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Post by happytraveller on Jun 30, 2009 8:52:57 GMT
What has everybody been up to lately ? Me: Summer has really arrived here thankfully. I am now desperately waiting for my holidays to come. Two weeks camping in France and 1 week hiking in the swiss mountains... wooohooo ! I can't wait !  |
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Post by palesa on Jun 30, 2009 9:11:25 GMT
Well, while you are enjoyingyour summer, I am in the midst of a fairly chilly winter. We had have had rain which is unusual for this time of year.
I am busy archiving documents, backing up and formatting laptops and getting ready for project close down at the end of July. So from 1 August I will be officially a lady of leisure, unemployed/housewife, which ever sounds more glamourous.
Happy, when do you go on holiday?
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Post by happytraveller on Jun 30, 2009 9:15:28 GMT
Ha ! I like *lady of leisure" We leave on the 25th of July which means I have 18.5 more days at work  |
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Post by palesa on Jun 30, 2009 9:32:18 GMT
I notice you even count the half days, you must be desperate!
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Post by happytraveller on Jun 30, 2009 9:45:13 GMT
I was even counting the minutes but didn't want to post it as it would look a bit too desperate |
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Post by tillystar on Jun 30, 2009 9:49:59 GMT
Oh Wow happy, your holidays sound perfect! Whereabouts in France are you going?
Gobs, I think Lady of Leisure is good too... Is it a relief to be getting all the work ready to close down?
I am feeling like a Domestic Godess today. I was up at 6 and at the supermarket at 7 and did the big monthly shop before the day go too hot, then me and the girl went for breakfast. We were home and had a little walk in the park by 9. Currently missy is building tower blocks by my side, this afternoon she will nap for a couple of hours and I will catch some sunshine and book my surprise birthday day for Mrstar then we are going to go for a swim.
I love days off work in the sunshine!
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Post by rikita on Jun 30, 2009 9:55:06 GMT
oh... i want to go hiking in the swiss mountains too... but it looks like i won't get to the alps this year either, even though i had planned it. the bf says he can take a week off but we can only go camping in the ith or similar, as he doesn't have money for more. i offered to pay for him to go to bavaria together, but he doesn't want me to...
of course i could go alone, but inexperienced as i am, i am not sure hiking alone is such a good idea...
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Post by palesa on Jun 30, 2009 9:59:15 GMT
Tilly, it is hard to explain, if this was a permanent job I would be more than happy to carry on working. My employers have been fantastic and I have had a lot of flexibility in the last while, so if I am up at 2 in the morning and can't sleep, then I work then and nap during the day or take care of personal things. But, this project was supposed to end at the end of February and each month it kept getting pushed out another month, so I am glad that I have certainty, so much of my world is uncertain now, that not knowing when my contract was going to end was just another stress.
Now, I can start to plan travel and a few other things that I want to do. My plan is to take up to a year off, couldn't imagine job hunting right now.
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Post by happytraveller on Jun 30, 2009 10:09:20 GMT
Tilly, we are not sure yet about the route. We are renting an old small camper van from a friend and just start driving. We're heading south but not to the coast as I don't like the summer crowd on the beaches. There are so many beautiful rivers in France and I nearly prefer swimming in rivers than in salt water. So does my dog... We are planning on doing a 3 day hike with tent and dog, we wanted to do this last year but the weather was too bad. Hopefully it will work out this year ! Rikita, I would not go hiking on my own either. Doesn't sound like much fun. Palesa, re: travelling, you know if you need a break from the cold... we have summer here at the moment |
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Post by tillystar on Jun 30, 2009 10:15:10 GMT
OK, now I am really jealous! That sounds perfect!
Do you know Annecy? If you drive near there as its your side of France I really recommend it. The lake is beautiful for swimming we used to go loads when I was a kid and I really hope to go back.
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Post by happytraveller on Jun 30, 2009 10:25:13 GMT
Annecy... driven past a hundreds of times but never stopped. Might take it into consideration as our first stop. We won't be able to drive very long/fast as our vehicle is really quite slow. Annecy is about 3-4 hours away. Sounds perfect ! Thanks for that Tilly!
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Post by palesa on Jun 30, 2009 10:26:10 GMT
Hmmm, Brian and I spent a day in Annecy, it was absolutely lovely, we were really sorry that we had not planned to stay there longer. Must look for some of our pics from Annecy.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2009 10:31:55 GMT
Happy, if you haven't been to the gorges of the Ardèche yet, you should definitely discover them.
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Post by tillystar on Jun 30, 2009 10:32:55 GMT
I'd love to see some of your pics if you didn't mind sharing ;D
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Post by happytraveller on Jun 30, 2009 10:35:14 GMT
Kerouac, I consider the Ardèche something like my second home ;D
Will definitely pay it a visit too this time. Have you been to the Cèze river ? Only a little further south of the Ardèche, beautiful but not quite as spectacular as the gorges de'l Ardèche but also less people. Love it love it love it ! *sigh*
Oh please palesa, I would love to see piccies of Annecy !
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Post by bjd on Jun 30, 2009 10:36:36 GMT
Annecy and the area around it are really pretty, as is Aix-les-Bains. Pretty crowded with tourists in summertime though.
If you like swimming in rivers, there are the Gorges du Verdon too. Not as crowded as the beach and it's easy to find a secluded spot to sit in the water, since it does get awfully hot there.
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Post by happytraveller on Jun 30, 2009 10:47:58 GMT
bjd, I didn't know you can get down to the river in the Gorges du Verdon... Might take this into consideration too, on the way back home this would be really nice ! Thanks !
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Post by palesa on Jun 30, 2009 10:56:44 GMT
bjd, we actually spent 4 days at Aix-Les-Baines, our intentions was to do day trips from there, we made it to Annecy and spent the rest of the time at the poolside at the hotel. We were exhausted after 7 days in Paris. We also seemed to end up there in the middle of a heat wave!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2009 11:18:02 GMT
The Lac du Bourget is really magnificent in the summer.
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Post by bjd on Jun 30, 2009 11:21:07 GMT
Happy, we discovered the Gorges du Verdon by accident. Years ago, we were driving to Italy on July 14th (for a wedding, not by choice) and stopped in Draguingnan. When we asked at the tourist office about going to a beach, the woman just laughed and said it would be packed and would take us hours to get back in the evening. She suggested going inland along the river. We drove not very far out of Draguignan and stopped in the first likely-looking place where we could put the car. It was really pleasant.
I could do with sitting in a river now -- it's already 32° here and supposed to get warmer this afternoon.
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Post by happytraveller on Jun 30, 2009 11:44:22 GMT
Draguingnan... will have a look !
Yeah I could do with a dip in the water too ! It's about 28°. Might dive in the Aare river near by and just not think of the fact that it is only 17°!
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Post by happytraveller on Jun 30, 2009 11:47:09 GMT
The Lac du Bourget is really magnificent in the summer. Oh I will check that out too ! |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2009 12:44:18 GMT
The Lac du Bourget is quite simply the lake on which Aix-les-Bains is located.
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Post by traveler63 on Jun 30, 2009 15:06:13 GMT
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Post by happytraveller on Jun 30, 2009 15:08:46 GMT
Wow traveler, those are amazing pictures ! And the gourmet trips sound like heaps of fun !! Thanks for sharing.
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Post by spindrift on Jun 30, 2009 16:27:14 GMT
Traveler - I love those pictures.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2009 16:43:21 GMT
That sort of wet refreshing photo can help to keep us alive in Europe at the moment. It is 30° outdoors in Paris at 18:43 and 28° inside my apartment.
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Post by happytraveller on Jun 30, 2009 17:39:18 GMT
Wow Kerouac, that's hot... do you live right under the roof ?
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Post by spindrift on Jun 30, 2009 17:48:05 GMT
It's nothing like as hot as that in southern England. I wish it was.
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Post by gringalais on Jun 30, 2009 18:09:54 GMT
We are trying to decide where to go on vacation in August. Possibilities are Buenos Aires/Uruguay, Bolivia or Brazil.
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