Singapore Airport

We can't quite believe we are on our way back to Oz already. Our last few days in Provenc were cold but picturesque, although not always successful! Tried twice to go to an Abbey that's cut into the rock that's a 15 minute walk up a slight hill fromt he carpark. Attempt 1: realised it didn't open until after 2pm, & it was 12.30pm. Took a drive off a beaten path to follow bits of the Via Domitia, an old Roman Road, found a milestone still in situ & went back for Attempt 2: Realised that it wasn't open on Mondays & we it took us a while to work out what day it was. SO never actually saw the Abbey!

On Wednesday, we drove to Digen-les-Bains in the mountains East ie towards Italy. It was gorgeous scenery but a slow trip as we kept stopping to take photos! Made it & saw a hill slope of fossillised Ammonites - big curly shells abotu a foot in diameter.

The train trip back to Paris was great again & we had a lovely last night in Paris doing some last minute shopping & eating out. Early start today & had a squashy train trip to the airport. Could hardly breathe for a few stations, & neither Jen nor I could get 2 feet on the ground for a while as there was no space. Thought Mum might be left behind on the station but Jen squished her backpack so the doors could close!

Anyway, we've had a lovely time & will be back home very soon!

Belle x

Mediterranean meanderings

Today we drove to Martigues & then along the coast towards Marseilles. Stopped for a fabulous lunch in Martigues, a fishing port/village not quite on the coast, but on a lake near the coast. Had a very old town centre, & was very pretty with all the boats lined up, the flowers in the streets & the blue water.

We are going to try to extend our stay in St Remy rather than move on. We can do day trips to the places we planned to go, & packing seems an unnecessary extra if we can stay a few more days in the cottage.

Mum is telling me she is enjoying the driving, as we all are, as there's lots of scenery such as castles on hills & orange sunsets & grapevines with autumn tones. She is also enjoying the fact that Jen & I are driving... it can be hair-raising on NARROW streets, between lines of trees where there is no extra bitumen on the side of the road. We started off with a BMW but have changed to a Dodge. Our "Wiggles Car" as it is a Big Red Car, which leaves little room for error when driving.

Mandie, hope you made it home safely & had a good trip.

Heading back "home" now, to our comfy cottage!

Luv from us x

St Remy de Provence

Well we decided to stay a week in St Remy - just south of Avignon, and bse here. It's a gorgeous little town where Van Gogh wet into a sanitorium... not sure but he could have cut his ear off here! Also ruins of a Roman town (Glanum). We have ventured to hilltop towns with rivers runnigh through/ rose red because of the red ochre used to build them, & one tumbling down a hillside. We've gone to the best preserved Roman amphitheatre with the stage wall almost complete, the Pont du Gard (an amazing roman aqueduct). We've seen the ruins of a chateau complex on top of a hill & also gone to Arles, also roman ruins & Van Gogh stuff! Seems to be a theme...

The cottage we rented is in a great spot - near a supermarket & the tourist bureau. Was quite near this internet cafe but it took Jen & I quite a circuit to find it. Well; it's actually a computer hidden behind a screen at the bqck of a cafe!

Anyway, we are off south-west for our last 2 nights on Monday. Came to the internet to see if we could find accom but no luck.

Weather has turned cooler & thermals are out & on. Has mostly been fine but rained a little today. New coats work well!

Thanks for everyone's comments - it's good to hear news from home!

We just don't seem to get out at night much, so internet cafes are rarely on our list!

Luv all of us

St-Remy-de-Provence

Well, we have made it safely down to Provence after a week in Paris. It seemed to pass very quickly, but we never seemed to have time to go to an internet cafe... just the sights, the metro, a restaurant or two or home to cook. The weather has been fantastic... only today did it rain a little, otherwise its been fine & fairly warm.

Managed to see all of the major sights: Eiffel Tower (Mums favourite), Musee D'Orsay, Sacre Coeur & Montmartre, Champs Elysees, got lost in the Louvre & nearly went to Giverny. Just wasn't our day that day & we couldn't figure it all out, despite being at the correct rain station & asking for help. So we went to the Arc de Triomphe & Montmartre instead!

The TGV to Avignon was very easy & have mastered the first few hours of driving on the wrong side of the road. Yet to decide what to do to,orrow, but St Remy is a gorgeous town & there's a walking tour of Van Gogh sights or a hundred other things to do around here!

Belle x

1 sleep to go!!!

Hi,

this is really a test run to see if I've actually reactivated the blog which has caused me great angst in the last hour!

Anyway, Mum & I have just enjoyed a champagne while Jen had a glass of wine at the other end of the phone on our Adventure Eve.

We are now getting excited, to think that France is so close... only a day or two away.

Hooray!!!

Belle

Kuala Lumpur airport

Well Mum, you were right! Have 3 hours to kill here at the airport & there's free internet access. I now know that the long leg of the trip is over & the shorter one is to come. Only 7 hours left on a plane.

The last few days have flown by. I forgot to say on Friday we went to an old Roman Villa just outside of Ravenna. There are 8 or 10 black & white floor mosaics in situ, and only the foundations of the buildings remain. So you can look across the area & see all of them at once. Fantastic to see as there had only been a small amount of restoration so most of it was original. There went a roll of film!

It was great to see Kay again, even if we worked out I was there for about 8 hours, 5 of which we slept! Enough time to eat, & repack my bags while catching up with a glass of wine. That was definitely way too short a stay! Had no problems wit the flight from Venice to Paris & after reading the guidebook ditched the idea of going to the Museum of Natural History in favour of shopping on my last day.

Was worth it! On my walk I noticed 2 small pubs opposite each other in a little street that advertised they were televising the Rugby games on last night. There were 3, but I thought that France Vs New Zealand would be fun. I don't usually go to pubs by myself but felt OK going to watch something. So I had a Nanna nap back at the hotel & went out for dinner near the pubs. Game started at 9pm & it was packed! Ended up meeting a Kiwi/English couple who just moved from London to Paris plus a few disappointed locals who weren't that impressed when they heard some support for the opposition. So it was a good night & my plan for having a decent night's sleep before flying home went out the window as it was another 1.30am flight. However, as my mother told me, I can sleep at home. Good advice Mum!!

Anyway, I will be home in several hours & will no doubt catch up with everyone then.

A bientot,

Belle xxx

Last day in Ravenna

I can't believe it's over! Am back at the hotel to collect my bags & it was all very sad to say goodbye. Harder with some people than others & I have certainly made some good friends this time. Somehow, I'm going to make a Yahoo group so we can all keep in touch. We all had a great week but I think it's good it was only 5 days or we'd all die of alcohol poisoning. Dinner last night was fabulous in a restaurant that serves local specialty food. And Luciana gave us each a recipe book of regional food.

I was thinking how amazing it is that today I'm in Ravenna, tonight I'll be in Venice, tomorrow I'll be walking around Paris & then Monday I'll be home in Melbourne. How great is that???

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing Kay again tonight, & then lots of you in a few days.

Caio ciao!

Bella xxx