Baby boomers reach Paris

This will be the last blog. Thank God you all say! Paris is wonderful as always. No matter how many times you go back to the same places, they are still full of charm.

On Sunday we went to the Luxembourg gardens and it was absolutely full of people enjoying the good weather. There must have been 30 games of chess being played, tennis, families picnicing or individuals sitting under the trees reading. It was very old fashioned and very magical. There were also children sailing old fashioned sailing boats, riding on the old style swingboats, and having donkey rides. Lovely!

Then we went to watch the Eiffel Tower light up, which was good fun, especially when it sparkled

On Monday we went to a Renoir exhibition, which we enjoyed, and then had our lunch in the Tuileries, and walked by the Seine. Yesterday we went to the Marais, one of our favourite areas.

Today we are going to Montmartre, which is also a favourite place. That is after we have finished here. We have been continuing our tour of French McDonald's. This is the fourth one we have tried in Paris, and the only one with working free Wi-Fi. It's the one on the Champs Elysees. Yes! We are slumming it. It's our old stomping ground from when we used to come as a family, but then it was charming and old fashioned, but now it's just like any other. We don't think we'll bring the netbook into the centre again. So it's goodbye from us. Thanks for all the comments. We have loved them. Marie, the last pic was the actors.

We will be back in Manchester on Tuesday. So, see you all soon. Bookings are being taken for the Christmas market. B and B and bacon butties thrown in!Chris and Tony.

Last post from Orleans.

Just a quick post, as the campsite in Paris is a bit grim, and so I don't think there will be an internet connection there, so we are not sure when we will be blogging again. We are still in Orleans, enjoying our last day here. We will be on the move again tomorrow.

The weather has been good on the whole, just cold morning and evening. We have enjoyed being here. This is really what we like to do; stay somewhere with easy access to a nice town, and then spend our time wandering about, enjoying the atmosphere (although we are spending a lot of time in McDonald's these days). As well as the river festival, there has also been street theatre, music etc. One afternoon we sat and watched two actors reciting classic poetry, and we really enjoyed it, although we could hardly understand a word. It seemed such an old-fashioned thing to do, somehow. The bar we were sitting at was family run, and was the old-fashioned bar/newsagent combination. It was all rather different.

The campsite has been full every night, with people stopping on the carpark overnight. They have really packed them in. It seems to a good stopping off place for people travelling North and South. Although I paint a poor picture of the site in Paris, it absolutely great with regard to access to the city. There is a bus outside the site, which drops us off at the Metro. We are there in next to no time. We are looking forward to it.

That's all for now, folks! Love to everyone. Chris.

Orleans - a nice place to be.

We certainly had a quiet time in Vichy, but it was a bit TOO quiet for my likng, so we moved on to Orleans. Had a good journey - good job, as it was my birthday. We found the campsite quite easily. They are often in out of the way places, as this one is. However, it is very nice, and also quite cheap. It is a short walk to the tramway, and in twenty minutes we are in Orleans. Yesterday was a beautiful day, quite hot, and we had a nice time exploring the old town and cathedral. The old town is the usual interesting and pretty mix of narrow streets, old buildings, shops and cafes. Very nice.

We have arrived just in time for the Festival de Loire, which is basically a celebration of navigation on the river through the ages. There are a lot of historial replica craft, and a lot of people go for rides on them. There are also bands, and many stalls selling very tempting local dishes. It's quite fascinating and jolly.

We are in MacDonald's, which is the best place for free Wi-Fi. Tony is enjoying his first McFlurry (Kit-Kat), so I don't think we'll be eating sausages down by the river. As this is quite a diverting place, we'll probably stay until the week-end, and then head for gay Paris.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, and all the great comments on the blog. We look forward to reading them, espcially yours, Dave.

Tony here - The cathedral in Orleans is impressive; gothic, of course, and huge. It reminds us of the bit in Pillars of the Earth when he first goes into a cathedral in France and he is in awe at the height and how light it is. There is a huge statue of Joan of Arc in the main square and references to her everywhere.

Life is very quiet here and we are reading a lot. Thanks for all your emails and comments on the blog.

From our own correspondent, and friend.

Hello all,

We have had a strange day here in Vichy. The plan for the day was that we would have a walk and a picnic lunch, then split up, for Tony to go to a rugby match, and for me to watch a festival of country dancing. Our walk was shorter than expected, so we walked into town for a coffee. It was completely dead. I think Sunday lunch at home must be the tradition, as people appeared later in the afternoon, and the lovely, old-fashioned children's roundabout got going.

Anyway, after our quiet coffee, Tony went to the match and I went to the dance venue, only no-one else turned up. I waited a while then went into the town centre and had a wander. I found a row of three lovely brasseries, reminiscent of Paris, and had just settled down with a drink, when the folk dancers appeared, dancing in a procession down the street. It was a really nice moment. The children were really cute, all dressed up.

I have tasted the Spa water today, so I should be healthy for a while now. While I was doing all this, Tony was enjoying the experience of being at a French rugby match. So now I'll hand you over to our own sports correspondent in France, Tony Dolan.

Stade Louis Darragon is near the river, just a short walk form the town centre. It cost 8 euros to get in and I presume it was a second team game in progress when I entered. The main game was Racing Club de Vichy against Vienne.There were about 500 people watching and the standard was pretty good. I sat in a big stand which ran all along one side of the pitch. The atmosphere was good. Lots of friends meeting, saying hello and shaking hands. It was the first home game of the season. It was an intense match between two well matched sides. As usual the ref got loads of good natured abuse each time he penalised the home side. That abuse started at the kick off when the announcer introduced the ref and said he was from Ile de France. There was some niggle and a fight early in the first half spilled off the field around the back of the stand. There were no players or ref left on the field. A man behind asked me smiling if the match had finished! The ref handled the niggle well and showed four yellow cards during the game. Vichy scored a good try early on, but were then under pressure. Vienne's stand off kicked all their goals well and they won 11 - 12. Vichy had a chance in the last minute with a penalty kick right in front of the posts, but the poor lad missed it to the dismay of the crowd. I didn't go into the bar afterwards, but I enjoyed the experience. The rugby fraternity is the same everywhere. It was a friendly and warm atmosphere.

Thank you, Tony, for that match report. It only remains for me to sign off. One more day here, we think, and then on to Orleans. Love to all.

Inspecting Sir Norman's work

We keep changing our mind and now find ourselves heading north again. We left La Grande Motte on Thursday morning and headed for Agde as planned. The town looked very pretty as we were driving through. However, the campsite was a bit far out and there didn't seem to be any public transport. We both had the feeling of, "lets move on", so we did. We headed for the A75 and the town of Millau. That is where the famous Viaduc de Millau is designed by Sir Norman Foster. It really is a tremendous feat of engineering and so beautiful. We stayed last night on a site in Millau and today we have arrived in Vichy. The intention is to spend three nights here at least. The town is quite charming as most spa towns are; a bit like Buxton. As long as we don't mention the war and collaboration we should be ok. An added bonus is that the camp site has free wi-fi; hence this blog.

The plan is now to head towards Paris, stopping at Orleans on the way. It means that we are going to get to Paris well before we planned to; but what the heck. If you have got to kill time somewhere it might as well be Paris. There will be plenty to do.

I have just read my book of the year. If "The Book Thief" was my book of 2008, then this is definitely my book of 2009. It's called "The Sixth Lamentation" by William Brodrick. Thanks Kathy for the recommendation! It was brillant.

Some stats for Dave - 1324 miles so far, but averaging less than one bottle of wine a day. I was always noted for being abstemious. Might have more tonight as we are not moving on in the morning.

Take care everyone. See you soon.

Beach walks

Hello all,

I am using this blog as a kind of e-mail message to keep in touch with everyone, as we are still unable to send e-mails. The Wi-Fi is proving to be very unreliable. Well, our bubble has burst, and it is raining. It's a good thing that we've had some lovely weather in order to make the long journey worthwhile. Yesterday I went for a lovely long walk on the beach in the sun. I ended up at a bar and sat on a soft couch, on the beach, with my feet in the sand. It was wonderful. It wasn't as good as Greece, but it reminded me of it. Today I did the same walk in the rain. It was just like home, and had its own beauty.

Tomorrow we are moving on to Agde. We won't be by the sea, but we can walk into the town, which is supposed to be pretty. Right now, we are putting in time in a bar, with coffee and delicious ice-cream.

Signing off now. Love to everyone,

Chris.