Canoeing the Dordogne - 17th July

Went for a canoeing trip down the Dordogne river today - awesome scenery along the way and good fun cruising down the river.










Good practice for a Wanganui river trip when we get back home - Harry has already said that Grandad will need to fix up the old Isles family canoe...

The Chasm of Padirac - 16th July

Explored the Chasm of Padirac today - one of the largest caves in Europe. We soon found out why it is such an amazing attraction as we descended 103m underground and then hopped into boats to sail along the underground river within the cave system!

Awesome rock formations within the cave chambers at the end of the underground river. Even the boys were impressed with these old rocks!

Later in the day we went to Rocomadour to watch a bird show with eagles, vultures, condors, and macaws all swooping and diving around us. 

Awesome setting in the Dordogne valley with ancient chateaus overlooking the river below!

Towards Dordogne - 14th & 15th July

Spent a couple of days on the road from Brittany to Sarlat in the Dordogne - our base for the next few days.  Found a couple of nice spots to stop along the way and enjoyed the French countryside.

No problems driving our rental car on the wrong side of the road yet...

Camping Brittany: 7th - 13th July

Finally we have struck some bad weather with the rain arriving just in time for our week of camping by the beach and pool - typical luck!!

Still we have enjoyed our cabin at the campsite and we have spent plenty of time in the pools. The boys have got in some archery too and we have explored a little of the Atlantic coast. 

It has been a good break from the constant travels and a chance to recharge a bit before we head back to the UK. 

We have 5 more days in France so tomorrow we are heading down to the Dordogne region to explore some more French villages and the caves at Lascaux.

On Route to Brittany - 5th, 6th July

Left Paris in our rental car headed for the Atlantic coast of Brittany for a week of camping by the beach and pool.

On our way we spent a couple of nights in some little French villages - Saulges and Malestroit. We did some exploring along the way too

...in the cave of Rochefort at Saulges

... and in the Pierre Droits stone circle near Malestroit.

Looking forward to a week of relaxing!!

Sacre Coeur - 4th July

We climbed the hill up to Sacre Coeur today also - there was an amazing street performer at the top who earnt plenty of coins from the crowd. Will show the video when we get home!

The queue at the Louvre was too long to justify visiting the Mona Lisa although we did see plenty of roadside imitations! Three visits to Paris for Tarsha and I now and we still haven't managed to see it yet! 

Tomorrow we are off on our way to the Bretagne coast for some beachside camping...

Climbing the Tower - 4th July

Climbed the Eiffel Tower today for amazing views over Paris. We took the stairs so we could work off a bit of all the food we have been eating!

So Tarsha and I made it back to the top where we got engaged... No bottle of wine this time although there was some whine(-ing) from the kids! How times change!