Johnny_boy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2010
- Messages
- 414
I've meant to finish this for weeks but a lot of stuff has come up at work and my computer power supply failed amngst other things... so here it is... Some photos to follow as just realised they are on Facebook but not on Flickr...
Paris
We got to Vincennes around 6pm and started unloading. Our room was above the main entrance and a couple of floors up from the underground car park. We woke the sleeping kids and showed them their home for the next week. They were a bit too tired to explore so we let them watch telly while we took turns at bringing up all the stuff from the car which had been randomly stuffed in to be honest!
By the time we got everything in, it was quite late and the supermarkets had closed at 8pm but I found a corner shop open and got some bread, pizza and a few other things. We cooked them and all headed to bed after watching telly for a bit we had BBC 1 & 2, CH 5 and Sky news and alternate CBBC/Cbeebies.
We lowered the wind-down metal shutters on all the rooms and achieved total blackout! This was to be our undoing as we slept very late every morning
Paris Day 1 Sunday Arc de Triomphe
The shutters worked a treat and we slept until about 10am after our early mornings at Disney. Johannes normally wakens up pretty early so they worked well.
I popped out for some breakfast but the local bakery was closed so we had cereal etc. then headed into Paris. We stopped off at the local market to buy bread, ham, goose rillettes (shredded meat like a pate but more meaty), and some tarte aux pommes (apple pie). We wandered along and my memory from 5 years wasnt that good so I couldnt find the RER or Metro. We stopped a young couple and the girl had just moved from England so she was quite new to the area but her boyfriend helped out and we followed them for a bit. The kids were quite hungry so we ate lunch outside on a bench in the wee park next to Vincennes RER. We ended up buying zone 1-3 passes for 5 days for all of us and I found to my surprise that the RER was now in zone 2 it had been zone 3 the last time we were there. This was irrelevant with the tickets we had but a carnet of 10 tickets only covers zones 1 & 2.
We jumped on the RER to CDG-Etoile and got off and climbed up to see the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel tower. We were almost immediately approached by a tourist who started chatting in French with a Canadian accent he thought we were French for some reason Anyway, between us he found the road he was looking for..
We took some pictures and the kids took ours but said they needed the toilet. We found a sign but in the end they were all boarded up so we sneaked into a posh department store in Champs Elysees .While we were waiting for Clare, I had a quick look round, we were in the cigars and leather goods section, they had an iPad case that was 360! We left before they realised we were unlikely to buy anything .
Two Landmarks in one photo:
It was very hot and the kids wanted more to eat so we sat down and ate for a bit and tried to figure out how to get to the Arc, I eventually asked a lady at the bus stop who told me to use the Metro entrance wow the cool of the tunnel was brilliant after the heat! When we got there unfortunately there was a huge queue and the kids didnt want to go up so we took some photos and headed back. The last time wed been we had a lovely walk down to the other end of Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe du Carousel and the Louvre but it was too warm to do that and the kids were tired after the walk to the RER and Disney so we headed home.
Kids verdict a bit boring and a bit hot and they were tired though they liked the RER and the tarte aux pommes
Paris Day 2 Monday Aquaboulevard Water Park
The kids wanted to go to the waterpark wed told them about and it was a lovely day so that became the plan! We had a big breakfast and grabbed some snacks on the way (tarte aux pomme was a big hit with the kids so we had to get it again!). Aquaboulevard is in the middle of quite a business type area next to a heliport in Balard at the terminus of the line so it was fairly easy to get to with 1 change on the Metro.
On the way in, we had to show the mens costumes they had to be close fitting shiny shorts or speedos, you were not allowed to wear baggy shorts there were signs up everywhere saying this.
It was being refurbished so we had to change outside but you had to be careful as the flume above the changing rooms dripped or splashed sometimes! Lots of sun cream later we went to have a look We liked what we saw!
It had a shaped pool and outdoor Jacuzzis on the outside with a load of flumes and on the inside some gentler flumes, 3 ring slides, a rope swing into the water and loads more.
Health and safety officials should stop reading at this point . We found the rubber ring slides and I waited patiently at the bottom until we got a raft style one, they said minimum 2, maximum 3 people but we saw a lot come down with 5 or 6 kids so I thought Id ask at the top what the story was and if all 4 of us could go in. We neednt have worried, there was nobody supervising, you put the ring on a set of rollers, climbed in and waited until the light turned green, the pressed a big button and it trundled you into the ride . It was brilliant and the kids loved it. All the flumes were light controlled. Despite the fact there were loads of teens and younger, everyone waited until the lights turned green and nobody was hurt!
There was a Tarzan rope swing into the water, big queue again, they stopped that when they switched on the wave machine storm machine more like brilliant big waves. There were staff around but they were pretty sparse and let people get on with enjoying themselves, there were only a couple of times I heard the whistle being blown.
You could also take photos and in general, it made my local water pool (Leith Water World) seem like a concentration camp by comparison. None of this prove your kid can swim before they can go on the tyre slides or other such things and throw you out within 5 minutes of calling time, this was open something like 6am to 11 pm!
We left around 6 pm and ate at McDonalds upstairs as it was handy and we were hungry! The kids surprised me by not falling asleep on the way home but they were pretty tired.
Kids verdict can we go back again tomorrow - not at £66 admission you cant!
Paris Day 3 Tuesday - Sacre Coeur
We took the kids to this as we thought theyd like the views and the area around about is quite interesting. The stop we used is Anvers and the local area doesnt look the most welcoming there is some building work going on and some shops boarded up and there was a lot of litter. We had some food out the same shop wed used a few years ago but I have to say it wasnt brilliant.
The kids wanted to go on the carousel at the bottom of the steps. We spoke to an American family who also had kids on it. Their wee boy noticed Johannes Star Wars Empire Strikes Back t-shirt and we got talking. They were heading to Disney in a few days so we had a chat about that.
We used the funicular (Paris Visite ticket did that too) to get to the top of the steps at the Sacre Coeur after that and had a wander round the church which the kids found quite interesting as were not religious so it was a bit of an experience for them and they found all the candles fascinating.
There was some kind of Japanese Wedding photo-shoot going on outside the church which was gathering quite a crowd, I got a picture but failed to get a picture of the lady surrounded with loads of flowers next to them due to the crowds.
We had a wander round the area and found artists square where they all wanted to draw Amélie and do a caricature of Johannes but they were wanting 50-60 either each or for the two of them to do that and we thought it would upset Johannes if he had a funny picture and Amélie had a proper one so we declined but I have to say they give you the hard sell!
We found a wee artisan ice cream shop with the most amazing ice cream, it looked like folds of dough in fantastic colours. We all had a cone or tub which seemed quite small but it was perfect as the ice-cream was very rich. There was a water well nearby so we were able to wash our sticky fingers. I think it might have been for dogs but the water was clean and some people were drinking out of it!
We wandered back to Anvers and joined the queue to use the automatic toilets, Johannes thought it was funny to push the open button while I was using it so we all had to leave, wait for it to self-clean then go back in. The other people in the queue fortunately found it funny
We bought tickets for Versailles from the Tourist Information office before returning home.
Kids verdict they quite enjoyed it overall but Amélie said there were no kids to play with
Paris Day 4 The Eiffel Tower
Another long lie but rain was forecast so we went prepared with a brolly but it was fine, We had tickets booked for 1pm but didnt get out for various reasons until 11.30 or so and by the time we got to the RER or Metro, we didnt have time to grab food. There was an English couple with two young girls on the last part of the metro and all the kids got excited when they saw the tower. We got to the Tower just after our time slot (10 mins or so) and we had to wait a few minutes to get into the lift. The lady on the entrance was quite chatty and told us that people who hadnt pre-booked had been queuing for 2.5 hours. She recommended that those who didnt book should turn up an hour before it opened with a coffee and croissant and have their breakfast while they waited which we thought was brilliant.
The tour went reasonably well, the kids enjoyed it for a bit but were a bit hungry towards the end and Johannes started getting a wee bit stroppy and throwing himself around which in a completely metal structure isnt a good idea as he found out! We descended and I found a shop on the way back towards the metro and we sat in the sun and ate the sandwiches and tarte aux pommes (I honestly think we had it every day) which cost a staggering 24 for 3 sandwiches and 3 tartes pretty expensive. Afterwards we had a wander down the Champs de Mars next to the tower and the kids found a small play park which to be honest was for smaller kids than them but they dug in the sand under the slide and chatted to some other kids for a bit who spoke English and Johannes played with a boy who spoke a different language he was French!
The kids needed the toilet again and the signs were leading us all over the place so we eventually asked someone and found the toilets which were next to some pedal cars. The kids had a go on them, the guy had loads of different sizes so they each got the perfect size. They got 7 runs round the track officially but the guy let them have about 12. They really enjoyed it. After that we wandered home.
On the way home Amélie needed the toilet again so we had to get off the metro and look for a toilet. We found a supermarket with a café and used their toilets, the food in the café looked much better than Tesco and other supermarkets here. After that there was a nasty incident in the metro where a guy and a woman were arguing, they were in a group of people and next thing she hit him in the neck and he did the same back. They were shouting at each other in something that wasnt French, we grabbed the kids and took them further along the platform, they were too small to see what was happening with the people in between but the others in the group were all shouting and keeping the two of them apart then eventually after about 30 seconds he frogmarched the woman up the stairs followed by the rest of the group.
The kids didnt really seen anything so werent phased, it seemed like a domestic but still horrible to see.
Kids verdict liked the Eiffel tower at first, loved the pedal cars and playing with the other kids, overall a nice day.
Paris Day 5 Versailles
We got up late as usual and it was a bit rainy on and off. We took umbrellas and waterproofs for the kids, well actually only 1 umbrella which turned out to be a mistake more on that later. We got the RER and some snacks on the way they really do some lovely pastries in France! We got the bus to the Metro and I heard the bleep of the doors as we were almost at the bottom of the stairs. I said if were quick, well get on this but Clare and Jo were a bit behind so Amélie ran onto the train on her own as the door started shutting, Clare jumped in and stopped them closing with her shoulders/arms and I pulled them apart and we all managed to get on very scary moment!
We had to change lines to get onto the RER that ran to Versailles but it was outside Zone 3 so we had to buy extra tickets which were ones we bought near the Sacre Coeur. While we were changing we got some nice baguettes and pasties plus the now obligatory t-a-p! We ate these on the RER as we went out to Versailles and enjoyed some nice scenery including seeing the Statue of Liberty on the way. It was quite heavy rain when we got to Versailles so we put the kids waterproofs on and we tried and really failed to stay under 1 umbrella. When we got to the palace we realised even though wed pre-bought tickets, we had to wait in a very long queue to get in. We had to go through security scan sand leave the umbrella as it was a pointy one through they let me keep my massive swiss army knife. We had to leave the food we had but could take water. The palace was lovely and the kids liked it and we headed out into the gardens but the rain was off and on so we didnt really get a chance to explore them as we didnt have the umbrella and the gardens were massive.
We headed back into town and bought some postcards while the kids played in a French phone box and I tried and failed to connect to Orange wi-fi ended up in McDonalds for a McWee but ended up having something to eat and catching up via their wi-fi. The McDonalds has so much more choice and is generally better in France.
On the way home, Amélie wanted to go to the toilet but we couldnt find any on the RER but as we walked along the platform we realised the RER had them but Amélie refused to go onto the RER in case it drove off We had to stop elsewhere, the toilets were closed so a large tree served the purpose.
Kids verdict - liked the palace but wanted to go home to Scotland
Day 6 Monets Garden
We drove to Giverny from where we were staying along some almost deserted toll roads and got there in about 80 minutes. Giverny is a lovey wee village, very pretty. The kids loved the gardens, they are so lovely and we let them take lots of pictures. Wed eaten outside before coming in after being in the café opposite a few years back and paying through the nose for coffee. The weather was really nice and warm though there were a few wasps around but nothing too annoying. Id highly recommend a visit to Monets Garden and house if youre in the area, Im not into art but the gardens are beautiful and the house is like a museum youre not allowed to take pictures inside except out of the open windows upstairs.
We had a home-made ice-cream outside the garden from a wee van, I had apple sorbet delicious! I promised the kids a free wasp with their ice-cream and it showed up pretty quickly.
Unfortunately the journey back was a nightmare, we were on the road for ages going nowhere so Amélie climbed into the boot and brought back the supermarket mega t-a-p Id bought earlier!
Eventually I pulled off the road along with everyone else and just followed them. The other streets were pretty busy as well and the Sat Nav kept trying to get me back onto the road wed just left so I told it to detour by 3 Km and we followed the new route back to La peripherique. We were at a junction, the slip road in view but all chaos broke loose as the road we had to cross to get there had a couple of other roads crossing ta the same place. Imagine mono blocking, thats pretty much how the cars were arranged, each blocking the other in. Eventually, after 30 mins or so we covered the 100m to the slip road and things were a bit better.
We got home, used up the food we had, let the kids watch some telly and packed. We got the stuff into the car and off to sleep pretty early.
Day Seven the drive home
We got up and checked out, jumped in the car, reattached the roof box and drove back to Calais, meaning to stop at a boulangerie before we hit the motorway which didnt happen. We made very good time and stopped for a break a few hour later and got a couple of excellent baguettes at the service station and some lovely ham, plus we had some left over from the previous day.
The road was pretty straightforward but the last bit had a diversion which I missed but Im not convinced it wouldnt have taken me where I ended up going back the other way past an accident involving a jacknifed lorry and a caravan. As usual, there were inconsiderate people using the hard shoulder and this stopped the ambulance getting there as quickly. The car towing the caravan pulled out in front of us as we left, the caravan had been loaded onto a breakdown lorry but the car seemed ok, just damage to the read left of the caravan you could see inside it.
We were a bit late arriving at the tunnel but got on pretty much straight away then back to England. We stopped off at the same service station wed been at on the way down (south Mimms). The food was pretty good but they had run out of soup which Amélie wanted, they said it would be 10 mins so we all ate. When we went back, they said it would be another hour so we got them to give us something else- sausages and mash but she didnt like the sausages.
We had a fairly long but uneventful drive home getting there just after 1 am with me reading about the London riots as Clare drove.
Paris
We got to Vincennes around 6pm and started unloading. Our room was above the main entrance and a couple of floors up from the underground car park. We woke the sleeping kids and showed them their home for the next week. They were a bit too tired to explore so we let them watch telly while we took turns at bringing up all the stuff from the car which had been randomly stuffed in to be honest!
By the time we got everything in, it was quite late and the supermarkets had closed at 8pm but I found a corner shop open and got some bread, pizza and a few other things. We cooked them and all headed to bed after watching telly for a bit we had BBC 1 & 2, CH 5 and Sky news and alternate CBBC/Cbeebies.
We lowered the wind-down metal shutters on all the rooms and achieved total blackout! This was to be our undoing as we slept very late every morning
Paris Day 1 Sunday Arc de Triomphe
The shutters worked a treat and we slept until about 10am after our early mornings at Disney. Johannes normally wakens up pretty early so they worked well.
I popped out for some breakfast but the local bakery was closed so we had cereal etc. then headed into Paris. We stopped off at the local market to buy bread, ham, goose rillettes (shredded meat like a pate but more meaty), and some tarte aux pommes (apple pie). We wandered along and my memory from 5 years wasnt that good so I couldnt find the RER or Metro. We stopped a young couple and the girl had just moved from England so she was quite new to the area but her boyfriend helped out and we followed them for a bit. The kids were quite hungry so we ate lunch outside on a bench in the wee park next to Vincennes RER. We ended up buying zone 1-3 passes for 5 days for all of us and I found to my surprise that the RER was now in zone 2 it had been zone 3 the last time we were there. This was irrelevant with the tickets we had but a carnet of 10 tickets only covers zones 1 & 2.
We jumped on the RER to CDG-Etoile and got off and climbed up to see the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel tower. We were almost immediately approached by a tourist who started chatting in French with a Canadian accent he thought we were French for some reason Anyway, between us he found the road he was looking for..
We took some pictures and the kids took ours but said they needed the toilet. We found a sign but in the end they were all boarded up so we sneaked into a posh department store in Champs Elysees .While we were waiting for Clare, I had a quick look round, we were in the cigars and leather goods section, they had an iPad case that was 360! We left before they realised we were unlikely to buy anything .
Two Landmarks in one photo:
It was very hot and the kids wanted more to eat so we sat down and ate for a bit and tried to figure out how to get to the Arc, I eventually asked a lady at the bus stop who told me to use the Metro entrance wow the cool of the tunnel was brilliant after the heat! When we got there unfortunately there was a huge queue and the kids didnt want to go up so we took some photos and headed back. The last time wed been we had a lovely walk down to the other end of Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe du Carousel and the Louvre but it was too warm to do that and the kids were tired after the walk to the RER and Disney so we headed home.
Kids verdict a bit boring and a bit hot and they were tired though they liked the RER and the tarte aux pommes
Paris Day 2 Monday Aquaboulevard Water Park
The kids wanted to go to the waterpark wed told them about and it was a lovely day so that became the plan! We had a big breakfast and grabbed some snacks on the way (tarte aux pomme was a big hit with the kids so we had to get it again!). Aquaboulevard is in the middle of quite a business type area next to a heliport in Balard at the terminus of the line so it was fairly easy to get to with 1 change on the Metro.
On the way in, we had to show the mens costumes they had to be close fitting shiny shorts or speedos, you were not allowed to wear baggy shorts there were signs up everywhere saying this.
It was being refurbished so we had to change outside but you had to be careful as the flume above the changing rooms dripped or splashed sometimes! Lots of sun cream later we went to have a look We liked what we saw!
It had a shaped pool and outdoor Jacuzzis on the outside with a load of flumes and on the inside some gentler flumes, 3 ring slides, a rope swing into the water and loads more.
Health and safety officials should stop reading at this point . We found the rubber ring slides and I waited patiently at the bottom until we got a raft style one, they said minimum 2, maximum 3 people but we saw a lot come down with 5 or 6 kids so I thought Id ask at the top what the story was and if all 4 of us could go in. We neednt have worried, there was nobody supervising, you put the ring on a set of rollers, climbed in and waited until the light turned green, the pressed a big button and it trundled you into the ride . It was brilliant and the kids loved it. All the flumes were light controlled. Despite the fact there were loads of teens and younger, everyone waited until the lights turned green and nobody was hurt!
There was a Tarzan rope swing into the water, big queue again, they stopped that when they switched on the wave machine storm machine more like brilliant big waves. There were staff around but they were pretty sparse and let people get on with enjoying themselves, there were only a couple of times I heard the whistle being blown.
You could also take photos and in general, it made my local water pool (Leith Water World) seem like a concentration camp by comparison. None of this prove your kid can swim before they can go on the tyre slides or other such things and throw you out within 5 minutes of calling time, this was open something like 6am to 11 pm!
We left around 6 pm and ate at McDonalds upstairs as it was handy and we were hungry! The kids surprised me by not falling asleep on the way home but they were pretty tired.
Kids verdict can we go back again tomorrow - not at £66 admission you cant!
Paris Day 3 Tuesday - Sacre Coeur
We took the kids to this as we thought theyd like the views and the area around about is quite interesting. The stop we used is Anvers and the local area doesnt look the most welcoming there is some building work going on and some shops boarded up and there was a lot of litter. We had some food out the same shop wed used a few years ago but I have to say it wasnt brilliant.
The kids wanted to go on the carousel at the bottom of the steps. We spoke to an American family who also had kids on it. Their wee boy noticed Johannes Star Wars Empire Strikes Back t-shirt and we got talking. They were heading to Disney in a few days so we had a chat about that.
We used the funicular (Paris Visite ticket did that too) to get to the top of the steps at the Sacre Coeur after that and had a wander round the church which the kids found quite interesting as were not religious so it was a bit of an experience for them and they found all the candles fascinating.
There was some kind of Japanese Wedding photo-shoot going on outside the church which was gathering quite a crowd, I got a picture but failed to get a picture of the lady surrounded with loads of flowers next to them due to the crowds.
We had a wander round the area and found artists square where they all wanted to draw Amélie and do a caricature of Johannes but they were wanting 50-60 either each or for the two of them to do that and we thought it would upset Johannes if he had a funny picture and Amélie had a proper one so we declined but I have to say they give you the hard sell!
We found a wee artisan ice cream shop with the most amazing ice cream, it looked like folds of dough in fantastic colours. We all had a cone or tub which seemed quite small but it was perfect as the ice-cream was very rich. There was a water well nearby so we were able to wash our sticky fingers. I think it might have been for dogs but the water was clean and some people were drinking out of it!
We wandered back to Anvers and joined the queue to use the automatic toilets, Johannes thought it was funny to push the open button while I was using it so we all had to leave, wait for it to self-clean then go back in. The other people in the queue fortunately found it funny
We bought tickets for Versailles from the Tourist Information office before returning home.
Kids verdict they quite enjoyed it overall but Amélie said there were no kids to play with
Paris Day 4 The Eiffel Tower
Another long lie but rain was forecast so we went prepared with a brolly but it was fine, We had tickets booked for 1pm but didnt get out for various reasons until 11.30 or so and by the time we got to the RER or Metro, we didnt have time to grab food. There was an English couple with two young girls on the last part of the metro and all the kids got excited when they saw the tower. We got to the Tower just after our time slot (10 mins or so) and we had to wait a few minutes to get into the lift. The lady on the entrance was quite chatty and told us that people who hadnt pre-booked had been queuing for 2.5 hours. She recommended that those who didnt book should turn up an hour before it opened with a coffee and croissant and have their breakfast while they waited which we thought was brilliant.
The tour went reasonably well, the kids enjoyed it for a bit but were a bit hungry towards the end and Johannes started getting a wee bit stroppy and throwing himself around which in a completely metal structure isnt a good idea as he found out! We descended and I found a shop on the way back towards the metro and we sat in the sun and ate the sandwiches and tarte aux pommes (I honestly think we had it every day) which cost a staggering 24 for 3 sandwiches and 3 tartes pretty expensive. Afterwards we had a wander down the Champs de Mars next to the tower and the kids found a small play park which to be honest was for smaller kids than them but they dug in the sand under the slide and chatted to some other kids for a bit who spoke English and Johannes played with a boy who spoke a different language he was French!
The kids needed the toilet again and the signs were leading us all over the place so we eventually asked someone and found the toilets which were next to some pedal cars. The kids had a go on them, the guy had loads of different sizes so they each got the perfect size. They got 7 runs round the track officially but the guy let them have about 12. They really enjoyed it. After that we wandered home.
On the way home Amélie needed the toilet again so we had to get off the metro and look for a toilet. We found a supermarket with a café and used their toilets, the food in the café looked much better than Tesco and other supermarkets here. After that there was a nasty incident in the metro where a guy and a woman were arguing, they were in a group of people and next thing she hit him in the neck and he did the same back. They were shouting at each other in something that wasnt French, we grabbed the kids and took them further along the platform, they were too small to see what was happening with the people in between but the others in the group were all shouting and keeping the two of them apart then eventually after about 30 seconds he frogmarched the woman up the stairs followed by the rest of the group.
The kids didnt really seen anything so werent phased, it seemed like a domestic but still horrible to see.
Kids verdict liked the Eiffel tower at first, loved the pedal cars and playing with the other kids, overall a nice day.
Paris Day 5 Versailles
We got up late as usual and it was a bit rainy on and off. We took umbrellas and waterproofs for the kids, well actually only 1 umbrella which turned out to be a mistake more on that later. We got the RER and some snacks on the way they really do some lovely pastries in France! We got the bus to the Metro and I heard the bleep of the doors as we were almost at the bottom of the stairs. I said if were quick, well get on this but Clare and Jo were a bit behind so Amélie ran onto the train on her own as the door started shutting, Clare jumped in and stopped them closing with her shoulders/arms and I pulled them apart and we all managed to get on very scary moment!
We had to change lines to get onto the RER that ran to Versailles but it was outside Zone 3 so we had to buy extra tickets which were ones we bought near the Sacre Coeur. While we were changing we got some nice baguettes and pasties plus the now obligatory t-a-p! We ate these on the RER as we went out to Versailles and enjoyed some nice scenery including seeing the Statue of Liberty on the way. It was quite heavy rain when we got to Versailles so we put the kids waterproofs on and we tried and really failed to stay under 1 umbrella. When we got to the palace we realised even though wed pre-bought tickets, we had to wait in a very long queue to get in. We had to go through security scan sand leave the umbrella as it was a pointy one through they let me keep my massive swiss army knife. We had to leave the food we had but could take water. The palace was lovely and the kids liked it and we headed out into the gardens but the rain was off and on so we didnt really get a chance to explore them as we didnt have the umbrella and the gardens were massive.
We headed back into town and bought some postcards while the kids played in a French phone box and I tried and failed to connect to Orange wi-fi ended up in McDonalds for a McWee but ended up having something to eat and catching up via their wi-fi. The McDonalds has so much more choice and is generally better in France.
On the way home, Amélie wanted to go to the toilet but we couldnt find any on the RER but as we walked along the platform we realised the RER had them but Amélie refused to go onto the RER in case it drove off We had to stop elsewhere, the toilets were closed so a large tree served the purpose.
Kids verdict - liked the palace but wanted to go home to Scotland
Day 6 Monets Garden
We drove to Giverny from where we were staying along some almost deserted toll roads and got there in about 80 minutes. Giverny is a lovey wee village, very pretty. The kids loved the gardens, they are so lovely and we let them take lots of pictures. Wed eaten outside before coming in after being in the café opposite a few years back and paying through the nose for coffee. The weather was really nice and warm though there were a few wasps around but nothing too annoying. Id highly recommend a visit to Monets Garden and house if youre in the area, Im not into art but the gardens are beautiful and the house is like a museum youre not allowed to take pictures inside except out of the open windows upstairs.
We had a home-made ice-cream outside the garden from a wee van, I had apple sorbet delicious! I promised the kids a free wasp with their ice-cream and it showed up pretty quickly.
Unfortunately the journey back was a nightmare, we were on the road for ages going nowhere so Amélie climbed into the boot and brought back the supermarket mega t-a-p Id bought earlier!
Eventually I pulled off the road along with everyone else and just followed them. The other streets were pretty busy as well and the Sat Nav kept trying to get me back onto the road wed just left so I told it to detour by 3 Km and we followed the new route back to La peripherique. We were at a junction, the slip road in view but all chaos broke loose as the road we had to cross to get there had a couple of other roads crossing ta the same place. Imagine mono blocking, thats pretty much how the cars were arranged, each blocking the other in. Eventually, after 30 mins or so we covered the 100m to the slip road and things were a bit better.
We got home, used up the food we had, let the kids watch some telly and packed. We got the stuff into the car and off to sleep pretty early.
Day Seven the drive home
We got up and checked out, jumped in the car, reattached the roof box and drove back to Calais, meaning to stop at a boulangerie before we hit the motorway which didnt happen. We made very good time and stopped for a break a few hour later and got a couple of excellent baguettes at the service station and some lovely ham, plus we had some left over from the previous day.
The road was pretty straightforward but the last bit had a diversion which I missed but Im not convinced it wouldnt have taken me where I ended up going back the other way past an accident involving a jacknifed lorry and a caravan. As usual, there were inconsiderate people using the hard shoulder and this stopped the ambulance getting there as quickly. The car towing the caravan pulled out in front of us as we left, the caravan had been loaded onto a breakdown lorry but the car seemed ok, just damage to the read left of the caravan you could see inside it.
We were a bit late arriving at the tunnel but got on pretty much straight away then back to England. We stopped off at the same service station wed been at on the way down (south Mimms). The food was pretty good but they had run out of soup which Amélie wanted, they said it would be 10 mins so we all ate. When we went back, they said it would be another hour so we got them to give us something else- sausages and mash but she didnt like the sausages.
We had a fairly long but uneventful drive home getting there just after 1 am with me reading about the London riots as Clare drove.
