OK. Paris.

So much to say and such little energy to write it all down!!

heres it all in short.

Seen/Been:

- Eiffel Tower

- Wall of Peace

- Notre Dame

- Oldest Bridge

- Oldest Tower in Paris

- Oldest Tree in Paris

- Basillica

- Arc de Triumph

- The Louvre

- Mona Lisa

- The most expensive street in Paris

- The most expensive restuarant in the world

- The canals, and tunnels under the streets of Paris

- A big ball- Geode 3d theatre

- U2 live... ok not really... but in 3D!

- The Finish of Tour de France

- Montmarte

- Moulin Rouge

- Galleries Lafayette

- The Tube

- The Tube

- The Tube

- The Tube

- The River Seine

- Ferraris, Bugattis, BMWs, Porsches

- Umbrella Dancing

- EuroDisney

- Mickey Mouse

- Military School

- The Opera house

- The Court of Justice

- Bastille

- Antique Markets
- and lots more that will stay in our memories but isnt coming out right now...

First Paris Days...

Allo allo

Yes the Imms's have finally made it to Paris! We arrived on monday night. It was a 7 hour drive from Pissos and then 1 hour to find a place to park the car!! Finally we gave up and called Noemie (our friend who we are staying with in Paris) and she came and found us and helped us find our way. We were VERY thankful.

From our very first day in Paris Noemie had everything planned out for us. We woke up, had breakfast and then straight out the door to catch the tube to the military school in the city - a very IMPRESSIVE old building in Paris... but then again... all the buildings here are BEAUTIFUL. This military school was top class and only French people whos parents had been members of the French military are alllowed to attend and the grades must be top of the ladder. Not an easy place to be i think.

When we had seen the military school we looked behind us and there it was... the EIFFEL TOWER. Trademark of France, the image we had dreamed of ever since we started planning this trip. but before that was the wall of peace which had peace written all over it in approx 400 different languages. A beautiful glass wall with concrete pillars scattered on either side, but all parts covered in writing, a beautiful symbol of something that we all long for. After finding the word in english we walked through and on to the Eiffel tower and the gardens that are before it.

The tower seemed to get bigger and bigger as we got closer and closer and felt smaller and smaller... It really is as beautiful as they say it is. But the closer you get the more people you see... the line was MASSIVE abouth half way through the line there was a sign saying "three hour wait from this point" just to climb the stairs to the first level!! Sorry everyone, but we DIDNT wait in the line. The way i see it, the whole idea of going to the eiffel tower is to SEE the actual tower, so really, seeing it was enough, and we wouldnt have seen anymore of it if we were on it.

I just realised that this blog is going to be rather long... we have done SO MUCH in the last two days!!!

After the tower we walked on and came to the Palais Trocadéro, the building dedicated to human rights. From there it was a gorgeous view of the tower and everything in between, there was a plaque stating that it was forbidden to sit on the grass and also to swim in the fountain, but i dont think anyone had read it because there were people doing both of those things, and ALOT of poeople too!

Not far away was the Cathedral de Notre Dame. WOW. So much lore beautiful than i had imagined and huge aswell. I think i have only ever seen it in the movie Hunchback of Notre Dame so i guess an animated film cant really give you any idea of what to expect... So on our first day, we saw the oldest church (Notre Dame), the oldest bridge, the oldest tower (not the eiffel tower), and the oldest tree!! So much information to digest in one day!!

SECOND DAY

Woke up, breakfast, ready to go.

First caught the bus to Montmatre, from where you can see almost all of Paris. VERY BEAUTIFUL. At the top we saw the Basilica Cathedral, also amazing. We werent allowed to take any photos inside though... Beyond the Cathedral is a small village, we walked through there and saw the art markets, artists painting in the square - all amazing. Apparantley, to be allowed to paint in that spot the artist needs to fill out a form and there are SO MANY artists wanting to paint there that the waiting list is 4 YEARS LONG!!! It was wonderful to walk through and see it all in action though.

We walked down from there to the high fashion end of Paris... wow wow wow... It was soooo hard for me to see all those beautiful things and then look at the price tag!! Chanel, Dolce & Gabana, Versace, Diesel, Giovanni, and SO MANY MORE!! Even the store itself was absolutely magnificent! the roof - domed, stained glass. Gorgeous tiers all the way up each holding a store. So beautiful... Mum bought her very first leather jacket. A twenty fifth anniversary present i think, very nice. A good find by me i might add... and haley spent a few euros on a dress, one a bit closer to her price range than most of the rest.

Outside we saw the Opera house, another AWEsome building, absolutely beautiful. Gold statues on the top shining in the sun glistening with french beauty, more statues further down depicting the great artsists whose music still lives on within the walls of that building- Beethoven and Mozart were the two i recognised, but there were sevral more, im just not very knowledgable in the history of great musicians... But even just the sight of that building inspires you to want to learn more about the men who earnt a place on such a beautiful structure

We continued down the road, past diamond jewellery worth hundreds of thousand, past red ferraris, past the ritz the most expensive hotel in france where all the celebreties stay, past many more beautiful scenes and sights and finally came to the Luvre, which is ABSOLUTELY HUGE!!! it was once a palace for a King, he decided that it wasnt big enough to show how powerful he was and so he expanded it enormously, it still wasnt finished when he died. The building its self is almost too much to take in, in front of it is two large glass pyramids and some triangular ponds, some with fountains. Haley and I were very gratefull for these water features as both our feet needed a good soaking in its nice cool refreshing water, it was a very much needed and welcomed rest for our poor tired feet. We decided not to tackle the Luvre right there and then so we are waiting for a whole day to spend there, so our feet can be spent only in one place perhaps...

Anyway! after that was home to a nap for me and then dinner and dessert, both BEAUTIFUL french dishes cooked by our lovely hostess Noemie, and then BLOGGING!!! woo hoo!!!

So now i am finished, and you are probably relieved... sorry... ha ha.

So until next time!

Farewell!!!!

Love to all,

Kirsty

xx

St Emilion, Bordeaux

St-Emilion is a medieval village that somehow has survived the passage of time unscathed,

to the extent it has been heritage listed by UNESCO as an international site. Originaly it was a pilgrimage

site for pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem. St Emilion was a Benidictine monk who was a sort of Robin Hood

character, lived in a little cave, which is one of the holy sites in the village, along with the largest

underground church in Europe. The geography is clay and sandstone perfect for vineyards so for

centuries it has been a wine growing area. There is said to be over 200 kilometers of tunnels and

caves underground in the area. We visited Chateàu Rossabelle and saw their underground cellars.

Kirsty and I picked up a bottle each of their 2004 vintage, which will be at its best in 10years, so

they tell us. Incidentaly, although the cost of living here is much dearer than home, wine is very cheap.

Most recent Bordeaux vintages sell for less than $10 aus in the supermarkets. We had lunch at an outdoor

cafè then took a tour of the holy sites, that are still sacred and tended to, by the local faithfull. The picture

above of the girls is taken at the entrance to the underground church. We were forbidden to take photos

within. St Emilion realy is magical, all the tiny shops tucked into unlikley nooks, and the cobble stone

streets are just the way you would imagine them to be; you have to keep reminding yourself

that this is the real thing, not a recreation for a movie set!

See ya.

Chàteau fort de Roquetaillade

Hello all, to day we visited our first ridgi dide medievil castle. Rooquetaillade is 30 min from Pissos in a little hamlet called Mazères. One thing I had forgotten from my school days was that the English had been here ( 100 years war, Joan of Arc and all that), and this is one of the castles that King Edward 1st built. Actualy the castle in the photo, was built in 1306, on top of the original which was smaller. It has a moat, drop bridges, escape tunnels and the works...fantastic. It's claim to fame from other castles and chàteau's scattered all over the area is that it has remained in the same family since 1306, and they still live there. Quite how they managed to survive the revolution and keep their land I was not able to work out; unfortunately the tour guide had limited English. There was an English information sheet, and we were able to listen in to a nice Pom, who was interpreting for his children. They have discovered a stone age grotto under the old castle, where arceologists have recovered artifacts. This seems to be a reccuring theme, sites with natural advantages, have been lived in for thousands of years, each tennant building on top of the previous.

Barcelona

Well it is Thurs 16th and we are back at Pissos, after getting back from Barcelona late yesterday afternoon, and what an adventure it has been! It is hard to put into words the effect that the city had on us, but it has been profound. Barcelona, thrilled us, scared us, overwhelmed us, robbed us and in the end, after we began to get used to her ways, wooed us. It began (as usual) with a car crisis. We knew that parking in the city itself is next to impossible, so we planned to drop our gear at our accomodation, (which was in the gothic quarter, in the heart of the "old" city) and then park the car out of the center. Problem was, Barcelona is a 2000 year old city, and the "old" city is a labrinth of narrow alley-ways. I had programmed our GPS to take us to the front door. It dutifully directed us through a series of narrow lanes teeming with pedestrians, until we emerged into a wide plaza called Plaza Sant Jerome. What we didnt realise was that our accomodation was right next door to the presidential palace, and the plaza is closed to traffic until 9pm. The police stopped us and there was some confusion, until our host, who was expecting us, came to our rescue, and arranged for us to unload our gear. He then hopped in our car and directed me to a street in a (relatively) safe neigbourhood about 5k away, where we left the car for the next 3 days, and caught the subway back. It was quite late by the time I returned, and the girls were a little worried. It took us a while to get our bearings the next morning and we ended staying in the city centre the whole day, strolling along La Rambla. La Rambla is basicaly the mall that runs for about 1.5 kilometres and is packed with stalls, buskers, street artists, restaraunts, cafes, pickpockets, sprukers & hustlers and tens of thousands of people, seemingly 24 hours a day. Next day we went to see the the Temple Sagrada Familia (Temple Holy Family), Gaudi's magnificent obsession; something I have always wanted to see, since reading about it in the 70's. I could have spent a day there, it is truly a incredible place. Don't be put off by the rather bizzare exterior, the inside is completly magnificent. I want to be there when it is finished in 2030. (They began it in 1879!) Gaudi was a genius, and I was moved to tears, by his devotion and passion. I understand the theoligical and historical reasons, why the reformation rejected such grandious expressions, but I cant help thinking we are the poorer for it, when our tradition looses such genius to the secular. Then we went to Gaudi Park, in the hills behind the city and saw more of his work. After that it was getting late, so we went back to La Rambla and organised for a street artist to do some portraits of the girls. After a bite to eat, we hopped on a double decker "Touriste" bus and took in the sites. 2 hours later we returned, totally flabergasted by this wondourous city. Barcelona is the capital of a "nation within a nation" called Catalania. The Catalan's are proud of their city, and value art and archicture highly. It seems no one is allowed to build a major building unless it is a work of art. The result is an incredible city the scope of which almost overwhelms the senses. It was now 10pm, so we went back to collect the portraits, bought some gelati, and wondered around the little alleyways and side streets until 11.30 then went home to try to sleep with the sounds of the city all around us, and the incredible images we had seen still running through our minds. Next morning Barcelona had one more suprise in store for us. I had decided to catch the underground back to the car. We found the right line, and worked out which was our stop. Loaded with luggage we were a little slow to hop on, the end result being that Kirsty was left behind, as the door closed in her face! I franticaly signalled for her to follow us on the next train. Somehow it didnt quite work out that way, and she had a little tour around the subway system, before getting herself back to us. I was one relieved father! The trip back to Pissos was magical. I programed the GPS to avoid the motorways, so we returned through the backroads of Southern France. Vineyards, picturesque villages every few k's, green rolling hills patchworked with crops as far as the eye can see in all directions for 560 kilometres. There is no unused country. No wonder there have been so many wars faught over this productive land for thousands of years.

See ya,

love youse all...

More details of the house

For those of you who are interested, here are som details of the house we are currently staying at Pissos. It is an old converted barn. The walls are load bearing, construced of a type of brickwork I have never seen before, but seems to common throughout the area, as we have seen it in other buildings. The bricks are solid, very flat and only about 2 inches high, and they are laid on thick mortar, then rendered over. The render eventualy starts to fall off, but no one seems to worry about it, and the bricks remain exposed to weather. The photo on the left is the chimney, which is built in the same method, but has been left unrendered. The roof is clad with ceramic tiles, supported by massive beams which apear to be recently refinished. I am guessing the original tiles were removed, the original beams refinished, the ceiling lined with pine, insulation intalled then the tiles replaced. Despite its open plan, the building is not drafty as it is well sealed with double glazed windows, built into tightly fitting window frames, very well constructed. Heat in the winter comes from a massive hot water boiler, that feeds large wall mounted radiators in every room. Also there are two fire places. I am guessing this is a warm house. The kitchen is suprisingly small, but very well apointed, and obviously used a lot.

Cathédrale Ste-Marie, Bayonne

After Barritz we drove 10k to Bayonne to visit

Cathédrale Ste-Marie. Construction started 700

years ago, and it was completed sometime

after 1451.

Located in the heart of French Basque country,

that has been overun by different kings throughout its

history, the church has elements of all the various

cultures. The Spanish, French and Anglo Normans

have all had a go over the years.

Above right is the crypt, located under the sanctum, where the priests sit, and yes, those are stone coffins containing the bodies of various archbishops over the centuries!

This was our first ancient cathederal and it made a huge impression on us.

Although its history and traditions are so different ours,

it was a spiritual experience to be in a space where people have been

worshiping the Saviour for so many centruries, and for a short while we were

able to be joined with them in worship of Him.

It was amusing to see that this is a functioning church. In the back is the notice board with all

the various weekly activites, youth groups, working bees, rosters and so on. Church life is the same everwhere!

Biarritz

Hello all,

today we hopped in our little car and drove 130k to the costal resourt town of Biarritz. This is an ancient town, in the South of France, not far from the Spanish border.

At different times it has been ruled by the Spanish, English, Saxons and now the French. It was a favorite holiday spot for Napolean. It was an adventure navigating our way through the twisty streets of the old section of the town. We were heading for the Musee de la Mer, we liked the sound of. We faithfully followed the directions of our GPS through a succession of ever narrowing streets as we decended towards a tiny port. At one point we turned into an improbably tiny lane around a blind switchback, realising too late that I was on the wrong side of the road, as another car approached. Debbie had to lean out and fold the passenger mirrors of both cars, the street was so narrow, all the while saying "pardon, pardon" to the amused driver. We have found the French to be polite and patient, wherever we have been so far. Eventualy we found ourselves in a dead end car park, right on the water, and dove into a unoccupied spot. While Deb & I sat recovering, the girls jumped out exclaiming "wow this place is amazing!" Somehow we had ended up about 1k from where we had intended to be, but it didnt matter as we found ouselves in the middle of a postcard. A farytale casltle overlooking a tiny port, carved out of rock, with little houses clinging to the side of the cliff face. There were small cafes, and a walkway around the cliffs, with views of the ocean. It was one of those traveling moments to remember, not what we had planned, or expected...but better.

Stilt racing at Perentis

Hello all, after a quiet day on the 8th, recovering from jet lag, we set off to explore our surrounding area. Pissos is ajacent to a national park, and something I wasnt expecting, a (plantation) logging industry. Timber is used extensivley in building and engineering in France. The french seem to be able to mix this heavy industry and refined rural life together. We are about 30k from the coast where there are various resort and camping holiday areas. We took a trip to Biscarrosse, a pretty costal town. Last night we went to see the stilt racing. Early timber workers used stilts to harvest sap, and the tradition is continued by their decendants. In typical French style they manage to do it in style! Anyway today we are off to explore Barritz where there is a large maritime museum. SEE YA.

Hey everbody. Well we have finaly made it to Pissos, a little hamlet in Bordeaux. Just getting here was an adventure in itself, but God is good and we arrived safely at arond 5pm last night (7th). We are all in good health, which is not something to be taken for granted, many people working in the airports are wearing breathing masks, so the swine flue is a big issue. It is early days yet, but so far we are loving France, everthing is similar, yet also wierdly different, at the same time. It had never occured to me that the Frenchcomputer keyboard would be completly different to ours; so here I sit slowly typing on two fingers... The house is everthing we had hoped for, a converted barn, decorated with the simple elegance the French are famous for. Anyway, here are some photos and we will try to post a video once we figure out how...Love to all,

Pete & Deb.

Pissos, Bordeaux

Bonjour everybody!
Haley here.... I know that made you all happy right!! =D Well we have arrived in France (finally), after enduring 13 long hours from Kuala Lumpar.
France is stunning and everything is SO green! not to mention beautiful!
It sure is going to take some getting used to, with all the driving on the wrong side of the road... and everything basically being in the wrong spot. It's very weird...

We arrived in France at around 6.40am, French time. So 2.20pm Alice time.
After eventually finding the gate we were getting picked up from, a man took us to the car place and we picked up our little silver car. Don't ask me wat type, because that is definately not my department.
We figured out how to drive the little zoom zoom and we were on our way.
First stop we had to make was to get petrol... yay.
We got some coffee and hot chocolates while we were there and enjoyed a little bit of a non-moving sit down.
We drove for about 5 hours, stopping every now and then. All the time, while we were driving, we were watching the trees fly past and trying to figure out what each sign we saw said... (super exhausting)

We are now at our temporary house in Pissos, Bordeoux.
It is AMAZING!!!!!
there is a fire pole, a stair case, tons of art, a dog, two cats and lots of bathrooms.
It really is an amazing house!!
It is about 8.30pm here, and get this, it doesn't get dark here until about 10pm!!! So right now it looks like its about 4 or 5pm. Its crazy!

Well we need to brush up some more on our french is for sure.
One of our temporary neighbours just came up and introduced himself to dad, and dad was left standing there saying "uhm.... yeah how ya going mate?" gee talk about embarrassing......

Okay well i will have to love you and leave you now because the parents aren't too keen on kirsty and i staying up till 10pm so that it doesn't feel weird to sleep... hmmm

Au Revoir everyone! Love you all!!
All of our love
The Imms family ( haha i just started singing the adams family song to our name... how very very VERY sad on my part....)
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Kuala Lumpur Airport

Had a good day yesterday, getting organised for the trip. Spent it in Surfers Paradise in town, found everything we needed. Finished off the day witha trip to the beach, very refreshing, and then headed back to liz and ron's for the final suitcase tweaking and preparations for the big trip.

Left Brisbane airport at 11.30pm and flew into Kuala Lumpur airport thismorning 5.20am local time after a 8 hour flight. We took a transit hotel room to catch up with some sleep and shower. We thought about making a quick trip into the city, but decided against it much to Kirsty's disapointment! She is after a new camera, but we found one at the airport that will do the job. The girls enjoyed the flight, particularily the in flight entertainment, and I found there was suficent legroom, but sleep is difficult. We have another overnighter tonight, and then the fun begins as we navigate our way out of Paris, to Bordeaux. When I heard the U2 were performing in France while we were there, I looked into getting some tickets, but the $1000 price tag for the four of us made me think again.... still I havent given up yet!

Brisbane

Well 3050 kilometres later, we made it into Brisbane at 530 pm yesterday (4th) afternoon. We are staying at Rebbeca & Tony's place in the hinterland of the gold coast. Beautifull location and house surrounded by green forested hills. We have been very graciously recieved by Rebeccas parents, who also live at the same house. The trip over went well. The contrasts of our country are still a wonder to me. Some find the Barkly highway boring, but I have become addicted to the wide open spaces and there is certainly plenty of that on the Barkly Tablelands. Our first night was at Tennant Creek 500k north of Alice. We left early (6am)the next morning aiming to push as far as we could manage in one day; past Mt Isa, Colarndra, Camonweal and Winton, finaly taking the last room we could find in the oldest pub at Longreach at 11.30pm. The room had more character than facilities, but we were thankfull for a bed, after 1300 kilometres. That big day broke the back of the trip and we had a couple of cruisy days after that, 600k to Roma, then 550k to the Gold coast. So here we are amidst all the glitz of sin city, getting ready to fly out this evening at 11.30pm. Anyway, thats all from me (Peter). The girls will update with their stuff from Kulu Lumpa tomorrow.
See ya