Jody and Josche Overseas: December 2009

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Christmas in Larret

After our time in Paris we were lucky enough to be invited to spend Christmas with the Claytons in the country cottage in Laret France. We jumped on a Train to Angouleme where the Claytons met us. Soon after we arrived the Brady's pulled in on there train and we all piled into the cars and headed for Laret which was about an hours drive.

The drive home was a very interesting drive along with the small windy roads plus driving on the right side! So we had a little trouble with the car on the way home but after all the drama we were safe inside our gorgeous and warm little cottage in the country side!

From 2009-12 - Xmas France

We spent a lovely week hanging out in the country going to Christmas markets, visiting the local hardware/post office/pub. Eating way to much food! It was so great being surrounded by chef's for a week! Lots of beautiful home made food! We had a fantastic time!

The highlight for Josche I am sure would have to be the fireworks, it is legal in france to use fireworks, so Josche went crazy and bought lots of them and the boys had a fabulous time setting them off in the back yard.

From 2009-12 - Xmas France

Unfortunately due to my now lack of drinking ability I was ridiculously hungover on Christmas day but I did manage to have some Christmas lunch eventually!

After Christmas the Claytons and the Brady's went on an adventure to Paris, Josche and I stayed behind to relax in the country and go for a drive down to Spain.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Paris

Paris was freezing cold and snowing which made everything look beautiful!! As Paris was a quick stop over before we headed south for Christmas, we wanted to ensure we saw as much as we could.

On the first day we put out walking boots on and checked out the Louve, Notre Dame and the Effiel tower.

From 2009-12 - Paris

We took one look at the lines to go up the Effiel Tower and decided it was way to cold and to long to wait. So we headed over to the Christmas Markets.

On the second day in Paris I go to go shopping! Window shopping anyway which was really cool there are so many beautiful shops! We finished up the day by heading back to the Christmas markets to have a hot wine and a sausage on bread whilst watching the Effiel Tower's light show.

From 2009-12 - Paris

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Nice & Monaco

We arrived in Nice via train late on the Friday night, we arrived at the backpackers and some awesome dinner that the Backpackers cook had prepared for that night.

The next morning we woke early to discover that it had been snowing all night and there was ice on the ground everywhere! On our way down the hill we were trying not to go arse up on the ice, we saw many cars attempting to drive down the hill, they weren't exactly driving they were sliding!! Very scary!! Once we made it down the hill we bee lined down to the beach to have a look around and up to a look out point with a fantastic view!!! The beach was covered with snow which looked really cool and definitely something we never see in Aus!

From 2009-12 - Nice, Eze Village, Monaco

We then jumped on a bus and headed up towards Eze Village and Monaco, unfortunately the village was closed but we had a bit of a look around then jumped back on the bus to get to Monaco.

Once we got to Monaco it was instantly evident how rich it was!! We probably needed to be a little more dressed up but it was all good.

From 2009-12 - Nice, Eze Village, Monaco

We went and checked out some boats sailing and then down the Christmas markets for some Churros mmm... The Boats in Monaco are Massive and very expensive I was like a kid in candy shop looking at them all!

From 2009-12 - Nice, Eze Village, Monaco

That night we went back to the backpackers and had another fantastic meal from the cook! Before we caught the train the next day to Paris!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Grenoble, Chamonix, Annecy & Les Deux Alps

After we sorted our passports out in London, we ventured over to France to catchup with Trudy in Grenoble. We arrived in Grenoble on the Friday afternoon and the lovely Trudy came to pick us up from the Train station.

The next day we went for a drive, Trudy took us up to Chamonix and gorgeous little village at the base of Mont Blanc (White Mountain). It was now snowing consistently so we walked around the markets then got a bite to eat for lunch.

From 2009-12 - Grenoble, Mont Blanc, Annecy

After lunch Josche just had to have a snow ball fight completely one sided as you can see below!

From 2009-12 - Grenoble, Mont Blanc, Annecy

Once Josche got over throwing snow balls at me, we started to make some snowmen mine was so much better!!!

From 2009-12 - Grenoble, Mont Blanc, Annecy

This is Josche's Snowman

From 2009-12 - Grenoble, Mont Blanc, Annecy

This is my snow man!

From 2009-12 - Grenoble, Mont Blanc, Annecy

TADA!

After Chamonix we drove back dow towards Grenoble but took it a bit slower to see some of the amazing scenery on the way!

From 2009-12 - Grenoble, Mont Blanc, Annecy

On the way back Trudy took us to another beautiful little village that was situated on a massive lake where they go sailing in summer and the up the mountains to ski in winter, sounds like heaven! It was also known as the venice of France as it had beautiful little canals. It also had the Christmas markets going!

From 2009-12 - Grenoble, Mont Blanc, Annecy

The next day was Sunday, Josche was feeling a bit sick so Trudy and I decided to venture up to have a look at the Les Deux Alps (The 2 Alps). The scenery up here was amazing I have just put a sample of the photos below. Whilst we were up the mountain we had some lunch at the ski resort and a bit of an explore around before heading home.

From 2009-12 - Les Deux Alpes

The next few days Trudy had to go back to work :-(, so Josche and I explored Grenoble, and some of the towns near by in the Alps. Grenoble was a great town for Christmas shopping markets and Vin Chaud (hot wine)!! The day we ventured up the Alps it was freezing cold I thought my toes were going to fall off! We tried to stay inside with a hot chocolate where we could. Basically we walked until we got to cold.

From 2009-12 - Grenoble

After our few days in Grenoble it was time to catch the train to Nice! The day we left it was snowing still so it was on with the backpacks to hike in the snow!

From 2009-12 - Grenoble

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Wales, England & Scotland

We arrived in London to meet Trudy and started our road trip off to Wales, we managed to get a GPS that took us along a goat track which was apparently very beautiful but because it was dark we weren't able to see much. We stayed in a small seaside village called Treaddur Bay. It was very cold and very windy, but a beautiful little coastal town.

We headed to the local pub to join in there trivia night and to our surprise we didn't come last!!! And there were even some Australian trivia questions :-)

From Wales we travelled to northern England and stayed in a little town near Newcastle called Morpeth and did day trips to towns nearby, visited beautiful castles and gardens through northern england.

From 2009-12 - England

One of the castles we visited was Dunsborough castle right on the coast of England it was beautiful but VERY cold and windy, we got some great shots of the castle with a rainbow.

From 2009-12 - England

We drove into Scotland for an overnight trip to visit Blair Atholl which is where Josche's family comes from (the Stewart side), it was a quiet beautiful little town and it snowed overnight which was really cool we went out and played in the snow then did a pub crawl (to all 2 of there pubs).

We did a tour of the Blair Atholl Castle the next day before we headed up to the old farm where his Great Great Great Great Grandfather once lived.