France

As hard as it may be to believe, driving everyday, finding a place to stay, and big days of sightseeing are remarkably tiring. So it's been very nice to spend a bit more time in one place just relaxing. It's also been fantastic to have some good weather. Of the 7 days we've been in France only a couple have been below 30 degrees – a nice change from England.

From the train we drove to St Leu d'Esserent, a small town north of Paris, where we stayed at a superb caravan/camping park. One of the reasons it was superb was the pool and another was the weather. We spent our anniversary lounging by the pool, reading, swimming in the pool, eating baguettes with brie, olives and dips, reading by the pool, drinking French wine, and just generally having a great time.

Paris was over in a whirlwind of a day. We took in some of the sights – the Louvre (we bought tickets at the train station which allowed us to skip the 400m line up!), walked up the Champs Elysees, and climbed the Eiffel Tower (a shirtload of steps). Plus as a bit of a bonus we got to see peak hour traffic from the luxury of a bus, and then experience a 45 minute delay with the train. It was a lovely day though.

The next day we drove into Versailles. We thought we'd stop for a couple of hours to check out the palace and then be on our way... We were there for about 5 hours and could easily have stayed longer to check out more of the gardens. It is not possible to describe the grandeur and opulence of the place. Of all the things we've seen so far Versailles has blown me away the most. However I try to describe it, I can't do it justice.

 The back garden...

Louis XIV chapel

Right now we're in a town called le Lavandou on the south coast where we've been swimming everyday in the beautifully clear water of the Mediterranean. Tomorrow we'll head east to spend some more time somewhere else on the south coast of France before crossing another border and confronting another indecipherable language.   

Oh, and I just checked the weather for Hobart...there's definitely something to be said for skipping the winter.  Enjoy!