Australia Great Ocean Road

Over the summer of 2019/2020 we managed to get to a few lovely spots in Victoria.

We began in December 2019 with a lovely long weekend with family at Aireys Inlet just 135 km from home.

  

We did a day drive along the Great Ocean Road to the Twelve Apostles (320 km round trip).

The 243 km stretch of road along the coast is Heritage listed and is dedicated to soldiers killed during WWI. It was built by about 3,000 returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932.

Along the way we stopped to feed the birds at Kennett River. It is also the best place to spot koalas.

This taken from the lookout at Lorne.

We all had fun on the zip line at Lorne.

A stop at the 12 Apostles is mandatory...

We had a lovely walk along the cliffs and down into Loch Ard Gorge named after the  Clipper ship That ran a ground nearby on 1 June 1878.

After lunch in Port Campbell we drove a little further to the iconic London Bridge that collapsed in 1990.

We also had a look at the Grotto.

Rousseloy France

Day 122/123 total travelled 11567km
Travelled:78km to Rousseloy storage 49.28562 2.37939

We spent our last day packing our bags and managed to fit all our souvenirs within our luggage limits. We then got Bluey ready for his winter rest. 



The next morning we were dropped off at airport nice and early and passed through customs with no problems although they did take a second look at the back pack carrying a frypan! Not the usual carryon item. 



Hopefully we won’t have any trouble catching our connecting flight in Singapore with only 55mins layover! We have had a wonderful 4 months but are now ready to see our family and friends at home. 

Picardie France

Day 121/France 22
Travelled: 116km from Mery sur Seine 
Stay: La Ferte Milon- parking along Ourcq Canal N49.1818 E3.1349
Visited: American WWI memorial in Chateau Thierry

Once again we spent the day travelling north and doing preparations for our departure in a couple of days. We started with doing a wash of items we are going to leave behind, having spotted a set of washing machines in the E.Leclerc carpark in Sezanne. On our approach to Chateau Thierry we spotted a very distinctive monument on top of a hill and decided to go and have a closer look. It was an American WWI memorial built in 1937. On one side reflects the unity between France and the United States. 





Overlooking Chateau Thierry

The other shows a map of American military operations that took place in the region. 





We also had a look in the visitors centre giving us more detail on America’s involvement in WWI. 







We continued on to La Ferte Milon where we had chosen a spot for tonight. The lovely summer weather has gone replaced by rain, so we busied ourselves with some bookwork, cleaning and sorting. Late in the afternoon the rain eased and we walked 1km along the canal into the village. The Ourcq Canal was built the early 1800’s on orders by Napoleon. It would have a dual purpose of providing shipping channels and also to bring water to Paris. It is still used by pleasure crafts and the water is used now to clean out the sewer systems in Paris.



 In La Ferte Milon it was hard not to notice the ruins of an unfinished castle perched on a rock above the town. 





We walked up and down the main road and then returned to Bluey.

Pretty Villages of Burgundy France

Travelled:218km

Stay: Mery sur Seine- picnic area beside canal N48.5110 E3.8859

Visited: Flavigny sur Ozerain and Noyers both classified as a ‘Most Beautiful Village of France’ in the Burgundy region.

We were lucky last nights stormy weather passed us by the time we went to sleep resulting in a very quiet night. In the morning we consulted the internet to see what we could see on our journey back towards Bluey’s resting place in Rousseloy near Paris. We decided on 2 villages that are classified as one of the most beautiful villages of France. 

It took just over an hour to reach Flavigny sur Ozerain (Our GPS taking us on some interesting back roads). 

Back in 719 a Benedictine Abbey was built here on top of a rocky spur. During the Middle Ages it became a popular stop for pilgrims especially those on their way to Santiago de Compastela (Spain). The town grew around the Abbey and later became fortified during the 12th century. By the time of the French Revolution the Abbey Church was probably in ruins due to corruption. During this time the monks tradition of preserving aniseed in a coating of sugar became well known and there were several manufacturers of this candy dragée. Now all the manufacturing is done in one place in the Abbey. We visited the shop that had tastings of the various flavours as well as information on the history and manufacturing process. 

Yummy flavours 

We were also able to visit the factory itself with a guide where we learnt some interesting facts. The process starts with a single anise seed and over a period of 15 days it is covered with successive coats of flavoured sugar syrup using copper barrels that turn and a specific speed and kept at a certain temperature. Each day one ton of the lollies are made and packaged to send all over France and international destinations.

The images on the tins depict a love story. Under are the different sizes of the aniseed as it is covered in the sugar layers.

 We then explored the rest of the village admiring various architectural features. 

Abbey crypt.

We then drove another hour or so to the medieval village of Noyers, set in the Chablis countryside on the banks of the River Serein. We entered the village through one of the fortified towered gateways and strolled along the cobbled streets admiring the many half timbered buildings with some unique features. 

We also had a look in the 15th century church. 

We then decided to drive a further 100km to the other side of Troyes, arriving in Mery sur Seine around 5:30pm. After a walk through town we did some preparation getting Bluey ready for storage.