Took a trip to Monsegur and walked around the Ramparts and visited the church. After some minor shopping returned to the a Gites for lunch. Met our host who invited us for drinkies at hers.
Slobbing about around the pool after lunch. Wandered around to Heathers, our host, at 6.30. Some other guests at another gite also invited. Heathers two daughters,Kate and Sarah, also came. Nice nibbles and chat. Paella at home to round off the day.
Visited Pellegrue for the market, load of rubbish. Pretty square with partially ruined church. Then to Ste Ferme and visited the Abbey. Great acoustics so Slim gave a short rendition, lovely. Back for lunch and lazy pm around the pool.
A not so melodic rendition from Slim
Went to Monsegur in the evening to the night market/food bash. Foodie stalls all around the square, pick what you want, find a drink and sit down somewhere. Great atmosphere.
Trip to Ste-Foy-La-Grande 30 mins away. Wandered around the centre, had a beer and a snacky lunch. On the way back stopped off at Leclerc for goodies.
BBQ in the evening to sample goodies and wine bought yesterday at Le 
Puy
Boys went off early to buy the croissants for brekkie. Morning trip to Duras and the market. Bought goodies for various meals. Afternoon around the pool. Boys visited Chateau La Tuilerie du Puy, just down the road. Lovely lady gave us a quick tour around the winery and a tasting after. Bought rose and a couple of bottles of their Bordeaux Superieur called Le Vigneron Innconu!
Out in the evening at La Terrasse in Duras for dinner.
Left from Bristol flying to Bordeaux for week in the Lot en France. Fred and Wendy, Slim and Stevie flew from Exeter to Bergerac. Arrived within half an hour of each other. Baking hot around 34 degs. Nice alfresco dinner of cold meats, salad etc washed down with a few bottles of Rose.
After a little morning shopping for lunch and a BBQ dinner this evening, back for a lazy day around the pool.
An awful lot of snoring going on Sunday afternoon, main culprits Slim and Fred, they will refute this I’m sure.
Good start to the week.
Trip to Berlin for a few days with the Rotary crowd, 17 in all.
Weather great, good choice of restaurants we went to. Open top tourist bus for two days. Visited the Holocaust Memorial and Museum, Berlin Wall Exhibition, Reichstag, etc. Great hotel.
Back to Fusch for the annual ski. No Irene this year, stayed behind for Jacob’s 1st birthday. Good crowd from France, Liz & Thiery, Peter and Chantelle etc.Julia and William enjoyed their walking.
No snow in the valley at all and generally very mild. Runs to resort bare and rubbish. Good skiing up top. Med crooked his shoulder and Roger his knee.
National express bus from Heathrow back to Devon arrived at 2.50 at Exeter bus station to be greeted by Slim with a placard welcoming the Buzz’s ( been away so long he says that he forgot how to spell our name)
That’s the conclusion of another spectacular trip that has once again flown bye and with the aid of this blog we will spend many moments recounting the wonderful time we had.
THE END. ( for now!)
Left for the long treck home at 8am local KL time from the Concorde Hotel. Plane a bit late leaving but with 3 hour stopover in Dubai this was not a problem. Arrived Dubai about an hour late but were soon aboard the next flight for the last leg to Heathrow. Arrived Heathrow at about 8.30 pm local and got to the hotel about 9.30. Relaxed with a glass of the red stuff and then off to bed to try and get some sleep although KL time it is 7am in the morning.
Easyjet will never be the same again!!
Arranged for a 2pm check – out so had a last minute wander around the local malls. Chilled out back at hotel before we transferred to the Concorde Inn hotel 5 mins from airport.
Last Asian fodder tonight. No rush in morning as we are so close to airport for 9.50 flight to Dubai.
Started early on the last of our hop on hop off ticket, and travelled to China Town. Weather looked a bit threatening, so I took my little brolly and Paul got one from the concierge as his had fallen apart earlier in the trip.
We wandered up and down the streets of China Town. Some interesting food outlets, but not for us as we’d only just finished breakfast.
We then walked on to the Central Market, part of the British legacy to KL, great as it was air conditioned. Paul picked up a few tips about Malay food from stall by the entrance. Great selection of goods and food, bargains to be had!
From here we walked the streets to find a Taoist fen shui temple and a Hindu temple. There were preparations under way for a wedding tonight, which they said we could go and watch. Unfortunately it’s the other side of KL to our hotel, and traffic here is terrible between 4.30 and 7.30 pm.
We stopped for a break and then trudged on to take in Independence Square and many old colonial and Moghul style buildings in the area. Finishing with a visit to KL National Gallery. Unfortunately this wasn’t art, but development of the city and state, especially after the old colonialists had left!
Greenery in front was the Cricket Ground, but today it was hosting a tag rugby competition
Last night in KL city. Singapore Slings at the hotel and then off to the swinging area of Butik Bintang with all it’s upscale shops, hotels and Malls, just a five minute walk from hotel. Full of Xmas lights and decorations in all the shops and streets, strange for a predominantly Muslim country, even Xmas carols being sung. Streets packed with cars and shoppers.
Decided to eat as last night in an area called “Hawkers Row”, all outside restaurants, very low key but great atmosphere and all sorts of food
We chose off the menu washed down with a couple of beers
Took a “hop-on hop-off” bus as all good tourists do to get us to some of the spots we wanted to visit. It is a 24 hour ticket so we can use it for some of tomorrow to get to a couple of other places.
Our stop off today was the Botanical Garden area about 45 mins into the tour. It is within a very large area of green belt that the city is very proud of, justifiably so as it is a very pleasant area.
The bus took quite a long time in the nightmare traffic to get back to near our hotel. Needed a nice cooling swim.
Walked to an area called the Portuguese Settlement which is designated to the preservation of decendants of the early Portuguese settlers of Melaka. An area of about 30 acres with a few streets of single storey houses by the shoreline . Not very impressive at all. Apparently the place comes alive about four times a year for festivals. Quite a Long walk back to check out of hotel.
Checked out of hotel about 12.00 for our trip back to KL. Found a “coastal/scenic” route. Quiet road in the main through small towns and villages, palm and latex rubber plantations.
Thought a place called Port Dickson, a beachy holiday place supposedly, might be good for a stop. Horrible, run down place with half finished hotels and apartment blocks. Global crisis perhaps.
A very pleasant drive back to KL
Arrived KL about five. Ate at the Hakka open air, under cover, Chinese restaurant that we ate at two years ago. Very crowded and great atmosphere.
Spent a long tiring day walking the Unesco world Heritage area of Melaka City, a very popular destination for Malaysion tourists. Because of its past history there is a large range of cultures. Portugese, Dutch, British, Indian, Chinese and Malay. The preservation of these cultures has earned its Heritage status.
