Cannon Chaos

I think I have fallen in love with London, the only thing to top it off would be some snow. Each morning I wake up and peer out the window in hope but knowing it was just too warm. To see the city and even the local area covered in a layer of snow would be magic and to make matters worse I know it will bucket down the day we get home. This week we all got tickets to Wicked. Josephine and I had seen the production in Melbourne and we had all listened to the music so it was more familiar to us than some of the other productions. This took nothing from the magic and everyone seemed to enjoy it. What we have noticed is the audience seems to be more vocal and ... read more

I was dragged out of Paris kicking and screaming. I never wanted to leave but London was calling and my Eurostar ticket booked. The trip under the channel was uneventful and all too short. We all wanted to sit and enjoy the trip but two and a half hours is just not long enough. After the initially bum fight to get our bags on board with the hundreds of others it was very comfortable. I found it amusing prior to leaving that we went through immigration with French men and their beautiful accent and then after 3-metres hit the English immigration with 2 women with what sounded like the broadest English accent I had ever heard. Arriving at Kings Cross was strange hearing English surrounding us after over 2 months in Italy, Spain and France. The ... read more

Will upload photos soon. Just a shame I have none of me screaming, fear in my eyes screaming "i hate you kids..." Our next Paris episode occurs on the outskirts of the city in the small unknown resort of Disneyland. Initially this was only meant to be a day trip but there were a few days up our sleave we did not know what to do with. We thought of all sorts of places but for ease, convenience and surprisingly price we ended up in a hotel located in the bubble of Disneyland Paris for 6 nights. The hotel offered us a 10 bed room (3 connected rooms), pool, play areas, a bar and a shuttle to the park, what more could we ask for. Although not he flashiest of hotels it is still part of ... read more

Paris being as wonderful as it is we decided to stay another 6 nights instead of doing a driving tour of the Loire and Normandy. We decided to also move accommodation so we could experience another aspect of the city. After a brief look around we found an apartment in the 1st ade, near the Louvre. Surrounded by every designer I had ever heard of and many I had not. Although we had lost our little bar downstairs for our daily kick start espresso we found many others all offering great coffee at the same price. This is one thing that has surprised us that the coffee and basic food prices do not seem to change wherever you are in the city. Living in this part of the city allowed us to enjoy the park and ... read more

HAVING PROBLEM ATTACHING PHOTOS AAS THE EUROPEAN INTERNET IS BAD BAD BAD. WILL TRY AGAIN IN THE AM.xxx Paris, I need not say more (but I will of course). I am now one of those people who will just sigh when I hear the word. The city is like no other. From the landmarks to the quiet alleyways and everything in between, it oozes class, history and a life of its own. We arrived via Versailles where we saw the palace and wandered the grounds. The extravagance is just mind blowing. It is also the first place we have had to share the area with crowds. Arriving in Paris on the 22nd of December we understood we would hit a busy time but had become used to having these landmarks to ourselves. Even though there seemed ... read more

From Bella Ma Maman and Papa gave me 3 euros and asked me to go out and get a baguette for afternoon tea. Hamish said he should come with me but I really really wanted to go by myself. While wandering down the road I found glow sticks (and if you are a kid you know the street value of a pack of glow sticks) and a flower necklace. Then, when I found that the supermarket was closed, I kept walking and walking but I went the wrong way. When I saw the Sacre Coeur I recognisd it was where we had all been a few days ago. When I started thinking we should go there again I realised it was lit up not by the sun but by lights and i realised it was getting ... read more

The Dordogne Heading to the Dordogne was added late into the plans but very pleased we did. Once again the accommodation fell into place and we found a period house renovated in a town called Sarlat (silent T). This was not our first choice as we intended to try and stay in one of the smaller villages but as with so much when travelling, things happen for the right reason. The town itself appears small but extends on and on and is a true town with all the services and life expected within a medieval setting. Our house was only a 5-minute walk into town. The long drive from Lyon provided its own adventure with us passing through a lot of France and discovering snow. This brought the kid out of all of us and a ... read more

Provence On leaving Jujols we moved onto Provence and to a small town called Apt. On route we stopped in Carcassonne, an old fortified city. Here we continued the village tour and had a chance to see another example of a walled city after Villefranche de Conflent. This really is a town within the walls with its own castle. Once again much of the city was shut for winter but you could imagine how busy it could be. There are so many shops, restaurants and hotels and this is only the old town, the new town has even more. We did intend to stay here but time allowed for us to get to Avignon for the night. We spent a day here looking through the city, buildings and of course the bridge, Pont Avignon. It was ... read more