Alemann Adventures

  Verona & Venice We had a day each in Verona and Venice and they turned out to be our favourite Italian cities.  We hadn't been to Verona before and it was the most stereotypical Italian place we've been to. We visited the arena (where gladiators used to fight) during Opera season and had more pasta for lunch. We also managed to see Romeo's house and Juliet's balcony. We managed to get to Venice early and it was fantastic to beat the crowds and the heat. We spent a good few hours just wandering around. The kids really enjoyed a local artisan making glass sculptures. Venice was their favourite place in Italy. I think just because it's so unique. The pizza and gelato didn't hurt either. We even managed to get a short gondola ride across the water.

 Pisa & Florence Onwards through Italy, we stopped in at Pisa to take the obligatory photos holding up the tower. Ate some pizza and walked around to find the Keith Haring mural. The next day we spent 5 hours walking around Florence taking in all the sights and eating pasta and gelato. Daniel and I had been here before 17ish years ago but it wasn't as we remembered. The Cathedral is enormous and a treat to look at. Lots of other interesting sights to see as well. We stayed in a cabin at a campground for this leg of the trip so that the kids could make use of the pool. The weather is still in the 30s so we all enjoyed a dip.

  Monaco & Seborga (Italy) We continued our journey heading East, passing through Monaco for a few hours. Overrated in my opinion but then I don't care for cars or boats! We stayed the night on the other side of the border in Italy in the principality of Seborga. The village is high in the mountains and has a history of monks, knights templar and a population who do not believe themselves to be part of Italy but an independent principality. The place we stayed was the best so far, a family run farmhouse who make their own honey, olive oil and other delicacies. The view and food was amazing! - Kerry

  Marseille          Driving down towards the South Coast of France we stopped for the afternoon at the Pont du Gard near Avignon . It was incredible to walk across a grand piece of engineering from nearly 2000 years ago. Then to swim in the river under it was not only refreshing in the 30+ degree heat but pretty amazing to look up and see what was above us. - Kerry Marseille was cool because it was Bastille day (14th July). B astille day is basically the French celebrating being French. Now you know what it is, this is what we did that day, We went down to the beach but it was so crowded because it was Bastille day so we only had a quick swim and headed back to the airbnb and had a rest and went to a parade. In the parade it had a lot a lot of army vehicles and lots of army men and women. Then they gave medals. Then three people jumped out of a plane with parachutes and landed perfectly where the parade was. Then a little while later at 10:3...

  Geneva - Switzerland Geneva is a city on the border of France and Switzerland. This was a great stop in our amazing adventure so I hope you enjoy reading a boring documentary about us in Geneva. (please keep reading) Our Air BnB was just inside Switzerland, like we looked out the window to border security. It was cool. When we arrived we unpacked our stuff and decided to get the Geneva pass so we could do lots of the touristy stuff around Geneva. First thing on that list was a huge Gondola line up the mountain. This however is in France but we still just walk! At the top you could see the whole city and lots of the Alps famous mountains including Mount Blanc (White Mountain.)  We walked a little bit to an open field where we had our Sound Of Music moment. Then we walked a little bit more to another viewing point with a restaurant we ate at. After that, racing against time to get down the mountain before it was dark, we had a sleep in Switzerland. The next day we had a plan. ...

                                                        Dijon - France Dijon was busy but fun. It was known for the owls but the owls are not real. They are on a little arrow and they take you to all the important/cool stuff around the city. When you reach one of the points there is a big owl with a little number beside it whatever the number is is the number you are up to. We started at seven because it was the closest one to us. We got a book telling us the story and the importance of the place or the object or the building. It was very French there. The book helped us to navigate as well as the owls and helped us get started. Before we got started we were all thirsty so we all got a drink. I got a lemonade, James got O...

  Disney Paris Day One Disney Paris did not disappoint with its amazing scenery and rides. We went there at the start of the French school holidays and it was busy. But with the Harris’ there it was so much fun. We started off the first day waking up at our heavily, colourful, Disney themed apartment room. We got up, hopped onto the bus. And arrived at the bus station. (it was the Harris’ first Disney.) When hopping out of the bus being greeted by rain we ran to shelter and decided to rope drop Ratatouille in the other park, Disney Studios.  This was Adele's favourite ride and it was very good for a tracked ride. This ride is meant to feel like you're a rat and you're running around in the kitchen. Spoiler, you go under an oven and the room heats up. After that we popped next door to the Toy Story themed land and got on the RC Racer roller coaster at a short queue time. This was Mummy’s favourite ride and all it did was go back and forth like a pirate ship but much more thr...

The summer holidays came around quickly but just the right timing for the kids who were getting pretty fatigued from the constant French. Sophie performed in her end of school show, dancing and singing in French. All the French kids and parents are impressed with her gymnastics skills - typical Kiwi kid skills like cartwheels are monkey bars are not widely achieved by kids in France. We were very proud of her! Of course it was followed by a dinner - we left at 11.30pm ish before the karaoke started. The weekend school finished we had a visit from some of our favourite people. It was lovely to hang out together in the village, fish and walk the sunflower fields before the start of our summer road trip around Europe.

 We have had a couple of weeks of pretty wild weather but mostly just hot, hot, hot! Last Wednesday we went to the nearest indoor pool as the temperature was in the high 30s/40s. At 5pm the temp was 44 degrees, 2 hours later a tornado swept through the region. We had a bit of water through the doors, some hail, a fence panel down and the neighbour lost part of their roof. Pretty minor damage compared to others! We also lost power for 19 hours as some major pylons were crumpled. Following that we've had a major heatwave, the hottest June in recorded French history. There isn't any air conditioning so people just lock themselves in their houses with the windows and shutters closed and wait it out. Schools closed for 2 days this week as it got to above 40 degrees in the shade. We retreated to Bumblebee manor and enjoyed their pool and company. We also spent to hottest hours underground at a disused mine turned history/digital art museum. Temperatures are due to drop to relative no...