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Cuckoo Clocks
lots and lots of cuckoo clocks!!! Bonjour!
Sorry it has been a few days since the last update,i have been out of service region for the internet access for the blackberry...
Anyway, since i last left you, we travelled from, Lichtenstein to Luxembourg via a teeny town called Triberg. Triberg is in the Black Forrest in Germany, which isn't really that black, but definitely a forrest! also very pretty yet sparked a nu,ber of renditions of Peter and the Wolf by mum hehe... Why did we go to this town you ask???? Well i did anyway! In Triberg they have a store which contains ,ore than 1000 cuckoo clocks!!!! it is also ho,e to the largest cuckoo clock in the world which we hung around until midday to watch go cuckoo... was pretty cool...
We decided that since we were in the black forrest, it was only appropriate that we have some black forest cake, which was super good!!!
From Triberg we continued through to Luxembourg which in total was about a 6.5 hour drive from Lichtenstein... Our hotel in Luxembourg was right next to the airport which was a bit disappointing as we thought we were in the city, but by the
time we got there, we were pretty tired and virtually just crashed out...
The next day (Sat) we headed into Luxe,bourg city to see the sights... there aren't very many we discovered! Found a bookstore for mum as she needed the next Harry Potter book, and ,anaged to find it in english, which was quite a success... we then tried to find food and discovered that the hardest thing to do in Luxembourg is to find a tomato and cheese sandwich!! They were on the menu, but not for sale! also discovered that vegetarian meant i got salad of lettuce, tomato if i was lucky!
Finally found food and wandered through the gardens a bit, which were quite pretty, but i thought munich's botanical gardens were prettier... found an awesome playground and naturally i went down the slide 😊 wanted to play ,ore, but it started raining so we headed back to the car and drove to Reims, Champagne country!!
We were actually staying just out of Reims in Etoges, in the Chateau de Etoges in fact!! Lovely big castle that was probably more a residential castle than a fighting castle, but in the middle of nowhere!
World's largest cuckoo clock
yeah it was pretty big... and went cuckoo :) It was a half hour drive to Epernay where most of the champagne houses were and an hour to Reims!! we headed up there anyway to have a look around and found a supermarket so bought some food for dinner... It was raining here too so we were a bit wet by the time we got back and i had to put my shoes and jeans on the towel warmer!
Settled in to watch CNN or whatever we could understand in english/laugh at in french, with food and a bottle of the local champagne, then slept very very well!
Sunday we headed in to Epernay to go through so,e of the champagne houses.... Naturally our first stop was the caves of Moet & Chandon 😊 We went through the tour which was fantastic, learnt all sorts of things from how it went from Moet to Moet & Chandon, to why they use chalk caves for their cellars, to the amount of sugar contained in the different types of champagne, and of course, how it gets its fizz! The tour ended with a tasting, a glass of the classic brut and a glass of the Rose Brut. Danced around
Black Forest cake in the Black Forest
yum yum yum, but a bit heavy handed on the Kirsch the shop wishing we were rich and famous enough to buy stuff and goggled at the massive bottles that were for sale... had lots of fun there and really did learn alot!
We wandered down the Avenue de Champagne to a few other champagne houses and tried a couple more but decided we should then eat!! After eating we tried to visit one that was free, but it was closed on sundays... so headed back to the hotel instead... dinner in our room and then sleep yet again after negotiating where we needed to go to drop off the car in Paris and where the hotel is...
So then today we drove to Paris and i don't think i have done anything quite so frightening in my life!! The ring road was ok, but when we turned off it.... The car hire place was right near a huge roundabout, which i have been fine with up to now... this one you had traffic lights to watch, four lanes of traffic to watch out for and pedestrians, oh and street signs so you knew where to get off, not to mention the people that just dart in front of
our castle
this is the castle we stayed in, but we were in a side building, not the actual castle itself... but still cool you to get off;;; After a bit of panic, made it out in one piece, but ended up in tears just after and shaking like a leaf... am very pleased we have given back the car and i don't have to drive here anymore!!!
And that's the story thus far... will be exploring Paris tomorrow and will try to grab you some pics, but am also conscious of Paris' reputation for pick pockets, so might leave my blackberry safe from prying eyes...
Aldo, just so i can rub it in as i hear there is rain over there.... I AM IN SUMMER hehehe... although it has rained the last couple of days...
And for now, au revoir
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Mel
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I think I know the roundabout you mean...
Was this the roundabout in Paris where the arc de triomphe is in the middle? There are 5 main roads (each with about 4 lanes) leading to the roundabout and its an absolute mental place to drive. There is no rules and ppl literally just drive right through it? If so, I remember standing at the top of the arc marveling at the chaos below! (have pics somewhere...) I was told by someone (might be true, might not) that there is on average an accident there every 30secs. (didn't see any at all while I was there so who knows!). Amanda likes to tell the story when her tour bus went through there and the driver admitted that there is nothing to do but plant your foot and hope for the best! Scary!!! You wouldn't have caught me driving through there!! Hope you guys are having a great time - sounds like it!