Ibis Poitiers Centre

... of the French countryside with some English folks (Amanda, her daughter Alexandra, and Amanda's mother-in-law Jan) renovating their house; they earned their room and board by assisting in the renovation, laying tile. When I was hanging out with the two of them in La Cinque Terre, they were raving on and on for a good long while about what amazing people the folks they stayed with are. As it happens, they told ...

... around the pool in the sunshine for a week, until the weather changed and became more autumnal. Helene left us after a fez days, and we stayed on our own in coussay whilst papa, maman and granny went back to Thouars. It's nearly the end now, only one more stage until we come back home!

... down the Nile, felt the effects of a meteor hitting the earth, dodged dinosaurs and experienced the lunar landing from the viewpoint of an animated fly.
We reached another Howie milestone when both parents chickened out of the dancing with the automated robots. The boys described this experience as 'awesome'. We will take their word for it.
Our campsite tonight is a special Campervan designated carpark, a bargain at only 6 euros, we just need to be on our way before 8am.

... relief. We celebrated with more biscuits and more water and Sooty declared option A the right choice after all. Following this we could enjoy the walk, with frequent breaks for water, biscuits and, in my case, blackberries and my concerns about exactly what state she'd be in when I got her home were eased. So, it was a lovely walk in the end.

Tomorrow we have another day off (2 a week here, woohoo) and Douglas is going to drop us ...

... and found another free camping spot. However, this place wasn't so luxurious. In fact as we were going to bed some french kids started drinking on a bench a few yards away. Olly had a go at some manly stuff and tried his hand at fishing. Need I say he failed. Fish don't like pain au chocolat. But on the plus side we saw a frog the size of a puppy.

... that fussed about growing anything other than courgettes because of the room they take up), such as pinching out the tips when they have a couple of fruit on or reach around 24 inches in length. Jan also showed me the melons growing in the farmers field and explained that there are usually around 7 fruit per plant and when the farmer wants to bring on the ones left the leaves are spread away from them. It was a lovely day and I really enjoyed getting stuck in although my ...

... in a small French town with its' winding narrow roads. I would stop at the old town church and take pictures. I would look around, sometimes accidently peeking through a window or open door to see the kitchen table full of French food, or a wife as she cleaned the tiny French flats and hearing music in the background. Even in some of the smaller towns, people lived in small flats or apartments. Often times they were located above or next to their small restaurant or store. It was an ...

... so buy one now for only 2 euro. The Gare de Poitiers (airport) is small, as is the town. It is located in the region Poitou-Charentes. Looks like they brought in 2 customs officers for the flight. The flight had close to 200 people on it. So once you get your baggage, you can queue for customs. Which amounted to 2 questions, " Do you have anything to declare ? " " What is your purpose for this trip?" You get the entry stamp and are on your way ! It was ...

... indiquant que le cours était annulé. J'ai alors découvert qu'il ne l'était pas, mais qu'il se donnait dans un autre local au lieu, où je me suis rendu de suite. J'arrive dans le local, je m'assois et je réalise quelques minutes trop tard que je n'avais pas d'affaire là. C'était un cours de Travaux Dirigés que les étudiants provenant de l'extérieur n'avaient pas à faire. Étant trop gêné pour sortir du cours, je me suis dit "**** it" et j'ai attendu que le cours finisse ...

... 1748) engraved on top of it. Yesterday evening, the brits and the american invited me to go party with them at this karaoke bar downtown. I think it's really cute when French people sing English songs. "She iz ze girl of my dreems". We had a lot of fun. Poitiers has a lot of students. About a quarter of its total population, I heard, are students, both local and foreign. This is strongly contributing to the fact that there is a healthy nightlife and a generally ...