5/7/2014

Day 15

We are going to England and leaving France behind!!

Today we boarded a ferry to Poole (England). We took the train from Caen to Cherbourg to the harbour to board the ferry. While on the train to Cherbourg the weather changed from sunny partly cloudy to misty and raining. We had to wait a while at the harbour to be able to pass security and passport control to be able to board the ferry. To me it looked more like a ship. The ferry can carry passengers and cars as well. The ferry had places to sit and places to eat and look out across the channel. There were quite a lot of children on board.

I actually felt sea sick when crossing the channel and apparently we were having a smooth channel crossing even though it was cloudy and raining. I would hate to know when the channel is actually choppy! I had a good supper of stew. It tasted so good for a ferry’s food. The only food I actually had that day was salad for lunch. I felt too sick to read so luckily the ferry had free WIFI so I managed to get connected, so I could talk to people back home in South Africa.

4/7/2014

Day 14

Woke up early again and to get picked up to go to Mont-Saint-Michel. This is a monastery which is a bit like a castle and there are villages around it and it is on an island. The monastery and village is medieval style. Our guide showed us around Mont-Saint-Michel said that there where hotels on the island but they were very expensive and they are usually for the honeymooners. The village is full of shops and restaurants (pubs would be the better term). Our guide took as round the Monastery with its chapel and a beautiful view of the sea. We managed to walk out of there just after lunch time before the masses of tours buses and people arrived.

Mont-Saint-Machel

3/7/2014

Day 13

This morning we woke up early and went down to breakfast and afterwards headed off to the Normandy beaches and see the museum, which was emotional, but interesting all the same. Just seeing the beach were the battle took place brought everything in perspective as well and I learnt a lot. There is so much detail I didn’t know about the battle of D-Day in South of France. How those men sacrificed everything for their country and for their freedom. After the beaches we drove to a graveyard where all the Americans and French soldiers where buried. All the tombs are white and the grass is always cut and the graveyard is kept clean and beautiful.

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Graveyard

2/7/2014

Day 12

We arrived in Paris. To me it was not how I remembered Paris. The one bumper of walking across Paris to get to another train station was that we couldn’t stop at tourist sites long enough. I wished I could have gone into Notre dame cathedral to light a candle for Kieron and I because the queue was so long and we didn’t have enough time. Then we caught a train to Caen by now I am so tired and my head is sore, so time to sleep. I do miss my other half.

Outside Notre Dame Cathedral

1/7/2014

Day 11

We drove to Venice airport to drop off the car then decided to take a water taxis to the main town of Venice for the day.

After spending some time there with having lunch and my sister nearly breaking my parents bank account with shopping. Then later in the afternoon we went back to the train station, picked up our bags from the locker room and boarded an overnight train to Paris.

People think that European overnight trains are better than South Africa but not this train. The bank beds where uncomfortable and we had to buy our breakfast and supper which the food wasn’t the greatest.

Next stop Paris.

The streets of Venice

The canal

Overnight train

30/6/2014

Day 10

This morning we got up really early to have breakfast and to drive up where the cable car is. The mountain where beautiful! I won’t lie up on the mountains it was freezing! I have never been so cold in my life before. Even going further into the mountains it was cold. Then afterwards we went back down for hot chocolate. Proper Italian hot chocolate. Then as we were driving back down, we decided to go up a ski lift (that was awesome) and walked around on the top. The mountains where we were on is called the Ching a tora. People hike in the area, which I think they mad.

After walking around for a bit we had lunch at the restaurant at the top and had more hot chocolate. The only bad thing was I had a bit of altitude sickness, so in the end I was glad to be down.

In the afternoon after lunch we went clothes shopping. The shopping mall was amazing as I have told you before.

Tomorrow we head for Venice and then on to Paris.

The pass

The view from the cable car

View from the top

Me freezing

Italian bunker