A little bit of London and the REAL France! :-)

Highlights:

Flying into Heathrow along the Thames 

An awesome evening in Balham

A walk in the gardens

Flying over Paris

And, the real France - the people, the food, the scenery - all of it!

Bulk photos....  Maybe later!

Unabridged version: 

We flew in over London (awesome views right from Greenwich to Hyde Park etc! So darn cool!!!) My Oyster Card still had 1 pound 10p on it - winning!  It was an awesome first 24hrs back in London - riding the tube, going for a walk down Holland Road, finding out cherries were still in season, and catching the train to Balham to meet a friend.

We went to the pub for a pint of cider 

and then hung out at another pub that used to be a bowling club,

before dinner at a Lebanese restaurant (that served pink lemonade and an amazingly yummy coconut and almond steamed milk drink, while drinking which I learnt a most valuable lesson about how not to go about drinking steamed milk through a straw!!!)

Thanks for helping me with my mission to not fall asleep as soon as I got off the plane Ben! :-)

Thursday morning went for a walk to Kensington Gardens before heading back to Heathrow to get my flight to Geneva.

We flew over Paris - man it is huge! Surprisingly I couldn't see the Eiffel Tower sticking up into the clouds! ;p

Before I get on to the next bit, I better explain who I was going to visit, for those who have not met Agnes and John.  

Back in 2004 we had a French surveyor work at RPC.  And was also part of the crazy group of chickies below known as the Tri Club Women's Group! :) 

She told me at the time to come visit one day.  When I lived here in London In 2007 Agnes and John were living near Kilkenny in Ireland.  They are now living in Annecy in France.  So finally I made good on my promise to visit the real France (Paris isn't counted)! 

I flew from London to Geneva (Switzerland).  John picked me up from the airport.  We picked up Agnes and headed home where they cooked a traditional dish for dinner. It contained onions, bacon, potatoes and cream, and the best bit - a whole round of cheese, cut in half, and put on the top.  It was amazing! 

Next morning we headed to a live show with eagles and vultures, and then had lunch.  The bread (which came free with my salad) was good! As was the macaron...!  

(French Fire Engine - extraspecially for you Dad!)

(Mum, an idea for the shop - the cashiers (or maybe we should call them 'card'iers) don't handle cash, to reduce the risk of robbery). 

After lunch we visited Santa Claus's house - someone with a very good imagination had created it!  Unfortunately Santa was sleeping (and snoring very loudly!) so I couldn't ask him for world peace and perhaps a new set of wheels.

(Trying out the sleigh)

We then went to this pool complex - Vitam:

So many swimming pools, slides and spas!!! I did a 2km swim - weird having to swim up the other side of the lane! The pool was awesome - stainless steal.  We then tried out the spas and saunas (48 degrees -phew!!!) before hitting the slides.  SO. MUCH. FUN!!!  

I also really enjoyed driving (correction - being driven, thanks John!) through the little villages and the farmland. Collections of houses around pretty church's.  Fields of sunflowers.  So pretty, and much better than being stuck on a bus on a highway. 

I was so worn out that night, I slept through what was apparently a massive thunder storm, during which Agnes came into the lounge where I was sleeping to bring the washing in.  Go the jet lag!!! 

The following day we went into Annecy, hired bikes and rode along the lake.  Had lunch out there (including a crepe) before returning. 

I went for a dip in the lake - it was beautiful even though my companions thought I was crazy... Hehe!  We then went up to a mountain pass to watch people paraponting, and look at the view.  It was pretty amazing!  

(Continuing Professional Development - boundary mark!)

Had dinner on the way back into the city - Agnes ordered frogs legs so I could try a couple - frogs legs tick!  Thank you!

(Sharing a Coke with my French sister!) 

There was supposed to be a massive fireworks display - instead there was a massive downpour, so we headed home. 

Sunday we went back into Annecy to have a look around the old town.  It is quite beautiful. 

There was a market on. Bulk cheese (I told Agnes one of the samples tasted like marmite (something she doesn't miss from NZ) and I think we almost had a punch-up in the street! ;p) bulk nougat, fruit, veggies, super sized meringues etc! I got some raspberries and cherries - yum!

On to Lyon in the afternoon where we had an adventure finding the train station :-) and headed into the old centre for a traditional lunch - yum! 

And traditional dessert....

It was then time to catch the fast train to Paris!  I had wanted to take the fast train in France for ages.  My allocated seat was rear facing, but,'unfortunately' someone was in it.  So I took the opportunity to grab a forward facing window seat and managed to keep it for the whole journey.   My mission was to try and stay awake.  At first it looked doubtful as there was a thunderstorm and rain but five or ten minutes up the track the sun was out, and me and Mumford and Sons sat and watched the pretty little villages and fields of sunflowers and areas of bush pass by. 

Thanks so much Agnes and John - you guys really are most awesome hosts.  I feel totally spoilt to have such awesome guides and I had a great time seeing the REAL France!  It was great to hang out with you both again.  :-)

And John Patterson, I am super grateful to you and John R for employing us a French surveyor back in 2004! :-)

That's all for now.  Stayed tuned

For the next edition - Paris! :-)