Greetings from Eurostar

Hi guys
We are currently on Eurostar heading for London (@ 298kph)!!!  We will break 300kph??

In order of update:
Lourdes was a very peaceful place.  I offered a prayer for each of you and your families at the grotto.  Imagine being responsible for the votive candles...what fun you would all have!!

Andre, Grace and Henry, did you see the roadsigns.  They were on our last part of our journey heading to Paris. The other sign (of me under it), in Paris, I think I will enlarge to full size and have at the door into Room 4!!!!!

Our penultimate night before Paris was in a small town in the Loire Valley with every piece of land not built upon, planted in grape vines.  The wine was absolutely delicious. The vineyard we stayed on was a bed and breakfast run by a retired teacher!!!!! She had chooks (Megs), turtles, guinea pigs, cats, a rescued dog AND donkeys!  No, not me but someone ahead of me and my dream! The predominately white donkey is called....Kiwi!  No reason why. The lady had rescued it only four months ago.  The donkey connection made me think of you Eva :D  Students from a local school visit the donkeys to care for and ride.

We had fun wandering around Paris collecting photos for you :D The market was predominately produce of ALL kinds with thousands of people looking for the best piece of whatever for the best price.  The stalls run under a railway line (bridge). Every time I stand under the Eiffel Tower I am reminded of the amazing construction that is it.  Research when it was constructed.  There wouldn't have been any modern technology to assist the designing and construction.

We are under the tunnel as I type.  No hype or excitement! Just dark :D

We are beginning the UK 'end' of our trip.  Four weeks travelling to catch up with friends.  Shame about the Maori All Blacks.  Many 'whatsup' messages received from friends in England as you can imagine :(  We will be in Wales for the second AB/Lions game so it had better be in our favour.  Mr Jones has his Lions 2005 shirt and I have my world cup AB shirt to wear!

Next photos should be in and about in London.  I intend to shop girls as we've seen all the sights:D  We are going to a show 'American in Paris' and to my favourite recipe book restaurant 'Ottolanghi'. Can't wait for both:D

By now you will have enjoyed a beautiful school Mass and be ready for the week ahead.  Good luck, God Bless gymnastics teams.

Love to you all
Mrs Jones, now in Kent, England, about to pass through the area where we lived, Sutton Valence near Leeds Castle.


Lourdes



The Loire Valley Vineyard we stayed at




Paris, in case you couldn't work it out for yourselves!! The archway which was completed in the late 90's is directly opposite the Arc de Triomphe, about 6km apart.  Mr Jones was very impressed by the construction (mathematically)!!  The last photo in this group is Sacre Couer. Look at all those steps to climb in 28 degree heat!  At the top is the famous artist's quarter where I'm sure many of you may well find yourself painting in the artist's market (Bree, Dori) :D



Fun photos with our speedometre!!  The first was still under the speed limit!  The second:Look the milage! The third is the end of our European journey in our little Citroen.

Completely up to date now with our Eurostar photos:D  No pomp or ceremony, or excitement...only darkness to tell us we are in the tunnel!

Hello from Macores

Ola from Torre de Moncorvo just 10 minutes drive from.....Macores!
There I am having a cup of tea in THE cafe!  The owners later insisted on making us lunch! I think the gentleman who owns the cafe is in the photo we can see on google maps!!!!
What a day it was.  The people in the village were overwhelmed by our visit as indeed we were.  No one spoke english but somehow, like we do, we communicated with a lot of understanding on both sides.  At lunch time the only student left in the village, a 17 year old girl named Ola (I think) returned home for lunch.  It was her last day at school before her final exams and then she is off to university. She is the last young person. She speaks very good english so was able to help her Grandfather. Her grandfather took care of us, showing us the two cafes, the church and took us to meet the local people.
The adventure started with us walking down the street and coming upon two old ladies.  I am in the photo with them, sitting on the steps.  The lady in black is crocheting.  The white cover she made for her granddaughter (whom we later met).  The old lady, the old gentleman and the young girl were from the same family. The very old house is where the grandmother lives.
Since the google map, there is a second cafe and that is where Mr Jones is talking to the gentleman about which tea I prefer!!
What about the church!  Mr Jones and I were not expecting such a beautiful interior. The three ladies were there to clean and take away all the dead flowers from the procession for Our Lady during the month of May.  Some people would have carried the two statues as you can see from the handles.
We were correct in thinking there is no school in Macores.  All the students from the 17 surrounding villages go to a very large school in Torre de Moncorvo.  That is where we went this morning to establish a link between our two schools.  The photos are of the class we visited.  Their teacher, Celeste (Mrs Vaz) is their English teacher.  They are about the same age as our Year 6.  They have their English exam on Monday. The students have lessons in Portuguese and have to learn English and by Year 7, French!!!  Their writing that I saw today is very good.
I am very sad to be leaving this area as everyone has welcomed us very enthusiastically. They are very proud of their town and surrounding villages and so excited that we will be learning about their area.
So, a lot of words today (I know you will be missing that)!  It's now bedtime (10.45pm) you will be enjoying your break. Tomorrow we are heading to Madrid to spend four days with our niece.
Love and God Bless
Mr and Mrs Jones
PS Today it was 36 degrees!!!!!!!!!!

Hola

Hola from Spain :D
So much has happened since the last post!  Mass in St Peter's Bascilica and THEN seeing and listening to Pope Francis was overwhelming.
Brendan, my new phone has been counting my km, steps etc.  We walked 58km just in and around Rome over four days!!!!
It was fun having lunch, including a cup of tea, in Pisa with the tower just ahead of us.

OMGosh, I don't know (yet) how to keep the photos in order of posting!! So... the altar is where we went to Mass in St Peters; The spiral staircase is the way out from the Vatican Museum; Do you recognise the Coliseum? Lunch in Pisa!!! Our first attempt with a selfie stick (and last)! The umbrellas were hung in every street in Turino, norther Italy, an idea for us at some time Room 4; We then travelled to Switzerland to catch up with friends who live in a Swiss Chalet! Travelling to their village through a tunnel by train, whilst still in our car.  Look, no sides to the carriages!!!!! The mountain is Eiber, one of the tallest four in Switzerland;  At the top (at the shop) was a familiar flag flying, couldn't find out why. And then Megs, whilst travelling on the motorway in the South of France.....I thought of you!!!
Love to you all and God Bless.  Today we travel to ..... MACORES!!!

PS Well done Cross Country runners (Reuben, pass on my congratulations to Isabella.
Waiting to hear about Saturday sports teams :D