Last days in France - End of the holiday

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DAY TWENTY FIVE
The weather has definitely picked up we all wore three quarter pants and tops and no coats!! We have decided that Burgundy should be our time to relax before coming home and so today being Monday we decided to relax and just wander around. Jenny and I headed off and walked around the outside of the wall. We found the supermarket and just had a lazy morning. Robyn had a real lazy morning, waking at 11.00 and missing breakfast, meanwhile Pete had been out and about walking and taking photo's. Jenny and I decided to hop in the car and go for a drive around the villages around Beaune and to take a picnic lunch while Robyn and Pete decided to walk around Beaune.

Our drive in the villages was great with many small narrow winding roads for me to navigate. We drove to the top of some cliffs and parked the car and sat in the back and had our picnic looking out over the picturesque scenery. We found heaps of wineries and small shops and had a lovely time just exploring the countryside. We have decided that we love this area probably even a little bit more than Tuscany, though that is hard to believe. As per usual Jenny is collecting the real estate magazines and talking about the little place we could buy here!!!! Dreaming again.....

We all met up for dinner and found a great restaurant, where Pete had a steak that rivalled Hock's steaks at home. Jenny had escargots which she loved. Robyn had Beef Burgundy and I had a Prawn risotto. It was all yummy and Robyn and I followed up with dessert! We all had to go for a big walk before we could head home to bed.

DAY TWENTY SIX
Well, today Jenny and Robyn were in charge of organising the day's activities! Pete and I really wanted to go bike riding and they had decided they were going to come with us........ I was really a bit apprehensive about watching those two on a bike, especially as it is about 15 years since Robyn had been on a bike, but off we set in the morning, having a pastry on the way and buying our picnic lunch at the supermarket.
We all got our bikes and set off on a ride4 through the villages exploring the wine region. The lady assured us that the ride was on flat ground and we would do it easily! She lied....... Well we had an absolute ball, it was the best day of the holiday in Pete's eyes and even Jenny and Robyn had a great time. The hills were not too bad and if it got a bit hard it was easy to get off and walk. We all loved the down hill bits and Jenny has now decided that she should be a down hill racer! We stopped at lots of places on the way for pastries (Yummmmmmmm) and of course red wine. It was a fantastic day with us riding about a total of 36 kms there and back.

We got back into Beaune at 6.00 in time to return the bikes and carry our exhausted bodies home!! We went out to the restaurant that we went on the first night for some easy comfort food, before falling into our beds. What a great experience it was and we would recommend it!

DAY TWENTY SEVEN
After yesterday's punishing day a relaxing day was had by all. We wandered around the shops and did some last minute shopping to make sure we really filled up our cases. We met in the garden of the hotel in the afternoon for a drink and some time to reflect on the holiday. We all agree that we have had a truly wonderful time and the best thing is that we still have a great friendship without any drama's along the way. I think we have been incredibly lucky to have had such great travelling partners!

We decided to go our separate ways for dinner, with Jenny and I having a dinner in a little cave with a wine tasting. Jenny really has had some change in her eating habits, she had fillet of fish (thinking she was ordering chicken!!) and she really enjoyed it. Robyn and Pete went to a quaint little restaurant where they enjoyed a great dinner too. As we were walking back to our rooms we bumped into each other and decided to go to a little bar for our final drink in Burgundy. A great way to end our trip.

DAY TWENTY EIGHT
Weather is fantastic with the temperature now at 21 degrees, really summer now for us! We packed up early with the idea to get back to Paris and spend our last night in town enjoying a dinner together.
We managed the drive back to the airport where we were staying at the Novotel, without too much problems with Jenny only getting us lost once!! I have enjoyed the driving experience here and just warn everyone to stay off the road when we get home as I might just drive on the wrong side for a few days!

We dropped off the car and our luggage and jumped on the train into Paris. It is just so easy to get around on public transport here. We arrived in Paris at about 4.30 and it is quite a different place in the warm sunshine with hundreds of people sitting out in cafes having a lovely time. We all wandered around with Jenny doing her last bit of shopping - two pairs of shoes later!! We then had dinner had a cafe and sat outside in the sun and enjoyed our last night in Paris. What a trip we have had.... We caught the train home and had a last drink together before heading to our room to try and pack those suitcases.

DAY TWENTY NINE
As I sit here in the airport on our last day in France I can reflect on this holiday of a lifetime. The travel blog really cant convey how great it has been, but I am glad I have been able to share parts of it with everyone. Robyn, Peter and Jenny have been great travelling companions and I am sure we will share many hours (and bottles of red) going over our experience. Hope we don't bore you with tales of our trip too much when we catch up. We are planning the next trip but cant quite agree on the itinerary with Pete off to Egypt, me to Vietnam, Jenny off to Amsterdam and Robyn to Spain. Should be a great trip xxxxxx

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Comments

[Brenda]

Thanks
Thanks for the great blog. Glad to hear the weather cleared up. Have a safe trip home. :)

[Margotr]

Hi there Sandra and Jenny, I have been really enjoying seeing all your photos. It brings back lots of mammori... oops sorry, memories. You'll be wanting to do this every year from now on, won't you? Margot

[anonymous]

The four of you are truly blessed to have had such a wonderful trip with such wonderful friends. In the end it doesn't really matter where you go,as long as you have good company, lots of laughs and lots of wonderful adventures that will provide wonderful memories. I am truly green with envy!!