A Week in Monsegur, Gironde (Bordeaux, France)

Grrrrrrrrrreat Morning !!!

Hung up our packs this past week & nested in a house. We stayed in a very small one horse town about 40 minutes out of the Bordeaux region in France called Monsegur, Gironde.... so secluded, quaint and quiet, feel like I'm on vacation now, contentness is GOOD!

The week started off w/a big bang for my travel companions. I don't think the boys came stumbling home the first night until around 6 in the morning... Sadly, both their rugby teams, Australia & the favored New Zealand 'All Blacks', were surprisingly defeated on the same day from the World Cup..... a dark couple of days followed, lemme tell you! Some of you have asked if I was getting sick of the rugby yet? I really haven't watched many games, maybe 4.... (side note: ladies, it's not torture watching the Percy Montgomery and Jonny Wilkinson's, take a google.... you too, might just become a rugby fan...)

Had a very relaxing week to say the least, was able to be a GIRL again, YESSSS !!! Rebecca and I went grocery shopping @ a market in town, we wanted so very badly to make Mexican food one night. Extremely hard to figure out exactly what we were buying, everything was in French.... a couple broken seals and finger dips later and VOILA! the sour cream was found!!!!.... cheese, tortillas, avocados ...Mexican was a happening.

Celebrated Rebecca's 31st B-Day on 10/7 and in style...... Drank some wine in town, picked grapes off the vines and ran through the cornfields that covered the valley.... soooo FREE and well, maybe a little tipsy too :)

We all fully enjoyed the simple things in life this week... reading and writing, sleeping 8 plus hours a night, cooking home cooked meals every morning and night, eating at the table as a family :), drinking tea and coffee on the porch, talking with our neighbors, eating Nutella on everything, laughing, washing clothes & hanging them out to dry... also all the outdoor activities: swimming, table tennis, playing pool, swinging on the swings, cards, movies, slugs, bullfrogs, mice (screaming was involved with those last 3)..... oh and I can't possibly leave out the plethora of mosquitos that have made sweet love to me this week as well..... luv that!!!! :(

Slowing down was good for my soul.  I look around and I'm really just so amazed...sitting here thinking about all these things that make LIFE so great.... I wouldn't change a thing about it.... This is the best feeling, going to hold on to this one......

Love and Miss You,

~sd

**Leaving Bordeaux Saturday, next stop is Bangkok then up to Chang Mai. Rebecca and I will be traveling on our own from here on out.... we'll be fine Mama, I promise :)

France to Switzerland to Italy back to France‏

Bonjour from Nice, France......

Thanks for the updates and sweet emails, I always feel filled up after reading them, keep 'em coming :) .....

Since I last wrote, we drove from Paris through the Champagne region down through France to Annecy over to touch through Switzerland and Italy (Lake Como) back down through the French Riviera to land in Nice, yes lots of sites in a short period of time (exclamation point...... can't find it on this keyboard)

I have to say, sooooooo nice getting out of a big city and driving on country roads..... What an amazingly beautiful drive so far, I don't think my pictures will even be able to capture the beauty much less my words... from Paris we drove through the picturesque little town of Epernay (Champagne Region in France), family run Champagne vineyards on every corner, very cute and charming, took a quick look @ the Moet & Chandon winery, enough time to snap a photo with Dom Perignon.

We then drove to Reims (still in the Champagne region)….ummmmm ya, maybe don’t go there (my least favorite stop) ….. needed to rest our heads, ended up spending 55 euro for the smelliest smoke infested room, lets just say I kept my pack closed & slept in my jeans so that I didn’t smoke up any more of my most cherished clean clothes (ex. Pnt) ….. Most Europeans smoke these rank cigarettes called Gaullois (sp?), only morning, noon, night and whenever they’re breathing, SSSSICK, I'm a lot over it, so are my sinuses…… Rebecca and I entered a standing teeter-totter balancing contest @ the fair in town, the 10 year old duo took a not too shabby solid 2ND PLACE while the 30 somethings took the GOLD, WE STILL GOT IT BABY (ex pt.)…. Toured a few more of Skeletors Castle Grey Skull Cathedrals then to the pub to celebrate our big win w/some locals over champagne & yet another rugby match (Italy vs. Scotland, I believe).

Finally left the ballpark ($ wise) when we chose to head further East to ANNECY, France….. My favorite place yet, such a breath of fresh air… great combination of places, kind of a mini mix of a town, a little bit of Venice, France, Switzerland and maybe Colorado too….Had all the outdoorsy sports that I love… with the mountains, lakes, parks, cobblestone streets, water canals through the town, pizza, crepes & fondue! (yes, found the exclamation point) … I had wanted to skydive or paraglide through the mountainside here but was running out of time, as fate had it, we met a local boy @ breakfast who happened to be a pro diver/paraglide/extreme sporter, so needless to say, Rebecca and I were up the mountain and running off of it, paragliding, 2 hours later! Such a rush, Lac D’ Annecy was sooo beautiful, wanna do this day over and over again!!!

Left Annecy, drove along the Swiss border to Geneva to Evian, St. Bernard’s Pass through the amazing beauty of Switzerland to land in Como, Italy…. George Clooney was anxiously awaiting our arrival but unfortunately we had to cancel since we couldn’t find any vacancies in town due to some big exhibition that day….(backpacking has its ups and down this way) Decided to drive through the night all the way down to Nice …. Rebecca and I chose our sleep sacks and the car to sleep in this night, being the budget girls we are and it being 3 in the morning, while the boys found a hotel to sleep in…. We slept solid for 6 hours only to awake to the alarm of honking horns….. I actually really loved this night….

Finally relaxed in Nice on the beach, lots of very tanned boobies starring at me as I read a book and wrote in my journal… dassa Nice!! Ha! Did a half day trip through Monaco, Eze and Monte Carlo on the French Riviera….. Leaving Nice tomorrow morning, driving to Toulouse (sp?) then to our house in Bordeaux for a week, looking forward to some down time…. Its been go go go, sooo tired out! Having a great time though, its been quite the scavenger hunt and a great adventure thus far, have many great funnies/stories to tell you already…..

Attached a few paragliding pics.......

Happy 31st B-Day to Terra Kristine Lewandowski tomorrow!!!! You don't look a day over 30, really dude, you don't !!!!

Much Love,

ShawnaD.

LONDON TO PARIS

Salut! Bonjour! Bonsoir!

Flight to London was amazingly quick and comfy, especially after a few glasses of wine, my IPOD, and the prescription of Ambian my Dr. ever so kindly gave me... God bless him!!

Spent 24 hours in London... trucked all over the city for hours, used the main transportation for locals & very user friendly, TUBE, to get around town.... visited Picadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Westminster Abby... enjoyed a delicious lunch @ a place called McDonald's ($10 for my meal no-deal.. budget/shmudget, apparently MickeyD's wants to send me home in 3 weeks). Beers @ a pub in Covent Market... dinner @ Sofa SoBar, sat on beanbags and watched The World Cup Rugby Match, Portugal vs. Romania, over wine & nachos... Interesting observing the ever so serious British, they never make eye contact & have their faces buried in literature 24/7... funny come 5pm to see several of the businessmen then buried in a juicy gossip magazine.

Left Londons Heathrow & arrived in Paris an hour later. Took the RER train & the Metro (similar to the Tube) to our hotel. Rugby World Cup billboards & talk of it everywhere, quite a phenomenon... was also surprised to see all the graffiti in this city?!?! Have enjoyed several darling sidewalk cafes, delicious bread, cheese & vino galore. I'm in great company, traveling w/my girlfriend Rebecca & 2 Kiwi buddies, Jacques & Julian.

Climbed 700 stairs up the Eiffel Tower in the freezing cold RAIN, didn't get the memo that it was going to be this cold here this week! The breathtaking views from the top of the Tower were most amazing, & of course took many snaps from above..... Left the Tower to tool around the Arc De Triomphe, Av des Champs-Elysees, ate/drank more bread/cheese & Espressos (caffeine is key with all this walking), & ended with touring Musee Du Louvre. Dinner w/a girlfriend of Becs @ a cozy elegant French restaurant (Jacques' treat - thank you so much!) & of course stuffed myself w/the usual French meal, Filet & mashed potatoes..... I'M BACK!!!

Walked all over town again today, toured Basilique du Sacre Coeur Cathedral (Sacred Heart) & managed to plop once again to yet another sidewalk espresso cafe..... ate the best Parisian pizza while sitting in a laundry mat, journaling of my travels thus far.

Currently sitting here in Paris in the red light district, @ an English pub, drinking a Corona, eating a panini & watching the England vs. Tonga rugby match on T.V... So fun to listen/watch all these yobbos (Englishmen) sing @ the top of their lungs their national anthem, God Save the Queen.... such great banter.... I luv it!!!!

Leaving Paris in the a.m., renting a car and driving east to the Champagne Region (Reims)... from there, tentatively driving southeast ... Germany, Switzerland, Italy then back to the south of France (Bordeaux).

Enjoying your emails, please keep them coming!! :)

Au Revoir De Paris,

Shawna

***lil history of places I've visited***

*Eiffel Tower: Created by designer Gustave Eiffel (324m high) built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle (World Fair). This metal apparatus was almost torn down in 1909 but was spared because it proved an ideal platform for the transmitting antennas needed for the new science of radiotelegraphy.

*Av. de Champs-Elysees: home to some of Paris' most renowned Couture houses, jewellers, antique shops, quite a popular tourist destination. Also leads to Palais De l'Elysee, official residence of the French president.

*Arc De Triomphe: commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon to commemorate his victories, that of countless soldiers is also commemorated here by a memorial flame.

*Musee Du Louvre: Assembled by French governments over the past five centuries, homeowner of the famous Mona Lisa & several other famous pieces.

*Basilique du Sacre Coeur: Beautiful Basilica (cathedral dedicated to Saints) built by Parisian Catholics as an act of contrition after the humiliating Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.