OK the dates are all mixed up as the blog dates cannot overlap or the system cannot organise all the entries into one trip, so most of the dates are not right.:( Today is actually the 23rd of December and sadly we have to leave Verdun and the Augustinis. The recipe to spend a few cheerful days is definetely in Mesnil sous les cotes! It looks like an uninhabited back country village in the middle of nothing, but here's an extraordinary place - Ben and his sweet little family's home - a feeling like at home, a simple way of life - no barriers, full of exchange, totally truthful, with a bit of eccentricity, just perfect! The girls loved it here too and to add the cherry to the cake, they discovered Wi-Fi. We did not ... read more

The girls were studying WW1 in school and Kee was really fascinated that she was going to see the trenches and forts that were used in the war. Excitement was replaced by sadness as we relived the horrors of the war. The fortifications were impressive, but we could only see the parts of them that were above the ground - and for me that was not enough. I wanted to go inside, but Ben said it was not allowed and besides now with the snow it was just too dangerous:( I was really disappointed! But Ben said there was a fort that was turned into a musuem and he would take us there so we could get an impression of what it was like inside the fort - but no such luck - the fort/museum was ... read more

Verdun is a small town where World War1 took place. It is France's biggest secret, a sparsely populated peaceful community of tiny villages, many walking distance apart, set in idyllic rolling hills, that nature has reclaimed since the war and the rest of France has forgotten about. It is so peaceful here that if it was not for all the shell craters everywhere, it would be difficult to imagine that almost 900 000 soldiers died horribly here in a war that lasted the longest in recorded history - almost 11 months!!! We did not even know about this place until Ben(our host in Verdun) saw my post about our travels in Europe on the family welcome group on Couchsurfing and invited us to visit him and his family for a few days on our way from ... read more

Kee insisted on writing today so here goes: WOW! Every child's dream! So we took a special train from the city to Disneyland - the train was marked 'Disneyland' and cost R120 for each of us, and with butterflies in our tummies the whole way, we finally arrived there and it was exactly how I had imagined it would be and more! The entrance fee line was soooo looong and we paid 110euro (R1210) for all of us for the tickets. Mom bought us children's tickets coz it was half price. We only bought tickets for 1 theme park which was with the rides because mom said we wouldn't have enough time to do both. The rides were amazing but not as scary as Ratanga Junction in Cape Town. The ride we enjoyed the most was ... read more

We woke up this morning to the most beautiful sight. We looked out of the window and the whole street below was covered in a white blanket. It had snowed very heavily last night and had blanketed the whole of Paris. It was so beautiful. Krisel's edit: Bonjour. I always wanted to wear high heeled boots and walk thru the streets of Paris - like they do on television - it always looks so hip and cool - but when I saw it in reality it was really the most uncool thing ever!! All the Parisian ladies were wearing high heeled shoes and just slipping and sliding in the slippery ice. It was so funny, but everyone just helped each other up and just continued on, like it was nothing out of the ordinary to be ... read more