Paris!

And so we arrive in Paris! 

Paris is the last destination on our wandering the world adventure. I was a bit worried we would all be travel weary, especially after a great couple of weeks relaxing at our two stays in rural France. 

Nothing to worry about! That first sight of the Eiffel Tour brings much excitement and Paris has so much to offer, that filling our last four days of travelling the world was very easy.                      We loved Paris. We used airbnb for our accommodation, staying in a two bedroom apartment in the 15th arrondissement. It was a 15 min metro ride into the city, which was simple. As apartments in large cities go, it was nearly large ... not spacious, but we did have two bedrooms and something that nearly passed as a kitchen. So we were very comfortable. We did get to explore our arrondissement a little, usually looking for food, and it had a lovely feel. There is even a 1.5km stretch of disused railway line that has been converted to a walking/running track, which had a lovely feeling of running in a green area so close to the city. 

The Eiffel Tower certainly has a wow factor about it. We saw it from many different angles, including  ground level, from all sides, from the water and from other view points in the city (top of Arc de Triomphe). On our final day, we did ascend it, using the lift to get right to the top. Stunning view! This is my favourite view, and photo, with the Arc de Triomphe in the centre. The Arc de Triomphe is at the top end of Champs Elysee, so it just felt fun to be in that area! We did have dinner on the Champs Elysee, but no shopping unfortunately!

We enjoyed most of the food treats ... except for the snails. None of us were game enough to try! We did however, try the crepes with chocolate sauce ... they were good! There were many ice-creams along the way too.

We loved the cafe scene and usually stopped for a coffee each morning. No takeaways in paper cups in Paris ... everyone takes the time to sit and enjoy. We gave up on cappuccinos long ago on this trip, after constantly being disappointed, so we now drink expressos with milk on the side. This was usually accompanied by a croissant ... how could we not? We loved the feeling of sitting and watching the world go by.

Some serious chatting happened!

We happened to be in Paris at the same time as our friends, the McGuigans. Kate and Michael have three children, the youngest being Sophie's best friend, Lara. Sophie has been looking forward to seeing Lara in Paris for about 4 months so it was a highly anticipated reunion! It was very sweet seeing the two girls so excited to be back together and chatting away. Lach and Olivia also loved catching up with Alex and Jesse, hearing school news and sharing travel stories, so everyone was happy!

We visited the Louvre to see Lisa; we went into Notre Dame and marvelled at architecture from the 11th century; we spent some time in Luxembourg Gardens (with the McGuigans); we did a cruise along the Seine; we did a Red Bus tour around the city which gave us a great overview and exposed us to the big highlights quickly. It was a great visit to Paris, topped off with three days of great weather and our first rainy/overcast day in the month that we've been in France. 

And now we depart. We are about to wander home - but very mud with a direction and destination in in mind. I'm writing this at Charles de Gaulle airport, as we prepare for two overnight flights and then arrival in Sydney on Wednesday morning (36 hours away). We are all excited: we are ready to come home and settle into life again. We have been so lucky. We have had amazing experiences, with all travel plans working close to perfectly. 

I shall write another blog on our arrival home, once we've settled back in. See you back in Australia!

Southampton, Hampshire

Trying to learn about the First Fleet

When we decided to come to Portsmouth, Olivia was very keen. She knew about this area from her studies about the First Fleet when in Yr 4. She was keen to follow up on her learning at school. Unfortunately, there is very little about the departure of the First  Fleet from Portsmouth. Being a government activity, all the information pertaining to the ships is located in the National Archives in London. We did however, find a memorial to the First Fleet in the the harbour area.

The Spinnaker Tower

The Spinnaker Tower is the main landmark around Southampton. Lach and Sophie were able to walk and lie on the glass platform and admire the water 100 metres below!

Comfortably looking at the water 100m below!

Southampton is the city where the Titanic departed from in 1912. The sinking of this ship had a major impact on the city because as many as 75% as many of the crew were from Southampton. The museum as excellent and the children were able to do many fun activities. 

We caught up with some family friends, who live near Southampton. Felicity and Tim Leather, along with Amy and Kiera, welcomed us into their house for a yummy home cooked lasagne and great family dinner around the kitchen table. Fliss (Gorman) was a family friend of the Friedliebs while we were growing up and it was lovely to catch up on their exciting family news and see the next generation coming through. Amy and Kiera could be renamed "mini-Fliss"! In looks and personalities! Such a lovely evening.

We are all getting tired. The children have been asking for a day "at home", which means without doing touristy things. We have been reluctant as we can see how many things there are to do around the cities and towns we've visited. Herein lies the challenges of travelling with children! I think the children are ready for routine once again; for familiar things and for friends and family.

In Southampton, we have a beautiful apartment, and with dull weather today, we decided to have a day off (after doing parkrun, that is). Tony was unable to complete parkrun this morning due to an on-going injury, so he was happy to have the rest of the day at home to ice and rest his foot. One of the main activities that the children wanted to do "at home" was making more looms - the trend that we feel we've followed around the world! Its popular everywhere!

We have found Southampton to be underwhelming ... its very much a port city and in dull, grey, nothing weather (not rainy, not sunny, not warm, not cold, about 18 degrees ... = dull). We have enjoyed time off tourism, some healthy food once again thanks to a great kitchen and some free time. Happy kids = happy parents!

We meet up with my Mum tomorrow (Sunday) night at Gatwick airport, then head to France together for 2 weeks - we are excited about that!

London

We're off to visit the Queen ....

Lizzy didn't invite us in!

Just resting in Trafalgar Square

We flew from Göteborg to London, where we had an airbnb apartment for 6 days. Accommodation in London was so hard to find - small, expensive and some questionable areas. The apartment is fine and we actually have great space, but the surrounding areas are not very pretty. But, fine for a few days.

You'd think after 9 days of relaxing and spending time with friends in Sweden, we'd be feeling refreshed.... but we weren't so much! We took London very gently and just explored a few areas at a time.

The children with familiar with some of the highlights of the city, which made it exciting as we stepped out of Charing Cross Station and instantly met Lord Nelson overseeing the city. They loved seeing Big Ben, London Eye and watching the activities on the Thames.

Sophie did her usual trick of sleeping in an
odd place - a restaurant at lunch time!

Thanks to Sarah (Tony's niece), we've been finding out the colloquial names of some of the more unusual buildings in London town. The photo to the left shows the "cheese grater", the "gherkin", and in the foreground on the right, part of the "walkie-talkie". The kids are highly amused about all these!

As the next post will explain, we have also spent quite a bit of time visiting people. These have been other highlights in themselves and get a post of their own!

Quebec City

Quebec City - Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning 

We headed north out of Montreal and towards Quebec City. We visited the old town in Quebec City briefly in winter and were keen to return in summer. Of course, the change is dramatic. Not only is the environment almost unrecognisable, but the number of tour groups frustrated us! Quebec City is the capital of Quebec, the province. 

 Montreal is the biggest city in Quebec province but Quebec City is the capital. It has a population of 800 000 but an area of less than half of Canberra. It is located on the St Lawrence River and we learnt Quebec is actually a word from the Algonquin tribe, one of the indigenous tribes of Canada. Most assume that it is a french word. Quebec means “narrow river” which is why the French settlers set up camp there - they figured they would be able to see and stop any enemies coming up the river. It is very flat land except for one hill, on which the old town is perched - and it is up a very steep escarpment.

Our first day was a day of travel and after arriving at our van park, we unloaded our bikes and set off. One of the main tourist attractions is the Montmorency Falls. These falls are 30 metres higher than Niagara Falls, but not as wide and not nearly as much water falling over them. We all found them a little underwhelming. We enjoyed our bike ride there and the walk across the top; but probably our ice-cream and people watching was more interesting! There was a high school prom at the function centre that evening, so we enjoyed watching all the girls in their stunning dresses arrive for photos!

The Montmorency Falls, with St Lawrence River in the background. 

The next day, we drove into the city and (eventually) found a park for Bertha. We unloaded our bikes and used them to get around the old town. First stop was Changing of the Guards at the Citadel, which we thought would be a 20 minute visit. Three hours later, we left! We love it when we find an unexpected, interesting tourist attraction! We had a tour around the Citadel, which is an active military base and learnt much about the Canadian history and the three distinct periods: the French, the British and then the Canadian. For the first time since January, we also heard and met several other Australians!

Interesting, the phrase “je me souviens” is the phrase at the bottom of all number plates in Quebec province. Translating to “I remember”, we have often wondered what we are remembering. Seeing it displayed in floral format at the Citadel, we asked … it is to remember our history and our ancestors. Now we know!

Being at the Citadel much longer than expected changed all our plans. After lunch and coffee, we headed into the areas in which we explored in winter. The bikes proved to be very useful for this and allowed us to travel quickly between places. The differences between winter and summer were extreme. Much more life with people everywhere; more colour with potted flowers everywhere; outdoor tables at cafes and restaurants; and a more vibrant feeling from the shop keepers made it feel more alive. We were caught out with our parking expiring so had to leave; but it was also very hot; we needed to shop and our van park had a pool … so by 4.30, we were happy to leave. It was 6pm by the time we returned home and we headed straight to the pool which was beautiful!

We were somewhat undecided about plans after Quebec City, but felt that we wanted more time in the old town area. We decided to give QC a few more hours so headed back in there the next day. This time, we just wandered … with no agenda, we explored little streets and meandered. We discovered a few squares that we hadn’t seen before. The area felt much like the old town of Stockholm with its cobbled stones, or Rome, with architecture from the 1600’s and the small squares, with five or six streets leading into them, dotted with cafes and galleries. 

One of the best things was this enormous fresco on the side of a building. It is a pictorial history of Quebec province, featuring Jacques Cartier who first found New France, right up to modern day (ice) hockey players. It is an amazing art work and we saw it a few times. It is created so that you feel as though as you could walk right into the scene - it is all life like and life size. It was stunning. 

Lunch was in Bertha, right on the edge of the old town and the St Lawrence River. RVs are not so common in the city of Quebec so we feel that we are constantly providing entertainment for everyone! Bet our lunch was healthier and cheaper though! We left Quebec and headed north again, to the town of Baie St Paul. Rain … the whole journey.