11th July. Canyoning, flying foxes and lasagne.

Today we went canyoning. SO MUCH FUN!!!!! There were four courses you could do. Green was easy. Red was the next one. Purple is the one I wanted to do but I couldn't, 'coz it was my first time and I might no be strong enough. Yeah right. Then it was black. That was the hardest one. You had to be over 16 or accompanied by an adult to do THAT one. Mum did green. Me, Ben and Dad did red. It was so much fun!!!!! Ben couldn't do some of it so he gave up about 3 quarters of the way. I finished the courses. So did Dad. My favourite was... either the flying fox or all of the. Except the one where there were two wires and you had to walk across but going up one a slope. I sucked at that one. We had harnesses on. Don't worry. The hardest part was taking them off and putting them one the wire that it needed to be on next. I could catch up to these three boys in front of me. I think they were pretty surprised that I was keeping up. When I finished I so tired. I found Ben and we went around trying find out where Mum and Dad were up to. Dad was nearly finished. He just needed to a long flying fox ride. When they finished we had to wait for the guides to take us back to where our bags and stuff was. It felt like a really long ride but it was really short. We went back to the car, and drove to a town and had dinner. I had lasagne. IT WAS SO NICE. Nice not NICE. If that makes sense. Good not the town place. When we got home I went straight to bed. My legs are so sore... xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoooxoxox katya

10th July. Islands, slippery rocks and ferries.

We got to go to the islands today. We had to catch at ferry to get there. When we got there I wanted to go straight to the beach to have a swim. But Dad said that we had to find a 'nice' looking beach first. There wasn't very many trees that would keep the shade off you so we were walking around in the sun. When we finally found a bay that we thought looked good we stopped. I jumped straight in. Well you couldn't really jump 'coz all the beaches had rocks and stones instead of sand. The other trouble was, it was really slippery. The rocks were cover in moss. I had to crawl into the water. When you got in it was so nice. But the water was a bit warm. Me and Dad went out to see if there were any fish. Hardly any! Either they were really tiny or swim away when you first saw them. We got out after that. Ben started to make a little hut out of sticks and leaves. It was pretty pathetic. When we left we walked most of the way around the island. Dad and Mum wanted to see the old fort but Ben wanted to eat. So we found a place near the water. But when Dad saw the prices for the salad he said it was to expensive. It was about $70 dollars just for a salad. Seriously!?!?!?! SO we decided to go back up. I ran up first 'coz when I got to the top I knew I could have a rest. But I didn't hear Dad call out my name so I ran right to the top. I waited there and no one was coming until Mum did. She told me that we were going to meet Ben and Dad down in the main part of the island. The place where there is food. So we walked down to the town kinda thing. And waited for Ben and Dad to come. It took forever for them to come. But they did. I was eating a small packet of chips while I was waiting. We walked back up to the fort. I was eating an apple to keep me going. We looked where they kept the prisoners. I didn't find it very interesting. We went back down so we wouldn't miss our ferry home. We got an ice cream before we left. When we got home I was so tired. I think I'm a bit sunburnt to... xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxo katya

9th July. Nice (again), beaches and the chateau of Nice.

We went to Nice today. Well had already been before but not like today where we actually got out of the car and had a look. Instead of watching it all zoom past us. We walked around in the mall, before we had a look at the markets. It's called a Bricbrac. I probably spelt that wrong even with Dad's extraordinary spelling skills. Usually. We walked to the top of the chateau of Nice. SO MANY FREAKIN STAIRS. I died half way up. We saw the runes of an old church. They digging it up at the moment, 'coz it had been all under ground. We walk around before we went down. I felt so light. No like I felt like I could fly, and jump really far. I was freaked out. I was the first one down to the bottom. Had to wait for ages... Got so bored of everyone driving past and staring at me. When they finally came down (Mum, Dad and Ben) we walked so slowly. When also had to find which bay we parked the car in. It was level -2 bay 110. When we finally got home we had curry for dinner. I had to make the salad. And then to bed. Legs are so sore... xoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxo katya

8th July. Marineland, minigolf and dolphin, seal and killer whale shows.

We ended up going but it took awhile to leave the house, but we made it there. Marineland. We saw the performing dolphins first. They were really good. They could do flips. Hold there TRAINER out of the water by the nose's. Their trainers could stand and ride on them while they were moving in the water, and heaps of other cool stuff. We saw the Antartica animals after that. Penguins, and seals. We looked at the turtles, sharks, fish and stingrays. They have one of those glass walk way things that they have at AQUA. It was really cool. We had a look at the sea lion show. It was funny. There was a big seal and a little one. They could balance balls on there nose's and get it into BB hoops. (Basketball). We went out of the Marine park to go to the Wild West thing. It had a maze. The hedges weren't very high, and super easy to get out of. Then me and Ben went up to a sort of tree house thing. They had different rooms that you could go into. You had to walk across nets to get to each one. There were only three. One had wooden beams. You could go into the roof of it. When Ben was in one of the rooms I told him to come, but I was in the roof, so he didn't look up. Then he wandered where I was. So he went to every other room but he couldn't find me. Then Dad thought that I could be in the roof. So he found me after that. I came and sat in 'his house' and on his couch kinda thing. Then he got mad 'coz I wouldn't get off. That kid has anger management problems. We went back into the Marineland to look at the polar bears they didn't do much. One 'coz it was really hot. And two they were sitting in the sun and not even bothering to go for a swim. If it was hot for me, it would of been worse for them. We went and saw killer whale show. They were HUGE!!! But there was one small one. They could do flips as well. They would wave to the audience. Their trainers would never go in with them. Probably 'coz they'd kill them. 'Coz there KILLER whales... get it???? It's funny. 'Coz Ben was complaining so much we did MINIGOLF. So much fun right? WRONG!! Ben got so agro when he didn't get it in the hole. See anger management problems. I was SO relieved when we finally finished. When we got home we had dinner and I tried to go straight to bed... but failed... :( xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo katya

7th July. Perfume museum, horrible night and burritos.

Today I woke up really late 'coz I had a really bad night. I was coughing, I had a runny nose and my eyes were really itchy. We said goodbye to Yves, Laure, Vincent and Fantine. (They are going for a little holiday by themselves as a family. So we now have the whole house to ourselves... well if you don't count Mystery and Confetti. We went to a perfume museum. There were heaps of different smells. Some of the smells were horrible. Some were really nice. I felt sick and had a head ache after all those smells. Right from the beging Ben wanted to leave. The museum had some dresses to show how perfumes had changed fashion 'coz of the smells or something. We went after that. Ben was begging for an ice cream. Dad finally gave in, Ben got lemon and strawberry. I'll give you one guess to guess what I got. Chocolate and chocolate. We walked back to the car and drove to the shops. I waited in the car. They took FOREVER!!! HALF AND HOUR. Luckily have have HEAPS of songs on my iPod. When they came back we had Burritos and Tacos for dinner... my favourite! Then I went to bed. Nose is still smelling horrible things... xoxxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxo katya

6th July. Minigolf, dodge and glass blowing.

I woke up late again. Fantine went to horse riding again and Yves and Laure went to work. We went to the pool today except Vincent came with us. Me and Ben played with him and tried to teach him the game DODGE. After that we came back and had lunch. We invited Vincent to come with us to Biot. We saw people doing glass blowing. It was really cool... well not really, 'coz of how hot it was, you need to basically melt the glass and mould it. We walked up the street and then back down. We hopped in the car and went home. We had duck for dinner. The were three pieces. Dad said it was Huey, Dewey and Louie. Haha Dad. Some of Yves friends went to minigolf with us. I wasn't that interested. But I wasn't as bad as I thought I would be. We started at 9 and finished at 12. The people that worked there had to kick us out. We ended getting up finishing the last hole. We didn't count to see who won. We didn't bother. We went straight home and straight to bed. Once again I am SO TIRED... xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox katya

5th July. Partys, pools and pork.

Today I woke up late got dressed and had breakfast. Fantine was at horse riding so I didn't see her till later, but I met Vincent (another Vincent... he's younger than the other one. He's my age). He looked completely different since the last time I saw him... but I can't really remember him very well anyway. He showed us where the pool was. We didn't go for a swim till later. When we got back Yves friends were already arriving.(He was having a party). We had pork, beans and potatoes for dinner. Later, everyone left and we went straight to bed 'coz it was past 12. SO tired... xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo katya

4th July. Nice, black cats and long drives.

We had to go on another long drive today (again). We had to drive to Nice today. Instead of going on freeway we went through the mountains. They were amazing. Well as amazing as a mountain can get. Ben and I touched snow for the first time as well. 'Coz it had just been winter. It melted fast. I think we still have some left. Somewhere probably melting. When we arrived in Nice we met Yves and he showed us the place we would be staying. They have to cats called Mystery which is the boy and Confetti the girl. They are brother and sister. Both black cats. Yves has two children called Fantine and Vincent (another Vincent). I didn't have any dinner. I wasn't hungry. So tired i went to bed. xoxoxoxoxox katya

3rd July. Long drive, Adagio and lasagne.

We left today... like really early. At 10:30am I know you may think that that's late but I like to sleep in. We drove to Annecy that's where we stayed for 1 night. At a hotel called Adagio. We had to go out for dinner 'coz they didn't have a restaurant at the hotel. So I ended up having lasagne for dinner. We walked around the city for a bit after that before we realised how late it was. So we went home. We went straight to bed after that. I was so tired and stiff after that drive so I was happy to lie down for a bit. Parents were snoring though... xoxoxoxoxoxo katya

2nd July. Home alone again, writing and sore hands.

Today I stayed home (again). But I still had some work to do. Blogging... I had to write 10 days of writing about stuff I have done here.Mum, Dad and Ben went for a walk in the forest. So much writing to do... My hands were so sore after. I didn't do much after I finished. I started at about 10:00am and finished at about 2:00pm. Vincent was home as well though. He was super quiet. Which was actually very good for me... I could work a lot faster then. He had to go to the doctor though at 3:00 he hurt his hand playing squash. When they came back (Lieve and Vincent) they had so many strawberries with them. Lieve made strawberry jam with all of them. Mum, Dad and Ben came back from their walk after that. Hands are still sore... xoxoxoxoxoxoxox katya

1st July. Le Tour, mysterious island and lots of books.

Today,Me,Ben,Dad,Mum,Dave, Ian and Lieve went for a walk around the lake. When we got back, Mum, Dad and Ben went to watch the tour de France... again... so boring. I stayed home though. Dave, Ian and Helen went to a museum, Tess went to her work thing, Lieve stayed home and cleaned the house and Vincent slept most of the day. So I got pretty bored with no one to annoy...aka my brother. I got to watch a movie though... I've already seen it, anyway... it's called Journey 2 the Mysterious Island. When it finished I played on my Ipod and read a book... got bored... no one to really talk to. Eventually, Helen, Ian and Dave got home... finally... then Ben, Mum and Dad. YESSSSS someone to annoy... finally!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox katya

30th June. Bike painting, watching riding and painted faces.

Today we drove to Liege to watch Le Tour De France, prologue. I got my face painted, it was really cool what the lady painted. You could paint peoples bikes. Someone would bring in an old bike and you could paint it what ever colour you liked... well with what colours they had. There was this really cool game as well... I might not do to well explaining it!!!! Anyway, so there would be two bikes attached to a pole kinda thing and two people would have to peddle as fast as they could. As they peddled they would be lifted higher and higher. Who ever reaches the top first would win. When you see it, it makes more sense. We watched the riding after that. Because the streets were so thin and cobbled they would zoom right past you. So don't lean to far over the fence, they could take a hand off... don't worry mine didn't come off. When it finished everyone was trying to get out all at once so we got stuck at the train station for AGES. The policeman wouldn't let you get on the train till he said. So it took even longer.Eventually they started to let people on the train. We went home after that. Once again TIRED!!!! xoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxox katya :) :) :) :) :)

29th June. Meeting people, movie watchers and awesome house.

Today my family had breakfast outside. We were only staying at this hotel for 1 night. We left at 11:30am. We drove all day before we crossed the border of France and Belgium. We are in Belgium now. We drove to Mol via Villers Bretton. We arrived and Dave and Lieve house and had dinner. They had other friends staying over called Helen and Ian. They are SUPER nice. We met Dave's and Lieve's kids, Tess, Gaetane and Vincent. We watched a movie after that, called Water for Elephants. We had to go to be though so we are going to watch the rest of it tomorrow. So far so good. It's so peaceful here. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo katya :)

28th June. Long drive, walled city and Novotel.

28th June Went for a swim and had spagbol for dinner We had to leave Roscanvel today. To have another long drive to St Malo, 250km. (My dad says this is most and longest drives that w have ever had to do in ages). That was just for a break then we drove to Mont St Michel. It's a walled city. We had to find a hotel before it was dark so we couldn't go and look around in it. So we got back on the road and drove to Caen, I think that's where allied forces stormed the beach in World War 2 to attack the Germans. We end up finding a hotel called Novotel, and not ending up sleeping in the car, like hippies would do or something. We went for a swim before we had dinner. I had pesto pasta, it was yumm-ie!! With chips on the side. We had to go to bed after that. We actually went to bed at like 12pm. SO TIRED. i don't think I have adjusted to the time zone yet. Still have jet lag... I think... xoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo katya

27th June.Old Forts,bomb holes and Rogar.

Today my family and Rogar hopped into the car and went and saw some old forts... again. Not the same ones. On the way there we saw a horse that was right up near the fence, (Jean would be jumping the fence to ride it) so I got to pat it. And got photos taken. We got to the forts and Rogar explained everything about them. He was five when the war finished. We had to walk down lots of rock to get the kind of island, you had to walk across a bridge. When you get across you can see the holes in one of the building from the bombs hitting it. It said 1848 but I have know idea what it meant. You could walk down into a cave were they stored ammunition and other stuff. It would drip water down from the roof and get really could and wet in the caves. It wasn't that far down, about to sea level. Just above. People had done some graffiti in the old forts. They were really funny some of them. We walked back up the hill after that. Rogar is about 72 so h took the stairs. My brother and I climbed up the rocks. When we got to the point where there are two ways to go Ben decided that the LONG way was better. Obviously not many people go that way 'coz it was really muddy. I got my shoes and jeans all muddy so did my mum. After cursing him a million times we FINALLY got back to the car and drove to Camaret-Sur-Mer. Got an ice cream and drove out to the point, to see all the rocks. We went home after that all tired. SO TIRED!!!

26th June. Postcards, TVs, and calligraphy sets.

26th June Climbed across the lock Went to dinner at Barbara and Rogars  Watched tv for the first time in a while.   Because my brother was SO desperate we played Monopoly today, well for awhile at least. We drove along the coast, where me and my brother touched the Atlantic Ocean at Saint-Nic for the first time. Then we went to the medieval town of Locronan. For lunch I had a croissant, not the healthiest thing in the world but it was DELISH. Dad HAD to go into a beer shop and buy about 3 million beers. They sell honey there its really weird. We went to an a art shop where you can buy paintings and stuff. So we bought 9 postcards. 9! My dad is going to frame them. Not send them. I bought a calligraphy set before we left.We went to Douamenez and climbed across the lock, before we went home.We went to Barbara's and Rogar's for dinner. We had PIZZA,CHIPS AND COKE. I felt SO sick and full after. That was probably the most unhealthy thing I had there. Ben and I watched TV for awhile. First time in AGES. (The other house doesn't have a TV. We went home after that. xoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxooxoxoxxoxoxooox Katya

25th June. Wet walking, scared horses and soaking shoes.

Went for a walk and got really wet Saw an old fort Horses for jean Today I got up really late, and my family decided that we should go for a walk so we can have a look around. While on the walk it was sprinkling the whole time. So in the end I was soaking. We saw an old fort before we kept walking and went past some horses that wouldn't come anywhere near us. Bribing them with grass and apples they still didn't come. I think it was because they had a foal so they thought that we were going to hurt it or something. We took photos though, for Jean, and then kept walking, till we got home and had dinner. xoxoxoxxooxoxoxoxooxox katya

24th June. Driving, old houses and games.

We had to go on a long drive today, 500km. When we got to Roscanvel we met Marc's parents. They are looking after his house in Roscanvel while he lives in Perth.But they have there own house not far from there.They live in a 300yr old house, Rogar's grandfather and his father were all born in the same house. We got to choose board games to take back to the other house. Like Monopoly, Pick Up Sticks, Checkers, this game called Halli Galli Junior and Poker. We had vegetable soup, pasta and bread for dinner. Yummy!!!

23rd June. Museums, portraits and paintings.

My family caught the Metro to Monmarte today. When we were there we walked to Sacre Couer. We could see all of Paris from the top. Then we walked through the streets and saw all the artists doing portraits of people, i wanted mine done but it was to expensive. We went to the Dali museum. We saw some of his stuff like Alice in Wonderland, Romeo and Juliet, melting clock, a knight and a horse (for jean) and lots of paintings/drawings.We saw the Moulin Rouge, it looks nothing like what it looks like in the movie. Looked at the domed ceiling of Galleries Lafayette. We walked to the very top of the building and went on the roof, a grassed area before we went home.

22nd of June. Museums, museums and more museums.

Today we got up and took the Metro to Notre Dame. We went inside to have a look. After we had lunch in the park at the back of it. We looked at the "Bridge of Locks". I took lots of photos. We looked at the Memorial for Displaced Persons. Then we got the ice cream from the 'best ice cream store' in Paris. But it wasn't the right one that we went to. Walked of to the Latin Quarter and bought a TinTin book. I bought the wrong one though, so my dad changed it. We walked to Le Bon Marche, designed by Eiffel. Dad had to go home to get Ben's and my passport for the Louvre, but he forgot the apartment key. We had to walk through the Jardins Tulliere to the 'pyramid'. Were we met Dad.We had dinner at the Louvre. I had chicken strips and chips. We saw the medieval Louvre, the Egyptian Antiquities, and Italian paintings and including the Mona Lisa. We got to bed late at about 11pm.

20th June. Reaching for the sky

NOTE:WALKING UP A MILLION STAIRS+WOKEN UP EARLY(AGAIN)+NOT HUNGRY=FULL,TIRED,DEAD LEGS PERSON. We go to go up the Eiffel tower today. Right to the top, I didn't drop Rove though.(School mascot). There are about 600 steps. You can't walk all the way to the top you have to catch a lift to the top. We looked at the view for a bit and went down 'coz my brother wasnt feeling to well. We got icecream before we walked to the Louvre. We didn't go in one 'coz you needed your identity(don't ask me why) and 'coz me and Ben were tired. We had to buy more train tickets so we would actually get to go home. So me and my mum went to look at shops while my brother and dad went to buy tickets. When they came back we hopped on the train and home, we had spagbol for dinner. It's 10:43 and you can still see outside. Can't feel my legs. xoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox Katya

19th June. Time zones and museums.

NOTE:GETTING WOKEN UP EARLY+NOT HUNGRY+FORCED TO EAT+OUT ALL DAY= FULL, TIRED, GRUMPY PERSON Today my mum woke me up early 'coz she said that dad wanted me to into the 'time zone' or something. We only spent about one hour before we went to the train station or METRO and went straight to the museum. The museum was Musée Art et Métiers. It had stuff like old computers,type writers, compasses, clocks,counting machines, Foucalt's Pendulum and a whole lot of other stuff. When we finished looking we caught another train to these gardens. You can see the Eiffel tower from there. They had water fountains with statues of horses.(Don't worry Jean I took photos of them, I'm making you a collage with all the photos I've taken). It had a palace but you weren't aloud inside. It was pretty ugly anyway. You weren't aloud to walk on the grass either. My brother and I were really tired so we went home. We had walked about 10 kilometers. We came home and watched French Loony Tunes.(It made no sense with what they were saying). We went out for dinner at a restaurant called Auberge Pyrénées-Cévennes, but I wasn't HUNGRY. I was forced to eat a bubbling snot looking ravioli.(That's the bit about being forced to eat). But I ate it. Well most of it. It's 11:16 and the sun still hasn't set. xoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxooxoxoxxo Katya

17th of June. Horrible plane ride.

NOTE:PLANE+DISGUSTING FOOD+NO SLEEP= VOMITING,TIRED ANGRY PERSON. I hate going on planes. For some reason they make me feel sick. When I was on the Singapore flight I watched Mirror Mirror. After landing in Singapore, my mum brother and I had at least 2 hours to do what we wanted to. All I wanted was to not throw up. I didn't end up throwing up till the 14 hour flight from Singapore to Paris. I knew that I was gonna spew so I was ready. Because you can watch movies I watched John Carter and a bit of Hugo with my mum.The planes have DISGUSTING food. When we landed in Paris we caught one of those taxis that can have more than one family or person in it. The traffic was horrible. I think we moved 1 meter in 5 minutes. Paris is a very noisy city. Everyone kept honking their horns at each other.(About every 5 seconds). The taxi driver got so mad at the car in front of us the he got outta that taxi and started to yell at the guy in front of us. Eventually the traffic cleared and we got moving again. We were the second group of people to be dropped off. The driver showed us where we were staying but when we arrived the lady who was looking after the house wasn't there. When my mum was going out to find a phone to contact her she came through the door. She just went out to buy us toilet paper. She showed us how to work everything.(Even the T.V.)!!!!! There was only one problem with that... IT'S ALL IN FRENCH... CURSE THE FRENCH PEOPLE... You can watch Dora the Explorer or other weird shows. My dad was in the UK and he arrived today at lunch time. My mum decided it would be a good idea to go for a walk. We walked around the place we were staying called the République. When we realized it was 6 o'clock we walked to the shops before we went home. Soooooo tired. I had a shower 'coz I had been in the same clothes for a several days.have to go to bed now. But thats going to be a bit impossible considering that it is still light outside. It's only 10:00pm. I know right weird. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox Katya

Paris

Hi everybody, I'm in Paris. Mr Thompson my teacher wanted me to write a journal about all the stuff I'm doing here. For the last few days I've been writing in a book but my dad said it would be a good idea to write on my blog. I have to catch up with my writing so first I will write about the 17th of June.