The Bourne Family's Adventure 2013

Our runabout for Europe -an Opel Zafira on board the Eurotunnel train

Well here we are our first week of our final adventure in Europe. We've had the most amazing time so far, the memories are vast and far reaching! If this past week is any indication of the weeks to come, we're going to have a wonderful time.

The Chine Hotel on South Coast of England

We left Scotland with mixed emotions - leaving the comforts of our lovely flat and the beauty of Stirling with the highlands as the background to a wonderfully historical city, Brendan leaving friends and Cadets with a great deal of fond memories and the uncertainty of what was to come. Our first stop was Southern England to spend a few days in the area and make the drive less arduous on John. We stayed in Leeds the first night and then in Bournemouth for the next two nights. We stayed in a wonderful old hotel called the Chine. If you are ever in Southern England you have to stay there at least once. It is an experience! Old time elegance with all the conveniences of a modern hotel. While in Bournemouth we went to the Roman Baths in the city of Bath and then on day 2 we visited Stonehenge.

The awe inspiring Stonehenge!

We all loved the Roman Baths and were blown away by the exhibit there! They are remarkably intact considering the age of them, dating from around 25 AD. Names that were associated with the baths were Hadrian, Caesar and Nero. It is the largest Roman Bath house outside of Rome and fed by a natural hot spring. (It is really HOT!!) The exhibit and the artifacts that remain are a testament to the building ingenuity of the Romans and the archaeologists who had the job of uncovering these treasures intact.

Inside the Roman Bath House from the first century AD

We left England on November the 28th but not before visiting Stonehenge first. It is just a short drive from Bournemouth (so another good reason to stay at The Chine!!) Stonehenge has been around since before Christ, before the Romans and even before the Druids, although it is a well known fable that it was built by the Druids. In fact as we came to discover, no one knows quite why Stonehenge was built or who built it. All the experts know for certain is that it has something to do with the summer and winter solstice'. But when you go there what is amazing is the engineering and the might of the people who brought the stones from Wales all the way to England presumably by wagons. What you discover as well is that what you see is 2/3 of the rock. The rest is buried under ground. It is not complete as it once was b/c over the years rocks have been taken away for other buildings in the area. As well, years ago when people would come to visit the local blacksmith would fashion a hammer so that when the visitors arrived at Stonehenge they could then take a souvenir. Over all b/c we were in the area, it was great to see. But we would all 3 have gone to Bath if we had only had one day.

The train that takes cars under the English Channel through the "Chunnel"

After leaving Stonehenge we were off to catch the Channel Tunnel Train or Chunnel. I wasn't excited about this particular part in our journey. But John and Bren couldn't wait to go under the English Channel in a train. Boy was I wrong!!! It was friggin' cool!!! When you arrive at the terminal it looks no different than any other terminal but then you go down a steep hill and there are trains with the doors waiting and you drive right in and through until you can go no further. It reminded us of the movie "The Italian Job"!!! The trip took 20 minutes and then we drove off and that was it we were in France!!

Brendan and Mom standing at Utah Beach Normandy

We had a long drive down into Bayeux Normandy and it was foggy and raining so our trip was lengthened. When we arrived in Bayeux we fell in love. It is a very old and romantic looking little town with carriage ways and cobblestone streets. We had a short night's sleep and then in the morning we went to see the Normandy Tank Museum from WW11. It has been built by the Americans and although informative was very much "American". John and Brendan really enjoyed the different tanks that were on display as well as some of the German weaponry which they hadn't seen before. It was a nice way to spend our first day there. In the evening we were able to see some of Bayeux before heading for supper and then to an early bedtime. Day 2 in Bayeux was wonderful. We started the day in good time b/c we wanted to see some of the beaches before heading to Paris. We started at Utah Beach which was one of the larger beaches to be invaded on D Day June 6th 1944. One hundred and fifty thousand men over 5 beaches. At Utah there is a wonderful museum that chronicles the details and events of the day and weeks that followed. I had no idea.......Being there and having been in the small villages surrounding the beaches I was so struck by the enormity of the German occupation. They were there in these small villages terrorizing those people for almost 5 years. Imagine how they must have felt on the 6th of June when they realized that the Allied Forces were there. It's just staggering to me. Again, this museum is of American persuasion but extremely well done. We spent a great deal of time there and when we made our way to the beach we were shocked at how far the allied forces had to march before actually attacking the Germans. The boats dropped them off and then they had to drudge through the waves and the sand and barriers set up by the Germans. Insane. It's worth it to go there and just see the beach if you have no interest in going through the museum. But just to hear the testimonies of the residents of the Normandy villages at the time of the German invasion is worth a trip to the museum. We then went to Juno Beach which was the Canadian Beach. It was situated between Sword and Gold Beaches which were controlled by the British troops. We only had a few minutes to spend there but being Canadians we couldn't go to Utah and not go to Juno. So we went to the beach and stood for a few moments to reflect. There is a museum at Juno Beach sponsored by Canadians. We look forward to going back there at some point before heading back home.

Barb with the love of her life standing in front of the Eiffel Tower

We headed for Paris after leaving Juno Beach and made our way toward the city by way of little villages. We preferred the slower route to the major highways; we were able to see more of the French countryside that way. In many regards the landscape is quite similar to Canada. Lots of green space and farmland amongst small towns. The things that define

France

are the little old villages with their little old houses and chateaus. They are very quaint and there is in even the smallest of hamlets, bakeries with a baguette on the outside of the building!!! We were surprised that there weren't more wine stores but we were driving anyway! :( As we drove closer to Paris we hit the highway and then the signs started to come at us faster and faster!! We were so very excited!!! And then we saw it......the Eiffel Tower!!! It was such a beacon of welcome!! We were very grateful for our friendly GPS who helped navigate us through the craziness of the freeways in the city! We stayed in the Tim Hotel and although there was construction going on all around the area, the hotel itself was very comfortable. (No Chine Hotel but you can't have everything!!)

Notre Dame Cathedral ......Quasi is in the upper right preparing to ring the bells!!!

We spent the day in Paris just looking around and getting our bearings and then in the evening we headed downtown. We were happy to have made the decision to wait until the evening lights of the city came on before heading out!! It was amazing and as it was December 1st all the Christmas lights were lit so it added an even more beautiful element to the romance of the city. We went to the Notre Dame Cathedral and were fortunate enough to be there during the first Sunday of Advent. We had to be very quiet while we were walking through the cathedral and taking pictures. I lit a candle for my best friend and my parents. The cathedral dates back to the 1600s and is in remarkable condition considering all it’s been through.

Mom and Brendan freezing and holding on to one another for dear life atop the Eiffel Tower
(Note to friends and family - visit Paris in the summer!!)

Once we finished there we took a taxi over the Eiffel Tower. That first look was AMAZING!! We stepped out of the cab and it was right there!! It was so beautifully lit up. It is built in such a way that it just seems to gracefully arch its way up to meet the sky. We were glad we came when we did b/c the line up was very long and we had to wait for over an hour before purchasing our tickets. It was well worth the wait! We were in the east tower and took the elevator (some people walk up!) to the top!! Oh my word, the view was so incredible. The lights of the city were simply amazing. You can walk all the way around it so we saw all sides of the city. It was biting cold of course but we stayed long enough to take a few really good pictures before heading back down to the street to take pictures from across the way. We have all 3 decided that as far as cities go Paris is one of our favorite! When we come back through we will be taking a good long time there and using our Paris Passes so see all the best sites of the city.

The lights of the "City of Lights"

It was then time to head for Southern France and the city of Dijon. After a good night's sleep at Tim we headed to Versailles to have a quick peak and then we hit the highway. Dijon wasn't anywhere important on our list of places to see but it was only 4 hours from Paris so we felt it would break up our journey as we headed ever closer to Italy. We drove on the highways so it was a relatively quiet drive. We stopped into IKEA of course we did!!! While there we had some lunch and had a glass of wine! OK I had a glass of wine!! It's amazing that we've been in IKEA China, England, Scotland and now France. They are all the same, exactly the same! I love that consistency amongst all the differences in our ever changing life right now!!! When we pulled into Dijon we were not disappointed. It was as with all the places in France that we've been to, quaint and romantic. The hotel Campanile (the hotel we'd stayed at throughout France) was very comfortable. The staff as always was very polite and helpful and our stay was great other than the jack hammer that was right outside our window at first light this morning. We are now on the road again and on our way into Germany tonight. It has been a long but extremely exciting week filled with lots of crossed off dreams from our bucket lists. We look forward to sharing more of our adventure with you in the weeks ahead.

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