New Places, Old Places

Thursday May 29

As the days get shorter here it is time to think of long summer evenings in Europe and to look forward to setting off on another adventure in the Northern Hemisphere.   This morning we were on the road to the airport at 6.30 am and battled the peak M1 traffic on the south side of Brisbane in order for Caroline fly out to Bali, Jakarta and then London.  Some lengthy layovers will make this a long journey but will facilitate her Bali stay on the way home - however that is getting ahead of ourselves.  Her adventure begins with ten days of catching up with Jessica and other friends and relatives along with a little London retail activity no doubt.

Caroline - Brisbane Airport coffee 

My travels are to begin on June 9 when I fly to Athens via Paris (nothing like taking the long route!) where I will meet up with Caroline.  We will be embarking on a 2 week tour of "The Treasures of Greece and the Islands".   The first week involves a bus trip around some of the major sites of ancient Greece which is all very organised and scripted but should be fascinating.  We will be visiting places that have been on my "to do" list for a long time. The second week will be divided between the islands of Mykonos and Santorini where we have lovely hotels with the choice of doing our own thing or joining optional local tours.  Jessica is coming from London to join us for the islands part of our visit to Greece - what fun!

Greek Treasures and Islands Tour

After Greece we will go our separate ways and have our own adventures but it will be lovely to travel with Caroline on the tour.

Caroline will be heading to Amsterdam for a reunion with her girlfriends from work days, followed by a couple of weeks in Bali where she will be joined by Alex (school holidays by then).  Zac has gallantly offered to be the minder at home - Benji will be having his own little holiday chez Alex and Zac!  Wish I could take him - he loves outings!

My plans involve travelling back to Paris to meet up with my neighbour  Cheryl, her daughter Kristy and another friend (also Cheryl) and spending three weeks in France.  Neighbour Cheryl regularly travels to France and friend Cheryl will be making her first visit.  Kristy is 12 years old and also a bit of a Francophile. 

 Our travels will take us to Normandy, the Ile de Re (Atlantic coast), Burgundy and back to the Ile de France, near Fontainebleau where we will be joined by Cheryl's daughter Heidi and her husband Tim who currently live in London. Jessica may just pop over from London as well, depending upon work commitments.  We have the usual Peugeot lease 308 SW arranged and have rented three gorgeous houses for each week's stay (with the occasional hotel night along the way).  Looking forward to getting back to France immensely and to cycling on the island and along the canals - we have plenty of action planned!  Being gardening nuts we also have a few garden visits on the agenda.  The roses should be blooming in France! And to reward Kristy for enduring garden visits we will go to see the pandas at Zooparc de Beauval.

The final leg of my travels will be a week in London to spend some more time with Jessica and to hopefully catch up with several cousins from both sides of the family.  It will be a new experience to see London in the middle of summer - mostly I remember London as being rather grey and chilly.

For now, plenty to do at home before I leave.