Venus and Mars - Facials and Cars

We had a "quiet" weekend lined up - no travel! - but it quickly became a "have fun spending somebody else's money" weekend, which must surely be almost as good!

Since Christmas, Bec had a voucher for a session at the new Thermae Bath Spa, a luxurious facility right next to the old Roman baths in the centre of town. Similarly, Johnny had a voucher for a "white knuckle ride" in a fast car at Castle Combe Circuit. To each their own!

So on the Saturday morning we nipped around to Castle Combe for Johnny's hot laps. Although his voucher - a Christmas present from Bec, Amanda and Anthony - had been for a ride in a Subaru WRX, Johnny was not content with this (being a former owner) and when booking the session had upgraded himself to the Lotus Elise. This classic British ultra-light, famed for its stunning handling and razor-sharp response, would prove to be much more entertaining in the slightly damp conditions!




The problem, as driver David explained, was that such a light car with such wide tyres tends to skim over the top of any moisture on the track, rather than gripping the surface beneath. Johnny did not really regard this as a problem though, as the whole 4 laps were spent slipping, drifting and generally sliding about like a dog on lino. Awesome fun!



The day after John's hot lap, Bec got into some hot mud. Special Canadian gourmet mud, apparently. She and Amanda were treated to an "Aromatic moor mud body coccoon" at the Thermae Bath Spa, but not before enjoying a gourmet lunch at the famous Pump Rooms and a swim on the rooftop pool with views over Bath.


Funny how differently girls and boys like to be pampered!

Five go to France: Part 2: Paris

The next day we walked (via a pâtisserie of course) to the ultimate goal of our trip: Roland Garros, home of the French Open!


After an absolute shambles of an entry process we finally made it to Centre Court, where we watched Marat Safin outmuscle Spaniard Fernando Vicente in straight sets, before Day 1 of the French Open ground to a halt - rain. And more rain.

And still more rain.


We wandered around pretty aimlessly, until a well-dressed man collared us, asked "Vous venez d'ou?" ("Where are you from?"). When we answered (semi-truthfully) "Australia" his face lit up - "come wiz me!". We exchanged raised eyebrows, but he seemed nice enough (and well-dressed!) so we tagged along after him (no we're not naïve, really!)

It turned out that Well-Dressed Man was from French national broadcaster France 2 - and he interviewed us, live on national TV! Reproduced below is a transcription of the interview (which we had to rehearse about 10 times):

WDM: "...and where are you from?"
Bec: "We are from Australia"
WDM: (feigning amazement) "Australia! Oh so you are here for the whole tournament?"
Bec: "No, we're only here for one day"
WDM: (flabbergasted - almost speechless) "But it's raining! Have you seen any tennis?"
Bec: "Yes, we saw Marat Safin play. He was very good."
WDM: "... and you will watch more tennis today?"
John: "Yes, we hope to see Arnaud Clement play. On aime les joueurs Francais" (We like the French players)

Wow. Seriously in-depth journalism, huh? Some time later, we threw in the (soaking wet) towel and headed back to our usual haunt, the café next to our hotel, for some comfort food - bread, cheeses and red wine. Later on, the rain abated slightly and Bec, Anth and Amanda optimistically returned to Roland Garros and saw a bit of (eventual overall winner) Justine Henin's win over Elena Vesnina. (Kath and Johnny couldn't be bothered)


Later, after some dinner, Eiffel-aholic Bec persuaded Eiffel-skeptic Kath to come and see the mighty tower - and judging by the fact that Kath took even more pictures than Bec, we have a convert!

Five Go To France - Part 1: Bayeux

We met up with Kath again a few weeks later (Stu having already headed off for Barcelona) and set off for Northern France. With 5 in Beatrice it was pretty squeezy in the back as we headed for Portsmouth and the overnight ferry to Le Havre. But I would much rather have slept in the car than the human-endurance experiment/torture session that was the "general seating" of the Norman Spirit. We skilfully managed to seat ourselves next to the loudest snorer on the planet, and with the ergonomically-challenged seat-armrest combination and oven-like ambient temperature, spent one of the most uncomfortable nights of our lives.

The experience was not helped by the fact that much of it was spent not moving. Yep, the ferry leaves Portsmouth at 11pm, but it only needs 4-or-so hours to get across, and Le Havre Harbour doesn't open its doors (or whatever it is harbours do) until 7am. So halfway across The Channel, the boat just stops. For four hours.

Anyway, feeling a bit grotty, we arrived in Le Havre, with Johnny at the wheel having his first experience of driving on the "wrong" side - of the car! Luckily Kath was a very capable navigatress and after a brief mini-tour of Le Havre we hit the open road, with Kath doing her best "bonjour" bit at each péage (toll booth).


After a pâtisserie-break at Caen, we moved on to Bayeux, home of the famous tapestry. Any initial misgivings about "looking at a big rug" were soon forgotten as we walked its immense 70m length, audioguides jammed to our ears as the commentary rattled through the incredibly busy and beautifully detailed story. Pictures really don't do the tapestry justice - the textures are lost - so it didn't really matter that we weren't allowed to take any!

We also looked around the Battle Of Normandy/D-Day Museum at Bayeux, a fascinating insight into what it must have been like to be part of Operation Overlord in June 1944.


The next stop was the D-Day Landing beaches, and the US Cemetery at Omaha Beach (the beach immortalised in the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan). A very poignant place - not necessarily a happy one, but highly recommended nonetheless.



Then it was time to hit the Autoroute down to Paris - and a few buttock-clenching minutes of navigating unfamiliar Parisian streets, in darkness, on the wrong side of the car! But we got there - and what a great spot! We highly recommend the 3-star Hôtel Eiffel Kennedy - it's affordable, well-located (right next to a GREAT café!) and the view from your bedroom isn't bad either...

An Amsterdam Good Time!

Please Note: The following text may have been adapted to fit within Parental Guidance tolerances...

With Stu (aka Mallet) over for a well-deserved holiday, what better bank-holiday destination than Amsterdam to start him off on his European odyssey? We flew out from Bristol along with Amanda and Anthony and met Kath at Schipol Airport for some 6-way Dutch Action!


After finding/fare-evading our way to our well-located hostel, we headed straight for the Heineken Brewery - our Guinness experience had told us that opportunities for freshly-brewed beer should never be missed. There was the usual gleaming brass machinery and hilariously-dated advertising material, but we were very pleasantly surprised to find a Heineken-branded foosball (table football) table, vacant, awaiting our use at no cost! Our entry ticket also included the right to consume not one, not two, but three delicious frosty glasses of Holland's finest. Yum.


Emerging blinking into the sunlight, we boarded a tour boat for a leisurely cruise along the canals. Unfortunately, the warmth of the sunlight conspired with the beer in our bellies and very nearly sent us all to sleep! To revive ourselves we took a spin through the Red Light district, which was not really very rowdy as the sun was still up. After some dinner we headed for a ############# and ####### some ############## but we were pretty tired and crashed out relatively early for a Saturday night in Amsterdam!


Sunday was Bicycle Day - we all wanted to get out of town on the quintessential Dutch transport and get some tulip-and-windmill photos in the bag. Our 3-speed, sit-up-and-beg style MacBikes were perfectly suited to the riverside pathways and despite getting somewhat lost we ended up having an excellent lunch somewhere south of Amsterdam, near the Ajax stadium. We got back on track and notched up some quality windmills on the way back to town, though! We had put over 20km under our wheels and all of us ended up having a bit of a nap back at base!


Relaxed and refreshed, we headed into the centre of town again, this time looking for a ############ which had been highly recommended to ############## for the quality of their ###############. After a bit of searching, we found what seemed to be the place, and nervously ############# the ###############.


Although initially the ############### didn't seem ################ it was after we had moved on to a ############ ########## in the ################### that all of us ############ ########### ############. We had all reluctantly ######### ########## the ############ but with the assistance of ############ and some ############, the ############ became perversely hilarious. What followed was without doubt one of the most #######, ######, yet ########## journeys of our lives as we attempted to find our way back to the hostel ########## ######## ###########, except of course for ########, who apparently could not be trusted to ##########, leading to even more hilarity as a ########### ########## tried to ##########. Finally we made it back, but the ########## was still ##########, especially for ############ who had ########## ######### and could not stop ########### ########### for quite a while!

Ahhh, good times, good times...

Bec's Birthday Surprise

After Bec's amazing organisation in getting us to Greece for a week for my 30th birthday, it seemed only fair that I should reciprocate and sort out a mystery holiday for her birthday, which was less than a month later. Of course, it was only her 29th, so things weren't going to be quite as extravagant, and we only had a weekend, but I wanted to go somewhere totally new to both of us and give Bec a good pampering at the same time.

Hence on the Friday evening we arrived at Glendorgal Hotel and Spa, in beautiful Cornwall, England's summer getaway in the extreme South-West of England. Like Bec, I'd managed to keep our destination a surprise until the very last minute (well actually, about 30 minutes before we got there!) And with a fistful of massage/therapy vouchers in hand, Bec was sure to come away suitably content.

The next morning, after a monster breakfast, Bec got down to business in the spa, getting the full massage/face/nails/whatever-it-is treatment for a complete de-stress. Of course you can't go to Cornwall without going to Land's End, which we duly trundled down to see. Also Penzance - a town that should be very grateful to Gilbert & Sullivan!


The next day we explored the interesting local environment of Newquay - we were on a bay that was so tidal it completely emptied out at low tide! We walked across the wet sand and up onto the point on the other side, which had a great view back to town.




Our final stop was the Eden Project, an experimental environmental projecty-thing where they have taken a disused china clay pit and turned it into a waste-neutral, self-sustaining farm/park/massive-greenhousey-thing. That was somewhat vague. But believe us, it's very impressive!



Happy Birthday Bec!

Ireland Hopping: Dublin

Our final stop was Dublin, the Republic's legendary capital. On our first evening in town, we caught the bus in to the Temple Bar region, which is stuffed with restaurants and pubs. Sadly it seemed that so many other tourists had done exactly the same thing that there was no room left for any real Irish people! So our search for some good Craic was pretty unsuccessful.

The next day we headed to Trinity College - a very pretty campus once we found our way inside!
We checked out the Book of Kells - an amazing illuminated Bible manuscript - although again most of Ireland's tourist population seemed to be in there with us! All very interesting, but really just a warmup for another obligatory Dublin tourist-trap: the Guinness Storehouse.
Although initially it seemed to be another doomed-to-fail experiment - Bec is not an enormous beer fan at the best of times, and Johnny, not previously a fan of the Black Stuff, was feeling a bit unwell with a headache - the place was awesome.


After walking though the former distillery buildings and smelling the beautiful aroma of roasting barley, there was a "teaser" - literally just a shot of the locally-made Guinness. Perhaps it was reading all the old-time "it's-good-for-what-ails-you" advertising, but Johnny's headache evaporated almost instantly, and Bec announced it to be "not bad" - high praise from Miss Sauv Blanc!

Finally we got to the main attraction - The Gravity Bar, seven stories above Dublin with a 360-degree view and the freshest, most perfectly-poured pint of Guinness in the world. And what a pint! Johnny's literally disappeared before Bec's astonished eyes - it was truly a life-changing experience. This pint was so far removed from the thick, bready, tar-like stuff punters choke down back in Melbourne, it was like liquid silk. Not black; a deep red, with beautiful smoothness and complexity, instead of tasting like a 9-day old wholemeal crust. Magic.
Bec "savoured" hers for much longer, a pint being quite a tall order for a non-beerist, but even her untrained stout-palate appreciated the fine flavour and texture. She even felt a bit drunk afterwards - bonus! As we wandered around, filling in our last few hours before heading to the airport, we both noted that Dublin has a very similar feel to Melbourne - both in architecture and culture. So save yourself a trip - just go to your local Bridie O'Reilly's. Just kidding!!