Twohoneymooners With Kids

06 October 2015

Euro40 Reflections

And then they left me.

Ok, so actually I sent them all away on a bus to the airport.

And I went on the train back into Paris.

To meet Lisa at the Eiffel Tower

and start our Amazing Race!

Andrew had snuck into my bag a set of 'clues',

fun little antics for each stop along the trip, cause he knows I've always

loved the thought of being on "The Amazing Race". So fun!

Thumbs up to the start of our dream trip!

Eating snails!!

Stellar dinner cruise on the River Seine

Feeling so carefree!

San Sebastian

Fav photos

Stand outs: Tapas, beach fireworks in the rain, day spa!

Barcelona/Girona

Fav photos

Stand outs: sangria and clams at the terrace restaurant, smelling like clams the next day!, walking through Girona, Costa Brava beach, street musicians. Cray-say! And yes, unfortunately, getting my wallet stolen on arrival. Grrr. I hated being marked as the easy target.

Carcassonne

We made a detour and hopped aboard a train to Carcassonne, a stunning medieval city on a hill.

Mostly because we have the board game and I thought

it would be fun to tell the kids I actually went there and did a Jetstar jump!!

Avignon

Fav photos

Stand outs: Riding segways on cobblestone streets. Crepes. Walking around the wall of the city, standing under an archway waiting for the rain to stop. 3 awesome dinners in a row.

Villefranche

Fav photos

Stand outs: Lunch on that first day with that waiter who was excited about us being from Australia. Walking up to the lookout. Mountaintop village of Eze. Water gun guy at the beach.

Florence

Fav photos

Stand outs: quaint shops, impressive museums, best dinner ever, free drinks!

Assisi

Fav photos

Stand outs: Wine tour enroute, those boys!, cooking lessons from Letitia, the views!, google dog. Thanks Assisi for the lovely (although slightly deluded) feeling of not being tourists for a few days.

Siena

Fav photos

Stand outs: Siena by day and by night, completely memorable. Perquackey game in the square with all that drumming, strange orange drinks of the locals, the changing sky, and driving through torrential rain!

Rome

Fav photos

Stand outs: Della's restaurant, local streets, early morning at the Vatican, pizza 'in the gutter' by the Coloseum, sunset over the city, Amazing Race U-turn clue (ohh so tempting to do it all again!!).

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Lisa you are one fab chick putting up with me all those weeks. I really can't believe how easy it was to travel together and how well we grew to know each other's habits/needs/preferences, such as your need to eat and sleep, and my preference for reading (or playing luminosity!) late into the night and for still water rather than sparkling. I'm sure you could have done without my habits, but you were kind enough to ignore them! You are flexible and fun and I am thoroughly thankful for this trip, for all the memories (and photos that I'm still sifting through), and for my life with you as my [older] friend.

See ya next time.

Even if it's this long away, you'll probably still look younger!

This was my family waiting to cheer me onto the mat
(one they painted themselves!),
at the finish of my Amazing Race!
What a perfect welcome home.

04 October 2015

Castles, old cities, gardens, Paris, Disneyland

After the wedding we had more fun, seeing castles, old walled medieval cities, more castles, towers of the Eiffel sort, and even Disneyland Paris. Sometimes I wish we hadn't stopped there as our last point of call, because it was what the kids then remembered most, but it is what it is, and it was actually quite fun for us all.

It's so hard to be brief with the photos.

There are so many photos to troll through, even after I've spent hours deleting!

Princess and knight dancing to their own beat

Exquisitely manicured gardens

Holding up the princess, or so she would like to think!

The prince...?

Ahh that's better - the princes holding the princess!

Feeling so relaxed. This is St Emillion,

a little walled city, very quaint, very beautiful.

Could have spent days there.

Big high tower!!

This skirt was actually that bright, no filter!

Castle built into the river...

Honestly, how beautiful is this?!

But even with that view, the pond with fish is still more interesting...

The first view of the Eiffel Tower!

The closer you get, the more impressive it becomes

Nighttime sparkles on the hour

Ready to brave the chaos!

She was more than ready for the princess castle

A bit of Buzz Lightyear game competition

No selfie sticks allowed in Disneyland, woohoo!

I was so sick of selfie sticks by the end of the holiday.

And no, I don't own one.

Mum can be girlie too!

Very excited to get to drive!

Big R2D2 saving the young maiden,
who doesn't actually need saving, need I remind you!
(cue the Brave soundtrack)

So here the trip ended for my family.

Not for me however.

I put them on a bus to the airport and sat there with my one bag and backpack.

Couldn't believe my luck.

3 weeks traveling with 6 people, and now I'm only responsible for myself?

Couldn't be, couldn't be...

Anyway, Andrew promptly fell asleep on the way to the airport.

Clearly he needed to prepare himself for the return journey flying solo with 4 kids.

What a champion.

And so begins my Euro40 holiday.

02 October 2015

Pre-wedding fun & Dan's birthday

A week in France before the wedding meant lots of hanging out and relaxing.

At least for us it did, since we weren't the ones getting married!! :)

We stayed here - apartments in an old converted barn.

And had this view, with sunflowers in bloom!

and some of us slept like this (exhausted every night!)

We had a couple dinners like this, at Eugenie's house, where her family hosted us and many others, with large amounts of food! Her dad makes an impressive Paella, I wish I had taken a picture of it!