The last week

So it was back to Paris for one last hurrah.  My lovely friend Laure, once again hosted me.  It wasn't an overly exciting time this time as I had many errands to run and loose ends to tie up so I spent Friday afternoon and Saturday doing those.  One of those tasks was to undertake the packing of my bags and try and get it all under the weight limit, so a trip to the Post was in order (again!!).

I was still able to get out and about with Laure in Paris.  Friday night we went to a show that her friend had written and then we went out for a drink/bite with these people after the show.  That was really good.  Saturday night, Laure had acquired free tickets to an orchestra performance where there were two conductors who were being assessed for the final part of the course they had completed so that was very interesting.  Then we went to her sister Sophie’s place for a ‘soiree’ with her friends.  It was great to see Sophie one more time before my imminent departure the next day. (Sophie and Laure are the girls I spent Christmas with, with their family in the South of France and whose parents I visited again with my family just a few weeks previously – to put it into context for you).  Sunday was my last day in Paris.  So sad!!!!!!  The bags were packed and ready to go and Laure and I went out to her friends for lunch to celebrate an anniversary (wedding I think?).

After lunch, the inevitable and sadly unavoidable moment of having to go to the airport, and get on a plane that was taking me away from Europe indefinitely, arrived.  I spent the few hours at the airport talking one last time on the phone to my friends back in L’Aigle/Mortagne-au-Perche and then it was on the plane and off to one more stop on the way back home... Abu Dhabi.

The bonus of flying a lot recently with Emirates is that I have enough points to be a Silver Tier member which meant I got to bypass all the queues, take extra luggage and make the most of the business class lounge at Dubai Airport.

I arrived at Dubai and got on the bus to Abu Dhabi where my friend Alicia picked me up.  We went off for some pampering in the form of a manicure and a pedicure (as we tend to do whenever I visit her here).  Lunch out, and then, that afternoon, high tea at a 5 star hotel.  I do like Abu Dhabi!!  It was also very hot and humid, as in over 40 degrees, but if you can stay inside with the air-conditioning it’s all good.

View from where we had high tea

Alicia and I at high tea, we had one tiered rack of cakes and pastries each!!! We could not eat it all!!

Tuesday we just chilled out, went to the club in the evening for dinner and to see a sneak preview of a show her boyfriend was performing in later on in the week.  Very humorous!!

Wednesday we spent at the mall as she took her boy that she nannies to the playground and in the afternoon it was back to the club where we spent the afternoon by the pool.  Although it was so hot we spent most of it either in the pool or in the ocean.  The ocean was so warm it was like a bath and you could walk straight in.  That night we headed out for dinner and then out for a drink after.  It was so hot at midnight that you were still sticky sitting down outside.

At the club where I went swimming in the very warm ocean!!

Thursday it was off to Dubai.  We looked around some souks and had a nice lunch along the creek.  We were going to go for a boat ride up the creek but it was a bit overpriced and it was so hot that I was starting to get heat exhaustion so we took refuge in the Dubai mall.  A bit more shopping and looking around in air-conditioning!  We hung around till dark to see the dancing, musical fountains and then stayed at a friend of Alicia’s before I had to get up early the next morning for my flight back to NZ.  The 19 hour flight ended up being 17 hours and wasn’t as painful as I thought it was going to be as watching back to back screenings of Downton Abbey made it quite an enjoyable trip.

Dancing musical fountains outside the Dubai Mall

In front of the Burj Khalifa (the world's tallest building)

The world's tallest building

Middle Eastern lunch by the Dubai Creek

Yum!!

Then it was back to home soil where my Mum, Dad and Nana were at the airport to greet me.

The adventure was over.

But there will be more.....

PS. this last little video I wanted to do when I first got to L'Aigle.  Here is a short clip which captures the seasons/the time while I was there via the view from my window.

More Spain

So we arrived at Malaga.  My aunt’s childhood friend Gay greeted us and drove us the hour or so back to her place that she shares with her Spanish husband, Raphael, on the Costa del Sol.  The next day we drove down to Marbella to look around the town, see the old town and the beach.  We were in for a real Spanish experience staying with Gay and Raf and it was great.  It was midday but as we weren’t going to be having lunch until around 4pm (in typical Spanish tradition) we had a snack of calamari accompanied with some Spanish summer wine on the beachfront.  We got to see traditional cooking on the barbecue of sardines (I think), something that is a popular dish in the area.

The view from Gay and Raf's deck.  The med on the horizon.

Marbella

The beach at Marbella

Grilled fish on the barbecue

How the other half live around here.  A Ferrari and a Lambourghini side by side infront of a nice boat!!

When we got back later in the afternoon, Raf had been working on an authentic Spanish paella!! But before that we had grilled anchovies (actually really nice), and grilled capsicum salad and grilled mini green chilli things.  All very yummy.  Followed by the paella and then cheese and bread after that.  All accompanied with wine and even champagne.  A fantastic meal that lasted a couple of hours and filled me to bursting!!  I definitely needed a lie down after that and only a couple of hours later Raf was ready to give us more food – this time grilled sardines!!  Also, yum, but I was still digesting lunch and couldn’t appreciate them.

The table ready for our late lunch. Yum, yum.  Note the football serviettes.  Raf is a big football fan and it was also the Euro Cup time (which Spain ended up winning incidentally!!) 

Paella!!

Saturday we went to Gibraltar.  Gibraltar itself is nothing to write home about but getting there was quite an experience.  They have strict border control so you have to queue for ages in your car.  Once you get through the checkpoint you have to drive across the runway to get to Gibraltar.  Hilarious.  There are lights to stop you if there is a plane landing or taking off.  Half the new airport is in Spain and half in Gibraltar and there is real rivalry between the two countries so Spain is dragging its feet in opening the airport so at the moment it’s just sitting there unused.  Like I say, Gibraltar isn’t that amazing, but it does have the impressive ‘rock’ and it’s great for buying British produce and getting really cheap perfume etc because of the tax breaks there (or something like that).  All I know is that I bought some perfume for a lot cheaper than I would have anywhere else in Europe so I was pretty happy with that.  On the way back from Gibraltar we drove a bit further down the coast to see some of the beaches (unfortunately the Mediterranean was a bit cold for swimming). And we also stopped off at the viewing point where you can see Africa (Morocco) from the coast of Spain because it is so close.  Very cool!

The rock of Gibraltar

Driving across the runway to get to Gibraltar from Spain.

Gibraltar

Clever busking.

Looking towards Africa.

That night we ate out at an Indian restaurant on the waterfront and learnt how to barter for imitation designer bags, wallets and clothing.  This came in handy for our visit to the markets the next day.   This day was a scorcher so we spent the rest of it in and beside the pool at Gay’s.  Lovely!

I absolutely loved staying with Gay and Raphael.  It was relaxed, warm, sunny, listening to good music, sitting by the pool.  They wanted to share as much of Spanish culture (and food and drink!!) with us as possible, we tried and experienced many great new things and it was fantastic.  Thanks Gay and Raf.

Monday it was off to Malaga where we got a hotel room for the night.  We enjoyed checking out the sights and sounds and the shops of Malaga.

Tuesday we sadly said goodbye to Gay and got an early bus (once we found it!!!!) to Granada where we had a tour of Granada and then visited the famous Alhambra Muslim Palace.  This is a world heritage site and I can see why.  It was so amazing and the photos just don’t do it justice.  You have to see it with your own eyes. 

Alhambra

Alhambra

Alhambra

On our return to Malaga after the tour it was off to the train station to take the Spanish fast train AVE to Madrid.

Madrid was great and we spent the first day doing the hop-on hop-off bus to see what we wanted to see. We went to the Royal Palace and looked around some of the different squares and points of interest in the city.  We enjoyed practicing our Spanish and meeting the friendly Spanish people.  We made the most of going to different restaurants and trying different foods.

In front of the Spanish Royal Palace

Our last full day in Spain we spent the morning checking out the famous markets and squares of Madrid and walking around.  We ended up getting quite distracted by the shops (and bought quite a bit too!!).  We also had another moment of being at the right place and the right time when we stumbled across a procession of some sorts in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  We are not 100% sure but I am fairly confident we saw the Spanish King.

In the door way, I'm pretty sure, is the Spanish King hosting someone from I don't know where.

The Spanish King? and his guest leaving.

The afternoon, despite the fatigue, we visited the famous Prado museum, which is Spain’s equivalent of the Louvre and we were able to see works by Rembrandt, Bosh, Velazquez, Rubens and, of course, Goya!

The Prado Museum

A little story for you, each day in Madrid from our hostel we had a voucher to have breakfast at a little bistro across the road.  The owner didn’t speak any English but he was so friendly and always welcomed us so warmly.  The last day we were there I had to get a very early flight back to Paris and my aunt went to breakfast without me and they were asking where I was and missed me.  So lovely!!!

After Madrid it was goodbye to the sun and warmth and back to Paris with the cooler temperatures and even rain!!  Here is the legacy of my trip in the the South of France and Spain.  I am still sporting these lovely tan lines but they are a bit faded now. :(

Spain

From Nice we said good-bye to Ma and Pa and my Aunt and I continued to Spain.  First stop Barcelona where we had our first experience of couch surfing.  It was ok.  The people were friendly enough but we were a bit uncertain as to the expectations/protocol as I think each place you go to is different, so there were a couple of awkward moments.

I had already been to Barcelona but I still saw things I hadn’t seen before.  A lot of Barcelona is known for the stamp that the architect Antoni Gaudi has left on the city.  He had a very unique style that you see in a lot of the buildings.  It was him who  had the vision for the Sagrada Familia and who designed Parc Guel.  The best part about Barcelona was seeing the inside of the Sagrada Familia as that wasn’t open when I was there last time. What an amazing building!! I think it is one of the most amazing pieces of architecture I have ever seen.  The thought and skill behind every fragment of the design and construction is mind-blowing and very clever.

The columns are made and designed (in terms of load bearing etc) to be like trees. Everything is meant to mimic nature, therefore, giving glory to God and showing how natural design works so well.  Also, these columns are made from different stone for their colours and because the number of columns and their colours correspond with the apostles and the saints and ultimately the trinity.  The biggest, ultimate column will represent Jesus and the triangle light at the top is to point to this.  This is again made with natural light and materials.

When this is finished the church will be able to hold a choir of 1000 people.  Wow, how amazing will that sound!!

A column representing one of the apostles, with the triangle in the background

The emblems around this sculpture are meant to represent the grapes for the wine for communion and the bread. Even the seven columns around this part of the church represent something biblical.

We spent the rest of the day on the hop-on, hop-off bus snapping pics of all the sights and sounds of Barcelona.  We also stumbled upon a market with great food and lollies etc, so we bought some beautiful salmon to cook a great meal for our hosts.  It was a lovely evening.

Parc Guel

Parc Guel

View of Barcelona from Parc Guel with the Sagrada Familia in view

Parc Guel

Where Gaudi lived at Parc Guel

Entrance to the park

one of Gaudi's buildings

The markets

Yum!!

Next stop was Valencia.  We had scored a very nice hotel here but unfortunately, was not able to make the most of the pool and spa as we only had a short amount of time there and were out and about seeing everything.  We headed down to the beach in the evening and incorrectly followed the instructions about what bus to take to get there.  We took the right bus but in the wrong direction and ended up doing the tour of Valencia on the local bus as opposed to the hop on/hop off bus.  A great way to see the city and get our bearings.  We finally arrived at the beach and saw all the people still out and about making the most of it, even though it was a school night.  We discovered how the Spanish really do eat late and come out at night, as we waited till 8 to go to a restaurant and there was hardly anyone there.  In typical tourist fashion, we had tapas, followed by Paella accompanied with Sangria.  It was great.

The next day we were up early and walked down to the section where the museums and art galleries are.  We didn’t visit any but we were there to see the amazing architecture of the buildings.  We needed breakfast and popped over to the local shopping centre where we found breakfast for 2 euros, the best deal I’ve come across anywhere.  It was great!  We also made the most of being in the mall to check out the shops.  Lots of fun.

An exhibition (I don't know what for), that had flags of different countries.  There was no NZ flag (but there was an Australian one), so I just had to pose with my adopted country's flag.

Then we headed towards the old town to see the sights and sounds there.  We walked and walked and walked.  We came across some old markets that had cool Spanish food.  They also had a Zespri kiwifruit stand which I was very excited about.  They were giving away free kiwifruit for people to try.  I tried to explain to the girls working on the stand that I was from where the kiwifruit comes from but they didn’t understand.

The kiwi is eating a kiwi!!

Once we had looked around Valencia it was time to go back to the hotel and get our things as we had our wonderful Ryan Air flight to Malaga.  An aside, if I can ever help it I will never fly with Ryan Air again, they basically just try and scam you for as much money as possible.  They were checking the size of every piece of cabin luggage as people were boarding the plane and you could see the terror in everyone’s eyes as we saw the size of the bags they refused (and then charged 50 euro for) and then we would worriedly look at our bags to check they were the right size.  (I'm sure they make the box thing you have to put your bag into smaller than the requirements stated on the ticket).  It was high drama with people  unpacking and repacking bags and yelling abuse at the air stewards who weren’t very helpful at all.