Europe part 3

Europe part 3. Annesey. What a wonderful place to be especially in the sunshine. It is steeped in history, as our photos on Facebook showed, and is so, so pretty. It was one of those places where everything fell into place. The guitarist playing, once again, my favourite Bach Pachabels Cannon: the special table with two chairs at the restaurant sitting in the sun that we could just turn around and slide into for lunch: the dress rehearsal, in a tiny, cobbled square, of a modern day version of Romeo and Juliet by 11 to 17year old's which brought tears to my eyes and the general ambience of the little township with it's river, boats, fountains and flowers. It was a gorgeous day capped off by meeting up with a couple from Suffolk - he an ex London policeman in his 70's with the most amazing stories to tell - especially of the London underworld. We will keep in touch with Dot and Gill and hopefully one day meet up again. We left Annesy and toddled off to EvIan, also in France, having to take a detour along the way as there had been a dangerous slip on the route we should have taken. Coming to the top of a hill in the middle of nowhere In the forest we happened across this one buIldIng whIch was a bar/restaurant where we decided to stop for lunch. Asked in French by the hosts if we wanted to eat we sat down and waited. We ordered nothing but eventually out came a series of courses one after the other, IncludIng half a bottle of red wine and fresh water, which were delicious and never to be replicated again. It cost us a few Euro only and was really good value for money. Boy we were full and happy and we also got some help with the map and suggestions on where to visit thrown in. So never judge a book by it's cover because you just never know what you might find inside. That night we were very brave and freedom camped for the night in an "off the road layby" by the road through the forest and surprisingly we both slept really well. Next day we drove to the Cathedral caves deep in the forest. This was like going back too far in time and although the caves were beautiful they were extremely deep and to be honest dangerous and scary. OSH would have had a field day there and after our excursion (just the two of us with a very elderly guide) we were glad to drive away unscathed. From here-on the Americas Cup played a big part in our lives and our next stops were determined by Wifi accessibility. The racing was getting hot and no way were we missing that. Next stop - Marney. A very small village with very little to hold your attention. A few cobbled streets, a boulangerie, a couple of dress shops, a kebab shop and the most amazing hardware shop where you could buy anything and everything. It had a town square and a "chateaux" of sorts. Mmmmm we thought as the rain started in earnest, we will stay here 2 night's - at least we have wifi and the race will be over by then for sure. Next morning It was still raining, the racing still was not completed but towards late afternoon the skys brightened so we decided to walk the few metres back into town to get some French vanilla slices from the bakery. Well what a transformation. We had stumbled into the last of the farmers markets for summer and the whole village was buzzing. There were local cheeses, meats, pies, sausages, wine, fruit, veges but not only food - there were skitts and comedy, kids hip hopping, small plays etc etc. Everyone from the farming countryside were there to enjoy themselves and we were made to feel extremely welcome. We understood very little but knew when to laugh and clap and appreciate their efforts. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and left having bought a kebab each which was so big and heavy it lasted us for dinner that night and breakfast and lunch the following day?????? In the end we were pleased we stayed longer or else those experiences would not now be happy memories. Next stop Bouzey with Wifi. This is where we huddled round the tablet and cell phone, swathed in blankets beside the swimming pool at 11pm at night to watch the jolly Americas cup and to have group conversations with Ed, Foo and Adrian with regard to our obvious demise. We all knew what they were doing wrong how come they didn't???  Each time there was a delay we would rush back to Molly, get warm and go back down to the pool as this was the only place we could get sufficient reception. Of course this was always past 11pm at night when most people were in bed and still the Americans kept catching up prolonging our need for wifi!!!!! We were camped by a lake at Bouzey with a huge dam across it. The campsite was closing down for the season so there was little to do there except walk around the lake so one night was enough there. We hightailed it out of there the following morning. With the Americas Cup still raging on and us heading for Alsace, a motorway rest area was our next nights stop. This actually turned out really well as, at that hour of the night, 11pm Americas Cup, we were able to use their free restaurant wifi and keep warm as well ..... But Oracle won again and it was 8 all. Defeated we slept like babies in the carpark and continued on to Eguisheim, Alsaces the next morning. Can thoroughly recommend motorway rest areas though - the facilities are clean and of course there is always a shop and restaurant and the obligatory wifi. Eguisheim. Like something from a storybook. Everywhere there is beauty and colour and quaintness. This was where we saw the very high tech, high budget movie being made and the wine being bottled in the street. This village was built in an ever increasing circle from the central hub - the church - and is surrounded by vineyards. It was bottling time and harvesting time in the vineyards so it was a very industrious little village with such a lot going on. But......11pm and team NZ called. This time, sitting on a log outside the sanitary block, we watched in horror at our final downfall and the heartache that went with it. We were beaten by money not skill and team NZ can hold their heads high. Our last stop before Zurich was Mulhouse which was a lot bigger than we had anticipated and was slightly disappointing after the grandeur of Alsace. We biked into the old town to explore and spent a few hours there finding a shop full of mens clothes with New Zealand and silver ferns on. Our biggest memory here was the graffiti plastered along a whole street of buildings. We have to admit some were pretty special - there are obviously some extremely clever clandestine artists in Mulhouse. Next morning we were off to Zurich. We have our vignette which allows us to travel on Swizz motorways at an exorbitant price for one year (crazy) and we are both looking forward to seeing Markus, Livia, Florian and Jenny. That is a for another chapter though as we spent a week and saw so much it deserves a blog of its own. Bye for nowand love to all xxx