Well the trip is almost over but it feels like the best is yet to come.... i.e. mountain biking in Chamonix. But before I start fanatsising about the future I'll labourously run through stuff and things Dani has missed out on.
So, we left Germany for the Neatherlands some time ago. For once in my life time, some one has managed to keep me at a state of feeling full by feeding me constantly. I think I know how those ducks and geese feel that are force fed grain all day... but this was in a good way! No more breakfasts that'd last 1 hour followed by dinner for lunch including desert, afternoon coffee and cake and finally dinner for dinner including desert, and then maybe something to snack on just before bed. We headed for a small country town just across the boarder from Germany in the Neatherlands to catch up with some of Dani's Dutch relatives. Once again we were treated like royalty and spoilt rotten by being given the grand tour of the region. Only spending 2 nights in the Neatherlands was not nearly enough and we'll have to head back again some time soon.
On the way to Paris we had a 5 hour stop over in Amsterdam to check the city out. I will breifly mention at this point that I now understand why Amsterdam has legalised drugs... it does'nt have much else going for it. Anyway, we arrived in Paris and were greated by pretty much perfect sunny and hot (we're talking about 30 deg hot) for 2 weeks that we were there. We had been lucky enough to have free reign of Dani's mothers cousins apartment in Paris. It was like winning Lotto! and we made good use of it. I highly recommend a 4 day museum pass to anyone going to Paris. We ticked off all the big attractions and managed to skip most of the 1hr + cues with the pass. We spent quite a few nights drinking hobo beers on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower chasing off the scamming gypsy kids with friends from NZ. Hayden and Gill were lucky enough to take a break from the tennis to spend some quality time with us and so were Mihi and Oli (who we can't seem to get rid of).
Our time in Paris sadly came to an end. We are now in Provence however being force fed rosè and fine French cooking by the people who lent us their Paris apartment. Life is difficult! I think all the weight I lost after Germany will now be flooding back on. We are in a small village called Forcalquier that seems to be several hundred years old and falling down on itself in typical French mediterranean style. On the 15th we pick Oli up in our hired Fiat 500 (the go kart of joy as Oli calls it) and head to Chamonix for some mountain biking... can't wait!
