Our plan for ticking of the sights was one or two each morning, a lunch break then shopping for the afternoon. It worked really well as we ended up in a different area for shopping each time. We covered off Louvre, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, Pompidou and a river cruise. We also went to a Lido show one night, and another night to Trocadero for a night viewing of the Eiffel tower. All these sights were busy with tourists but we didn't have to queue for more than five minutes anywhere which was much appreciated. The hawkers were out in force at every location. There were portrait drawings, friendship braids, gambling magic tricks, and music performers at Sacre Coeur, glowing whirlygig things at Trocadero and Eiffel towers, scarves, and handbags everywhere. The ... read more

Our relaxing time in Vendome has sadly come to an end. Our few weeks have zipped by, with a mixture of ‘touristy’ days and ‘hanging out’ days. The pace of life seems so relaxed here – maybe it’s because we’re on holiday, maybe it’s the warm weather, maybe it’s the small town, but I really think it is just the French way. So much importance is placed on food, and the time required, to prepare and enjoy it with family and friends. Shops are shut more than they’re open, and so many seem to rely on the Friday market for their food shopping. We were happy to eat out most nights, as there was a good selection of restaurants to choose from. The nights I cooked were only when we had especially bought something interesting looking, ... read more

After a morning shopping in Blois we got to Cheverney chateaux in time to see the feeding of the dogs. They keep around 100 french hounds there (for hunting). They were cute dogs and certainly seemed to have a sense of smell. About 10 minutes before the keeper turned up with the food they all got excited with their noses in the air. Their food got laid out while they were locked in a different area. They were near hysterical by that point jamming each other up against the gate, and climbing on top of each other to be the first closest to the food. It reminded me of crowd riots at soccer games where people get crushed. Cheverny was a lovely homely castle. It was very well furnished with everyday living items from centuries gone ... read more

An easy trip to London from Vendome. Phillipe drove us 40 min to Tours airport, 1 hour flight into Stanstead London, 45 min bus ride into Stratford and around the new Olympic site, to where Rhonda met us and took us to her apartment near by.  Great to see Rhonda after four years from when we were here last. And her new apartment now three years old. Lots of reminiscing. Although her apartment was small - bedroom, lounge, kitchen, and bathroom were the only spaces - we fitted in fine and were quite happy. We were able to keep an eye on comings and goings in the street just like Rhonda and even watch Sophia out in the street playing with a neighbourhood girl Molly she befriended.  Other than the wedding we only had time and ... read more

Castle number two - tick. Although it was castle number one on our list. This is the supersized most extravagant and most visited of them all. And it did take our breath away from our first glimpse of it during one of our many u-turn manoeuvers on narrow country roads. It really is impressive with it's size and whole cityscape of turrets domes and sculptures on top. We were pleased our early morning start got us half way up the number one carpark rather than the other parks a couple of kilometers away. This place certainly was geared up for the tourists with markets restaurants and souvenir shops forming a little village within the grounds. The grounds were very unimpressive. Little more than badly kept paddocks. Although the large forest surrounding the castle is of note ... read more