Israel

After a day at sea, we arrived at Haifa in Israel. We opted to go on the tours offered by the cruise ship as we wanted to visit Jerusalem with a guide. The 2 hour bus trip took us along excellent roads past beautiful beaches and many new towns. I was not prepared for the shock of arriving in Jerusalem. Being close to Christmas, the place was packed. The Jewish people were celebrating Hanukkah and the Mosques were full of people at prayer, as it was Friday. We visited the Wailing Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre and walked the Via Dolorosa. I am still trying to assess my emotions of being in this place where so many historical events from the Bible took place. The old city reminded me of the bazaars in Istanbul. Unfortunately it was impossible to buy any of their wonderfully cheap items, as we were being pushed along by the crowds from the mosque. I later found out that only 10 days before, 3 of the passengers from a previous cruise had stopped to shop and were separated from their guide. As a result they were left behind and had to fly to Athens to catch up with the ship. 

Rhodes in Greece

Small shops lined the narrow streets, shopkeepers waiting for the tourists to arrive from the ship to buy their wares. There were 2500 passengers on board and their presence ashore was significant. These shops need the tourists and look forward to selling them bargains.

Rhodes was a stop over for the Knights Templar. They built houses here, also hospitals and churches. The Knights Templar would stay here to refresh themselves during the crusades. Their street can be seen in one of my photos. Today these houses are the homes of foreign government embassies and local government offices.
Contrast can be seen between the old and the new everywhere.

Bari in Italy

I enjoyed our stop at Bari. Along the narrow streets, complete with washing and shops, life goes on. Suddenly, you come to a big open space and find a huge church. The day we arrived there was a special ceremony going on in the Orthodox cathedral to celebrate the life of Saint Nicolas, otherwise known as Santa Claus. His remains are buried here and there were crowds at the cathedral to acknowledge him. We also enjoyed visiting this castle. There was no charge to go in but the man in the office rushed out to give us a free ticket anyway.

Cruising from Venice to Israel

My sister and I enjoyed our 10 day trip on the beautiful ship "Magnifica". There were stops at Bari, Rhodes, Haifa and Paereus. Here are some shots of what we saw. I am now in London for a rest before returning to France to spend the last 2 weeks of my trip in Dijon. What an adventure. I shall never forget the wonderful opportunity given to me to visit and admire so much of our world.

On the road again

Leaving Montpellier was sad but now I am looking forward to seeing new places. From Motpellier in Southern France to Frankfurt Hahn in Germany, then on to Mainz, a beautiful town on the Rhine. I met my sister coming from London and we explored the Christmas market. Then to Lichtenfels to stay with a friend and renew other acquaintances. Bamberg to Nurnberg and then to Munich via a stop-over in Regensburg. We met up with two friends here too and had a very quick tour of this beautiful, historic town.

Train to Venice was stopped at Innsbruck as the Italian rail was on strike. Change to bus and a very comfortable front seat trip to arrive in Venice. Here are some of the many shots of this amazing town too.

Last Days

It had to happen. It all had to come to an end sometime. Tomorrow is my last day at school and I'm feeling a bit sad yet excited for the next part of my trip. I am looking around at all the chalets in the Christmas market and thinking, how beautiful it all is: the lights, the huge tree, the people. There is a crèche at the market too, set in medieval times with santons of shepherds and kings coming to visit baby Jesus. Santons are little statues of people, dressed like people of that era. You can recognise their function in that society. There's the wood- cutter, the shepherd, a mum with her children, the milkmaid and many others. The setting is very cleverly made and attracts a lot of attention. Often there are smaller crèches set up in people's homes. I enclose a picture of the one where I am staying.
My time here has been amazing. This place is amazing. Montpellier is a bit like Auckland with people from all over the world. Here they are mostly speaking French but sometimes Spanish, Japanese, English, Arabic and other languages I can't recognise.
Saturday there's the carol service at the little church I joined while I was here. I will miss the friendship from this group who took me into their fellowship and made me feel at home.
Sunday I fly to Frankfurt Hahn, about one and a quarter hours from the Frankfurt we usually hear about. After that a four hour train trip to my next stop. I am looking forward to the train.
I will keep writing blogs as I find access to internet. My holidays start now. I have been a very good student and have worked hard at my studies.
I want to thank all of you who have written me letters. I really appreciate it. If I just met you at language school, welcome. Hope to hear from you soon. To the teachers at Lycee Joffres who were kind enough to let me join in their classrooms, I say thank you and let's keep in touch. To all my students in NZ, have a great Christmas and come back refreshed and ready to go. I hope you all get the opportunity to travel to France and live here "a la Francaise". All the best with your exam results. If I may ask, who are you who are reading this blog in Russia, Czech Republic, Alaska and Malaysia? Interesting!
Catch you next time.

School Visit

I enjoyed talking to two classes today at the local high school about New Zealand. I showed them a power point and they seemed interested, certainly very well behaved. I am sorry I did not see these classes more often.
Only one week left before I set off on my travels. I will fly to Germany on Sunday 11 December and meet up with my sister in Mainz. From there we will make our way to Munich by 16th, via Lichtenfels and Regensburg. Hope to meet you there, Mary, on 15th.
Lots more after that, but that's enough for now.

The Christmas markets have started here today. They look like fun. Hope you enjoy the photos. The place is like magic. That's the opera house at the far end for those of you who have been here.

Paris

 Pensive in the metro

 Le Louvre. I love the lift down there.

 Through the glass pyramid

 Champs- Elysees and creche at Notre Dame

Had a wonderful weekend in Paris to celebrate my sister's birthday. She and her flatmate came over from London on the Eurostar, the train that goes under the English Channel. We took in the usual sights and a few new ones. There's a movie of Paris on my facebook, if it works. Enjoy the photos. Have a great holiday, all you girls who just finished the French exam. From the comments I heard, it was ok for Level 2 and 3, and shocking for Level 1. All the best for the results. I leave here 11 December and head for Germany for a few days. I will keep adding to this as I am able and find a connection.

Les Matelles

This is a quaint little village near Montpellier. People really live here and have decorated their surroundings with colour, floral and otherwise. I had to take photos of the stone stairs and windows. I love them.

Nimes

This afternoon, after classes, I visited Nimes. First stop, the amphitheatre (les arenes). This was built at the beginning of the second century AD. There had been amphitheatres in Italy since the second century BC and as Nimes had become a Roman colony in 49 BC, this type of building had become popular as a place to be entertained. A day in the arena started with fights to the death between animals and hunters. At midday, those convicts who had received the death penalty were tied to stakes and given over to wild animals. In the afternoon there were combats between gladiators.
In later years this place was turned into a fortress and people lived there. In more recent times the amphitheatre was used for bullfighting, coming from Spain in the 11th and 12th centuries. They still have performances held here, the main one in April, where they invite you to go back in history and watch gladiators fighting, horse tournaments and military processions, to name a few.
This amphitheatre in Nimes is the best preserved Roman theatre of its kind in the world.
La Maison Carre, the square house, is beautiful. We had coffee nearby and enjoyed just looking at it. This is also a world famous remnant of Roman times. It was built in the first century BC as a temple and is the only one still intact in the world. Among other things, it was used as a town hall and a church through its history. Now it is a cinema and projects a 3D movie of the history of Nimes. There are gladiator battles with weapons appearing to be coming at you.
I visited the gardens and took some more photos of beautiful bridges. Hope you enjoy.

 For those of you interested in food, my next report will show just some of the treats awaiting the traveller to France, and to Nimes in particular.