A Prisoner in the Tower.

I love some of the snippets of family history that my mother unearths from time to time. These range from the tragic to the highly amusing and really bring all the names and dates to life. Below is a quote from one of her recent emails. It will certainly add a new element to a trip to the Tower of London!

Working on some Family History and your 7Xg grandmother Dorothy Walpole (the ghostly "Brown Lady of Raynham"). The boys will be delighted to know that her brother (their 8Xg great-uncle) Robert Walpole (first Prime Minister of England) was actually imprisioned in the Tower of London for 6 months in 1712. This imprisonment was brought about through charges by his political opponents, and only in the end served to make him more famous (like Ned Kelly!)

I also found that he and his mistress Maria Skellet were the inspiration for Polly and MacHeath in the Begger's Opera.

My memories of the Tower of London do not have it as being a very pleasant place to have spent any length of time imprisoned. Far too grim and too many one way tickets if you get my drift!

London - A Place near the Park.

Sent off our final payment for London this week. Staying in a 3 Bedroom apartment near Hyde Park - very close to tube stations and lots of the places that we want to see. London (and Paris) by far top the list for most expensive accommodation but even so, we think we have got a pretty good deal. In 1998, Rod and I stayed in a small B & B style hotel in Bloomsbury - quite nice, but very small rooms. It was about 30 pounds per person per night at a time when it was 3 Aussie dollars to the pound - yikes! This time, we are still paying about 30 pounds per person per night but 11 years on and with the dollar at 2 to the pound. Yes - we are smiling!

Nine Go down to the Harbour!

I finalised the payment for Coble Cottage in Seahouses this afternoon. Just one small glitch with the internet and a moment of panic but I think it all went through OK.
Seahouses sounds so very "Famous Five" don't you think? I am feeling a sudden urge for sticky buns with lashings of lemonade, bought from a jolly farmer's wife! Louise and the girls are booked in just around the corner at Kipper Cottage. I am looking forward to our stay here - the information promises that we are just "a short stroll" from the pub. Sounds very civilized if you ask me - a DVD or game for the children and a quiet pint for the rest of us :-)

A key and some train tickets.

We have a key! Yes, just a small ordinary looking key but it will get us into our beautiful apartment in Dinan. All we have to do is get there and find it.
The plan is that we will catch the Eurostar from London to Lille and from there, take the TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse or Very Fast Train) direct to Rennes, which is the capital of Brittany. Once in Rennes we will pick up the hire car and drive to Dinan. Rod booked the train tickets last night and we are looking at approx $200 AU per person for the trip. Our other options were flying from Heathrow or catching the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Brittany but the train seemed so much easier with only one change to be made at Lille.
Goodness knows how easy it will be to drive from Rennes to Dinan, but I have looked at the routes on Google Maps and also on the Michelin site and it appears it should take about 45 mins and be fairly straightforward. As it will be our first expeience of continental driving I imagine that it will probably take a lot longer and that anything could happen - and probably will!

The Old Schoolhouse - Edinburgh

Today we are finalising the payment on our apartment in Edinburgh. It is just a few minutes from Princes St in the area known as "The Village of the Water of Leith" - I love that name! Being schoolteachers, I think it is a particularly apt place to stay. Gordon, the owner, has been really great to deal with which is reassuring as we have only chatted via email. He and his partner have several apartments to let in Edinburgh as part of their business A Fab Place to Stay. I will make sure to let you know if it is any good! With the exchange rate so good, this has worked out to about $20 Au per person per night. Another plus for this apartment is that we get a parking space - I believe that these are like gold in Edinburgh!

An apartment in Dinan.

Things are starting to come together. This week we finalised the payment on an apartment in Dinan, Brittany. I am so excited about staying there. The Villa des Remparts is located right in the old town, nestled up close to the city walls. This 18C town house looks magnificent and has recently been renovated. We booked it all over the internet, by email, and the owner Bruce Robinson has been most friendly and helpful. I hope that it lives up to our expectations. The other bonus is that with the Australian dollar being so good against the Euro at the moment the price is most attractive! With six of us staying in the villa, the cost is just over $300 Au per couple for the week!

6 Weeks and Counting

After much planning and organising, pondering and researching, it is now just under 6 weeks until we embark on what could very well be the greatest family adventure of all time! 6 countries, 5 adults, 4 kids, 3 generations and 2 hire cars - I doubt we'll have room for a partridge in a pear tree, but someone is sure to want one the minute we get on the plane.

For those of you planning your own overseas adventure, I hope this blog can provide some handy tips or useful ideas. Primarily though, it will be our equivalent of the Traveller's Journal - a record of places, people, events and feelings. So sit back and enjoy the ride.....