Tag: France

A Little Bit Of Stress Is Good For You

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Greece to Belgium and two countries in between.

We seem to be encountering more mishaps, or stressful moments as we travel these days. I am not sure whether it is all “Post COVID” fallout, or just that we are getting older, but we are finding that travel is not as easy as it used to be. And it is so much more expensive.

We flew from Brisbane to Zurich via Doha with no problems at all. Leaving Germany to get back to Zurich (train ride) was fraught with stress, but we got there on time and made it to our flight to Athens.

To read that story, click here – https://kiwisdofly.blog/2024/01/10/be-careful-what-you-wish-for/

Getting to Leros Island, in the Dodecanese island group, there are 2 options. A 10 hour ferry ride from Piraeus or a flight on a 30 (or so) seater plane 3 or 4 times a week – depending on the weather. We chose the flight and it was perfect, on time, smooth and spectacular views as we flew into Leros. We could recognise the whole island from above and got pretty excited to be coming back.

Our awesome house owner came to pick us up and we fell instantly in-love with the island all over again. We were here at the end of 2019 for 7 weeks doing this same house sit and we loved it. It is so wonderful to see Michael and all the cats again.

Life on the island has not changed a lot. We felt instantly at home and spent many hours walking the tracks and hills, finding new routes and going over old favourites. The scenery is fabulous and the hospitality is still very Greek – ie so welcoming and generous. Chris did a bit of snorkelling and found more WWII relics including a pistol thingie and many bullets.

Sadly all our house sits have to come to an end at some point. The weather had been really nice, around 16-18 degC most day until the last week. The temperature dropped and the wind came up. 5 days out from our departure, we were studying the weather forecast. We had booked the plane to leave on Saturday, the forecast was not looking good. We had 2 nights accomodation in booked in Athens and a flight to Paris booked for Monday.

What are we going to do if the flight is cancelled? Just to put it into perspective, we have been on the island and experienced 4 departures, 2 were cancelled, so that is 50% chance of being cancelled and the weather was not looking good. We found there was a ferry leaving on Thursday night and Sunday night. If out flight was cancelled then we could get the next flight on Tuesday or the ferry on Sunday, but either way we would lose our accommodation and miss the flight to Paris.

Thursday morning we made the decision to leave the island early. We took the overnight ferry on Thursday night and arrived in Athens a day early, but at lease we got there. We had a fabulous extra day in Athens and on Saturday we watched to see if the flight we were supposed to be on went ……..it did not! We made a good call! But how stressful was that for the last few days on Leros?

Athens is a great city, we loved being there and it turned out to be a bonus that we had an extra day. The Parthenon and the Acropolis were breath-taking. The history and ancientness is almost incomprehensible.

Next stop Paris. Then a very easy trip from Charles De Gaulle through the Metro system to meet a BlaBlaCar in the city centre – I think the Arc de Triomphe was right above us! Our driver took us to Chatellerault. Yes! We are going back to the Chateau!

Read our Fairy tail castle story here – https://kiwisdofly.blog/2019/11/15/our-fairy-tale-in-france/

I cant really describe how wonderful it was to be back. We feel very much part of this family after having 3 months here with them in 2019. They have been super busy the last four years and there are many changes and improvements, and the whole estate is looking amazing! We met the current house sitters and had 3 days of wonderful company, food and lots of laughs.

But, again, it is time to move on. Train, Train, bus – all the way to Amsterdam. When we get to Paris we have 90 minutes to get from Montparnasse to Bercy Seine, google says it is a 30 minute journey. Cool, we can make it. Oh no, here comes our friend “travel stress” The train from Chatellerault, on time. Train to from Poitiers to Paris – delayed 45 minutes. Oh crap, we have a good idea how to get from Montparnasse to Bercy, but it will be 11pm and dark. Sitting at the station, tap tap tapping our feet just praying it all works out. The bus from Paris is an overnight bus, leaving at midnight, if we miss this, then what? Tap tap tap….. 45 minutes late becomes 35 minutes late – yes! And once we were on the train, the driver must have put his foot down because we were only 25 minutes late getting in. phew. we did it!

The Metro system in Paris is so easy. The sign posts and information is so clear, we made it to Bercy Sein Bus station in plenty of time.

The bus ride was great, Blablabus this time, really comfortable seats and we both managed to get a bit of sleep.

Our friends were there at 0630 to pick us up and oh what a fabulous weekend we had. There was still some snow in Holland, which made everything look so beautiful. We did some sight-seeing, saw clogs being made, saw loads of windmills – even went inside one! Saw a frozen lake, watched Mama Mia (well the girls did, the boys went to the brewery!) and ate a lot of wonderful food! So the motto of the weekend was “I am so full – or am I just still full” Again, so wonderful to see friends we have not seen in 4 years.

But yes, it is time to move on again! This time down to Brussels to meet the plane to London. Denis drove us all the way from Holland which was over and above, but we appreciated it so much. A rainy day in Brussels, a few beers and of course frits (French fries) and that is it, our 90 days here in Europe is done and dusted.

Brussels

Fun Fact

French Fries actually originate in Belgium. Yes its a fact! During WWI, American soldiers stationed in Belgium discovered these fried potatos. But because most people in the southern part of Belgium spoke French, they ended up calling these little slices of heaven “French Fries”

Thank you for reading our story!

Our Fairy Tale in France

Published on by kiwisdofly26 Comments

We have been here for about 7 weeks now and we are loving every minute! We will be here for 11 weeks all together. This is a really cool house sit, very different from any we have done before. We are at a Chateau in the Loire valley, outside a small village near Chatellerault. We arrived by fast train, the TGV, it travels at about 300 km/hr, though you would never know when you are on it. We flew from Brazil to Portugal, then to Orly, got a bus into central Paris where we got the train south. It was a pretty long day all up, but worth the effort ––

We are now in Europe!!

The Farm House – its like our own little castle

We were picked up by the previous house sitters, who were leaving the next morning. The property has a main house, a gate house and a farm house, along with many other out buildings, an orangery, barns, workshops, garages, wells and caves.  We are staying in the farm house. There was a meal waiting for us of traditional Confit de Canard – OMG SO GOOD!! and a very welcoming bed! Our first mission was to take Greg and Nam to the train station in Poitiers the next morning at 0600, they were heading back to Australia. This was no bother for us as our body clocks were so screwed up, we didn’t really know which was up or which was down. In reality it was a real baptism of fire! Driving on the wrong side of the road, in the dark, no idea north from south, jet lagged! HA! Thank you google maps! We drove back very slowly concentrating so hard on keeping to the correct side of the road. We made it in one piece and as the sun comes up we see the beautiful place we have landed ourselves in. WOW this is like a fairy tale, – it’s a castle! A real castle and so beautiful.  The weather is great, blue sky and pleasantly warm. I think we are going to be very happy here.

Our hosts are amazing, we have been welcomed in as part of the family. It is a privilege to be here and we feel so lucky to be able to have this opportunity. We are living in rural France, just like a local and are learning so much of the culture and lifestyle, the language and traditions. It is truly amazing, almost too good to be true! We help out on the estate, gardens, painting, collecting wood etc. It is a huge upkeep for a property this size and we are so glad to be able to help out. Of course there is wine and cheese to try on a fairly regular basis, all educational of course!

We were taken for a day at the local farmers market. A small town about 20kms from here has a huge market on the first Monday of the month. It was so much fun! Our lovely host took us which was great because he was able to explain a lot of things. I don’t think there is very much that you cannot get at this market! From pet rabbits to every variety of eating fowl, snails and eels to cakes and wine to lawn mowers and orchard trees. No beer tent like our markets in NZ – but a wine tent. The old boys there chatting, catching up with the last months gossip over a wee Rosé, this happens from 0630 by the way! The atmosphere is so friendly, everyone happy and glad to see everyone else. Crepes, cheese, garlic, sausages, everything you could imagine, its all here in abundance and so fresh and delicious. We got all sorts of wonderful things, 3 trips back to the car to unload! Then best of all back home to cook and sample our purchases for lunch. Our lunch menu today?  Oysters, white wine and 1st cut of wine (yes it’s a thing, not quite a fruit juice, not quite wine, prob about 3%) Boudin noir (French Black Pudding – soft velvety texture, nothing like our black pudding) with corn, fresh soft goats cheese and to finish, a local delicacy, the Tourteau Fromagé  Which is a cake made with cheese and has a blackened top – looks like it has been left in the oven for too long. Delicious! How lucky are we to experience this! We are really pinching ourselves.

The history here is staggering! Coming from New Zealand, we don’t have the everyday appreciation of the history that is here in Europe. When you can walk down a cobble street and know that it was here, in this actual spot, 600 or 800 or more years ago – blows my mind. I always wish we could snap our fingers and be back there then – just to have a look and see what life was really like at that moment. But we have the history books, and we have Google, and we still have the buildings and the cobble streets so we can imagine, we can picture in our minds the life here.  The things we see on TV, the movies etc, the things we think are just made up for impact are actually normal life here and we are loving being part of it. Buy a baguette every day – yes its normal! EVERYONE does it, Eat cheese at every meal – yes its normal, Have to navigate narrow country roads with blind corners and only room for 1 vehicle – yes just a normal day! We are not on a movie set, this is real and that is why we love it! These experiences are why we travel.

So, each day when we can, we walk to our local village and buy a baguette traditional. Chat to the lovely ladies at the wee café, sometimes have a coffee, then stroll back. We have a bit of a French lesson while there, it is hilarious, most people here do speak a bit of English and between hand gestures and puzzled looks, we seem to get the point across.  We were doing pretty well in Brazil with our Portuguese, but French is eluding us a bit, the Portuguese has confused our mono-lingual brains – but we keep trying! Our fridge always has at least 3 different types of cheese and a typical lunch will be that beautifully fresh baguette, butter and cheese. Sometimes a bit of pate but that’s it. So simple yet so satisfyingly delicious. Our Friend Tricia, who lives in Holland, came to stay for a night and we had this discussion… what is it about France that all you need are the simple things? Is it because those simple things are so good? I don’t know, but it is so true. Evening meals are simple too, no plate filled to the brim of a multitude of flavours, just two things, two perfect things paired together to be amazing. Often there is more than one course though.

So to say we are loving France is somewhat of an understatement! Together with its beautiful countryside, wonderful people and stunning cuisine, we feel like we have died and gone to heaven! We are in a real life fairy tale, truly Amazing!

Lots more adventures in to come!!