her class, Luke told us of a crop he had come across yesterday and wished to show us, just so that we could clarify to him what it was… We smelt it before we got there… then we saw it. A HUGE, MASSIVE, ENORMOUS Marijuana crop. It was just enormous. We took a drive past just taking in how huge this place was before making our way home to tell Inga of our find. It must be legal here in France, as this Field wasn’t hidden and as I keep saying, it was HUGE!

It was a quiet day and once we were home we got stuck into making our burgers which were, as always, delicious and devoured very very quickly!

written by  Chris and Emily on August 25, 2009 from Grues, France
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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After getting home we all did our own thing, Inga went for a little nap and Luke and I ended up going for a nice long walk in the heat of the day. The roads were deserted and nothing but dirt paths that lead you past corn crops and large Fields of fading sunflowers, which would have been amazing to see in full bloom but it looks as if we just missed this. As Luke and I walked along these dusty, dirty paths we came across a large green Field and we could make out in the distance a large animal that we had never seen before and about 4 smaller ones that looked like ferrets or something. We have no idea what these animals were, nor could anyone tell us, we only had suggestions of otters, ferrets and a badger.

Chris and Max turned up not long after Luke and I returned from this walk and it was great to see Chris again and to give him a cuddle. I know it was only a night apart but it felt like a long time after having spent so much time with one another.

Dinner was a simple affair of chicken salad and some wine and a relaxed night of chatting and laughter before falling into bed for a good nights sleep.

written by  Chris and Emily on August 24, 2009 from Grues, France
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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