http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/emjay/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from emjay en-us Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:40:30 +0000 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:40:30 +0000 London was fun catching up with my cousin and her boys who made us very welcome. We also caught up with Geoffs Mum and friend and my good friend Lesley. We did the Hop on Hop off Bus tour of London seeing all the main sights and went to a couple of local pubs. We really enjoyed the local market in Walthamstow in North East London and living in suburban London with my family seeing how they live http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/London-City/blog-295969.html Heres the Paris photos I couldn't add last time ... http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-295949.html We have just left Paris and still had the sunshine with us our best holiday ever for sunshine. We loved Paris how can you not. It was so good to go back this time and share it with someone. Last time I was on my own and it was hard not being able to share all the amazing sights with someone. We did a Fat Tyres Bike Tour of Versailles Chateau. Interesting having to get about 30 bikes on an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-294310.html Bayeax is another beautiful town which was lucky to remain unscathed by the war. It has a Notre Dame Cathedral I almost think more beautiful from the Parisian one inside if my memory servies me right from 15 yrs ago. We will see in a few days.The D Day memorials from WWII are very moving particularly the cemeteries. We visited Arromanche which still has lots of reminders on the beach of the lau http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Lower-Normandy/Bayeux/blog-292452.html Everyone said to me you must go see Mont St Michel in Normandy. I had seen pictures of it but they do it no justice. If my memory serves me correctly it was first started in the 900's. It was a Benedictine monastery and a fort for many battles throughout the centuries and was added to over the centuries but it was never defeated the fortress was too strong. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Lower-Normandy/Mont-Saint-Michel/blog-292446.html Carrying on fro yesterday when I lost battery power on the camera heres the rest of the photos from the beautiful Loire Valley Chateau country... http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Pays-de-la-Loire/blog-292430.html Heres photos of our stay in the Loire Valley. We visited Chenonceau Cherverny and the Clos Luce Leonardo de Vincis final home.We stayed in an amazing Chateau called Chateau Des Ormeau in the Nazelles Negron area close to Amboise. Would highly recommend it to anyone. Loved the Chateaus just amazing ... Sorry will have to get back to you on these photos my battery on the camera has died mid http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Pays-de-la-Loire/blog-291998.html Here's our photos from the Dordogne region. This was one of our favourite areas as it was very quiet and laid back. The architecture was different again with layered stone roofs on the cottages the beautiful Dordogne river flowing through and the rolling paddocks with round hay bales. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Dordogne/blog-291991.html Heres the promised photos from Avignon Carcassone ... http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/blog-291984.html Well its been a while since Provence. We were meant to be heading to Girona Spain next but due to a train strike couldn't get there. So we had an extra night in Avignon and 1 night in Carcossone which was lovely with the old medieval city. From there we trained to Toulouse picked up the car and drove 2 and a half hours north to the Dordogne. On finding our B B we were amazed how beautiful http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Pays-de-la-Loire/blog-290834.html BonjourHere we are in Provence Lourmarin in the Luberon area to be exact. Provence has been beautiful. Whenever we arrive the good weather arrives also so it seems. We have broken our jinx from previous years travels. Well we have visited lots of little villages Lourmarin Gordes Rousillon Saignon Apt Bonnieux. Of all of them Lourmarin where we stayed is my favourite. It has a small http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d-Azur/Provence/blog-287956.html Hi everyoneYesterday we decided to do one of the walks on the Cinque Terre 5 lands which was the most steep walk from Monterosso around the clifftop walk to Vernazza a beautiful small village. There were about 400 odd steps at the start of the walk which was pretty hard going for me Geoff raced ahead of course being the fit tennis player. It took us about 2 hours and was a beautiful scenic w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-286630.html Hey EveryoneHad an awesome day today on the beach at Monterosso. What a stunning place. Real beach resort but also has the lovely old medieval village too. Our first swim in the Mediterranean was beautiful. Great temperature and really buoyant more so than New Zealand water. I could float on my back which I can never do in NZ. Went for a couple of snorkels and saw lots of fish but other th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-285915.html Ciao we have made it to the Cinque Terre on the Ligurian Coast in Northern Italy. Bit of a wrong turn off the A1 at one stage but managed to make it back on then got really lost in La Spezia quite a large port town where we had to return the car. There is no way we would have found Avis all the streets were tiny narrow lanes and sure enough it was down one of those in a one way street which w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/blog-285494.html Well after 3 flights one train journey and one car hire we made it to Torrita di Siena just south of Siena where we are staying. Tuscany is everything you imagine from the films and pictures you see of it.We have been visiting the beautiful fortress towns around this area such as Montepulciano Pienza Montalcino etc. They are stunning walled towns with cobbled streets with shuttered windows http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Montepulciano/blog-284703.html