Saturday 28 April

We arrived in Paris about 9am and immediately headed to set up camp so that we could leave all our gear and the car….. poor beast he deserved a rest. But not for Pete and I. We walked from our great campsite in the suburbs of Paris…. On a little island surrounded by a river…. To the train station… just a 10 min stroll away and 20 mins later we were standing in front of the Arch De Triumph at the top of the Champs De Lese.

We immediately boarded our packed red bus tour to begin our day of exploring this famous city. As an open bus tour of course it is the done thing to sit up top to get the best views but mannnnnn was it HOT. Who would think it would be this hot in April? Well we didn’t.

We went everywhere, including The Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dame. Having read the DaVinci code I really wanted to go to the Louvre to visit Leonardo DaVinici’s paintings. Just to be in the Louvre was cool with the famous glass pyramids. Once again our love for Egypt returned. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to also visit the Egyptian artefacts held there also.

We were going to stay to see Paris by night but after dinner- about 7: 30 pm we were stuffed….. and since it hasn’t been getting dark til 10pm we couldn’t be bothered….. but we had had such a fantastic day and definitely by now felt that bed was the best option for us considering tomorrow we have to drive from here (Paris) back to Middlewich, yet another long day.

Friday 27 April

As people know being pregnant comes with some sacrifices…. of course for a very good reason. As you would know my diving days have had to be put on hold for a while…… but so too does climbing Alps. So Pete was up with the sparrows once again where I dropped him off at the train station to in time to catch the 0630 train up to Jungfraujoch (The top of Europe). By the photos you can see how amazing his experience was. (Thanks Newcorp for the Jacket and Bum Bag - see it came in handy.)

It was pretty overcast- for the first time this week…. Of course, but that didn’t stop him from walking on the glaciers, visiting the ice palace, and catching glimpses of the spectacular views from the highest peak in Europe.

Amazing. How can you not believe in God when you see first hand the land He has made? Pete and I both love the outdoors and exploring…everything lol lol, which makes us great adventure buddies and this week every day we have been blessed with amazing beauty that has taken our breath away. Each day just seems to get better. But secretly we think Switzerland is becoming our favourite place.

The little wife…. That’s me!!!!! Dropped Pete off, went back to bed lol lol this was my day of rest…. Well until about 9 am, then I got up and did wifey things like the laundry, and the cleaning of the car, lol lol….. then shopping!!!!!!!!! How can you resist when there is a town to explore and if you can’t explore its Peeks with your husband or Paraglide off the mountains (which looked also inviting, but obviously not an option) why not take advantage of the other assets on offer, which I did…. Like retail therapy- and the cheeses and the chocolates mmmmmmmmmm…… I tell you what…. Moses appreciated it. Lol.

Pete arrived back a bit earlier, and instead of being tired- as expected… he was pumped and our second night at Interlaken was quickly abandoned and substituted to packing up and leaving our little village and heading to Paris…. In order to cut our drive short tomorrow.

Our couple of hours drive- to be- turned into 6 hours…. which left us setting up the tent at 9pm in a great little hidey hole off the motorway. We were now only 2 hours from Paris…..which leaves us with all day tomorrow to explore Paris. Good decision making.

Thursday 26 April

Today was by far our longest drive yet. We drove from Salzburg to Interlaken, which lies in the lake district of the Swiss Alps. Gorgeous. And once again, perfect weather conditions. We brought all of these winter clothes to wear thinking it was going to be freezing and on average our temperature has been about 26 degrees. Nice.
We left Salzburg about 0600 this am and the Sat Nav told us that the fastest route would be to go back through Germany to avoid the Alps. But that would be boring wouldn’t it….yes that’s exactly what we thought too. So we drove through the Alps- both Austrian and Swiss. We were not disappointed. It was the longest drive but STUNNING. Because we had blue skies the grass looked that much greener and the water in the lakes looked aqua. It was amazing, but had to make a few toilet stops.

The drive did get extended somewhat also due to us driving off road for somewhat through the little towns to avoid a 75 euro toll. We later realised they probably deserved the 75 Euros because half of the roads had to be tunnelled through the mountains, but 75 euro!!!!! I told you we were stingy.

We also spent some time in the little country called Lichtenstein, which is a bit of a laugh as it's so small... but we even had border control, any way it was still a beautiful country nonetheless.

The third extension to our drive came right after lunch where we had stopped to have a picnic by Lake Lucern…

Back on the road the sat nav boldly stated….."in 5 miles board ferry" lol lol we both looked at each other and laughed. Ha another ferry.

We just missed it so we had to wait an hour before the next one came. We did comtemplate driving around it…. But then when we realised just how BIG Lake Lucern is, we decided to avoid that option and board the ferry, which turned out to be very rewarding and time saving.

Arriving in Interlaken we quickly explored our camping options and found a fantastic campsite with great facilities, pitched our tent, went into town and bought a feast... Hamburgers!!!

What a way to end a fantastic day. We fell asleep to light rain falling on our tent. PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There’s nothing more relaxing. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Wednesday 25 April

We had a really early morning again this morning- our day started at 0450….aaagh but we were both ready to get up and get going. The sun was just coming up when we got on the road about 30 mins later.

We had our first sneak peeks at what was to come with the Swiss Alps in the distance, just before our first stop for the day at Neuschweinstein Castle- the Bavarian Castle that Walt Disney based his Sleeping Beauty Castle on…….

I can’t say anymore. Once you have seen this castle you can’t look at any other castle in the same way. It is magnificent, stunning….oh I could go on and on. It is truly breathtaking. It was so worth doing a bit of a diversion to see it…..it was SO worth it….have I said that already.

I think you get the picture lol lol. And the best thing was that there was hardly anyone else there when we got there because of getting there dead on opening time. Yay. Talk about perfect timing. We were even able to do a romantic horse and carriage ride. This castle is up such a huge mountain Pete didn’t think it was such a great idea for a pregnant woman to be walking up there but secretly he just liked the idea of a horse and carriage ride. Cute. It was good to be able to take our time and take in the scenery.

On to Salzburg….. our drive wasn’t very long today only about 5 hours, broken up, which was great. The motorways are fantastic which makes driving so much easier. Salzburg is fantastic. I have been here before but there is so much more that I think I saw this time that I don’t remember seeing last time. Not to mention the weather is so much better. Pete and I did our own little sound of music tour. We were given all of the sites to visit and because we had our own car we were able to visit more places than the tour offered.

We went to the grave yard where the final chase was held, then the main square where Maria splashed in the fountain.. we went to the gardens where they sang Do a Deer.. we went to the front gate of the abbey.

We visited the lakes district of Austria (about 30 mins out of Salzburg) which is sooooooooooo gorgeous with the little villages, this is where a lot of the country side scenes from the movie were filmed, we even got to go to the Church where Maria got Married. We are so blessed with the weather. Everyday has been perfect….. and touch wood…..our little beast is still going strong yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday 24 April

It seems like days ago since we left the Netherlands, but it was only just this morning.

Anyway today has been just one long adventure….long drive, but very rewarding. Although the street signs can be a little sus.

Tonight we are once again wild camping in the mountains of Germany, just outside Studdgart, huddled around our camp stove, after a day winding through the Rhine Valley.

We stopped at lakes, crossed a river on a car ferry (thanks to the satnav and it's back street routes), and a special find- thermal springs nestled in a Valley looking up to the pine forested mountains in this quaint little German town…..perfect.

This is also where we were finally able to take a shower, wash our hair and do all the other necessities- which I don’t need to go into depth about, lol.
We are getting used the roads here…..FAST. a bit like bats out of hell. One minute road in rear view mirror clear next second flying mercs and audi’s etc kissing our ….. well lets just say our little red beast isn’t really a match but we still love it and still leave the trucks eating our dust. Rahhhhooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

We’ll write tomorrow…. If we survive the little rodents or BIG rodents that are making noises outside our tent…. So farewell.

for all the pictures visit http://www.peterhobbssalvorock.spaces.live.com