Ibis Nancy Centre Gare

This is an incredible place...but I don't have any pictures... when I got there my camera stopped working :( But I really think it was a blessing because I just saw everything and didn't worry about getting pictures of everything for later, I just saw and took it all in. It was a much needed get-away and it really blew me away, especially the Cathedral! Mass there was unbelievable...and I have a new-found love of French...and their pastries :)

... King version of Super Size Me!<br><br>We arrived at our hotel in Metz and spokilly enough Rick has been here before. we booked in and then we were confronted with the tasteful decor in the room. I was worried for a nano second that this had been planned and Rick was going to tell me something but thankfully this did not happen.<br><br>It was then that we carried on with tradition and headed off to the bar for a beer on the terrace.<br><br>Regards<br><br>Baz

We got up fairly late and I went with Ben on my parent's grave ... hard to stand there and not feeling emotional. Anyway had to get some flowers as we were invited for lunch "again" at an old friend place have known Phil since as far as I can remember we used to live on the same floor of the housing commission building so we go way back . It was ...

... signs for 10km laughing about what it could be ... probably nothing more than a pile of rubbles. To our amazement after a pleasant drive, there they were... an amphitheatre and its dependences. We went back to Pont-Saint Vincent at the end of the afternoon for a pleasant dinner with my family.

... dinner we went down by the river and let of some FIREWORKS!!! <br><br><br><br>Day 2 <br><br>We visited Johann D'arc house were she was born. The house is around 600 years old. I find it amazing that the house survived the first and the second world wars. Johann D'arc is famous for hearing voices and fighting the English in the 1400's. We stopped at some Roman ruins as we were driving back to the hotel. There was half an amphitheatre and they museum people ...

... have a shower when my wife of 16 years remembered that today was my 45th birthday. We went to place Stanislas had a great time and we opted for a light lunch at "l'arrosoir" nice little place close to place carrier. I drove back Marg and the kids back to the Hotel for a rest and I went shopping for the goodies needed for my birthday dinner. Andouillettes, horse Berliner, rabbit pate, and 6 different kinds of cheeses.... not a veggie in sight, this should be a great dinner.

... once stayed, a ritzy old opera house, and more. In the corners of the plaza, there are no buildings, but there are HUGE gates, which are decorated with real gold. Two of the four corners also have statues. See pictures. Then, in the center of the square is located a giant statue of Stanislas. The simplified story of this statue is that Nancy used to be a part of the relatively small independent province of Lorraine. Lorraine lost ...

... duty Quebec beer (they had a lot of higher percentage brands in their vaults). Last highlight = an excellent light show in the evening in the main town square. Fantastic! With lots of different classical pieces to accompany the show, they managed to convey a nice chunk of French history in a visually extremely captivating way. Well worth the wait (began at around 10 pm and lasted about half an hour). Nancy was well worth the visit.

... headed for Charleville le Messier. We arrived neatly in the week right on schedule.<br><br><br><br>We had a fabulous time with a bunch of great people, and all built up some confidence in running and owning a barge. Now we have our own we will see how much we remember!<br><br>note we have a new blog at <br>www.barginghewitts.webs.com<br><br> <br>

The day after Europa park I went to Nancy,town in Lorraine region,a north of Besak. The reason I went there is another IFSA meeting ,this time the theme of the meeting was Involvement in the forestry action plan and forestry education. Of course,thee were some well known friends like Chavdar , Joseph,and Erik from Ghana. It was nice to see them again. On Thursday morning we had a welcome speech at the Town hall ...