Hi, my name is Zoe Watts and welcome to my diary. On the front page, you'll see the most recent entries that I wrote (with the help of my associates). All entries are also accessible through the Archive link to the left. For photos and stuff, check the other links on the left as well. Oh, and please sign my visitor book.

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Friday, 03 July 2009, 11:00 PM

Sightseeing on the Seine

Today was our last full day in Paris and the end of our holiday in Germany and France. :-(

After yesterday's hot day, no-one was in a hurry to get out and about. Grandma made us all a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast (Grandad went out and got bread).

We caught a taxi to the Eiffel Tower with the plan of going on one of the sightseeing tours on the river Seine. It turned out we should have looked more closely at our map because it was walking distance to it and the Trocadero from our apartment. Actually the taxi driver dropped us off on the north side of the river so we were able to walk across the foot bridge just to the east of the main bridge which gave us very nice views of the Eiffel Tower.

Our boat tour was to leave at 2pm so we had a little time for a snack and a drink.

On the tour we saw lots of great buildings and bridges. The tour lasted for an hour. Daddy took a million photos. The tour guide told us that we would go under 26 bridges so I decided to count all them.

After the tour, we walked towards the Trocadéro where we found a nice restaurant for a very late lunch. It was fun watching all the people walking by with a good view of the Trocadero. We then walked back to apartment and the airconditioning.

Since it was our last day, the grownups started packing. I watched TV. Daddy found the Nickelodean channel which was really good even though all the shows were French or were US programs with French dubbing.

About 8pm we headed out again for dinner and ate at a restaurant just a 5 minute walk away. Very nice. After that, it was home, bath and bed for me.

Tomorrow we're going to the airport to fly home. I'll really miss my Grandma and Grandad, but the really good news is that I'll be seeing Mummy again tonight - hooray!

Thursday, 02 July 2009, 11:00 PM

Paris - city sights

Today we left our apartement about 10am (very early by our recent standards!) and walked the three blocks to L'Arc de Triomphe. From there we got on one of the hop-on-hop-off buses to see some of the sites of town.

Trocadero, Eiffel Tour, Obelisk, Petite Palais, L'Opera, Bastille, Gare de Nord, Gare d'Est

Got off at Montmartre, had lunch; walked up the hill, merry-go-round; Fenicular railway up to Sacré Cœur; Had a drink in the artists square; very hot

Walk round to the railway; Railway down again; Got back on the bus; Caught a taxi back to our apartement

Really enjoyed the air conditioning in our apartment. Had Foie Gras d'Oie (goose), little toasts and a large bowl of cherries for dinner.

Wednesday, 01 July 2009, 11:00 PM

Paris - Musée d'Orsay

Today was our first full day in Paris. We had a slow start since everyone was up late last night after our train trip from Bordeaux. Grandad walked to a local supermarket and bought eggs, bacon, cheese, bread, milk and other items.

We caught a taxi to Musée d'Orsay by just before 12. There is a taxi rank just down from us so it was easy (you can't just hail one in the street here apparently). The museum turned out to be really good. We all got the audio tour guides where you enter the number associated with the particular painting or sculpture to hear all about it. I that that was really fun. I also liked entering other numbers to hear stories about other random paintings.

We had lunch in the restaurant in the museum about 2pm or so. We had a nice view of outside. It was hot outside so it was good we were at the museum today. After lunch, Daddy and I went one way and Grandma and Grandad went another. Daddy and I checked out the Impressionists.

There were two paintings in particular that I liked. The first one was one of ballerinas on stage by Degas, "Répétition d'un ballet sur la scène". I liked this one because it is in an Olivia book I have at home. There were other Degas paintings and we looked at them too, but this one I like the best.

The other painting I like is the bedroom painting "La chambre de Van Gogh à Arles" by Van Gogh. I like this one because it has two of everything - two pillows. two painting on the wall, two doors, to water jugs. I like that.

Daddy also bought a few things from the gift shop, including a t-shirt for each of us and some other things. In the end, we stayed in the museum until closing time at 5:30pm!

We had a drink at a cafe near the museum, then caught a taxi back to our apartment. We then had a rest for a little while then walked to a nearby Sicilian restaurant for dinner. I had a cheese pizza but only ate a little bit of it (the rest we took home). There was a Hagen Daas icecream shop next door so we all had Un Boule (one scoop) each before going home.

I went to bed fairly soon after getting home.

Tuesday, 30 June 2009, 11:00 PM

TGV to Paris

Today we left our apartment in Sarlat for Paris. We packed the rest of the bags in the car. We were able to drive down the main street and park right outside our apartment even though the parking was for truck deliveries - the parking lady let us stop briefly after she realized what we were doing.
We drove to Bordeaux (for the second time) but arrived later than we expected because we decided to stop for lunch in a village on the way which proved to take longer than we wanted.

We dropped off the car at the airport. This car Grandad and Grandma had effectively owned for the passed 3 months they were in France but the arrangement was that they just return it to the people and that was that. 

We caught the bus to the TGV station in Bordeaux which took about 45 minutes, meaning that we arrived at the train station with only 15 minutes before departure, however there were still more to do. Grandad and Daddy raced over to the Hotel Regina where we left our other bags yesterday, then quickly dragged them back to the spot where Grandma and I were waiting. Then we discovered we had to go to another platform, so we had to drag our total of 14 bags down the stairs and back up again. We just made it to the train with 5 minutes to spare before it departed!

Unfortunately, about an hour in, the train stopped. As it turned out, there was a tree fallen over the line from a storm only an hour earlier. We were ultimately delayed 3.5 hours and got to Paris by about 9:30pm. We got a taxi (only one which was amazing considering the number of bags) to our apartment via another location to pick up the keys.

Didn't get to bed till nearly midnight!

Monday, 29 June 2009, 11:00 PM

Taking our bags to Bordeaux

Today was part 1 of moving day. All of our bags won't fit in the car we have so today Grandad, Daddy and I are taking half the bags to the TGV train station in Bordeaux. It's a 2 hour drive but necessary since we have no other way to get all our stuff to the train to Paris. Grandma didn't want to come with us so she stayed in Sarlat and had a relaxing day.

The GPS got us to the train station without problem, however, it turned out that the luggage storage room was closed and the train people had no other alternatives. We eventually figured out another option of going to the hotel across the road. In the end, we had to pay for a room for the night at 31€, just for the bags. We also to make further arrangements since their normal checkout time is 11am and we weren't due to be back until after 1pm. Quite painful but it all worked out in the end.

On the way home, Grandad took us to Saint Emilion which is one of the major areas for wines. We went to the wine merchant Ets Martin that Grandad had been to three years ago (they didn't remember, but were none-the-less impressed), and we tasted some wines. Both Daddy and Grandad bought some wine - Daddy's wines are to take back home for Mummy, and Grandad's was to drink tonight. I really enjoyed sniffing the wines, but I didn't get to taste them.

After Saint Emilion we drove back home, but after all of our driving, we weren't home unitl after 7pm. We decided to have pizza for dinner on our patio. Grandma walked down the street and ordered two pizzas, a cheese one and an "everything" one. Daddy and I went and got them. They were both very yummy. The wine was good too - I had a taste on my little finger!

I had a bath, had a story out on the patio, then to bed by about 9:30.

Tomorrow we take the rest of the bags and ourselves to the train and then to Paris.

Sunday, 28 June 2009, 11:00 PM

In Sarlat

Today, we had breakfast in the breakfast room off the lobby where we're staying, La Villa des Consuls. To get to the lobby, we go out of our apartment via the patio, onto the laneway, then walk up to the lane and into the lobby.

Back in our apartment, I got to watch some cartoons on TV in French - Pink Panther, Tom and Jerry, and others, while the grownups were outside on the patio relaxing.

Today is Sunday, so many shops on the main street closed, but fortunately, since this is a tourist area, there are still plenty of places open. We walked throughout the old city, bought a few things, and had coffee (I had Oringina).

Grandad had a brochure for a nice restaurant up the hill near some art gallaries. The Menu Enfants was a Haché Boeuf avec Pommes which is beef hamburger patty, plus potato sliced and grilled, followed by ice cream (Glaces). The lunch the grownups selected was the 11€ menu Daddy had Foie Gras and then Duck for lunch, and then Creme Caramel.

We looked at one of the art gallaries - Daddy saw one he liked but it was 760€ so he decided against it. It was getting quite hot so we walked back to our aparement. By then, our patio was in shade so we sat there and relaxed.

In the afternoon, we decided to go for a short drive to Limeuil, a pretty village on the intersection of two rivers, the Dordogne and the Vézère rivers. I had fun playing in the water but I didn't bring my swimmers so I didn't get to go swimming. We packed a picnic of bread, ham, cheese, salmon, pate, plus wine and milk (the latter for me). Afterwards, Daddy and I had an icecream.

We didn't get home until 9:30pm but like other nights, it was still light. I had a bath, watched some TV, then off to bed.

Saturday, 27 June 2009, 11:00 PM

Arriving in Sarlat

Today was checkout day from our cottage in Malevergne out in the country to an apartment in the city center of Sarlat. Daddy and Grandad took half of the bags to the apartment and left them in the breakfast room off the lobby; then they came back to the cottage. The owner came and reviewed the state of cottage with Grandad, then we were off to Sarlat.

The apartment included a space in a garage so we left the rest of our bags there and spent the next few hours looking around the city. It was Saturday, market day, so that meant that all the streets in the centre of the city were closed to cars and instead there were street vendors everywhere, selling fruit, meats, clothes, jewelry, and just about everything else.

We stopped for coffee (of course) in one of the Partissier - yummy!

Grandma took us to these bronze statues of geese which I had fun playing on. Note my new Hello Kitty hat - I needed it because it was very hot.

By about 2pm, our room was ready so we checked in. We are staying at La Villa des Consuls, a lovely set of apartments above the main street of Sarlat, Rue de la Republique. A wonderful apartment with a fabulous view.

We elected to have dinner on our patio since it was so nice sitting there. Grandad went out and bought some ham, some cheese, some smoked salmon, and some lovely French bread. We had quite the feast.

Grandad and Daddy were most pleased that the apartment also included Internet access in the form of WiFi, much faster than the GPRS service they were using in Malevergne via the USB dongle Grandad had. They especially liked that they could be on their computers out on the patio!

The apartment has 2 bedrooms so Grandad and Grandma were in one room and Daddy and I shared the other one. It's going to be a great apartment I think.

Once again, it was another late night - I didn't go to be until after 10. I'm really enjoying my time in France so far!

Friday, 26 June 2009, 11:00 PM

Lascaux and Rocamadour

This morning Daddy & Grandad went into Sarlat to get more day cards for Internet access. The Internet access is very slow in the cottage since it is using a cellular network data connection. The connection can operate at 3G+ (3 Mbps) but out here, it uses GPRS at up to 80 Kbps, but we only get half that at best. Aren't I clever that I know this!

Anyway, once they came back from Sarlat, we all jumped in the car and drove to Lascaux.

Lascaux is the site of palaeolithic cave paintings that were discovered in the 1940s by a teenage boy and his dog, so we were told by the tour guide. The guide also said the boy and his two friends decided that they would keep it a secret for the rest of their lives, but their secret only lasted 3 days when they told their teacher. We weren't allowed to take photos inside the caves, but there was a display at the exit of the cave showing some of the drawings.

What we were in was actually an exact replica of the real caves, called Lascaux II. The replica was opened in the 1980s, having taken 11 years to create. The real one was closed in the 1960s after the decided that the visitors were destroying the painting just by being there - moisture and carbon dioxide. The replica is identical to 5mm so the guide said.

At one point during the tour, the guide demonstrated what it would have been like painting back then by turning off the lights and simulating candle light with his flashlight. I was a little bit scared by that, but Daddy was holding me so it was ok.

We stopped at the gift shop and bought a book about the paintings for my class, plus one for me. Daddy also bought a t-shirt. I thought I had lost the pink love-heart bracelet that Aunty Karin gave me, but after searching the card, Daddy found it in his pocket. I cried a little because I thought I had lost it.

Off we drove to our next stop Rocamadour. The drive there was very pretty and we stopped a few times for photos. At one point we came across a flock of geese that are going to be used to produce Foie gras.

Here's one of the pretty villages we saw on our drive. This one was perched high on a cliff.

We drove on to Rocamadour which is a very pretty village built into the rock cliffs. The church and chateau were at the very top of the cliffs and were actually overhanging the cliffs a bit. First we stopped at the top, and had a coffee, Oringina, plus some yummy pastries.Then we walked to a lookout area and took some photos. At the lookout we smelled pizza and decided that would be a great place to have dinner - complete with a great view of the city and the cliffs. So Grandad make a booking for the evening.

We drove down through the narrow streets of the city to the very bottom where we got on the little tourist train that took us back into the village. We walked around a bit, took some photos, and bought a few nice things for a certain Mummy. We then got back on the little train back to the bottom of the cliffs, and drove back up to the top to the restaurant. Daddy and I had pizza for dinner - my Quartre Fromage pizza was really yummy (Daddy agreed it was better than his).

It was a great day visiting Lascaux and Rocamadour and we were tired by the time we got home. I went to bed, but Daddy and Grandma and Grandad had to pack our bags since we are leaving the cottage tomorrow morning to move into an apartment in the centre of Sarlat for the next few days.

Thursday, 25 June 2009, 11:00 PM

La Roque-Gageac

Here's me all ready to jump in the car. I'm holding my pet Swannie plus Rabbie.

La Roque-Gageac boat trip

Drove to Beynac where we had a look at the castle but we didn't go in

Foie Gras for appetizers and Grandma made spaghetti for dinner. We had a William Fevre Chablis and a Nuits Saint Georges Burgandy (Pinot Noir) with dinner.

Wednesday, 24 June 2009, 11:00 PM

Wednesday - Cottage in Malevergne; Sarlat, Domme and environs

Today, after a bit of a sleep-in, some breakfast, and a nice relax around the house in Grandma's cottage in Malevergne, we drove into the city of Sarlat la Caneda. Actually we followed the GPS instructions and like Daddy's Garmin, it gave a more direct route through the back roads, much to the chargrin of Grandma (Daddy liked it a lot and he was driving!).

It was very busy in the city - lots of tourists and people walking around the old city. We parked in a nearby parking lot and walked down to the main street. Grandad pointed out the apartment we were to stay later in the week. Even though the markets had closed by the time we got there (after 2pm), we still found places to buy some lunch - bread and cherries and some eclaires for afters. Grandad and Daddy walked back to the car while Grandma and I waited for them. We then drove around till we found a nice park to have a picnic in (see the Green arrow in the map link). Grandma had brought the makings for lunch and Grandad had a nice bottle of wine. I had some Fanta (which I've learned to enjoy - much nicer than the US version and nowhere near as sweet).

We drove back to the cottage again for a rest. On the way we stopped briefly to watch a farmer bail his hay into large round bails of hay.

In the evening, we drove to Domme (via Monfort where there is a very pretty little castle). Domme is up high over the river Dordogne with very pretty views. Did you know that this area is famous for the production of Foie gras which is both goose liver or duck liver. Everyone but me had some for their entree.

After walking around the village of Domme, we had dinner at the nice restaurant up there that had been recommended to Grandad by a local shopkeeper. It was a lovely evening to sit outside.

On the way home, we drove back via La Roque which we'll go to tomorrow for a boat trip on the Dordogne. That should be very good. The way home was fun because the GPS had us going along all sorts of narrow back roads, some of which even had grass growing down the middle! Daddy thought it was really fun.

It was another late night but I'm really enjoying myself!

For older entries, check the archive.