Hotel Clair Matin Auvergne

... just give her a E50 note and hope for some change! The same with the butcher - we left yesterday with a piece of beef which cost the same as a small African Nation would have on the blackmarket - needless to say that the children have now been quietly prepped that we dont walk into a shop BEFORE we have looked into the windows first and decided what we want so we can avoid ...

Left St Eloy fairly early and lunched at a motorway aire (with free electricity to cool the fridge, and services for the van's wastes) at La Fayette. On to Le Puy with fantastic volcanic mounds with statues and churches atop.

Coubon a small village with the site 7m above the Loire (unexpectedly this far south), but showing signs of having been 2m underwater in the winter.

En ce frais matin, nous sommes fébriles car nous allons pouvoir bientôt gouter une nouvelle aventure artistique: Jean-Louis V, le célebre cinéaste, va bientôt se livrer a une transe créatrice dont il a le secret, et nous serons au premier plan! Après un travail sur les camions, puis sur la couleur, quelle sera sa source d'inspiration cette année?

... eens kijken. Ze was echter gesloten en gingen we maar naar het andere restaurant. Ik denk dat er maar 2 restaurants waren maar goed:p. Na een steak friet, taart/nougatcreem en koffie/pinke geraakten we wat aan de praat met iemand in de bar. Hij stond in voor het ruimen van de wegen en hij had 14 à 15 uren werk per dag met het ruimen. Hij was 'exceptionel' dat er nu nog sneeuw lag. Dat moest 10 jaar geleden zijn. We hadden ook geluk met het aantal skiers/snowboarders. De ...

Hmmmmm, what did we do today? Oh, that's right, we went to the races! We took our time this morning, no point in rushing since the lads don't actually start riding until close to Noon. We strolled up the road to the station and hopped aboard the train, two of the other passengers we could see were also headed out to see the race. The station at Saint-Étienne is quite nice and the tram stop is right across the square, Leisure Suit Larry could take a ...

... 100m away. She invited us for Champagne, but Alex said he wanted to eat first. That sounded unusual, but ok, fair enough, and we headed nextdoor from the bar to the mythical restaurand L'Aubrac. Those who have met me in person might have heard about its fabulous menu, but I think I'll make a separate entry to report on that. Anyway, pushing the door, I spot my brother in the restaurant, and, still very slow, start saying "hey, how stupid is that: my ...

... first pint, we realise, and feel really stupid, but we'd already drank enough wine to keep us toasty drunk. were all cheering for samoa to strart but when they startt o take over, we change sides. then the ref starts giving stuff against the usa, and garrigan starts shouting "THAT IS SOOOOO NOT AWSOME!!!" ,"YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!!" which inevidably leads to me doing american commentary on the game. "Line ball, misses first three jumpers, caught, high stlye by four ...

... vineyards along the Rhone, we could barely see the truck beside us and the car ahead of us. Eventually even the French slowed down to less than 100kms per hr - their legal speed on motorways being 130kms, so their normal speed being in excess of that. We were invited to stay with Melvyn and Paull in the Ardeche. "Emily" was our travelling companion. Christened by Joy and Gary, she is their resident in-car GPS ...

... thinks because I am so much bigger than he is that their is no way that I am faster than he is. Oh, not so my friend, not so. he was about 15 feet in from of me when he said I couldnt catch him, within seconds I was right behind him and instead of letting me catch him and thus swallowing a little pride, the little **** takes an immediate right into car and flops down into the road. Looks like I win again. But dont worry, it was completely safe and well supervised by myself. lATE.

... adventure. A young couple camping in a tent had found a viper at the site and had imprisoned it in a glass jar. With the other two kids (boys) at the camp site, we held it up and inspected it from up close. Then there was the time when I had just finished playing master mind and had started to draw outside at the table, outside, when a huge stag beetle flew in and decided to rest on our caravan for a while. Although it gave me the shivers, I was also terribly ...