Today was Barb’s last day so she had a quiet morning and mooched some shops before heading to the airport. The Forrets got rental bikes and set off for the eastern bays where we were going to have brunch. It was unbelievably hot biking and the bikes were pretty basic. No gears and variable seat […]
Saturday 5 July: Singapore
We had a relaxed start to the morning and then met up with Barbara for a walk into town to gather brunch and look for otters. There’s a breeding family in the river. Although not as hot as Spain or France, it was still hot and humid. We walked to the mall for some bits […]
Sunday 6th July: Singapore
Today we went to Gardens by the Bay. They are a series of gardens beside Marina Bay Sands and we had tickets for the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome which are the 2 wave shaped glass houses. Both air conditioned, thankfully. There are other parts outside, but they are outside! The theme in the […]
Thursday/Friday 3-4 July: travel
We had sourced a place nearby where we could leave our luggage for a fee. Our check out was 11am but the train to the airport did not leave until 4pm. We decided that another few hours in the air conditioning of the Fine Arts Museum (which is still free due to the heat wave) […]
Wednesday 2 July: Lyon
Barb had a wander up to the Parc d’Or and the Fine Arts Museum as she had done the walking tour while in Lyon. We found a cafe for a croissant and coffee then began a tour of churches. Not an organised tour, just a progression from the local church (Eglise St Nizier) in the […]
Tuesday 1 July: Lyon
We were due to be collected by taxi to depart the boat and transfer to the train station at 9am. We had plenty of time but Steve and Fiona’s train to Montpellier was due to leave at 9.55. When there was still no taxi at 9.30 Steve was justifiably getting very anxious. Negotiating platforms at […]
Monday 30 June: Burgundy – Chalon sur Saone
Another scorching hot day but we were mainly inside in the cool. There was a wine tasting coach ride to a chateau in Burgundy. Well the wine tasting was at the chateau and the coach ride was through lovely French countryside leaving from Macon. It’s a smallish service city that has some significant industry, including […]
Sunday 29 June: Lyon
Lyon spreads across the Rhone and Saone rivers and we were moored just upstream of the confluence on the bank of the Rhone. Lyon is a very beautiful city and is France’s second largest. In the morning we had signed up for an ebike tour along the river. That turned into a non-e-bike tour but […]
Saturday 28 June: Tournon sur Rhone
We had a morning visit to the town of Tournon sur Rhone. Another smallish town in what has been a depressed area but is now enjoying some restoration and economic growth thanks largely to tourism. The dominant, prison-like building as you look across the river is a public high school, the second oldest in France, […]
Friday 27 June: Viviers
We had a morning sailing and then guided walking tours of the small town of Viviers. It’s historic (like all the towns) and cute with a castle on the hill. The main reason for the visit to this area were the optional bus tours to the lavender fields and truffle farm. Given my tendency to […]
Thursday 26 June: Avignon
We arrived in Avignon quite late on Wednesday evening as there was a queue to get through one of the locks. There are quite a few locks to go through and we are travelling upstream so we rise up through the locks. A number of them are also power stations. We had signed up to […]
Wednesday 25: Arles
We had a bit of sorting out to do with our tours as the AvalonGo app doesn’t work properly for NZ and Australia but our tour director is very adept. In the morning we just chilled out on the boat and enjoyed down time. The food on the boat is great and you have a […]