Seeing France

Last week we went to visit Pont du Gard, an aqueduct over the Gardon River. It was used to carry water from Uzes to Nimes because the Romans looooved water. They had baths every single day and had 10 pools and spa's available to them. They used 3 times as much water than we use per person today! The aquaduct is beautiful with arcs and curves. It even had graffiti from all of the ages! The graffiti wasn't only showing names of people but also the trades of people, and the tools that they used. The graffiti wasnt painted on the bridge; it was carved into the stone.

We have just left on a car trip through France because it is the school holidays. We decided to head up to Holland for a family reunion and on our way see the sights of France! On Monday we packed our suitcases and we were off. We drove 6 1/2 hours through beautiful countryside through the mountains. As we drove along the houses became even more French than they already were. The houses were very old and we got to enjoy looking at them while we had coffee breaks. We arrived in a town called Lavessieres to stay for 2 nights. Pretty confusing to say, I know. We explored Lavessieres and then moved on to a nearby town called Murat. We walked through Murat using a map we had picked up at the tourist office. It indicated all the sights and things to know about the town.

On Tuesday we woke to a pretty sunny day so we decided to head off to the 'cheese' part of the area! We drove through the central Massif. The Central Massif is an area of mountain ranges in the southern part of France. We drove to a cheese factory and took a tour with the owner. It was all in French as she spoke no English. I understood most of it so I know my French is improving all the time. We saw the cheese in some kind of rotation, and then we got to go into the store room where we got to taste different cheeses. There were two types, Salers and Cantal. The difference between them is that in the Cantal area it is very cold, so the cows can't be outside eating grass because it's too cold so they keep the cows inside, and have to feed on grain. In the Salers region it is warmer and so the cows stay outside and eat grass. I liked the Cantal cheese better.

We drove to the town of Salers. It has been voted one of the most beautiful villages in France, and it certainly didn't disappoint me as I walked around it. It was very cold as we were in the high country. It's much colder here than in Mormoiron! We live in the warmest place in France. We saw these beautiful houses and churches, complete with turrets, in the town centre. Here is a photo.

We drove to Limoges, where I am right now. On the way to Limoges we stopped at a town called Mons. At the town there is a special cross called The Croix de Mons, which was from the 15th century. It is a meter high stone cross and the circle on the top of it is curved like an octagon connected by a series of arcs. We had morning tea there and then headed off to Limoges. Limoges is a big city that is famous for its porcelain. We saw some beautiful pieces at the museum today; they were all so finely detailed. I loved a cup with a dragonfly on it and another big pot.

We visited Oradour Sur Glane, which is a town where all the people were killed by the German soldiers in World War 2. In all, 642 people were killed in one day. The town has been kept in the same state as it was then, as a lasting memory of those who died that day.

Today we went to our first theme park in France! It's called Vulcania. It is a museum/theme park where you can learn about volcanoes, while you take rides in simulators and 3D movies. My favourite ride was where they took you into a room with giant plastic chairs for everyone. They told you the rules and we were off. We travelled through the world and at one point when a volcano errupted and all the dust was travelling towards us, because it was in 3D, the vents on the front of the chairs sudenly sprayed us with water! Later in the movie when a volcano errupted all these baby snakes appeared and curled around our legs and underneath our chairs. Ropes started whipping our legs so it felt like there were snakes at our feet! Everyone screamed and screamed and screamed! It was sooo funny! We recieved a mystery map. When there was a mark on the map we had to go to that place and answer the question about volcanoes. At the end when we filled all the questions in we took them to an office and we received a prize. Vulcania was so much fun!!

The following day we drove 2 hours north to the Loire Valley, and to our chalet in the grounds of the Chateau Razay. Sean and I couldn't resist to go outside and play, so we went out and played in the surroundings of the chateau and met the animals. There were pigs, horses, cows, lamas, goats and lambs, all in the gardens of the chateau.

Yesterday, we went to see two beautiful chateaux. Chateau Chambord and Chateau Chenonceau. My favourite was Chenonceau. The first one we went to was Chambord. It was built in 1519 under the reign of king Francois I. We walked up a "helical staircase" designed by Leonard de Vinci. It has 2 entrances to start and the person coming down can NEVER meet the person going up!! I accidentally took the wrong start to the stairs and I didn't know where to find my family!

Surprisingly, Francois I only spent 6 weeks in his whole reign at the Chateau! We walked through rooms with tables and chairs and beds. It was hard to believe that we were walking where kings and queens from a loooong time ago had been walking.

The next Chateau we went to was Chenonceau. We walked through gardens to get there, finally we walked through the main door of the Chateau. We walked down the stairs to the kitchen where we saw all the things that they used to cook with. Next we saw the gallery which is a long hall that leads you from one side of the river to the other. It had beautiful tiles on the floor. We looked at all the other rooms and then went outside to the maze. Sean and I raced to the middle, exited the opposite side, and then around the outside back to Mum and Dad. On our way home we had a competition of Chateau spotting.

Today we went to the Troglodytique caves. Troglodytique caves are quarries where in the 15th century, people mined the tuffa to be used to build magnificent Chateau's around the valley. Later on the quarries were used to grow mushrooms because the conditions were just right, cool and damp. Now some of the quarries are tourist attractions. We walked on a 750m circuit which showed us the workings of the quarry.

We have just finished a game of cards and that is it for me, today.

Au Revoir

Pont du Gard

On Tuesday, we went to Pont Du Gard. Pont du Gard is an old roman used aqueduct that was used to carry water from Uzes to Nimes. We got out of the car and walked on a route that led us to the Pont. We admired it while we sat in front of it and ate ham buns.

After Sean and I raced to the leg of one of the arches. We tied. We ran up the stairs and walked along the Pont. There was actually 18th century graffiti scratched on the bricks! We reached the other side of the Pont, and kept walking to the Museum of the Roman World. We walked into the museum and looked at all of the signs and examples. After we walked to the film area and watched a film on the Pont du Gard.

St-Remy-de-Provence and Arles

On Wednesday we went to St-Remy-de-Provence. Luckily the markets were on that day. It was just Mum, Dad and I because Sean was on a handball tour with the school that day. We walked through the markets and admired all the things that were on sale. The markets here have a huge selection. There were so many cheeses, and so many tasting platters. I could have eaten all of it!

We started heading towards the centre of the town, still walking through the markets. As we walked I saw the biggest dog ever! It looked more like a horse than a dog! It was reaching lunch time and we bought some chunks of cheese, bread and freshly cut pineapple for dessert. We sat on some steps and watched all of the markets pack their stalls away.

We then walked through the town of St. Remy looking at the beautiful old buildings, homes and fountains. This is Mum and I sitting at the Fountain of Nostradamus. He lived in St Remy.We drove a few kilometres out of the town to an ancient roman site called Glanum. The first inhabitants settled here over 2800 years ago. The ruins are in amazingly good condition, and we could clearly see the way in which the families lived all those years ago. There was even a gymnasium and a pool that you could see.

Yesterday we went to Arles with Tahlia, an Australian friend and our family. They were having a special Easter festival called "Feria Toro", which celebrates the history of bull fighting in the city. The markets were going in Arles, too so we walked through the stalls and as you can imagine all the stalls were selling EVERYTHING to do with the bulls. We all bought a traditional scarf with a bull on it as a souvenir, because the traditional outfit to watch a bullfight is all white and a red scarf. We kept walking around the markets and I stopped at a news agency and bought some postcards with pictures of bulls in different poses. Here is a photo of them.

In the early evening we headed to Arles' Place du Forum which is an area in the old city with so many restaurants and cafes. All the restaurants were cooking Paella in the most giant bowls ever! A paella is a rice curry with lots of chicken, seafood and vegetables added. They also had tents put up in front of their restaurants and tables set up inside the tents. There were probably 20 stalls selling paellas! We walked along the street and enjoyed the smell of paellas wafting to our noses. We couldn't resist these smells and sat down to enjoy a large bowl of it.

We saw some ruins called the Theatre Antique. It was once a fortress, later its stones were used for other buildings. There are two remaining columns, they are called the "Two Widows". We gazed at the ruins through the fence. We kept walking to "Les Arenes". Les Arenes is a Colossium-like stadium and one of the best preserved Roman monuments in the town. We explored the stadium.

As we left Arles that evening, the party was on for 5 days, with street bands and performers entertaining the crowds. It was a great day!

Au Revoir!