Sunday, July 25, 2010

Chapter 2 - Campingplatz am Rhein

Monday 7th - Sunday 13th June

So, with Saarbruecken firmly left behind us it was time to move onto Ruedesheim-am-Rhein. Now, I know at the beginning I said this was a French road trip, we would be spending another week in Germany. There were two main reasons for this; the first is that I’m a worrier, what I mean by that is that I was concerned that there would be some administrative hurdle still to be crossed at the end of my time in Saarbruecken. (This is the main reason we chose to spend another week in Germany). The second reason was more specifically related to the location of our second German week; Dad had, as a child, missed out on a school trip to the Rhine valley, and as such wanted to see it for himself. As he was in Germany anyway with the caravan, the opportunity seemed too good to miss.

Now you know why and where, it’s time to move on with the story!

You’ll remember, or you may not (but you can find it below if your memory needs jogging, or perhaps ambling (that was, admittedly, a bad play on words, but it stays!)), that we left Saarbruecken for Ruedesheim on Sunday. The journey itself was quite straight forward – most of it was motorway, and the German motorways are generally good quality (and free!). It was set to take us about 4 hours, which was a reasonable estimate. The only thing we hadn’t bargained on was, rather surprisingly the reason we were going there. The Rhine. The river is so wide in this area that there are literally no bridges from Wiesbaden to Koblenz. Instead, the only way to cross the river is by ferry. There are plenty of these; most major towns along the banks of the Rhine have them, but you ought to be aware that they are also quite expensive. For two people with a car and caravan between Bingen and Ruedesheim am Rhein it cost around 10€. We did, as the week progressed, look at the other ferries, but, to be honest, there wasn’t a lot of difference between them.

There was only one thing that went slightly wrong on the journey. That was the fact that we’d arrived 24 hours early. Now, as anyone who knows me will know, I like to be early and organised, but even for me that was a record. Let me also point out at this juncture that it was not me who had been responsible for the booking of the Caravan Club sites. That was the sole responsibility of my travelling companion, Dad. Nevertheless, the site still had room for us, despite our early appearance, and we paid the site’s rates for that one night instead of the Caravan Club’s discounted rates. A small price to pay for the amount of times I can enjoy mentioning this cringe-worthy cock-up!

Again, time for a brief review of the site, so in the spirit of the football results, if you don’t want to know about it…look away now! The site is one of the Caravan Club’s Advance Booking Sites, reference number G08, and is located literally on the bank of the Rhine. Any closer and it would be a marina, not a caravan site. The site is not broken down into distinct pitches, providing an open and spacious environment. It is possible, and we were lucky enough, to pitch your caravan overlooking the Rhine. The site has 10A electricity included in the price, and has a bar/shop located on site. The site has separate ladies and gents’ WCs (although, be aware; you will need to take your own loo roll with you, when you wish to check out the facilities for yourself!) Showers are also available, priced at 1€ for five minutes, which should be long enough for most! There are 2 washing machines and 1 tumble dryer also available for use. The site is locked at night, although entry on foot is still possible, providing a little more piece of mind for those who are security conscious, and simultaneous access for those who partake in Germany’s national diet of beer! The site is a family run concern, which gives it an all the more welcoming and friendly feel to it. The staff there seemed genuinely only too happy to help.

As before, I’ll describe what we did during the week in a day-by-day way, in order that I don’t lose track of myself, and hopefully not you too! (not U2 though, I doubt they’ve got the time or inclination to read my musings!)

Once we’d arrived and got everything set up, which went surprisingly well with just two of us, we decided it would be worth wandering into the town, which was definitely within walking distance, taking about 20 minutes from the site to the town centre along the banks of the Rhine. As we walked down to the town, we saw several different river cruise boats, stopping off for the day, or the afternoon in Ruedesheim. Now while I was walking down the river I pondered the idea of taking a river cruise for a week or so down the Rhine and wondering if it was worth it or not. The most obvious advantage is that someone else drives (or whatever the appropriate verb for a river cruiser is) for you and the majority of the cruising is done during the night, so that you can spend the day in a different town. The downsides, as I see them, are that you don’t really get to choose where you spend the days, which as there’s quite a lot to see along the river, means that you’ll probably miss something you wanted to see. Another disadvantage, which is interlinked with that is the lack of freedom you have. But you’re on the open water I here you say, yes, but at the same time, you don’t decide when you go somewhere, how long you get there, and sometimes even which attractions/museums/sights you want to see in the particular places. So, for the above reasons, I’ve decided that doing it in a car with a caravan/canvas base is probably the cheapest and best way of doing it!

On the Monday, which should have been our actual arrival day, we decided, despite everything I’ve just said above, to take a day trip down the Rhine. I ought to point out that there was a logical reason we did this on our first full day in the area. Allow me to explain; the map provides you with simply a list of names along the banks of the rivers with little in the way of explanations as to what there was to see. We decided then that a river trip would allow us to take in all the sights from a distance allowing us to make a list of places we wanted to stop and look at. The river trip was going to take a whole day, with a couple of stops on the way. The first stop was a place called St. Goar, where there is a castle (one of many along the banks of the Rhine) looking down over the river. We took the noddy train up to the castle; the main reason for that being was the gradient up there…it was walkable, I suppose, in the same way Kilimanjaro is. After spending some time in St Goar itself, which boasts plenty of nice narrow streets and a picturesque old town, we then caught the next ferry to a town called Boppard. Boppard is the town just before the bend in the Rhine (similar to the one in the Saar, but being as the Rhine is a smidge bigger than the Saar, its bend is reflective of the size difference). Whilst we didn’t go up to the Rheinschleife this time (we did on a later date though!), we did walk around the town itself, taking in the sights. Boppard is quite nice, it boasts three churches, and a nice town centre. There is a café, which is quite nice too! Following a couple of hours there, we boarded the boat ready for the 4 hour journey back to Ruedesheim.

So Tuesday then, our second day, although it should actually have been our first in Ruedesheim! We decided that the best way to complement our boat trip would be to take the car along one side of the river to look at the various places in more detail that we’d seen from the boat. We decided that, for financial reasons, we’d look at the places on our side of the river to start with. The first stop on the journey was a suburb of Ruedesheim called Assmanshausen. Assmanshausen (stop sniggering) is famous for the red wine produced there. There is also a chairlift up to the top of the hill overlooking the river between Ruedesheim and Assmanshausen. The actual area itself is quite quiet, i.e. dead, although we were there relatively early in the morning. After a short stroll around the quiet, err dead, streets of Assmanshausen, we headed off to the next place along the river, a place called Lorch. Lorch, again, isn’t much to shout about, but there is a former toll gate in the middle of the river designed to look like a boat there, which is worth a look. Following Lorch comes Lorchhausen, which as anyone who understands any German will recognise that Lorchhausen is just the houses of the town of Lorch. For this reason we felt little need to get out of the car here! The journey continued in a similar vein through Kaub, until we got to the Lorely Rock. The Lorely Rock is a place full of legend within German culture, with songs, poems, and stories having been written about it. The legend goes that some pretty woman jumped off the rocks, basically. Apparently. Following the Lorely Rocks, at the top of which there is a café/restaurant and nearby a few hotels, and a good view out across the Rhine, came Sankt Goarshausen, which was the houses of St. Goar. Above St. Goarshausen there are two castles, which were reputed to be the Feuding Brothers, but these days they are both restaurants, who (considerately) are closed on different days. Following the expedition along the Rhine, we began the two hour drive back to Ruedesheim along the side of the Rhine all the way.

Wednesday saw us taking the train to Wiesbaden and Frankfurt. Wiesbaden is the capital of the Federal State of Hessen, and somewhere I’d not visited on my year abroad, I decided it would be nice to pop in and have a nose, and I wanted to show Dad Frankfurt-am-Main, where I’d been a couple of times before. We got there using the train. We’d bought a Hessen-Ticket, which offers the same advantages as the Saarland-Pfalz one does for Saarland & Rheinland-Pfalz for Hessen. (unlimited travel on public transport for up to five people). On arrival in Wiesbaden I was immediately at a loss; there was a distinct lack of Tourist Information Office at or near the station. So, I asked a local at the nearby bus station, which was the best way to get to the city centre. They looked at me as if I’d just said I’d arrived from Mars and wanted to eat (not meet, that’s too standard) their leader. They mumbled something about any buses going that way, and verdammten tourists not knowing where to go! We did eventually find the city centre, which was substantially dug up and scaffolded. Once we’d finally got hold of a city map, we headed off to the Cathedral, had a look at the market, and another church, and then returned to the train station for our train to Frankfurt-am-Main. Frankfurt, as I shall call it (primarily to save my fingers effort), is the financial capital of Germany. It also holds the joint record for having the most skyscrapers in Europe (a record it shares with London). It does, however, boast a pleasant riverside foot/cycle path and a nice Old Town area, with a Cathedral and a couple of churches. After easily spending a few hours in Frankfurt, just walking round, taking it all in, we decided we ought to return to Ruedesheim on Deutsche Bahn’s faithful railway network. So we did!

Following Tuesday’s successful road-trip up our side of the Rhine, we decided we ought to bite the ferry-fare bullet and go up the other side. We started in Bingen, where the ferry runs to, which is quite a nice town, although nothing overly special. It does, however, have a church overlooking the river above some vineyards slightly outside of the town, which we found, I’m pleased to say, due to my wonderful and almost faultless sense of direction. (something which, during my year abroad, gained me the nickname Mapman!). From Bingen, we headed a little while further along the river to a place called Oberwesel. Oberwesel is very pretty indeed. It still has the majority of its old ramparts intact (although some have been restored). The old town itself is definitely worth a look, and we easily passed a couple of hours just walking around leisurely, enjoying the town and the views across the river, and naturally, partaking in a drink or two too! From Oberwesel, we headed off to Boppard to have a look at the Rheinschleife (bend in the Rhine), which I mentioned earlier. There is a panoramic restaurant overlooking the Rhine, which provides a real birds-eye-view over the river, which is definitely worth a look (and why not enjoy a couple of beers/coffees too?).

On Friday we decided to walk into Ruedesheim, partake in a little wine tasting (well, there wouldn’t be much point in coming to Germany’s most famous wine region without trying some, would there?), then walk around the town a bit, before looking at the museum of mechanical musical things (I tried to find something that began with ‘m’ to complete the alliteration, but I failed…sorry Miss Dowdle). We enjoyed the wine tasting and bought a few bottles to share with the others when they come over to join us! The museum of musical things was very interesting, especially as we’d slotted ourselves in amongst a group of American tourists who were being guided in English. This saved me the effort of translation! The afternoon was spent casually ambling round Ruedesheim before collecting our wine in the late afternoon on the way back to the site.

Saturday. We decided to take the train to Cologne (Koeln) and walk around there. The train journey itself was along the banks of the Rhine all the way (on both banks, as the railway line switches after Koblenz. In Cologne, I climbed the spire of the cathedral, which is cheap, but does require a lot of energy, stamina, determination and will-power. The views from the top though were nice, and just about justified the previous 3o minutes workout I’d experienced. Following the workout we (Dad, me and the two parrots, Kenny & Sydney) went on a noddy train around the old town, to see what there was there, really. After that, we wandered around a bit, had a pizza in the rain, and then walked back towards the train station, albeit at a very leisurely pace, along the banks of the Rhine, before beginning our scenic train ride back to Ruedesheim.

On Sunday I’d decided to show my Dad one of the more scenic places I’d been in Germany. Heidelberg. Heidelberg is located on the Neckar river, to the east of the big, and not overly pretty city, of Mannheim. It has a very pretty old town on both sides of the river, and a castle overlooking the town and river too. The castle is accessed either by foot, or by a funicular railway, which is quite an expensive way of getting there. By foot takes about 10 minutes up a steep incline. What is important though, is that you get yourself up to the castle, because on a clear day the views are fantastic, you can see the Mannheim skyline with ease, and the view over the older parts of the city are worth pictures too. There are always artists up there painting pictures to sell in the tourist stalls around the church down below in the old t0wn.

So, this really was the end of my time in Germany. It had finally come to an end. On the plus side, my French adventure was about to begin. I’d be going further south than before, on a 8 week caravan trip with two parrots. It was set to be exciting…and it was. More about that though, soon (ish)…honest.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Chapter 1 - Kanu-Wanderer Saarbruecken

Saturday 29th May - Sunday 6th June 

Whilst my year abroad itself wasn't quite over (I still had one days worth of work to do), Mum, Dad my sister Stacey came over from the UK to join me in sunny (it actually was that day!) Saarbruecken. They'd caught the ferry at midnight from Dover - Dunkerque (note the French spelling, I'm writing about a French place, whilst sitting in a French bar, it would be almost treacherous to spell it with two 'k's!). They'd driven with the caravan from Dunkerque in almost one sitting, stopping only for toilet, coffee and fuel breaks! Not bad going (although I'd driven almost the same route a few weeks earlier with only one toilet break - so perhaps not so well done!). When they arrived, I had had to carry my stuff across Saarbruecken on the bus network to the caravan site, which was situated on the north side of the city. (For more information about this, you can read it in one of the final entries of my previous blog (Musings from Saarbruecken, which can be found here. - I will stop plugging my last blog soon, honest!)). 

Nevertheless, after a fair amount of bus travel, and suitcase lugging, we both arrived at the caravan site within about 15 minutes of each other (needless to say, I arrived first!). I'm going to write a short description of the site and add my comments now, so if that doesn't interest you just skip on to the next section! The site itself was a small site, similar in size to a Caravan Club Certificated Location (which is limited to five caravans at any one time) although this site was not limited to five vans. It had all the required features; electrics, WC, showers, washing machine, tumble drier, washing up facilities, bar/restaurant, and ample parking. On top of that, it also had relatively good public transport links (a bus stop about 10 minutes walk away, and a train station about 25 minutes away). The caravan site itself was barriered at night providing extra security for the vans, although the car park was open. The ablution facilities were restricted for users of the caravan site, rather than open to the members of the canoe/hiking clubs as well. The major downside of this site was that you had to pay for the amount of electricity that you used (which, admittedly was 16 Amp), which was charged at quite a high rate (almost a Euro per kW/h (Unit)).

So, back to the week itself. The weekend was a chance for my sister to really get an insight into Germany, for her first ever visit here! This meant that we visited some places that I’d already been before, either on my own or with my parents, and indeed some places that were completely new to me! The way I’ll do this throughout this blog is probably in chronological order, so as to keep a logical flow to it, and keep it more like a diary entry (albeit written some five weeks afterwards!)

Saturday saw a trip to Koblenz for us all on the train, taking advantage of Deutsche Bahn’s Saarland-Pfalz Ticket (which entitles up to 5 people to travel on all public transport in Saarland and Rheinland-Pfalz for about 35€). We left Saarbruecken aboard our double-decker train (a new thing for my sister, but the novelty has yet to wear off on me too!) bound for Koblenz. The journey itself took about two and a half hours along the banks of the Saar (until about Trier), and then the Mosel (until Koblenz). The double decker train allows you to really benefit from the riverside panoramas. Koblenz itself is the town, or perhaps a city, who knows? (well, Wikipedia will, but I can’t be bothered to check!), where the Mosel flows into the Father Rhine; the longest river in Germany, but more about that next time! The headland where the rivers join is called the German corner, and on that corner stands a statue of a bloke on a horse. He is in fact one of the former German emperors (Kaiser), although I forget which one he was! After a day spent enjoying the old town in Koblenz and the convenience of the bus network around Koblenz we headed for the train station for our double-decker train journey back to Saarbruecken taking in the river views again all the way back!

On Monday, unfortunately, I had to go to work, which for those of you who haven’t read my previous blog, was as an English Language Assistant in two secondary schools. There were two main things which made this day at work different to others; 1) my sister came to work with me for reasons I’ll explain in a moment, 2) it was my last day as a language assistant after nine months imparting and sometimes inflicting my knowledge, culture and language on poor defenceless schoolchildren! The main reason that Stacey came to work with me on this day was to help me move out of the flat which I had been inhabiting for the year. More about the actual moving out process can be found in my last blog (for which the link can be found above)(I know I said I’d stop plugging my last blog, but I just can’t help myself!). After we’d actually finished moving all the stuff from my flat to the car, we wandered into Saarbruecken so that I could show my sister around the city where I’d been living! It was also the day of final farewells to the other assistants; waving Harriet off at the train station on her way to sunny Marseille, and my turn to say farewell to the others as I would be out and about for the rest of the week, thus missing the others’ departures!

Tuesday was an international day, although more about that later! We’d decided that we’d take my sister to see the most famous image of Saarland, the Saarschleife (Bend in the Saar). This is an almost 180 degree bend in the river, which will, in [a lot of] time, form an oxboe lake. There are two real ways to tackle this bend in the Saar. The first way, which we also tackled first, were walking around the bend on the river bank. There is a clear, well-used footpath on both sides of the river from Mettlach around the bend to a bar, which is connected to by a ferry if you pick the wrong side! (NB: The restaurant is closed on Tuesdays!) The second way to enjoy the bend in the Saar is from the viewpoint at a place called the Cloeuf in nearby Orschulz. From here you can get a fantastic view across the river, with a massive sense of achievement if you’ve already walked around the bottom level! To briefly jump back to Mettlach, if I may,(which I may, as it’s my blog, and I’ll jump back if I want to!). Mettlach is the home of Villeroy and Boch, who are a famous porcelain manufacturers, making ornate and delicate tea-cups, vases, and urinals/toilet bowls. If you’re in Germany have a look, the chances are were you’re about to leave your mark will have come from deepest darkest Saarland! After spending the morning musing over the beauty of nature at the Saar, we headed off to another river, the Mosel, which also marks the national border with Luxembourg. Perl itself isn’t actually that interesting, indeed, I’d been there once before on the bus on a Sunday and found very little there that was exciting enough not to take the first bus back! What’s more exciting is the border crossing. By walking across a road bridge over the river you find yourself in Luxembourg, which, in itself is quite exciting, but you end up in Schengen. Home of the Schengen agreement which made the above named border crossing so easy! Now, as we had the parrots with us, we decided it would be a good idea to take a photograph proving that they’d been to Luxembourg. This started a series of photographs which have been taken whenever we’ve crossed a national border with them! (Just as an aside here, I will upload all my photographs from this trip (of which there are over 800) as soon as I get home and have the chance; unfortunately, I sent the lead which connects my camera to my computer home with my sister and can’t do it here!)

Wednesday saw a trip to Sarreguemines take place, which is a town which is just on the German-French border, at the end of the tram tracks, although we went there by car primarily for economical reasons; the tram was very expensive! Sarreguemines is quite a pretty town, and is reasonably typical of the towns in the Alsace area of France, which all have a very heavy German influence. Which, given their history as a disputed territory, is hardly surprising really. The town lies on the Saar (or Sarre in French) and has a quaint ‘old town’, which is worth a look (despite being filled with boutiques and other expensive shops; there are several cafes just waiting for you to buy a coffee or beer there. The main sights in Sarreguemines consist of the Palais de Justice (courthouse) which is an impressive building with heavy German architectural influences, the River itself, which has a pleasant picnic area beside it, and the Casino on the bank of the Saar is quite pretty too. Another place worth a look is the public gardens, which I’d managed to miss throughout my time in Saarbruecken! They’re quite small, but there is a menagerie of animals, a small lake, a children’s play area and also a nice selection of greenery for those  of you who like plants, there’s something for everyone. It’s definitely worth a look if you’re in the area!

Thursday was an active day for everyone, with a long walk round two-thirds of the Gipfeltour-Litermont hiking trail, which in total is about 10km long and very hilly. The trail does require a lot of effort, and can seem to be never-ending in its ascents, but believe me the views from the top are definitely worth the effort! The walk takes you through many different sceneries and environments; although the majority of it is shaded woodland. It’s quite well signposted (well we didn’t get lost anyway!). The best time to do it is in the sun, with the woodland it’s not too hot and the views out are far superior when there’s no low cloud cover! Once at the top and taking in the view out across the southern area of Saarland, it’s time to begin the long journey back down. The complete route takes you on a long trip through some fields and some more woodland and eventually brings you down at a conveniently placed bar and restaurant; right next to where you set off….someone’s thought this through you might argue; a beer before you go and then several more when you get back to take the edge off the pain your feet and legs are suffering. After a short recovery and a few cold drinks we headed off to Saarlouis, which is a town (surprisingly on the Saar) which was used a fortress in Napoleonic times. The town itself is quite pretty, and there’s plenty of shops, cafes and things going on to keep everyone from getting bored. The old fortress part of the town is undergoing restoration and excavation at the moment, but it is still possible to walk around that area of the town and take it all in.

Friday was a quiet day. In the morning we headed back to Sarreguemines for the weekly market there; there really is nothing like a French market – a real one, not one of those pretend ones you get in Bath! After enjoying it for a couple of hours, and a couple of drinks too, we headed back to the banks of the Saar for some lunch. Well, we would have done, had I remembered to put it in the car that morning…I should make mention of the fact that I had in fact made it and packed it all into the bags to be put in the car, but then I had forgotten to put the bag in the car. This was a mistake, which you will be pleased to know, I haven’t made since! Because of my oversight, we returned to the caravan for lunch, where we enjoyed some food from the site, before using the afternoon to take the awning down and stroll along the river Saar from the caravan site towards Voelklingen. We got about 2km, stopped for a couple of drinks and headed back to the caravan for an outdoor tea!

Saturday was the day on which I visited Saarbruecken for the last time. It was a bit of a sad occasion for me, but one which promised lots of exciting things to come over the coming weeks. The main reason though it was a sad occasion for me was that there was a market going on, which meant we had a wander round it and ended up being stopped about the parrots some more times. For lunch we headed over to the Deutsch-Franzoesischer Garten (German-French Garden) which lies in Saarbruecken near to the border with France. The garden’s story originates after World War Two, at which point the local menfolk decided that instead of killing each other, which, I imagine, becomes quite tiresome after a while. The garden itself is not brilliantly impressive; don’t get me wrong it’s nice, but it’s not that special; it lacks a certain something! It does, however, have a lake which is worth taking in and during the summer, on the hour, the fountains start to dance and create different effects, which is quite impressive. There is also a chairlift, from which one can overlook the garden (quite useful, if you walked down and can’t be bothered to walk back up!), and a small train which runs around the garden allowing you take it all in over a 15 minute journey before continuing around at your own leisure.

Sunday was the day we moved our caravan. Before doing so though we headed out to a Vide-Grenier over the border in France. A Vide-Grenier is effectively a French car boot sale. We bought a sewing machine there for my sister before returning to the caravan to head off to our next site at Ruedesheim-am-Rhein. I ought to mention ‘in passing’ that this was the day my sister and mum went back to the UK in mum’s little car with all of my stuff. They will be rejoining the fun and games in a few weeks time, when we finally reach La Rochelle. The caravan trip itself was nothing special, until we got to our next site…when we’d arrived a little early! More about that next time!

Follow me on Google Maps!

In order to make your life easier and save you from reaching for an atlas every time I mention somewhere we've been I've helpfully started to mark the places we've been on a personal Google Map. You can see this map by clicking this link here!

In order to further simplify this process, you can see where we went from each of the different caravan sites through the different coloured spots on the map!

Kanu-Wanderer Saarbruecken: Red spots
Campingplatz am Rhein: Light Green spots

I'll add the other sites in as and when I get round to adding it to Google!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Introduction

Good Morning Campers, and Hi-de-Hi! (for those of you looking blankly at this phrase, ask your parents!)

This blog is a sequel to Musings from Saarbruecken, which was written about my time there for nine months working as an English Language Assistant in two secondary schools. That blog, (all thirty something entries of it!) can be found at Musings from Saarbruecken

For those of you who haven’t or don’t want to read my previous blog, I suppose it would be a good idea for me to introduce myself, and to explain what this blog will be about!

My name is Adam Vickery, I’m a student of Modern Languages and European Studies (French & German) at the University of Bath, some 15 miles from my home in Chippenham, Wiltshire. So that’s me sorted, now, what’s this blog about, I hear you asking (metaphorically, of course!).

This blog is about the second half of my year abroad. For those of you who were paying attention in the first part of this blog you will have noticed that I study both French &  German, and that I spent a large proportion of 2009/2010 in Germany. My University, rather sensibly, requires me to have spent at least three months in both countries before they allow me to undertake my final year studies. As I had previously spent four weeks in France before my time in Germany, it seemed to make sense to spend the remaining two months in France following my time in Germany, in order to give me the chance to remember how to speak the language before heading back to uni in October!

I had, originally, planned to work for a friend in his cottage in France, doing cleaning, gardening, and helping out the guests who rented it during the holiday season, however, this plan fell through, when someone rented the cottage on a long term basis. Therefore, it was necessary to make an alternative plan. This plan involved a mega-caravan road trip starting in Germany and then heading down to France from Strasbourg (Alsace), to Lorient (Brittany) calling at Lyon, Limoges, and La Rochelle on the way – you could call it a trip from L, but that would be a very bad joke, and I wouldn’t dream of making any of those in this blog….(hmm.!).

This blog will be about that trip, which starts with the whole family, then my sister and Mum go home for a few weeks (something called work, apparently you have to go), and then they return towards the end of the road trip to help pick up the pieces!

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention that we’re taking two of our SIX parrots on this trip with us, so if anyone from the University is reading this and is concerned about me not getting the chance to speak French, you try taking two parrots out with you wherever you go, and not speaking French!

So, with the introduction out of the way, then the blog can begin…although not tonight…my laptop doesn’t have enough battery for it!