Blogs from France, Europe - page 1598

Drink in the atmosphere, enjoy our included picnic lunch and explore the French countryside - the choice is your. Walked to 'the top of the world' today. Woke up at 8 and had breakfast of some weird scrambled eggs that had potato and fatty ham in them, yoghurt and muesli, then began our hour long journey. We walked through the vineyards to a quaint little town called Thieze, where we stopped to use the bathroom. Finally got to the top at about 11, with mud everywhere. It was freezing. We had our packed picnic lunches of baguettes with fromage, ham and tomatoes, and fruit. We'd bought wine from the bar at the chateau, but most people were too hungover to have any. The view was magnificent, looking over the vineyards with villages in between. Walked ... read more

'Au revoir' Paris as we head south to the Beaujolais vineyards near Lyon. We spend the next 2 nights at Contiki's exclusive Chateau de Cruix. On our way to the Chateau! Got up at 7 this morning to pack everything so we were ready to leave. Had croissants for breakfast this morning, as well as the usual fruit, yoghurt, cereal and danishes. After breakfast we swept and mopped out our cabins, then packed all our bags on the coach. Had our first rest stop at Chateau Fontainebleau, where Napolean lived for a while. Our second rest stop was at an autogrill, and we saw ladies coming out of the toliets with their dogs ! Did introductions when we got back on the bus, which took almost 2 hours and made the time fly. Was really ... read more

Our included sightseeing tour takes in the many sights and sounds. Gaze at the Eiffel Tower, the Lourve, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and Stroll along the Champs Elysees. Join us for a trip to the Palace of Versailles or in your own time perhaps visit Euro Disney. At night, a chance to see a Parisian cabaret. Awesome day in Paris today. Was a cookie/dishie at breakfast, had hash browns, mushrooms, tomatoes, bread, fruit, yoghurt and cereal. Left the campsite at 9 for Chateau De Versailles. This was Louis XIV's home when he decided the Louvre wasn't big enough. It can house 20 000 people and has amazing gardens. We paid 3 euro to walk around the gardens, which you would probably need a month or 2 to explore properly. Went on a bit ... read more

I understand why everyone in France goes to the coast for the summer... its really really hot here. Well, it was hot until a wonderful rainstorm last night, and i am enjoying the cooler day today, but doubt it will last long. On Sunday Ghislain and I met up with Tania, and the 3 of us went to Musèe Picasso. YAY. Museums in France are all in big old houses/chateaus. Mussèe Picasso is no different, so the actual building just added to the expereince. For lunch Tania had her first falafel expereince at Ghislains favorate falafel place. It was Israeli style, and some of the best that i have had in years. Ghislain was aboslutely awesome and took Tania and I to the train station and helped us find everything we needed. (Now we know all ... read more

So today was a lot of fun. I really really like Brugge. After breakfust we walked to the Chocolate Museum and took the tour. We got a small piece of chocolate at the beginning and it smelled so good in there :) At the end of the tour there was a chocolate-making demonstration and afterwards we got a truffle from the demonstration. VERY yummy. We walked to the lace shops and bought our mom's lace hankerchiefs. WE also bought a waffle with chocolate sauce from a vendor. It was good -- more like a cake than a waffle. We took a canal ride - which I thought was a lot of fun! :) And we bought ourselves two truffles from a chocolate shop - a grand marnier and a caramel. mmmm!! It's so expensive though, but ... read more