Farewell France

Happy Fathers Day!

Our last stop on our 6-week trip was the town of Thones, not far from Lake Annecy. We stayed here 2 years ago and really enjoyed it so decided we would come back again for 5 nights to finish off our trip. Coincidentally, it was the same time as 2 years ago which has a fantastic food festival over the first weekend of September. We stayed at a hotel that also had a few apartments, staying in a 2-bedroom one which had recently been renovated.

On our first full day (Saturday) we visited the local markets which are very big and have a huge variety of food stalls. So we bought cheese, fish, meat, bread, roast chicken, saucisson and even sauerkraut (a favourite of Matthew's) to last us for our days here. Being a quite warm day I went to the local pool with Matthew that afternoon while Heather and Jordan slept. There were 3 pools to swim in so we went for the mid-size pool that wasn't too deep for Matthew and even had a short water slide that he could use. Matthew had a great time and I had a bit of trouble convincing him when it was time to leave!

On the Sunday we headed to the food fair late morning so that we could sample something nice for lunch. We decided on a seafood lunch - oysters and mussels with bread and wine (latter 2 for Adrian only!). What a great lunch to have on Fathers Day. Matthew was intrigued by the bagpipe players (who were also staying at our hotel) and both boys even managed to have a feel of the bagpipes while they were having a break. That afternoon it was back to the pool for another swim (all four of us), being the last day before it shut down for the summer season (with a hot Monday forecast!).

With the pool now closed we spent our last couple of days at the local playground, cafes and boulangeries taking it quite easy before our long trip home. We flew Geneva-Heathrow-Hong Kong before taking an over night stop to break up the trip (plus flights didn't connect well!) at the airport hotel. It was a great idea and Matthew had a super time in the kids playroom which had all sorts of soft steps and slides to burn up some energy. Our last flight of the trip was on Cathay Pacific where the service and meals were impeccable. The cabin crew loved Jordan and all had their photo taken with him! We arrived in Perth late on Friday night with Heather's Mum meeting us at the airport and taking us home. She had done a fantastic job looking after the house and Muppet, including all our mail and bills. And to top it off she had cleaned the house from top to bottom - it's probably not been that clean since we bought it! Thanks Petra, your help has been invaluable on so many levels.

So our fantastic 6-week trip has come to end. Time to start thinking about the next trip........maybe when the boys are a little older though, and the added excitement of nappies and day sleeps are a thing of the past!

Matthew's favourite was the fig cake

Too many lollipops to choose from!

Boys helping out with the final pack. Huggies - check.

All loaded up at Geneva airport for the long trip home

Chatel and a bit of Switzerland

It was an interesting move from bustling La Clusaz to sleepy Chatel near the Swiss border on the south side of Lake Geneva. With school holidays ending, most summer entertainment in the mountains shuts down and the average age of tourists increases as the tour buses replace the families. So whilst we had to search around to keep ourselves occupied we still enjoyed our time in this corner of France. A glaring omission from this town is no active playground! There is one, however it was fenced off due to a new ski-lift being built nearby. So the nearest playground was about 10 minutes drive away, over the Swiss border.

Our first full day in the town (Sunday) was the last day the ski lifts were open, so we caught the telecabin up from the centre of town and then went for a short walk to the Swiss border (about 300m away). This ski area encompasses both France and Switzerland, so bring your passport when here!

We will long remember the first day of (Australian) Spring as when Jordan's first tooth broke through. He has had a tough time with his teeth so far and now has 2 bottom teeth.....a lot more still to come though!

Our stay here also included a trip to the town market day where we tried some new local cheese, a very nice (and expensive) fig cake and some of our favourite brioche bread. We also made a trip over to Switzerland to a miniature railway park which has a variety of trains you can ride on. Matthew's favourite was definitely the steam train, especially when the driver tooted the horn, and going through the tunnels!

Matthew picking a flower in France while Heather and Jordan are resting for a moment in Switzerland

"Do you mind if we pass Mr Cow"

After watching Matthew practicing his catching with a balloon, Jordan gets very excited when he gets hold  of one

Brothers having a wonderful time together

Just about to puff away...These miniature trains and the array of railways throughout the grounds were amazing.  The 15 minute rides (especially on the steam train) were enjoyed by young and old.

Now that Jordan has sprouted his first two teeth, he needs his big brother to show him how to brush them

Most mornings Matthew and I head out for a coffee and croissant "run". Sometimes all four of us make the journey
with Matthew riding on the skateboard attached to the stroller

Asking for directions from a cow at the Chatel Market

The heated pool and fountains at the Chatel pool were fun, but nothing beats
drying your hair afterwards!

La Clusaz Part 2

Our seven days in La Clusaz was jam-packed as there was a lot to do in and around La Clusaz. On one of the many sunny days we drove up the mountains to the nearby Col des Aravis. It had great views of the surrounding areas, including to Mt Blanc (highest mountain in France). While there it was only a short walk to one of the local cheese-producing farmers from whom we bought a chunk of Tomme de Savoie cheese (one of our favourites). The walk was very scenic and fortunately flat (for Heather) and we returned for a lunch at one of the several restaurants at the Col. We also enjoyed the local swimming pool in La Clusaz. Perched on the side of a hill overlooking the town it had 4 different pools, 2 of which were specifically for toddlers - an indoor and outdoor splash pool. Jordan and Matthew both loved it with Matthew also venturing into the big pool but it was a bit cool for him so he was quite happy splashing Mummy and Jordan instead! We could easily have stayed longer but are sure we will come back again some time in the future.

Heather and Jordan enjoying lunch at the Col des Aravis, with Mt Blanc in the background

Also at the Col des Aravis

Having a good splash at the La Clusaz pool

Matthew on the hill overlooking the centre of town with the telecabin, luge, air bag jump, bouncy castles and
bumper boats all in the background

Jordan enjoying his play area in the apartment\

La Clusaz Part 1

We had a fantastic seven days in La Clusaz, a busy ski station in winter but in summer it has plenty of other activities on offer and is a very busy little town. We had a short-ish drive from Champagny, travelling up some quite windy and spectacular roads and through gorges to get there. Our apartment was right on the edge of the main "activity" area of the town which was great positioning and only required short walks when we wanted to do anything or get something to eat. It was also the biggest apartment we had stayed in with 3 bedrooms and a huge balcony, so was especially useful on the one rainy day we had. One advantage of our stay was signing up for the La Clusaz "Detente Card" which allowed unlimited access to most activities - at 45 Euro for adults was pricey but we definitely got our money's worth. Matthew had his own special "Enfant Roi" card, complete with photo, to use as well. On the first afternoon Matthew and I caught the telecabin from just near our apartment to the Plateau de Beauregard where there are some good views and a restaurant/bar for a coffee. Matthew loved the ride up so we decided to do it again.....this time with Heather and Jordan on board too! Over the week we did it several times, the journey being about 10 minutes each way. The photo is the heading up to Beauregard with La Clusaz in the background.

Sunrise viewed from our balcony, overlooking the centre of town

During our week's stay Matthew spent alot of time on the bouncy castle (chateau gonflable!), bumper boats and summer luge. The luge was great fun and could be ridden as tandems with little kids (taller then 80cm). Both Heather and I made numerous trips up the Patinoire telecabin with Matthew to make the 800m run down the hill where you could build up alot of speed up if you wanted. There were plenty of sharp bends and a couple of tunnels, the longer one being where Matthew would shout out to look out for the bear! Unfortunately Jordan will need to wait till our next trip before he can have a go.

Always fun in France is town market day. All sorts of local producers have stalls and fortunately for us market day was on a Monday and early on in our visit to La Clusaz. So we stock on up fresh fruit/veg, all sorts of cheeses, plenty of saucisson (dried cured sausage), lots of meat and finally a huge chunk of nougat! Despite there being a little bit of drizzle we had a great time and finished off with a coffee at the local restaurant (no babycinos here so its a "lait chaud" for Matthew). As a result we had some great meals during the week (thanks to Heather's cooking of course).

Matthew had heaps of fun on the bouncy castle, and it was a great way for him to burn up his energy
and be very tired by the end of the day!

Heather and Matthew coming into the finish on the summer luge

Matthew driving the bumper boat, with the bouncy castles in the background

Market Day! Our usual coffee venue is in the background.

Champagny-en-Vanoise

We had 4 very pleasant days in the Vanoise National Park, staying in the small ski village of Champagny. Once again we had a self contained apartment/chalet which was only a short walk from the village centre. Our favourite spot would have to be have been further up the valley from the village where the valley became quite broad and had a stunning setting complete with a great playground, "Restaurant du Canada" for cold drinks and ice creams and a walking track up the hill (last one for Adrian only). We had pizza in the village centre on a couple of nights, the first of which had some circus performers putting on an evening show for kids which was enjoyable for all of us. Matthew loved his pizza but enjoyed his fries even more! The performers were there for a circus on the following day which we had intended to go to. Unfortunately poor little Jordan had a virus which resulted in a high temperature, vomiting and being quite distressed, so it was off to a nearby town to visit a doctor instead of going to the circus. Fortunately a few days of pain relief helped him through the worst of it and now we're just waiting for his first teeth to break through.

Having a cold-ish beer on our first evening in Champagny

Spot Matthew watching the circus performers from the steps

Matthew loving his pizza, knowing that there was still icecream to come

Jordan on the balcony at our chalet - magnificent views again

A special mother-son moment admiring the view

Driving up the valley involved a very narrow road cut into the rock
and steep drops to the side!

Having a picnic - Matthew enjoying his apple

Jordan finally got hold of Matthew's apple, but not for long

Hard not to appreciate views like this surrounding a favourite playground

Vaujany and surrounds

After having high hopes of keeping our regular travel blog going, it would appear that with 2 active boys in tow that just isn't possible! So instead we'll just give a brief summary and attach a few photos from each place that we start.

Our first stop in France was for five nights in the tiny hamlet of Le Bessay - there isn't much there except for the very nice B&B-style chalet and a few other houses up in the mountains. Apart from being a very nice area of the French Alpes, our main reason for stopping here was to catch-up once again with our good friends Pascal and Karianne and their 4 children. Although only a brief catch-up as Karianne and the kids needed to head back to their house in Provence, we had a great time catching-up in Allemond (bottom of the valley from Le Bessay) and in nearby Vaujany. Pictured here is Matthew with 3 of the children (Jesse, Zoe and Seppel) in their Aussie t-shirts at the Allemond playground which Matthew spent alot of time at over the 5 days we were there. Unfortunately Gaby (Zoe's twin) was back in Provence horse riding so we didn't see her this time round. Matthew and Jordan each received a toy marmot (local squirrel) from the children which Jordan has since spent much of the trip sucking on! 

Over the 5 days we spent at Chalet Lingayoni we enjoyed fantastic breakfasts, enjoyed their dinners for a couple of the nights, did some local walks including to quite a large waterfall, splashed around in the hot tub, had icecreams up in Vaujany and sampled coffees and playgrounds in Allemond. We had great weather for most of the time, Matthew even getting some very sunburnt cheeks one day! Below are a few photos.

Jordan and Heather having breakfast

Mum time! Taking a break from the playground in Allemond

Outside the chalet and its great views

Looking uphill to the ski village of Oz-en-Oisans from our balcony

Matthew in front of the waterfall, a good 1km walk through the forest from our Chalet

Heather and Jordan in their robes ready for some hot tub action!

Matthew and Jordan having way too much fun splashing each other

Our final night having dinner with Pascal and Karianne's brother Julian

A week in Bexhill

We had a very enjoyable week in Bexhill, East Sussex with Heather's Dad Colin (Pops) and wife Margie (Nan). Our drive down from Heathrow (about 2 hours of driving) on Wednesday was quite tough with a number of stops for a quite restless Jordan and took about 4 hours. We arrived to our welcoming party of Colin and Margie outside our first B and B which we were staying for 2 nights. It was a warm sunny day so Pops, Matthew and myself went for a walk. After an obligatory stop at a pub for a welcoming beer (about half the price of Perth), we came across the local fountains along the beach promenade - Matthew had a ball and ran through the fountains for quite some time and was soaked through by the end. The afternoon breeze then made the walk back to the B and B quite chilly! The six of us all had dinner together at the B and B that night before heading down for an early night - our experience from the last trip was that jetlag makes young ones wake up early! Sure enough, Matthew was first up at 2:30am and was not the slightest bit interested in sleeping again. So I took him for a walk along the beach promenade and streets before swapping him over with Jordan at 4am! Unfortunately the boys love playing and making lots of noise together. We made this a bit easier the next day by heading round to Colin and Margie's house at 5:30am (they are both early risers) for a play in the backyard with toys and trucks. Towards the end of the week Matthew was nearly on local time, moving his wake up time by about an hour later each day

We swapped B and B's on the third day as we couldn't get into the one we wanted for the full seven days in Bexhill. We were glad we made the move as the room was much bigger which was essential when there are 4 of you and a huge pile of luggage - Jordan needed a bit of space to play on the ground too, and is even slowly moving himself around commando-style. We stayed at this B and B 2 years ago so knew it would be the right place to stay. They also did a great breakfast and catered to all our needs which was much help. Colin and Margie joined us for breakfast on a couple of occasions as well.

Matthew enjoyed a few local playgrounds with nearby Egerton Park being his favourite. This is a very large 'eco' playground made from recycled timbers and caters for toddlers right up to big kids. He spent plenty of time on the big spinning wheel and never got dizzy from it. On the sunny day that I took him there it was packed with kids, however a couple days later when the weather wasn't so good (cool and drizzly) we were the only ones there! The four of us went to feed the ducks in the lake with Matthew ensuring we ran out of bread quite quickly. The rain did eventually subside and the boys had a fun time on the play equipment. Their favourite would have to have been the see-saw, Jordan getting the giggles as he bounced up and down.

The rain continued for a couple of days so we headed to nearby Eastbourne one day to an indoor play gym with some big slides and ladders. At one point there we actually lost Matthew and thought he must have escaped out an open door when others were leaving! But after a bit of a panic and searching around the whole building we found him up the top of the playgym having a great time. The sunny weather did return and we enjoyed spending time with Colin and Margie having coffees and tea on the beach promenade. Matthew loved his time on the beach with Pops throwing rocks (no sand on these beaches!) at low tide as well as playing in their backyard with trucks, or hide and seek or being pushed around in the wheelbarrow.

On our final full day Colin and Margie took us to a Pub in nearby Ninfield for a big roast lunch and beer which was most enjoyable. There was also a nearby playground (number 6 for the trip so far) which Adrian and Colin took Matthew to for a play. On the Wednesday our week in Bexhill was over and after breakfast it was time to pack up for our complicated journey over to France - drive back to Heathrow in the afternoon, stay the night in a hotel, fly early the following morning to Geneva, pick up a hire car and then drive a couple of hours to our first stop in France. After needing so many stops on the drive down to Bexhill we were dreading what would happen on the return to London.......instead both boys slept the whole drive back to Heathrow making the journey a breeze! We had plenty of time on our hands so Matthew and myself went outside the hotel (near the end of one of the runways) to watch planes take off. Matthew had a ball for over an hour and clearly loved planespotting. We had dinner in Terminal 5 before heading down for an early-ish night ready for our big journey to France the next day. The hamlet of Le Bessay was our first stop and we'll tell you all about it in our next post!

Jordan enjoying playing on the floor at Dunselma B and B

Jordan having fun with Pops in his new outfit from Nan and Pops