France - Lyon

06/03/15 - 07/03/15

Spent a bit of a crash night in Lyon - approximately halfway from Disneyland Paris to Briancon, our next destination,  in the French Haute Alps. Out of necessity we opted for delivery takeaways - seemed terrible for a city that in modern times has developed a reputation as the capital of gastronomy in France and in the world.

The next morning we took a drive through the city, hoping to find a car park so we could go for a meander.  Lyon (UNESCO world heritage site) looked fabulous - we have visited a couple of times before but I don't think I realised how lovely it is. Failed on the car park so we headed over the river Saône and parked alongside a market on the riverbank. Was great to experience our first market in such a lovely setting. Came away with good supplies for a road trip picnic lunch. Boys mucked around with the water features on the riverbank. Lots of people exercising or out with their kids - looked like a very liveable city.

Lyon Riverside Food Market

Lyon Centre

 

Left Lyon for Briancon expecting a 3hr trip but arrived around 6hrs later. This was despite the speed limit of 130km(which the majority of drivers exceed considerably). A lot of changing lanes required as trucks have a limit of 90km, and there are a lot of trucks.
Absolutely amazed at the amount of traffic on the road - not even school holidays. We had to remind ourselves that there are about 65 million people in France. A lot of the trip from Lyon to Chambery was bumper to bumper. Every 'Aire' (service areas) was overflowing and had no-where to stop. We eventually managed to stop at one to eat our scrummy Lyon lunch supplies. I have to mention that this had the most odd-looking toilet I have seen on our trip. A squat toilet with a waterfall back and water that keep jetting out everywhere. I honestly had no idea where to put my feet (I couldn't figure how they wouldn't get drenched by jets). I thought better of trying to explain my dilemma in my uncomprehendable French to the queue on French women waiting. Testing out new acrobatic poses I managed!
Took a bit of getting used to the landrover, it is quite a wide car and of course the steering wheel is on the wrong side, but it drives well and is very comfortable.
Went through approx. 14 tunnels on this road trip, the longest being 13km in length(the 'Frejus Road Tunnel' which connects France and Italy, constructed 1974-1980, the 9th longest road tunnel in the world). Unknown to us it cost approximately $70NZD to go through. Before we entered we were handed a brochure with safety information - min 150m between vehicles, 70km speed limit, safety evacuation procedures - 11 safety points etc. Also unknown to us was that Italy was on the other side - the Italian roadsigns were the giveaway . Very windy last part of the trip, but amazing scenery - when I was brave enough to look over the cliffs. We passed through some amazing looking ski resorts/villages on the way. The boys started to get really excited. There were a lot of comments from the back seats when we drove under a bridge with people skiing over the top of it in Montgenèvre.
We were all pretty happy to reach our destination. An amazing looking town, but the boys were feeling a bit 'green'.

France - Paris

05/03/15

Ah , the anticipation of Paris! J'adore Paris! 

 

Took a double-decker train into Paris (about an hour). First stop was 'Notre Dame', Jarvis and Ollie were very keen(even though they had been before) because they had studied it in detail on their Assassin's Creed PC game!

Again winter(although a beautiful sunny day) was useful in avoiding an entry queue. We were disappointed when we estimated the queue(in the cold) to climb the tower (which reaches the most famous of Notre Dame's ten bells and its Gargoyles) at 2hrs wait. We skipped it.

 

 

 

 Did a lot of looking up (towards heaven), the high vaulted ceilings, pointed arches, large beautiful stained glass windows and spires, all part of the Gothic style.

 

Quite dark and very atmospheric inside.

Chris and my basic(and probably incorrect) structural explanation might have been a bit lost on the boys?

The huge windows(front window measuring 13m in diameter) meant that there was very little stonework to support the heavy ceilings, so flying buttresses (an arched wall system designed to take the weight) were invented.

Inside there were little chapels arranged between the buttresses - Ollie was keen to go into the confessional.

 

 

Assassin's Creed Poses - climbing the exterior, the Gargoyles above weren't scary enough.

Next we travelled on the metro to the 'Luxembourg Gardens' (formal gardens begun in 1612 by Henry IV's widow, open only to royalty before the French Revolution). It is voted number no.6 of 1116 attractions in Paris by 'Tripadvisor' - I beg to differ. I think things might have been more spectacular in summer.  They were digging quite a bit of it up and there wasn't anything much garden-like, like grass. Excitedly we ran to the mediocre playground we could see in the distance to them find it fenced off with an admission charge, even for adult supervisors. I was pretty horrified - how publicly ungenerous(I guess I just don't understand how things work).

The last visit of the day was to the 'Catacombs'. I had imagined that this would morbidly fascinate the boys. To be honest they were only interested for the first 5minutes of 'bones' viewing and the fascinating history behind it all failed to fascinate them. Mum and I went to see these catacombs maybe 15 years ago. Things had changed a bit, a much better display now which seems to be the case with all the attractions I had revisited.

'Keg' bone arrangement.

After descending a narrow spiral stone stairwell of 19 meters we past through a  network of tunnels that seemed to go on forever (about 1.5 km). They existed from when this was a mine.

These tunnels are the reason there are few tall buildings in Paris; large foundations cannot be built because the catacombs are directly under the city's streets.
The tunnels also played their part in the Second World War. Parisian members of the French Resistance used the winding tunnels and German soldiers also set up an underground bunker in the catacombs, just below the 6th arrondissement.
We moved on past a well before we came to a stone portal, the ossuary entry, with the inscription Arrête! C'est ici l'empire de la Mort ('Stop! Here lies the Empire of Death"). Beyond this were the  walls of carefully arranged bones, some strangely artistic in nature. In fact below Paris's approx. 11 million residents lies the remains of 6 million others. This came about because the number of dead bodies buried in Paris's cemeteries and beneath its churches was so great that they began breaking through the walls of people's cellars and causing serious health concerns.
So the human remains were transferred to the underground quarries in the early 1780s.
The transfer of the remains was always at nightfall on carts covered in black veils over a 15month period.
How could this history not stir the boys interest? - maybe you need to be older to be so fascinated by death?


Unfortunately after this we had the most miserable trip back to our apartment - about a 2 and a 1/2 hr trip(should have been 1hr), most of it standing like sardines inside a train or standing like sardines outside on a cold platform (train problems). Ah well, fortunately this isn't something I have to  do everyday.

On a topic side line, I should mention that the apartment we were staying in was right next door to Val d'Europe shopping centre - a huge shopping centre(140 shops) plus a large designer outlet(too overwhelming much for me) shopping area too. This didn't impress Chris much, but he even managed a couple of 'designer' purchases. I picked up a couple of things from 'Moschino' (not French, Italian) and 'Wolford'(not French, English). Val d'Europe was all a bit odd, overly artificial but trying very hard to be 'nice' and 'easy' .  Not surprising considering Val d'Europe was built in conjunction with 'The Walt Disney Company', who wished to create a town near the Disney resort. The architectural style is inspired from the "neo-traditional" style of the Baron Haussman (carried out a massive program of new boulevards, parks and public works in Paris in the 19th century) and a town plan by a New York City company, based upon traditional French town planning principles consistent with the 'New Urbanism' US design philosophy - mmm!. Can't say I'm surprised it all seemed pretty weird. Ah, also the security guards. There seemed to be a lot of very menacing looking security guards almost blocking(lining up in a row) the entry points into the shopping centre. They were constantly stopping me and asking me to 'Ouvrez votre sac!' (Open your bag!) - not that they could see anything inside my back, it was always too full.

France - Disneyland Paris

26/02/15

Up early(well for us) to try and get to Disneyland as the gates open - we were nervous about the queues.
Chris experienced huge queues when he took Ollie and Jarvis to visit 5 years ago, but it was summertime and I was optimistic that winter now would be different (and it was).

Raced around a few rides while it was early and not busy - Buzz Lightyear ride, Star Wars motion Master and The Big Thunder( my favourite ride). Surprised myself by getting motion sick on the last two of the mentioned rides - decided to opt out of much more 'motion'.

We all enjoyed 'The Haunted House' - really well done. Everything was so seriously constructed  - no push over temporary structures.
Pretty surprised by the poor food options for lunch. Decided to just give in and go 'greasy' (accompanied by live Country Western music). Ollie was absolutely 'disgusted'.

Toffee apples are a hit - Haunted House in the background.

Lachlan was very happy that he could go on all but one ride (which made us very happy too).
The final street parade was pretty full-on. It is hard to imagine they do it every day.
Was great to see Disneyland at night with all the lights on.
Left when it got too cold to carry on.

France - Chateau Tilques

Late start to the day – our body clocks are way out of sync.

Took the kids to the indoor pool at the Chateau (new since we were here last (12 years ago)). Very surprised at how good it is – normally indoor pools seem a bit ‘naff’ but this was a lovely space(lots of windows overlooking the lovely grounds and creek). The boys loved it , a great bit of exercise(luckily we had it all to ourselves – I’m sure we would have scared anyone else off otherwise). Such a beautiful blue winters day today.

The boys kicked their new soccer ball around the grounds, Chris played the outdoor chess set with Lachlan. I had a quick walk around the grounds - there is something I really love about the  French countryside on a blue winters day - so still and sublime – quite meditative.



Boys playing ball

 

 

 

 

Chateau Tilques lounge - trying to look the part.

Visited 'La Coupole' in the afternoon . Pretty good stuff for boys. The exhibits had been finely tuned since we last visited maybe 15years ago.
Great video presentations with headsets (ours was in English, but poor Ollie mentioned later that it was hard for him not understanding French - he had his headset accidentally set to French language and had assumed ours were too).
Poor Ollie also got to experience his first(and last) microwave burger there for lunch(the rest of us were sensible and had sandwiches) - as you can imagine he was horrified by it.

Most interesting facts:
Not a single V-2 rocket was launched from this site (It was built by Nazi Germany between 1943-1944 to serve as a launch base for V-2 rockets directed against London and southern England), construction was never completed due to repeated heavy bombings.
The lead rocket engineer, Werner von Braun, surrendered near the end of the war and was bought, with some colleagues, to the USA to work on U.S. rocket development. His Nazi past was never disclosed. He acquired American citizenship and lead the team that developed and launched 'Explorer 1'(1st American satellite) and the 'Saturn V' moon rocket.

Network of tunnels housing storage areas, launch facilities and crew quarters.

 

Flying Bomb

La Couple Dome in the background

 

Got to enjoy another dinner at the chateau. I was amused by Lachlan's comment:
"This is so annoying , one taster and two dinners before pudding" – in fact he meant one amuse-bouche , one entrée , one dinner and one ‘pre-dessert’  before dessert – all a big ask for a little appetite on a little boy. The neighbouring table watched with amusement. The main waiter was not so amused but the other was all smiles.
The boys were all giggles watching the waiter soak up his water spill on the table, with such precision, I was amused too.



A swim the next morning, blue sky turning to hail - Jarvis couldn't resist a dash outside.

 

France - Day1

28/02/15

Awoke early to get packed up , squeeze into the car and head to Dover to make the ferry crossing to France.

London apartment - Bridge Wharf King's Cross(but why so cross?)

Took ages to navigate out of London (much longer than navigation system of the new car said). Had to pickup all the French driving kit at Dover – safety vests, triangle, GB sticker, headlight stickers and even the compulsory(since 2012) breathalyser that you need( hard to believe).

Noticed the waves were a bit choppy at Dover so we all gulped a travelsick pill. Didn’t work for me! I had to shut-eye for most of the trip to cope with the nausea.

Lachlan on the Dover-Calais ferry

Happy to reach the French side, we made fast tracks to ‘Cite Europe Shopping Centre’ – took a bad wrong turn on the motorway and ended up at the Eurotunnel Car shuttle - opps. Pretty excited to get to Cite Europe – had a mad dash around. So excited by the supermarket – couldn’t buy much(car was already packed to the roof). Watched the English shoppers filling their trolleys – used to be me! Amazed at the selection. Noticed a strange new fashion for women – oddly strong eye shadow – a strong thin stripe of bold colour on the eyelid (brilliant blue or green or even sparkle – it was everywhere I looked – personally not a look for me).

Chris did an amazing job at French speaking when we bought our new French SIM cards.

Drove through bleak wintery countryside to reach  Chateau Tilques (a favourite holiday spot with friends when we lived in London).
Lots of memories on arrival. Boys and Chris had a quick swim in the pool(new since we were last here). Then off for a much anticipated dinner.

Dinner was an education for all - we discovered that we have a lot of work ahead to educate the boys in the art of dining – not really been a priority:

All the cutlery which actually had to be used (no fingers - Jarvis struggled).
The extra tasters that you are given without asking for.
The surprise that food doesn't have to look like it's description (the art of it all).
'Why is a snail so chewy' – my answer being that I don’t know because I’d never order one! (actually I was quite impressed that the boys gave them a go – only Ollie even slightly liked them).
The patience required - dining is a leisurely pleasure, not to be rushed!(boys like to rush).

 

Boys trying snails - a disappointment!

Chris and I were quite disappointed with our lack of French comprehension(we had to ask for translations ), but then we consolded ourselves with the fact that we couldn’t understand what the English translations meant either – a lot of big words. Overall it was a great meal – amazing flavours and presentation. We left having eaten too much, but you wouldn’t have wanted not to.

 

 

 

London - Final Days

 

Ollie all smiles outside 'Hanks' - he finally has his new guitar!

 

Had a couple of slow days to catch up on things and give the boys some time to do some correspondence school.
Chris and I had a dinner out at a local restaurant in Kings Cross, 'TED'.
Was really nice, quite London-like - full , loud and squashed, but at the same time small and friendly too.

Took the boys for a stroll through  Chinatown and Leicester Square (after picking up Ollie's guitar).





Chinatown - Jarvis jumping the bollards(their new street entertainment)

By mistake we came across the Leicester Square 'M&M' store - which must be quite a big deal (the shop assistant couldn't believe it was my first time - I couldn't believe it was my time at all). Such an odd thing - everything you could imagine M&M (as if M&M imagery is good to start with). Well at least it interested the boys - Lachlan the most(there were M&Ms to buy! - every colour imaginable in separate huge vertical containers(that spill out too many into your bag for purchase - off course)).
The boys came home happy that day. They got to see a open air performance in Leicester square too (they were particularly impressed that the guy got his top off - it was really cold).

Ollie - This is Leciester Square