Adventure-A-Day April – Excerpt Four

*The Adventure Continues*

June 11th 2012
DAY FOUR!

…and we are still in France! Beaujolais Wine region to be exact. Today was a relaxing day, designed to catch up on some sleep, write in our diaries or go out and laze by the pool. I didn’t do any of that. I got up early (compared to everyone else!) and had a shower and took my camera outside where the day had also woken up, in a much nicer mood than the day before. I got some pretty shots from the window sill in my room. I just climbed right up there and sat with my legs dangling out the window, thinking “Wow, I’m in France.”

For lunch, we had been assigned to a group and we were to take our very own little picnic basket and goodies up to “the top of the world” and dine in style. Really, it was just a hill, in the middle of nowhere and we had a small map on trying to find it. “Team building exercise” they called it. There were about 6-8 groups that went on this adventure and every group (and I am not exaggerating, I mean EVERY group!) got lost tyring to find this magical mountainhill. It did make for some cool photography through paddocks full of red poppies and purple lavender. Along the way, we came across a small village. It seemed to be full of character but lacked inhabitants (They must have been hiding from us Australian kiddies! I might have indiscreetly put my mark on their town too. :P)

After making out way through the town and not having any idea on where we were (we had ditched the map), one of the onsite Contiki staff came zooming around the corner in a mini bus, honking her horn! We were saved! She dropped us off at the bottom of the ‘correct’ hill and said, “Just up there, is “the top of the world!”

Wine, bread, cheese, ham and fruit were all supplied in our basket of goodies, along with wine the others had bought from the wine tasting the night before. (I don’t drink wine so I didn’t have any!) I took the snaps and everyone has a splendid time. We were watching a storm roll in from across the valley, thinking how cool the sheets of rain looked until it started coming towards us. Yep, time to leave so we don’t get a wet bum! It was like a race against time. Ok, not really. We didn’t care! If we got wet, then that would make a good story when we got back. I kept taking photos, trying to capture the beauty of the region but no photo I have will ever do it as much justice as it deserves.

When we got back to the Chateau, people started getting on the brewski’s and getting ready for dinner. Have I mentioned UEFA Euro 2012 was on for all the time I was in Europe? It’s a massive football championship in Europe and it was being played in Poland/Ukraine. That night, FRANCE were playing ENGLAND. It was a surprise to most of the guys in the Chateau that I was in the bar, watching the football, instead of getting ready for dinner and the night that was to come. The game finished 1-1. There was to be no fights between the Brits and the French that night. 😉

At dinner the night before, we had been told there was to be a party tonight in “The Cave” and it was to be a dress up theme. Wait for it. The letter "P". That was our theme. Are you kidding me? Surprisingly, I was pretty sorted. I had packed a captain/sailors peak cap in my bag for our voyages on the ferries from Italy to Greece and back so that was to come in handy. I had cut off denim shorts and a plain white singlet in my suitcase so I paired it all together and drew an anchor on my arm. POP EYE FTW! (That’s ‘for the win’, mum!) I had a small empty pringles can so I stuck some paper out of my diary around it and wrote SPINACH on the outside and filled it with green leaves! I also had ventured outside to find a stick that somewhat resembled a pipe and I was set! There were FAR TOO MANY manly prostitutes (courtesy of our girls in the group lending their clothing to the boys!), a few pimps and a whole lot of other people in their pyjamas! Our tour manager went as a pirate (like, I wish they would have given us a heads up earlier because I totally would have rocked the best pirate outfit EVER!) and our coach driver went as a prehistoric man (Just another name for a caveman, but twisted it so it started with “p”. SNEAKY!) It was hot. REAL hot down there. No windows. No fresh air. A WHOLE lot of alcohol. I remember taking masses amount of selfies with other people and talking to some randoms upstairs (out of the bar) when I decided it was time for me to go to bed.

Further apologies to Gerard, who got a very drunk and late phone call.

Bonsoir,
C. x

*To Be Continued*