The next day we took the train to Carcassonne. This was a place I was really looking forward to...everyone who had been there had said it was beautiful.
We arrived late afternoon and asked directions at the station to the tourist office and the woman there booked us a room at Hotel Central, ten minutes walk up the road.
The man who ran the hotel was nice, helpful with all my questions, etc, but unfortunately his pleasant manner in no way made up for the bed, which had definitely seen years and years of better days. It was the most uncomfortable bed I have ever slept on and had springs that dug uncomfortably into me all night long.
I woke up feeling full of flu the next morning, although some of the aches and pains could have been attributed to the bed. I found a pharmacy and bought some cough medicine, as we were both barking like dogs.
It was a lovely sunny day so I thought a cruise on the Canal du Midi would be quite a relaxing and pleasant way to see the scenery. When we went to book we discovered the booking place also hired out bicycles. Miss S was very keen to do that instead, so we did. The minimum booking time was two hours. It was really enjoyable and a lot of fun, cycling along the tow path, alongside the canal. We watched a boat go through the lock which was interesting.
The next day we left our bags in reception and walked twenty minutes up the road to the walled Medieval City. We wandered around the cobble-stoned lanes of shops and restaurants and went inside the castle. Needless to say, we took a lot of photos. We had lunch and then headed back to the
hotel to collect our bags and went to the train station to catch our train to Barcelona, Spain.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Five French children and One Sick Kiwi
We had been really looking forward to the next part of our journey, as we were going to stay in the heart of the French countryside with a homeschooling family with five children.
We travelled by train from Paris to Limoges, and then onwards by bus to a little village called Aubusson. The bus journey between Limoges and Aubusson was really lovely....the scenery was absolutely beautiful, with rolling green fields, and we passed through lots of little villages with stone cottages.
We were met at Aubusson by the mum and seven year old daughter, and driven to the remote rural area of Pallier.
The girls were chattering together immediately in the back seat, and I could see that we were going to have a really fun time together.
Unfortunately, it was not to be, as the next day Miss S awoke with a very high fever and was awfully unwell. She stayed in bed for the whole of the next two days, slept a lot and ate nothing. Meanwhile, I was supposed to be working with the other children for a few hours each day, teaching them English. This proved very awkward, as my own daughter kept calling out to me to go and sit with her, and I couldn't not go to her when she needed me, so I felt I wasn't really fulfilling my end of the arrangement. The family were understanding, but I felt uncomfortable. This, coupled with the fact that the household was extremely noisy, and hard to rest in, with drums, the flute, and the piano accordion being played, often in unison, in the room below ours, meant we decided to move on after three nights, rather than stay the seven we had arranged.
It was disappointing, but we were so relieved to be leaving, so we could get some quiet space to sleep and recover our health. By this time I was also starting to feel a bit under the weather myself.
I had booked into a cheap hotel for one night in Limoges, and was hoping to change our next few bookings so we could carry on our planned route, just a bit earlier than we had arranged.
The hotel in Limoges turned out to be right on the edge of a very busy six lane road....practically a motorway, but with the added bonus of the street cleaner that came past at stupid o'clock in the morning. Needless to say, we didn't get the great nights sleep we were hoping for there either!
Perhaps we would have better luck in Carcassonne.
We travelled by train from Paris to Limoges, and then onwards by bus to a little village called Aubusson. The bus journey between Limoges and Aubusson was really lovely....the scenery was absolutely beautiful, with rolling green fields, and we passed through lots of little villages with stone cottages.
We were met at Aubusson by the mum and seven year old daughter, and driven to the remote rural area of Pallier.
The girls were chattering together immediately in the back seat, and I could see that we were going to have a really fun time together.
Unfortunately, it was not to be, as the next day Miss S awoke with a very high fever and was awfully unwell. She stayed in bed for the whole of the next two days, slept a lot and ate nothing. Meanwhile, I was supposed to be working with the other children for a few hours each day, teaching them English. This proved very awkward, as my own daughter kept calling out to me to go and sit with her, and I couldn't not go to her when she needed me, so I felt I wasn't really fulfilling my end of the arrangement. The family were understanding, but I felt uncomfortable. This, coupled with the fact that the household was extremely noisy, and hard to rest in, with drums, the flute, and the piano accordion being played, often in unison, in the room below ours, meant we decided to move on after three nights, rather than stay the seven we had arranged.
It was disappointing, but we were so relieved to be leaving, so we could get some quiet space to sleep and recover our health. By this time I was also starting to feel a bit under the weather myself.
I had booked into a cheap hotel for one night in Limoges, and was hoping to change our next few bookings so we could carry on our planned route, just a bit earlier than we had arranged.
The hotel in Limoges turned out to be right on the edge of a very busy six lane road....practically a motorway, but with the added bonus of the street cleaner that came past at stupid o'clock in the morning. Needless to say, we didn't get the great nights sleep we were hoping for there either!
Perhaps we would have better luck in Carcassonne.
Monday, May 26, 2014
A busy day in Paris
Our last day in Paris was a beautiful sunny day and a very busy one.
We had two things on our wish list for Paris, and it was our last day here and we hadn't done either of them yet, so we determined that we would do them both today. The two things were going up the Eiffel Tower and seeing the Mona Lisa.
We set off on the Metro to The Louvre.
We expected huge queues but were pleasantly surprised that we were in very quickly, with next to no queue at all. The Louvre is enormous and you could easily spend days and days there, but our mission was really just to see the Mona Lisa, and anything else we saw en route would be a bonus. I was very aware that my travelling companion was only seven, and although she is interested in art and famous paintings, I didn't want to push my luck.
However, we did see a lot of marble statues and beautifully painted ornate ceilings, as well as some other paintings on our way to finding Lisa.
When we reached the room that she was displayed in we saw crowds of people in the centre of the room, all jostling together en masse, trying to get a glimpse of the famous painting. So, of course, we joined the throngs and slowly inched forward through the crowd until we were standing right at the front, behind the barrier, with the Mona Lisa right before us! I snapped a few photos and we were happy!
We sat on the edge of the fountain outside the Louvre and ate some crisps, while taking in the beauty
of the outside of the building. Then we walked through the Jardin Des Tuileries, soaking up the Parisian ambience, the fountains, ponds, playground, people out enjoying in the sunshine. We stopped and had a lunch of crepes with salted caramel sauce, from a kiosk, which we sat in deck chairs under the trees and devoured....they were so delicious.
While we were eating our crepes Miss S noticed a large colourful castle across the park. We went to investigate and were told that it was a project that Disneyland Paris had created. Hundreds of children had drawn and submitted their drawings of castles, and a selection of them had been chosen to be enlarged and printed onto construction material that was then built together into a life size castle of the children's art. It was amazing and wonderful....we were so impressed and inspired. The children's accompanying stories were available to read on display boards around the castle. We were able to go inside the castle and draw on the inside of the castle walls. There were also tents set up where children could have their faces painted, and have their photos taken, and a tattoo tent where they could get a temporary tattoo put on their arms, but also have their own drawings made into a tattoo. Miss S drew a unicorn and delighted in telling everyone that she had designed her own tattoo.
After the fun of the Imagination Castle we went on to take a cruise on the River Seine. The cruise ended at the Eiffel Tower. We finished our day with a ride up the tower. We took endless photos of the far-reaching views across the city, before making our way back to our little apartment, exhausted but thrilled by our busy day in Paris.
We had two things on our wish list for Paris, and it was our last day here and we hadn't done either of them yet, so we determined that we would do them both today. The two things were going up the Eiffel Tower and seeing the Mona Lisa.
We set off on the Metro to The Louvre.
We expected huge queues but were pleasantly surprised that we were in very quickly, with next to no queue at all. The Louvre is enormous and you could easily spend days and days there, but our mission was really just to see the Mona Lisa, and anything else we saw en route would be a bonus. I was very aware that my travelling companion was only seven, and although she is interested in art and famous paintings, I didn't want to push my luck.
However, we did see a lot of marble statues and beautifully painted ornate ceilings, as well as some other paintings on our way to finding Lisa.
When we reached the room that she was displayed in we saw crowds of people in the centre of the room, all jostling together en masse, trying to get a glimpse of the famous painting. So, of course, we joined the throngs and slowly inched forward through the crowd until we were standing right at the front, behind the barrier, with the Mona Lisa right before us! I snapped a few photos and we were happy!
We sat on the edge of the fountain outside the Louvre and ate some crisps, while taking in the beauty
of the outside of the building. Then we walked through the Jardin Des Tuileries, soaking up the Parisian ambience, the fountains, ponds, playground, people out enjoying in the sunshine. We stopped and had a lunch of crepes with salted caramel sauce, from a kiosk, which we sat in deck chairs under the trees and devoured....they were so delicious.
While we were eating our crepes Miss S noticed a large colourful castle across the park. We went to investigate and were told that it was a project that Disneyland Paris had created. Hundreds of children had drawn and submitted their drawings of castles, and a selection of them had been chosen to be enlarged and printed onto construction material that was then built together into a life size castle of the children's art. It was amazing and wonderful....we were so impressed and inspired. The children's accompanying stories were available to read on display boards around the castle. We were able to go inside the castle and draw on the inside of the castle walls. There were also tents set up where children could have their faces painted, and have their photos taken, and a tattoo tent where they could get a temporary tattoo put on their arms, but also have their own drawings made into a tattoo. Miss S drew a unicorn and delighted in telling everyone that she had designed her own tattoo.
After the fun of the Imagination Castle we went on to take a cruise on the River Seine. The cruise ended at the Eiffel Tower. We finished our day with a ride up the tower. We took endless photos of the far-reaching views across the city, before making our way back to our little apartment, exhausted but thrilled by our busy day in Paris.
The most expensive cheese toastie ever!
The next day started warm but got gradually colder.
We walked down to the Eiffel Tower and bought tickets for a hop on/ hop off tourist bus tour of Paris.
We sat on the top deck and enjoyed a couple of hours seeing all the famous landmarks of Paris....The Arc d' Triomphe, The Louvre, Concorde, Notre Dame, Champs Ellyses, etc.
We decided to get off at Notre Dame. When we got there we realised we were quite hungry, and as the weather had turned wild and windy, we thought we would go into a little cafe next to the Cathedral for lunch. It was very busy, but we were shoe-horned into a table for two.
I had a croque Monsieur (cheese toasted sandwich) and Miss S had a chocolate crepe and we both had a lemonade.
Unbelievably the bill for this came to sixty New Zealand dollars! I think I will remember that toastie every time I have one at home from now on!
We walked down to the Eiffel Tower and bought tickets for a hop on/ hop off tourist bus tour of Paris.
We sat on the top deck and enjoyed a couple of hours seeing all the famous landmarks of Paris....The Arc d' Triomphe, The Louvre, Concorde, Notre Dame, Champs Ellyses, etc.
We decided to get off at Notre Dame. When we got there we realised we were quite hungry, and as the weather had turned wild and windy, we thought we would go into a little cafe next to the Cathedral for lunch. It was very busy, but we were shoe-horned into a table for two.
I had a croque Monsieur (cheese toasted sandwich) and Miss S had a chocolate crepe and we both had a lemonade.
Unbelievably the bill for this came to sixty New Zealand dollars! I think I will remember that toastie every time I have one at home from now on!
Paris
On Wednesday 7th May, we set off for our two month European adventure.
We caught the train from Worcester Park station to Vauxhall where we changed to the tube to King's Cross station. Through passport control and onto the Eurostar train to Paris.
Upon arriving at Gare du Nord in Paris, we found a McDonalds across the road from the station to use their wifi to look up the directions for our accommodation, as I had forgotten to print them out earlier!
The tube map for Paris was intense! It made London's look like a country village map. I finally got my head around it and we made our way to the appropriate platform. With one line change on the way, we soon arrived at our destination stop, only to realise I had no further directions after the street address, which was apparently four minutes walk from the stop. The only problem was we had no idea in which direction we should be walking for four minutes!
After walking for about twenty minutes and asking a few people for directions, we eventually came to the studio apartment where we were staying for the next three nights.
It was as small as we'd expected it to be, but had everything we needed, even tea bags, which was greatly appreciated. The bed was one that pulled down out of a cupboard in the wall, but it was very comfortable.
We went for an exploratory walk around the neighbourhood and soon came to the River Seine and not far away we could see The Eiffel Tower, so we decided to walk to it. It was about ten minutes walk from where we were staying.
The look of utter joy on my little girl's face was priceless. She said she couldn't believe she was actually at the Eiffel Tower!
We had an impromptu picnic tea of American Hot dogs on the grass in front of the tower.
A great end to the first day of our long adventure.
We caught the train from Worcester Park station to Vauxhall where we changed to the tube to King's Cross station. Through passport control and onto the Eurostar train to Paris.
Upon arriving at Gare du Nord in Paris, we found a McDonalds across the road from the station to use their wifi to look up the directions for our accommodation, as I had forgotten to print them out earlier!
The tube map for Paris was intense! It made London's look like a country village map. I finally got my head around it and we made our way to the appropriate platform. With one line change on the way, we soon arrived at our destination stop, only to realise I had no further directions after the street address, which was apparently four minutes walk from the stop. The only problem was we had no idea in which direction we should be walking for four minutes!
After walking for about twenty minutes and asking a few people for directions, we eventually came to the studio apartment where we were staying for the next three nights.
It was as small as we'd expected it to be, but had everything we needed, even tea bags, which was greatly appreciated. The bed was one that pulled down out of a cupboard in the wall, but it was very comfortable.
We went for an exploratory walk around the neighbourhood and soon came to the River Seine and not far away we could see The Eiffel Tower, so we decided to walk to it. It was about ten minutes walk from where we were staying.
The look of utter joy on my little girl's face was priceless. She said she couldn't believe she was actually at the Eiffel Tower!
We had an impromptu picnic tea of American Hot dogs on the grass in front of the tower.
A great end to the first day of our long adventure.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
All the fun of the fair.
Today we went to Morden Hall Park country fair.
There were craft stalls and demonstrations, food stalls and plenty of fairground rides. Miss S was in heaven and indulged by her grandparents who don't often get the chance to have a day out with her. She took part in the birds of prey demonstration, lying down on the ground with the other volunteers, while the huge birds flew over them.
We had a game of mini golf, and were awed by a huge k'nex display. There were many animal petting opportunities with farmyard animals, rabbits and guinea pigs.
After carousel rides, a hook the duck game, dodgems and an extra long turn on the vertical bungy, I was exhausted, and I was just the spectator.
I blame the jet lag!
There were craft stalls and demonstrations, food stalls and plenty of fairground rides. Miss S was in heaven and indulged by her grandparents who don't often get the chance to have a day out with her. She took part in the birds of prey demonstration, lying down on the ground with the other volunteers, while the huge birds flew over them.
We had a game of mini golf, and were awed by a huge k'nex display. There were many animal petting opportunities with farmyard animals, rabbits and guinea pigs.
After carousel rides, a hook the duck game, dodgems and an extra long turn on the vertical bungy, I was exhausted, and I was just the spectator.
I blame the jet lag!
Off we go.
Saturday 3rd May. The day had finally arrived. The packing was done, we'd said our goodbyes, given the sheep and cats an extra stroke and we were on our way to the airport. We stopped halfway for some lunch.
We had checked in online, so only had to check our bags in, which didn't take long, then we went upstairs. I exchanged some dollars for euros. I had got some pounds from the bank earlier in the week, but they hadn't had any euros in, and it would have taken more days than I had left for them to order some.
We had a drink together and then it was time to go through. There were big hugs and tears from us all. I wondered what I had been thinking to imagine I could do this trip and be so far away from my husband for two months! It suddenly seemed way too difficult and far too long as well.
But there was no turning back now, so through to passport control we went. When we got to the duty free shopping area we gave each other a final wave and then we continued on to our boarding gate. Very soon we were on the plane and finding our seats. We were in a group of three seats, but there was no third passenger seated there, so we were lucky to have three seats between us, and a window seat.
The first leg of our journey was Auckland to Melbourne, a four-hour flight. We left Auckland at 5.30pm.
We had to get off the plane in Melbourne, go through passport control again, even though we were
only in transit, and re-board the plane. The queue was long and slow. We played 'I spy' and 'the memory shopping game' to pass the time.
I managed 3 hours sleep and Miss S had 4 hours on this fourteen hour flight.
When we arrived in Dubai, due to some runway upgrading work, we had to take a bus from the plane to the terminal, about twenty minutes away. The bus was stifling hot, and had no seats. Upon reaching the terminal we were herded through passport control again. Then we wandered around the shops. Miss S bought a camel soft toy, and I bought a triptych of small carved wooden pictures. We then went back on the bus to board the plane
The last leg of our journey was 7 1/2 hours, which seemed short after the endurance test of the previous flight. I did not sleep at all on this flight and Miss S only slept for one hour.
Flying over the English countryside as we were coming into London was exciting. It looked so
beautiful and green. I always feel excited to be back in England. I was really glad that we were finally here and the arduous journey was over.
We collected our luggage from the conveyor belt and made our way to the arrivals hall where Hubby's parents were waiting for us.
As we drove home to their house in Surrey I enjoyed the quintessential English scenery and recognising familiar landmarks along the way.
When we got 'home' we met Poppy the dog who is just gorgeous. Miss S fell instantly in love with her and played in the garden, throwing things for Poppy to fetch. After a little while, she noticed
some neighbourhood children playing outside and asked if she could go and play with them. Gran took her out and introduced her and she spent about an hour playing with them.
I just want to know where she gets all her energy from.
We had checked in online, so only had to check our bags in, which didn't take long, then we went upstairs. I exchanged some dollars for euros. I had got some pounds from the bank earlier in the week, but they hadn't had any euros in, and it would have taken more days than I had left for them to order some.
We had a drink together and then it was time to go through. There were big hugs and tears from us all. I wondered what I had been thinking to imagine I could do this trip and be so far away from my husband for two months! It suddenly seemed way too difficult and far too long as well.
But there was no turning back now, so through to passport control we went. When we got to the duty free shopping area we gave each other a final wave and then we continued on to our boarding gate. Very soon we were on the plane and finding our seats. We were in a group of three seats, but there was no third passenger seated there, so we were lucky to have three seats between us, and a window seat.
The first leg of our journey was Auckland to Melbourne, a four-hour flight. We left Auckland at 5.30pm.
We had to get off the plane in Melbourne, go through passport control again, even though we were
only in transit, and re-board the plane. The queue was long and slow. We played 'I spy' and 'the memory shopping game' to pass the time.
- Eventually, we were back on board and ready for take-off and the second leg of our journey - to Dubai. This was a fourteen hour flight. We were in the same seats, but had a man called Brian sitting next to us. He was a frequent flyer and had a few hints to give us. The most important one being "check which terminal you fly from Dubai to London from, because where we land is not necessarily where your connecting flight will depart from!" He told me once he had almost missed his flight, in fact they had closed the doors of the plane and he was banging on the door so they would let him in! (Although this sounded a bit exaggerated to me!)
I managed 3 hours sleep and Miss S had 4 hours on this fourteen hour flight.
When we arrived in Dubai, due to some runway upgrading work, we had to take a bus from the plane to the terminal, about twenty minutes away. The bus was stifling hot, and had no seats. Upon reaching the terminal we were herded through passport control again. Then we wandered around the shops. Miss S bought a camel soft toy, and I bought a triptych of small carved wooden pictures. We then went back on the bus to board the plane
The last leg of our journey was 7 1/2 hours, which seemed short after the endurance test of the previous flight. I did not sleep at all on this flight and Miss S only slept for one hour.
Flying over the English countryside as we were coming into London was exciting. It looked so
beautiful and green. I always feel excited to be back in England. I was really glad that we were finally here and the arduous journey was over.
We collected our luggage from the conveyor belt and made our way to the arrivals hall where Hubby's parents were waiting for us.
As we drove home to their house in Surrey I enjoyed the quintessential English scenery and recognising familiar landmarks along the way.
When we got 'home' we met Poppy the dog who is just gorgeous. Miss S fell instantly in love with her and played in the garden, throwing things for Poppy to fetch. After a little while, she noticed
some neighbourhood children playing outside and asked if she could go and play with them. Gran took her out and introduced her and she spent about an hour playing with them.
I just want to know where she gets all her energy from.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
The Final Countdown
After months of planning and dreaming the last week was suddenly here.
I began the week feeling nervous. It was a whirlwind of washing, last minute shopping, packing, re-packing and goodbyes.
I felt really aware of committing my familiar environment to memory, storing up the beauty of my own country within me, before heading off into the world. It was a strange, and spiritual, surreal feeling.
With two days till we left, I really just wanted to get on with it. I was itching to leave after so long waiting.
The nervousness had gone and I was impatient, excited and ready to begin.
I began the week feeling nervous. It was a whirlwind of washing, last minute shopping, packing, re-packing and goodbyes.
I felt really aware of committing my familiar environment to memory, storing up the beauty of my own country within me, before heading off into the world. It was a strange, and spiritual, surreal feeling.
With two days till we left, I really just wanted to get on with it. I was itching to leave after so long waiting.
The nervousness had gone and I was impatient, excited and ready to begin.
Preparations and Provisions
For many years we had been hosts to travellers from various countries through a help exchange website. I signed up as a helper on the same site and began the search for hosts happy to accommodate helpers with children. The first family I discovered was a homeschooling family in France with five children ranging from four to ten years old. Perfect. The 'help' would be to help the children with their English for a few hours each day. Emails were exchanged and our visit of seven days was arranged. We would spend three days in Paris and then head to the little countryside town of Aubusson. We were really looking forward to discovering 'real life' with a French homeschooling family.
As well as researching routes and making bookings we also had a big of pre-trip shopping to do. I shopped around for a backpack, eventually settling on one which turned out to be the cheapest and had the most features. It had a day pack that could be detached from the back of the pack and attached to the front.
I also bought some packing cells, useful for separating things within the pack. In our case we had one each for our clothes, and a third for dirty washing.
We both needed good footwear. I bought us both a pair of sturdy, comfortable shoes that were a hybrid trainer/sandal, and machine washable.
I sewed Miss S six new dresses, in a selection of patterned fabrics, that she could wear on rotation, hoping that the prints would help to disguise some of the inevitable dirt collected en route.
A new camera was essential to record our trip. I also picked up a cheap, but decent quality, second digital camera, so we could both have one to use to record our own journeys.
We also bought an e-reader, to hold books for us to read along the way.
Apart from reading, other things would be needed for keeping us occupied during long train journeys.
I packed some playing cards, uno, six dice, some counters, a thin travel journal for each of us, felt pens, a small watercolour paint box, puzzle books, a small pair of scissors and a glue stick.
Miss S also packed her torch, binoculars and two teddy bears!
The IPad was to be invaluable, with games, art apps, camera, and internet capability, making it easy to keep in touch with everyone via Facebook, email and Skype. Gone are the days of travelling equating to not having any contact with loved ones until your return.
I decided to write a blog to document our journey, both as a way to relive my memories later, and to share the adventure with family and friends.
As well as researching routes and making bookings we also had a big of pre-trip shopping to do. I shopped around for a backpack, eventually settling on one which turned out to be the cheapest and had the most features. It had a day pack that could be detached from the back of the pack and attached to the front.
I also bought some packing cells, useful for separating things within the pack. In our case we had one each for our clothes, and a third for dirty washing.
We both needed good footwear. I bought us both a pair of sturdy, comfortable shoes that were a hybrid trainer/sandal, and machine washable.
I sewed Miss S six new dresses, in a selection of patterned fabrics, that she could wear on rotation, hoping that the prints would help to disguise some of the inevitable dirt collected en route.
A new camera was essential to record our trip. I also picked up a cheap, but decent quality, second digital camera, so we could both have one to use to record our own journeys.
We also bought an e-reader, to hold books for us to read along the way.
Apart from reading, other things would be needed for keeping us occupied during long train journeys.
I packed some playing cards, uno, six dice, some counters, a thin travel journal for each of us, felt pens, a small watercolour paint box, puzzle books, a small pair of scissors and a glue stick.
Miss S also packed her torch, binoculars and two teddy bears!
The IPad was to be invaluable, with games, art apps, camera, and internet capability, making it easy to keep in touch with everyone via Facebook, email and Skype. Gone are the days of travelling equating to not having any contact with loved ones until your return.
I decided to write a blog to document our journey, both as a way to relive my memories later, and to share the adventure with family and friends.
Itinerary
So I was off to Europe and had lots to plan.
I began to create a wish-list of countries to visit. Italy, Croatia and Czech Republic were top of my list. Sophie was keen to see the Eiffel Tower and the Mona Lisa and it made sense to take the Eurostar train from London to Paris to begin our journey.
I decided to do a loop, beginning in France and ending in Belgium, also using the Eurostar to return to London from Brussels.
I booked flights to London. We planned to travel in Europe for the months of May and June. Then spend July, August and half of September in England, catching up with friends and family spread all over the country and seeing some of our favourite places along the way, as well as discovering some new ones.
It was really important to me that I had my itinerary mapped out, with transport and accommodation booked before we set off. If I had been travelling alone I would have been happier to 'wing it' along the way, but with a small child in tow, I didn't think that was the responsible option. I didn't feel comfortable arriving to a strange city and having to start searching for somewhere too sleep. I also didn't want to be arriving in the dark to places, so this factor also affected my choice of trains to book.
My father in law had bought a new car, so I bought his old one, which would work out a lot cheaper than car hire, and would give us the freedom to travel in the UK. I considered driving through Europe, but discounted the idea, mainly because I didn't like the thought of driving on the right (wrong!) side of the road. I also thought travelling by train would be more relaxing and make it easier to entertain my travelling companion, and enjoy the scenery.
I finalised my list of where we would go and began to book trains and places to stay.
The list was as follows: France, Italy, Croatia, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
I began to create a wish-list of countries to visit. Italy, Croatia and Czech Republic were top of my list. Sophie was keen to see the Eiffel Tower and the Mona Lisa and it made sense to take the Eurostar train from London to Paris to begin our journey.
I decided to do a loop, beginning in France and ending in Belgium, also using the Eurostar to return to London from Brussels.
I booked flights to London. We planned to travel in Europe for the months of May and June. Then spend July, August and half of September in England, catching up with friends and family spread all over the country and seeing some of our favourite places along the way, as well as discovering some new ones.
It was really important to me that I had my itinerary mapped out, with transport and accommodation booked before we set off. If I had been travelling alone I would have been happier to 'wing it' along the way, but with a small child in tow, I didn't think that was the responsible option. I didn't feel comfortable arriving to a strange city and having to start searching for somewhere too sleep. I also didn't want to be arriving in the dark to places, so this factor also affected my choice of trains to book.
My father in law had bought a new car, so I bought his old one, which would work out a lot cheaper than car hire, and would give us the freedom to travel in the UK. I considered driving through Europe, but discounted the idea, mainly because I didn't like the thought of driving on the right (wrong!) side of the road. I also thought travelling by train would be more relaxing and make it easier to entertain my travelling companion, and enjoy the scenery.
I finalised my list of where we would go and began to book trains and places to stay.
The list was as follows: France, Italy, Croatia, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Super Hero Hubby
My brother was getting married and we were off to England. We started to discuss people and places that we wanted to visit, and take our daughter to see.
We began to look for flights. we realised they were rather expensive, because we would be travelling in high season, into the Northern Hemisphere summer.
Enter Super Hero Husband stage left!
Washing the dishes together the next evening, he suddenly came out with the suggestion that I should go earlier, with Miss S, and he would meet us later on. This meant we could travel in the shoulder season, arriving in the springtime.
It would also mean, more excitingly, that we could visit Europe after all!
He pointed out that we had money available, and that as we had chosen to homeschool, we had no constraints of school schedules to stand in our way. There was nothing to stop us.
I rejected the idea completely.
There was no way I wanted to make the trip without him. My plan had always been for the three of us. I didn't fancy it alone, and I fancied it even less, on my own with a small child.
It was out of the question.
But, after a few days, the seed of the idea started to grow in the back of my mind, and I began to consider the idea as a possibility.
It really did seem like a crazy notion. But many who knew me could already vouch for my craziness. Some of my best ideas have been my craziest! I think a little bit of crazy keeps us all sane.
But was I brave enough? Maybe. I had survived other situations in my life that had required some courage.
Eventually, I realised that if I didn't go, I would regret it. That this was really the perfect time and an amazing opportunity.
And that my Hubby was pretty amazing too!
We began to look for flights. we realised they were rather expensive, because we would be travelling in high season, into the Northern Hemisphere summer.
Enter Super Hero Husband stage left!
Washing the dishes together the next evening, he suddenly came out with the suggestion that I should go earlier, with Miss S, and he would meet us later on. This meant we could travel in the shoulder season, arriving in the springtime.
It would also mean, more excitingly, that we could visit Europe after all!
He pointed out that we had money available, and that as we had chosen to homeschool, we had no constraints of school schedules to stand in our way. There was nothing to stop us.
I rejected the idea completely.
There was no way I wanted to make the trip without him. My plan had always been for the three of us. I didn't fancy it alone, and I fancied it even less, on my own with a small child.
It was out of the question.
But, after a few days, the seed of the idea started to grow in the back of my mind, and I began to consider the idea as a possibility.
It really did seem like a crazy notion. But many who knew me could already vouch for my craziness. Some of my best ideas have been my craziest! I think a little bit of crazy keeps us all sane.
But was I brave enough? Maybe. I had survived other situations in my life that had required some courage.
Eventually, I realised that if I didn't go, I would regret it. That this was really the perfect time and an amazing opportunity.
And that my Hubby was pretty amazing too!
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