England

We have left France behind on a very long one and a half hour plane ride on Ryan Air. Luckily, Bill is at the other end to pick us up at midnight. We drive another hour and a half to Canterbury. The whole Betham clan was awake, waiting for our arrival. It felt like we were already home from the trip to see so many friendly faces - everyone so excited to see us. It really was a welcome home. Bill showed us the sights of Canterbury, brushing up on his local history, and gave us a great walking tour of the inner city. 

London was next on the agenda. Ava had to see Big Ben. When we saw the large clock face, the guide on the double decker bus let us know that Big Ben isn't the clock, but the bells hidden in the tower. Ava had a hard time believing or understanding the idea that you couldn't really see Big Ben. 

We watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace, with all the pomp and flair, which wasn't much, but was very crowded. The kids kept asking us to go. But the 6 story toy store didn't receive the same mediocre reception from Hannah and Ava. It was a celebration of excitement and wonder. Stuffed animals everywhere. Store employees running around with toy gizmos like bubble guns and gliders, yelling about the products to no one and everyone. Real live manikins outside of the store left the kids with a wish to come back.

The next day Bill led us on a pilgrimage of biblical proportions as we navigated our way to Wystible through the fabled city woods. It took us a while to find the pasture land beyond the oak filled shadows, but we finally burst through to the other side to find a hay field. It was just the beginning. By 2 o'clock we found ourselves at village where the bar had some good food and beer. A call to a taxi was immenent. We finally walked the stone beaches to Wystible, where the family, except Nicole took a dip in the North Sea.

A great dinner at Cafe des Amis Canterbury ended our beautiful European vacation among close friends. It was so comfortable and loving to finish the trip with the Bill, Emanuelle, Emily, Luke and Paula.

Seguret, Carmague, Kayaking and the Cave

We had a beautiful lunch at our favorite town - Seguret. It's close to other tourist stops, so visitors quickly come and go making for a tranquil  spot in a very small town. They had a great restaraunt with a tasty lunch that looked like art work. The town was so relaxing we drove the hour and a half back to spend another day.

We took a day to see the carmague, the delta of the Rhone and a wildlife sanctuary filled with flamingos and salt flats. Flocks of pink floated by like the National Geographic Channel.

The limestone cave we visited was cold, with 100% humidity, and dramatic stalagmites falling from the ceiling. The cave stepped down into three large rooms, 2 where the ceilings had collapsed onto the floor as the caves slowly erode their way upwards. Ava was busy using her ca

mera and flash to try and catch the drama. Afterwards a meandering drive along the Ardech with its limestone walls and Pont d'Arc where the river slides beneath an arch way.

Our last day in France involved renting kayaks and paddling down river and underneath the Roman aqueduct Pont du Gard. A hot day with cool waters made the kayak adventure so pleasurable. Nicole and Hannah had a little trouble steering their craft along the river as they though it best to coast down via bank to bank - paddling straight wasn't really an option. 

Avignon, Haribo, and Uzes

The Roman Catholic Popes lived in Avignon for a hundred years in the 1300's and left a beautiful palace that was really a city of huge rooms. Located on the banks of the Rhone, Avignon was a central location that was much easier to serve the people than the city of Rome which was in the midst of a civil war. The day was hot, hot, hot. Sweating in the sun, the large stone cavernous rooms were a cool respite.

Haribo is an old candy manufacturer near Nimes that has been making candy for a hundred years. Their museum was a display of automation that creates the sugary rocket fuel. Of course, there's a large gift shop where the kids can grab their treasures. Hannah and

 Ava were delighted to finally go to a real museum.

Our local town St. Mamert du Gard had their annual running with the bulls festival one of the weekends. They take some young bulls, fence of the 

streets and begin prodding them with large spears. Once angry, the bulls are corralled behind a group of white hors

es (the native breed) and paraded through the 

streets 

until frustrated enough to break off and run on their own. The local high school boys try to run the young bulls down, and stop their forward progress by grabbing on to the tail. Everyone was having loads of fun except Nicole, me and Ava, who saw the bull poop and pee out of fear. Not very terrorizing.

Near Nimes the sunflowers and lavender were blooming. Fields of them. It was hard for a driver to see them since the roads were so narrow. There was barely enough room for two cars and no median strip to decipher sides. Tail gating and passing in the narrow lanes are common violations of personal space, another cultural difference. 

In Uzes, a larger medieval town that's centers the area has a castle that still belongs to the duke of Uzes. The interior has been renovated and since the family comes to visit, the place is furnished with victorian pieces and on the walls hang portraits of the family's ancestors. All the eyes of the past follow you around as you walk through the rooms. 

Nimes

We're staying just outside of Nimes and to the east of the heart of Provence. Nimes is a large enough city to be afraid of getting lost in, but our house is 20 minutes away in an old town. It's  hard leaving the St. Tropez house and arriving at night, on a colder day, to a smoker's home with a unknown cat. It takes a couple of days getting used to. It helps to explore Nimes, a Roman city that use to be the capital of Roman Gaul. A large arena and temple modeled after the Apollo Temple in Rome give us all a taste of antiquity. The 300 meter long Pont de Gard which helped to hydrate the Roman city is one of the best preserved aquaducts and is still intact and beautiful. We drive up to St. Remy and reach the market just in time to find olives, cheese, bread, and siamin from a chinese man selling spring rolls. Hannah is in debt to me since she hasn't had a good meal in "Days". She finally cherishes a fully cooked bacon cheese burger later that night in St. Remy. Near the town is the old cloister which was also the asylum in which Van Gogh created some of his most enduring paintings.  We all walked in his bedroom and looked out the window from where he painted a few of his paintings. The view of the fields, sheds and one house are still the same. The monostary  sits a walk away from beautiful Roman  town which was unearthed in the 20's. The next town, Le Beaux has an old castle ruin perched on a cliff with the medieval town just below. We arrived just in time for the launching of rocks in the trebucher or catapult used for siege warfare. I volunteered to pull one of the ropes, but the French instructions were a bit sticky for me to follow. The rock plopped down a few feet from it's base. A good laugh.

Another day took us to Barbara and her 

beautiful home where we took a fun cooking class of Provencal cuisine. We gathered fruits 

and herbs from her garden and created 7 wonderful dishes. 

The kids loved 

getting their h

ands in some bowls and using the knives. Th

e lunch and wine on her terrace was a beautiful ending. 

After that, a drive up Mount Venout where the Tour de France regularly climbs. It's tall peak with a cold and windy view point where we see most of Provence. Down again to Seurat another small town with a cute tea shop with a gorgeous view.

End of St Tropez

Relaxing. Cote d'Azure is almost over as we'll be moving further into Provence and away from the beach. There's not much time in our little oasis, but we try not to think about it. We sunk our forks into the Tropezienne, the custard bread that is St. Tropez's own. A drive up the coast, towards the west filled one day,  since we haven't gone that way yet. It was just an hour. 

Mountains and blue water and beautiful drives up the valley. We eat at another hill top town, veal and steak and Ava sees the German's next to us smoking during dinner. "How can they do that!". We finish up with more beach days. I keep trying to get Nicole and the kids out to see the sights.