http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Allison-and-Miranda/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Allison and Miranda en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:02:43 +0000 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:02:43 +0000 Greetings from the coastal city of Le Havre. We arrived here a couple of days ago from Amsterdam...I must admit we were happy to leave the cold rainy weather and come into hot sunny weather...We met our new hosts Abi and Alex. They are our age and they are both social workers. Both of them have been wonderful hosts. They took us to Etretat a little seaside town with a killer view off white cli http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Upper-Normandie/Le-Havre/blog-303697.html Finally we have an opportunity to sit down for a few moments to let everyone know how our trip is going...things have been a bit crazy because we have only been staying in each new location for 2 or 3 days and therefore we spend most of our time siteseeing rather than sitting in a cafe. However we just arrived in Amsterdam yesterday and already you can smell the weed all around town...we haven't http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Brugge/blog-301942.html So we have been city hopping. After we left Barcelona our host fell through for Marseille so we decided instead to try a city we had heard of from uncle Tim Toulouse. We arrived in the evening in a light drizzle to cool air and pink streets. After the thick heat of Barclona we welcomed the coolness. Our little budget hotel pulled out of a guidebook turned out to be lovely. up a twisty spira http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Bolton/blog-298892.html Wow Barcelona was so wonderful. Truth be told we haven't had any time to write because we've been having too much fun. To start we decided to nix Costa Brava because everyone told us that Lloret del Mar was a big sleazy resort town that was overcrowded and dirty the second reason being that there was no easy way to get there that didn't involve changing transportation at least once. Once we got http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-295984.html Sorry that we have not posted in a few days...the truth is we have been having too much fun However it was not so much fun trying to get here...we had quite the adventure. Last Saturday morning we sadly checked out of our bed and breakfast and began our three and a half hour drive to Narbonne France so we could catch a train to Barcelona. Well we did a great job of following the direction http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-294041.html This is really a Fairytale land of knights and castles. The scenery is dramatic. The Dordogne River cuts the valley into a deep chasm with the cliffs rising steeply on either side dotted with Medieval Castle Keeps on their promontories and troglodyte cave dwellings along the rock faces. We hiked up the side of a cliff to go into one of these dwellings. It was fascinating. We visited a Medieval ca http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Dordogne/blog-292553.html So ours first experience of Bordeaux was not so nice. We arrived Sunday night and it was misserably hot on the train and schlepping with our packs to get to our tiny little room on the third floor wth no airconditioning. no kidding the hotel is done in a cheesy nautical theme like the loveboat or something. It looks like a cabin on a boat two twin beds sqished together with about 10 inches aroun http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Bordeaux/blog-290915.html Bonjour from Bordeaux....Yesterday Alliey and I journeyed from Tours to Bordeaux We were able to find our hotel alright because it is near the station but it is not in the nicest of areas. Our hotel has an ocean theme and the bathroom in our room has a door like a submarine and has funny decor like an anchor rope hanging on the wall. In the evening we took the tram into the centre ville http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Bordeaux/blog-290912.html The Valley of the Kings has certainly earned its title over the past 500 years Last Thursday Alliey and I had planned to spend the whole day visiting various castles and the medieval village of Saumur. However as fate would have it we would not only see some amazing sites but we would make a new friend. While we were at breakfast a girl came sat down at our table. Once she realized that http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Pays-de-la-Loire/Saumur/blog-290893.html Bonjour from ToursSo much to write Tonight Tours is holding its Fete du la musique with all different bands and music being played in different parts of the city. All the bars and restaurants open to the street and everyone wanders from one to the other to hear the different music. It should be fun its already going strong as I write this in the late afternoon. We have been chateaux hopping in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Pays-de-la-Loire/Saumur/blog-289997.html SOOOOOO.... I drove a Renault Clio on the french road system by myself no well actually Miranda was there to be my fearless navigtor. The clio is a very cute little hatchback ours is a goldish color. All the controls for radio and heat are in pictograms of course the spedometer is in kilometers. It feels very weird to go even 70 kmph through a small village. But I remembered my standard shifti http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Pays-de-la-Loire/blog-288792.html Bonjour gentlemen and ladies of the court greetings from Tours France. Yesterday Alliey and I picked up our car....yes we are actually driving in France...and drove to the tiny village of Amboise. Our car is named Mademoiselle Cleo because it is a Renault Clio. So far Alliey has done a great job of driving a stick shift in the area...it helps that we have a GPS system to help us navigate So http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Pays-de-la-Loire/Saumur/blog-288783.html ha ha http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-287769.html Voila http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-287756.html We are having a nice time so far. Of course travelling is always tiring but we are taking things at a nice slow pace. We get up in the morning nice and late and have breakfast with Isabelle. We talk about what we want to do that day and she tells us how to get there and other nice things to do in the area. Then we pack a lunch and head out by noonish. She is a 5 minute walk to the nearest metro http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-286998.html Our First day was wonderful We stumbled off the metro into a pcturesque neighborhood near st germaine de pres. We were in awe of the beauty and charm of the little streets. Miranda kept pulling me in the direction of a large and looming steeple that could be seen some blocks away framed by the narrow streets like a tunnel. That's Notre Dame she kept insisting and I with the map in my head knew http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-286658.html Bonjour from IvrySurSeineWe survived our fist day Miracle of miracles We survived completely in French mostly because we were too afraid to ask people if they speak english. My french has improved by 100 percent. which is to say that yesterday I knew 15 words now I know 30 but ah well we have 7 weeks to practice. The trip here was gruelling. 8.5 hours on the plane to Geneve 1 hour to Fra http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-286105.html Having serious Butterflies this morning as we're doing our last minute stuff. Or I should say I am Miranda's been done for three days now she is serenely reading a book France has been working its way into my dreams in weird ways like a dream I had where I was trying to find my way around in the little Renault and a traffic cop saw I had photographic equipment in the back of the car and dire http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Connecticut/blog-285018.html Hi All We are packing Furiously and have sooooo much to do. It seemed like we would never get here but we are a week away from leaving. We have done a prepack and so far including all clothes shoes necesseties electronics and a full bottle of water the pack is weighing in at about 35 lbs. Not too bad. There are probably a few more things to add and I hope some more things to subtract but http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Connecticut/Tolland/blog-281629.html