Day 29 Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame

The nights are getting easier, although the beds are still bloody uncomfortable, and the apartment has not got any bigger!! We were up and going by 7.30am, and we had our first encounter with peak hour on the metro!! Oh my goodness!! It was very overwhelming for all of us, we got pushed along with the crowd, and how on earth all of us ended up on the same carriage together, is beyond me! We all handled it extremely well, pushed up against unknown foreigners - Marni would have preferred a nice, young, non smoking, French fellow, however!!  Anyway we made it safely and with plenty of time to meet our guide, so we decided to stop for a hot chocolate and crepes. It wasn't all that nice, and is now known as the "crap crepe" place!!

We met our guide Carolyn, outside Trocadero Metro station, and once everyone was there, we walked around to Place du Trocadero, where we had our first look at the Eiffel Tower. It was a magnificent sight, quite breath taking. As we walked towards the Eiffel Tower, Carolyn talked to us about the history of the Tower, and Eiffel himself, a very interesting tale, and he was definitely a forth coming man, and failure was something he never thought about.

We crossed the River Seine, where Carolyn gave us our river cruise tickets, to use at our own leisure, we will hopefully go on Saturday.  With our tour we were able to skip the lines, and boy it was a very long line, and head straight up to the second floor of the tower. The views were amazing, mind blowing actually, and something we will remember for a very long time. Carolyn took us right around the tower, explaining each of the landmarks, and it gave us a good perspective of the city and what it has to offer.

From here we said our goodbyes, but with our tickets we could go to the very top level, which we did (minus Marni, the height was too much for her). The line wasn't very long, and before we knew it we were on the top level, gaining another perspective of Paris. 

We were extremely lucky with the weather for the Eiffel Tower tour, but our luck unfortunately was not going to last! We walked back to Trocadero Place and had a very nice lunch at one of the many restaurants. From here we could see the weather changing, so we decided it would be best to head closer to the apartment, and visit Notre Dame. We arrived at Notre Dame, just in time, as it started raining very heavily, and thankfully the line moves extremely quickly, so we were able to take refuge in this magnificent church, and wander around at our leisure, marvelling at the history behind this beautiful place.

From here the weather was not going to let up, so we retreated to our apartment, after a quick stop at a souvenir shop to buy a few bits and pieces.  We were actually all very tired, after two busy days and early mornings, so it was nice to relax! We purchased some yummy paris patisseries, that kept us going, and we had an early night.

Beaucoup Amour,

Chrissie xx

Day 28 Loire Valley... Wine tasting and Chateau Tour

PUp and going early this morning as we had to be at the Catacombes by 7.15am, to meet our tour guide, for our bus trip and tour of three chateaus, with a little bit of wine tasting included also!!

Our tour guide, Lindsay, was a lovely American girl who had lived and was studying history in Paris for the last three years, so she was the perfect companion for this tour, her knowledge was amazing, and very interesting, which has lead me to want to research more about the French history!

We hopped on our coach, with seven others, so a total of thirteen in the tour, plus Lindsay and our bus driver Ivan, and off we went, passing through the 14th Arr, heading out of Paris in a South-West direction, towards the Loire Valley. We had a good view of the countryside, and were surprised by the large amount of crop that was planted, and we saw hardly any cattle or sheep. The massive big wind turbines dotted around provide 7% of the electricity used in a France, the rest is sourced by nuclear energy.

After 2 1/2 hours of driving, our first stop was Chambord, known as the king of all French castles! In 1516 Francis I commissioned Leonardo da Vinci to design this palace, and building started in 1519. The chateau was the kings hunting lodge, so it was not lived in for long periods, according to history he only ever stayed there for a total of seven weeks all together, therefore it was never furnished, so when the king came to stay, he would bring all his furnishings with him!! It was a very impractical design too, with open windows and very high ceilings, heating was an issue, so it is a very cold place! Even so, it was very beautiful, built for a man who had grand designs on himself, especially with the ladies, who thought he was the most handsome man ever to walk! Google him, and you will find that desires were a lot different back then! ;)

From here we went through the town of Blois, and then to the town of Amboise, where we went past the Amboise Chateau, the burial place of Leonardo da Vinci. A beautiful looking chateau, but very busy! We arrived at a lovely yet smaller chateau, which was completed in 1543, and is called Chateau de Nitray, and is now an operating vineyard. We tasted some lovely wines, first a Sauvignon, then a Rose, finished off with a sparkling white (champagne, but as we were not in the champagne region it is not allowed to be called champagne!).  We then had a delicious lunch, of roast chicken, potatoes and tomatoes, finished with an apple tartin, all with as much red wine that we could drink! ;)

We were then given a tour of the outside of the chateau, and the surrounding winery. The chateau is privately owned, and the owner, with his family, lives on the second level, and his mother in law lives on the first level, therefore we were unable to see inside.  After a final tasting of the dessert wine, and some quick purchases, to get us through the next few days, we were back on the bus and heading to our next destination, the chateau Chenonceau.

The chateau Chenonceau (known as the ladies castle) is one of the finest of the Loire Valley castles. It was built by the Bohier family, in 1522, however it was passed on to Francis I, due to the Bohier family needing to settle some debts.  It then became Henry II after the death of his father, who then gave it to his mistress - Diane de Poitiers. It was a very tangled web, as the French Court loved Diane, however Henry was married to Catherine de Medici, who was not so popular amongst the court. After Henry died, Catherine got her revenge, and removed Diane from the chateau, even though legally Diane owned the estate. There are two gardens, one which Diane created, and not to be out done, Catherine created her own, wanting it to be bigger and better. As you can imagine I loved the story behind this - and I'm amazed that there had not been a current movie made about this tangled web! 

The uniqueness of this chateau is the fact that it is literally built over the top of the river Cher, and also during World War I the gallery was used as a hospital ward and during World War II it was a means of escaping from the Nazi occupied zone on one side of the River Cher to the "free" zone on the opposite bank.

In 1913 the chateau was purchased by the Menier family, better known for starting the company Nestle, and it is still owned by this family today. It is the second most visited chateau in France, to Versailles. We had a lovely time wandering the gardens, even managed to taste some more wines while we were there!

It was 4.15pm by the time we all got back on the bus, and with a three hour bus trip ahead of us, and after what was a fun, yet exhausting day, it was a chance for us all to have a nap!

We arrived back in Paris, just after 7pm, and we picked up a couple of takeaway pizzas as we walked back to our apartment. Showers and bed, ready for another big day in Paris tomorrow.

Amour Beaucoup, (love, lots of)

Chrissie xx

Day 27 Eurostar to Paris

We were up at 6.30am this morning as we had planned to meet Marni and Nathan at 7am for breakfast in the motel restaurant. However we were a bit sluggish, and I got a phone call at 7.15am from Marni asking where we were, as they had been down there for 15 minutes! Might I add that this would be the first time they have beaten us to breakfast!! 

From here it was onto the DLR to Bank and then the Tube to St Pancras station, we arrived nice and early, at about 9.15am, but took advantage of Starbucks , for a cup of coffee, and then called into M & S for a few snacks to take on our train trip.

We were able to check in at 10.30am, so through we went, all of us with no problems, except or Kyle, who had beeped through the scanner, and I thought "oh no, it's the scissor story all over again!!".  This time he was required to be frisked, by the border security officer, but only after I had given permission, as Kyles mother. From here we went through passport control.

Finally into the departure lounge, after the officer was assured Kyle was not harbouring drugs strapped to his belly! ;) We hung out and had a quick toilet stop, before finally it was time to board the Eurostar. 

The Eurostar is the train that connects the United Kingdom with the rest of Europe, travelling directly to various destinations, including Paris and Brussels. The train travels at 300kms per hour, not that it feels like your going that quickly when your on it, and takes you under the English Channel, a scary concept, but you honestly have no idea you are under the channel, until you pop up on the other side!

Kyle went to the toilet, just as we popped up in France, so he missed it, but the rest of us saw the French a Flag flying, and we knew we were in France. The trip takes 2 hours 15 minutes, and is a very comfortable way to travel, we would recommend it to anyone!

After arriving and Gare du Nord Station it was very clear we were in a non English speaking country, and we all looked at each other, and laughed, an anxious laugh!! However, not quite sure how we did it, but we managed to find our way to the toilette.. Buy our six billet's (tickets) for travelling by bus, metro or RER for 5 days and found the correct line (the RER) to Port Royal, which I was desperately hoping was close to the street we were staying on!

After getting off at Port Royal station we made our way to the top via the sortie (exit), and had our first glimpse of Paris! I can't even remember what my first impression was of Paris, as I was starting to stress a little, hoping that we were definitely heading in the right direction! We started walking, and fortunately an American man realising we were tourists (I wonder how he knew?!) asked if we needed help, he pointed us in the right direction, and off we went again, finally finding the correct street.

After what seemed like a long walk (it wasn't really - but seemed like it at the time), we came across our street number, a man was standing out the front so he kindly punched in the code for us (which I had) and we walked through the walkway, until we found another door.  We punched in the next code, and started climbing the stairs, three flights to be exact with two large suitcases, wasn't easy for a Grant & Nath, but we made it, and knocked on the door to be greeted by Beatrice the apartment owner.  I had booked our apartment via airbnb a while ago, and whilst I must admit it is quite difficult living in someone else's home, it is a much cheaper alternative, as accommodation is very expensive in Paris. However, I distinctly asked that we have enough beds for all of us, and unfortunately this is not quite what we got!! The apartment is extremely small, but I get the feeling that most apartments in Paris are not all that big, and so we have squeezed in, and are coping the best we can, although the beds ( if you could call them that) are extremely uncomfortable!! The apartment is however, in a fantastic location - we are situated in the Latin Quarter (5th Arr) within a short walk to plenty of boulangeries (bakery), creperies, delis and restaurants, not far from the Luxembourg Gardens, the Pantheon, and Notre Dame, and also close to two RER (Reseau Express Regional) stations.

View from the apartment window.

Soon after arriving, we went for a walk to explore our surroundings, and to find where we needed to meet tomorrow for our tour that I had booked. We called in to a restaurant on our way to have a late lunch, early dinner, which was delicious! We found it difficult to communicate, but did our very best, and managed to get everything we required.

We grabbed a few breaky essentials from the deli as we walked past, then dropped back in to the apartment, before heading out again in the opposite direction, where we enjoyed a very delicious, but very expensive ice cream each!!

Back to the apartment and bed for everyone, as we had an early start the next morning.

Highlights

* The Eurostar Experience

* First time in Paris

* Mastering the Metro/RER system!

Amour Beaucoup,

Chrissie xx

Day 26 A train trip to London/Greenwich

This morning we all woke earlier than usual, dad feeling a little 'poorly', to pack and organise ourselves for our trip to London and then Paris! We packed the suitcases and tidied our rooms before going downstairs for breakfast. 

By now we could all tell dad wasn't in the best shape, as he sat on the couch with a cup of juice, denying all offers to any food! We were all having a good laugh! It was about nine when we were all ready to go, leaving us around and hour and a half to relax and adding any little things we had forgotten to the packing. When it did get to half ten, we piled into the cars and Gary and Katie gave the six of us a lift down to the Penkridge Train Station.

We waited a few minutes there on platform one, before catching the London Midland train to Birmingham New Street. When we arrived in Birmingham, we wandered through the Bullring, over to Birmingham  Moore Street (dad still feeling a little poorly), mum managing to quickly purchase another pair of her now favourite boots!! From there we caught the train to London. The four kids sat together at a table seat while mum and dad sat at another table seat a few rows down. Not long after we had found our seats, a couple came and sat opposite mum and dad, and American girl and a young man from London. The four of them chatted the whole way about where they were all from and where they had all been! 

About half way through the trip, while the four of us kids were chatting we heard a ruckus coming from further up the train, just behind where mum and dad were sitting. Dad was out of his seat standing next to a man, while the young American girl was calling for a doctor on board! A middle aged man, sitting just behind mum and dad had made a strange sound, kind of like a snort, and his eyes had rolled into the back of his head. Dad got up to help as he knows first aid, and tried to ask him questions like, "Have you taken any medicine?". There was one young lady sitting diagonally across from the man, who said she didn't know him and had only just met when he sat down on the train. She said that the man was feeling unwell and she had offered him some painkillers, which he held in his hand, but had not taken any. A doctor was there with dad and checked the mans pulse and breathing, and not long after the man regained consciousness. When we got off the train, dad said that the man smelt of stale alcohol, and thought that he would definately have had a big night!

When we arrived in London we all hopped of the train, (dad was now feeling a lot better!) and went to find some food and a toilet. Dad and I decided on a pasty, Kyle had a sausage roll, and the others all had a Ceaser Salad baguette each. We finished our lunch and then made our way down to the underground. Here we caught two tubes the first to Oxford Circus and then the other to Bank, and then a DLR train to Greenwich. We wandered out of the station and down the road to our hotel, the Premier Inn. We checked in, dumped our bags and then walked up the road to find a cafe. We walked for a little while before finding a lovely little cafe called the Green Tree Cafe. Nathan, Marni, Kyle and mum ordered waffles with their chosen toppings while dad and I ordered I slice of chocolate mud cake each, along with all of our drinks. The four of us who ate the waffles said they were fantastic! I tried some of Kyle's and I definitely would recommend them! Dads and my chocolate cake was also really nice, and Mum, Marni and Dad all enjoyed their coffees!

After the cafe we kept on walking down to the River Thames for a look. We saw the "Cutty Sark" and unfortunately we had just missed the Maritime Museum cut off, so we wandered around the corner and up to Greenwich Patk. From there we had a look at the observatory but didn't go in as there was a huge line! We looked around and took some photos before slowly making our way back to the hotel.

We relaxed in our rooms for a little while before making our way downstairs to the Thyme restaurant underneath the hotel. We grabbed a couple of steaks, lasagne and a few pizzas a long with some duck parcels and sat down for dinner. We were too full for dessert, so we went back up to our rooms were we laid back and watched Pirates of the Caribbean, before heading of to bed, preparing to be organised and checked out by 9 and at the International Train Station to Paris by 10!

Love Ash 

xx

Day 25 Football in Penkridge and Cricket in Bridgenorth

After what had been a hectic few days, it was nice to have a sleep in, and enjoy the family day we had planned, watching Jack play football (soccor) in the morning and Gary and Jack play cricket in the afternoon.

Soon after a relaxing breakfast, Gary and Grant headed to Cannock to return the "Big Girl", who had served her purpose brilliantly, and had not let us down at all, unlike "Gertie" who we were quite happy to see the back off - did I mention that we purchased a bloody great map book, which has been much simpler to use! ;)

The rest of us stayed at home, the kids catching up on some much needed R & R, and me catching up on some much needed washing!!

Soon it was time to head to Jacks Football, which was at his school Wolgarston in Penkridge. Grant, Marni and Kyle, enjoying the glorious sunshine, walked, while the rest of us, who were a bit slower to get organised, drove. We had not had the chance to watch Jack play football yet, so it was great that it all coincided with us being back in Penkridge. It was an important match, the last of the season and a must needed win was required to place the boys runner up for their league, a loss may have seen them slip down the ladder.

Jack plays in the Striker position - a forward who hopefully kicks the goals! It's amazing how quickly you get involved in the game of soccor, watching the ball go back and forth anticipating when a goal is going to be scored! I wasn't ever a fan really, but I may have been converted, thanks to Jack!!  The opposition scored a goal early, and then another, which wasn't counted, as it was kicked out of the keepers hands, thank goodness! With about 5 minutes to go before the end of the first half, Jack scored a brilliant goal, a long, accurate kick, that amazingly I got on video, to level the game!  It was fantastic to see Jack and his team mates joy! However, at half time, Jack had to leave with Gary, Grant, Nathan and Kyle, to make sure they arrived at cricket on time, which was at Bridgenorth, a 45 minute drive south west of Penkridge.  We all where very happy to hear that Jacks team scored another goal in the last half, to win 2-1, and secure the runner up position.

With the boys now on their way to Bridgenorth, us girls went home for a bit, to pack a picnic lunch (thanks Katie!!), grab some picnic rugs, contemplate whether it was dress weather or not, deciding that  maybe not quite dress weather yet, and then back in the car, and on our way to cricket.

Bridgenorth is a lovely little town (when I say little - approx. 40 000 people!!) situated in Shropshire, and not all that far from Shrewsbury. The cricket ground was lovely, and the weather magnificent, in fact the girls were all very disappointed they had decided it wasn't dress weather, when in fact it was!!  We missed the first 20 overs, so didn't get to see Gary bowl, and we just missed Jack taking a catch, but saw Jack throw a beautiful ball into Andy, who knocked the stumps over and completed the run out! Once the Penkridge boys had bowled out their overs and it was time for tea, it was our chance to have a wander in to the centre of town, not even a 5 minute walk.  Katie, Grant, Nathan, Marni, Ashleigh, Lisa, Libby, little Ethan, George and myself, made the journey through the markets, and onto the main street. I think Nathan can smell bakeries from miles away, as he pretty much took as straight there, how could we resist donuts, Danish pastries and cupcakes, after all we are on holidays, right??!!

From there it was into a lovely little clothing store called Fat Face, great name, with gorgeous styles, we will be doing a bit of online shopping from their in the future, I think! Then further down to more markets where we stumbled across a lovely bag store, thinking they were 15£ each, I was only going to purchase the one, but then the store owner said all bags were now £8 - BARGAIN!! So two bags later, I paid, and then saw another one that I loved, which Marni kindly offered to buy me for Mothers Day, so I jumped at the chance, and I am now the proud owner of three new hand bags!  We wandered further down the street, to a surf wear shop, where more purchases where made, including George who purchased a pair of flip flops, he had birthday money burning a hole in his pocket, which he just had to spend. We also had a small incident, involving Katie in the downstairs area, which will not go in the blog, but will be repeated over many glasses of champagnes, for many years to come!!

Back to the cricket we went, not wanting to miss too much of the batting, with a quick stop to take a pic of a nice Ferrari which George had spotted, he knows his cars that one! We made it back in time to find Penkridge batting well, and we all continued to enjoy the family afternoon.

We all felt very much at home sitting with our new founded friends, Percy and his two girls, Kiera and Imogen (Happy Birthday Sam!!), Lisa and Jon (Spike) with their three, Libby, George and Erin. Erin who I could honestly say would most likely happily pack herself into either Ashleigh or Marni's suitcase and make the journey home with us, and Andy and little Ethan (Kerry was working :( someone has too!), plus the other lads, it felt very much like a day of cricket in Pingrup with the Smiths & Wolfes! 

With all the chatting, shopping and laughing, I had not taken any snaps, I quickly grabbed my camera to take a few, just in time to capture Spike hitting a six to win the game for Penkridge! Awesome stuff, and now time for another beer!! 

After a couple of beers at the Bridgenorth club, we all headed back to Penkridge, the girls heading home for a couple of glasses of champagne, the boys heading to the Penkridge club, for just one beer! Hmmm, after one for the road, then another for the road, and then finally one for the "roadski" - The boys arrived home, probably a little worse for wear, but very chirpy, with what had been a wonderful day!

Highlights

* Jacks goal - which now features on Facebook!

* Spending, what was a beautiful day, at Bridgenorth with fantastic company.

* Katie's picnic lunch... Delicious!!

* and another yummy cupcake - I just can't help myself... That treadmill is going to get a workout when I get home!!

Lots of love,

Chrissie xx

Day 24 Home to Penkridge via the M6

This morning we woke up early so we could beat the peak hour traffic and get on the road. We warmed some croissants in the oven for breakfast, packed up our bags and tidied the apartment before packing up the car for the road trip home. 

When we were all ready, mum, dad, Marni and Kyle walked the apartment key back to the reception across the canal and over the road. Nathan and I waited in the car until they came back, where we headed out of Edinburgh, along the A702. Our first pit stop was at Lockerbie (Scotland) for a toilet break and something to eat. Lockerbie is where the terrorist bombing of an aircraft took place in December 1988, and 268 people were killed. We found a little cafe/resturant called Cafe 91 where we ate morning tea and had a coffee. The three girls had scones with cream, jam and strawberries, and they were great! They were all huge and delicious! We all walked out with bursting bellies and smiles on our faces! Then we were on the road again!

Our next stop was a couple of hours later at the motorway services for aNother toilet break and KFC and Subway for lunch. We grabbed our food sat down and ate it quickly then piled the car for the last time and headed for Penkridge. 

When we arrived home in Penkridge, we unloaded the car, and relaxed this evening. Dad cooked a roast for dinner before he headed to Cricket Training with Uncle Gary and Kyle. When they got home Gary and Katie got ready to go out to Kath and Baz' wedding anniversary, leaving us with the house to relax quietly for the night! We were all early into bed, all excited to watch Jack in 'football' (aka. Soccer), tomorrow and Uncle Gary and Jack play cricket!

Love Ash

xx

Day 23 Edinburgh

After what was a stressful afternoon yesterday, trying to find our way around the centre of Edinburgh, we parked the "big girl" up and decided it would be best not to move her, until it is time to head home to Penkridge!

So waking up this morning to 3c and showers, probably wasn't the ideal situation, however most of us do associate Scotland with being a cold, wet place, so we embraced it, rugged up with jackets and scarves and off we headed by foot to Edinburgh Castle.  We were pretty wet and cold by the time we got there, so it was in to the first shop we found, just below the castle, to buy some gloves and beanies!!

Then up the incline to the draw bridge of the castle we went. By this stage we were frozen, but luckily we didn't have to queue to purchase our tickets, so we paid and in we went, heading straight to the cafe for hot chocolates, lattes and an Americano, to warm us up, and hoped the rain would ease up! It was just what we all needed, especially Nathan, as he already has a cold and cough, kindly passed on to him by Grant, Marni and Ashleigh who have all had a touch of it.

We could see from the cafe, the most amazing view of Edinburgh, the castle is very high and looks over the North Sea, not that we could see the ocean all that well due to the mist and fog! Once we were all warm again, we went back out into the cold, took our chance at some photo opportunities and then walked into the National War Museum. From here we wandered throughout the castle, looking through the Great Hall, St Margarets Chapel, the Scottish National War Memorial, the Royal Palace where Mary Queen of Scots took up residence in April 1566, and we went and looked at the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny - which served as the seat on which the Scottish Kings were enthroned, until 1296 when Edward 1 had it forcibly removed, and taken to Westminster Abbey.  The Stone of Destiny was enclosed within a new throne, the Coronation Chair, and has been used in most coronation ceremonies up to 1714, and all coronation ceremonies of all the sovereigns of Great Britain since 1714. The stone now rests again in Scotland, and will only leave Scotland when there is a coronation in Westminster Abbey.

Nathan, frozen to the bone, and not feeling 100%, took his leave from here and decided to walk back to where we were staying for a hot shower and bed, whilst the rest of us started our trek down The Royal Mile. We got half way along the Royal Mile and decided to find our way to the National Gallery of Scotland where we saw some impressive art work, and we were amazed by the age of some of the pieces, which were over 500 years old.

From here it was decided that we required food, and so we walked in to the Scottish Cafe and Restaurant which was situated at the Art Gallery. What a beautiful restaurant, with the most divine food, wine and beer! The restaurant owner/chef (Carina Costini) happened to be there, and we had the chance to talk to her, which was lovely. All produce is sourced locally and they have their own vegetable garden on the edge of Edinburgh, which provides the two restaurants that they own, with produce. After chatting with Carina for a while, it was time to head back out I to the cold.

It had got a little warmer, it was now 6c, but we all desperately wanted to finish our walk along The Royal Mile, so back we tracked, to continue on down the most popular street in Edinburgh. It is here I have to be deadly honest - I have never ever seen as many Cashmere shops as I did today! In fact everywhere you turned there was another, in some spots there was three shops in a row, all selling the exact same thing... Cashmere!! 

From here we wandered to the National Museum of Scotland and easily spent a couple of hours there, with the many exhibitions, after leaving here we walked along Grassmarket Street, and back to our apartment, after picking up a few groceries for dinner in tonight. It was way to cold to be out and about.

Tomorrow we head back to Penkridge for a rest day with Gary, Katie, Jack and Lexie before we head to London and then Paris!!

Highlights

* Edinburgh Castle

* The beautiful architecture in the city 

* Meeting Carina Costini

Lots of love,

Chrissie xx