Trip through France

We went to the Pont de Gard which is an aquaduct which was built in 200 AD by the Romans to take water from Uzes to Nimes. This was built so that the people could live more luxuriously water wise. The aquaduct enabled the people to have more baths and showers every day. The people of Nimes on average used three times as much water as we use now!


With the holidays coming quickly, Mum and Dad have decided to go on a road trip with Ivy and I through France, Holland and Germany and then home again. We left home bright and early for the six hour drive to the Central Massif which is a region of high volcanics south of Limoges. We arrived late in the afternoon at our motel where we threw our bags into the room and raced out to Murat which is the town nearest to our motel. Murat was a nice town with little brick houses and a big church. My favourite building in the town was a house occupied by the Knights Templar at the time of the crusades! There was a stone tile above the door showing their symbol of the eight pointed cross.


We left our motel at eight thirty the next day because we only had one day here before we moved on to Limoges. Because the region where we were staying in is famous for its cheeses, we were enthusiastic to get out and taste the cheeses of the region. The nearest farm was approximately 20 minutes away in a little hamlet. We were given a fully guided tour by one of the workers of the whole factory and the cold rooms were they keep the cheese. We had the oppotunity to try a variety of cheeses. The two cheese varieties famous here are Salers and Cantal. We bought a chunk of each for lunch that day. Yummmmm........


We then drove to Salers which has been voted as one of the most beautiful villages in France. Most of the buildings were built in the 17th century. All of the buildings are black with thick grapevines draping on the walls and around the window sills.


We moved on the next day to Limoges. We arrived in Limoges and decided that it was too late to go and explore the town. The next day was a huge day with a trip to a Porcelain museum. Limoges is famous for its porcelain, so we had to go and see it. We went to the Royal Limoges factory where we walked through the museum and had the opportunity to explore the inside of one of the huge ovens built in the 1800's called a Kiln. We also got to see a movie on the evolution of porcelain from its commencement in the region to today.


The sight after was quite sad and disturbing. We went to Oradour sur Glare which is a town near Limoges. On the 10th of June 1944, the whole town was stormed by German soldiers. The Germans were being pushed back by the Allied forces on the coast line, when Aldof Hitler declared a crack down on all the towns who were stirred at the sound at the fact that the Germans might be losing the war. To inspire fear in other people's hearts they came into the town and killed 642 people who were in the town that day. It certainly was a solumn end to our day, but I felt it was a significant part of history, that today I was a part of.


I enjoyed the best Tandoori chicken and rice dinner, and ended the day with a game of cards with the family.


The next day was a fun day for the whole family as we went to the theme park Vulcania. Vulcania is a park which is outside of Limoges. The purpose of the park is to tell you all about the history of volcanoes in the region called the Central Massif. My favourite thing was the simulator of a real live volcano explosion.


The next day was a road trip to Chateau Razay, which is in the heart of the Loire Valley, two hours north of Limoges. The chateau was very grand and beautiful with rich carpets and furniture. We are staying in the grounds of the chateau in a cabin which gives you a great view over the grounds and of the chateau itself.


The first day of our stay was a big one with a trip to the local markets with Mum, Dad, Ivy and I. I bought a few movies for very cheap prices. There were a lot of stalls with very old objects.


We visited a chateau after that called Chateau Chambord. The young king, Francois I, was twenty five years old in 1519 when he decided to build the chateau. He made his decision to build the chateau after the taking of Milan, which had been lost to Italy by the previous King Louis XII. My favourite part of the chateau was the helical staircase, designed by Leonardo Da Vinci. It was made so that the people going up and down would never meet. Ivy got stuck on a different staircase than us which was quite funny. Suprisingly, in Francois I's whole reign he spent only six weeks in the chateau.


The second chateau that we went to was called Chateau de Chenonceau. There originally was an old castle on the land until the owners demolished it and built a new chateau. They only left the well and one of the watch towers standing in place. The castle was very granduose, but my favourite part was the maze outside which had been designed by Catherine de Medici.


Today was spent with a relaxing morning around the chateau. This afternoon was exciting with a trip to the Troglodytique caves. The Troglodytique caves were an labythrinth of old underground quarries which were quarried for the tuffa in the 1500s. Tuffa is a stone which was used to build chateaux. The caves were closed at the end of the 15th century, because the quaries were too far into the ground to allow the tuffa to be extracted, and because the age of building the elaborate chateaus had passed. The quarries were reopened in the eighteen hundreds because the use of machines allowed the extraction of the Tuffa deeper into the mountain. Once all the good quality stone had been mined, they used the caves as mushroom growing facilities in the nineteen hundreds. The conditions were just right for mushrooms, as it was cool and damp. Eventually large scale commercial mushroom growing, made the business of growing mushrooms in the caves unprofitable, so it was discontinued.


Tomorrow we are leaving to Holland for the second part of our trip. I'll look forward to writing to you next week.
Au Revoir

Race Day

Last Sunday was a huge day for Dad and I with a trip to the Grand Sambuc car race track. We left home early in the morning for the two hour drive to the track, near Aix-en-Provence. Dad had packed us a big lunch, so we stopped for a couple of breaks due to the windy roads. We still arrived at the track with slightly green faces after the curvy roads!


Once at the track, we were ushered into the briefing room, before Dad was to drive the Audi R8. It was all in French but we managed to understand quite a lot of the words that were spoken. We were driven a few kilometres in a minibus out to the massive race track. Dad had bought 12 laps in the Audi R8 and I was given 2 hot laps with a racing car driver in a Ferrari F430 Scuderia. (Woohoo!)


Dad started off steadily, but by the end he was going amazingly fast. Dad told me that his instructor was impressed by his driving skills. My driving instructor is a famous race car driver here in France and was very nice to me. He went over 200 kilometres down the main straight. I was yelling in fear all the way. The adrenaline rush that I got was amazing. Dad and I were both exhausted after the big day out.

Yesterday we went to Arles with Talia and the rest of the family. Arles is an ancient Roman city about an hour and a half drive, south from here. Easter weekend in Arles sees a huge celebration called the "Feria Arles". It is celebrating the long history of bullfighting in the city. We arrived to a sea of white clothing, red scarves and bandannas of the excited crowds. There were many markets throughout the city streets and squares. I bought a T-shirt with a picture of a bull and the word Sorteo printed on the front. Sorteo is Spanish. Arles had many restaurants selling many varieties of Paella. The street was filled with the delicious scents, which were too good to refuse, so we enjoyed a plate each.

We walked along the streets for the day looking at the sights around the town. It seemed like everywhere we looked we saw something representing "the bull". We went to numerous displays of artwork and sculptures all with the bull theme. My favourite was a piece of art with tickets glued to a canvas shaped like bulls. Of the numerous Roman sights, the highlight was the colosseum like arena (used for the bull fighting spectaculars). The whole of Arles was in a party mood and as we left the town that night, the street bands were in full swing and looked as though they would party long into the night.

See you next week!