Hockley Heights Gazette

A few thoughts on the trip. So many experiences it is hard to describe, but in short……

1) Anthony’s driving effort was gargantuan, and much appreciated by his family! It is abundantly clear that Aussies are paying way too much for their wine, you can pick up a good quality red in France for ~AU$3. Needless to say we spent most nights partaking in some sort of local vino experiment throughout France, Italy, Luxemborg and Switzerland. Although we drove through Belgium, we did not have vino, but we did have some Belgic beer – Duvel, very yummy! As seems to be becoming a pattern with the Peck family, when feeling most out of place our comfort food is always Chinese – come to Switzerland and have some Chinese – hmmmm!

2) I was most grossed out by the French sans toilet paper and ground level holes in which to squat over. However we soon got the hang of carrying our own, so that was fine. We found the French diet of soooooo many French bread sticks a lovely sight with one man carrying 8 french sticks in one shopping haul! We had to get used to bread, cold meats and cheese for breakfast – no toast or cereal in sight, and to Anthony’s chagrin, no bacon and eggs! We found Honfleur and St Michel’s Mount absolutely astounding. The stark contrast between the French St Michel’s Mount and the UK St Michael’s Mount was shocking. The UK one is very desolate with tourists not welcome, and the vast majority of the Mount privately owned. The French one is very vibrant and an extremely popular tourist attraction with people actually living on the Mount and a thriving shopping culture and living historical/religious experience. We camped up in the mountains at a place called Les Mischelle, which was spectacular. We were near a family with an extremely active autistic boy and were woken to his ecstatic cries of ‘le piscine’…. ‘le piscine’ at ~6am……evidently he loves the pool! At the end of our trip we stayed at the white horse, or the Cheval Blanc, a grand old place that had seen better days, but the restaurant experience was priceless!

3) Italy we thought was spectacular and very hot. The food was wonderful, the history everywhere, and the whole experience was totally amazing! To name a few highlights – Pisa, the leaning tower, there is only one! Rome – the palace, the ruins, the colosseum, the imperial walk, the pantheon, Vatican City – the splendour is ridiculous, Lucchio in Tuscany, a medieval walk-in village, feel the serenity and experience the serenity! We spent 3 nights at Lake Bracciano and enjoyed the markets and restaurants.

4) Luxembourg and Switzerland experience were possibly a little too brief to really say we have fully experienced these countries. Luxembourg appears to have extremely high standard of living with the B&B we were staying in well decked out with everything to make the boys eyes boggle! When camping at a beautiful lake in Switzerland the boys were swimming late into the evening and early in the morning, then by afternoon it was ~12, and sleeting on the drive through the Alps which was beautiful. As with all travel we came away with a little understanding of the political workings of Switzerland which was interesting (still not a member of the EU, only joined the UN in 2002, monthly referendums on national issues….).

Cheers

Kym