Paris

This was an expensive & busy weekend. On the 12th and 13th of October we went to Paris. We got there on a TGV which went to Paris from Bordeaux and we caught it at Angoulême. For most of the journey it was traveling around 300kph. We left at 9:27AM and got there around noon. We got there and went to the Eiffel Tower. We walked around it once and waited for our bus tour. There were a LOT of people selling little model Eiffel towers, all the exact same. They came in, large, gold ,silver, blue, and rose gold, Medium, gold ,silver, blue, and rose gold, Small, gold ,silver, blue, and rose gold.

The bus tour was a disappointment, as it was stop and start traffic, it cut off a lot of our route, due to closed roads, the seats were cheap plastic, and the earbuds malfunctioned as often as not, When they did work, the info was rare and far between. We got off at the Arc de Triomphe and climbed the 291 steps (I counted) up to the top, and stared out across the city for a while, and looked down the Champs-élysées. As we were about to go down we saw a bunch of bike protesters and heard police sirens. A bunch of riot police then jumped out of their vans, (after going up the wrong side of the street and doing a U-turn into traffic then stopping on the Champs-élysées) and warded off the cyclists. Then the cyclists snuck up through smaller streets and came out farther up. Then a drumming band started up, also part of the protest. It was very entertaining, and we were watching it all when more police arrived and blocked traffic even more. A couple guys then came up next to us and threw a massive banner up and over the wall of the Arc de Triomphe, which promptly came back up at them. They tried again and again and it hung there. Then they started yelling “Extinction rebellion” and then some more cyclists had snuck up to the arc, and were yelling back. The police were then sick of it and came and evacuated the Arc, which we had just vacated. It was all very exciting.

We then walked to the nearest metro station and went to the area of the Catacombs. We waited a while and got some really good bread, and then got in line (the priority line is WORTH it. Otherwise we would have been in an hour long line, as it was we were first in line and got in the line only a quarter to 6, the time of our tour being 6). We got in and went down. First there were a few info boards, telling us that we were below the waterways and the metro and even the sewers. We walked for about half a kilometer I would say, through old quarry tunnels and then got the the entrance to the bony Catacombs. The sign above the entrance said,”STOP THIS IS THE KINGDOM OF DEATH”, it was supposed to deter any miners that stumbled upon the entrance. There was supposed to be 6 million skeletons here. They lined a tunnel about 1 kilometre long to my reckoning, and up to 20 meters deep and stretches up to 30 meters back. That is a LOT of bones. It was cool but not really cool and the hour down there was about as long as I would have wanted. Dinner was next and we found a really good and cheap Thai restaurant. Then we headed to the hotel and I found it nice and luxurious, but it was only 1 out of 5 stars for luxuriousness. (I wonder what 5/5 stars would be like?) Breakfast was nice, because Mom would never buy chocolate cereal, or practically infinite croissants. I also liked the coffee (and hot chocolate) machine.

Now day 2. Up at the crack of dawn, and down into Paris and into the Louvre at 9:30. We saw loads of Italian paintings including the Mona Lisa, and many others. Other pieces of note are The The Winged Victory of Samothrace, and The Venus de Milo.

Then we walked by Notre Dame, and talked about the burning. Then we went to a natural history museum. That was nice, but rather small and sparse then we went to a museum of languages and that was boring to me, (languages are not my thing). And that was it. We got on a metro, had pizza near the train station, and went on another TGV at 7:30.

Hospital visit

A different kind of update — last weekend I ended up going to the emergency room. I’d been having a bit of tingling on one side of my face, just occasionally, but last Friday it was most of the day and Saturday it started to feel numb, so on the advice of the local pharmacist, we went to the nearest hospital. The staff were very nice, and quite concerned, and sent me in an ambulance to the bigger hospital in Angoulême, where within an hour I had an MRI. The good news is no stroke, no tumour, nothing urgent. They recommended that I see a neurologist at some point because it’s likely some weird nerve thing, but they stressed that it wasn’t urgent. I’ve felt it a bit over the last week, but not much. I guess I need to find a neurologist in Spain where our next long stay is planned.  

The bright side of all this? I spoke more French that evening than most of the trip so far, and it was very good for my confidence!

Paris Day Two

Up early to get to the Louvre before it got busy. We spent 2.5 hours there, which was way longer than I expected the boys to last! We saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo and lots more, of course. But by then the crowds were getting insane, so we walked along the Seine, past Notre Dame, to the Galerie d’Evolution for an hour, then more walking to Munda Lingua, a small funky museum devoted to languages and linguistics. And that was it! Back to Montparnasse for a quick dinner and the TGV back home to Chevanceaux. All exhausted but we saw a lot of Paris!

Paris Day One

Paris : Eiffel Tower (we just looked, didn’t go up) bus tour, Arc de Triomphe (we did go up, so many stairs!) and the Catacombs (we went down so many stairs!). At the Arc we were watching the crazy people queuing in the middle of the street for the perfect photo and the utter chaos of the traffic on the roundabout, when loads of police showed up, and protesters on bikes, and drummers, and then suddenly the people beside us were unfurling a banner from the top of the Arc! It was Extinction Rebellion. Interesting experience. 

Lots of walking, now we’re all wrecked! But up in the morning and off to the Louvre.

La Rochelle Aquarium

Hi! I hope you are up for a report! On the 2/10/19 we went to La Rochelle Aquarium and it was amazing!! This is a report about what we saw, my favorite bits and also (The best part) Photos!!!

I will start at the start. To start with we walked through a tunnel of jellyfish. Next was a bunch of what I thought were Cuttlefish but Ben says no.

I thought they were mini cuttlefish and I was right.
Continue reading “La Rochelle Aquarium”

Bordeaux & La Rochelle

Ok two major cities we have visited recently, Bordeaux & La Rochelle. Bordeaux was first, on Sunday. We first dropped Dad off at the airport for a business trip, and then went into the city. It took us a good hour to get into the city and then we went along the estuary front, and saw a large cruise ship along the the docks. We drove down until we saw parking, which was right next to a massive skatepark that was buzzing with BMX’s, scooters, skateboards, and roller-skates. There was one guy inperticular that was on a BMX that was really good, he would go up the hill, and get 5 feet of air, swirl his bike around, and landed going. Another scooterist went up the hill at speed and did a flip!! One other thing I noticed is that they had strong knee pads, one even crashed and slid down the hill and was no worse for wear. After watching the skaters for a while we moved on to the market and strolled through it several times. It was nice, but nothing special. I had to go to the toilet then so we headed to a toilet a few minutes away it was weird, it sang to me while I was in there and I stuck my hands in a slot and it squirted water, soap, water, and HOT air in that order. Next we headed away from the water, down a shopping street, but none of us enjoy shopping much, so we headed away and to a quiet triangle an got bio (Organic) ice-cream. I got cassis, (blackcurrant), Nate got Framboise,(Raspberry) Ben got gingembre,( ginger) and Mom got Citron et basilic.(Lemon and basil). They were all really good and rich. Then we headed back to the car after getting cold water at a small grocery store.

LA ROCHELLE

In La Rochelle we went to a aquarium first, for 3 1/2 hours.

First was a room that looked like a really old submarine, that shook, and then doors opened. A tunnel of jelly fish was first. (Why does it seem that aquariums always have a jellyfish tunnel) They were moon jellys.

Then the cuttlefish. Have I mentioned that cuttlefish are my favorite animal? I got a really good photo too.

Small cuttlefish

It looks so good with two of its tentacles up and ready to strike! There were a bunch of other exhibits in that area that were also cool.

The next ‘room’ had an octopus and sturgeons and several other things. I loved the octopuses!

We continued our visit with going by a large tank of many fish.

Then shark tank Jr.

Then more fish, moving toward the Caribbean section.

Then the SHARK tank. It was BIG. 1 250 000 litres!!

Then bioluminescence.

And jellyfish.

Mangroves.

That covers it all I think.

Grandparents visit

A week and a half after we arrived at Chevanceaux, my mum and dad came to visit for a week. They flew into Bordeaux airport and I drove down with the kids to pick them up.

The first few days the weather was still really hot, so we didn’t do a lot. There was pool time, grocery shopping, chilled pineau and wine, barbecued dinners eaten outside.

On Saturday we decided to get out and see something, so we drove to Blaye, on the coast of the Gironde estuary. There’s a fort there, and on Saturday afternoon there was a market. We wandered around a bit, explored the fort, and ran across rehearsals for some sort of Three Musketeers production with full costumes, horses, and sword-fighting. It was fun to sit and watch for a while. I couldn’t understand much of what they were saying, but then I’m not sure I would’ve been able to make it out even if it was English!

Eric and I were able to go out for dinner on Saturday evening, to the local restaurant. It was interesting, the food and wine were good (and the company of course!), but I was surprised how very large the portions were and I was rather uncomfortably full on the walk home.

The weather really cooled down on Sunday. On Monday we visited Jonzac, one of the bigger local towns. It has a chateau, and was a nice place to walk around for a bit, but on a Monday lots of things were closed and it felt a bit deserted. We walked down a long medieval alley which seemed to go on and on and on, under buildings and around corners. Apparently it was one of the only ways into the city itself, apart from the gates, and it was useful because it was easy to defend, with so many twists and turns where it could be blocked off.

The last day of their visit was pretty rainy, and they encouraged me to go to the local coffee shop with them in an effort to interact more in French. I’ve been generally disappointed with how much speaking practice I’m getting, but part of that is not getting myself out there and into situations that require it. I really will have to try harder.

Life in Chevanceaux

We visited another lake, further inland, colder and deeper and we all went swimming but much shorter dips! Eric rode there and we drove home together. Beautifully forested surroundings.

My mum and dad came to stay for a week and we sampled the local pineau (brandy/wine mixture), visited Blaye on the Gironde estuary and wandered around the citadel. We came across some Musketeer-era costumed actors, rehearsing something, complete with sword fights. That was fun!

We also visited the local town of Jonzac, with the longest meandering medieval alley I’ve ever walked down. It turns into tunnels under buildings several times. Interesting history – it was the only access to the town outside of the gate and all the curves made it easier to block in case of attack. 

After the first couple of weeks of intense heat, it cooled down and we had some crazy rain. Before that hit, the farmers were all out harvesting their dead sunflowers. They looked quite sad before they were gone, but it’s just a season. 

I’ve been out for a couple of runs (first time since January!) and finally got out for a bike ride too. The roads are tiny and beautiful and really quiet.  

And apart from that, we’re doing schoolwork and working and planning our next stops! One night in Paris in a couple of weeks and two weeks in Portugal from mid October. 

Apples (might seem bit stupid but read on)

On the 27/9/19 we went to a apple farm and got I think like 25 apples? Anyhoo we all ate one. We all tried each others and they were all really good. (Between you and me I by far liked Tim’s the most.) We also got apple cider that is really good as well. Ohh I almost forgot (Thank you Tim for reminding me) we also got ARTICHOKES at an APPLE store we also saw grapes and plums and WINE and almonds still in shells and grapefruit and crystallized ginger. Over all it was really nice and I wish we were able to stay there longer because the smell was nice.