Update on Caravan

For all those people who have been asking, yes the caravan is on its way to Melbourne. It should reach Singapore on the 28th November 2013. Then it is scheduled to arrive in Melbourne on the 15th December 2013. A big Christmas present.

It's travelling on a ship called the MV Cosco Pacific. It has just come through the Suez Canal. 

You can track it's progress here:

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/details/ships/477107200

BTW: We now have a new Australian blog charting our Australian adventures. Check it out!

http://middle-park.blogspot.com.au/

Suez Canal

Numbers, Places and Conclusions

Well we are now back in Australia after over six months away.

The last week in europe was very hectic we shipped the caravan back to Australia (it should arrive in November). We sold the car with two days to spare. It was on the market for eight days. 

People have asked us "how was the trip?" The answer was it was fantastic it exceeded all our expectations. Every country we visited was full of surprises and virtually without exception all the people we met were lovely. 

The other question people ask is what was the best place you visited? A tricky question they were all so good. 

However I have nominated two, one city and one area of outstanding natural beauty. 

1. The City: Paris 

We actually visited paris twice it was so good. The first time was in mid August. We had perfect weather and watched the sun set over the Seine and the moon rise over the Louvre. 

Moonrise in Paris

2. Nature: The Soca Gorge in Slovenia.  This place was magical. It had cold blue clear water full of wild fish. We must have jumped into the gorge 100 times between us it was wonderful. 

Alex jumping into the Soca Gorge

Here is a video of kayaking on the river that gives you an idea of what it was like. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4snc4sJvnhc

We drove 20,000 km's and flew 34,000 km's that's 54,000 km's in total. Our kids started off the trip at the ages of 8,5 and 1 and are now 9,6, and 2! They have had a world of experience in the last six months and hopefully we have fired their imaginations. Alex wants to be an environmentalist, Charlie wants to be a roman empress and Sam just wants to "play!"

As I write this Sarah is back at work at St. Vincent's and the kids are happily back at school and day care. I am unpacking and contemplating what to do next. 

Would we do it all over again? Of course! Would we do it differently? Probably not the trip was well planned and we did everything we set out to achieve.  Thanks for reading and posting all the comments :). Get travelling!

Roger. 

Full circle

Well we are nearing the end of our trip. Eight more days in the UK and then home to Melbourne. We have completed a full circle of Europe and visited some of the most beautiful and interesting areas on Earth.

Have we enjoyed it? You bet! The trip has exceeded all expectations. But now it's time for us to get back to our lives and importantly to see all our friends in Australia. Watch out Melbourne here we come!

Elddis Avante 526 Says Goodbye to Europe

The caravan is saying goodbye to Europe for the last time. Sarah and Alex transported it down to Ipswich on Friday. From there it goes into a container and is shipped to Melbourne via Singapore. It should reach Melbourne in November. We can then continue our travels in Australia!

Goodbye to Europe!

Internet on the Move part 2

As we have said before wifi is pretty much essential for us on our travels. It allows us to access teaching materials, blog and manage the trip. However getting access is an absolute pain. The worst country so far has been France. The oldest mobile operator there Orange has  a virtual monopoly in rural areas. So we went for an Orange "Domino" 3G wifi router. However the coverage was terrible. Also the data expired after 7 days even though the shop told us it was valid for a month. As a visitor on a prepaid plan you have virtually no come back when you have problems. So my advice is avoid Orange at all costs!  

On a positive note the company "three" in the UK has a good deal on prepaid sims for £15 with 1 GB of data. Crucially it allows you to use the phone as a hotspot for the laptop. 

Why there is no Europe wide sim/wireless Internet available is beyond me. It seems like a gap in the market.

Orange Domino. Avoid Avoid!!!!
should be Lemon Domino

Paris is so cool!

We've so enjoyed our time in Paris, it's such a cool city!

If you'd like to get some of the Paris vibe tune into FIP (France into Paris) radio station, you can listen on line. Rog loves the DJ's, it's an eclectic mix of music genres and no adverts.

Also read Paris The secret history by Andrew Hussey which shows the dark side of the city of light. During the siege by the Prussians in 1870 the poor boiled up corpses dug up from cemeteries to make gruel and restaurants served different varieties of rats, for example: the brewery rat was particularly popular.

The pics were done by the kids having fun with the special effects on the ipad at the Roy Lichtenstein exhibition and the Musee d'Orsay.

Good bye to France

Tomorrow we catch the ferry back to the UK. We had our last day in Paris today. We enjoyed seeing the Impressionists one more time at Musee D'Orsay. We had lunch in the lovely museum restaurant overlooking the Seine. Then we strolled back to Notre Dame along the river. Our travels on the continent are over for now...

A day of art and culture in Paris

Well we're back in Paris on a perfect autumn day. 

Many apologies as all our electronic gadgets seem to be giving up the ghost. A trip like this is pretty hard on them with the constant moving, plugging and unplugging. Our camera and laptop are on the blink, that coupled with dodgy wifi means uploading photos on the blog is very tricky.

Alex was desperate to go and see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre after going to Leonardo's birthplace in Tuscany (Vinci). The Louvre was originally a fortress and the existing buildings were built on top of it. In fact we saw the original ramparts and moat in the basement. It has metamorphosed from palace, stable and granary and, after Louis XIV moved the court to Versailles in 1678, squatter's home. In 1793, after the revolution it opened as a museum of royal treasures. It houses a stunning selection of art from the Middle Ages to 1848 as well as one of the biggest collections of ancient Egyptian, Greek and Islamic treasures in the world ( artefacts plundered by many rulers... Notably Napoleon)

The Louvre was amazing. We fought off the crowds to see the Mona Lisa and Alex was thrilled. When the painting was stolen by a glazier in 1911 thousands queued to stare at the bare wall as a massive manhunt got underway. Two years later he tried to sell the painting in Florence. He claimed to have kidnapped the painting to avenge the wagonloads of treasure hauled back from Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte. My favourite was a brush made of peacock feathers in the Islamic collection and large Roman mosaic floors. It really exceeded expectations, the collection was amazing and the crowds of muppets were mainly concentrated in 2 or 3 main areas. Many of the galleries were virtually empty. It represented excellent value for money at 24 euros for all of us.

After fortification with crepes and ice- creams in the lovely Jardin du Palais Royal we headed for a modern art fix to the Pompidou centre. It was disappointing as most of the centre's main collection was closed for re-hanging, however they still charged the same entry fee (26 euros for a family). The building is pretty cool with lots of escalators and colour coded pipes on the outside designed to make people think more how a building actually works. It was just a bit grubby and run down and could do with a good clean. The kids interactive gallery was terrific with cool installations involving plasticine and magnets. There was also a Roy Lichenstein exhibition which was fantastic, as long as you went in through the out door (to quote Prince) ... Go figure!... Alex and Charlie had lots of fun with the special effects on the camera.

Early start to avoid the muppets 

Mona Lisa

Very happy

Guerande

Chan and Richard are leaving us tomorrow and it is our last day in Brittany. We are going back to Paris for a few days (as we loved it so much) then to Calais on Wednesday to get the ferry back to the uk. It's hard to believe our wonderful trip is coming to an end! We have 2 weeks in the UK before returning to Australia. We'll be busy.... Catching up with family and friends, Charlie's UK birthday party and of course sorting out all our stuff. The caravan needs servicing ( after being used more than most caravans get used in a lifetime some things need fixing), the car needs selling and the kids pile of souvenirs needs packing.

Anyhow back to Brittany ......

We visited the picturesque walled medieval town of Guerande. The fortifications were built in the 14th century after the town was destroyed in the Wars of Succession. The town is surrounded by walls and a moat (complete with ducks) which are pierced by 4 gates. Guerande prospered in the Middle Ages and the 19th century due to the nearby salt marshes. 10,000 tonnes of coarse salt is harvested each year but only 300 tonnes of the delicate fleur de sel which is highly prized by chefs. The 15th century collegiate church has a famous out door pulpit and very fine stained glass windows. 

We ended the day with a lovely meal and salted caramels which are a local delicacy.

Fruits de la Mare

We moved to a campsite overlooking the ocean just outside the hidden gem of Penestin in southern Brittany. Penestin is on a peninsula with magnificent golden cliffs and sandy beaches. It's well known for it's aquaculture due to its large inter-tidal zone and nutrient rich water. On the beach outside our campsite were mussel and oyster farms. The mussels are grown on stakes surrounded by wire netting and the oysters in horizontal wire cages. The beach was a hive of activity at low tide with fisherman tending their produce in tractors or boats and many others digging in the mud for peppies or harvesting oysters and mussels off the rocks. Not to be outdone we gathered an abundance of peppies, mussels and oysters which we cooked up for lunch. Sam was particularly good at digging in the mud!

To continue the seafood theme we visited the local poissonerie and bought langoustines, sardines, crab claws as well as more peppies and mussels. Then we had a cook-off. Richard did moules with a very fine fennel and white wine sauce, Chan cooked langoustines and sardines on the BBQ and Rog lightly floured sardines and fried them in garlic and olive oil. They were the best sardines we've ever tasted. The mussels are particularly sweet... Apparently it's mussel season.

You may ask what my contribution was... Chief taster!!

Chan and Richard come to visit!

We're very lucky as our good friends Chan (who I went to school and uni with and was my bridesmaid many years ago) and Richard have come to visit us. We've had a very busy time hanging out in Bretagne, trying not to eat too much seafood.

We visited the picturesque fishing village of St Pierre Quiberon which is on a very narrow penninusula. We had a lovely time swimming in the sea (along with a large group of nuns) and then had very fine galettes (savoury crepes) for lunch. Later that day we picnicked and watched the sunset over Lamor-Baden.

Paddling nun

St Pierre Quiberon

Striding purposefully

Picnicking with Chan and Richard

Lamor-Baden

Sunset at Lamor-Baden

Sailing in the Gulf of Morbihan

Today Alex and I hired a yacht for the afternoon, 

We went sailing in the Gulf of Morbihan. The Gulf has a fantastic series of islands and inlets, ideal for sailing.  The day was perfect mid twenties with a fresh North Westerly Wind. The boat was a small Harmac cabin cruiser with a main sail and small outboard motor.  We hired it from David at Le Blan Marine in Arradon. Alex took the helm a few times and we had great fun cruising around a couple of the inshore inlands. We then met up with the girls and ended the the day moule frittes again!

Gulf of Morbihan

Alex at the Helm!

Merlin the Magian and the Roman Legion

Today we visited the historic town of Carnac. It's 30 minutes North West of Baden. It is the oldest continually occupied settlement in Europe. 

Carnac is famous as the site of more than 10,000 standing stones, also known as menhirs. The stones were cut from local rock and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany. Local tradition claims that the reason they stand in such perfectly straight lines is that they are a Roman Legion turned to stone by Merlin the Magician.

The Roman Legion. (Carnac menhirs)

Map

Brittany

From Paris we have traveled a long way west to Baden in Brittany. I needed to see the Ocean before the end of our trip. The last time we saw the sea was in Naples in early June. Brittany does not disappoint. We are staying on the beautiful Gulf of Morbihan. This has many tidal inlets and at low tide you can collect cockles. We did this and cooked them in garlic and olive oil. The kids are loving the 5 star campsite with 7 waterslides, 5 bouncy castles and a rope park! Life is tough!

Miss C with a cockle

Baden

5 of the 7 water slides at Le Mané Guernehué

Cockle (or a peppie in Australia)

Mussels, fairy floss and love locks!

If you thought romance was passé in Paris, all you have to do is look at Paris bridges to see it is being displayed in full force.

The Paris “love locks” are back.

The love padlocks have been a phenomenon in cities around the world.

For those of you who haven’t heard of them, here's the story. A couple writes their names on a padlock and locks it onto one of the bridges. They then throw the key into the Seine River as a symbol of their undying love.

Some say the only way to break the seal of love brought on by this love lock act is to find the key and unlock the padlock. Of course, that is nearly impossible, since the keys lie at the bottom of the river. This reality induces many brokenhearted individuals to return with bolt cutters to try to chop off the padlocks in the dead of the night. 

Alex and Charlie decided they wanted to put their padlock on the bridge too. They wrote 'Alex, Charlie and Sam, Paris 2013' on their lock and tossed the key in the Seine (and kept a spare for their journals).

The car park we deposited the car at did free bike hire so Rog hired a bike and did some touring by the Seine giving 'croggies' to the kids. We went to the Jardin des Tuileries near the Louvre and went on the fair ground. The views from the air chairs was fantastic. (Cheaper than DLP and no queues or mice in sight!) 

Ended the day with steaming pots of moules frites (again!!).

We love Paris!!

A & C with their padlock

Charlie attaches it to bridge

The Louvre from the Jardin du Carousel

Louvre again 

Going up on the air chairs

The Louvre from the air chairs

Log flume- be warned you may get wet!

Fairy floss of course 

Musee d'Orsay and some tower

Moules frites (again!!!!!)