Spent a great couple hours at the Lavaur market. Mom and Dad really had a nice time looking at all the great stalls. We picked up our usual rotisserie chicken and a few other things and went home for a big lunch and a siesta.
Later we spent awhile outside in the pool where we cooled off from a blistering 35 degrees Celcius!
Blog you tomorrow.
The weather was definitely on our side as we took my parents to go tour Albi today. They enjoyed the sites of St. Cecile, the Palais de Berbies and the Pont Vieux (1000 year old bridge). While walking around the shops we stopped for some ice cream as well as lunch and some splashing around in the town square fountains – I love those things!
I think that Canada should adopt more of these town plaza/piazza/platz/squares complete with tonnes of sidewalk cafes and kid friendly fountains. It makes a town much more inviting to visit. I love sitting in the cafe and just watching the action all around us Рtr̬s cool! I will defintely miss that.
After Albi, we went home for some swimming and a fabulous wine, cheese and p̢t̩ dinner Рmmmmmmmm.
We drove down to Toulouse to pick up my parents from the train station around 4:30ish. They had a great train ride from Paris to Bordeaux (at 300km/hour) and then got off for some lunch before they boarded their next, much slower, train to Toulouse.
We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and catching up. Today we’ll give them a tour of Albi.
ONLY 3 WEEKS TO GO!!!!!
We drove the 715 KM from Paris back to Giroussens today. It’s a long drive but the kids handled it very well–the portable dvd player we have certainly helped.
Tomorrow will be a catch-up day for work and chores. And on Thursday Marissa’s parents will be coming to stay with us for about a week so we’re looking forward to that.
Bonne nuit.
– We spent most of the day in Tuileries Garden where Liam and Emma enjoyed the playground
– Marissa managed to do a little shopping in the late afternoon
– After dark Liam, my mom and I returned to the Eiffel tower for one last look.
– Will post photos and more detailed description later.
– We took the train to Versailles today to visit the Palace of Versailles. From the Gare Saint Lazare in Paris you can buy a ticket that includes the train ride and access to the Palace and it is a good idea to do this as the lineups for purchasing tickets at the Palace are rather long.
– We proceeded through the inside of the Palace rather quickly as planned–it isn’t the most exciting place for kids–and we concluded our visit with a walk in the lovely ‘backyard’. The inside of the palace is certainly fit for a king and features copious quantities of marble, gold, paintings and statues. The overall enjoyment of visiting the Palace of Versailles is somewhat dampened by the overwhelming crowds–the rooms were often stiflingly hot–and the lack of any outdoor play area for the kids (as we had found at Valencay). But it still remains as one of the must-see sites in Paris due to its beauty and its long and interesting history.
Its midnight here and Marissa, Liam and I have just returned from a late-night visit to the Eiffel tower. My mom and Emma were already asleep by the time we decided to make the trip out to the tower this evening so I will see if I can interest them in going out tomorrow night so that they get the chance to see the lovely Eiffel at night in all her lit-up glory.
The ideal spot from which to enjoy the Eiffel tower at night—and during the day actually—is from the Trocadéro and thats exactly where we—and several other tourists—planted ourselves with coffee, hot chocolate and camera in hand. Ahhh Paris. Unfortunately my weak words and amateur photos cannot adequately describe the suprisingly wonderful feeling of pondering the lit-up tower on this warm Summer-like evening with loved-ones at my side—but it was really cool!!
– Woke up to beautiful sunshine!!
– Took the subway over to the Hotel de Ville this morning where we boarded the Batobus. The Batobus is a great way to make your way along the Seine–for only 12 euros you can use it all day long–and we used it as a means to get to the Eiffel tower.
– Marissa, Liam, Emma and I climbed the Eiffel tower by stairs while my mom enjoyed a walk in the surrounding area. Both kids really enjoyed going up the tower and we rewarded their efforts with an ice cream at the first observation level.
– Afterwards we ate on the grass facing the tower and the kids played in the playground there. Liam also took the time to draw a picture of the Eiffel tower which he signed and dated. For Marissa and I this drawing has become a priceless souvenir.
– We returned to our hotel by Batobus and subway; we picked up a roast chicken, some rice and veggies along the way which we consumed in our room and we finished off with a few pieces of cake in honour of Marissa’s 33rd bday.
– Overall a wonderful day in Paris. As a parent the highlight of the day occured during the Batobus ride this morning when I noticed Liam’s expression as he first spotted the Eiffel tower in the distance. With camera already in hand I managed to capture the moment. Ahh..Paris!!!
– Visited Chateau Valencay on our way to Paris. This was the prior home of Talleyrand, Napoleon’s foreign minister. The place is great for families because the outdoor area has a large maze, playground and animals. The chateau itself is a great step-back-in-time with plenty of furniture and artifacts that once belonged to Talleyrand. Throughout the Chateau grounds one hears Classical music playing which really adds to ambience of visiting such a place.
– Made it to Paris and checked into the Etap in the 19th arrondisement. Can’t beat their prices at less than 50 euros per night for a room.
– We took the subway to the Louvre and walked around outside. The kids enjoyed the glass pyramids
Today started off really warm and sunny so we took a drive over to a nearby town of Castres. We didn’t know what would be there but we decided to explore it anyway. We immediately found a park for the kids to play in and spent a good hour or so before we toured around the town.
The downtown was pretty with many fountains around so the kids proceeded to get nice and wet while playing with them – refreshing! There were a lot of expensive shops and a big open plaza with cafes. There seemed to be quite a few young kids, or punks as we like to call them, hanging around. Not sure if there was an event going on that day or if this was the norm but after finishing our ice cream we decided to head for home.
Good thing we left, about an hour later the rain came.
Tomorrow we start our journey over to Paris – all of us!
An interesting thing has occured in the last little while, which I didn’t think would happen so soon. We’ve begun to really look forward to returning home. We have even discussed the possibility of changing our flights to return early and our personal reasons vary slightly.
For me, I’ve grown a bit tired of visiting places and would simply prefer to enjoy a somewhat normal life in our immediate surroundings. We are planning a trip to Germany soon but my motivation for actually following through with it fluctuates on an almost daily basis. Early on in our voyage to France I was eager to drive and explore every nook-and-cranny that France has to offer but now I somewhat dread any sort of voyage and prefer to stay near to our Giroussens home. I think this reaction is probably normal. I think that no matter how exciting an activity is, one needs a break from it after a while and I’ve now reached that point with my France travels. I recall, when I cycled across Canada, that I needed time away from my bicycle afterwards, and that after a sufficient break, I was once again enamoured with cycling.
My mom, Marissa and the kids are also experiencing some of these feelings.
I hope that this post does not convey a sense of misery as this is certainly not the case. But at the same time I do no wish to make this blog a sanitized version of our experiences. If it is to serve as a accurate souvenir of our voyage then it should include the ups as well as the downs.
At the end of the day we have to remember that we are very fortunate to be able to be here in France and to experience its many wonderful facets.
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