Bon Appetit!

It is so satisfying to make something yourself, and even more so when you can eat it! In Paris I had a fabulous time making (and eating) my very own croissants and other French breakfast pastries. It was a very enjoyable 3 hour class right in the centre of Paris and in English too, which was more than a bit helpful. With some clever organisation (dough prepared at different stages) we were able to have a go at making the croissants from start to finish - 49 layers of dough and butter in all! I should now be able to make them on my own, although it would be helpful to have a go sooner rather than later, so that I can remember all the tricks of the trade. We ended making 5 different sweet treats including croissant, pain au chocolat, windmills and baskets, custard and raisin pinwheels, and delicious custard and chocolate thingys which I can't remember the name of. Did I mention that we made our own very scrumptious custard from scratch as well? I wish you could have been in the room when our pastries were done, even just for the smell! At the end of class, Phil and I sat in the garden outside Notre Dame and sampled the tasty creations - divine.

The patisseries have definitely been a highlight of our time in France and we have been doing our best to taste test a range of these tasty little pieces of art. We have also been making the most of the fabulous boulangeries (bread bakeries) that are found on nearly every street corner. It feels very French to be walking down the street clutching a baguette wrapped in paper.

And lastly, we have been very fortunate to enjoy some wonderful home-cooking during our time in France. We had some wonderful couchsufring hosts who absolutely delighted our taste buds. It's a special thing to eat and stay with local people. Needless to say, the clothes are feeling a bit tighter.... Bon Appetit!

Our first stop in France was to Dunkirk. We visited a museum about "Operation Dynamo" and walked along the beach.

We also visited the Commonwealth War Memorial in Northern France. If you look closely you can see thousands of names inscribed on the walls.

Versailles Palace in the the Hall of Mirrors. It was fun to see Marie Antoinette's room too.

The gardens at Versailles are ridiculously large and grand. It takes an hour to walk from one end to the other in a straight line! Very cool place to visit.

Croissant making in Paris

Voila! - I made them!

Phil outside Notre Dame, Paris.

A spot of track clearing on one of our off-road expeditions.

We visited plenty of gorgeous little French villages along the way. Love the wooden shutters!

We spent a good chunk of our time in Provence, this is a typical rural scene.

We splashed out for a nice meal out in the city of Lyon. We had the dish of the day (Confit Duck) and the house wine. It was a golden experience.

In southern France we camped a night at a goat farm. The owner milks 200 goats twice a day on her own, to send to a local factory that makes goats cheese.

A home that we stayed in (through Couchsurfing) in the very quaint village of Lauris, Provence - amazing!

Having breakfast on the roof terrace of the house with our hosts the following morning. You could see the terracotta rooftops of the whole village from up there.

We visited a special garden filled with plants used in traditional dying. Here I am making paint from the natural plant dyes.  

Beautiful but narrow streets of Lauris, Provence. Such fun to explore!

We managed to find some of Phil's relatives in Provence and they took us to visit the family Olive Grove. I picked a bunch of the wild Rosemary and Thyme that was growing everywhere.

Driving through Monte Carlo we pulled over for a quick dip in the sea. Very refreshing as it was 30 Degrees Celsius.

From there we headed towards Italy over the mountains and the view was unreal!

We got so high we went into cloud. It was a chilly night camping at the top, but we were rewarded in the morning with the most amazing clear views.

Ginger Beard Man

Well you all will have noticed (aside from perhaps the odd blissfully ignorant male) through the photo stream that I have (had) been growing a beard.  The reason, as I told it to anyone who asked, was to get in touch with my Scottish side, as we travelled through Scotland.  The real reason was much less dignified - I was simply too lazy to shave!  Before we left I thought I was onto a brilliant idea - skip the shaving and I can skip the daily hassle of getting out the shaver, inverter and adapter, spending 5 mins shaving, and putting it all away again, only to repeat the monotony the following day.  I had thought about implementing this "brilliant" plan throughout our entire trip.  That idea was short-lived, and my plan short-circuited by the itchy, straggled and tangled mess that was my beard after only 1 month!  Shaving each day, I realised, was probably less hassle than having to trim and maintain a beard every few days.

So the beard-idea was ditched, in time for our departure from Scotland.  After spending a couple days back at "home" in Yorkshire, and further few days with Jean's relatives in Kent, we have now crossed the channel for France.  Our continental adventure has begun!

Guilty, surely!  Visiting a prison museum :-)

And Voilà - the beard is gone and I am innocent again (Ramsgate harbour)

The Cowal Highland Gathering in our last days in Scotland - Jean was excited to visit here, the gathering of the World Highland Dancing Championship

Along with plenty of pipes and drums - this band is wearing McLean tartan.

In Glasgow, the mascot of the games.  Glasgow was a very surprising city.  It doesn't have a great reputation in the rest of the UK, but it's a fabulous city with a surprising amount of heritage and culture.  We want to come back!

Travelling south towards Kent, we stopped for the night by this signal box.  We couldn't believe it when we saw a man appear out of the "box" and run to open the gates for an approaching train (and close them on the road).

We got chatting to the signalman, and ended having a cup of tea and a good chat with him.  It turns out there are still many manned train crossings in this part of England.  All the controls inside the room look unchanged since the 50s or 60s - it was like stepping back in time.  Truly - he still communicates with the next signalman down the line with a morse-code like "tapper" which rings a bell in that box.

Train has passed, and gates closed to allow cars to cross again until the next one.

Workout on the Thames with Jean's relatives!

Having a sandwich in Sandwich!