Saturday 10th April

One of the reasons why I stayed overnight in Bangkok rather than continuing on to Sydney immediately was to try to avoid jetlag. The idea doesn't seem to be working so far because I only got one or two hours of sleep last night.

I checked out of the hotel at 5am and caught the shuttle bus to the airport. After going through customs and security, I had some coffee and something simple to eat to keep me going because I assumed that we would be served breakfast after take-off.

Our plane was due to leave just before 8am but we were delayed by more than 20 minutes because several passengers didn't board the plane and so the airport staff had to find their luggage and unload it from the plane.

If there were empty seats in the plane, I certainly didn't see where they were. To me, the plane looked completely full.

I got a window seat because I decided to take some photos with my iPhone during the journey. I got a few shots at Bangkok and along the way but it was dark in Sydney by the time we arrived and those photos didn't work out.

The man who was sitting in the aisle seat next to me had no intention of moving during the flight. So I had to climb over him whether he was awake or asleep. I'm not sure if he spoke English because I didn't hear him say a word. When the airline staff asked him which option he wanted for breakfast or dinner, he merely grunted and pointed at the option he wanted on the menu card.

My flight landed in Sydney just before 8pm and I was home soon after 9pm. I had a fabulous holiday but it was still good to be home.

Cleo was very pleased to see me. Steph and her Scottish friends seem to have done an excellent job of looking after the house and animals while I was away. Not only was the house clean and tidy but so was Cleo.

Friday 9th April

Swiss Air's service was very good. The staff are very attentive, the food is good and they keep topping up your wine glass until you beg them to stop (well, almost).

The business class area was less than half full. The seating arrangement had a pair of seats on each side and a pair of seats in the middle - six across altogether. My seat was in the centre section. Because both of these seats are on the aisle, you don't have the problem of people climbing over you or vice versa. As it turned out, there was nobody in the seat next to me anyway. I managed to get about five hours sleep.

At Bangkok airport, I waited patiently at the carousel for my checked-in bag but it never arrived. When I asked the airport staff about it, they said that the staff in London had booked it all the way through to Sydney even though I was staying the night in Bangkok and not flying out for Sydney until tomorrow morning. She asked me whether I wanted it - to which I said yes - and she said she would organise it but it would take half an hour.

It would seem that a lot of people do just book their bag all the way through and pack a carry bag containing the things they need for the overnight stay. This would avoid having to cart your big bag from the airport to your hotel and back again. It would even simplify customs. So perhaps it's not a bad idea - if they tell you that's what they're doing.

Yet another advantage would be where you have a mixed ticket (as I do) where there are business class legs (at night for sleeping) followed by an economy class leg (in daylight). In business class I have a limit of 30kg and only 20kg for economy class. I spent a lot of effort to limit my bag to as close as possible to 20kg because I thought I would be charged excess baggage for the economy leg. If I had known they would book it all the way through, I wouldn't have bothered keeping the weight down.

After a few phone calls, the airport staff redirected me to another carousel and, sure enough, the bag appeared about 30 minutes after her first phone call.

I caught the shuttle bus for the short trip to the Novotel Airport Hotel. Their service is very good and there are staff everywhere. Somebody took my big bag for me and someone else escorted me to the reception desk at the other end of the giant atrium at the centre of the hotel.

When they looked me up on their computer at the reception desk, they told me I was a very important person. I'm not sure why but perhaps because I'm a member of their loyalty club. Somebody then escorted me to the business lounge where they sat me down in comfort and organised the details of my check-in.

Then somebody else showed me to the lift. Soon after I got to my room, a porter arrived with my bag. I tipped the shuttle bus driver and the porter (20 Bhat each) but I wondered if I should have also been tipping the other people too.

Later I came across somebody who just stands near the lift and presses the button for you. I could have done that by myself - I am quite clever at pressing lift buttons. Do I need to tip someone just for pressing a button?

The Thai government declared a state of emergency in Bangkok a couple of days ago and so I had no intention of going into the centre of town. In fact, I had no intention of leaving the hotel - except to take a few photos of the hotel.

Even for the five-minute trip on the shuttle bus from the terminal to the hotel, we had to pass through two military or police checkpoints. They were stopping each car and interrogating each driver. One officer checked inside each vehicle while another used a device to check for hidden bombs.

So, instead of going out on the town, I had dinner in the hotel restaurant. They had a very nice buffet meal with an amazing array of dishes to choose from. I could get used to this level of service all the time (if I could afford it).

Thursday 8th April

I am due to fly out of London this evening to head home to Sydney via Bangkok. So I packed my bags and we left the B and B after breakfast. Luckily, Jalal was cleaning his car and he offered to give us a lift to Nicky's place. This was much easier than carting the bags there on the bus.

At about 11am we went for a walk with Amelia in the pram. We walked along Spaniards Road on the edge of Hampstead Heath to Kenwood House which is a beautiful mansion with large grounds at one entrance to the Heath. You might remember it from the film Notting Hill. There we had lunch in the garden of the coffee shop.

Today has been a beautiful sunny day without a cloud in the sky. When we woke up it was only 5C and they were forecasting a maximum of 17C. Summer must be on the way. In the coffee shop garden at Kenwood House, it felt quite warm in the sun even though it was still only 13C. I'd taken off my heavy coat and if we had stayed there any longer I would have taken off my jumper too.

After lunch, we walked back to Nicky's place through the Heath. There were lots of other people with prams, people walking dogs and others just strolling and enjoying an outing in the sunshine.

Amelia seems to enjoy the walks in the park provided that you don't stop for too long. As we got close to home, she let us know that she was ready for a feed.

I'd booked a car to pick me up at 3pm from Nicky's place to take me to Heathrow but it turned up 20 minutes early and we reached Heathrow Terminal 1 at about 3:30pm. The driver said it was a quicker run that usual because it is school holidays. So I was in plenty of time by my 6:35pm flight.

After passing through customs and security, I found the Star Alliance lounge and settled in with my book and a whisky.

The flight reached Zurich ahead of schedule. The flight from Zurich to Bangkok was from Terminal E and so you need to catch the airport train to that terminal. It's very efficient. The trains run every five or ten minutes and the trip takes less than five minutes.

Wednesday 7th April

My plan for today was visit Lord's for a guided tour. We had breakfast at the B and B at 8am and I set off at 8:30am. I caught a bus from Golders Green to Swiss Cottage station and then walked along Finchley Road for almost 30 minutes to the ground.

The tour started at 10am from the Lords Museum. There were about 15 on the tour including people from England, South Africa, New Zealand, India and Australia. Our guide was particularly interested to know if there were any Australians because she spent a lot of time talking about the rivalry between England and Australia. In particular she gave us the full history of the Ashes Urn.

While we'd been waiting in the museum for the tour to start, none of us had noticed the Ashes Urn sitting in one of the display cases. It is indeed very small. It was just sitting by itself on the top glass shelf in a glass cabinet that was mainly about cricketers (such as Verity) who had died in WWII. It was fascinating to be only inches away from the urn. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photographs in any part of the building.

The tour next took us to the Long Room which overlooks the field and contains paintings of famous cricketers including Bradman and Thomas Lord himself. I had always thought that "Lords" had something to do with aristocracy but I was wrong. It just means that the cricket ground was owned by Thomas Lord.

Lord originally set up a ground nearby in Marylebone in 1814 but had to move it to Regents Park when the railways were built using his first site. He had to move again to the current site in St Johns Wood Road when the government again needed to use his land for another purpose.

We visited the committee room where the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) meets to select the English cricket team. The committee is also responsible for setting the rules of cricket - not the ICC which just administers the game internationally. We saw the seats where the Queen and Duke sit when they come to a game. Apparently John Howard was allowed to sit there during his visits (if the Queen wasn't present at the same time).

Next we visited the players' rooms - for both the home players and the visiting team. In each room, there were display boards listing batsmen who had scored test centuries at the ground and bowlers who had taken 5 wickets in an innings or 10 wickets in a match.

When we went outside into the stands, we were allowed to take photos. She then took us up in the space-age-style media centre. Behind the media centre (Nursery End) we saw the practice area and nets. Finally she took us to the Lords Shop.

The entire tour took almost 2 hours which was longer than normal because today we were able to visit almost all parts of the ground. Nicky and Suzy had arranged to pick me up outside the ground at noon in John's BMW on our way to the new Westfield London Shopping Centre.

Although Westfield have other shopping centres in the UK, this is the only one in  London. It is big, spacious, new, clean and obviously very popular. I find most UK shopping centres are claustrophobic but this certainly isn't the case at Westfield. The walkways are wide and the central atrium has a very high glass roof that lets you see the sky. Ok - it actually shows you the clouds and the drizzle but at least it has an open feeling.

We had lunch at a coffee shop run by New Zealanders (another one). After lunch, Suzy, Nicky and Amelia went off shopping while I filled in time looking at different shops such the Apple Shop (big, bright, impressive and very popular). While Nicky was feeding Amelia, Suzy and I went downstairs to the Waitrose supermarket to get food (including New Zealand lamb) for dinner.

Nicky dropped me back at the B and B at 4pm and the three girls went back to Nicky's place. I later caught the bus to their place for dinner. The lamb roast was great. We were back at our B and B at about 9pm.

Tuesday 6th April

I went for a walk before breakfast. Someone had told us that a lot of Jewish people live in the Golders Green area. They weren't kidding! I've never seen so many Jewish people in such a short space of time. All of the men were wearing hats and some were wearing elaborate fur hats. I had my beanie on to keep my ears warm.

For breakfast, we went to Costas at Golders Green and then we caught the bus to Nicky's place. Just before noon, we went for a walk in Hampstead Heath with Amelia in her pram. There were quite a few other people pushing prams in the Heath - probably because it was such a nice sunny day.

After leaving the Heath, we stopped at a pub for lunch. The barmaid was Australian too - from Newcastle. She had been working in the UK for 11 months.

We sat in the sunshine in the open-air courtyard to have our lunch. By this time, the temperature had risen to 15C and so we even took off our warm coats.

Next we walked up to the shops in the centre of Hampstead and got some food for dinner at the supermarket. Amelia seemed to enjoy her outing.

The girls cooked a nice chicken dish for dinner. We were back at the B and B by 9pm.

Monday 5th April

It was another bright and sunny morning with a beautiful view of the river and town from the window of our B and B. Today we would be driving more than 400km to Paris where we would leave the hire car and catch the EuroStar train back to London.

At breakfast, our B and B hosts asked us about our visit yesterday to Mont St Michel. Peter said he wasn't surprised that it was crowded because it is the second most popular tourist site in France (after the Eiffel Tower). He said the authorities plan to move the car park to the mainland and replace the causeway with a bridge for access to the island. A train will carry visitors from the new carpark to the monument over the new bridge.

We drove out of the B and B just before 9:30am. Today is a public holiday and we wondered whether this would make the traffic better or worse. As it turned out we didn't have any problems with traffic until we got to Paris. It was an easy run on the motorways. We stopped a couple of times for a break at service centres on the motorway.

Suzy had been apprehensive about the traffic in Paris. It did turn out to be nerve wracking and it was a relief when we made it to the Gare du Nord station without a scratch (on the car).

The TomTom successfully found a petrol station a block or two away from the railway station so we could fill the tank before returning the car. The petrol station consisted of a single pump on the edge of the footpath kerb with an associated small shop within the buildings on the other side of the footpath. In other words, there was no driveway - you just parked in the street next the pump and the man filled the tank. Initially he remarked about the Belgian number plate but he was then amazed when I said we were from Australia rather than from Belgium.

The rental car return was in an underground carpark next to the railway station - six levels down on a narrow circular ramp. The boom gate was closed for the Eurocar area because it was full and when he caught the lift up to the Eurocar office, their computer system was down. We just hope they manage to sort it all out when they are back online.

The EuroStar terminal here is pretty average compared with the nice new terminal we saw in London St Pancras. After getting through security and UK customs, we found our seats and managed to find somewhere to put our luggage. The train was completely full which is probably not surprising for the end of a long weekend holiday. I had pushed my large suitcase into the gap between two seats and wondered whether I would be able to pull it out again when we got to London. The train left on time at exactly 4:13pm.

Next to us there was a family from Ecuador most of whom now live in London. There was a mother, father, two angelic daughters (2 and 4 years old), one son (7) plus an uncle and his daughter. They were good company on the trip. When Suzy started to knit, the girls were fascinated.  Suzy spent most of the trip giving the 4-year-old a knitting lesson.

The train arrived on time about 2hours 30 minutes later. We decided to catch the underground train back to our B and B. We were going well with our bags because there were lifts and escalators until the very last descent to the platform where there were only stairs. Luckily, a man offered to carry Suzy's bag for her. We were back at the B and B before 6:30pm.

As usual, we caught the bus to Nicky and John's place. Amelia was awake.

Nicky and John showed us the new chair they had bought to sooth Amelia. It rotates back and forward while it plays a selection of music. You can even plug in your MP3 player. They said it helps to get her to sleep and saves their sanity.

John also proudly showed me his new Macintosh computer. It has a huge 27-inch screen. He had been very pleased with the amount he had managed to get on eBay for his old Macintosh.

Nicky and John had cooked a nice fish dinner for us all. We caught the bus back to the B and B. I was exhausted after all the travelling today and I was out like a light as soon as I got into bed. The bottle of red we had with dinner probably helped.

Sunday 4th April

According to the weather forecast, today was supposed to be mostly sunny but soon after we opened the blinds, it started raining. The main plan for today was to go to Mont St-Michel via Cancale. If we had time we were going to travel west of St Malo to see some of the coastline.

After yet another nice continental breakfast, we drove out of the B and B at about 9:30am. We had decided to take the coastal road to Cancale so we could see the ocean along the way. As it turned out, the road wasn't within sight of the sea for most of the time but the countryside was very pleasant. There certainly wasn't any problem with traffic on these roads.

Eventually we did come to the coastline and we stopped at a beach with golden sands. It could have been a beach anywhere in Australia - provided that you can image such a beach at 6C and strong cold winds. As I took photos, I noticed a large number of people running along the other end of the beach. As we drove about 200m further on, we found out why. There was a fun run in progress with a lot of participants. We had to wait for a while as traffic controllers let the runners cross the road towards the beach and the headland.

We reached Cancale before 11am. It was very busy but we managed to find a parking spot a few blocks away from the centre of town. Here people park on the footpath in suburban streets and so we did the same. After a coffee break at a charming little cafe, we found the open air markets that Suzy wanted to visit. Believe it or not, I ended up buying something at the markets - namely, an innovative wire frame for the barbecue that would be ideal for kebabs, etc.

Next we walked down the hill towards the sea. There we found a pedestrian path along the cliff top and so we followed it towards the port. Because it was such a bright sunny day, the sea was a beautiful blue colour and the sun made the water glisten. We found our way down to the port and walked along the promenade near the beach. Judging by the crowds, it was clearly a popular spot to be on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Suzy had heard that this area is famous for its oysters and so we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that specialised in oysters. Suzy had her half-dozen oysters while I had prawns cooked in Calvados brandy. It was a great meal overlooking the sea.

Once again, we took the scenic route to Mont St-Michel and arrived there by 2:30pm. This was also a popular spot to be today because the car park area was full of many hundreds of cars.

When we got out of the car, I was surprised that the ground was very wet with puddles everywhere. We hadn't seen any rain since before breakfast. It wasn't until later that I realised that this was because the car park is under water at high tide. Mont St Michel is built on a small island next to the coast. Nowadays there is an elevated causeway that makes it accessible at all times but it used to be that you could only reach the island at low tide.

The beach in this area is very flat and the tides vary markedly from low to high tide. When the tide is out, you can walk for 18km to the low water mark but when the tide turns you had better be quick because it rolls back in faster than you can walk.

Initially when I got out of the car I put my baseball cap on to protect my eyes from the bright sunshine. I quickly realised that this was a bad choice because the strong wind would have taken it back to the Loire Valley in no time. I swapped it for my beanie to keep warm.

Inside the walls on the island, it was very crowded. We decided to go to the tourist office near the entrance to find out about the best way to get to the abbey at the top of the hill. He said we could take the main path past all the tourist shops or avoid the crowds by walking along the ramparts. We did the latter and reached the entrance to the abbey at about 3pm.

The queues for the abbey ticket office was more than 100m long as it wound its way up the stairs inside the building. We decided to get the audio guide too and we were very pleased that we did. It is a fascinating place to visit. It is amazing the way they have built the various parts of the abbey by wrapping it around the hillside.

The island is classified by UNESCO as a world heritage site. It is easy to see why. I was always fascinated by it when I was studying French at school and so it was an exciting experience to be here to see it for myself.

By the time we had worked our way through the many parts of the abbey, we were ready for a break. In among all the tourist shops, we found a creperie where we stopped for crepes and coffee with a window view overlooking the vast expanse of sandy beach beyond the island.

We left the island just after 5pm and it soon became apparent that lots of other people had decided to leave then too because it took more than an hour to get out of the car park, over the causeway and back onto the mainland. It was worse than trying to leave the SCG after a one-day match. The local road authorities and police could do with some simple advice about traffic management for a large event.

It was 7pm before we got back to the B and B. At one stage we thought that we might have still been in the car park at that time. The other deadline in the back of our minds was the high tide at 10pm which would flood the car park.

For dinner we decided to drive down to the town at the bottom of the hill near the river. Although it wasn't raining, Suzy didn't want to walk down and back. We went to a different restaurant this time. The theme was that of an Irish pub and they were playing English language dialogue and music in the background. The food was much better than last night and the house red (Merlot) was great.

It was the end of a very memorable and enjoyable day. Unfortunately, it was our last full day in France for this trip. It would be great to get back to Brittany some time to see more of this fabulous place. Maybe next time we'll come at a warmer time of the year.

Saturday 3rd April

When we opened the blinds this morning, the sun was rising over the hills directly above the town on the river below our B and B. Despite the promising start, the weather forecast was for more rain today and a better day tomorrow. Therefore we decided that today we would go to St Malo and Dinan and then tomorrow we would go to Mont St Michel.

I'm now getting used to somebody serving me coffee and croissants at 8:30 every morning. I'm not sure how I'm going to adjust when I get back to Sydney.

We set off from the B and B for St Malo at 10am. After about 30 minutes we were in the "new" part of St Malo trying to find the ancient part (the walled town). It turned out that the first route we took to get to the walled town was shut because the bridge was open to let shipping through. After waiting for a while, we went off in a different direction and the TomTom successfully found another route.

As we approached the walls at the St Vincents portal, Suzy spotted the entrance to an underground car park. When we went in, we found it was almost empty. It must be a new car park because it was clean and high-tech. Not only did they have detectors indicating which parking spots were taken but there were lights built into the pavement to show you which direction to go. After parking the car, I heard music that I thought must of being coming from the only other car nearby but it turned out to be piped music.

As you might expect, the streets of the walled city are narrow and made with cobblestones. The shops in the old buildings are very modern and elegant. They really know how to present their goods in these French shops - particularly the food shops. It is all very tempting. Here it is also pretty expensive.

Before midday we were ready for a coffee break in one of the many coffee shops. Then we tackled the ramparts - the walkways on the walls around the city. The ramparts give you a great view of the city, the port and the ocean. Unlike some other wall-top walkways that we have seen elsewhere in our travels in recent years, these walkways were flat and easy to walk on. I even saw a few people in wheelchairs.

Many of the buildings are made of old stonework but some look much newer. In fact, some looked like they are built with concrete blocks that are made to look like stone. Apparently, the city was badly damaged by bombing in World War II and the authorities have gone to a lot of trouble to rebuild the city in its former glory.

When we got back towards St Vincents, we walked down onto the sandy beach. If you stood there and watched, you could see the tide going out before your eyes. Suzy said she had read that you could walk to the fort on one of the nearby islands when the tide went out but she expressed concern about getting caught there when the tide starting coming back in.

We had lunch at a creperie in the St Vincents area. Apparently Brittany is famous for crepes and galettes. I had a galette with ham, cheese and an egg accompanied by a large mug of cold beer. It suited me right down to the ground.

After lunch Suzy went off to look at the shops. I was quite happy not to go along (and I think Suzy was even happier for me not to come). Instead, I finished the tour of the ramparts and then walked along the wharf outside the walls. When I looked out towards the fort, I noticed that the tide had dropped so far that people were walking out there and so I decided to do the same. It also gave me a good view back to the walled city.

I had arranged to meet Suzy at St Vincents at 3pm. We had a hassle leaving the car park because the machine didn't accept my MasterCard. By the time with sorted this out with my broken French and the various attendants in their broken English, it had started to rain.

Although the next stop was the walled town of Dinan, we decided to go via the B and B - partly because it was not far out of the way and partly because we wanted to get some warmer clothes and some more wet-weather gear. When we arrived at Dinan, the weather was miserable - very cold, very wet and very windy. Suzy suggested that we should wait in the car for a while until it improved.

Dinan is an attractive town and I'm sure that on a warm sunny day that it would be even better. We explored the cobblestone streets shops and sites. Once again, Suzy was particularly interested in shops that sold baby clothes. We found the ramparts and took lots of photos. One corner of the ramparts gave a great view of the Dinan Port below (the town on the river) and the stone arched bridge over the valley. Unlike St Malo, the ramparts were only in sections rather than all the way around the town.

While Suzy was in the last baby clothes shop, I walked down to a peaceful area outside the walls where there was a garden with caged exotic birds including peacocks.

At one stage we had planned to have dinner in Dinan but were starting to feel tired and we decided to drive back to the B and B. Besides, I think we had already covered all the ramparts and baby clothes shops.

For dinner we went to a restaurant that was only about 200m down the road from the B and B. Most of the food was OK and the wine was good but it wasn't as nice as the restaurant we went to last night (or the restaurants at Saumur).

Friday 2nd April

This morning we decided to walk into town to have breakfast at a cafe rather than at the B and B. It started to sprinkle before we reached the cafe and so Suzy wished that she had brought her umbrella. The menu choice was very simple: coffee, fruit juice, croissants and crepes. At least it was different (and cheaper) than the B and B. It was still sprinkling on the way back to the B and B.

We left the B and B at about 10:15am. The destination was Dinan in northern Brittany via Vannes in southern Brittany - a trip of more than 400km. Our B and B hosts had recommended that we stop at a particular church and at a castle before we left the Loire Valley area.

Priory Church in Cunault dates back more than 900 years. It is not ornate like some other churches but is still very elegant. Once again, the height of the church is enormous.

For most of the time since we left Saumur, we'd driven through showers and steady rain but when we were approaching Angers, it became torrential. However, on the other side of Angers, the rain eased and we saw blue sky. So by the the time we found the Chateau Serrant, it was quite pleasant but cool.

At the entrance to the chateau, the boom gate was closed and there was a sign saying we had just missed the last guided tour at noon and the next guided tour wasn't until 2:15pm. We decided to park on the main road and walk in to look at the castle from the outside.

It was indeed a magnificent castle on a beautiful property with vast lawns, lakes and a deep mote. Suzy stayed in the car cark while I went around the castle to take photos from the outside. I was about to leave when two women came across the lawns to tell me that the grounds were closed to visitors too and that I needed to leave.

Back on the motorway, we looked for somewhere to stop for petrol and lunch but there wasn't anywhere and so eventually we left the motorway to go into a nearby town. We managed to fill the tank but all the cafes and restaurants were either already closed or about to do so. At least we had enough fuel to complete our journey.

Just before Vannes, we struck a slow patch because of roadwork and we started to worry that we would be late in getting to our B and B in Dinan. The TomTom successfully navigated us to a parking area in the middle of Vannes. We then dashed down through the centre of town looking at the tourist sites. Along the way, we found a bread shop and bought a pastry each for a late lunch. Suzy had particularly wanted to see the rampants which is an ancient section of the town with stone walls and gardens.

To get to the ramparts we passed through fascinating narrow cobblestone streets lined with well-preserved ancient buildings and shops. If only we had known just how great this place was and if only we had more time, we would have loved to have a good look around. It would be easy to spend a day or two there but all we had was about 30 minutes.

We had told the B and B near Dinan that we would be there by 6pm and we only just made it there by then. Suzy had found it on Trip Advisor and been keen to go there because of the excellent reviews. The B and B didn't open for the tourist season until today and we had reorganised our previous itinerary to make sure that we could be here when they were open. It is located a short distance from Dinan in a village called La Hise.

The B and B is a charming three-storey stone building overlooking the Rance River. Hence the name Vue de la Rance. Our room is on the top floor which gives us a fabulous view. Alison organised coffee and biscuits for us in the sitting room on the ground floor. Alison and her husband originally came from Jersey which is an island between Brittany and the UK. Just after we arrived another couple drove in too. They were from Guernsey which is another island between Brittany and the UK. They had caught a ferry to St Malo.

Alison suggested several options for dinner. There is a pub and restaurant about 100m down the road. Alternatively, there are several very good restaurants in the town at the bottom of the hill (La Vicomte). In the end, we decided to walk down to the town. Perhaps this might not have been the best plan. Suzy doesn't like walking too far especially if it is raining. The other problem was that there was no footpath and so we had to walk on the road and dodge the oncoming traffic.

By the time we reached the restaurant, L'Effet Mer, I was more than just starving. After we had taken off our wet coats and sat down at our table, the sun came out. While we were waiting for the food, I went outside to take photos of the restaurant and the port area including the bridge, the dozens of moored yachts and our B and B high up on the hill on the other side of the river. It is a beautiful setting. I had a big steak and Suzy had a rack of lamb. We enjoyed a couple of carafes of house red. It was a relief to have a good feed after missing a proper lunch.

Although it was almost 9pm by the time we started walking back up the hill, it wasn't completely dark. I used the Flashlight app on my iPhone to indicate our presence to approaching cars. It was a good way to work off our dinner.

Thursday 1st April

Once again, we had breakfast at the B and B at 8:30am. We asked our hosts for advice on what sites to see today and planned our day accordingly.

The first outing was to a distillery (Gambier) located only a two blocks away from our B and B in Saumur. They have a shopfront and a working distillery behind the shop. They had a tour starting at 10:30am to show how they make the liqueurs and we were the only people on the tour. Gambier have been in continuous operation since 1834.

Back at the B and B, we met another Australian couple who are staying there too. They were married recently and they are spending 3 months travelling through Europe before he starts a new job in Toronto working as a cardiologist.

We also met a photographer from Trip Advisor who is staying at the B and B. He was busy taking photos of the chateau for their web site. He asked us to pose for some photos with Yolaine on the front steps of the chateau.

Eventually we drove out of the B and B at about 12 noon. The first destination was a castle that our hosts had recommended - namely, Chateau de Breze. This turned out to be one of the highlights of our stay in the Loire valley because it is so different from the other castles. Although the castle is impressive, the most interesting part is an elaborate and extensive system of underground tunnels and living quarters.

The main tunnel leads down to the dry mote that surrounds the castle - about 18m below the ground level. Branching out from the mote, there are more tunnels, sleeping quarters, a bakery, kitchen, wine presses and cellars. Some of the tunnels and caverns are even big enough for horses and carts.

After looking through the underground area, we looked through the castle and then went to an adjacent building for wine tasting. However, a bus load of tourists had arrived before us and so it was too crowded to bother.

By this time, we were feeling hungry and so we drove into the centre of the village to find something to eat. There were only four small shops there - a bakery, a general store, a pharmacy and a hair dresser. We bought a baguette at the bakery and then some ham and tomato at the general store. Next we drove to a spot just out of town and stopped next to vineyard where we ate our picnic lunch.

Our hosts had suggested that we visit the Abbey at Fontevrade. We drove past it but decided not to stop. Instead we drove to a town called Candes-St Martin which is at the junction of the Loire River and the Vienne River. We stopped and looked inside the St Martins church which dates back more than 700 years. It is amazing how many villages have huge impressive churches with tall arched ceilings.

Outside the church, there was a sign pointing towards a panoramic view for pedestrians. It turned out to be a longer climb than we had expected but it was worth it because of the fabulous view. We looked over the town and the two rivers into the distance at green fields and the nuclear power plant. Despite the fact that we had climbed up and up the hill, we were still only just higher than the church's spire.

When we got down the hill again, we went down to the river bank where we saw several house boats.

Back in the car, we drove through the adjacent town of Montsoreau before stopping at Torquant. In this area, there are numerous dwellings that are built into the cliff-face. At a glance they look like normal houses until you realise that most of the dwelling is underground. They refer to the residents as troglodytes.

In Torquant we looked at several of the shops that are built into the cliff face. Some of the caves seem to be quite deep. Suzy had wanted to visit one that showed the ancient art of preserving sliced apple but unfortunately it wasn't open.

Next we went to the Gratien-Meyer distillery which is is built on the edge of the cliff and has a nice view of the Loire. As we were tasting wines, the couple we met at the B and B walked in. The four of us did the 5pm guided tour that showed us the traditional way of making sparkling wine. As for other nearby areas, the wine factory is built in caves in the cliff face. Here they maintain everything at a cool temperature and high humidity that is ideal for wine making.

The trip back to the B and B was less stressful than yesterday - perhaps because I'm getting used to the narrow streets and perhaps because we only struck heavy traffic in the section between the wine outlet and Saumur.

Our host recommended yet another excellent restaurant for dinner, L'Escargot. I'd been afraid that they would only serve snails but they had a delicious range of other alternatives. Saumur is certainly a good place to go for great restaurants.

Wednesday 31st March

I went from a walk before breakfast. I made sure that I was well rugged up because it was less than 5C outside. As I was leaving, I met Yolaine - our B and B hostess.

We had breakfast at the B and B at 8:30am. They serve breakfast in the basement area - one level down from the reception. We concluded that this was probably the kitchen in the original house. It was a continental breakfast with fruit, bread, croissants, coffee, etc.

I spoke to Thierry about the two technology problems I had last night - error messages on the WiFi and inability to recharge my SIM with Orange France. To solve the first problem, he suggested that I use the PC in the basement next to the breakfast area or even plug my laptop into the cable internet connection there. For the second problem, he rang the Orange number but he found that it refused to accept my credit card. He suggested that I try going to the Orange shop in town to sort it out.

Overnight, we had received an email from the next B and B we had planned to stay at in Quimper in Brittany saying that there had been a death in her family and so it was no longer convenient for them to have us stay on Friday night. Suzy rang the following B and B that we'd book at (in Dinan near St Malo) and arranged with them to stay an extra night.

We set off at about 10:15am and drove into the centre of town. Suzy waited in the car while I went into the Orange shop to recharge my mobile phone. The salesperson told me that the data charges etc are very expensive and the plan I wanted wouldn't start for another month. In other words, to take advantage of their pay-as-you-go SIM card, I needed to arrange it more than a month ago. This was the last straw with Orange. I didn't bother recharging the phone account with them. They are too difficult to deal with - worse that dealing with a government department.

It took us about 90 minutes to reach the first castle that we wanted to visit, namely Chenonceau. This is one of the most popular castles in France and a big tourist attraction. The castle is a domestic structure rather than a military castle. It is built across the river and has various gardens on either side. I remember seeing photos of it when I was studying French at school and I seem to remember putting the photo on the front of my French exercise book back then. I never thought that I would get to see it in person. Today was the day.

When we got out of the car, we thought we were well rugged up for the cold weather. However, it was very cold - partly because of the wind. Suzy wondered whether she should have brought yet another layer of clothes.

As we walked towards the castle along a long tree-lined path, the building didn't look its best because of the scaffolding for the restoration work. However, for the more important angle down the river, it looked great. We went inside to look through the various rooms on two different levels that were open to the public. These included bedrooms where kings and queens slept, libraries, drawing rooms, kitchens, studies, etc. It was very nicely presented. Very elegant and very impressive.

This morning we had experienced some cloud but mostly sunny weather. However, when we came to walk outside the chateau, it had started to rain. After we waited inside for a while, the rain eased into showers and then sunshine. So we went out into the gardens to admire the view. In an adjacent building, we found a cafe in which to have lunch.

On our way back to the car, we had a quick look at the chateau's maze which is made of hedges.

Next we headed back in the direction of Saumur and stopped outside Villandry castle. We'd heard that this castle was most famous for its gardens and we decided to just take a few photos from the outside rather than paying to go in and spend more time there.

The next castle was Azay-le-Rideau which is an imposing castle with turrets next to a river. Once again, visitors were led through stately rooms but the furnishings here were not as elaborate as with Chenonceau. It will still well worth visiting.

Our B and B host had suggested we should visit a town called Chinon which has a medieval section close to the centre of town. Once again, it is next to a river. The old castle and fortress is up above the town on a hill. We found a good parking spot next to the river and strolled through the narrow streets of the old town.

The TomTom took us back along narrow local roads rather than on the motorway and so by the time we got back to our B and B, I was quite stressed out from manoeuvering through these streets.

I decided to take Thierry's suggestion and use the cable internet connection in the basement. It was much faster and more reliable than the WiFi.

For dinner, our B and B hosts had booked for us in a bistro in the centre of town that specialises in wine because it is a meeting place for vignerons from the area. It was clearly a popular spot. The service was good as was the food and wine. Nevertheless, we decided that we preferred last night's restaurant. Our waitress had an usual hairstyle - totally bald. We managed to communicate OK with them despite our limited French and their limited English.

Tuesday 30th March

We checked out of B and B by 9am and drove into Amiens. The TomTom successfully navigated us to a parking station in the centre of town near the main square - on the opposite side of the cathedral from the locations near the river where we had previously had dinner.

The first task was to visit the Orange France shop to buy a French SIM card for my iPhone. In my broken French, I explained what I wanted and he installed it for me. When I found that it didn't seem to be connecting to the internet, he found someone else who spoke a little more English to help us. Eventually it started working.  I suspect it just took a while for the new SIM to register with their server.

The next stop was to visit the cathedral. We had seen it from the outside on the day we arrived in the Somme Valley but we hadn't been able to see inside it until today. The Michelin guide gives it a three-star rating. It is a magnificent cathedral.

After we had got out of the parking station, Suzy had noticed a department store (Galleries Lafayette) and so we went there on the way back to the car to look at baby clothes.

The main task for today was to drive more than 400km to a town called Saumur in the Loire Valley. Most of the trip was on good quality motorways and so it was generally easy going. Although we didn't come across too much traffic, there were quite a few semi-trailers on the road - especially on one stretch when we were heading towards the big port of Le Havre. When we turned to head more south, the trucks probably continued on to the port.

We stopped for a lunch stop on at a service centre on the motorway. This was the first time we had needed to fill up the car's tank. It takes diesel which is cheaper than petrol in France.

Most of the journey today had been in sunshine and clouds but no rain. Soon after leaving our lunch stop, we noticed some heavy dark clouds ahead. This tuned out to be a thunderstorm with heavy rain and strong winds. There was also some hail but the ice seemed quite soft - almost as if it couldn't decide whether to hail or snow. According to our dashboard, the outside temperature was less than 5C. All of this made driving more challenging especially when we needed to overtake semitrailers that were spraying water everywhere and generating even stronger wind forces.

The storm lasted for about 30 minutes. At about 3:30pm, I stopped the car for a leg-stretch break. Suzy had planned to get out too but quickly changed her mind after she had opened the car door a few inches. It was just too cold for her - partly because of the strong wind that was blowing.

We arrived at Saumur at about 4:30pm. Suzy had been keen to stay at a chateau in the Loire Valley and her research on the internet showed that this one was a good choice because of the excellent reviews that it got on Trip Advisor. The chateau is in one of the streets near the centre of the town.

The chateau was behind high walls and imposing metal gates. Suzy managed to contact the owner who came to open the gates and guide us into the grounds. It is a magnificent stately house surrounded by gardens. The owner explained that it used to be an in-town residence for one of the local vignerons. He and his wife had bought it from them about eight years ago to convert it into a B and B.

On the main level of the chateau, there are several large rooms with sitting areas with very tall ceilings (about 4.5m) and chandeliers. To one side, there is a large staircase that takes you upstairs to the guest rooms on the two floors above. Luckily there is a lift because I wouldn't have wanted to carry our bags all the way up the stairs.

Our room was on the top level. It was very spacious. There was a large bedroom with a double bed and single bed. The bathroom was probably the biggest that I've seen anywhere.

This is living like a king.

After settling in, we walked into town to explore - only about 10 minutes away. We walked across the bridge over the Loire, trying not to be blown off the bridge by the strong winds. On the other side, I found an ATM to get more Euro cash.

Our hosts had recommended several restaurants for dinner and for tonight they had booked us into one called L'Alchemiste which was only a block away. The chef had trained under a three-star Michelin chef before deciding to set up his own restaurant in Saumur with his wife. The decor was elegant, the service was great and the food was excellent. Magnifique.

The B and B had WiFi including a repeater on the same level as our room and so the reception was good. However, I started to get Windows error messages about IP address conflicts and had difficulty opening some web pages. There was no problem with WiFi access for our phones.

My iPhone said I had run out of credit already. When I sat down to read the brochure, it said that although I paid 15 Euros for the SIM, it only has 5 Euros of credit. It said I could recharge via the internet or by ringing a number. When I tried ringing the number, they spoke so quickly (in French) that I couldn't understand them. When I tried the internet method, they said I needed to register. They said they would send me a password to my phone but it never arrived.

I decided to talk to Thierry about both problems in the morning.

Monday 29th March

The plan for today was to visit the WWI battlefields in the Somme Valley. We had breakfast in the B and B at 8am to be ready for another busy day.

The first destination was the village of Villers-Bretonneux where there were decisive battles involving Australian troops. The main battle was on the third anniversary of Anzac day, 25th April 1918.

We were looking for the Franco-Australian Museum. We didn't know the address and so we drove around the streets of the village until we found it. When I went up to the front door, it was closed but a woman standing outside side reassured me (in French) that it opened in 5 minutes at 9:30am.

The museum is on the second story of a school that we learned had been a gift of the Victorian Government. There are strong connections to Australia and particularly Melbourne and Victoria throughout the building. For example, after we had visited the museum, we went to the school assembly hall that has huge floor-to-ceiling Australian posters (such as Australian scenery), Australian animals carved into the woodwork, flags, etc.

The museum itself runs the full length of the building. It contains a fascinating variety of memorabilia such as plaques, weapons, uniforms, flags and photographs. You could spend hours there but we had a lot to cover today.

Somebody had told me that there was a sign somewhere in the village saying don't forget Australia. I had seen one small sign near the entrance to the museum saying "Noublions jamais L'Australie" (We will never forget Australia) but I thought there was something more. So on our way out from the museum, I asked one of the staff if there was such a sign. She said there is an it is in the school grounds. She showed me the sign through the window. It reads "DO NOT FORGET AUSTRALIA".

We walked downstairs, through the assembly hall and into the school playground. The sign is directly above the classrooms and the sits in full view of the entire playground. It's not just a token sign. It is about 8m long by about 1.5m high. The text is in capital letters. It was a moving experience.

The staff told us about several other small memorials in the village but the big one was the Australian National Memorial which is located a few kilometres north of the village. So we drove off in search of it.

You really couldn't miss this one - it is right next to the road and it is big. It is on a grassy hill overlooking the valley and contains many hundreds of headstones. The structures at the entrance and at the top of the hill are very tasteful and elegant.

As we walked past the gravestones, we looked at the names on the stones. Many were simply marked "Australian soldier of the Great War - Known unto God". In other words, the body had not been identified. Other gravestones were for non-Australians such as British, Canadian, South African and Indian soldiers.

Past the gravestones, there was a large area of lawn and then a memorial at the top of the hill that included a tall tower. On both sides of the tower there were walls with the names of thousands of soldiers.

The gate was open and so I climbed to the top of the staircase inside the tower. It turned out to be higher than I thought and so I was puffing when I got to the top. But it was worthwhile because it gave me a great view of the entire site and the beautiful French countryside into the distance.

The next destination was the Australian Corps Memorial Park near another tiny village called Le Hamel on a different road just north of Villers-Bretonneux. This memorial is only about 10 years old.

Along the path, it has a series of information displays telling the story of the battles in this area. One of the displays is about the Red Baron. He was shot down in this area - probably by the Australians. At the end of the path, there is a commemorative wall with the AMF coat of arms and tributes from the French Prime Minister in English and in French.

After leaving Le Hamel, we stopped at another memorial before heading on to the town of Albert. We managed to get lost looking for the museum but eventually located it next to the church in the centre of the town. This memorial is completely underground because it shows the tunnels that were constructed a long time ago by the French and re-used in WWI.

When we returned to our car, it wouldn't start. We had visions of being stuck in this town for hours waiting for EuroCars to rescue us. We remembered that John and Gaye had been stranded back home in a remote location when a similar fancy system had failed on them. Mild panic was setting in. The car's owners manual didn't help because it was in a different language - possibly Flemish or German.

When we were picking up the car in Belgium, the man behind the counter had told us that I need to put my foot on the clutch when I start the car. At the time I had pointed out to him that the car is automatic and so doesn't have a clutch. He then corrected himself to say that he meant the break pedal. I found today that it wasn't good enough to just tap the break pedal - I needed to hold it firmly down and then the car would start. What a relief!

It was lunchtime but we couldn't find anywhere open in town. While we were lost earlier looking for the museum, we had noticed a McDonalds just out of town and so we decided to go there. They offered some similar food to Australia but there were differences. It took us a while to communicate our selections to the staff.

The next destination was the Franco-British memorial at Thiepval. On the way we stopped at another Australian memorial we found. In fact, there were so many memorials in the whole Somme Valley that we could have spent weeks there. It really brought home to you the magnitude of the human misery caused by this war when everywhere you went there were gravestones, crosses and memorials.

At the British memorial, there is a glass building with information displays, videos and a shop. It was crowded with British schoolchildren.

The monument is very impressive. At 45m in height, it dominates the area. There are an extraordinary number of names engraved on the walls of the monument.

Our hosts at the B and B had mentioned that the Newfoundland memorial was worth a visit. When we got there, we found that it was quite different from other memorials. Apparently the Newfoundland soldiers had been very proud that they were fighting along side British troops.

Their memorial emphasises the trenches that are still visible in the area. We didn't have time to walk through the entire site because it would have taken hours. As I walked through the site, I came across busloads of Canadian school children being given guided tours of the site.

Heading south-east, we came to the South African National Memorial and then the French memorial. The French memorial had a very large graveyard behind an elegant chapel. There was a large flagpole in the middle of the graveyard carrying a proud French flag.

One difference between the French graves and the Commonwealth graves was that the French mark the grave with a cross. Commonwealth gravestones are rectangular with a rounded top.

The final stop was the museum at Peronne. We got there at about 5pm and decided it was too late to go though the museum and so we drove back to the B and B.

For dinner, we drove into Amiens again and parked in the same carpark next to the river. We had expected that there would be more cafes open because it was a weekday but it was still very quiet. We decided to go to a cafe we had noticed last night. The cafe had plastic flaps down to protect customers from the weather and the flap at the entrance was so firmly closed that it was difficult to get in.

The menu was only in French but I noticed one dish that looked suitable because it contained the word "veau" which means veal. When the waiter brought my meal, he was spilling the sauce all over the floor as he approached. Suzy was telling him to be careful (in English) but I just got up and backed away as quickly as I could.

The veal dish didn't look like veal to me because it was round rather than flat. I ate the salad and chips before trying a mouthful of the veal. It was totally disgusting. Completely vile. Revolting. I felt ill immediately and didn't eat any more. As soon as I felt well enough to stand up, we paid the bill and left.

During our meal, the rain and wind had got stronger and there was thunder and lightning. By the time we got back to the car, there was even some light hail falling. I'm not sure how I managed to drive back to the B and B. It was bad enough feeling ill but the weather made it even harder. Perhaps it helped that we left the restaurant early and it was still light.

The dish that I'd ordered was call "Rognon de veau". I understood the "veau" but not the "rognon". Back at the B and B, I looked up this word in a French dictionary and found out that it means kidney. No wonder I was so sick. I buy kidneys for the cat and the dog but I would never dream of eating one myself. I decided that I would take a French dictionary with me from now on when I went to a restaurant in France.

It had been a very memorable and exciting day that had been somewhat spoilt by the dreadful food I'd had for dinner. It took me a long time to get to sleep because of the way I felt.

Sunday 28th March

Daylight saving had started over night and so we had lost an hour of sleep. Suzy doesn't like losing sleep time for any reason. When I opened the curtains, it was a bright sunny day for our last morning in Bruges. On the other hand, my iPhone told me that it was only 4C outside.

Before we left Bruges for France, we wanted to go on the canal cruise. As we walked through the town after breakfast, it was quite different from the previous two days because it was quiet (being Sunday morning). Most of the shops were closed and the streets and plazas were almost deserted. Even the horse-drawn tourist rides were idle - just lined up in the main plaza waiting for customers. I imagine that many people were at church and perhaps the rest had decided to stay curled up in bed to keep warm.

We arrived in time for the first cruise trip of the morning at 10:15am. It was worth the effort because it gave us a great view of this charming town.  Suzy always enjoys seeing a city from the water (such as our cruise on the Bosporus in Istanbul). On this cruise, we were able to see the old buildings up close. Some buildings are more than 700 years old.

For me one of the highlights of the canal cruise was the golden labrador that was watching the boats go by from a bay window overlooking one part of the canal. Its owner had placed a cushion on the window sill and the dog rested its head on the cushion as the world passed by.

We checked out of our hotel at about 11:30am and loaded up our car with all our luggage. This time we had no problem getting into the car park because the combination opened the door on the first attempt.

Our TomTom navigated the way out of Bruges and onto the motorway for the trip south. Initially we were heading for a tiny village called Petillon just north of Fromelles because a Google search last night had shown that there were several WWI memorials on the road between these two towns. As we approached Petillon, we noticed one memorial but there was nowhere safe to stop. I think it was probably a British memorial rather than an Australian one.

There was nowhere open in Petillon for lunch and so we drove a short distance to the next tiny town of Le Picartin where we spotted an inn (auberge) just off the main street. We found it was almost full of local people having their Sunday lunch. When the waitress asked (in French) whether we had a reservation, I thought we were in trouble because I don't think we would have found anywhere else to eat. Luckily she had a table for two just near the entrance. I managed to communicate with them OK in French.

When we finished our meal at about 2pm, I took a few photos of the animals in their farmyard. These included swans, peacocks, ducks and a pig.

The turn-off towards Fromelles was well marked in English and French pointing to Commonwealth War Graves. We stopped at three memorials including VC corner (named after the nearby road intersection) and Don't Forget Me Cobber.

Just as we entered the town of Fromelles, Suzy spotted a construction hoarding that had children's drawings on it. We stopped and I went across the road to investigate. It turned out to be the main memorial we were looking for - namely, the place where they recently found a mass grave and they are busy reburying the soldiers with military honours. The children's drawings had messages about the war including some saying they should never forget the Australian troops.

There was a viewing area where you could she the memorial being built. There were many wreaths in the area as well as brochures and posters describing the memorial and the history of the battles. Because it was a Sunday, there was no activity. The posters said that they conduct the burial services on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Our journey took us south and then east along various motorways. We stopped for a coffee break at a service area on the A1 and reached our B and B in Blangy-Tronville at about 5pm.

At about 6:30pm, we drove to the nearby city of Amiens because our B and B hosts told us this was the best place to find somewhere open for dinner on a Sunday night. We found a car park next to the canal in the centre of Amiens and went for a stroll to look at the Cathedral. The Michelin Green Guide rates the cathedral as a three-star must-see sight. We could only look from the outside but it was obvious why they give it such a rave review. It is huge, ornate and impressive.

We found a nice cafe for dinner on the other side of the canal where I could continue to practice my French. By the time we had finished dinner, the light showers had become more steady and they became heavier as we drove back to the B and B. We only got lost once or twice but the TomTom saved us and got us home safely.

Saturday 27th March

Breakfast in the hotel starts at 8am and so that's when we got there.

Our main task for this morning was to pick up the rental car that we would be using to travel around France. Although we don't leave for France until tomorrow, the rental outlet is closed tomorrow. The hotel explained that they provide free parking for guests about a block away from the hotel. She gave us the security code and the directions to get there. We decided to go there first. When we tried the security button, it didn't work - even after trying a second time. We went back to the hotel to check with her. She assured us that it is the right code but you often need to try several times before it works.

Since the rental outlet was only about 2km away, we decided it would be easier to walk. We got there by 10am. We were pleased to find that they had given us a BMW. After checking over the car, we managed to navigate our way back to the hotel's cark park. It took three attempts but eventually the entrance door opened.

Suzy was keen to get to an open-air market that was due to close at lunchtime. After doing some sightseeing along the way, we got there at about noon. Thankfully Suzy didn't want to stay long. She commented that Belgian people must go through socks more quickly than us because many of the stalls sold socks.

Next we went to one of the most popular chocolate shops where Suzy bought a selection for us to try later. Then we went back to the large plaza in the centre of town and had lunch in one of the many open-air cafes. Part way through our meal, the waiter closed the awning above us and turned on the heaters. We weren't too sure if he did so because he was expecting showers or because he thought we were all too cold.

After lunch we strolled through more of the streets along the walk recommended by the hotel's map. We reach the Groeninge museum that has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide. It contains paintings from many of the Flemish masters.

By the time we had finished at the museum, we were feeling quite tired and so we decided to go back to the hotel. On the way we stopped at a cafe next to a canal for coffee and Belgian waffles.

In the hotel, we planned our itinerary for tomorrow's trip into France.

At about 6:30pm, we set off on the tourist walk that heads east from the hotel - the opposite direction to the main tourist area in the centre of town. This path took us through suburban streets lined with terrace houses until we reached the canal that runs around the town. Here there was a park next to the canal and two large windmills.

We found our way back to the centre of town and had dinner at a brasserie. By the time we had finished dinner, it had started raining.

Today we had done a lot of walking but that was a good thing because we had had quite large meals at lunch and dinner.