WEEK 6: BARCELONA

Bonjour,
To all the children at TGS, we hope you have a great summer holiday! Grace, Adele, and Ellise are looking forward to catching up with you in the new year!

So, back to the Blog:
After our 2 week tour we settled back into school here in St. Remy. Only to find out that there was another long weekend holiday! At the last minute we decided to drive to Spain. Barcelona is only 4 hours drive from our villa. The same as it takes to get to from Townsville to Cairns. 

  On route to Barcelona, we diverted off the highway for a Lunch stop at the medieval town of Carcassone. Whilst in France, Brendan has been on an infernal quest to find the best "Cassoulet" meal. Originating in the south of France, cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked bean stew or casserole containing meat (typically pork sausages, pork, goose, duck) and white haricot beans. The dish is named after its traditional cooking vessel, the cassole, a deep, round, earthenware pot with slanting sides. Numerous regional variations exist, the best-known being the cassoulet from Castelnaudary, Toulouse, and Carcassone. Carcassone is a fortified French town in the Aude department. The fortress, which was thoroughly restored in 1853, was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997.



Carcassone Cassoulet!!



 After Lunch we continued on to Barcelona, Spain.

Barcelona is a very interesting and vibrant city. Located on the coast, it is famous for its architecture and in particular the organic, mosaic architectural works of 'Gaudi'.(Antoni Gaudi 1852-1926).

During the day we visitied the Guell Park, Temple of the Sagrada Familia, Poble Espanyol de Montjuic (an open air museum), and more Gaudi buildings whilst shopping along the Ramblas. That night we enjoyed a traditional Flamenco Dancing Show in the old town. It was fantastic!!

 Au Revoir till next week!!

WEEK 5: AUSTRIA, GERMANY, SWITZERLAND

Bonjour,
"Joyeux Anniversaire" to Elaine. Thinking of you on your special day.

So, taking up where we left off last week.  


SALZBURG - AT BASE OF CASTLE

 

After our beautiful stay in Venice we headed off to Salzburg, Austria. I downloaded the "Sound of Music" soundtrack to play in the car for the whole trip to get us in the mood. Austria is the most beautiful country I have ever visited. Driving through the mountains was wonderous. Vibrant green fields with the trees in autumn red bloom and the mountains topped with snow. The air was so fresh. Our two nights in Salzburg were fantastic. Brendan celebrated his 40th birthday at a traditional Austrian restaurant. We really liked the food: Wiener schnitzel, boiled beef, dumplings, sausages, red cabbage, kaiserschmarren, and a delightful dessert called Salzburger Nockerl.
(a sweet souffle, meringue thingy full of hot air and sugar.yummmmmy!)



VIEW FROM CASTLE

 

Waitresses wear dirndls to emphasize the traditional Austrian ambience with rustic Austrian wooden chairs and tables that harmonize with the wooden beams that cross the ceiling. Pronounced arches and white walls are decorated with engravings of hunting scenes that recall an era of grandeur. What a great night. The next day, we visited the Hohensalzburg castle which overlooked the whole valley. Built in 1462, Hohensalzburg Castle is one of the largest medieval castles in Europe.

To be honest, I don't have a bad word to say about Salzburg. I could live there.


swarovski world



From Salzburg we drove to Dachau Concentration camp, outside of Munich. This sure changed the happy mood we were in. (I didn't feel well for hours after). Next stop was BMW world in the heart of Munich. The new 6 series is a work of art. After Munich we stopped for the night in Innsbruck, Austria. Innsbruck has a lovely cobblestoned old centre, where you can walk around. The next day we visited "Kristallwelten" or in english "Swarovski World". This is Grace's Happy Place.



This was quite an interesting place. It is a walk through museum of Swarovski pieces and artistic displays made with crystals by different designers. At the end there is a shop with the latest works that you can buy. Of course we left there with our wallets lighter!! From here we then drove through the day to get to Saint Mortiz for the night. That was another beautiful drive through the Swiss Alps. Upon arriving in Saint Moritz we were amazed to find that all the hotels were closed. As we had not booked any accomodation and after much heated discussion, we decided to drive on through the night across the snow ridden Julier Pass back down to Bad Ragaz to spend the night.

Crying Lion of Lucerne



After destressing for the night, we drove on to Lucerne in Switzerland. Lucerne was a lovely medieval city built around a lake, surrounded by the swiss alps. Highlights were the wooden covered bridges, the old walled town, the clock towers, and the famous crying lion monument. Mark Twain discribed the "Lion of Lucerne" as "the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world" - we all agreed. It was carved out of limestone in memory of the heroic death of the swiss mercenaries at Tuileries 1792.

The Lake of Lucerne is full of white swans, that love to be fed. Adele and Ellise stole enough bread at lunch to have every swan in Lucerne follow them around the lake. People were stopping to take photos of them with their bevy of swans. After some fondue, and a wonderous dinner at the famous "Old Swiss House" our tummies were full and our wallets were empty. So we decided to head back to our villa in St. Remy.

Au Revoir till next week!!





WEEK 4: Italy.

Bonjour,

We have just arrived back from our whirlwind holiday through Italy, Austria, Germany, & Switzerland. What an exciting 12 days! Our first stop from St. Remy was San Remo (the flower capital of Europe) on the Italian Rivieria. It was great to finally get a real cappuccino and enjoy the Italian fashion. The girls had to learn to say "Si" instead of "Oui" and "Grazie" instead of "Merci". Having mastered the Italian language, they then enjoyed a swim in the hotel pool over looking the Mediterranean sea. 

View of Pool - San Remo



The next morning we drove up to Bellagio at Lake Como. Where people kept stopping Brendan and asking if he was George Clooney!! Several autographs later, we settled into a very old Grand hotel over looking the lake. It was a very beautiful and quaint village tucked away into the hillside. The next day we organised a boat trip around the lake. The high light was stopping at "Villa del Balbianello". A number of feature films have used the villa for location shooting, Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, and James Bond Casino Royale. All the villas were so opulent! Richard Branson's estate was pretty good too!!

Villa del Balbianello

As the snow moved into Bellagio, we shipped off to Venice. Returning to Venice after 13 years (Honeymoon) was especially exciting. It is quite unique and special. The  girls were fascinated by the canals and little walkways everywhere. It reminded them of Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies. We organised 2 private tours for Venice. The first was of the Doge's Palace (Doge is italian for "Duke"). We learned all about the history of Venice and many questions were asked by the children. Prizes were given out to who remember the facts the best! The second tour was to the islands of Venice. Murano, Torcello, & Burano. Murano is famous for it's world renowned glass making. Torcello has the oldest church in Venice, and Burano is a colourful fishing village where the women also make a special kind of lace. We have attached a video of some special glass making at Murano for you. See if you can guess what he is making??

Will sign off for now - will post the rest of the holiday soon!!

Au Revoir!!