Tuesday, 12 September 2017

Bonnes vacances

Grüß Gott
guten Morgen
Gudde Moien

We have just returned from a wonderful holiday in Bavaria.
We had a week in Schliersee and it was absolutely magnificent. So picturesque and stunningly beautiful.

View driving along to Schliersee


View from our hotel room in Schliersee


Biergarten on the lake


Typical Bavarian house

Main Street of Schliersee
Sunbaking and hiking and eating were our main activities. I know, it sounds bizarre to say we were sunbaking in Bavaria but that's what we did.

Bill doing it tough in Bavaria

The hiking was pretty amazing as well.

One day we caught a gondola up the mountain at Spitzingsee and climbed down which took us nearly 2 hours. The old knees were giving us hell by the end of it. But the views were worth every ache and pain.

Riding up in the gondola at Spitzingsee


Hiking down the mountain
We hiked around both lakes at Schliersee and Spitzingsee.

Spitzingsee lake

Just beautiful. As was Switzerland as well. Except for the roadworks in every village we went through.

Our Tom Tom had us going through 3 Swiss mountain passes so lots of hairpins bends and lots of snow storms through each pass. We were worried that we weren't carrying snow chains (who would of thought we would need snow chains at the end of summer) and may break down on one of the passes with only one jumper between us. But alas, we made it though them all safe and sound.

Driving through the Swiss alps


Getting near to the top of the first Swiss mountain pass



We are already planning to return to Bavaria and Switzerland and hope to arrange a house sit sometime next year.
On the way over we stayed for 2 nights in Besançon which was magic.

Besançon
The citadel was amazing and they made perfect use of a place which they had to spend money maintaining by setting up a zoo within the fortress.

View of the old city of Besançon from the Citadel
There were monkies placed within the moat - seemed like a natural habitat.

There were a lot of Australian animals including kangaroos (big reds), kookaburra (looked lonely as only one of them) plus animals such as Tigers and Lions and very colourful birds from South America which we had never seen before.

Besançon Citadel
We thought it was a fantastic use of space and bought a whole lot of different people visiting the incredible fort.

When we left Bavaria we stayed for 2 nights in Annecy driving around Lake Geneva and past Interlaken and signs to Grindewald.

Annecy market day


Annecy




Lake Annecy
We drove to Chamonix to have a look at where the rich and famous ski plus to have a gander at Mont Blanc. Friggin' amazing with the glacier heading towards the town - although Bill said it was a receeding glacier - didn't look like it was receeding to me.

Mont Blanc


Chamonix with Mont Blanc just appearing in the background



Glacier Mont Blanc
There's just so many amazing and wonderful places in Europe that we have yet to see and explore. Probably will only scratch the surface in the time that we are here but the more we see the more we want to explore.

Our next adventure is to the Vendée region of France (the west coast) for a house sit. We will get to explore La Rochelle, Cholet and Il de Ray. So can't wait.

PS - Paving presque fini.

Wendy

Wednesday, 23 August 2017

Paving and Mechoui

The back yard has been completely dug up and the paving commenced and nearly completed.

Andy and Bill laying first stone paver at front of house


Tradie Bill



The paving and grouting at the front of the house is finished.




The terrace is also finished.



It will look magic when all done. Of course we had to pick the hardest pavers to lay - called crazy pavers. Not one piece is even in any way and the thickness varies greatly. So the cost to lay is quite high. That's why we took over the laying and grouting ourselves (never having done any of this sort of work before). Andy has shown us what and how to do it as Bill has been his sidekick now for a few weeks.


About one third complete


We took a break from all the hard work and attended the Mechoui on Saturday at the local Salle Polyvante (Local hall 2 doors up). It's the celebration for the beginning of the hunting season - La Chasse.

A grand luncheon of 2 lambs on spits with over 80 people attending. We got to meet some more neighbours which was great. A long lunch that went well into the afternoon.

Lambs on spits at the Mechoui



Carlos and Bill enjoying themselves


We have also managed to see some local brocantes. One at Chenerailles on Sunday was huge. The one at Ventement, not so grand but still interesting.

Apart from the paving and grouting, our socialising has been at a stand still so we could try and get it all completed before heading off to Bavaria this Thursday via Besançon for a much needed rest.

A bientot

Wendy

Wednesday, 26 July 2017

So much to do, so little time

I am writing a couple of posts this week as I have fallen behind with everything that has been going on.

So much for the slow pace of french living - we have had the exact opposite.

Our renovations on the house are now complete. We are now getting the back yard dug up and stones and pavers layed. The pavers were delivered today along with the sand and concrete.
He had to lift them over the fence






We had the local water people turn up (3 of them) as they have to quote on moving the water meter from inside under the kitchen to external to the property.

We also had the antennae guy here replacing a part in the satellite.

Then a guy knocked on the door to try and sell us some French wine.

There were also friends that dropped in to say hello and to see all the digging works. So a pretty full on day.

The house and yard seem like a money pit at the moment but am sure we will be pleased with the final end result.

We went up to Paris to meet our son Mick who spent a wonderful 6 days with us. We had 2 days in Paris and then 4 days here at the house. In that time we travelled back from Paris by train, took Mick to Gargilise and had lunch after doing a hike through the forest, held a big party for my birthday, Mick and I did a 4 and half hour hike at Chambon sur Voiuze, went to the Boussac markets, toured the local Chateau, had lunch in Boussac, had dinner at Les Pierres Jaumatres, played french monopoly and had drinks in the back garden. All this in four days. On the fifth day we drove him to Lyon to catch his train to Interlaken, onto Grindelwald and then flying home via Zurich. We had 2 days exploring Lyon.
Luxemburg Gardens

Pantheon

Pantheon at the top
St Germain markets

St Michel

Our back yard

Playing monopoly
Randonee



Cafe in Boussac


Boussac Chateau

Boussac Chateau
Near river in Lyon



We keep asking ourselves did it really all happen - it's like a blur.

My birthday bash was fantastic. Received some beautiful gifts.



As well as all of this going on also managed to paint the gates.


Bill has been digging holes to try and find pipes and electrical cables as well as connecting up storm water pipes that weren't connected to the mains. So much to do, so little time..........

Wendy