Not Before Time

The last week in Europe was spent just north of Paris near Chantilly.  This is a really lovely part of France and we used the time to just veg out.

We were originally scheduled to fly from Paris to London where we were to spend 4 days or so before heading off to the US, but we decided to change this so we could fly direct from Paris to NY, so we had some running around to do to change flights and we sent some stuff home, but apart from that we really just relaxed, cooked, did a fair bit of walking visiting chateaux etc and had a really nice time.  We stayed in a caravan park which is situated in the middle of a forest and it was really quiet and peaceful.  We stayed in a bungalow which was more like a little chalet, very cute.

Next stop NYC!

We have spent the last few days in the area of Champagne in France where we have checked out the scenery which is very pretty and there are lots of chateaux and cathedrals to see.  The beverage has lots of bubbles and tastes fantastic!

 We have stayed in self catering accommodation so we could have a bit of room to move around (hotel rooms in Europe tend to be on the small side) and so we can do some cooking (restaurants are really good, but you do get a bit tired of eating out) and it has been very relaxing (have I mentioned how tiring travelling is?). 

This might be our last post until we get to the US, as from today we will be staying in a little town in the hills just north of Paris and internet access is not so good.  We will be in the US from September 2 and should be able to update and respond to emails then. 

When we left the Rhine area we headed for France and the Dijon area. We are staying in Dijon for a couple of nights to check out the local cuisine. While it can be said that it is just another medieval city, we are finding that it is very relaxing to walk the narrow streets and there is still a WOW!! factor as you turn a corner a see a building that was built some 500 – 1000 years ago.

Maggie tried the escargot (snails to me) last night and said they were great, I personally stuck with the Fois gras (Pate), real gourmandes  ain’t  we??

From here we are heading into the Champagne area, and hope to get a self catering unit for a week or more, so we can relax, do a bit of cooking and prepare ourselves for the next part of our journey to the United States. 

The time is now going very quickly and we will be home in 5 weeks.

Well, we are still having problems with the laptop, so once again it´s words only, photos to be added later.

We stayed in Paris for a week and had a great time.  The place we stayed at was an apartment right near the Bastille and within walking distance to almost everywhere we wanted to go and only about 15 minutes walk from Paris centre.

We did all the tourist stuff – lots of walking, using the hop on – hop off buses, visiting all the main sites and gardens, sitting in cafes watching the world go by.  Great fun.

When we left Paris the plan was to head north for a while, but the weather wasn´t very good so after visiting Bayeaux (a gorgeous medieaval town and where the Bayeax Tapestry is located) and the Normandy area including the D-Day landing sites, we decided to chase the sun and headed south.  We stayed at Les Eyzies in the Dordogne area.  There is a great caravan park there and we hired a cabin for a week while we explored the surrounding areas.

This area is renowned for its prehistory sites and there are lots of caves, and grotte´s with pre historic paintings on the walls.  The area is also really beautiful and there are a number of medieaval towns, including Sarlat which is stunning.

We also visited markets where we bought some of the local produce so we could cook back in the cabin and that was a nice change from eating out all the time.  We also spent time lying by the pool and meeting some of the other people staying in the park.  It was a really pleasant week.

When we left Les Eyzies we headed over to the mediterranean where we stayed at a couple of seaside towns before heading into Spain.