Rock Climbing, Banon and Magicland!

Last Friday, Mum's cousin, Ruben, came to our house to take us rock climbing. He arrived here in Mormoiron with a whole bag of harnesses, ropes, helmets and hooks. We left early the next morning for the Dentelles Montirails, a mountain range of outcropping limestone rock that looks like a row of teeth from far away.

Ruben explained how to put on our harnesses and when I had put mine on, I asked him to test it and he grabbed the hook and lifted me up with his hands. It was lots of fun and I knew I was safe and ready to climb!! I got to go first!

The climb was 30 meters high and it was rated 4A/4C - medium. I climbed for about 20 meters using all the available hand and foot holes. The last 10 meters was really difficult as there were fewer and fewer places to grip but I finally reached the very top!! From there I looked around and saw all the other mountains around me. One of the rocks across the valley had a huge hole in it that you could see through! The scariest bit, but also the best bit, was abseiling down on the rocks to everyone cheering.

That night we were all very sore!

The next day we left for Banon, a town 70 km east of here. It is famous for 2 things, firstly its Banon goat's cheese and secondly, its bookshop. We went into the local fromagerie and tasted and then bought their cheeses. The man was an expert and explained the difference between all the cheese.

The bookshop was located in a huge 3 story building and was as good as I had hoped. It attracts people from all over Provence!! After we explored all the rooms in the bookshop we walked to the top of the 13th Century village and saw an art exposition in the church.

Yesterday, my class and I went to Magicland, a theme park! We went to celebrate the end of our school year. After this week, my big summer holidays will start!

My favourite ride was when you sat in a log, then you went up in an escalator, and flew down the slide into a spray of water! I went on it 4 times! There was also a giant roller coaster that I loved...

My teacher let us go off in the park by ourselves and explore! He didn't place us in groups or say we had to be back at the meeting place at a certain time, we were free to do as we pleased!!!

I had great fun at Magicland!

Le Mans Race Weekend

We left for Le Mans on Thursday driving 4 hours to arrive at the Toulouse Airbus Factory. The tour began in the telemetry room with a presentation of the A380 programme. We then entered the Jean-Luc Lagardere site and saw, from a watch tower, the general testing stations, the outside testing stations and an view of the entire site. Finally we boarded a full scale model of the A380 and saw the interior of the worlds only double decker!

We kept on driving all the way to Mauriac, a very small town in Bordeaux. Bordeaux is also a very well known wine region. The lady at our bed and breakfast was very kind and helpful so she rung the people who owned the nearby Chateau Gaury Balette. Chateau Gaury Balette is a 33 hectare vineyard. We met the owner who led us on a tour of the vineyard. First we walked around all the vines and he told us that it was a tradition in Bordeaux that you never have a single grape variety wine, you always mix between two and four varieties, and then put them in a bottle! Next we headed towards the factory and the man showed us his Lamborghini tractors, it was very funny, and we got to sit inside them. Then he took us inside the factory and showed us all the vats that he kept his wine in. He also had oak barrels that had his special wine in them! Then we went into the tasting room. Dad and his friend tasted wines while Sean and I drunk grape juice. After we had finished the wine tasting, we left for the nearby town of Mauriac and ate pizza at a pizzeria!

The next day we drove 6 hours to Malicorne, a town just south of Le Mans, and our base for the 24 hour car race! That afternoon we drove into Le Mans to watch a drivers parade. The drivers parade was going all through town. I loved the middle part of the parade because they were throwing out lots of freebies! I even caught an Audi T-shirt! They also threw out these tire yo yo's that are really cool. After we had had enough of the parade we went back to the hotel to get a good sleep for the next day.

The next day we woke up and left for Le Mans at 8am. We watched a few races before the big race came on. When it was 3 o'clock, the adrenaline was pumping in everyone including the crowd! The racers started by doing an old tradition- standing on one side of the track and then when the whistle blew, the drivers would run over and jump into their car. In the olden days the people would stand on one side of the track and then when the whistle blew, the drivers would run over and jump into the car and drive off to start the race! But instead of driving off then, the drivers just sat and made sure everything was OK with the car. So then they all had a practice lap and lined up at the start. Then the whistle blew and they were off!! There was 4 categories of cars. We watched the cars that day and at 10pm we left the track with all the cars still running on the track.

The next morning the bus left at 10am for the track. That morning we all looked at the shops. I bought a Ferrari T-shirt. That afternoon we went back to the stands and watched all the cars until the end of the race- 3 o'clock. When it came to 3 o'clock, Audi's passed over the line 1,2,3, to victory!!!! We watched them go to the podium to spray champagne and get their trophies! That afternoon we left the track feeling very exhausted.

That night we drove into Malicorne the town near the the hotel. We chose a little restaurant called La Petit Auberge. I had a seafood terrine for entree and a steak and vegetables for my main meal. We had the best tart for dessert, it was mango and apple with coffee ice-cream on the side. Soooo good!!

The next morning we drove 6 hours to get to Vichy, a town known for it's thermal baths. That afternoon we got driven around Vichy in a little train seeing all the sights. After the train ride was finished we all walked around the shops and when we went to the tourist information centre, Sean found this really cool brochure on a place called Royatonic. Royatonic is a thermal bath centre in the nearby town of Royat. We decided that on our way home the next morning we would stop there and have a swim.

The next morning we ate breakfast quickly and left to get to Royatonic. We had a swim and it was so cool, there were all these little spa's that all had different temperatures, there was even a perfume one! After a few hours of swimming we left for home in Mormoiron!

It was a great trip!