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!

The FESTOYADE and markets

Last week we woke up to unfortunate grey skies and a gale of 35km/hr. But there was a giant party to be held that day!!!! That evening we got into our Blue, White and Shiny themed costumes and left the house. We drove to Pascal's house where the giant, all-night-long party, the Festoyade was being held, Pascal had been preparing this party for weeks! and finally it was time! The theme colour was blue and white. I was wearing a white dress and bright blue earrings! Here is a picture of me and my friend, Constance.

We had a great time and nearly stayed up all night. Near the end of the night Pascal handed out glow sticks and all the children jumped on the trampoline, no one knew who was who so it was just a bunch of glowing children laughing on the trampoline. Then we went in side and Pascal gave every person a glowing straw but unfortunately I went to put on my shoes and I accidentally bumped the straw and it pushed into the top of my mouth and scraped the skin! It hurt so much! I was going to sleep at Pascal's house with all the other children but I chose to go home so we could go back to their house and finish the party while I was not sore and tired!

The next day we stayed at Pascal's house until dinner. A friend of Pascal's was very funny. A lady asked Pascal's friend to put some whipped cream on her strawberries and so the man started to put the cream on, but he didn't stop! The lady laughed and said that's a little too much cream on my plate so the man just dunked his head in the plate of mostly cream! Everyone was cracking up and then, he took off his glasses and sprayed two circles of cream on the lenses and put the glasses back on!! It was soooo funny! That night we had dinner and then left. It was a great Festoyade!

Yesterday Sean, Mum and I drove to Gordes. Gordes is one of the plus beaux (most beautiful) hilltop villages in France. We ate lunch in a cafe called Le Jardin Cafe (The Garden Cafe). We walked around town and looked in shops, the town was so much more alive than it was in winter! We ate an ice-cream and then went home.

This morning we woke up to sunny skies and shorts wearing weather! The perfect day to visit the Bedoin markets, a village close by ours. We walked through the markets and bought some vegetables, a hammock for summer and took some photos. We sat in a coffee shop and ate and drank some things, then we drove home.

It has been a great week!
See you again soon, Ivy x

Tripping through France and the Benelux, Germany and back to France

We woke in Lesmont to a breakfast of croissants and home made jams, then we grabbed our bikes and set off for a long bike ride around the area of Lacs d'Orients. We pushed ourselves up every hill to see Lesmont and it's beautiful paddocks of grazing cattle and canola. We rode to the three lakes and rode around them. By the time we got home it was 5 o'clock - We rode 40 km all together! It was really fun. That night we drove to a close by town to go to dinner. I chose salmon salad for starters and then salmon with saffron sauce. Salmon is my new favourite. We had a cheese platter and a chocolate dessert. Very Yum!

In Holland, we drove to a big hotel with our whole family and I mean our whole family! We were going there because my great grandfather was turning 90!! They had rented out a hotel for about 40 people - all in my family!!

I played with my cousins, Lisa and Thijs. They are older than us, and Tein and Lise, they are younger than us. All together, we went to a zoo. We got split up into groups, I went with Thijs and Lisa. The first animals we saw were the penguins. They were very cute. We walked to the desert section and the bush section and the ocean section, then it started raining! So we ran to the cafeteria, ate lunch and headed back to the main entrance for 3 o'clock.
The next day we hopped on a horse and cart and headed towards and olden day museum. We had morning tea and looked at the museum and then played outside. We hopped on the horse and cart again and rode back to the hotel.

After the weekend, we arrived in Nurburg, Germany and signed into our hotel. The next morning we drove to Nurburg Ring. The Nurburg Ring is a famous racing car track. We went to the shop and then looked in the museum! We dropped Dad off at the race way but sadly, we were not allowed to watch him race. We came back and picked Dad up, he showed us the place where all the cars start on the race track. There were a lot of Porsches there, and we saw a big truck come in with PORSCHE written on it. We really wanted to see what was inside the truck but the men weren't opening the back.

The next day we drove back into France and stayed in a very small village, Villeferry and unpacked. Only 38 people live in Villeferry. The next morning we drove to Flavigny, a town where a movie called 'Chocolat' was filmed! It was a very sweet village and we went to see a sugar aniseed factory. We saw how they turn the aniseed in a barrel and how the sugar sprays the aniseed and after it turns in to a little sugar lolly with a little aniseed inside the sugar coating!

After we drove to an old abbey, it was called Abbey Fontaney. The Abbey was built by a very rich man who wanted to give up this rich life to live in poverty. We walked around the gardens and rooms. My favourite part was the dormetry. Nothing was fancy but it was very big. Apparently it had 200 monks living in it once upon a time!

The next day we drove home to Mormoiron which is where I am now.

The trip was great!

Au revoir!

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!