Fontainebleau and Fouvent Le Bas

After leaving Paris we were well and truly ready for some fresh country air. We had a stop in Fontainebleau to visit the chateau of not so long forgotten French Royalty. The Chateau housed people from King Francis to Napoleon. Again, I got in for free, but we had audio guides which, although we didn’t actually want them (slight misunderstanding with the French ticket lady) were actually quite good. We saw the Grand Apartments, the lesser apartments as well as the Ball Room and the Trinity Chapel, the place where Napoleon married Josephine.

We continued on our drive through fields of sunflowers, wheat and many, many cows, stopping for the occasional photo here or there. We finally made it to out to a little B&B which was tucked into the forest about 3km out of Fouvent Le Bas, a small and unassuming town in east, north-east France. We took a walk before dinner through beautiful fields of golden wheat, silent except for the sound of jets flying miles overhead.

The house we were staying in is slowly but surely being converted from a barn into a house. The owners bought it in the 80’s and have been working tirelessly ever since. The Lady of the house, Anne, is a tiny little thing with bright orange hair and missing teeth, but she sure does know how to cook! She cooked us an amazing vegetarian meal with 4 courses! Everything was from her garden and was all organic (except the lentils, which she told me were not worth the effort and were from the supermarket). Here’s what we ate:

     Vegetable soup with home made bread

     Tofu and salad with beet, sauerkraut and a herb dressing

     Baked potatoes, peas, carrot, lentils, rice and herbed zucchini

     Pancakes with Quince and honey

     Home made lime blossom tea. 

We somehow managed to roll ourselves to bed where we all slept like babies! Had another delicious breakfast the next morning then we were off again, way to soon.

Paris

What can I say about Paris! It is one of those cities which has had all the superlatives used on it already and still continues to top them all. Everything is like a picture – as in everything is so photographed even if you haven’t been there before you already feel like you have!

We stayed in a little apartment in the outskirts of the city centre, nice and close to a metro station. It was actually the apartment of a young girl who we rented it off, so it was like living in a home away from home!

Day one in Paris was the most hectic, a full 14 hour day out and about! We tried to see a lot of the main sights that Mum and Dad were interested in as I had been before with Jon in 2009. We began at the Opera, moved to the Vendôme palais with the massive column made out of cannons taken from Napoleon’s wars with the combined countries of Europe. The Column shows Napoleon’s victories with a figure of himself as emperor standing on the top.

Notre Dame was next, where we managed to find ourselves on a free walking tour! The guide was a little armature, but hey, it was free. We moved to the Louvre where we made the obligatory pilgrimage to see Lisa herself (Mona Lisa), but I was more impressed with the massive painting hanging opposite her! There were heaps of people and I think the Louvre should invest some money into air ventilation. I was happy though as being under 25 and an EU citizen, I had free entry! Doesn’t get much better than that!

I found a walking tour path in my Lonely Planet guide up Monte Marte to the Sacre Cour which we did after the Louvre. It was great because I was able to direct Mum and Dad on a walking tour, giving them the facts as we went, and they just had to come along! We began at the Moulin Rouge, so Dad was happy, then we worked our way up the monte. We found a gorgeous little restaurant to have dinner at which overlooked the city where the food was delicious and the service was super friendly! We continued our walk until we got to the Sacre Cour, with it’s magnificent views over Paris. Inside the Cathedral we were greeted by a huge mosaic picture of Jesus with his arms stretched wide, up over the nave. It felt like he was reaching his arms out to you as soon as you walked in the door, inviting you in, never wanting you to leave.

We stopped off on the way home to have a look at the Eiffle tower by night and get a few pictures, it was beautiful! We somehow managed to fight our way to the front of the tourist lines and take a photo with no one else in it but us! Amazing and totally breathtaking.

The next day we took it a little easier, having more of a general look around. We decided to head straight to the Champs Elysees, where we headed away from the Arc de Triumph towards the Luxor Obelisk, a 3300 year old obelisk given to Paris by Egypt in 1829. A super quick detour took us to the Church of St Mary Medeleine. We walked down some amazing streets full of designer stores we could have sworn were on the street before as well!

Crepes for lunch in the park took us back onto the Champs Elysees for a little retail therapy! Dad loved the amazing car concept stores, his favourite being the Citroen one (of course) with it’s 6 levels of amazing vehicles, he could have spent all day in there!

The Palace la Grande and Petite were absolutely amazing too. Just off the Champs Elysees, they seem to get only a little wrap by tourists! They were built for the 1900’s World Fair and are testament to what man could do without the technology we have today!

The Arc De Triumph was next, and although it was a few too many steps up to the roof for us to mention again, the view was well worth it! It was actually free for me again (bonus)! From the top of the Arc de Triumph you can see all of Paris, and all of the Grand Boulevards which come off the World’s Craziest Round-a-bout. It seems as though there are no rules for this round-a-bout, and we watched with horror as one too many cars nearly crashed!

We walked over to the Eiffel Tower from here, to sit and have a gaze at it from the Champs de Mars, the park directly in front of the Tower, which once served as a parade ground for the French military. For the thousands of people who were milling about, it was surprisingly peaceful and a great way to end our day. Our feet were killing us!

Back near our apartment, we had a nice meal and a few too many wines then went to bed. After two days of intense sightseeing, we were all looking forward to a nice quite night spent in the forest.

Across the Channel - Dover to Calais and Hielly, France

What a trip and a half this was! We made out from our London hotel about 9am intending to catch a local bus to the station. We hadn’t bought out tickets yet as we were planning on buying them there. Instead of the bus, Dad suggested we take a taxi. A longer trip than expected later we arrived at Victoria Station to find the rest of London also wanting to buy train tickets! We missed the train we had hoped to catch but luckily there was another in 30 minutes. On we hopped on our way to Dover Priory. The train trip was pleasant, with beautiful views out the windows all the way. Upon arriving on Dover we made our way to the ferry terminal where we were told the next ferry had been delayed and would not be leaving for another hour and a half! Add this to the hour and a half of the actual ferry ride then the stuffing about when we actually got to Calais with everyone disembarking and trying to hop on shuttle busses, we didn’t arrive in Calais until 5:30pm! Luckily our rental car business stayed open for us and we managed to collect out Citroen Berlingo with little difficulty. It’s taken Dad a little to get used to driving on the ‘wrong’ wide of the road again!

Us in front of the car

We are staying at a little B&B in Hielly, Picardie with ‘real beds’ listed on their website like it’s an advantage. It's a very sweet little town though and the owner of the B&B directed us to the local Church where there was an open night and a concert. Dinner was interesting, at least we can say we’ve had traditional French cuisine now! The owner had to translate for us, and there was an assortment of Escargot, Sweet Breads and Veal Head! We opted for some safe options of steak, fish of some description and a seafood platter. It was very nice, maybe a little different though!

L'Auberge in Hielly

The Grand Reunion - London and Bath

It was very strange leaving Jon behind at the airport in Prague as I set off on an adventure – adventures are something we have grown accustomed to doing together!

The flight to London was stupidly fast, and has made me appreciate more than ever the beauty of air travel! 90 minutes and we were landing in London Luton airport (miles away from the city). I hopped on a coach and headed into the city, a much more comfortable ride than the airplane! I managed (just) to navigate the local bus routes and find the hotel we were staying at, the Westport Inn. I pulled my bag up to the door of the pub downstairs and was greeted by a few rowdy old lads having a few beers. Mum and Dad were inside and there was lots of hugging and kissing as we reunited. It was great to see them in such high spirits having just come from America, they are clearly enjoying themselves.

We walked down to Camden Lock in the evening to find somewhere to have some dinner. We stopped in at a nice English Pub filled with character and had some delicious pub grub. Steak and Guinness pie for Me and Mum and bangers and mash for Dad.

In the morning we had breakfast at the little café across the road which was as British as they come. Cereal was nowhere to be seen, so unless you want something fried, you’re out of luck. 

We managed to get hold of my Nan’s sister, Sheila and her husband Jim who coincidently live 2 minutes walk from where we were staying! We had a cup of tea with them and spoke of family and our lives.

We headed straight into the city centre fro a long day of walking after tea. I think it’s easier for me to list where we walked rather than explain:

West End, Picadilly circus, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, Houses of Parliament and Beg Ben, Westminster Abbey, St James Park, Buckingham Palace, back up to Picadilly and Regent street then down to Charring Cross station! We were exhausted. From here we met up with Nan’s brother Don and his wife Joan. Don and Joan visited Australia last year so it was wonderful to catch up with them again so soon. We had a drink in Covent Gardens then wandered through soho where we stopped at an Italian restaurant for dinner. After too much food and wine we walked back to Charring Cross with them and said goodbye, promising to see them again very soon. Mum, Dad and I decided we would then hop on a bus (double deaker and front seats, of course) and head down to have a look at St Pauls Cathedral and Tower Bridge. Well worth the effort! The only disappointment was that St Pauls was closed for the night and we couldn’t go inside, but the dance troupe rehearsing on the steps of the Cathedral was great to watch!

Trafalgar Square

Big Ben and Houses of Parliament

Westminster Abbey

St Pauls Cathedral

The following morning we were off to Bath in our rental car with, believe it or not, slightly sunny weather! We stopped off at my Pop’s brother John and his wife Chris’ house to see them and their brood of grandchildren. It was so nice to see my second cousins and their little ones. There was Naiomi, 9 months, and Thomas and Amelia, twins, who are 5 months old. Such beautiful children!

We also stopped in to see Stonehenge which was less than inspiring. We didn’t buy tickets to go inside the chicken wire fence, opting instead to take a few customary photos then get back in the car and continue on our way!

Stonehenge

Bath is such a beautiful city, a real honeymoon destination place, full of gorgeous little townhouses and winding cobbled streets. It took us a good hour to just get into the city though, the traffic was something out of a nightmare and had Dad crying into his steering wheel!

We stayed at an amazing little B&B called Cranleigh House. It’s Victorian style made us feel like we had just stepped into a Jane Austen novel!

We made our way into the middle of town and decided to have an early dinner before we hit the Roman baths. We ate at Sally Lunns, the oldest house in Bath, tucked down a little back street with wonky windows.

We went to have a look at the Roman baths after dinner which were really interesting. It’s just a museum so you can’t actually go bathing here, but there was so much to see we spent an easy few hours there. You could look at the remains of the Roman Baths from the 4^th century, along with lots of history about the period and the people of the day. Dad did a ‘Rybak’ tour, taking about half the time of Mum and I!

The Roman Baths with the Bath Abbey in the background

Roman Baths

We had a delicious breakfast at the B&B the next morning then went into town for a few hours. We did a tour of the Bath Abbey which took us up to see the bells, the Bishops balcony and the top of the tower giving up great views of Bath.

Cream tea was a must while we were in Bath so we found a little café and had our scones, clotted cream, jam and tea. It was amazing. In Australia we call these Devonshire tea’s.

It was a pretty whirlwind tour of Bath as we only had one night there and not even a full day to explore but the little taster we had made us fall in love with the city. It’s beauty is astounding with it’s matching houses (if you wanted to live in Bath, it was compulsory to build your house out of stone sourced from the area!), sweet little shops and rolling green hills right outside the city limits.

Bath

Bath Abbey

Vaulted Ceiling of the Abbey

View from the top of the Abbey

We of course made the obligatory trip to West End whist we were back in London for a night and we opted to see Mum and Dad’s favourite production, Les Miserables. It was amazing. The sets, singing and acting blew us away and we all spent most of the performance crying! A quick drink at a local British pub after the show capped off our evening beautifully however we did follow this with a minor disaster with the London busses, but that's a different story.

All in all, we loved the UK; the people, the food (especially Mum) and the language! Never take for granted the ability to ask someone for directions in your own language!

Rafting in Český Krumlov

The annual rafting trip is one of the highlights of the school year at Channel Crossings and this year we got to join in on the fun! It all began with a cry in the school library including the phrases "rafting", "amazing fun" and "beer", Jon and I were in.


We left on Friday afternoon to beautiful sunshine and a balmy 25 degrees. We had (luckily) pre-booked our bus tickets down to Český Krumlov on a local bus so that meant we got seating, something you completely take for granted on a four hour bus ride. But the bus was jam packed full of people. The options for the people who hadn't pre-booked tickets were a) you can get to the bus stop early to ensure you get a ticket AND a seat, b) if you don't get a seat then you can stand or c) stay at home. So the too small bus was full to say the least.


Upon arriving in Český Krumlov we realised that we unfortunately hadn't carried the nice weather with us! We were facing rainy, stormy and cold weather with the forecast for the entire weekend looking bleak. 
After a nice dinner in one of the local restaurants, we all headed out for a a few drinks to start off the weekend. A few beers and one too many drinking games later and we were all tucking ourselves up in bed ready for rafting the following day. Well most of us anyway, with the exception of a few stragglers, one of which we found curled up on the couch in the kitchen the following morning. Much to our surprise, he made the deadline for the rafting excursion and before we knew it he was back on the booze at the respectable hour of 9 am. Yuk. 


We split up into groups and launched our rafts about 5km upstream from Český Krumlov. We had the 'Aussie' raft, with the exception that we also had a Frenchman and a Belgian guy on board. We had such a hard time of making our raft go in a straight line, but on the up side, we were wonderful at going in circles! Of course, we had 'raft wars' which were less than extreme considering no one could make their rafts go in any semblance of a streamlined bumper boat. 


We managed to navigate our first slues with little difficulty and we were even surprised when we were able to paddled around a high point in the river, but it was the second slues that was the issue. We didn't hit the water on quite the right angle, resulting in a few very wet rafters. Add this to the fact that it was also raining non-stop and there was a delightful cool breeze blowing, we were freezing. Instead of the usual beer at every rest stop along the way, I enjoyed Česneková polévka (Garlic Soup) or a warm cup of honey wine!

Seven hours later plus a score of freezing and fairly intoxicated people, we had finished our trip down the river, a surprisingly short distance from the town! We all fought over the seats in the bus the again when we got back to the hostel over the showers (if we can call them that). It was one of the best feelings to be warm again after such a long time cold and wet! Even though the conditions weren't ideal, we had such a great day on the river 
with beautiful scenery and great friends.


We had dinner together at a little Italian restaurant then we all 
crashed and went to bed.

The Rafting Group

Floating down the Vltava River

Raft Wars

 The next day was still raining but we went out to see some of the beautiful historic city of Český Krumlov. The whole city is UNESCO world heritage listed and is probably one of the most beautiful places we have visited. The main attraction of the city is the castle, which was built literally out of the hill it stands on, there is even a moat with live bears in it! Granted, these bears are 100% for the tourists these days, but originally they were there to protect the castle. The castle grounds are all we had time to see, but they were exquisite and from the fortifications of the castle you could see the entire city and the surrounding countryside. As it had been raining, there were low lying clouds hanging over the city, meandering among the smoky chimneys sprouting from the red tiled roofs. It was beautiful.

Back streets of Český Krumlov

Český Krumlov from the Castle

Český Krumlov Castle

Bear guarding the Castle

Grudgingly, we hopped onto the bus to head back to Prague on the Sunday afternoon. The whole weekend had been such fun and none of us were ready to return to reality just yet. 

Český ráj

About 90 kilometers north-east of Prague is a place which the Czechs call Paradise, or Český ráj. It's a place where people go to hike, ride the bikes and just generally be "in the nature", as the Czechs would say.
Jon and I took the train there, winding our way through the picturesque Czech countryside past villages, towns, castles and fields of magnificent yellow flowers.
The weather was perfect, 23 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We transferred trains at Turnov, from the  main train system to a small, local train. Only 12 minutes down the road we hopped off and faced a forest of dark conifers dotted with luminescent green, the new leaves of the season. We followed one of the marked trails through the forest and it was like nothing we have experienced before. The forest is so alive, birds, insects and trees work together to form a song where every instrument plays an irrevocably important part, you can't pick all the parts in the song, but you know without one of them the song wouldn't be the same. 
What's so special about Český ráj are the massive natural sandstone pillars that inhabit the forest. They have been shaped by the elements over the centuries into such interesting structures that the whole area is now UNESCO World Heritage listed because of them. You can climb them if you're brave enough, the sandstone is very soft, but we preferred to admire them from other vantage points. The pillars create such a contrast to the soft colours and movements of the forest but they only add to the beauty and magic of the place. 
As we walked through the forest we both noted how nice it was not to be constantly on the look our for poisonous snakes, spiders, scorpions and plants! Even so, we still miss the Australian Bush.
We stopped for a bite to eat at one of the most amazing view points on our hike. It was like having the whole world to ourselves, sitting on the edge of the rock, looking out over the rolling hills of the Czech Republic with the forest waving to us below. 

The view

We also visited Valdštejn Castle along the way which is situated on a cliff face tucked into the forest. Unlike other castles we have visited, once you paid the entrance fee, you could explore at your leisure. We had a look through the living rooms, the church, dungeons, billiards room, the 'romantic walk' and the look out. It is a beautiful early gothic castle which you enter via a bridge lined with baroque statues, an interesting mix. Just as a bit of info, the castle was built in the second half of the 13th century by the Waldstein family. After 1420 the castle was occupied by the Hussites, then later by the Robber Barons. In 1621 the abandoned castle was bought back by the Waldsteins. During the peak of the Baroque period, they built a pilgrimage church of John of Nepomuk. This Church actually collapsed during its consecration ceremony killing a handful of people including one of the high noble women of the time. Not a good start. 

Baroque style bridge to Valdstejn Castle

We ended up getting a little lost on our hiking adventure when we took the wrong route! So, after much deliberation (aka arguing) we retraced our steps and took the same route back again. This was a little disappointing as it meant we only got to see half of the trail, but the forest is so beautiful, cool and calm that it didn't matter in the end. It was actually interesting to see the same route from a different angle, it was almost like we hadn't been there at all before! We loved it so much there that we are think of going back before the leave Prague - who can resist another trip to Paradise?

One of the walkways

Sandstone pillars visible through the trees

The 'Stairs'

Pankrác, Servác, Bonifác

I am now of the opinion that until you experience seasons in a country where there are four distinct seasons, you haven't experienced them at all. I didn't think this would be quite true when people said it to me when I arrived in Prague but I can now see what all the fuss is about. 

Autumn

  

Winter

Spring

We arrived in Prague in Summer, with everything (greenery wise) looking much the same as Australia; lush green parks, shady trees etc etc but them Autumn came. The term 'fall' now makes sense to me! Every tree was like a bronzed statue flecked with an assortment of golds, oranges yellows and reds. The parks looked as though they were on fire and slowly the ground became the playground for dancing leaves and their partners, children's feet. It was beautiful.

Then along came winter, as we knew she would. She had been playing with us for the months of September, October and November but she was now here to stay. Unfortunately, we didn't get to experience a 'typical' Czech winter as the weather was surprising 'warm' (yeah right) for the winter season. So as the months of winter wore on our only respite from the grey skies and drizzly weather was the few skiing trips we went on where we throughly enjoyed all that the winter season has to offer. Finally, after months of waiting, we got our snow in Prague! Only a few days worth mind, but oh so worth the wait. It was the first time we had seen snow actually falling and making itself known in the city streets. A smattering here and there at first, but then a nice fluffy, powdery layer or the gorgeous white stuff covered Prague. Ok, so the gorgeous white stuff only lasted half of one day, then in the city is was grey slush complete with yellow spots (ten points if you can guess what thats from) and frozen doggie poops. The trams and busses were a mess and the carpet at the School I work for was a disaster zone from all the teacher coming and going all day long. We couldn't keep the smiles off our faces though and we made the most of the snow by playing in the park all afternoon. 
Towards the end of winter we were beginning to feel a little disheartened by the seemingly never-ending cold weather. The days were short with the sun coming up at 8am and setting again at 4pm so, if you were working during the day all you really got to see was night time. It was a strange experience for us but it was this experience which makes us appreciate the return of spring all the more. 
Spring came a little unnoticed at first as winter was really wanting to keep it's hold on Prague. We had days of 25 degrees then the following day 10 degrees. We had sun shine, then rain, hot then cold and then a mixture of all of them in one day. The tulips were out and blooming and the cherry blossoms had created riot on Petřín Hill but not all of the trees and flowers were this trusting, preferring to stay in their little buds until Spring had definitely arrived. 

Wild Tulips popping up everywhere

Cherry Blossoms

So it happened that in the space of one day, barely enough time to tie your shoelaces and look out the window, Prague was bursting with fresh green leaves - the greenest we have ever seen. It looked as though God pulled out his pallet of green paints, every shade imaginable, and painted Prague with them. Green spaces in the city had their water fountains filled up again and their flower beds filled with a rainbow of beautiful pansies. The bikinis are back out and people are once again sun-baking in the parks, drinking beer in the beer gardens and riding their bikes everywhere. 
Just when we thought we were in for the long run of heat and sun,  Pankrác, Servác and Bonifác reared their ugly heads. Every year, on the 12-14 May, there is a cold spell; the last stand of winter people say, and these days are named  Pankrác, Servác and Bonifác. We find it amusing that they can predict these three days in the middle of May to be cold, and Czech's find it funny that we can't (or don't). They were predicted and they came, being with them cold, wet weather and frost, ruining all the newly budding fruit on trees. It just so happened that on this weekend the Prague International Marathon was being held in the city. Thousand of people participate either in groups or individually, and who ever wasn't competing was there to watch and cheer their friends on. Our room mate Ian was running in a relay team with a group of people from School. We went down and cheered him on and were lucky enough to actually see him and him see us as he ran past! It was so inspiring to see so many people get out and run, especially all of the older people running the marathon. Some people looked as if they had just rolled out of bed that morning and said "I think I'll run a marathon today" and got up and did it. People from all walks of life, older, younger, fatter, slimer, two legs, one leg (thats right) male and female. It was amazing to watch and cheer these remarkable people on. 


The warm weather did come back, it came back yesterday and we are making the most of it. The sun is rising at 5am and isn't going to bed until after 9pm! It's wonderful and I can now fully understand why the summer months here are to be treasured like a rare gift - because they literally are! So, after that, it's off to the park for me to enjoy the sunshine and catch the all to important afternoon sun.

Prague International Marathon by Vyšehrad