Lucky for Lorenza and I we have no problems deciding whose family to spend Christmas with each year. Lorenza's folks are originally from Holland and celebrate on Christmas Eve, whereas Rob's family follow the more Anglo-Aussie tradition of celebrating on Christmas Day. So, Christmas Eve we found our way to Bowral and celebrated at Manuela's place (Lorenza's sister), then on Christmas Day we continued a few hours down the Hume and Federal Highways to Rob's brothers place. Both celebrations consisted of the usual over indulging in food and wine, gift giving and the that fine Aussie traditi [View Full Entry]

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Arrived at about 9am and a bit dazed and confused. Trying to locate a shuttle bus to our hotel got us even more confused, but we eventually made it to Hong Kong at about 11am, once booked into our room we discovered the hotel was undergoing a serious make over and there was not much chance of catching a nap with the jack hammers pounding away. Instead we freshened up and decided to go in search of something to eat. There were a few restaurants close to the hotel but they looked very sterile. We noticed a market that had lots [View Full Entry]

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We were woken about 7.45am when Caroline knocked on our door and gave us a kiss goodbye. Juliette had already departed a few days before to go on a holiday to Namibia. So, we repacked and contemplated how wonderful it had been to see Jean and Beatrice, plus their family again. It is always very hard to say goodbye to them and we often wish we did not live so far apart. Jean walked with us to the airport bus stop near the Arc de Triomphe, the weather had just started turning cold and grey over the last few days so [View Full Entry]

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Château de Versailles If you are in Paris make sure you make the effort to get to Versailles - the former home of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. This is our second visit and we still have not managed to take it all in. Al and Melissa had to get back to Gare du Nord for their train to London so we did not get to explore as much as we may have liked, but that just leaves us more to look at next visit. 22nd October 2007 - Giuseppe Arcimboldo Together with Jean and Beatrice, we went to an exhibition [View Full Entry]

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Chinon and Joan of Arc What an incredible area - I think it was once considered to be the play ground of the French Royals and it is easy to see why. They certainly knew how to build some every impressive holiday homes! Chinon was really interesting because of the history connected with Joan of Arc. They are doing a lot of work to restore this particular chateau and I am sure it is a very daunting task. The Joan of Arc museum was really interesting and reminded us of the story surrounding this incredible woman. It is still amazing how [View Full Entry]

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17th October 2007 - Picasso and the Place des Vosges Paris was a little cool, so we found our jackets, scarves and I bought a new wool cap at the market near the apartment. The produce available looked so fresh and it was worth wandering through to check it out. Plenty of choices - pigeon, duck, lots of seafood, and plenty of meats to pick from. We had a good yack with the vendor I bought my cap from about Rugby, Australia and our impressions of France. My brain still works so slow in French and it always amazes me how [View Full Entry]

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16th October 2007 - Strasbourg We took a walk around the city in the general direction of the Botanical Gardens, following the river Ill. Never made it to the gardens, but enjoyed the walk anyway. Had to try to get back to the main Cathedral before midday to meet Al and Melissa so we could get and see the astronomical clock do it’s stuff. Strasbourg is a lovely city, had to laugh at the sign on the banks of the river at a café with deck chairs set out in the sun - Strasbourg Plage (Sans la Plage), the Strasbourg Beach [View Full Entry]

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14th October 2007 - The Feast of Saint Gall An interesting morning - attended a Catholic church service for the first time in many years. It was the feast of Saint Gall, one of the two Patron Saints of Niedermorschwihr. The feast was in celebration of the recent harvest and was a big celebration and family event. We attended the service out of respect for Beatrice and also Bernard (one of Beatrice’s cousins, who was also staying with them who happens to be a Priest). So, together with the family members who were at home at the time we attended the [View Full Entry]

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13th October 2007 - Colmar in search of a TV Juliette, Lorenza, Al, Jean and I climbed into the green bus and headed to Colmar. Our mission was to buy a plasma TV. Jean had been promised one for his 70th birthday and today seemed like a good day to get one because in the evening the French were to play the “Roast Beef” in the Rugby semi-final. Juliette and I joked that it was a bit like a day out in an episode from the Simpson’s, the whole family off shopping for a new TV. Melissa didn’t join us for [View Full Entry]

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11th October 2007 We had hoped that we would be in Alsace in time to help with the grape harvest. Alas, this year the harvest was about a month earlier than normal. This was due to some freakish weather in about April, when an Indian summer burst on the scene resulting in the vines producing their fruit much earlier. Then, the region was hit by a hail storm, wiping out about 40% of the crop. So, by the time we arrived in Alsace the harvest was well and truly over, except for a few rows of vines which had fruited a [View Full Entry]

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