4. Friday 9 July 2010. 10.07pm and it is very light outside!! Time is 6.08am Saturday in Sydney.
Just a quick mention of where we are now.
Woke to pouring rain in Orleans, but we did not have to clear the room until Noon, so we slowed down and left right on 12. Rain had gone and we enjoyed a lovely drive to Le Mans. Tried to get accommodation but they have a classic car race weekend and the whole town, and surrounding towns are full to the brim. The very nice man at the hotel there rang around and got us accommodation at Rouen. It is ages away but we did not mind, good price and it turned out to be a very nice hotel.
We left Le Mans at 6pm or so and drove on the A28 toll road for almost the whole way, probably 130 kms or so. And the speeds...130km/h or 110km/h if wet! So smooth and our Peugot handled it well. In the evening sunshine it was a delightful drive, over vast ravines and through fantastic, lush countryside with each town competing to have the most pronounced church spire...at one stage we could see 3 spires at once. Rouen is on the Seine, historically the last crossing over the river before the see. It has white chalk cliffs, linked geologically, I understand, to the Dover cliffs. We drove right through the city, making mistakes even with the GPS to help us...but that always brings us hidden joys as we get put back on course. The little streets, one way at times and cobbled in places, juddery, makes for interesting negotiation.
Managed to fuel the diesel (called Gasoil or Gasole here) and pay for it....odd system. The toll road, 18.6Euro, gives you a ticket at the start and you pay with credit card at the end...I recall using something similar in Aust somewhere.
The most fun is had at each situation where we need to ask something...par le vous Englais? has been greeted with the whole gamut of reactions...from instant denial by a chemist in Orlean..who bolted for back room and returned with a colleague....to the very good looking young man (so I am told by the girls) at the KFC in Le Mans, Gillaume, who has travelled to the USA. Btw, this KFC re-established all the integrity that the Austn KFC's have lost...it was big, clean, slick, efficient, food was delicious...no complaints...apart from getting the girls out of there! A number of plans were hatched to delay us...including Janaya deciding that a small car accident could see us stranded in Le Mans indefinitely!!! Oh, Gillaume, you head turner!!
Better run, need sleep, heading deeper into Normandie and Brittany tomorrow.
Ah yes, happy to hear from people on longw@acr.net.au with the net being available for free at most hotels. Also, I got my phone working, I believe, so the sms texting system may be available soon for free texts from Australia...I will send one to myself to see if I can get it to work.
Have to get off, twins are carping,
Regards,
Warwick.

3. 8 July 2010
A QUICK SUMMARY
As it is very late here and we have had only 2 nights sleeping in a bed since Saturday night, I have to be quick, or I will fall asleep!
Hong Kong flashed past so quickly. Spent Tuesday wandering around Kowloon, mainly the big shopping centres...too hot outside for any real adventures. Had a lovely lunch of exotic fare, ordered, paid for and collected with a funny system, more about that later. An equally exotic dessert at another place left me with the impression that Hong Kong equates to excellent eating!
A 9.15pm pickup saw us whisked to the airport in grand comfort, given special handling for Libby..wheelchair and front of the queue service..., finally a train to the end of the airport to catch the jumbo to Paris.
A much better trip this time, even though 3 hours longer..we picked up all the tricks and were a bit more tired this time. A long flight over Russia, even passing north of Moscow and we touched down at 6am Paris time, effectively a 6 hour time difference...time we will have to pay back on the way home of course. Our bodies thought it was some totally other time but luckily I discovered a way of waking us up...I picked up our hire car! The laughter and screams that resulted in our car for the next 2 hours (mostly from the girls but some from me!) saw us finally at our hotel. We got out into the small, but interesting, town of Roissy then headed back to the hotel.
I decided a little adventure was needed to stop our bodies thinking that it was late at night and we set off. I got the hang of driving, except in roundabouts (Donna Shelley will be laughing about this!), and we eventually ended up at Giverny, home of Claude Monet at 4.50pm. Due to the long summer hours it was open for a bit longer so we got the full tour in. Very warm but an amazing place, as I am sure anyone who has been will agree. His house, the gardens and the waterlillie pond have been protected and paint an eerie picture of his later years. You almost expect him to appear before you.
Back for very poor chinese food...our food luck had to run out!
Then a glorious 8 hours in a bed!
Up early, to a very nice breakfast at Ibis hotel. Grabbed provisions in town and headed to Tour de France, with able assistance of Philip Steel's excellent GPS device.
I cannot do justice to the experience we had at le Tour. We decided to head to a small town just past the feeding station, in the vain, as it turned out, hope of getting cast off feed bags or similar. Not to worry, this town, Montigny-Lencoup turned out to be the most idyllic of towns to spend 4 hours in. It had a town square with an ancient church surrounded by lovely old houses, a main street with long view down it and even a sight, in the distance of approaching vehicles and bikes. Add the merry burghers of the town, some playing french tunes on squeezeboxes, shade or our side, and provisions aplenty and you have the ingredients of a lovely day. The Caravan, basically floats provided by all the sponsors, came past hurling giveaways into the small groups of people, providing much fun especially for the younger, more fleet of foot, or those,quick with their hands. We managed to get a small hoard with pride of place being 2 caps, a king of the mountain cap by Janaya, and a colourful sponsors cap by Brittany. There must be many injuries during the tour as they hurl much of the stuff right at the people!
We were joined by a couple and their 2 small boys. They turned out to be from Melbourne! Craig's company provides bikes for one of the teams, Footon Servetto, so we got lots of information, including updates on his phone about the race. Added a lot of interest to the goings-on.
Finally the 3 riders in the break-away sped past, followed 3 mins later by the peleton...very impressive.
We headed off with nowhere in mind and ended up in Orleans, on the top floor of the Mercure hotel in the old city area, with an amazing view over the old city with the cathedral in full view...incredible.
Now it is too late to continue so I will post this and add more when possible.
Note to those trying to send free sms messages, my travelsim card has let me down and my phone is not working, yet. Hope to get it going for the UK leg.
Well, I put in much more than I thought I had the energy for but the adrenalin is keeping us going.
Must away, thanks for getting this far if you have!
Regards, Warwick and Co.
PS Oh yes, we also dropped in, briefly, on the fontainebleau palace for a quick look, amazing!

5 July 2010 Still at the Peak.
What a view!! The Peak Tram is quite spectacular. And the view is amazing.
We walked down Nathan Road, Kowloon, from our hotel. Reached the ocean and set off for the White Star Ferry.
Now, if I was a gullible person then I would have, by now, 14 new suits, 5 watches, 2 shares in holiday resorts and a very expensive trip to where i am typing to you now!@!!! They come at you from every direction. The last few were Europeans asking do you speak English or come from Australia..they know all the tricks...best handled by not engaging in conversation!!
We could've had a combined bus, tram and Madame Tussaud's for HK$280 each (about A$28-30). Instead we caught the ferry for HK$2 each, then bus for HK$4.20 each. So much cheaper if you look for the methods used by the locals in the know.
Did I mention the heat? Very debilitating after all night on the plane and having left Australia in July! I am afraid we are not really coping until about now, enjoying cold drinks at a cafe with one of the best views in the world I'd reckon...hang on, I'll just turn my head and marvel at it one more time! Yep, still there!
Well, must go out and look at this rickshaw man on the road. And here comes the steep tram again...very impressive.
Must say that it is difficult to see the historical Hong Kong in amongst the tall buildings...they are everywhere. And every little flat has an airconditioner attached..work that out!
Ok, best go, nice rest tonight, then plane tomorrow night to Paris so we can chase those little men on their bicycles!!
REgards,
Warwick

5 July 2010 The Peak, Hong Kong Island.
Arrived this morning, 6am, to a hot and bustling HK. Trip pretty tough, hard to sleep, with more trips of longer duration to come! They fed us very well. Supper was quite filling and tasty. They then woke us early to feed us breakfast...you know they mean business when they turn the cabin lights on. Modern technology...the seats do not recline any more...no more person's head right in front of your face! And the personal viewing screen leaves you with a multitude of choices to while away the tedium of the night. Did that screaming 2 year old behind us worry us? Not really..as the roar of the engines takes the edge off the various noises associated with so many tired people in a small confined space!
We managed to wangle our room early so we got some zzzz's in early. The drilling began at 10am (we were warned!..it will stop precisely at 6pm). So we headed out to the streets.
I will publish this post now as I have lost these before.
More soon,
Warwick and co.