Stinky Cheese, Lead Feet & Wine

Today was the start of our road trip. We fuelled ourselves with the traditional French yummies for breakfast; Pain au Chocolat, Croissants, Coffee and then Ruth and I went to get some cheese from a Fromagerie that sold a million different cheeses.

The Fromagerie was manned by a helpful, cute portly man with a curly moustache. He had all my favourite cheeses; Brie, Comte, Camembert, Emmenthal..., which he kindly sliced and packed in a cooler bag for us to take with us for our picnic. All for 26 euros. Wow I love being in France!

We then made our way to Hertz to get our hire car, which for some reason we christened Robert or Bob for short. As designated driver I was a little nervous about driving a manual car whilst sitting and driving on the wrong side. But it wasn't too bad. Apart from stalling a couple of times at toll booths, the trip was relatively smooth with the occasional beeping from Tom Tom (A.K.A Tomas) as according to Ruth I had lead foot syndrome; the need for speed.

During the road trip to Beaune, we made a few pitt stops:


1) Obernai to see some picturesque scenery; by luck we were able to find this amazing view spot

2) Motorway service station, where we had our picnic lunch of bread and cheeses that were slowly stinking out the car. But as they say, "the smellier the better!"

3) Wine tasting at Patrice Rion, where a cute wine maker, Maxim, gave us some insight into the world of wine making and wine tasting. Mer gave us an insight in shameless flirting with a blushing Maxim.

We arrived at our hotel Le Cep about dusk. Our hotel was in the middle of Beaune and our room was lovely. Gold, guilded and spacious. A nice base for us in Beaune and for us to live luxuriously for a couple of days.

A Chicken Or Any Other Edible Bird's Eye View

Wilson Tours a.k.a Mer, took Ruth and I on a walking tour around Strasbourg's very pretty "Le Petit France". The tour was full of architecture, cobbled stones, bridges and colour as we basqued in the lovely rays of the sun and crystal blue skies.

The tour took a break for a boat ride on the River Ill, which hovered around the outskirts of the centre of Strasbourg. Perfect for offering a different perspective of the scenery, and I'm not only referring to the architecture. Wink! Wink!

After the boat ride, the sun was still out, so we decided to go up the tower of Strasbourg's Notredame Cathedral. We got there just in time to make the last entrance before closing. To get to the top we had to climb 66 metres of stairs. A quarter of the way up, we were already feeling the burn in our thighs and panting like dogs. By the time we made it to the top, it felt like my legs had turned to jelly, but I was able to make it to the edge to realise that the view was absolutely worth it.

In the evening we rewarded our active day with local Alssace food; a mixture of French & German cuisine. When we got our menu's they were in French, so we did our best to understand our choices. However we got stuck on one word; volaille. On asking the waitress, she told us it was a kind of poultry. "Chicken?" we asked. She replied "No, like chicken but any other edible bird". She made some reference to turkey on further questioning, but when we received our food, it definitely wasn't turkey. In fact it tasted of chicken. But then again don't most things? So none of us are sure what we ate. But it tasted good so it's best not to over think what it could have been.

When In France, Do As The Frenchmen Do

Champagne breakie is what we had today. According to Ruth, "when in France, do as the Frenchmen do"... drink lots of Bubbly. So this morning we ventured through rain and the French transport system to get to Taittinger Headquarters. Pristine and minimalist, it was like a shrine to one of the finest Champagne houses in France.

When we arrived, we were too late for the English tour, however we met a lady called Christine, who was so nice and helpful that she organised for us to participate in the French spoken tour of the caves and to watch a video in English so that we could grasp some of the history behind the world of Champagne.

The tour was fascinating, taking us down to the 4th century stone cellars. Apparently Taittinger was originally created by monks. The cellars were full of rows and rows of bottles and little secret passageways that led you in mysterious directions. It was tempting to contemplate sneaking a bottle in my bag, but I think they would have noticed a missing Magnum.

At the end of the tour, we had a little taster session of Brut Taittinger. Gold, cold and fizzy. Just how bubbly should be.

Needless to say that it set us up on a lovely high for the rest of the day and made our train journey from Reims to Strassbourg a little more entertaining...

On board the train I saw a good looking guy walk past. I mouthed to Mer "ooh did you see him?" to which she responded "no" and practically got out of her seat to get a good oggle at the guy in question. Only to find that the guy was sitting right behind her and had caught her eyeing him up. Apparently he didn't seem impressed, but I'm sure the guy was secretly boosting his ego on the knowledge that some chick on the train was checking him out.

The evening ended with shopping and a tasty steak dinner with lots of red wine flowing throughout. A great day and as per Ruth's mantra..."when in France, do as the Frenchmen do!"

Jet Lag

Jet lag is a funny thing. It completely consumes you to the point where you need match sticks to keep your eyes open. Everyone has their own way of getting over it; some prefer to resist sleeping during the day and then having an early night, others prefer having a cheeky nap to rejuvenate, whilst others will take some form of supplements to get them through it as quickly as possible.

Jet lag is something us girls are all suffering from having flown from different parts of the world to get to Paris. Mer & Ruth from NYC and I from Uk. You could say that an hour difference for me is not too bad, but this is my 3rd time zone change in a week, and so it seems to be taking its toll.

The worst affected is Mer, who could do with scaffolding to keep her eyes open. We were in mid conversation when her eyes closed shut and I'm sure she would have been lost to us had we not started giggling. I almost expected her to fall forward head first into her food like in a cartoon.

But she got through it. A bit of fresh air, sun, a cup of Illy and wandering around Reims' gothic cathedral was all that was needed. Parfait!

Under the Sea

Aquariums are always fun places to be, but to see it from the eyes of a one and a half year old is something else.  The excitement on the little face as she saw different fish swimming by is something that is quite precious.

The tunnel at Birmingham Sea Life Centre is quite spectacular.  To see a giant turtle, or "Tutle", as Toddler liked to call it, swimming above your head whilst eating cabbage is something to write home about.  (I wish I had a picture of this, but unfortunately I was too taken aback by this experience to remember the camera in my hand.)

I think the experience of touching a star fish was cool, although Toddler drew the line at this and wasn't willing to stick her hand in unchartered waters.

The end of the Aquarium was what is every parents nightmare...a gift store.  Naturally the Toddler wanted everything in the store and to hold it all.  Admittedly the teddy "Tutle" with the big eyes that was practically half her size was very cute.  I would have bought it for her had she not flung it on the floor and abandoned it to go hold the next toy that had got her attention.

I'm glad I got to spend the day with you Sweetie.  Looking forward to our next outing.

Here Comes the Bride

Here comes the bride dressed all in light

Radiant and lovely she shines in his sight.

Gently she glides graceful as a dove

Meeting her bridegroom her eyes full of love.

Love have they waited long have they planned

Life goes before them opening her hand.

Congrats to you both.  Best wishes for your married life together as Mr and Mrs Clegg.

xx

From This Day Forward

From this Day Forward... Easter Weekend is not only a weekend for Easter Egg Hunts.
From this Day Forward, I will not think of Easter as a chocolate coma waiting to happen.
I will remember it as the day my friend had her Scot To Have and To Hold.

From this Day Forward... I will remember that it was a small and intimate affair of 50 or so people gathering together to witness the marriage of Katy and Graeme.

For Better For Worse,
For Richer For Poorer,
In Sickness and In Health...

From this Day Forward... I will remember the tears of happiness in people's eyes as they witnessed vows  exchanged...

There in Good Times and Bad,
Support You In All That You Do,

...And the well timed chuckle of little Gabrielle as Katy vowed to listen attentively to all that her husband has to say.

Congratulations to you both and I wish you a lifetime of happiness together.