Singapore

Hi all,
well I am in Singapore Airport once again after a seemingly long flight that was only 12 hours - I had expected 13! Only 3 hours until the next flight.

Please note my last blog was in 2 parts, with the last bit appearing first!

Anyway, that's about all my news. Nothing much to report I'm afraid.

See you all soon!

Luv,

Belle xxx

finishing

Week 5. The Amphitheatre in Orange
Week 6. The Mosaics Course.
Week 7. Seeing Kay, Daniel & Otzi
Week 8. Annecy.

Had time after all!!!
There's free internet in Singapore Airport, so I will fill in some time there!

xxxxx

Back in Paris

Well all good things must come to an end, I guess! It's hard to believe that 8 weeks have gone by, but they have. And what an amazing 8 weeks! Thanks to everyone who read this blogspot & to those who made comments or emailed. It has made it remarkably easy to stay in touch & nice to hear news from home.

It's a little strange to be back in Paris. The weather changed from hot & humid to rainy while I was in Annecy & is the same here. It feels a bit like coming full circle, what with returning to the same hotel in Paris & being jeans & coat weather like when we arrived!

The train trip here was pretty straighforward - get on in Annecy, get off in Paris. It was nice to be familiar with the train systems & the area I was going to. Much less stress than having to find my way around a new place! I'm glad I booked the hotel before leaving Paris.

So all I have to do is make it to the RIGHT airport ON TIME so I don't miss the plane tomorrow. And yes, I have checked the itinerary several times already.

Some business: Gayelene, Mum & Jen - can you please co-ordinate??? If any of you haven't read recent emails, I need
a) someone to ring Tim to arrange access to my house keys as I don't have any. Mum & Jen have his mobile number, but I didn't bring it.
b) someone to also let him know that M&D won't be down until after I get back, since I'd told him he might need to arrange to leave them keys out. Thanks!!!

And now, since I have another 10 minutes left, I'm going to do the ridiculous task of trying to figure out some highlights.
Week 1. Les Arènes de Lutèce (just the name sounds great)
Week 2. The view from Shayne's terrace in Deia. And of course my birthday!
Week 3. The subterranean river cruise.
Week 4. Beynac Castle. Rouffignac Cave. Canoeing.

Oops out of time!!!

Belle xxxx

Annecy

Well if I was going to spend my last few days anywhere, this is a great place to do it! Annecy is about an hour or so south of Geneva, and I must say it was nice to be back in France! Things just seem familiar & I can use euros again! Switzerland, of course, did not change & kept Swiss Francs, so I now have four currencies in my wallet (Aus, euros, swiss francs & singapoer dollars)!

The old town of Annecy is on a couple of canals that come off the adjacent big lake. I have treated myself & am staying in a hotel on one of the canals & have a fabulous view out my window. There`s an old prison on a tiny island in the middle of the main canal, & lots of little streets filled with shops & restaurants. My plan to spend a bit of time lying on the beach has not come to fruition as it has rained all day, but I have still got out & about to look around.

Ihis morning I booked my train ticket back to Paris for tomorrow on the TGV (very fast train). I discovered there`s one that goes directly from here so I don`t need to change trains! It will only take about 4 hours.

Anyway, it seems a little strange to be coming back to Australia, but I guess all good things must come to an end! On the way back from Bern on Tuesday, I had a little heart attack on the train when the thought crossed my mind that "this time next week will be my first day back at work".

Work? What`s that?

Luv,

Belle xxx

Geneva to Annecy

Hi all,

I have had a lovely few days in Geneva and am heading to Annecy today. Have explored the Lake, actually been to a nightclub, lain on the beach & had a swim, & walked through gardens. Yesterday I went to Bern for the day & walked around for a few hours. There are Bear Pits - which have bears! It's a very German town on a fast flowing river. There were lots of road works on both the main streets which was a bit annoying, & it also rained! I got to use the rain coat for the first time, so haven't carried it this far for nothing!

Am going to have a walk around the old town in Geneva this morning and head to Annecy around lunchtime. It's only an hour away. I had many choices about where to spend the last 2 nights before going to Paris, but somewhere there's a beach won!

Belle xxx

Geneva

Well I arrived in one piece after only a minor delay. All of the trains from Venice were delayed due to weather conditions. At the time I didn't think it wold be a problem as I had an hour and ahalf in Milan before the connecting train to Geneva. But there are some things you can't change & we ended up getting into Milan 2 hours late, after my train had left. Of course the next one didn't leave for 4 hours & it was then delayed for 20 minutes! Arrived into Geneva at about 9pm, after having caught the train from Preganziol at 8am. The last 2 days have trained me out!!!

The train ride was once again quite picturesque, mostly mountains & vineyards in a similar style to the trip to Bolzano. Except after we crossed the Swiss border I turned my head to look out of the other window & thought My God, there's a big lake!!! Am not quite sure what we will be doing in the next few days, but India, who is 11, has many ideas of what I can do! Not going to churches, seeing The Merchant of Venice, swimming in the Lake is just some of her itinerary, most of which she wantedus to do last night!

It's great to see Barb & meet her partner. I will get to practice my french more! I must say it was a relief to hear french again in the train coming into Switzerland last night & understand a few announcements! Prior to that I relied on finding english speaking people who could translate what they were telling us in Italian about delays.

Will be in touch again soon,

Belle xxx