Back home

Travelled: 24 hours by plane

We were picked up by the managers dad and on the road by 7am, arriving at Charles de Gaulle by 8 allowing for plenty of time for some breakfast, checkin and about an hours wait before loading which we spent chatting on viber to our son and future daughter-in-law. A very relaxing start. Flight went well and then it was go,go, go in Singapore to make it from one end of Terminal 3 to the other end. We even took a sky rail to help us along the way! We made it to security on the last call and appeared we weren't the last ones on as others tried to make the connecting flight. This was a smaller and older plane from the 380. Which could be seen in the outdated entertainment screens. Anyway we ended up trying to catch some more sleep in between the 2 meals served on board. We arrived in beautiful 33 degree Melbourne and were greeted by our lovely daughter at the airport. We admired the city in the setting sun as we drove past on our way home. We are looking forward to settling in and getting a few more projects done before we start planning our trip next year. Keep posted as in the next few weeks updates will be made to the blog. Take care for now. 

All packed up

Travelled:55km (44888km = 12028km for 2015 trip)
Stay: Parkhiver Storage, Rousseloy N49°17.0926' E2°22.7550'

Its now 7:30pm and we have completed our day of packing and cleaning and its time to wind down. We had one of our favorite meals for lunch- turkey paupiettes with a lovely bottle of red. Just to keep us going for the rest of the day!
Other than the general cleanup we needed to prepare Bluey for long term storage. We emptied the hot water service, the water tank and the grey water tanks, leaving the valves open aswell as the taps inside. The toilet was emptied and the fridge too. The gas was turned off and all the batteries were disconnected. We gave any food that will not last to the manager and paid €360 for our stay.
Tonight we feasted on bread and butter (you've got to love french butter, it tastes so good) washed down with the rest of the red wine.
Its an early start tomorrow with our pick up arriving at 6:30am.

Beauvais

Stay: Beauvais- aire as per last night.

After a bit of a sort out in Bluey, we took to the road in search of tyres. There are a few options and now that we have the information we need we will wait until our return next year to replace the 2 rear tyres.
We went back to the aire, parked up and then went into town  for 'the lunch' one last time. We returned to a very popular restaurant we had previously been too and Mark had a steak and I the beef bourguignon. Feeling satisfied we had a look in the shops and I couldn't resist a new pair of boots! We also needed to  transfer the euros from our ozforex account, as its being closed down, into our french bank account. Then we returned to Bluey to continue our sorting out in preparation for our packing and cleaning day tomorrow.

Eure region France

Travelled:160km
Stay:Beauvais-aire, free parking, free service point N49.424271 E2.080190
Visited:Dreux, Anet, Gaillon

Our first stop today was in Dreux. Its most famous sight is the Chapelle Royale. This was built in 1816 by the duchesse of Orleans on the site of the mass grave her ancestors were thrown in to when a mob of the French Revolution desecrated the crypt they had been previously buried in. Unfortunately we were a day late to visit it as it closed from the 1st Oct! So we walked around the centre of town's shopping district, admiring some of the original buildings. 

We then drove through the forest to Anet where we stopped to look at the castle. Built in 1547 for Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henri II. Since then a few alterations have been done and then it faced destruction during the French Revolution. It wasn't until 1840 that restorations began by 5 generations of the same family. Visits where only from 2pm so on the road we continued. 

Next was Gaillon, which also has a castle to visit. This Early Renaissance structure was built in 1500's with much Italian influence. In the late 1700's it was vandalized, emptied and sold. It served as a penitentiary in the early 1800's then sold to a farmer!

  Again we didn't want to wait until 2.30pm for the next visit, so we had lunch in the carpark and made our way to Les Andelys. As we made our approach we noticed the white cliffs along the Seine River and the Chateau Gaillard overlooking the valley. It was built for Richard the Lionheart, King of England in 1167 but in 1204 it was captured by the King of France, ending the rule of the descendants of William the Conqueror in Normandy.

 There is never a lack of historical monuments in every town we visit!
We reach Beauvais in the late afternoon and this marks the end of our journey for 2015. We will spend the next couple of days getting ready to leave.

Eure-et-Loir, Centre France

Travelled:156km
Stay: Nogent le Roi- aire, free parking, free service point. N48.650478 E1.529100
Visited:Vendome, Chateaudun, Chartres, Nogent-le-Roi

After a quiet night we ventured on up the road to Vendome. 

We parked in the 2 hour blue zone where we have to leave a disk on the dash indicating the time we arrived. We bought some breakfast from the Boulangerie and then went to explore the town. 

The predestrian zone was very well done and the streams and canals through the town added a lovely atmosphere. 

We made our way to the beautiful La Trinite church founded in 1034 with its 16th century flamboyant Gothic facade. 

The surrounding abbey was later used by the military and is now a museum which we visited for free. 

By now our 2 hours were up so we continued our journey north to Chateaudun. We managed to find a parking spot along one of the narrow one way streets. We walked to the main square before making our way to the chateau. 

Unfortunately it was closed for lunch so we explored the streets some more and then drove to Chartres.This is quite a large town and we had difficulty in finding a parking spot. We followed the signs to the Cathedral and found ourselves having to go on a road that had a 'no camper' allowed. We managed to squeeze through and parked illegaly on a footpath with a few other cars, crossed our fingers we wouldn't get booked and raced in to see the amazing Notre Dame Cathedral. Apparantly it escaped destruction  by the religious wars, the French Revolution and the two World Wars. Only old age has required it needing restoration, which is currently being done. The parts already done look fantastic. We will need to come back to see it when its complete and we have more time to take an audio guide (only €2 ) to learn about the wonderfully intricate stain glass windows.

We breathed a sigh of relief when we got back to Bluey and there was no parking ticket. We counted our blessings and wound down through the streets to head out of town to the closest aire in Nogent-le-Roi.The 4 official spots where taken but we found a spot anyway. After dinner we went and strolled in the village which had a lovely church, some really old half timbered buildings and a stream running through it.