And vinh making a fuss of all the other goodies that go along with xmas

Dad dping the traditional xmas carving of the turducin

Bells getting into the xmas spirit

Special home made christmas treats made woth love for me by belle. Don't know who she inherited her good cooking from, but it's not me

Coffee with belle and matt at hunter belle cheese, the couple from mkr. Tasted some really nice cheeses

Lots of home cooking, a nice healthy minestronie soup for dinner along with home made bread. Then topped off with the best caranel slice. Belle's themomixer is amazing, but better still was spending time with her and matt.

Went to the Hunter Valley Lights with Belle and Matt. Absolutely spectacular. Never seen anything like it. Had baked spud for dinner sitting in the gardens. So nice

Summary of 2014 Holiday

 

Started our holiday again this year by participating in the Gold Coast Half Marathon. Bb flew up on the Friday, me Saturday morning. Got into GC midday, picked up hire car, Hyundai I30 and drove straight to hotel , parked the car and heading straight to the expo to pick up race bib.

Not a great run for me, but still crossed the finish line and collected the medal. Just over an hours drive to Brisbane Airport ready for the long journey to Paris. Not much sleep along the way but managed to watch 3 French movies and 8 episodes of Paddock to plate with Matt Moran, great little show

Well the tour look us to many regions this year. It has been a journey filled with a little old and a little new. Our visit to Wallers and the Forest of Arneburg where the bewilderment of how riders actually race along the paves. Gets me every time . The finnes of the Champagne region, the freshness of the Alps, sweet smells of Provence along with the markets, the ski resorts of the Pyrenees and the exquisite Bordeaux wine region. We have travelled about 3000km in our Picasso t3, slept in the car about 10 night and had the luxury of Ibis mostly for the others.

 

We have drank lots of bad wine, but made up for it with some really nice wine in Provence . Ate fresh baguettes with cheese and juicy tomatoes everyday,

Tried to speak French on many occasions to receive a blank look in return. Meet up with our French friends, tried out some more French with still no success.

Attempted to get on TV again whilst the tour riders speed past us, some small success but nothing huge.

Collected heaps of goodies from theTour de France caravan, t shirts, haribo lollies, key rings, madeleine, munchies and more.

Visted castles at Carcussion, markets in province, took a gondola for the first time, swam in a fresh lac, walked the streets of the old wine towns in Bordeaux, clocked up a total of 13 stages this year of the tour taking the total to 101 all thanks to BB. Life is full of wonderful memories, just never stop adding to them

Wow, taking photos of myself but wanted to get my french clothing purchase, pink florels. Always nice to get atleast one piece of new clothing when holidaying

Bergerac

Short drive of 100k from Saint Lary to Bergerac, in the rain. Pulled into Decathlon and checked out the merchandise and made my first purchase for this trip in the store, a black vest with a couple of pockets, nice and warm. Was hopeful the rain would ease up, but it didn't so BB back and forth doing his run, fitted in 30 minutes but running, back to the car when the thunder came, back out again and so on. Decided to find a place to park for the day which had a get away out to the highway. Parked the car and bb again off for his run. I didn't notice but he did, some shift guys walking past our car. I set off to the Arrivee, found out it was 5k away, so tried to put a bit of pace on for my walk. Was the weirdest of finishes, twisting and turning, no wonder there was a crash in the final 2k. So busy, at least 10 deep and impossible to move , took some photos, then heard the thunder again, this was my sign to start heading back. It come down in bucket loads, had a rain jacket on but it wasn't doing much to help. The caravan came past and I tried to grab some decent photos, but failed. Managed to score some goodies although I wasn't even trying. Stood at the round about just before the 5k when the riders come thru. Was standing on the wrong side of the TV camera, although I may have made it on TV as they had the camera pointed my way thru the round a bout. Back to the car and stripped all the wet clothing off.

Made our way to Perigueux for the TT tomorrow, found it hard to find a place to park near the course for an early get away for the drive to Paris tomorrow. Nothing was working so change of plan, started heading to Paris, drove for an hour or so. Pulled into a Aire, only to find it was fantastic, great place for our final sleep in the car

Saint Emilion

We have hit the Bordeaux region now, famous for it's wine growing. Wow, nothing but vineyards to be seen. Row after row after row. Some trimmed neatly and other left to go a little wild. Workers busy tending to the grapes which will be harvest in not too long. Found an Ibis to stay in and boy the shower felt great after 3 days of pommie washing and sleeping in the car. I must smell, I just can't smell it as I must have got use to it. Did a clean up of clothing etc, will need to start throwing things so only limited stuff is left for the return journey.

The day started misty and has now cleared to a hot sunny day as we took a drive to Saint Emilion. This place is beautiful, just filled with Vin Caves and degustation (tasting). Must be a hundred at least in a small vicinity. Cobble streets and old building added character to the place. This is the area "Tu Seras Mon Files"(You will be my son) the French movie was shot. It is a dream to visit this place as we have watched this movie a few times.

Back to the Ibis to watch the final 20k of the Tour up Hautecam, Nibali just too good at the moment. Local wine and tinned veggies for dinner, not much on TV so a bit of internet and a good comfortable night sleep.

Saint Lary Pla d'Adet

Been in Saint Lary since Monday night, found a public car park on grass, on the course with a bench seat 2 metres away. Busy bustling ski resort in the Pyrenee with sooo many restaurants and pizzeries. BB went for a run then we walked to a pizza restaurant and got a Le Jardin Pizza for €8, along with the next night we  picked up another pizza, margaretta for €8, will it be pizza again tonight. BB ran 7k of the final climb for Wednesday's stage, racing a cyclist, guess who cracked first. I managed a walk come run come walk again, not as good as I hoped I would be today , but just kept walking for most of the day.

For €5  we were able to catch the telecabin up to the top of St Lary 1700 mtrs to check out the finish, took 7 minutes for us to get to the top , which is equal to 10k by road. More restaurants and music, some camping cars but not as many as we have seen at other hill top finished. Walked around for 30 minutes or so, the weather had warmed up now, still not too hot at about 25ₒ. Nice chill out place, quite pretty with all the ski chalets and river running thru town with a track on either side to run along.

 

On the Wednesday, the day the tour come thru, I walked up Pla A'det just the first 2km up hill, it was crazy, walkers , cyclist, cars and trucks all fighting for space on the road and this was at 8am. Ran down back to the Centra Ville and did the days shopping of Yogurt, cheese, baguette, tomato and we did manage another Margarita Pizza that night, hate to see what the scales will tell me when I get home, will worry about it then.

In the afternoon Carrefour had a large screen TV set up, along with some tasting tents of the regions produce, some dancers and fruit carts giving away peche, apricots and nectarines. There was wine tasting and cheeses. Fois gras and Madeleine. Watched the caravan come thru, I managed to score well by going up the road where there was limited people, watched a little more TV then some photos as the riders come thru. Back to the TV for the final climb. All in all af chill out day with lots of tasty things happening around us.

Thursday morning bb off for a run along the river and for me I walked up the hill again and found a track, bad choice but anyway, climbed for ages thinking I would come to a road, but didn't , it was a rough, steep rocking track and after 20 minutes decided to turn around, had to be careful not to fall but safely made it down and then ran to the Marche for morning shopping.

We left town about 9am, got caught in a traffic jam and managed to get out of it by following a local on an alternative route, heading for Boudeau, Saint Emilion

 

 

Nimes to Carcassonne



Decided to leave Cavaillon early instead of waiting all day for the tour to come thru, and headed down to Nimes to get the vide at the finish, about a one hour drive in the rain and thunder. Did a 12 minute run with BB following the final 2k of today's stage. Picked up a baguette and some yogurt for the day, unlike home , the supermarkets here don't open on a Sunday, so you rely of finding little corner shops. But you will always find a baguette, every single day of the year. Took some photos and a nice man offered to take a photo of us both

 

Managed to even do the 12 run back to the car, most running all week.

 

 

Another 2hours driving down to Carcassonne, the Ibis we had booked into didn't have our room ready, it was still early 11am, so we headed off down to the towns major attraction. Site de Medieval  Citi. People everywhere , arriving by the bus loads. It certainly is a magnificent Fortress, but it appears to be so commercialised now with heaps of restaurants, creperey's , lolly shops, souvenir shops and products of the region just fill the place. It was slow moving as we made our way thru with all the people to try and take some photo's and video's. Lucky the rain had cleared to a sunny 26ish but the wind was up. Went past a lolly shop , my biggest weakness, and wow, it had the best lolly's ever, only thing that stopped me from buying some the cost of 9euro 80c, which is about 5 lolly's.

BB did and 1 hour run and I did a walk, was meant to head towards the river, but sill me went in the total wrong direction, should know by now rivers aren't up the hill!!!!

Tinned corn and mustard for me and a tin of Peas and Carrots for BB, along with left over baguette. So easy, beats cooking any day, Prepared in 2 minutes and cleaned up in 1 minute.

Apt Market

What a big market, biggest I have ever been to. Got lost and found numerous times, moved at the slowest of paces due to thousands of people. Tastes fruit and cheese. Purchases a few clothing items, shorts for 1 euro and a top for 5. This market if filled with colour and excitement, no wonder it is so busy. People were parked kilometres away and walked in. Picked up the usual lunch today from Apt and drove back to Ibis to eat it as I was so hot when I got back to the car, just needed a shower. Enjoyed Pizza footage for dinner again, that's 3 nights of pizza. Love it, my favourite and it only costs 5 euro a pizza from the caravan parked in a car park.

Pont Julian

Today started with a run along the bike path Cavallon, starting from Pont Julian. Passing vineyards filled with grapes, still not ready for picking.  For me, running still not happening, but managed to run for 10min's, then did 1 minute on and 1 off for 50 minutes, still got a sweat up . BB a run towards Lacoste then a skinny dip in the murky water beneath the bridge, along with some spectators. Collected some nice photos, then drive about 8k to Apt and picked up today shopping . A short drive back to Bonnieux, stopping along the way at Chateau Canorgue-, the one used in "A Good Year. Bought 2 bottles of Rouge, one from 2011 and one from 2012 as we were first here in 2011 and this would be the wine from that time. Sure we will enjoy the tasting. Each bottle cost about 9.20 euro. When we finally reached Bonnieux , jackpot, the market was still going, had a quick browse, nice photos of all the goodies, colourful bags, oils, nuts , olives , hand made soaps, lots of lavender, clothes and jewellery, cheeses and charcuterie. Then walked up the top of town for a picnic of baguette, rocket, tomato, wholegrain mustard and some very melted cheese as the temp today is about 34. Watched the last 100k of the tour in Ibis Cavaillon, 5 minute interruption as the power went down and the fire alarm went off in the hotel , but otherwise, it was cooler inside and much more comfortable

.

 

 

Afternote: Wine was wonderful, enjoyed every mouthful. Characteristics of a Shiraz, but it also had two other grape varieties and this made it much smoother. Yum Yum Yum . Along with BB going for a run and returning with a pizza. Yum Yum and more Yum. Heaven.

Cor des Alpes

During our stay at Oyonnax, just out of town at Lac Genin, the 2 nights we were there we heard Cor des Alps playing, It was a sound that touched the soul

This was a great chill out couple of days , with all the rain from the last few days was behind us. So much so we got sunburn. The lake was great for swimming in. The water level was so high that you actually walked thru the grass for about 5 metre before getting to the actual water edge. Even managed a swim across to the other side, not a pretty one but got there. There was a quiet flat road to run or up a hill were the race came thru. We lucked this one as we just parked at the lake car park only to find that the tour actually come thru the caravan park and we were packed on the course. Watched the tour come thru at about 300 up the hill., We both had white tops on and we stood on either side of the road. Will have to wait and see if we made it on TV. Continuing with our tradition of baguette, cheese and tomato along with Amora mustard, pepper and a tinned veggie at night of either corn or peas and carrots

 

 

Tour de France 2014 - riemiramont

Another day of the tour down , have now seen 95 stages. Started today with a run at Chalonst for 1 whole hour today, thats an improvement. Shopping at Carrefour, then heading south for about 200k. BB still not well with a chest infection and as it is still raining, have checked into another Ibis to give him time to recover. Walked from the motel to the tour route, only 5min walk and just as we got there is started pouring rain. Lucky we didn't have to wait long for the caravan to come thru and the bridge we were standing under offered little protection from the rain and we had no wet whether gear, we were drenched. A lovely Portuguese lady shared her umbrella with me. It would be the wettest caravan we have ever watched, they speed thru town throwing minimal. I didn't get the camera out, bb was talking videos and I thought he would do such a good job, leave it to him. Went back to Ibis to watch tour on TV , then I ran down to watch the riders come through and bb recorded the TV, not real clear but made it on TV. Walked up to the centre Ville in hope of finding a laundry but unfortunately it closed up, so back to the Ibis for lots of hand washing, just need to get it dry now. Lunch and dinner today consisted of baguette cheese tomato and cucumber, and tinned veggies and baguette for dinner. Both again with lots of mustard. BB doesn't appear to have improved thru the night, will need to be careful.

Tour de France 2014 - Chalons-en-Champagne

Started the day with a 45 minute run, legs still feel tired but it's definitely a start. Rain hasn't gone away yet , but not too cold so it bearable. BB and I walked 40 minutes down to Centre Ville Chalfont-en- Champagne to watch the caravan pass. Stopped and picked up some baguette to munch on along the way. Took lots of videos and still managed to collect goodies, Madeleine, haribo, lots of keyrings and more washing detergent. Walked back and picked up some shopping from our 10euro budget, which seems to be working at the moment. Plan was to head off but due to the rain decided to spend another night at the B&B hotel at Saint Memmie, reasonable price of 46euro a night. Had some lunch then I headed down the road to check out the girlie shops. Found a 4euro pair of black casual pants. Happy with that. Back to the motel and watched the last 40k of the Tour and saw at least 3 crashes, roads wet and slippery, it's going to happen. Dinner of Baguette, cheese and tomatoes sprinkle of pepper and lots of mustard along with a shared tin of peas and carrots and yes, added more mustard, I am totally addicted to the stuff. Not a great deal on TV again tonight, will just internet.

It has been wet for 3 days now, at Lille , Arenburg and today Reims. Forecast is looking good on about Saturday. Still , we have enjoyed Cheese, Baguettes , Tomatoes and Cornicons. Tins of Ratatoulle and corn. Tried some Marche lettuce ( the new in vogue one). Have eaten too much and exercise not enough. Still not running since the Gold Coast Half. Hopefully tomorrow will start. Found lots of Decathlons, haven't bought anything yet. Sunset is a 10.06pm, but still managed to go to sleep at 7.04 last night and wake at 6.30am the next day.

Thanks virgin, nice way to start a holiday

My special girl