Thursday, July 17, 2008

Raval

Wednesday July 16

Today we went to an art gallery (the NMAC). It had lots of paintings that were cool. Then we took the funicular again -- it is a train on a cable. Then we went to the Raval district where we climbed on a giant cat. Then we got an icecream.

Bari Gòtic

Tuesday July 15

Today we walked through the Bari Gòtic. Ben bought a toy motorcycle. Then we went to the aquarium where I bought a turtle necklace. We saw the mediterranean moray, the common octopus, seahorse, dusky grouper, two corals, ocean sunfish, sandbar and sand tiger sharks, guitar fish, blacktip and whitetip reef sharks, leopard shark, lionfish, yellow surgeonfish, arowana, archerfish, Humboldt penguin, horseshow crab, big-bellied seahorse, and leafy seadragon. We had tapas for dinner at Port Vell where we saw the big ships docking. I had my photo taken with a lady wearing an Indian dress with feathers on her head.

Barceloneta

Monday July 14

Today we went to Barceloneta. We played at a park which had a rope swing. Then we went to the beach (Platja Barceloneta). There were big waves and it was totally wicked. We saw a giant gold fish (not real, but a sculpture by Frank Gehry). On the walk home I held a real bird that was not tamed.

Sagreda Familia

Sunday July 13

Today we visited Sagreda Familia – Antoni Gaudi’s famous unfinished temple – and Casa Batlló, a really crazy house.

Barcelona

Saturday July 12

Today, I went to a big park called Montjuïc. We saw 2 cats. We went up lots of stairs. I think I climbed 100! We saw the ocean, cable cars and the city. We went down on a funicular railway (train). We looked at the shops on La Rambla. I got my name painted in picture writing. It is really cool. I can show you. We had McDonalds for lunch. We saw street performers. One of them was a magician. It was unbelievable! Another one was a fat lady wearing a pink dress. She had a white scarf around her neck and she tried to kiss a man. There was a skull with a wig on its head. Everytime you put money in his box, he would say hola (hello) or paparazzi. Ben bought a Ronaldinho (No. 10 – Barcelona FC) soccer top, shorts and socks. Ronaldinho is the best player in the team. We went on a subway to get home. Not a subway sandwich but an underground train.

Bilbao

Friday July 11

Today we went to the Guggenheim Museum. We looked at lots of things …… like crazy furniture (lobster telephone), a shoebox train with model clay people, and the large maze that we nearly got lost in! There was also 2 storey black strips that had small sentences going up on it. And outside the museum there was a huge tulip sculpture and every time you looked in each of them it would show your reflection. We left the museum we walked back to the car we went for a 6 hour drive. It was a long way away. When we were nearly there, Ben threw up -- on my new bag!!! We stoped on the way to get some thing to eat. We got Pringles -- yum, yum, yum.

San Sebastian and Bilbao

Thursday July 10

We left Yves’ place and drove to San Sebastian, where we stopped at the beach, and then onto Bilbao where we spent the night.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

lac de genos-loudenvielle

Wednesday July 9

Today we went to a lake (lac de genos-loudenvielle), we went on paddle-boat. A paddle-boat is where you have to pedal. Two people sit on the front and two sit at the back pedalling.

Pic du Midi

Tuesday July 8

Today we went to the mountains (Pic du Midi), we went higher than the clouds. We went in cable car and went up, up ,up. It was freezing. Inside it was like space. When we were going back down, we went into a cloud. We went to a castle. We didn’t go in it. It was a long way back to the house.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Lourdes

Monday July 7

Today we went up into the clouds. It was cloudy and it rained. The clouds gobbled up the mountain. We got out of the car at the top of the mountain and it was cold. I was trying to avoid stepping in the bull poo.

Then we drove to Lourdes. We stopped on the way and Dad got a cap (Le Tour de France) and also stopped to look at puppet people that looked real.

When we got to Lourdes, we went to a church. It had Jesus and Mary in it. Most of the pictures were done with mosaics. It was a big church where people prayed. We lighted a candle. There was water. The water heals people. There were loads of people. Some had to go in carts that were pulled along. There were helpers. We put the water in a bottle and drank some. I put some on my feet because I had skin coming off. And for lunch I had spaghetti bolognaise at 4:30pm!

Spa and bungy trampoline

Sunday July 6

Today we went swimming in a thermal spa. It had rocks and there was this cave that had a light that flashed different colours. In another part of the pool, there was a water jet that pushed you away when you went near it. In another part of the pool, there was a cold spa with no bubbles. It was totally wicked!

After that we went on a bungy trampoline. It had four bungy trampolines. I jumped on it and did flips. When I got stuck my legs were going around and around and so were my arms (picture). In one of the pictures, I am swinging on it and my hair is going backwards. Dad held our legs and he threw us onto the trampoline and up and then we went bouncing again.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Picnic breakfast

Saturday July 5

Early in the morning Dad cycled up the mountain – Col d’Aspin. Then we had a picnic for breakfast. My Dad thought that it would be a nice day to have breakfast outside, but it was cold. After breakfast we climbed up a hill to see this statue of Jesus hanging on the cross. My brother told my Dad to throw his soccer ball down the hill into bushes. And, my Dad threw it! We lost it in the bushes and then found it.

We met this lady that looks after the house and she has three kids, Celine, Damien and Davide. Her name is Marie. I had to tell them in French how old we are. Now I can count up to 30 in French.

After lunch, we went to a beret shop. I got a red beret that said Arreau on the side. We tried to go into the Eagle place, but it was closed. The Eagle place is a place where eagles fly around. Instead we went for a long walk out of our town into another town. On the way to the next town, we picked some flowers that were a bit unusual (picture).

We watched a French TV show at home. There were all these people that had to do challenges. It was cool.

Arreau and the mountains

Friday July 4

Today we walked around town. The shops close at lunchtime from 12:30pm to 3:30pm. Then we went back to the car and drove up a mountain (Col d’Aspin). I will show you a picture. It was steep. Each time we got higher and all the towns got smaller. When we got to the top, we saw goats and bulls. The goats were brown and the bulls were a yellowish creamy colour. The mountain pass was 1489m high.

Then we went to another mountain (Col du Tourmalet). We wanted to go on the cable car except the last one had already gone. We got an ice cream and once we finished our ice cream, we climbed up a big, big, big mountain. I will show you a picture because my Dad took some. It was very, very, very steep. I got touched by nettles. Nettles sting a lot! It still hurts. It was very steep coming down. We had to walk zig zag down the hill. My Dad just used a stick that we found on hill. When we got a quarter of the way up, Ben found a broken ski pole. I think I know why it was broken. Because someone must have skied down in the winter and it may have got broken on a rock.

Carcassonne

Thursday July 3

Today we left Luc’s place. We went for a quick swim in his pool and spa. We cleaned the house up and packed the car. We hopped into the car and went to the boulangerie to eat. We drove for a few hours and then stopped at a castle (Carcassonne). It had two walls – an inner wall and an outer wall. We climbed up the stairs of the inner wall and we saw where they shot arrows (picture). They also had holes in the bottom of the wall to shoot through. We looked around in the castle. Inside the walls of the castle there were shops. I bought a toy. It was a girl. She is the Princess of Darkness. Ben bought a bowman (blue). It was very windy (picture). Then we went to find Yves’ house in Arreau.

Yves’ house looks very old. It has 1 bedroom with 3 beds. Downstairs there is one shower, a kitchen and dining table and the fridge and stove. He has another section that is not finished. It looks a bit like it was a stable for animals (picture).

Drive through restaurant

Wednesday July 2, 2008

Today Markus, Anna and Paula left Luc’s place. When they were gone we spent most of the day in the pool. We went into a giant supermarket where I couldn’t see the end of the supermarket! It is bigger than our supermarkets! I bought a bag there and a tic tac packet which had 4 in one. They had nearly everything. Before I got out of the car, my Dad said there is nearly everything in this shop. And then I started to go silly.

We back into the car and drove to town (Aix-en-Provence). We had dinner. I had spaghetti bolognaise. A car drove right through the restaurant! There were outside chairs on both sides of the road, so the car could drive right through the middle. There were rubbish trucks, motorbikes as well. After dinner we got an ice cream and went on the merry-go-round. We walked around the water fountain.

By the pool

Tuesday July 1

Stayed by the pool and played Club Penguin and Mathletics.

Avignon

Monday June 30

Drove to Avignon. Had a ride on the ferris wheel. I know the words to Sur le pont d’Avignon.

Cassis

Sunday June 29

Went to Cassis. It was hot. They have pebble beaches. We saw boys jumping off cliffs (les calanques).

Market in Aix

Saturday June 28

Went into Aix and saw the market. Yves and his family came for the day.

Salon de Provence

Friday June 27

We visited Salon de Provence and saw a medieval festival.

Friends arrive

Thursday June 26

Markus, Anne, and Paula arrived to stay with us in Aix.

From Holland to France

Wednesday June 25

Arrived at Luc’s place by TGV from Brussels.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

At Avignon

30th June

Hi everyone

Today I went to Avignon. I got McDonalds for lunch, but I couldn't eat it because I had a wobly tooth. It hurt so much that I couldn't eat my ice cream; my Dad had to eat it. When I get back I will look different. See you later !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!