the louvre

city of love

something new

A new installation in Paris framing some stunning iconic scenes.

no place like it

paris ...

... has to be my favourite European city. No matter how many visits it's beauty is never lost on me.

We had a lovely last day of holidays in the capital, soaking in the sun and enjoying every minute. We stayed until sunset, then driving on to Calais ready for our ferry the following morning. Our last port of call was the Eiffel tower which has been adorned with the gold stars from the European Union flag since we last visited. As the sun set we waited for the lights to be turned on but they seemed to take forever. Long after the sun had set we headed back for the car, only to see as we were driving out that the Eiffel tower had been lit up a spectacularly deep blue colour, to reflect the flag. A symbol of unity hard to miss and would have made for an incredible photo. Perhaps next time.

the way to st tropez

last stop paris

We've made our way up the coast and are in France now, making our way slowly home. A hard job but someone's gotta do it. It's still wonderfully hot here and we're making the most of it with swimming at every stop.

Yesterday was a great day, swimming and markets in Nice before heading to Cannes where Woz and I had dinner out in the warm night air while Nate slept in his buggy. We love Cannes and will definitely return sometime to spend more time here.

Our last port of call on the French riviera was St Tropez where we've spent the morning looking at all the yachts we might like to buy when we're rich and famous. Tonight we head inland towards Paris for one last day of holidays.

zoom zoom zoom

On Sunday morning the headed home and took the long route back, off the motorway and on the quieter country roads. Well at least they were quiet until they got there! Matt rode most of the way home.

lost!

no better way to see the sights

lapping it up in paris

under the english channel

My brother Matt arrived on Friday night after spending the last three months in Canada. He and Woz wasted no time in getting straight on the bike early the next morning and heading down to Dover to catch the train across to Calais, where they then headed for Paris.

bikin' around

Our weekend away in France was amazing. We ended up taking the train over from Dover to Calais rather than the ferry, which took around 30 minutes. We had two beautifully sunny days. Despite the sun, it was bitterly cold riding from home to Dover so early in the morning and we had to stop off to buy extra gloves to slip under our summer riding gloves. (Note to self: buy winter gloves before fingers drop off).

After arriving in Calais we sat down to breakfast in a cafe and marvelled at how quickly we were in a new country with a new language, culture etc. We didn't hang around Calais long and headed off along the coast with no particular destination in sight. We rode past the white cliffs of Dover which seemed so close. The cliffs were gleaming white and very beautiful.

By evening we ended up in Le Touquet, a little coastal town which in the summer must be bursting with energy as it certainly wasn't quiet while we were there, late in Oct. It was a gorgeous town, with beautiful little houses and shops. Unfortunately we don't have a single photo of our trip (only the one above taken before we left England - sorry, one of me again) as we decided simply just to soak it all in. So you'll just have to trust me!

It was surprising how many towns we passed through that had an area of the town completely encircled by high walls and towers. Most towns had overgrown the small space within the wall and had, over time, spilled out into the fields that must have surrounded it. Something we would have liked to have found out more about given more time, but, Monday morning was calling and so it was back home on Sunday night.

London put on an amazing welcome for us as we rode in - fireworks going off in every direction, as far as the eye could see. It was "Guy Fawkes Night" which is a bizarre English celebration traditionally accompanied by firework displays, the lighting of bonfires and the ceremonial effigy-burning of one Guy Fawkes. Thankfully we didn't see that!

france here we come!

Woz and I have decided to take the bike on it's first international road trip across the channel on the ferry to France. We'll just go for the weekend and on Saturday morning Woz has convinced me to get up at 5am (I'm not exactly a "morning person" as Tim, Sharon, Stephen and Matthew can testify) ride for two hours to Dover, and then catch a ferry across to Calais. From there we're not really sure where we'll end up but we decided it was now or never as winter is definitely approaching. Today is actually a beautiful sunny (but cold) day so hopefully the weather will hold out for us!

at least we tried ....

After telling Claire how nice the Eiffel Tower looks when it sparkles we hung around for almost an hour waiting to see it. I was incredibly puzzled because each time I'd been to Paris I'd seen it sparkle and knew that they lit it up fairly reguarly. But, after waiting for almost an hour we gave up and headed for the metro to catch the last train home. As we stepped underground we took one last hopeful look to see it look just as it had for the last hour. So, we got our tickets and got on the train with no regrets. We'd tried. Only a minute later as our train took off, out the window we saw it, sparkling it all it's glory. Sigh. This is a photo from our train window!

the eiffel tower by night

claire and em

isn't it pretty?!

claire

outside the louvre