Day 5

We had a lazy morning whilst the young ones went for a hike in the mountains.

After lunch we drove to Fez. It was a long drive and we were all a little bus sick due to the windy roads.

They climbed passed the Mosque you can see high in the hills.

                                                                       A market day

Our leader Ibraham

We finally arrived in Fez and visited the large super market where we all bought a baget and cheeses and ate dinner in our room washed down with a glass of red wine.

Day 6

 We were picked up at 9 am by the local guide and spent until 6pm seeing Fez. We were all exhausted and once again ate in our rooms.

I will describe our day just by introducing the pictures.

                                      

A Jewish Cemetery

                          
                                          Zoe and I overlooking Fez

Fez is famous for their Pottery
I couldn't helps myself - more coffee mugs

The butchers shops were great

Plenty of dates

                                         Plenty of Olives on sale in the Souks

Lynley purchased a hand made rug

We visited the tannery - it was quite smelly so they gave us a sprig of mint to smell while we were visiting.

Some of the finished products

The donkeys were racing through the small alley ways. The owners were shouting "Attention attention" in other words get out of the way.

Israham bought some camel in the souks and they made mince patties for us for lunch.
I am afraid i couldn't make myself try!!!

Day 7

We travelled over the Moyen Atlas mountains to a town called Midelt.

The highlight of the day was lunch. We stopped in a town that had heaps of butchers shops attached to cafes that cooked the lamb chops you bought. They were very delicious.   Below are some photos showing our experience

The butcher cutting our meat for lunch

Our meat cooking!!!

                                     They display the meat head and all!!!

Day 8

This day was the highlight of the trip!!! – a camel trek in the Sahara Desert to a Berber camp. We stayed over one night and experienced a Nomad existence. 

We arrived at the base camp with a sand storm so we had to get Israham to put on our head gear ready for our ride over the sand dunes to the Berber camp.

Preparing the head gear for the sand storm

  Ready for my camel ride

Us trekking through the sand dunes to our camp

                                     Our tents in the back ground - It did get very cold.

                            In the Berber tent waiting for dinner

                                we watched the sun go down

We woke next morning at 5 pm and the skies were clear and we rode back to the base camp for breakfast. It was truly a fabulous experience.

                            Our camels waiting for us the next morning

Zoe and I on our camels at 5 in the morning

                                       Breakfast in the Desert


Day 9

After breakfast we went onto Todra Gorge. This 1000foot gorge is hemmed in on all sides by vertical limestone cliffs and is also called Morocco’s Grand Canyon.

We went for a walk and ended up  at a house that sold rugs and we had a mint tea demonstration. I have enjoyed the mint tea very much.

                                  Our Mint Tea demostration

                                                Todra Gorge

Day 10

A long day of travelling through the Atlas mountains and into a town called Ait Benhaddou.

Below are a few photos showing the different landscape that we see as we are travelling through the mountains.

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Market we stopped at - pile of red onions

Day 11 and 12

Another long day of travelling through the Atlas Mountains to the Atlantic sea at a town called Essaouira. This is a colourful old city and fishing village.  We are here for two days. Rest at last!!!

Atlantic Ocean

                                  Sardines on sale

The Fleet

We did spend a little time looking at the sardines coming on the fishing boats. Zoe and Lynley had sardines from lunch. Sardines are exported from Morocco.

We spent the day shopping until we drop!!!

He dressed me up as a Berber women, gave the three of us Mint tea and then tried very hard to sell us heaps. It didn't work!!!

Our final meal together

Day 13 and 14

We travel back to Marrakech for more shopping in the souks.

I have really enjoyed this and would highly recommend On the Go Tours.  The hotels were of a great standard and the places we were taken to shows lots of thought. We were looked after by Israham really well. We enjoyed lots of laugh and plenty of jokes.

After Paris

We left Paris with Barb and Jean Loup and headed up the Seine staying at Lagny,Melun and finally staying at Montereau for a few days where we had a changed of guest. Barb and John North joined us a few hours after Barb and Jean Loup left. This gave me just enough time to do the washing.

The trip up the Seine was very picturesque and there were some great places to stop.

Some of the houses we saw along the Seine

Russel in Montereau

Our fair well dinner in Montereau

Whilst moored at Montereau we were hit by a barge that came into moore next to us. Russel was

standing on the jetty waiting for the rope and realised that the barge couldn’t get round and tried to tell the captain, but  to no avail. He hit us at the back and now we have a few dents to fix next year. He was a Candian and very upset about it. Russel and he settled so there was noinsurance involvement.

With about an hour between guests Barb and John North arrived. we left Montereau the next day and sailed up the Yonne. Once again it was very picturesque with some great little French towns to explore.

We also enjoyed a few bike rides with the North's.

The water reflexions were fabulous. I could hardly tell the difference from the river and the sky.

Joingy was just gorgeous, but the hills were impossible to ride up.

We finally arrived in Auxerre after 3 months, 3 countries,180 engine hours and 150 ecluses. (Locks)

Auxerre is a beautiful French town and we have lots of exploring to do next year. we ran out of time this year as we had plenty to do in the 2 days we had left.

We were very disappointed that we couldn't get Arcturus out of the water, as the boss was away and not due back for a few days. So typically for this holiday we woke up to a cold wet morning when we said goodbye for the year.

Below is a picture of Arcturus waiating to go into the hall.

so goodbye until next year when our adventure will continue.

Paris 2011

Our trip from Meaux to Paris was great. We took it slowly and stayed at Lagney sur Marne and Nogent sur Marne then into Paris.

This church had so many stained glass windows that it gave a real pink look as you walked in.

We were getting tired of putting our bimini up and down so we worked out a solution. It takes Russel about 3 mins. Below is a picture of Arcturus with her bimini half down ready for the tunnel.

We let the bimini down a little encase we don't keep in the centre of the tunnel. We have already damaged it once and don't want to do it again.

Going through the commercial section of the Seine

We turned off the River Marne and into the River Seine and through an ecluse and into the Paris Plaisance – The Port de L’Arsenal – our home for a week.

Our home for a week in the Arsenal

We decided that we would use our bikes in Paris. It couldn’t be worse than Berlin, so we planed a trip which turned out to be a very hot humid day but gosh it was fun. I really enjoyed it. It was only about 12 km but we took in all the touristy spots we could find.

The following photos will tell the story.

Rus outside the Lourve

Penny in front of the  Avenue Des Champs Elysees

 Penny riding up the  Avenue Des Champs Elysees

                                               Avenue Des Champs Elysees

 

                                                         Russel with the Eiffel Tower in the background

                              Penny in front of the Eiffel Tower

This was the best thing we did in Paris!!!

Next day we spent the day on the buses travelling around Paris. We visited Montparnesse which is a very tall tower and for 11.50 euro you go to the 56 floor and get a fabulous view of Pairs. Below is one of the pictures I took.

                                           Paris from Montparnasse 56 floor



Next day it was dinner at Montmartre and a visited to Sacre Coeur.

Montmartre at night

It rained just before this photo

Barb and jean Loup arrived in Paris and joined us on Arcturus for a few days. We are travelling down the Seine to Auxerre.

Before we left Paris we decided to sail around the Seine with all the tourist boats.

Jean Loup chatting to the French ecluse operator.

Barb on the front of Arcturus

Notre Dame from the Seine

we went under all these bridges

It rained again the day we left Paris

Yes the Tower

So goodbye to Paris!!! We enjoyed our time there



France 2011 - Champagne District

We left Reims and headed to Epernay. We are well and truly in the Champagne district of France. The canals are lined with trees and the hillsides covered in grape vines.

 It is all very picturesque but is being spoilt once again by the rain and the frustration of not much being opened. We arrived at a few towns along the way in the hope of finding a baguette. The shops are closed. The French have their holidays in the peak season and just close the doors. Apparently the grape picking season will happen at the end of the month so people are having their holidays. They just put a notice on the shop – Closed until August 20^th. One town we stopped at all the shops had closed for holidays. I suppose it’s OK for the locals as they have cars to go to another village. So take note - if you want to really enjoy this section do not come in August!!!

The locks along this route have been operated by twisting a rope that hangs over the canal. The picture below shows this.

or by a remote that we are given at the begining of a set of ecluse. We point in the direction of the ecluse and push the correct button - up or down.

others have a man that operates the ecluse. It is much faster if you can operate them yourselves. The ecluses in this area are quiet and more relaxing than the ones we first experienced.

I had my birthday in Epernay. We visited another champagne house in the morning then explored the town in the afternoon. We visited the Moet Chandon house and brought a bottle of Moet for 30 euro.

Finally a beautiful sunny day. Russel and I went for a ride out of town high in the hills to see the vines.

The following photo shows Russel talking to a local. Language doesn’t stop him.

Our Boat in Epernay










We are following the river Marne. This river is quite fast flowing and so is clean. I would have a swim if the weather was better.

We stayed in a few of the towns on the way down towards Paris. They are Dormans, Chateau Thierry, La Ferte Sous Jourre, Poincy and Meaux.

                                    Plenty of birdlife- if you look hard you will see a bird

     
                                     Plenty of fisherman. The fish they catch are quite big

                                   Lots of Bridges!!!

View of Dormans

           View of Chateau Thierry

This is an incredible Shriine that was built after the first world war in Dormans

In Chateau Thierry we visited yet another champagne company. This time is was Champagne Pannier founded in 1899 by Louis Eugene pannier in Dizy. His decendants aquired Chateau Thierry cellers in 1937.

The cellers were dug some 800 years ago in order to excavate the stones to build the castle of Chateau- Thierry. The 2.5 km of deep galleries are excellant for the storing and anging of panniers cuvees. The picture below shows some of these wines in storage.

This delightful guide is pouring su a sample.

This picture shows all the different sized bottles of wine you can get.

yes we brought another bottle. This time we paid 28 euro.

This ends our trip in the Champagne aera. Our next port of call is Paris!!!!