Tiwi Tattler

Wednesday 7th June Indispose - unwell Both of us woke feeling unwell. Eric couldn't get warm and I was too hot. I got up to have breakfast but instead ended up back in bed. When I woke the next time I felt much better. Eric had the chills all day so stayed indoors watching the French Open. Glenn and Jenni had already decided they needed a day of down-time as they have been on the go for about 6 weeks. We read books, watched tv and ate well. Thursday 8th June Anniversaire - birthday Jenni's birthday today, so I began the day by slipping downstairs to arrange a fresh fruit platter that could almost pass as a celebratory custard tart except for the fact that there was no custard tart underneath. It's the thought that counts. Eric was still feeling unwell so we stayed home while the Mundays took off to visit Rochefort en Terre, a village we have read has b een voted one of France’s most beautiful villages as a result of the geranium-bedecked houses within. It is a brighter day ...

Friday 2nd June Rappel - limit We set the car's GPS to Mohon in Brittany and took to the highways with 130kms speed limit. Some of them are tollways but the good thing here is everyone who uses them overtakes in the fast lane so you don't have to keep checking over your right hand shoulder as well. Remember we are driving on the right hand side of the road, luckily Glenn and Eric do.  We drove through green countryside almost all the way with the occasional chateau. The further south we went the more wind turbines we saw. About 4 hours after leaving Vernon in Normandy we stopped for lunch at a lovely restaurant overlooking the river in Josselin, in the Morbihan district of central Brittany.  It specialized in pancakes which were lovely. Sitting in the sunshine on the terrace we enjoyed a view of the canal and along to the castle.   10 kms later we pulled up in Mohon and were welcomed by Philippa and Allen who live in one end of the large stone cottage that was once a...

Wednesday 31st May Checking out of the apartment was made a lot easier by the fact they have a cleaner so once we had finished breakfast we caught the taxi to the airport. We flew to Paris via Amsterdam and it was interesting to note not only the change in the patchwork landscape which had become absolutely flat but also that all the rooftops were slate grey. Those that weren't glasshouses that is. The other most noticable difference was the language. Where German sounds so stuccato, French is immediately melodic. We found the hire car outlets and ended up squeezing into a Ford Focus despite the obvious dismay of the agent who thought we were sure to upsize. We must have looked like  to a can of sardines on roller skates as Glenn negotiated our way out of the carpark and onto the highway with the help of Eric and Google navigation. Jenni and I just kept quiet in the back seat as we snuggled into the suitcases between us that were overflow from the boot. After negotiating the exit ...

Fri 24th May Bitte schon - you're welcome. Or if asked as a question: Bitter shon? then Can I help you? Another fine morning so we went for a walk to the Botanic Gardens which are only about 500m from our apartment,  on the grounds of  Karl-Franzens-University .  It was surprisingly chilly in the shadows so we had to keep looking for the sunny side of the path.  Unlike any other botanic gardens we have visited, these are very small and dominated by a climate controlled glass greenhouse that is home to exotic plants from 4 distinct climate zones: tropical, Mediterranean, temperate and cold. They are linked by wooden boardwalks or bridges and the conditions created by hot water or cool misting. The old glasshouse, from the early 20th century, is still standing and chock-a-block with potted plants that appear to be under some sort of research program. All this infrastructure means there is not much more space but they have lovely rock gardens interspersed with wha...