Well we have all been fighting off bad colds for the last few days, so I am behind in my posts.

On Friday we headed out to see Mt St Michel, which is around 50km from St Malo. Callum visited here when he was previously in France, and once again it proved to be helpful as he helped out with the kids so that I could get a more in-depth look. Mt St Michel is probably best described as a fortified abbey, its first structures were built in the tenth century, and continually added to, which makes it the great sight it is today. The kids were excited to get the children’s English audio guide to carry around, which explained each area that we visited. Maya in particular really enjoyed the guide and explaining it to Callum and I. There is a labyrinth of secret tunnels inside Mt St Michel, and Jarrah believes that he found the hidden entrance. We went right up to the top of the abbey, and I was reminded that I am very frightened of heights, that said the view across the bay of Mt St Michel towards Cancale was worth it. The kids coped really well with all the stairs (I don’t even like to think how many there were), and it was a really wonderful day.

We found out exactly how many tourists visit St Malo on a Saturday, and it is not something anyone in the family is keen to experience again. We had a lazy morning and Callum took the kids for a swim in the indoor pool at our hotel. It’s heated nicely and has a great view of the ocean, but is totally over chlorinated. The kids were relieved to finally have a swim (after a little nagging). We have been fighting off cold the whole time we have been in France, and I was not feeling well so I decided not to swim. The highlight of the swim would have been a seven year old French girl who was there unsupervised with her 11 year old sister. It started out well when she climbed out of the pool to go to the toilet, the problem was when she decided to piss right on the concrete on the side of the pool. Callum and the kids left pretty much straight away and Maya and Jarrah were almost hysterical with laughter when they told me.

We thought it would be nice to venture into St Malo, which was a big mistake. Everything we loved about the town was changed by the influx of French tourists, who were rude and would happily push past you, stop in front of you for no reason and not move (in cars & on foot), or just run into you. We grabbed the kids some crepes and made a quick trip too the lollie shop and half a kilo of lollies later (thanks to Callum) we made a quick escape. On the upside we had a beautiful apartment to return to and we came home and all snuggled up together to watch the Winter Olympics and DVD’s.

Yesterday (Sunday) I woke up at 6am feeling terrible. You know that feeling when you know that you have a infection and you have a temperature? I had a hot bath and felt a little better. As we had a quiet day the day before I did not want to stay home and sleep, so we left late morning to go to Cancale which is around the next big bay uo from St Malo. It is famous for it's abundance of fresh seafood. We were once again overwhelmed by way too many tourists, so we decided to drive up the coast road towards Mt St Michel and see what we could find. There were lots of great tiny towns, but most shops were closed as it was Sunday. I had seen the bay when we visited Mt St Michel, but on the ground I could not believe how huge it is. By then we both wanted a coffee, and headed from Ponterson towards the next big town called Avraches, which turned out to be a great choice.

When we first arrived it looked like the whole town was closed. We persevered and were delighted to find that the bar was open and went inside to grab a delicious coffee. I don’t think I have had a bad coffee the whole time I have been here! We went across the road to grab a baguette and saw what looked like the remains of a old castle. I was still feeling sick so I stayed in the car with Maya (who was very tired), while Callum and the little adventurer Jarrah checked it out. I am so happy that they did as they came back to tell is that in addition to the castle they also discovered a museum that is dedicated to Mt St Michel and St Michael the Archangel. The museum holds around 200 manuscripts dating back to the 10th century. Once again we got a English audio guide for the kids, they also got a booklet to fill out which was really educational and will go into their book that they are putting together for school. There were questions to answer for each room in the museum which were actually quite challenging, but they managed to get through all but one question.

As a family of geeks we were all super excited to find a comic book exhibition mainly concerned with editions featuring Mt St Michel, or St Michael the Archangel. There were editions of Spiderman, X-Men, Superman, Captain America, Mighty Mouse, Batman,Fantastic Four plus manga and French comics we had not seen before. There were some really beautiful storyboards and individual paintings. Jarrah loved the action figures and a comic about a fish that was doctor. Maya’s favourite was the Mighty Mouse comic (which was also my favourite). We grabbed some souvenirs and headed back to St Malo. We were really happy with our day firstly as Saturday was a disappointment and secondly as we had found the museum by fluke. We decided to be a little less structured and found where one of the American war cemeteries was, but it was almost 5pm and our camera had run out of battery we decided to come back on Monday with more time to explore WW2 sites.

What still amazes me about France is that some things are exorbitantly priced (read Disney, Tolls, RER and cafes) yet museums and historical sites such as Mt St Michel (less than 40 euro) and the Louvre (less than 20 euro) are so cheap. Kids are free or really cheap (2.50 euro) at all major sites we have visited.

Take care,
Sos, Cal, Moo and Jay

Intra Muros

I am writing this post from the bar in our hotel. It's night time and we just cooked up a great dinner using local ingredients. We have really settled into St Malo, this is the most enjoyable part of the trip so far. Like a few of you I am sure, we have been watching the Winter Olympics. We have been lucky to catch chunks of it in English, but some parts are in French which can be hilarious and frustrating! We are really close to the Channel Islands so we are getting BBC and ITV, so I have been catching up on news, learning in detail about the upcoming British elections, and getting hooked on Eastenders! I have also discovered that back home we may have a double dissoloution on our hands (I cant believe this happens when I am overseas!!!).

Yesterday we explored Intra Muros which is the walled city in St Malo. It's unlike anything I have seen before. The city used to be run by privateers, and large parts were almost destroyed in WW2. We visited the cathederal which is really beautiful, and had its roof blown in during the war. The city was rebuilt using the original materials. We walked along the walls and also found a toyshop where Callum was thrilled to find Playmobile and realistic guns that shoot foam bullets. There are restaurants and shops all through Intra Muros and we are going to head back there tomorrow to grab some souvenirs. We also did a big shop at the supermarket, all the food here is so fresh it has inspired us to do lots of cooking. Today Callum cooked up a big breakfast of bacon, eggs, crossiants and toast (French bread is amazing!).

Today we drove to Mt St Michel, which I will write a update for in the morning. Thanks for reading!

Disneyland Paris

So where to start with the anti climax that was EuroDisney (or as I now call it EuroCrappy). Firstly it cost us 60 euro to get there on the RER. For you Sydney folks that is the equivalent of it costing $90 Australian dollars for a family to get from Central to Parramatta. Then we got there and the crowds were like the big day out. It cost us 244 euro for one day and after all of that we got to go on one mediocre rollercoaster after lining up for 2 hours!!! We left dissapointed but the kids handled it so well and there were only a few tears from Jarrah. I am so proud of them both.,

We woke up on Wednesday excited about heading to St Malo, which is on the English Channel. We got a cab out to Orly airport which ended up being cheaper than the train, only 25 euro. We then hired a car and I got to experience driving on the left hand side of the car on the right side of the road. It was great being back in a car again but the drivers in Paris make Sydney taxi drivers look tame.The distances displayed on French roads are very confusing but the roadside food is delicious. After a while we drove up to a toll booth that asked us to get a ticket. There were no signs even in French and we did not know what it was for. About 2 hours later we got to another toll booth where we had to pay 26 euro (FOR A TOLL!!!). Again there were no signs and we had no cash on us. Luckily we found that there was a option to pay by credit card. WE got there and found out that they would not accept any credit cards from outside of the EU. We panicked a little and the toll attendant spoke no English. We thought we could just get a fine, but they stood there shaking their heads, looking confused. After half an hour of english/french/bretton negotiations (which was hilarious for Maya and I) Callum managed to negotiate to pay in US dollars which we had on us. Jarrah continued playing DS the whole time and barely noticed what was going on.

We arrived in St Malo to drive past the walled city (IntraMuros). The kids were thrilled to find there was a fair nearby with rides, and we checked into our hotel. We were not meant to have a sea view but were stoked to find we had one from our balcony! We look across the English channel to the various islands in the area. This place is beautiful, and the people are so so nice. We love it here and are actually enjoying it more than Paris.

A quelques jours à Paris

We have now left Paris after a great week there. In hindsight it was probably a day or two too long given the weather. The kids have turned out to be brilliant travelers, which has made everything so much easier.

We visited the Lourve and it was stunning. The kids were very excited to see the Mona Lisa. It’s a little bit of a sensory overload to be honest , but by far the piece I liked most was ‘Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss’. There is a photo of it up on my facebook page and I will try to get around to uploading it here. We were lucky as the snow and cloud disappeared before we left the Louvre and it was great to see the sun again.

We were not so lucky the next day as it was snowing heavily and close to -5. We left to see Musee D’Armee and it was so cold that we decided to buy tickets for one of the tourist buses that goes to all the major sites. As we drove down Champs Elysee we decided to jump out which was not a great idea. It was really crowded as it was Valentine’s day weekend, and there was also a Ireland vs France soccer match on. We jumped on the next bus that came past that was a double decker with a open roof. We were freezing as there were no seats below, eventually we had to go downstairs and stand up. Luckily we got a seat at the next stop. By that time we were all hungry and getting warm after being outside so we decided to catch the bus around the whole loop, and see the Army Museum on Valentine’s day. We saw the l'Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, La Madeline, the Ritz in Paris (which is where Diana stayed before she died), and many other sites. We ended up the day at a great restaurant just around the corner from our flat.
Valentine’s day started out beautifully with Callum making me breakfast in bed. We headed out to catch the metro to Invalides, and thankfully a little sun peaked through the clouds at us. I know most people would think that spending Valentine’s day in Paris visting the army museum was not the most romantic thing, but it actually was as we are both history buffs. It was moving reading about the resistance fighters, and Maya and I read at a interactive display about a female resistance member. Seeing the Nazi uniforms and the Star of David used to mark Jews was a little shocking, as we are so used to seeing displays about the war in the Pacific, and the Japanese Army. Unfortunately our camera ran out of battery despite being charged that morning so we don’t have many photo’s.

Errant dans la neige

We woke up well rested after a great night’s sleep. The beds in our apartment are so comfortable. We were really keen to get out and see Paris, and headed out for breakfast at the bakery around the corner. The kids had “NutellaBananae” crepes again (this has become a daily ritual), and we went for delicious crepes with ham, cheese and egg. We have been speaking french as much as possible, and Callum did really well ordering. There was a large line in the bakery and the owner thought that he was ordering four crepes for himself. She kept asking if he was sure he wanted four, and he kept insisting that yes he did want that many. Finally someone in the line who spoke english translated that they were for the kids too (Les enfants), and the entire bakery exploded in laughter! We have found that everyone here is really nice, especially when you try and speak the language. It can get overwhelming at times, but we are all picking it up, and Maya even ordered in french the other day.

We set off from there to go to Notre Dame, which we had only seen from outside. There really are no words to describe how beautiful it is, except to say it is enough to make lapsed Catholics like us feel very spiritual. I lit a candle there and we had a chance to write in the visitor’s book. Unfortunately for us there was a American woman there who was yelling into her mobile phone, she obviously never went to catholic school or she would know not to yell in a church :) We will go back tomorrow as it is so close by and our photos from the first time did not turn out very well.

We made the mistake of going to a café for a coffee and hot chocolate for the kids. All up for four hot drinks it cost us 30 Euro! We decided to make the best of it and stay warm for a while as it was snowing again, and we watched Wham videos on the French version of MTV. Needless to say we now ask how much everything is before ordering.
We braved the snow with the intention of visiting the Louvre. It turned into one of those situations where it really is the journey not the destination. We managed to always be a few blocks away but discovered some great things; a space shop, a carousel and a beautiful park covered in snow. Finally we decided that we had been wandering for hours, and we were grumpier than the kids and we headed for the Metro. The first try was a disaster - even though we ordered in french the guy in the booth would not sell us tickets – he just kept referring us to the machines, which only took coins (which we did not have). We gave up and walked the short distance to the next Metro station, and managed to get our tickets sorted easily. The kids were excited to catch the train, and we were excited to warm up (slightly). That night we went out for dinner to try out one of the set menus. Overall it was pretty average until dessert which was a tasty chocolate mousse. We headed home exhausted and determined to see the Louvre the next day.

Notre première après-midi à Paris

So after the last attempt at a update I am writing this in word first just to make sure I don’t lose it again. We arrived in Paris with snow falling around us, and after 5 flights we were looking forward to checking into our accomodation for the week. We had been told to catch the train from Charles De Gaulle to St Michel and were not very impressed to find out that the snow we were so enamoured by had stopped our train from running. None the less we were really excited to finally be in Paris, so we trudged out into the snow as told to find our bus. If we spoke fluent French this probably would not have been a problem, but given the snow and the crowds it was chaos. In the end we decided to get a taxi (which is the Sarah way), which only ended up costing 50 Euro. After 5 days here I have to say it is the best spent 50 Euro of the trip. Our driver was brilliant and took us on a route through the city that passed La Madeline, the Assembly Nationale, and the Eiffel Tower. We tried to wake the kids so they could see everything, but they were so worn out from the flights that they simply grunted at me, and went back to sleep.

We got to our apartment an hour late, and realised that Maya had lost her beanie in the Taxi. We rented the apartment for a week, which was far cheaper than a hotel, and were not sure what to expect. Thankfully it is perfect, and I am actually feeling very sad about leaving in 2 days. We are right in the heart of the Latin Quarter, one block from St Michel, and 3 blocks from Notre Dame. The apartment is one big room that can be divided into a small living area, bathroom and 2 bedrooms – I totally recommend it to anyone in Paris for more than a few days.

By the time we had settled in it was 5pm, snowing and the temperature was around -3, so we decided to go for a quick walk to grab some dinner and check out Notre Dame and the Latin Quarter. Luckily Callum was here in 2007 and knew his way around a little. I have to say until that point I had never known what it was like to feel truly COLD! Not in Canberra in the middle of winter (you know the time I mean Millya), not at the snowfields in the rain, not in Katoomba in sleet. It is a totally different cold. We found crepes and coffee and quickly strolled past Notre Dame and Shakespeare and Company bookshop before heading back to the apartment to have our first shower and proper sleep in almost 48 hours, which was absoloute bliss.

More to come, thanks for reading.

Lost Blog

I just spent a long time detailing our time in Paris so far only to have it disappear from my screen, so unfortunately you will need to wait until tonight our time for the next update :(