December 29, 2024 • 52 mins
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to experience France for the first time? In An Australian Family's First Time in France, Annie Sargent chats with Suzie Klatt about her family’s unforgettable six-week journey across France and Spain. Suzie, her husband, and their three young children explored iconic destinations, savored French cuisine, and embraced the adventure of international travel.
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The episode begins with Suzie sharing her excitement about visiting France for the first time, a dream delayed by the pandemic but worth the wait. She talks about her family’s highlights, including a magical six-night stay at Disneyland Paris, a private Seine river cruise, and a Cinderella-style horse and carriage ride in Paris. Suzie offers practical advice for families traveling with young kids, emphasizing the importance of downtime and choosing accommodations with kitchens.
Listeners will love Suzie’s passion for French markets, where she discovered the joy of cooking with fresh produce. She also talks about her family’s love of simple pleasures, like swimming in Nice, strolling through lavender fields in Provence, and enjoying the magical ambiance of the Bordeaux Water Mirror.
Whether you're planning your first trip to France or looking for family-friendly travel tips, this episode is packed with insights. Don’t miss Suzie’s heartfelt and relatable journey. Listen now!
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Annie (00:16):
This is Join Us in France, episode 526, cinq cent vingt-six.
Bonjour, I'm Annie Sargent and Join Usin France is the podcast where we take
a conversational journey through thebeauty, culture, and flavors of France.
Today, I bring you a trip reportwith Suzy Klatt, and talk about
(00:36):
her unforgettable family trip toFrance and a bit of Spain as well.
From enchanting horse carriage rides,to magical Disney experiences, discover
tips, delights, and heartfelt storiesthat will inspire your next journey.
Stay tuned for anadventure packed episode.
This podcast is supported by donorsand listeners who buy my tours and
(00:59):
services, including my ItineraryConsult Service, my GPS self-guided
tours of Paris on the VoiceMap app,or take a day trip with me around the
Southwest of France in my electric car.
You can browse all of that at myboutique joinusinfrance.com/boutique.
And Patreon supporters get new episodesas soon as they are ready and ad-free.
(01:24):
If that sounds good to you, be likethem, follow the link in the show notes.
There won't be a magazine partof the podcast today because this
episode had to be banked early soChristian and family can get some well
deserved time off over the holidays.
So sadly, no new patronsto thank this week.
(01:44):
But wasn't one of your New Year'sresolutions this year to make
your favorite podcaster happy?
Why thank you so much!
To join our wonderful community ofFrancophiles, go to patreon.com/joinus.
(02:05):
And to support Elyse, goto patreon.com/ElysArt.
Happy New Year, everyone!
It's that magical time again, whenwe all convince ourselves that this
year, for sure, we'll go to the gym,eat more vegetables, and finally learn
how to properly fold a fitted sheet.
(02:27):
Spoiler alert, we won't.
But hey, it's the thoughtthat counts, right?
I just want to take a moment tosay thank you for being here, for
listening, and for laughing withme, or at me throughout the year.
Your support means the worldto me and honestly, you saved
me a fortune in therapy pills.
(02:48):
You are my people.
So here's to 2025, may it befilled with big adventures.
tiny victories, and the occasionalpastry that's just too good to share!
And remember, life is like French cheese.
It's better when you let itage and savor every bite.
Cheers to a wonderful year ahead, and asalways, let's keep exploring, learning,
(03:11):
and making the most of this wild ride.
Bonne année!
Bonne santé!
À bientôt!
Bonjour, Suzy Klatt andwelcome to Join Us in France.
Suzie (03:28):
Bonjour, Annie.
Annie (03:30):
Wonderful to see you.
Your background is Paris, I love it!
All right.
So you came to France, between earlyJune and the middle of July, 2023.
Suzie (03:45):
Yes.
Annie (03:45):
Right?
So it's been a while, but youhave, you took some good notes.
I loved it when I read throughyour document because you
suggest so many good things.
So it was you, your husband,your three children.
You're going to tell us in just aminute all the places that you went to.
But this was your firsttime traveling, wasn't it?
Suzie (04:06):
Correct.
my husband had been overseas whenhe was in high school, but for
myself, I've never left the country.
So I've never left Australia.
Annie (04:13):
Wow.
Wow.
And you did this with three children,two, six, and nine at the time,
which is, you know, that's daring!
Suzie (04:21):
Yep.
Yep.
It was.
We were actually meant to take thetrip in 2020, but with COVID, we
actually had to cancel a coupleof months before our scheduled
trip, and we canceled everything.
So we tried to redo that trip,when we finally got our dream,
which came true last year.
Annie (04:36):
Wonderful.
Okay.
So tell us all the places you went and howlong you stayed, because this is unusual.
You stayed a long time, overall.
So do tell us about that.
Suzie (04:46):
Yes, so, we landed in Nice, but we spent six nights in Cannes at first.
Then we went to Disneyland forsix nights, then Paris for nine
nights, Chambord for one night,Bordeaux just for a one nighter.
We went to Spain for a little bit, soSan Sebastian, Zaragoza, Barcelona,
then Perpignan for one night.
(05:08):
Avignon was a day trip on our way toPuyloubier in the Provence region.
And then Valensole were for the lavenderfields, was a day visit, and followed by
five Nights in Nice before flying home.
Annie (05:23):
So you spent a good long time both in Paris and at Disneyland.
What surprised me is six nights atDisneyland, although it does make sense.
I mean, you have young children.
How was that for you guys?
Suzie (05:34):
Magical, a dream come true, we look at the photos every day that come up
on the iPad and photos on our phones andon our Apple Watches, all that sort of
stuff, so it's just, we get to relive thatevery day through the photos that we took.
Annie (05:46):
That's wonderful.
Yeah, because most people, you know,if people ask me how long should I spend
at Disneyland, normally a day or two issufficient, but it's true that with three
children, they probably wanted to do thesame attractions over and over again.
Suzie (06:00):
With us, it was more to, we wanted to take our time.
We actually booked a lot of characterdining, so we had a full board meal
plan, which turned out to be a bittoo much for us, too much food, but we
did spend a lot of time having mealsat the princess restaurants, and at
the character restaurants so that thechildren could have encounters with the
characters, and take all the photos,and get the autographs, and so forth.
(06:21):
So there was actually on our last daythat we were there, I was walking through
lands of Disneyland that I hadn't seenin the whole time that we'd been there.
And I said to my husband,Oh, I didn't go on that ride.
I didn't see this.
Because sometimes I'd be back at thehotel with my little one napping.
So, you know, that's how it panned out.
Annie (06:38):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Little kids need rest.
Suzie (06:41):
Yes.
Annie (06:42):
Grown ups too, the kids really need the rest.
All right.
So, you listed a lot of wonderful thingsthat you enjoyed, and I'm just going
to let you go through the list andreminisce about why you love this stuff.
Suzie (06:57):
So, my mom is actually French, she came to Australia when she was very young.
And so my mémé, my grand mère, shelooked after me when I was younger.
And so I learnt to speak French then,and then I lost my language for a bit.
So we love and fantasize aboutthe idea of going to France.
That's why we had such a long stay.
Some of my, our favorite things we bookeda horse and carriage ride in Paris.
(07:22):
We surprised our children.
So we dressed them up, and got all ofus dressed up and caught a taxi over.
And we surprised them, you know,this big horse and cart, Cinderella
carriage turns up, and ourchildren said, oh, can we go on?
And I said, well, yes we can.
Yeah, so that was probably the highlightbecause it took us on a tour through
Paris, and it was on our second daythere, so it took us through and we
(07:43):
got to see all the major landmarksvia, you know, a horse and carriage
ride for that lasted about an hour.
And, you know, my husband and Iwere drinking champagne, and the
children were just enjoying Paris,and enjoying everyone looking at them,
and waving and smiling, and so forth.
Annie (07:58):
Oh, that's wonderful.
Suzie (07:59):
That was a top.
Yeah.
Annie (08:01):
So you, you arranged that obviously ahead of time.
Suzie (08:04):
Yes, so that was something we organized months in advance here in
Australia, just through the internet.
You can find companies,reputable companies that
have good reviews and things.
My husband did all the tripplanning and all the research.
All he did was run things by me,like, Oh, where do you want to go?
Is this hotel good?
That sort of thing.
Annie (08:19):
So you mentioned your mémé, does she live in France?
Suzie (08:22):
My mémé passed away when I was 15.
So, my mum came to Australia when she wasquite young with her parents and then she
went back when she was in high school,and they came back again to Australia.
And my dad is Spanish so I'vegot that background as well,
hence why we went to Spain.
Annie (08:36):
Oh wow.
Yeah.
So you have a lot of European roots.
Suzie (08:39):
Yeah, so we had some family that we visited there,
but it was more extended family.
Annie (08:43):
Wonderful.
Okay.
So the horse and carriage, I don't thinkanybody has mentioned the horse and
carriage before, so I'm glad you didbecause that sounds like a lot of fun for
a lot of people, they would love that.
Suzie (08:54):
Yes, and then we also organized a boat ride on the Seine, a private
ride with the children, which wewere very happy that we did because
that was, you know, equally asmagical as the carriage ride for us.
Annie (09:07):
So this was private.
So this was a smaller boat,give me some more details.
Suzie (09:12):
Yes, yes, it was a company called Green River Cruises, and same thing,
we just did some research and founda company that we wanted to go with,
and booked it here from Australia.
It was fairly easy and straightforward.
And yeah, it was a private boat,it was just a small boat, it kind
of probably would have fittedmaybe 10 people on it or so.
The driver was wonderful.
He let the children drive the boat.
(09:33):
He took photos of us, andhe let us play our music as
we're cruising down the Seine.
We're listening to, you know,our music playing on the boat and
it was just absolutely magical.
So we, probably enjoyed seeing the majorParis landmarks from our carriage ride
and from our boat ride because we wererelatively contained, you know, in a
vessel or in a carriage, and we were justable to enjoy and sit back and relax as
(09:57):
somebody took care of the navigating.
Annie (09:59):
Right.
So, if you don't mind, what kind ofbudget are these sorts of events?
Be it the horse and carriage orthe boat, the private boat tour?
Suzie (10:08):
I think the, see, we converted things to Australian dollars, so it's
kind of, I'll roll with that, but Ithink that the boat tour was probably
around 800 Australian dollars, whichis probably around maybe 400-500 Euro.
But for us it was invaluable and it wentfor about an hour, an hour and a half.
And you could pick different timeallotments and you could pick how far you
(10:29):
wanted to go down the Seine, and so forth.
And then the sun was, youknow, kind of going down, so
it was just absolutely magical.
We had good weather.
Annie (10:37):
Yeah.
Suzie (10:38):
The horse and carriage was probably twice as much, so...
Annie (10:40):
Uh huh.
Uh huh.
All right.
Well, you know, if it was thatgreat an experience, why not?
That's great.
The third thing you list isDisneyland, and you already
mentioned meeting the princess, allthe characters, and all of that.
But you mentioned maybe it was a littletoo much having all, I mean, you know, I
assume most of the dinners were similar.
Suzie (11:02):
Yeah, it was more having three, like, sit down meals a
day was just a bit too much.
One, it was eating into parktime, and two, we just didn't
have the stomach for it.
So the last couple of days,we didn't bother and we didn't
use, like, some of them.
And we kind of just came to apoint where, that was okay, and
we'll just make this choice becauseit's going to suit us better.
And, while we were over there,there were times where we kind of
(11:22):
realized that we just had to sortof deviate from the plan sometimes.
Annie (11:25):
But you hadn't done Disneyland anywhere else, right?
Since this was yourfirst international trip.
Suzie (11:31):
Yeah.
And our daughter at the time, you know,she was six, almost seven, and we kind
of wanted to, while she was still intothe princesses and still at that young
age, it was pretty important thatwe made sure it was pretty special.
And that's why we spenta lot of time there.
Annie (11:45):
That's wonderful.
And you stayed at the resort.
Suzie (11:48):
Yes, we stayed at the Marvel Hotel, which was the closest in proximity we
could get at the time because the main oneat the entrance was shut for renovations.
Annie (11:57):
Yeah, so I've seen all of those hotels, but I don't
remember exactly where Marvel is.
But yeah, there's resort hotels,and they're usually quite good.
I've stayed at one, I couldn'ttell you which one I stayed at
because it didn't really matter.
They all seem the same, right?
Suzie (12:12):
Yeah, this one was Marvel themed.
So it was quite good for our boys as well.
Annie (12:18):
Yes, yes, yes.
And then number four,you take us to Cannes.
You went to the market in Cannes.
Tell us about that.
Suzie (12:26):
So I love to cook, and I could talk to you for hours and hours about recipes,
and ingredients, and all sorts of things.
So it was a dream come true togo to France and cook with real
French produce, to go to themarkets, to talk to the people.
Such a, you know, simple encounter wasjust a massive dream come true for me.
(12:46):
So we did make sure that a lot ofthe accommodations we booked had
kitchens, because we needed washersand dryers anyway for the children
with, you know, washing and so forth.
So we were able to cook, and inseveral places I did do that, and I
would go to the markets if I could.
And again, just the tomatoes are amazing.
The produce in Australia is lovely, butjust the French produce is second to none.
(13:08):
Some of the fruit we ate waslike, we'd never eaten an apricot
before in our life until we hadtried the one from the market.
So it's pretty special.
Annie (13:17):
Yes, we do have very good apricots.
They're just ripe enough, but yettangy enough, they're very nice.
I just love them as well.
And I mean, you left by earliest July.
After that, it's all the cantaloupes.
And now the cantaloupes, thereare so many, they just give them
away pretty much, you know, fora Euro, you can get a massive
(13:37):
cantaloupe by the end of the summer.
Whereas at the beginning of thesummer, you pay more like four or
five And if you can get stuff inseason, it always tastes better, yeah.
So do you have a favorite Frenchdish that you like to cook?
Suzie (13:51):
Here, well, I've started making Pissaladière, I don't
know if I'm pronouncing thatcorrectly, but my children, oh,
my children absolutely love that.
Yeah, so that's a bit of a winnerin our household, they even take
it for school lunches some days.
Annie (14:02):
Yeah.
So Pissaladière, just for peoplewho don't know, it's one that is
in my cookbook 'Join Us at theTable' because it's so easy to make.
So you kind of, you caramelonions, which you have to do, it
takes a long time, but it's easy.
You just put them in a pan,put it on medium heat and
let it go for 30, 40 minutes.
And then on a pizza crust.
(14:24):
And you just spread it nicely over thepizza crust and you put some black olives,
and some anchovies if you eat anchovies.
Or you could do something colorful.
It could be like a slices of, you know,slices of pepper, or something pretty.
Put that in the oven.
Delicious.
Suzie (14:42):
Yes, yes, yes.
Annie (14:44):
Cool.
All right.
So that was your number five wascooking with French ingredients and
you did that everywhere you went.
Was there a store in particularthat you said, oh, there's one of
these, I want to go to that one?
Suzie (14:57):
I think in Cannes, which was the very first markets we experienced,
I just, the white asparagus, I'dnot eaten white asparagus before.
So there was some really big fat ones.
And we grabbed a few of those,and lots of other things.
And everywhere we'd go, you know, I'darrange the veggies, and the fruit
on the table, and the bread, andtake some pictures just to remember.
And it's just...
yes.
Annie (15:16):
Yes, white asparagus is wonderful but you do have to peel
it a little bit because the outsideis a bit tough if you don't.
All right, number six wasgoing to supermarkets.
Did you have a favorite supermarketor are they all equally good?
Suzie (15:33):
Well, they were all equally good.
I think our family just reallyfound it fascinating going into a
French supermarket and seeing what,you know, the cereals look like.
And what the products look like.
And there was some bubble gums thatsome family members had bought out many
years ago when I was a child and Malabar
Annie (15:50):
Malabar, yes, les malabars.
Suzie (15:51):
Malabar.
And, so we found some of those andwe brought them back to Australia
and I gave them to my brother andsister, and it was just reliving
our childhood again, you know.
Annie (16:01):
Yes, yeah, these are massive pieces of bubblegum things that
they fill up your mouth and youmake big bubbles out of them.
Suzie (16:11):
Yeah, and our children actually learnt to make bubbles from those
malabars in the car when we weredriving around through France and Spain.
So it was pretty special.
Annie (16:20):
Yes, yes.
Well, hopefully they didn'tend up in anybody's hair.
That's not quite as special.
Obviously, your kids must notbe very, like, picky eaters
or very difficult to feed.
They probably have a widevariety of things they enjoy.
Suzie (16:35):
Yeah, so our youngest at the time, he was only two, so he
pretty much lived on the bread thatthey would bring out to the table.
You know, any type of little potatoythings or, you know, he would eat from
our plates mostly, meat, things like that.
But the other two are very cultured andthey have a very broad palate so they
enjoyed all the food, and our childrenwere trying, they were ordering moules
(16:55):
frites, and you know, all the rest of it.
So, we had conversations before weleft about trying new things, and
things we haven't tried before.
And they rose to the challenge.
Annie (17:03):
What was the restaurant experience like with young children in France?
Did you find that more or less difficultthan in Australia or pretty much the same?
Suzie (17:12):
Much the same.
Everywhere we went, we werejust very well received.
So, if the waiter came around and he putdown, you know, five sets of cutlery, he
got five 'mercis' or 'merci beaucoups'.
And our youngest would say'magoukou', which they just laughed
and thought was very charming, so...
yeah, so I think actually havingchildren traveling with us made us
(17:33):
very well received everywhere we wentbecause French people and even Spanish
people, you know, they love children.
Annie (17:38):
Yes, yes.
If anything, Spanish people areeven more patient with children.
I mean, Spanish people arevery family orientated.
Oriented?
Suzie (17:49):
Yeah, they're very, very thoughtful and considerate we
found, in Spain and even, youknow, more well received in Spain.
So, it was really good.
Annie (17:58):
I've noticed that as well, because I spent a fair amount of time
in Spain and yeah, it's the same.
Number six was swimmingin Nice and Cannes.
Suzie (18:06):
So, you know, Australia's renowned for beaches, and we always vacation at
the beach, and we like to stay on thewater and have, you know, the views
so we could just go out and walk.
And even when we're in ourapartments, we can see the water
and hear the water and so forth.
So, to be able to do that inNice and Cannes was amazing.
And I think I mentioned in my notes thatthe sound of the waves, you know, like
(18:30):
with the rocks in Nice, dragging in andout is just a sound we'll never forget.
We had never heard that before becausein Australia we have all sand beaches.
So, even some of that we've got a videothat we watch on, you know, our home
videos now from our trip and we canjust hear the water and you just close
your eyes and it takes you back, so...
Annie (18:48):
Yes.
yes.
The rocks, the rocky beacheshave, definitely have their charm.
And of course, in theMediterranean nothing can kill you.
Suzie (18:57):
Well, yes.
Well we didn't venture too far, but...
And just the feeling of knowing wherewe were as well and having, you know,
the water against our skin and just..
It was just...
we love the beach.
Annie (19:08):
Last time I was in Spain, I was swimming and I thought some plastic hit my
leg, and it wasn't plastic because a fewminutes later it started stinging, so it
was obviously I had touched some sort ofMedusa, or like a creepy crawly, whatever.
And it was fine, it didn't hurt that much.
It was just a tingly sensation.
But I thought, in Australia,those things can kill you.
Suzie (19:29):
Yes, and when you see the little blue ones floating, you get the
kids out of the water really quick.
Annie (19:34):
Yes, yes, yes.
So we don't have anything like that.
It can be unpleasant, but it doesn't,they can't hurt you that badly.
All right, you went to Saint Tropez.
We don't talk aboutSaint Tropez very much.
What was that like?
Suzie (19:46):
Ah, beautiful.
We would go back there again, definitely.
And our next trip, if wefind some time, we will.
We found the boat ride over,it was fine, but getting on and
off the boat, we had issues.
People not being very considerateand kind of pushing in front.
And we actually found other tourists,which just really, really rude in general.
But actually, once we were therein Saint Tropez it was beautiful.
(20:10):
We went walking through thestreets, you know, with beautiful
yellow painted buildings, andhydrangeas, and vines and shutters.
We don't have anything likethat here in Australia.
So it was very idyllic to seesuch a beautiful place that
you could walk through, yeah.
Annie (20:23):
Yeah.
So, you know, this is another thing.
This is another big differencebetween Spain and France, is that
people queue up very nicely inSpain, and they do not in France.
People in France will, if you leave aninch between you and the person in front
of you, they will cut in front of you.
And if you say anything, they say,well, there was a space, like...
yeah, what do you think I'm doing here?
I'm waiting in line.
(20:45):
This is a line.
I'm waiting in line.
But I do, I mean, I do tell peoplethat if somebody cuts in front of
me, I just, excuse me, back there.
You'll have to say something.
Suzie (20:53):
Yeah, excusez moi.
Yeah.
Annie (20:55):
Otherwise it's unbearable.
Yeah.
Suzie (20:56):
But in all honesty though, we only experienced a few instances of
that with the French people, but otherforeigners, the tourists were, yeah...
very argy bargy, very pushy.
Annie (21:05):
Ah, interesting, interesting.
Ah, your children mingledwith French kids at parks.
So that's, how did that go?
What was that like?
Suzie (21:14):
Just wonderful.
As I said, like we very much romanticizeFrance, and it's beautiful, and you
know, you can't kind of go wrong.
You can visit any village and it's allbeautiful, and should be on the list
of most beautiful villages to visit.
But we found that, yeah, when we wentto the parks and things, our kids would
be playing and other children wouldcome up and play with them, and interact
with them, and it was just really nice.
(21:36):
So this idea of our children playingwith French children and eating
French food, and cooking with Frenchproduce, it was all part of this,
you know, fulfilling this dream.
Annie (21:46):
All new, all beautiful.
Yeah.
Suzie (21:48):
Yeah.
And the kids just loved it.
If we saw a carousel, they wouldride it, and, you know, just be
normal child, in a park, in France.
Annie (21:57):
Yeah, and speaking of the parks, you took them to the Tuileries Gardens
and that you put that on number nine.
Suzie (22:05):
Yes.
Early on in our time in Paris, wewent to, actually on the Tuesday, we
went to the Tuileries first, becausewe wanted to go to the Louvre when it
was closed, so that we could actuallytake some photos outside of the
pyramids without people being in them.
Yeah, that went very well.
We actually saw another Australiancouple that they saw us, you know,
taking photos of our children and theycame over and said, Hey, look, do you
(22:26):
want us to take some photos of you?
We thought you might feelcomfortable because we're Australian
and they were really kind.
And so we found a lot of strangerswere kind and offered to take
photos of us with our kids.
And that's how we got full family photos.
Annie (22:39):
That's wonderful.
Yeah, typically people, you know,as a tourist, you can hand them your
phone and they take good photos.
Yes.
Some people do betterthan others, however.
Some people take terrible photos, so justlook at the photos before you give up.
Suzie (22:53):
We're grateful for what we can get these days.
Annie (22:57):
And then number 10 is the Luxembourg Gardens.
So, they are pretty differentgardens, why did you put one in
front of the other or vice versa?
Suzie (23:06):
Well, apart from our top three being our top three after that, this is
all wonderful and we just can't pick.
But yeah, we did prefer, I think theTuileries was the first one we went
to, so perhaps, you know, that's why.
But the Luxembourg, the kids hadthe little sailboats, we hired the
little sailboats, which, again, wasjust, you know, a dream, magical.
They love to play with the littleboat and of course we had to
(23:27):
get an Australia boat, so...
Annie (23:30):
Of course.
Suzie (23:31):
Yes.
Annie (23:31):
Yes, these are little sailboats that you push with a stick.
Suzie (23:35):
Yes.
Annie (23:35):
They're not anything fancy.
They're really not anythingfancy, but kids love them.
And right now at the TuileriesGardens, I'm going next week.
I got tickets, free tickets, but youneed tickets all the same, to see La
Vasque, so that's the Olympic flame.
And the latest tickets we could getwas 6:30 PM, which is weird because
La Vasque doesn't light up and go upuntil nine or so, until it's dark.
(24:00):
So maybe we'll just stickaround until it goes up.
I don't know, we'll see.
But the whole idea of seeing the Olympicflame light up is going to be exciting.
And that's in the Tuileries Gardens.
Luxembourg has more things likelittle horse rides, Pétanque,
you can play Pétanque there.
(24:20):
There's one corner whereyou have chess tables.
And as a matter of fact, sometimesyou, if you know your chess players,
you will find some interesting peoplethere that you're like, Ooh, this
guy, I've seen him at tournaments.
So yeah, it's quite, these areboth lovely gardens to visit,
especially with children.
So you were going in good weather, butif you are going in the middle of the
(24:41):
winter, it's always better to go ona Wednesday afternoon, or a Saturday,
or a Sunday, because there are goingto be more children and families.
That's when the kids are off the school.
All right, now number 11, you wentto Chambord, chateau de Chambord.
Suzie (24:58):
Yes, so many years ago, we saw you know, the travel agents have
these little brochures and I saw thislittle picture of the chateau, and
I said to my husband, Oh I'd reallylove to go there one day and I cut the
picture out, put it in a little book.
And so, you know, we definitelywanted to see a chateau and
he made that dream come true.
Annie (25:15):
Oh, that's very nice.
So is this a day trip thatyou took to the Loire?
Suzie (25:20):
So we had left Paris, we hired a car, and we went to Chambord
specifically, wanted to see the chateau.
But we also needed somewhere tostay, to then head to Bordeaux.
So we tended to, we didn't wantto drive probably more than about
three hours with the children.
So we made sure that the longest sort of,you know, trip we had before we stopped
(25:41):
to stay the night was about three hours.
And that allowed us time as well to, youknow, meander or stop where we needed to
and perhaps see some little extra things.
Annie (25:49):
So, where did you stay between Bordeaux and Chambord?
Suzie (25:54):
We stayed nearby, I can't, wasn't too far, it was probably about
20 minutes or so from the chateau.
And then I do remember we went to dinnerthat night, also another 15 minute drive
away in Blois, I think it was called.
Oh, Blois, sorry,
Annie (26:09):
Yeah.
Fine.
That's great.
Yeah.
So, Chambord, what did you like, I mean,Chambord is a big place, big, big place.
Suzie (26:16):
Yes, well, we were kind of those people that, we don't necessarily
need to go into the big monument,we're happy just to appreciate
it, you know, from the outside.
Being with children, you know, wecan't afford to be going into museums
and things because it's just not,they're not old enough for that, yet.
So, we actually, we did go in to thechateau, but we preferred afterwards,
we kind of went at the back, there's alittle garden and there's like a little
(26:37):
place where they sell cold drinks.
And there's some chairsunder some beautiful trees.
So we...
we just sat there for a littlewhile, got some cold drinks and we
just were able to sit and appreciateand look up at the chateau.
And that was actually, we probablyenjoyed that more than going into it.
And they had some police horses there.
There were some police horses that residethere, so they were being groomed, etc.
(27:01):
So we got to go over by the barndoor and check out the, you know,
the beautiful police horses andthe kids took some photos there.
So that, and we're animal people as well.
So that was probably, we appreciated thatmore than actually going into the chateau.
Annie (27:15):
Yeah, Chateau de Chambord is very large and does not
have a lot of furniture in it.
The view from the top is very nice,and you can see the staircase,
the double helix staircase,which is very impressive indeed.
A lot about it is impressive,but yeah, you can totally just
spend a few hours outside.
The gardens are beautiful.
(27:35):
And you know, in June, July, they arestarting to, everything's waking up, you
have flowers already and things like that.
So yeah, it's a good time ofyear to visit that sort of place.
Then you went to Bordeaux and youenjoyed the water mirror in Bordeaux.
Suzie (27:50):
Yes.
So we pretty well just checkedinto our accommodation, which
again was an apartment and thenwe went out, headed out, sort of
scoping places to have dinner.
And we were able to go down to the watermirror just as it was getting dark.
So we kind of got that, youknow, just before it was getting
dark to when it went dark.
And we got some really beautiful photoswith the reflection of the building
(28:11):
behind it and the lights and so forth.
Annie (28:13):
The Golden Hour, yeah.
Suzie (28:15):
Yes.
Annie (28:15):
Yes, and you shared that with me.
It is, you did catch it at a good time,at a beautiful time, because I've been
there many times, but you have to go atthe right time to get that sort of sight.
So, typically, did you look forapartments in the city centers,
or outside of city centers?
Did you have a preference?
Suzie (28:36):
Pretty much, well, within but maybe sort of on the outer skirts.
We were a little bit fussywith our criteria because we
knew it was going to be hot.
You know, coming from Australia, it'salso hot here, we wanted air conditioning.
We didn't want to findourselves uncomfortable.
In Australia, we have fans sortof in every room of our house,
whereas in France, it's notreally a common thing to us.
So we wanted to make sure we had airconditioning and we wanted to have a
(28:57):
washing machine dryer, you know, forclothing and a kitchen preferably.
So we tended to do our searchesbased on that criteria.
And then we were restricted towhat fell under that banner.
But we did stay in really safeneighborhoods, secure buildings, with
pin code access, that sort of thing.
An elevator as well, because we hada stroller and all of our luggage.
(29:18):
So that was kind of, a bit of anecessity for us, being a family
for the first time as well.
So we were very, very carefuland we booked everything.
We had pretty much dotted every singlei, just to make sure that we'd have the
easiest time possible with the kids.
Annie (29:33):
And were people good about reaching out to you?
Like the people you had rented from,were they good about reaching out, giving
you a way to contact them directly?
Did you rent through Airbnbor booking or some other way?
Suzie (29:45):
Yeah, so we had a lot of different companies.
Airbnb was one, I think we onlybooked one place through them.
Booking.com was the same thing, I thinkit was just one place, and then a lot
of them were actually French rentalagencies that managed properties,
so there was different places thatwe went to had different companies.
And we would sort of filter throughour searches and try and find the
(30:05):
place that suited us the most.
So yeah, a lot of the time they wereactually rental agencies and they were
quite good, the only thing was, you know,we had phone numbers and things like that,
but sometimes we'd walk up to a placeand there'd be nobody, and we're waiting,
and we're waiting and, you know, we'refully loaded with all of our luggage,
and our children, and our stroller.
And we're on the side of the road, kindof in a foreign country, so they did turn
(30:27):
up, but there were a couple of times wherewe had to wait and we were a bit panicked.
When we first landed as well in Nice,we had a private transfer take us to
our accommodation in Cannes, and we'rewaiting, waiting, and we're texting
and there's no response, and messagingthrough WhatsApp and there's no response.
But eventually, they did turn up, andwe kind of learned that, yeah, you've
just got to wait a bit and they werequite good with their communication.
(30:48):
I don't think we had too many, Idon't think we had too many issues.
Annie (30:51):
Mm hmm.
You mentioned a private transfer.
Did you mostly do that rather than taxi?
You also mentioned thetaxi at the beginning.
So you did both?
Suzie (30:59):
We probably used every single mode of transportation.
The things we could book inadvance from Australia, we did.
So the private transfers fromthe airport to our accommodation,
we didn't want to muck around.
So we wanted somebody waiting therefor us so that we could get in,
have sort of like a safe passage,I guess, and not have to worry.
Annie (31:19):
So, I will interrupt you for a second.
Yes, I understand the feeling,but you don't need to do that.
You can totally just, in Nice, thetramway is very good, and there are
taxis as well, and they're very good.
For people who, if you are worriedabout it, you know, oh, I never take
taxis places, taxis in France are prettyreliable, and if you go to the official
(31:41):
taxi stands, you'll be treated well.
Suzie (31:44):
Yes.
So we did learn that, and then sort of, webuilt our confidence up when we were there
and we were using the G7 app in Paris.
We did use the Metro, we usedthe trams, taxis, the ferry.
We tried it all.
And the longer we were there, thegreater our confidence sort of...
Annie (31:58):
Yeah, it makes sense.
It makes sense.
It's your first time out of the country.
You don't know France.
I mean, you've heard about ityour whole life because your mom's
French, but that's not the sameas spending time there yourself.
And the G7, the G7 app in Paris isvery helpful because you can say,
like in your case, since there werefive of you with luggage, you can
specify how big of a car you need.
(32:20):
And if you go to a taxi stand, they cansee how many of you there are and we'll
have the right taxi pull up for you.
But G7 is good.
That's G7.
Sorry, I keep saying it in French.
G7.
Very good.
So, Bordeaux, you love the Water Mirror.
You weren't there very long, were you?
Just one night?
Suzie (32:38):
Yeah.
We would have liked to stay longer,but our trip was just growing and
growing as we were planning it in days.
So, you know, ideally we'dmove there and get to see a
different place every weekend.
Annie (32:49):
Yeah.
Where was your mom from, originally?
Suzie (32:52):
So, they lived in different places in the time that they were there.
So they were a little while in Dijon.
I've got a couple of auntsthat were born in Dijon.
And, Ceret?
Ceret, she said to me,oh, you must visit Ceret.
Annie (33:06):
CERET is near Perpignan.
C-E-R-E-T.
Suzie (33:09):
Yes, and that's why we, yeah, so we had a, one of my mum's
cousins who we had met beforebecause she'd come out to Australia.
She met us for dinner in, we stayedin Perpignan, she lived in Ceret,
and she met us out for dinner.
So we caught up with a couple offamily members there, which was nice.
Annie (33:24):
That's wonderful.
That's actually very special,if you still have contact
with family, that's fantastic.
Yeah.
Fantastic.
All right.
So you mentioned, actually it'snumber 13, that we were getting to
seeing family in Perpignan and Tourve.
Don't know where Tourve is.
Small place somewhere near Perpignan.
Suzie (33:42):
Yeah, it actually, we stopped in when we left Boulobière, which was
down in, near the Lavender Fields.
We veered through there to visit mymum's aunt, who I had never met before.
So that was a, we definitely, thatwas a special thing that we did.
We made sure that we talked toher nursing home and they had some
drinks there for us in the gardenand they made a bit of a deal that
(34:03):
their family from Australia had came.
And she sat there, and she talkedto me about my grandfather.
He used to teach her English whenhe went over, in his later years,
he would talk to her in Englishand she loved Hollywood movies.
So, it was pretty special to have thatconversation with her, and to meet her.
Annie (34:18):
Yeah.
Especially since she's in a nursinghome, she's an elderly, yeah,
you have to go while you can.
That's fantastic that they arrangedfor a good family visit for that.
Number 14 is visiting the lavender fields.
Suzie (34:31):
Yes, we spent a whole day, we spent two nights in Puyloubier, I think
that's the pronunciation, which was areally beautiful house that we rented.
Annie (34:39):
Puyloubier.
P-U-Y-L-O-U-B-I-E-R.
Yeah.
Puyloubier.
That's a convoluted name.
Suzie (34:49):
Yeah, it is, and we still like, yeah, we do the best we can
with pronouncing it, but yeah.
That was probably theonly house that we rented.
And they were very, they were so lovely.
The gentleman that managed theproperty, he was so lovely.
He came on the morning that wewere checking out and he's like,
oh, use the pool, use the pool,I've cleaned the pool for you.
And then when he found out that I couldspeak some French and my history, you
(35:11):
know, we got talking because he'd spenttime in Australia, he was wonderful.
He said to me, you must speak French,he said to me, you must speak French.
And I said, I have been, I have been.
But, yeah, the people weencountered were lovely and in
the small towns, even more so.
Annie (35:23):
Yeah.
Suzie (35:24):
Yeah.
But sorry, back to the lavender fields.
That was also somethingwe really wanted to see.
And we got to stop at little farmhouses.
We drove up some dirt tracks.
There was a little shed with, you know,some ladies in there with all their
little products, and their little bottlesof lavender, and their little bags.
And of course, the mother, the elderlylady, she was telling me the story and
she was telling me about their familyand how they make the product, you know.
(35:46):
package it and so forth.
And just having those interactionswith people, those are the things
that we probably cherished,you know, the most as well.
Annie (35:53):
That's great.
Yeah.
And you were there at the right time.
And if you go to Provence and you havea car, you can drive around Valensole.
You can drive around that whole area andyou will see, I mean, you can't miss them.
It's a major agricultural crop,so you can't really miss it.
But if you go in the wrong timeof year, nope, nothing left.
(36:13):
Very good.
Shopping in Nice was number 15.
So you went to theGalerie Lafayette in Nice.
I don't think I've been to that one.
Suzie (36:20):
Yes.
It probably was handy becauseit was the last place, you know,
we were before we flew home.
We bought an extra suitcaseand we did some shopping.
Again, just that affinity with, youknow, going to French shops and getting
French things and bringing things home,wearing hats, and jumpers, and things.
And, you know, people sayingto us, oh, I like your jacket.
Oh, well, I got that in Saint Sébastienand they're like, oh, and just telling
(36:42):
the stories and reliving it all, you know.
Annie (36:44):
Yeah.
Ah, and you went to the PSG Stadium.
So back to Paris here, you tookthe kids to the big Stade de...
non le Parc des Princes.
Suzie (36:55):
So our elders too, they play football, they play soccer, football,
whatever you want to call it, andmy husband, you know, coaches,
and they're very much into that.
So that was something pretty special andwe're really glad we did that as well.
Annie (37:09):
That's not hard to arrange.
You just buy tickets online andmake your way there, and it's
pretty straightforward, isn't it?
Suzie (37:16):
And my husband actually, that was one of the things we
didn't pre book from Australia.
Everything else we did, but weremember booking the stadium tour
perhaps a few days before andit was quite easy to get into.
Annie (37:27):
Yeah.
That's interesting.
The team, the PSG, they were very mad,oh, what's the name of this French
player who went to play for Madrid now?
Suzie (37:34):
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't follow.
Annie (37:36):
Mbappé left the PSG and he's playing with Madrid, and
they were mad at him for leaving.
And now that he's left they keep saying,oh, we play better without him anyway.
Suzie (37:46):
My husband, since we've been to France now, they're always watching
the highlights here, you know, all theFrench games and the French leagues,
and so they, you know, we've reallyembraced France, even through sport.
Annie (37:56):
That's great.
That's great.
So yes, last night was the openingceremony and probably this podcast
is not going to be released forseveral months, but I want to mention
that last night was the openingceremonies for the Paralympics.
And I hope that it's going to inspirea lot of people to have their kids
do sports, even if they have aphysical impairment of some sort,
(38:19):
because there's a lot they can do.
And we have a lot of infrastructurein France, and having the Paralympics
is going to help us develop that,which is good for all children.
I mean, really, we needmore kids' things happening.
Wonderful.
Number 17, sitting on the balcony.
People ask me, you know,this is a common question.
Should I get a place with a balcony?
(38:40):
And you would say yes, right?
Suzie (38:42):
Yeah, because we are a family traveling with small children, we
can't afford to sort of be out allday, sightseeing until we drop.
So we were mindful of that as well,that we would need some downtime.
Some nights we might go out for dinner,or other times we may have been out all
day, but then come home for, you know,had something simple to eat or I cooked
dinner, and then the kids would go to bed.
(39:04):
And so because we stayed on thewater in Cannes and in Nice we had
that, you know, that premium view.
And so we were able to sit thereand enjoy the view, and kind of
people watch from our balcony.
And we had a nightclubacross the road in Nice.
And it was just, we werefound it fascinating.
And at the time I think they had some sortof curfew on or something, because at 11
(39:25):
o'clock the police would come with theirsiren, you know, they'd come down and
they'd enter and then they'd be kickingall these people out of the nightclub.
We were enjoying the music,and the sights and everything.
And then the police would comeand it would get a show there too.
So, we enjoyed even that.
Annie (39:39):
Yeah, yeah, that's fun.
So, in your write up, which I'mgoing to publish as guest notes for
this episode, you mentioned all thehotels where you stayed, and you
liked the Holiday Inn in Perpignan.
Suzie (39:54):
Well, that was probably the cheapest and the simplest, the
smallest room we stayed in, but itwas just a one night stop, as I said,
just to, yeah, get somewhere else.
Annie (40:03):
So, if you want to see where all they stayed, I'm going
to put that in the show notes.
And you also mentionedyour favorite restaurants.
I don't know most of them.
The one I do know is AuPied du Cochon, in Paris.
What did you like about that one?
Suzie (40:17):
I mean, for me it was fine, but my husband really
enjoyed, he had some sausage dish.
And our children hadthe Moules Frite there.
I think my, actually mydaughter had the ribs.
My son had, you know, the mussels.
And they brought out the little piggy,you know, the little piggy dessert things
they give out to the children at the end.
And we were fortunate enough that when wewent, there were some workers that were
(40:40):
on their lunch break, and they were sortof sitting next to us at the table next
to us and sort of smiling at the kids.
And we had a bit of an interaction there.
So I think we just, it was nice tofeel like, you know, we were fitting
in and blending in, in a Frenchrestaurant with French people.
Annie (40:53):
So, you mentioned your favorite foods and you said raclette wrap in Paris.
I have had raclette, but Ihave not had a raclette wrap.
Suzie (41:01):
Well, this place makes a very good one.
I don't eat meat and it had ham on it.
So, I very kindly asked if they, becausethey had them sort of in the window
pre made and then they toasted them.
And I asked them very kindly, you know,if they could make one without it, and
they especially did, they said, comeback in about 15 minutes, and then sure
enough, as we were walking back up thestreet, he says, the gentleman is standing
(41:22):
outside the cheese shop with the raclettesin his hand, so the wrap, the wraps.
And to be honest, Annie, I wouldsay that I preferred the street
foodie type things more than therestaurants, the taste, the flavor.
Some of the nicest things that I had werefrom, you know, something like that, that
wasn't from a proper sit down restaurant.
Annie (41:42):
Right.
So, I mean, a raclette wrap, Iwould think, was that a French taco?
Suzie (41:47):
Yeah.
It was kind of like a tortilla typething that they had put some sliced
potatoes, some cream, some onion, thecheese, and that was mine, but Mark
and the kids had ham in theirs as well.
And then they toasted it.
So it was all gooey and delicious.
Annie (42:02):
That sounds like a French taco.
Suzie (42:04):
It was good, whatever it was.
Annie (42:05):
Yes, yes, that's great.
So you had something about lobsterroll and lobster pasta from Lobster
Paradise in the 16th Arrondissement.
Nice.
Suzie (42:16):
Yeah.
So he was actually about 20 meters fromour, 20-30 meters from our apartment.
And yeah, so our first night in Paris,we went to a really terrible restaurant
and we had a really terrible experience.
Annie (42:28):
And what was it called?
We got to know what wasit called, the bad one.
Suzie (42:31):
I think it was Le Marceau, something to that effect.
Annie (42:35):
Le Marceau.
Okay.
Suzie (42:36):
But if you have a look, they'll have a very poor review
from me on their Google reviews.
Annie (42:41):
What made it so bad?
The food was bad?
They were nasty?
Suzie (42:44):
It was one of those pretty places, you know, that looks like,
it's got the flowers all outside, andyou went in and it was really, it had
the nice lights and you went in andit had pretty flowers and everything.
And so we were taking photos and wethought, oh, isn't this wonderful?
But the food was pretty terrible.
My daughter had ordered some kindof like fish and chips, and the fish
was like burnt, overcooked, hard.
(43:06):
And when I asked them if they could, youknow, cook another piece, maybe not so
much, you know, about 10-15 minutes later,I saw them in the kitchen, kind of like
piecing it back together, the one that shehad cut into, piecing it back together.
And they bought the same one out.
It was terrible.
And you know, I wasquite upset about that.
And then the waiter was justblaming the kitchen and...
you know, we just, I said, give us a bill.
We're going, type thing.
(43:27):
But then we found this lovelylobster place, Lobster Paradise.
And I would go there many times, went tosee him several times throughout our stay.
And he just said to me towards the end,just yell out your order from the balcony.
Annie (43:44):
That's good.
You like the framboise macaron, youlike the profiterole, who does not
like profiterole, I mean, honestly,crème brûlée, of course, and the
galettes, the various galettes.
Crêperie is great with kidsbecause, you know, if you
want the ham, you have the ham.
If you don't want theham, don't have the ham.
You know, it's easy.
It's made to order, it's great.
(44:05):
Oh, but you didn't like the natural cider.
Ha ha ha!
Suzie (44:09):
My husband ordered a bottle and then he felt obligated to drink it.
And it was, oh, I can't quite describe,but it was the most awful thing.
Annie (44:18):
Well, I don't know why they called it natural.
Was it bio or something?
Was it organic cider?
Suzie (44:23):
It was, I think they said that it's something that they make or that they, it
was one of those chain ones, I can't quiterecall the name of it, but it's, yeah,
they had said something about they makeit, it's their house one or something.
Annie (44:36):
Yeah.
Suzie (44:37):
But you know, you live and you learn.
Annie (44:39):
Of course, of course.
And then, okay, then you mentionedall of the different ways you got
to get around, and you mentionedthat you were reluctant to use the
metro, but you did and it was okay.
Suzie (44:51):
Yeah, one afternoon, our bus got cancelled, the bus
that was going to take us home.
There was an event on andit got cancelled, so we were
waiting, waiting, and trying tofigure out why it hadn't come.
And you know, a really lovely lady whospoke French and Spanish, you know,
she explained to us and what was goingon, and she offered to even travel
with us on the metro to our place.
And she was genuine.
She wasn't a dodgy, shady character.
(45:11):
And eventually, we just built up thecourage and we came up with a system,
you know, because we had the stroller,we had the kids and our bags and things.
So we kind of came up with a system and,we kind of realized really quickly as
we were going through the turnstilesthat we'd have to, one of us would have
to swipe the ticket and go first andthen wait for the children, swipe the
tickets for the children through andthen the other would kind of go behind
and once you do it once and you comeup with a system, you kind of just roll
(45:34):
with it the next time and the next time.
Annie (45:36):
Yeah, the metro is really not that bad.
I mean, it's not my favorite,but it's not that bad.
And once you figure it out, it'svery handy to travel by metro.
But again, because of the Paralympics,they have realized that Paris metro
stations are not very accessible ornot accessible at all, which means, to
strollers as well as wheelchairs, andso they have vowed to make it better.
(46:03):
We'll see, but they say it'll take20 years, so don't hold your breath.
Yes, don't hold your breath.
You mentioned that you don't need topack so much next time that you were
worried about bringing all of the things.
Tell me about that.
Suzie (46:17):
Well, even here, I'm always, one of those mums that carries around, you
know, paracetamol and, you know, things,band aids and all those sorts of things.
So, with going to the lavenderfields, we even got EpiPens for our
children, even though they don'thave allergies or anything like that.
But I would still do that again,because in a foreign country, you
don't want to be waiting for anambulance and trying to figure that
out, you know, I would still take that.
(46:37):
But, yeah, I just, I think, being thefirst timers again, like, we just, you
know, weren't sure, but after goingto the supermarkets and pharmacies and
realising how easy it is to buy things,I would go with much less next time.
In fact, we retired a suitcase afterParis and we kind of just left it
in the car and didn't really useit, anything from there again.
But we did take diapers and formula atthe time, whereas next time, you know,
(47:00):
our son doesn't need those things anymore.
Annie (47:02):
Right.
Yes, he was two.
He's going to be done with thatstuff by the time he goes again.
And you mentioned that skincareproducts, you liked them in France.
Suzie (47:11):
Yes.
I didn't realize the range andthe quality, it's exceptional.
So, actually when I was atDisneyland one evening I tripped
and I actually hurt myself.
And I had a big, massive, you know,big ball above my arm, my eyebrow.
Then we went to Paris straight after and Ihad this massive egg on my eye basically.
So I was forced into, go into thesupermarket to try and get some
(47:33):
makeup to cover it up type thing.
And that was when we sortof, I got exposed to it.
And so I bought home some French makeup,you know, and also just skincare products.
So, face washes and hand soaps andall sorts of beautiful perfume, which
now I order straight from France.
Annie (47:50):
You're sold.
You're sold.
They gotcha.
They hooked ya.
That's wonderful.
All right.
The last question I want to askyou is, because a lot of people do
also visit Spain as well as France.
Tell us a little bit about yourexperience in Barcelona and you
went to the other side, you wentto the Basque country as well.
Suzie (48:10):
Saint Sebastián, so my abuelo is originally from the Basque country,
so that was why we chose to go there.
And obviously being in the north ofSpain, it's very luscious and very green.
We did spend four nights there.
We fell in love with it, the wholetapas scene, which is something,
you know, we just relished in it.
We were able to walk from ouraccommodation, you know, out every
(48:31):
night to go and have binchels and,we loved being food lovers, that
was something that we really werelooking forward to and that we loved.
And since then they make the, Idon't know what they call it, but
like a burnt Basque cheesecake.
So now I make that here in Australia.
Annie (48:44):
Nice, nice.
And Barcelona, how was that for you?
Suzie (48:48):
Yeah, we enjoyed Barcelona.
We only spent about three nightsthere, so that only gave us a
couple of days of sightseeing.
We sadly couldn't go to the stadiumbecause it was closed for renovations.
So we just pretty much went down to thebeach, you know, ate in some restaurants.
We went to the markets there as well,one of the indoor, undercover markets.
And we just found the people in Spainwere very welcoming, very warm towards
(49:12):
us, particularly with the children.
There was one time in Saint Sebastiánthat we got some ice creams and we
came out of the store and there wassome seats there and everything.
And one of our children had spiltbuilt ice cream on themselves.
One of the abuelas there, one of thegrandmothers, was passing me napkins
and saying, you know, you can sithere, you know, trying to help us.
So even strangers on the street werevery loving, looking lovingly at the
(49:34):
children and saying hello and smiling.
We really loved French people, but theSpanish people we found were even warmer.
Annie (49:41):
Yeah, I often think that France is prettier, but Spain is happier.
Yeah.
All right.
Thank you so, so verymuch for talking to me.
You've done, you've given some great tips.
Do you think you will do this again whenyour children are a little older, perhaps?
Suzie (49:58):
We've already booked our flights for next year, so we're going back
for, we're going back for a few daysmore, actually, so a few days longer.
Annie (50:05):
Wow!
Suzie (50:06):
Already started booking things there, so...
Annie (50:09):
Fantastic.
Well, thank you very, very much.
And, have a wonderfulsecond trip to France.
I'm glad to hear that thefirst one went so well, Suzie!
Suzie (50:19):
Thank you, Annie.
Annie (50:20):
Merci beaucoup.
Suzie (50:21):
Merci, au revoir.
Annie (50:23):
Au revoir.
Annie Sargent (50:31):
The Join Us in France travel podcast is written, hosted,
and produced by Annie Sargent andCopyright 2024 by AddictedToFrance.
It is released under a CreativeCommons, attribution, non-commercial,
no derivatives license.
This is Join Us in France, episode 526, cinq cent vingt-six.
Bonjour, I'm Annie Sargent and Join Usin France is the podcast where we take
a conversational journey through thebeauty, culture, and flavors of France.
Today, I bring you a trip reportwith Suzy Klatt, and talk about
(00:36):
her unforgettable family trip toFrance and a bit of Spain as well.
From enchanting horse carriage rides,to magical Disney experiences, discover
tips, delights, and heartfelt storiesthat will inspire your next journey.
Stay tuned for anadventure packed episode.
This podcast is supported by donorsand listeners who buy my tours and
(00:59):
services, including my ItineraryConsult Service, my GPS self-guided
tours of Paris on the VoiceMap app,or take a day trip with me around the
Southwest of France in my electric car.
You can browse all of that at myboutique joinusinfrance.com/boutique.
And Patreon supporters get new episodesas soon as they are ready and ad-free.
(01:24):
If that sounds good to you, be likethem, follow the link in the show notes.
There won't be a magazine partof the podcast today because this
episode had to be banked early soChristian and family can get some well
deserved time off over the holidays.
So sadly, no new patronsto thank this week.
(01:44):
But wasn't one of your New Year'sresolutions this year to make
your favorite podcaster happy?
Why thank you so much!
To join our wonderful community ofFrancophiles, go to patreon.com/joinus.
(02:05):
And to support Elyse, goto patreon.com/ElysArt.
Happy New Year, everyone!
It's that magical time again, whenwe all convince ourselves that this
year, for sure, we'll go to the gym,eat more vegetables, and finally learn
how to properly fold a fitted sheet.
(02:27):
Spoiler alert, we won't.
But hey, it's the thoughtthat counts, right?
I just want to take a moment tosay thank you for being here, for
listening, and for laughing withme, or at me throughout the year.
Your support means the worldto me and honestly, you saved
me a fortune in therapy pills.
(02:48):
You are my people.
So here's to 2025, may it befilled with big adventures.
tiny victories, and the occasionalpastry that's just too good to share!
And remember, life is like French cheese.
It's better when you let itage and savor every bite.
Cheers to a wonderful year ahead, and asalways, let's keep exploring, learning,
(03:11):
and making the most of this wild ride.
Bonne année!
Bonne santé!
À bientôt!
Bonjour, Suzy Klatt andwelcome to Join Us in France.
Suzie (03:28):
Bonjour, Annie.
Annie (03:30):
Wonderful to see you.
Your background is Paris, I love it!
All right.
So you came to France, between earlyJune and the middle of July, 2023.
Suzie (03:45):
Yes.
Annie (03:45):
Right?
So it's been a while, but youhave, you took some good notes.
I loved it when I read throughyour document because you
suggest so many good things.
So it was you, your husband,your three children.
You're going to tell us in just aminute all the places that you went to.
But this was your firsttime traveling, wasn't it?
Suzie (04:06):
Correct.
my husband had been overseas whenhe was in high school, but for
myself, I've never left the country.
So I've never left Australia.
Annie (04:13):
Wow.
Wow.
And you did this with three children,two, six, and nine at the time,
which is, you know, that's daring!
Suzie (04:21):
Yep.
Yep.
It was.
We were actually meant to take thetrip in 2020, but with COVID, we
actually had to cancel a coupleof months before our scheduled
trip, and we canceled everything.
So we tried to redo that trip,when we finally got our dream,
which came true last year.
Annie (04:36):
Wonderful.
Okay.
So tell us all the places you went and howlong you stayed, because this is unusual.
You stayed a long time, overall.
So do tell us about that.
Suzie (04:46):
Yes, so, we landed in Nice, but we spent six nights in Cannes at first.
Then we went to Disneyland forsix nights, then Paris for nine
nights, Chambord for one night,Bordeaux just for a one nighter.
We went to Spain for a little bit, soSan Sebastian, Zaragoza, Barcelona,
then Perpignan for one night.
(05:08):
Avignon was a day trip on our way toPuyloubier in the Provence region.
And then Valensole were for the lavenderfields, was a day visit, and followed by
five Nights in Nice before flying home.
Annie (05:23):
So you spent a good long time both in Paris and at Disneyland.
What surprised me is six nights atDisneyland, although it does make sense.
I mean, you have young children.
How was that for you guys?
Suzie (05:34):
Magical, a dream come true, we look at the photos every day that come up
on the iPad and photos on our phones andon our Apple Watches, all that sort of
stuff, so it's just, we get to relive thatevery day through the photos that we took.
Annie (05:46):
That's wonderful.
Yeah, because most people, you know,if people ask me how long should I spend
at Disneyland, normally a day or two issufficient, but it's true that with three
children, they probably wanted to do thesame attractions over and over again.
Suzie (06:00):
With us, it was more to, we wanted to take our time.
We actually booked a lot of characterdining, so we had a full board meal
plan, which turned out to be a bittoo much for us, too much food, but we
did spend a lot of time having mealsat the princess restaurants, and at
the character restaurants so that thechildren could have encounters with the
characters, and take all the photos,and get the autographs, and so forth.
(06:21):
So there was actually on our last daythat we were there, I was walking through
lands of Disneyland that I hadn't seenin the whole time that we'd been there.
And I said to my husband,Oh, I didn't go on that ride.
I didn't see this.
Because sometimes I'd be back at thehotel with my little one napping.
So, you know, that's how it panned out.
Annie (06:38):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Little kids need rest.
Suzie (06:41):
Yes.
Annie (06:42):
Grown ups too, the kids really need the rest.
All right.
So, you listed a lot of wonderful thingsthat you enjoyed, and I'm just going
to let you go through the list andreminisce about why you love this stuff.
Suzie (06:57):
So, my mom is actually French, she came to Australia when she was very young.
And so my mémé, my grand mère, shelooked after me when I was younger.
And so I learnt to speak French then,and then I lost my language for a bit.
So we love and fantasize aboutthe idea of going to France.
That's why we had such a long stay.
Some of my, our favorite things we bookeda horse and carriage ride in Paris.
(07:22):
We surprised our children.
So we dressed them up, and got all ofus dressed up and caught a taxi over.
And we surprised them, you know,this big horse and cart, Cinderella
carriage turns up, and ourchildren said, oh, can we go on?
And I said, well, yes we can.
Yeah, so that was probably the highlightbecause it took us on a tour through
Paris, and it was on our second daythere, so it took us through and we
(07:43):
got to see all the major landmarksvia, you know, a horse and carriage
ride for that lasted about an hour.
And, you know, my husband and Iwere drinking champagne, and the
children were just enjoying Paris,and enjoying everyone looking at them,
and waving and smiling, and so forth.
Annie (07:58):
Oh, that's wonderful.
Suzie (07:59):
That was a top.
Yeah.
Annie (08:01):
So you, you arranged that obviously ahead of time.
Suzie (08:04):
Yes, so that was something we organized months in advance here in
Australia, just through the internet.
You can find companies,reputable companies that
have good reviews and things.
My husband did all the tripplanning and all the research.
All he did was run things by me,like, Oh, where do you want to go?
Is this hotel good?
That sort of thing.
Annie (08:19):
So you mentioned your mémé, does she live in France?
Suzie (08:22):
My mémé passed away when I was 15.
So, my mum came to Australia when she wasquite young with her parents and then she
went back when she was in high school,and they came back again to Australia.
And my dad is Spanish so I'vegot that background as well,
hence why we went to Spain.
Annie (08:36):
Oh wow.
Yeah.
So you have a lot of European roots.
Suzie (08:39):
Yeah, so we had some family that we visited there,
but it was more extended family.
Annie (08:43):
Wonderful.
Okay.
So the horse and carriage, I don't thinkanybody has mentioned the horse and
carriage before, so I'm glad you didbecause that sounds like a lot of fun for
a lot of people, they would love that.
Suzie (08:54):
Yes, and then we also organized a boat ride on the Seine, a private
ride with the children, which wewere very happy that we did because
that was, you know, equally asmagical as the carriage ride for us.
Annie (09:07):
So this was private.
So this was a smaller boat,give me some more details.
Suzie (09:12):
Yes, yes, it was a company called Green River Cruises, and same thing,
we just did some research and founda company that we wanted to go with,
and booked it here from Australia.
It was fairly easy and straightforward.
And yeah, it was a private boat,it was just a small boat, it kind
of probably would have fittedmaybe 10 people on it or so.
The driver was wonderful.
He let the children drive the boat.
(09:33):
He took photos of us, andhe let us play our music as
we're cruising down the Seine.
We're listening to, you know,our music playing on the boat and
it was just absolutely magical.
So we, probably enjoyed seeing the majorParis landmarks from our carriage ride
and from our boat ride because we wererelatively contained, you know, in a
vessel or in a carriage, and we were justable to enjoy and sit back and relax as
(09:57):
somebody took care of the navigating.
Annie (09:59):
Right.
So, if you don't mind, what kind ofbudget are these sorts of events?
Be it the horse and carriage orthe boat, the private boat tour?
Suzie (10:08):
I think the, see, we converted things to Australian dollars, so it's
kind of, I'll roll with that, but Ithink that the boat tour was probably
around 800 Australian dollars, whichis probably around maybe 400-500 Euro.
But for us it was invaluable and it wentfor about an hour, an hour and a half.
And you could pick different timeallotments and you could pick how far you
(10:29):
wanted to go down the Seine, and so forth.
And then the sun was, youknow, kind of going down, so
it was just absolutely magical.
We had good weather.
Annie (10:37):
Yeah.
Suzie (10:38):
The horse and carriage was probably twice as much, so...
Annie (10:40):
Uh huh.
Uh huh.
All right.
Well, you know, if it was thatgreat an experience, why not?
That's great.
The third thing you list isDisneyland, and you already
mentioned meeting the princess, allthe characters, and all of that.
But you mentioned maybe it was a littletoo much having all, I mean, you know, I
assume most of the dinners were similar.
Suzie (11:02):
Yeah, it was more having three, like, sit down meals a
day was just a bit too much.
One, it was eating into parktime, and two, we just didn't
have the stomach for it.
So the last couple of days,we didn't bother and we didn't
use, like, some of them.
And we kind of just came to apoint where, that was okay, and
we'll just make this choice becauseit's going to suit us better.
And, while we were over there,there were times where we kind of
(11:22):
realized that we just had to sortof deviate from the plan sometimes.
Annie (11:25):
But you hadn't done Disneyland anywhere else, right?
Since this was yourfirst international trip.
Suzie (11:31):
Yeah.
And our daughter at the time, you know,she was six, almost seven, and we kind
of wanted to, while she was still intothe princesses and still at that young
age, it was pretty important thatwe made sure it was pretty special.
And that's why we spenta lot of time there.
Annie (11:45):
That's wonderful.
And you stayed at the resort.
Suzie (11:48):
Yes, we stayed at the Marvel Hotel, which was the closest in proximity we
could get at the time because the main oneat the entrance was shut for renovations.
Annie (11:57):
Yeah, so I've seen all of those hotels, but I don't
remember exactly where Marvel is.
But yeah, there's resort hotels,and they're usually quite good.
I've stayed at one, I couldn'ttell you which one I stayed at
because it didn't really matter.
They all seem the same, right?
Suzie (12:12):
Yeah, this one was Marvel themed.
So it was quite good for our boys as well.
Annie (12:18):
Yes, yes, yes.
And then number four,you take us to Cannes.
You went to the market in Cannes.
Tell us about that.
Suzie (12:26):
So I love to cook, and I could talk to you for hours and hours about recipes,
and ingredients, and all sorts of things.
So it was a dream come true togo to France and cook with real
French produce, to go to themarkets, to talk to the people.
Such a, you know, simple encounter wasjust a massive dream come true for me.
(12:46):
So we did make sure that a lot ofthe accommodations we booked had
kitchens, because we needed washersand dryers anyway for the children
with, you know, washing and so forth.
So we were able to cook, and inseveral places I did do that, and I
would go to the markets if I could.
And again, just the tomatoes are amazing.
The produce in Australia is lovely, butjust the French produce is second to none.
(13:08):
Some of the fruit we ate waslike, we'd never eaten an apricot
before in our life until we hadtried the one from the market.
So it's pretty special.
Annie (13:17):
Yes, we do have very good apricots.
They're just ripe enough, but yettangy enough, they're very nice.
I just love them as well.
And I mean, you left by earliest July.
After that, it's all the cantaloupes.
And now the cantaloupes, thereare so many, they just give them
away pretty much, you know, fora Euro, you can get a massive
(13:37):
cantaloupe by the end of the summer.
Whereas at the beginning of thesummer, you pay more like four or
five And if you can get stuff inseason, it always tastes better, yeah.
So do you have a favorite Frenchdish that you like to cook?
Suzie (13:51):
Here, well, I've started making Pissaladière, I don't
know if I'm pronouncing thatcorrectly, but my children, oh,
my children absolutely love that.
Yeah, so that's a bit of a winnerin our household, they even take
it for school lunches some days.
Annie (14:02):
Yeah.
So Pissaladière, just for peoplewho don't know, it's one that is
in my cookbook 'Join Us at theTable' because it's so easy to make.
So you kind of, you caramelonions, which you have to do, it
takes a long time, but it's easy.
You just put them in a pan,put it on medium heat and
let it go for 30, 40 minutes.
And then on a pizza crust.
(14:24):
And you just spread it nicely over thepizza crust and you put some black olives,
and some anchovies if you eat anchovies.
Or you could do something colorful.
It could be like a slices of, you know,slices of pepper, or something pretty.
Put that in the oven.
Delicious.
Suzie (14:42):
Yes, yes, yes.
Annie (14:44):
Cool.
All right.
So that was your number five wascooking with French ingredients and
you did that everywhere you went.
Was there a store in particularthat you said, oh, there's one of
these, I want to go to that one?
Suzie (14:57):
I think in Cannes, which was the very first markets we experienced,
I just, the white asparagus, I'dnot eaten white asparagus before.
So there was some really big fat ones.
And we grabbed a few of those,and lots of other things.
And everywhere we'd go, you know, I'darrange the veggies, and the fruit
on the table, and the bread, andtake some pictures just to remember.
And it's just...
yes.
Annie (15:16):
Yes, white asparagus is wonderful but you do have to peel
it a little bit because the outsideis a bit tough if you don't.
All right, number six wasgoing to supermarkets.
Did you have a favorite supermarketor are they all equally good?
Suzie (15:33):
Well, they were all equally good.
I think our family just reallyfound it fascinating going into a
French supermarket and seeing what,you know, the cereals look like.
And what the products look like.
And there was some bubble gums thatsome family members had bought out many
years ago when I was a child and Malabar
Annie (15:50):
Malabar, yes, les malabars.
Suzie (15:51):
Malabar.
And, so we found some of those andwe brought them back to Australia
and I gave them to my brother andsister, and it was just reliving
our childhood again, you know.
Annie (16:01):
Yes, yeah, these are massive pieces of bubblegum things that
they fill up your mouth and youmake big bubbles out of them.
Suzie (16:11):
Yeah, and our children actually learnt to make bubbles from those
malabars in the car when we weredriving around through France and Spain.
So it was pretty special.
Annie (16:20):
Yes, yes.
Well, hopefully they didn'tend up in anybody's hair.
That's not quite as special.
Obviously, your kids must notbe very, like, picky eaters
or very difficult to feed.
They probably have a widevariety of things they enjoy.
Suzie (16:35):
Yeah, so our youngest at the time, he was only two, so he
pretty much lived on the bread thatthey would bring out to the table.
You know, any type of little potatoythings or, you know, he would eat from
our plates mostly, meat, things like that.
But the other two are very cultured andthey have a very broad palate so they
enjoyed all the food, and our childrenwere trying, they were ordering moules
(16:55):
frites, and you know, all the rest of it.
So, we had conversations before weleft about trying new things, and
things we haven't tried before.
And they rose to the challenge.
Annie (17:03):
What was the restaurant experience like with young children in France?
Did you find that more or less difficultthan in Australia or pretty much the same?
Suzie (17:12):
Much the same.
Everywhere we went, we werejust very well received.
So, if the waiter came around and he putdown, you know, five sets of cutlery, he
got five 'mercis' or 'merci beaucoups'.
And our youngest would say'magoukou', which they just laughed
and thought was very charming, so...
yeah, so I think actually havingchildren traveling with us made us
(17:33):
very well received everywhere we wentbecause French people and even Spanish
people, you know, they love children.
Annie (17:38):
Yes, yes.
If anything, Spanish people areeven more patient with children.
I mean, Spanish people arevery family orientated.
Oriented?
Suzie (17:49):
Yeah, they're very, very thoughtful and considerate we
found, in Spain and even, youknow, more well received in Spain.
So, it was really good.
Annie (17:58):
I've noticed that as well, because I spent a fair amount of time
in Spain and yeah, it's the same.
Number six was swimmingin Nice and Cannes.
Suzie (18:06):
So, you know, Australia's renowned for beaches, and we always vacation at
the beach, and we like to stay on thewater and have, you know, the views
so we could just go out and walk.
And even when we're in ourapartments, we can see the water
and hear the water and so forth.
So, to be able to do that inNice and Cannes was amazing.
And I think I mentioned in my notes thatthe sound of the waves, you know, like
(18:30):
with the rocks in Nice, dragging in andout is just a sound we'll never forget.
We had never heard that before becausein Australia we have all sand beaches.
So, even some of that we've got a videothat we watch on, you know, our home
videos now from our trip and we canjust hear the water and you just close
your eyes and it takes you back, so...
Annie (18:48):
Yes.
yes.
The rocks, the rocky beacheshave, definitely have their charm.
And of course, in theMediterranean nothing can kill you.
Suzie (18:57):
Well, yes.
Well we didn't venture too far, but...
And just the feeling of knowing wherewe were as well and having, you know,
the water against our skin and just..
It was just...
we love the beach.
Annie (19:08):
Last time I was in Spain, I was swimming and I thought some plastic hit my
leg, and it wasn't plastic because a fewminutes later it started stinging, so it
was obviously I had touched some sort ofMedusa, or like a creepy crawly, whatever.
And it was fine, it didn't hurt that much.
It was just a tingly sensation.
But I thought, in Australia,those things can kill you.
Suzie (19:29):
Yes, and when you see the little blue ones floating, you get the
kids out of the water really quick.
Annie (19:34):
Yes, yes, yes.
So we don't have anything like that.
It can be unpleasant, but it doesn't,they can't hurt you that badly.
All right, you went to Saint Tropez.
We don't talk aboutSaint Tropez very much.
What was that like?
Suzie (19:46):
Ah, beautiful.
We would go back there again, definitely.
And our next trip, if wefind some time, we will.
We found the boat ride over,it was fine, but getting on and
off the boat, we had issues.
People not being very considerateand kind of pushing in front.
And we actually found other tourists,which just really, really rude in general.
But actually, once we were therein Saint Tropez it was beautiful.
(20:10):
We went walking through thestreets, you know, with beautiful
yellow painted buildings, andhydrangeas, and vines and shutters.
We don't have anything likethat here in Australia.
So it was very idyllic to seesuch a beautiful place that
you could walk through, yeah.
Annie (20:23):
Yeah.
So, you know, this is another thing.
This is another big differencebetween Spain and France, is that
people queue up very nicely inSpain, and they do not in France.
People in France will, if you leave aninch between you and the person in front
of you, they will cut in front of you.
And if you say anything, they say,well, there was a space, like...
yeah, what do you think I'm doing here?
I'm waiting in line.
(20:45):
This is a line.
I'm waiting in line.
But I do, I mean, I do tell peoplethat if somebody cuts in front of
me, I just, excuse me, back there.
You'll have to say something.
Suzie (20:53):
Yeah, excusez moi.
Yeah.
Annie (20:55):
Otherwise it's unbearable.
Yeah.
Suzie (20:56):
But in all honesty though, we only experienced a few instances of
that with the French people, but otherforeigners, the tourists were, yeah...
very argy bargy, very pushy.
Annie (21:05):
Ah, interesting, interesting.
Ah, your children mingledwith French kids at parks.
So that's, how did that go?
What was that like?
Suzie (21:14):
Just wonderful.
As I said, like we very much romanticizeFrance, and it's beautiful, and you
know, you can't kind of go wrong.
You can visit any village and it's allbeautiful, and should be on the list
of most beautiful villages to visit.
But we found that, yeah, when we wentto the parks and things, our kids would
be playing and other children wouldcome up and play with them, and interact
with them, and it was just really nice.
(21:36):
So this idea of our children playingwith French children and eating
French food, and cooking with Frenchproduce, it was all part of this,
you know, fulfilling this dream.
Annie (21:46):
All new, all beautiful.
Yeah.
Suzie (21:48):
Yeah.
And the kids just loved it.
If we saw a carousel, they wouldride it, and, you know, just be
normal child, in a park, in France.
Annie (21:57):
Yeah, and speaking of the parks, you took them to the Tuileries Gardens
and that you put that on number nine.
Suzie (22:05):
Yes.
Early on in our time in Paris, wewent to, actually on the Tuesday, we
went to the Tuileries first, becausewe wanted to go to the Louvre when it
was closed, so that we could actuallytake some photos outside of the
pyramids without people being in them.
Yeah, that went very well.
We actually saw another Australiancouple that they saw us, you know,
taking photos of our children and theycame over and said, Hey, look, do you
(22:26):
want us to take some photos of you?
We thought you might feelcomfortable because we're Australian
and they were really kind.
And so we found a lot of strangerswere kind and offered to take
photos of us with our kids.
And that's how we got full family photos.
Annie (22:39):
That's wonderful.
Yeah, typically people, you know,as a tourist, you can hand them your
phone and they take good photos.
Yes.
Some people do betterthan others, however.
Some people take terrible photos, so justlook at the photos before you give up.
Suzie (22:53):
We're grateful for what we can get these days.
Annie (22:57):
And then number 10 is the Luxembourg Gardens.
So, they are pretty differentgardens, why did you put one in
front of the other or vice versa?
Suzie (23:06):
Well, apart from our top three being our top three after that, this is
all wonderful and we just can't pick.
But yeah, we did prefer, I think theTuileries was the first one we went
to, so perhaps, you know, that's why.
But the Luxembourg, the kids hadthe little sailboats, we hired the
little sailboats, which, again, wasjust, you know, a dream, magical.
They love to play with the littleboat and of course we had to
(23:27):
get an Australia boat, so...
Annie (23:30):
Of course.
Suzie (23:31):
Yes.
Annie (23:31):
Yes, these are little sailboats that you push with a stick.
Suzie (23:35):
Yes.
Annie (23:35):
They're not anything fancy.
They're really not anythingfancy, but kids love them.
And right now at the TuileriesGardens, I'm going next week.
I got tickets, free tickets, but youneed tickets all the same, to see La
Vasque, so that's the Olympic flame.
And the latest tickets we could getwas 6:30 PM, which is weird because
La Vasque doesn't light up and go upuntil nine or so, until it's dark.
(24:00):
So maybe we'll just stickaround until it goes up.
I don't know, we'll see.
But the whole idea of seeing the Olympicflame light up is going to be exciting.
And that's in the Tuileries Gardens.
Luxembourg has more things likelittle horse rides, Pétanque,
you can play Pétanque there.
(24:20):
There's one corner whereyou have chess tables.
And as a matter of fact, sometimesyou, if you know your chess players,
you will find some interesting peoplethere that you're like, Ooh, this
guy, I've seen him at tournaments.
So yeah, it's quite, these areboth lovely gardens to visit,
especially with children.
So you were going in good weather, butif you are going in the middle of the
(24:41):
winter, it's always better to go ona Wednesday afternoon, or a Saturday,
or a Sunday, because there are goingto be more children and families.
That's when the kids are off the school.
All right, now number 11, you wentto Chambord, chateau de Chambord.
Suzie (24:58):
Yes, so many years ago, we saw you know, the travel agents have
these little brochures and I saw thislittle picture of the chateau, and
I said to my husband, Oh I'd reallylove to go there one day and I cut the
picture out, put it in a little book.
And so, you know, we definitelywanted to see a chateau and
he made that dream come true.
Annie (25:15):
Oh, that's very nice.
So is this a day trip thatyou took to the Loire?
Suzie (25:20):
So we had left Paris, we hired a car, and we went to Chambord
specifically, wanted to see the chateau.
But we also needed somewhere tostay, to then head to Bordeaux.
So we tended to, we didn't wantto drive probably more than about
three hours with the children.
So we made sure that the longest sort of,you know, trip we had before we stopped
(25:41):
to stay the night was about three hours.
And that allowed us time as well to, youknow, meander or stop where we needed to
and perhaps see some little extra things.
Annie (25:49):
So, where did you stay between Bordeaux and Chambord?
Suzie (25:54):
We stayed nearby, I can't, wasn't too far, it was probably about
20 minutes or so from the chateau.
And then I do remember we went to dinnerthat night, also another 15 minute drive
away in Blois, I think it was called.
Oh, Blois, sorry,
Annie (26:09):
Yeah.
Fine.
That's great.
Yeah.
So, Chambord, what did you like, I mean,Chambord is a big place, big, big place.
Suzie (26:16):
Yes, well, we were kind of those people that, we don't necessarily
need to go into the big monument,we're happy just to appreciate
it, you know, from the outside.
Being with children, you know, wecan't afford to be going into museums
and things because it's just not,they're not old enough for that, yet.
So, we actually, we did go in to thechateau, but we preferred afterwards,
we kind of went at the back, there's alittle garden and there's like a little
(26:37):
place where they sell cold drinks.
And there's some chairsunder some beautiful trees.
So we...
we just sat there for a littlewhile, got some cold drinks and we
just were able to sit and appreciateand look up at the chateau.
And that was actually, we probablyenjoyed that more than going into it.
And they had some police horses there.
There were some police horses that residethere, so they were being groomed, etc.
(27:01):
So we got to go over by the barndoor and check out the, you know,
the beautiful police horses andthe kids took some photos there.
So that, and we're animal people as well.
So that was probably, we appreciated thatmore than actually going into the chateau.
Annie (27:15):
Yeah, Chateau de Chambord is very large and does not
have a lot of furniture in it.
The view from the top is very nice,and you can see the staircase,
the double helix staircase,which is very impressive indeed.
A lot about it is impressive,but yeah, you can totally just
spend a few hours outside.
The gardens are beautiful.
(27:35):
And you know, in June, July, they arestarting to, everything's waking up, you
have flowers already and things like that.
So yeah, it's a good time ofyear to visit that sort of place.
Then you went to Bordeaux and youenjoyed the water mirror in Bordeaux.
Suzie (27:50):
Yes.
So we pretty well just checkedinto our accommodation, which
again was an apartment and thenwe went out, headed out, sort of
scoping places to have dinner.
And we were able to go down to the watermirror just as it was getting dark.
So we kind of got that, youknow, just before it was getting
dark to when it went dark.
And we got some really beautiful photoswith the reflection of the building
(28:11):
behind it and the lights and so forth.
Annie (28:13):
The Golden Hour, yeah.
Suzie (28:15):
Yes.
Annie (28:15):
Yes, and you shared that with me.
It is, you did catch it at a good time,at a beautiful time, because I've been
there many times, but you have to go atthe right time to get that sort of sight.
So, typically, did you look forapartments in the city centers,
or outside of city centers?
Did you have a preference?
Suzie (28:36):
Pretty much, well, within but maybe sort of on the outer skirts.
We were a little bit fussywith our criteria because we
knew it was going to be hot.
You know, coming from Australia, it'salso hot here, we wanted air conditioning.
We didn't want to findourselves uncomfortable.
In Australia, we have fans sortof in every room of our house,
whereas in France, it's notreally a common thing to us.
So we wanted to make sure we had airconditioning and we wanted to have a
(28:57):
washing machine dryer, you know, forclothing and a kitchen preferably.
So we tended to do our searchesbased on that criteria.
And then we were restricted towhat fell under that banner.
But we did stay in really safeneighborhoods, secure buildings, with
pin code access, that sort of thing.
An elevator as well, because we hada stroller and all of our luggage.
(29:18):
So that was kind of, a bit of anecessity for us, being a family
for the first time as well.
So we were very, very carefuland we booked everything.
We had pretty much dotted every singlei, just to make sure that we'd have the
easiest time possible with the kids.
Annie (29:33):
And were people good about reaching out to you?
Like the people you had rented from,were they good about reaching out, giving
you a way to contact them directly?
Did you rent through Airbnbor booking or some other way?
Suzie (29:45):
Yeah, so we had a lot of different companies.
Airbnb was one, I think we onlybooked one place through them.
Booking.com was the same thing, I thinkit was just one place, and then a lot
of them were actually French rentalagencies that managed properties,
so there was different places thatwe went to had different companies.
And we would sort of filter throughour searches and try and find the
(30:05):
place that suited us the most.
So yeah, a lot of the time they wereactually rental agencies and they were
quite good, the only thing was, you know,we had phone numbers and things like that,
but sometimes we'd walk up to a placeand there'd be nobody, and we're waiting,
and we're waiting and, you know, we'refully loaded with all of our luggage,
and our children, and our stroller.
And we're on the side of the road, kindof in a foreign country, so they did turn
(30:27):
up, but there were a couple of times wherewe had to wait and we were a bit panicked.
When we first landed as well in Nice,we had a private transfer take us to
our accommodation in Cannes, and we'rewaiting, waiting, and we're texting
and there's no response, and messagingthrough WhatsApp and there's no response.
But eventually, they did turn up, andwe kind of learned that, yeah, you've
just got to wait a bit and they werequite good with their communication.
(30:48):
I don't think we had too many, Idon't think we had too many issues.
Annie (30:51):
Mm hmm.
You mentioned a private transfer.
Did you mostly do that rather than taxi?
You also mentioned thetaxi at the beginning.
So you did both?
Suzie (30:59):
We probably used every single mode of transportation.
The things we could book inadvance from Australia, we did.
So the private transfers fromthe airport to our accommodation,
we didn't want to muck around.
So we wanted somebody waiting therefor us so that we could get in,
have sort of like a safe passage,I guess, and not have to worry.
Annie (31:19):
So, I will interrupt you for a second.
Yes, I understand the feeling,but you don't need to do that.
You can totally just, in Nice, thetramway is very good, and there are
taxis as well, and they're very good.
For people who, if you are worriedabout it, you know, oh, I never take
taxis places, taxis in France are prettyreliable, and if you go to the official
(31:41):
taxi stands, you'll be treated well.
Suzie (31:44):
Yes.
So we did learn that, and then sort of, webuilt our confidence up when we were there
and we were using the G7 app in Paris.
We did use the Metro, we usedthe trams, taxis, the ferry.
We tried it all.
And the longer we were there, thegreater our confidence sort of...
Annie (31:58):
Yeah, it makes sense.
It makes sense.
It's your first time out of the country.
You don't know France.
I mean, you've heard about ityour whole life because your mom's
French, but that's not the sameas spending time there yourself.
And the G7, the G7 app in Paris isvery helpful because you can say,
like in your case, since there werefive of you with luggage, you can
specify how big of a car you need.
(32:20):
And if you go to a taxi stand, they cansee how many of you there are and we'll
have the right taxi pull up for you.
But G7 is good.
That's G7.
Sorry, I keep saying it in French.
G7.
Very good.
So, Bordeaux, you love the Water Mirror.
You weren't there very long, were you?
Just one night?
Suzie (32:38):
Yeah.
We would have liked to stay longer,but our trip was just growing and
growing as we were planning it in days.
So, you know, ideally we'dmove there and get to see a
different place every weekend.
Annie (32:49):
Yeah.
Where was your mom from, originally?
Suzie (32:52):
So, they lived in different places in the time that they were there.
So they were a little while in Dijon.
I've got a couple of auntsthat were born in Dijon.
And, Ceret?
Ceret, she said to me,oh, you must visit Ceret.
Annie (33:06):
CERET is near Perpignan.
C-E-R-E-T.
Suzie (33:09):
Yes, and that's why we, yeah, so we had a, one of my mum's
cousins who we had met beforebecause she'd come out to Australia.
She met us for dinner in, we stayedin Perpignan, she lived in Ceret,
and she met us out for dinner.
So we caught up with a couple offamily members there, which was nice.
Annie (33:24):
That's wonderful.
That's actually very special,if you still have contact
with family, that's fantastic.
Yeah.
Fantastic.
All right.
So you mentioned, actually it'snumber 13, that we were getting to
seeing family in Perpignan and Tourve.
Don't know where Tourve is.
Small place somewhere near Perpignan.
Suzie (33:42):
Yeah, it actually, we stopped in when we left Boulobière, which was
down in, near the Lavender Fields.
We veered through there to visit mymum's aunt, who I had never met before.
So that was a, we definitely, thatwas a special thing that we did.
We made sure that we talked toher nursing home and they had some
drinks there for us in the gardenand they made a bit of a deal that
(34:03):
their family from Australia had came.
And she sat there, and she talkedto me about my grandfather.
He used to teach her English whenhe went over, in his later years,
he would talk to her in Englishand she loved Hollywood movies.
So, it was pretty special to have thatconversation with her, and to meet her.
Annie (34:18):
Yeah.
Especially since she's in a nursinghome, she's an elderly, yeah,
you have to go while you can.
That's fantastic that they arrangedfor a good family visit for that.
Number 14 is visiting the lavender fields.
Suzie (34:31):
Yes, we spent a whole day, we spent two nights in Puyloubier, I think
that's the pronunciation, which was areally beautiful house that we rented.
Annie (34:39):
Puyloubier.
P-U-Y-L-O-U-B-I-E-R.
Yeah.
Puyloubier.
That's a convoluted name.
Suzie (34:49):
Yeah, it is, and we still like, yeah, we do the best we can
with pronouncing it, but yeah.
That was probably theonly house that we rented.
And they were very, they were so lovely.
The gentleman that managed theproperty, he was so lovely.
He came on the morning that wewere checking out and he's like,
oh, use the pool, use the pool,I've cleaned the pool for you.
And then when he found out that I couldspeak some French and my history, you
(35:11):
know, we got talking because he'd spenttime in Australia, he was wonderful.
He said to me, you must speak French,he said to me, you must speak French.
And I said, I have been, I have been.
But, yeah, the people weencountered were lovely and in
the small towns, even more so.
Annie (35:23):
Yeah.
Suzie (35:24):
Yeah.
But sorry, back to the lavender fields.
That was also somethingwe really wanted to see.
And we got to stop at little farmhouses.
We drove up some dirt tracks.
There was a little shed with, you know,some ladies in there with all their
little products, and their little bottlesof lavender, and their little bags.
And of course, the mother, the elderlylady, she was telling me the story and
she was telling me about their familyand how they make the product, you know.
(35:46):
package it and so forth.
And just having those interactionswith people, those are the things
that we probably cherished,you know, the most as well.
Annie (35:53):
That's great.
Yeah.
And you were there at the right time.
And if you go to Provence and you havea car, you can drive around Valensole.
You can drive around that whole area andyou will see, I mean, you can't miss them.
It's a major agricultural crop,so you can't really miss it.
But if you go in the wrong timeof year, nope, nothing left.
(36:13):
Very good.
Shopping in Nice was number 15.
So you went to theGalerie Lafayette in Nice.
I don't think I've been to that one.
Suzie (36:20):
Yes.
It probably was handy becauseit was the last place, you know,
we were before we flew home.
We bought an extra suitcaseand we did some shopping.
Again, just that affinity with, youknow, going to French shops and getting
French things and bringing things home,wearing hats, and jumpers, and things.
And, you know, people sayingto us, oh, I like your jacket.
Oh, well, I got that in Saint Sébastienand they're like, oh, and just telling
(36:42):
the stories and reliving it all, you know.
Annie (36:44):
Yeah.
Ah, and you went to the PSG Stadium.
So back to Paris here, you tookthe kids to the big Stade de...
non le Parc des Princes.
Suzie (36:55):
So our elders too, they play football, they play soccer, football,
whatever you want to call it, andmy husband, you know, coaches,
and they're very much into that.
So that was something pretty special andwe're really glad we did that as well.
Annie (37:09):
That's not hard to arrange.
You just buy tickets online andmake your way there, and it's
pretty straightforward, isn't it?
Suzie (37:16):
And my husband actually, that was one of the things we
didn't pre book from Australia.
Everything else we did, but weremember booking the stadium tour
perhaps a few days before andit was quite easy to get into.
Annie (37:27):
Yeah.
That's interesting.
The team, the PSG, they were very mad,oh, what's the name of this French
player who went to play for Madrid now?
Suzie (37:34):
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't follow.
Annie (37:36):
Mbappé left the PSG and he's playing with Madrid, and
they were mad at him for leaving.
And now that he's left they keep saying,oh, we play better without him anyway.
Suzie (37:46):
My husband, since we've been to France now, they're always watching
the highlights here, you know, all theFrench games and the French leagues,
and so they, you know, we've reallyembraced France, even through sport.
Annie (37:56):
That's great.
That's great.
So yes, last night was the openingceremony and probably this podcast
is not going to be released forseveral months, but I want to mention
that last night was the openingceremonies for the Paralympics.
And I hope that it's going to inspirea lot of people to have their kids
do sports, even if they have aphysical impairment of some sort,
(38:19):
because there's a lot they can do.
And we have a lot of infrastructurein France, and having the Paralympics
is going to help us develop that,which is good for all children.
I mean, really, we needmore kids' things happening.
Wonderful.
Number 17, sitting on the balcony.
People ask me, you know,this is a common question.
Should I get a place with a balcony?
(38:40):
And you would say yes, right?
Suzie (38:42):
Yeah, because we are a family traveling with small children, we
can't afford to sort of be out allday, sightseeing until we drop.
So we were mindful of that as well,that we would need some downtime.
Some nights we might go out for dinner,or other times we may have been out all
day, but then come home for, you know,had something simple to eat or I cooked
dinner, and then the kids would go to bed.
(39:04):
And so because we stayed on thewater in Cannes and in Nice we had
that, you know, that premium view.
And so we were able to sit thereand enjoy the view, and kind of
people watch from our balcony.
And we had a nightclubacross the road in Nice.
And it was just, we werefound it fascinating.
And at the time I think they had some sortof curfew on or something, because at 11
(39:25):
o'clock the police would come with theirsiren, you know, they'd come down and
they'd enter and then they'd be kickingall these people out of the nightclub.
We were enjoying the music,and the sights and everything.
And then the police would comeand it would get a show there too.
So, we enjoyed even that.
Annie (39:39):
Yeah, yeah, that's fun.
So, in your write up, which I'mgoing to publish as guest notes for
this episode, you mentioned all thehotels where you stayed, and you
liked the Holiday Inn in Perpignan.
Suzie (39:54):
Well, that was probably the cheapest and the simplest, the
smallest room we stayed in, but itwas just a one night stop, as I said,
just to, yeah, get somewhere else.
Annie (40:03):
So, if you want to see where all they stayed, I'm going
to put that in the show notes.
And you also mentionedyour favorite restaurants.
I don't know most of them.
The one I do know is AuPied du Cochon, in Paris.
What did you like about that one?
Suzie (40:17):
I mean, for me it was fine, but my husband really
enjoyed, he had some sausage dish.
And our children hadthe Moules Frite there.
I think my, actually mydaughter had the ribs.
My son had, you know, the mussels.
And they brought out the little piggy,you know, the little piggy dessert things
they give out to the children at the end.
And we were fortunate enough that when wewent, there were some workers that were
(40:40):
on their lunch break, and they were sortof sitting next to us at the table next
to us and sort of smiling at the kids.
And we had a bit of an interaction there.
So I think we just, it was nice tofeel like, you know, we were fitting
in and blending in, in a Frenchrestaurant with French people.
Annie (40:53):
So, you mentioned your favorite foods and you said raclette wrap in Paris.
I have had raclette, but Ihave not had a raclette wrap.
Suzie (41:01):
Well, this place makes a very good one.
I don't eat meat and it had ham on it.
So, I very kindly asked if they, becausethey had them sort of in the window
pre made and then they toasted them.
And I asked them very kindly, you know,if they could make one without it, and
they especially did, they said, comeback in about 15 minutes, and then sure
enough, as we were walking back up thestreet, he says, the gentleman is standing
(41:22):
outside the cheese shop with the raclettesin his hand, so the wrap, the wraps.
And to be honest, Annie, I wouldsay that I preferred the street
foodie type things more than therestaurants, the taste, the flavor.
Some of the nicest things that I had werefrom, you know, something like that, that
wasn't from a proper sit down restaurant.
Annie (41:42):
Right.
So, I mean, a raclette wrap, Iwould think, was that a French taco?
Suzie (41:47):
Yeah.
It was kind of like a tortilla typething that they had put some sliced
potatoes, some cream, some onion, thecheese, and that was mine, but Mark
and the kids had ham in theirs as well.
And then they toasted it.
So it was all gooey and delicious.
Annie (42:02):
That sounds like a French taco.
Suzie (42:04):
It was good, whatever it was.
Annie (42:05):
Yes, yes, that's great.
So you had something about lobsterroll and lobster pasta from Lobster
Paradise in the 16th Arrondissement.
Nice.
Suzie (42:16):
Yeah.
So he was actually about 20 meters fromour, 20-30 meters from our apartment.
And yeah, so our first night in Paris,we went to a really terrible restaurant
and we had a really terrible experience.
Annie (42:28):
And what was it called?
We got to know what wasit called, the bad one.
Suzie (42:31):
I think it was Le Marceau, something to that effect.
Annie (42:35):
Le Marceau.
Okay.
Suzie (42:36):
But if you have a look, they'll have a very poor review
from me on their Google reviews.
Annie (42:41):
What made it so bad?
The food was bad?
They were nasty?
Suzie (42:44):
It was one of those pretty places, you know, that looks like,
it's got the flowers all outside, andyou went in and it was really, it had
the nice lights and you went in andit had pretty flowers and everything.
And so we were taking photos and wethought, oh, isn't this wonderful?
But the food was pretty terrible.
My daughter had ordered some kindof like fish and chips, and the fish
was like burnt, overcooked, hard.
(43:06):
And when I asked them if they could, youknow, cook another piece, maybe not so
much, you know, about 10-15 minutes later,I saw them in the kitchen, kind of like
piecing it back together, the one that shehad cut into, piecing it back together.
And they bought the same one out.
It was terrible.
And you know, I wasquite upset about that.
And then the waiter was justblaming the kitchen and...
you know, we just, I said, give us a bill.
We're going, type thing.
(43:27):
But then we found this lovelylobster place, Lobster Paradise.
And I would go there many times, went tosee him several times throughout our stay.
And he just said to me towards the end,just yell out your order from the balcony.
Annie (43:44):
That's good.
You like the framboise macaron, youlike the profiterole, who does not
like profiterole, I mean, honestly,crème brûlée, of course, and the
galettes, the various galettes.
Crêperie is great with kidsbecause, you know, if you
want the ham, you have the ham.
If you don't want theham, don't have the ham.
You know, it's easy.
It's made to order, it's great.
(44:05):
Oh, but you didn't like the natural cider.
Ha ha ha!
Suzie (44:09):
My husband ordered a bottle and then he felt obligated to drink it.
And it was, oh, I can't quite describe,but it was the most awful thing.
Annie (44:18):
Well, I don't know why they called it natural.
Was it bio or something?
Was it organic cider?
Suzie (44:23):
It was, I think they said that it's something that they make or that they, it
was one of those chain ones, I can't quiterecall the name of it, but it's, yeah,
they had said something about they makeit, it's their house one or something.
Annie (44:36):
Yeah.
Suzie (44:37):
But you know, you live and you learn.
Annie (44:39):
Of course, of course.
And then, okay, then you mentionedall of the different ways you got
to get around, and you mentionedthat you were reluctant to use the
metro, but you did and it was okay.
Suzie (44:51):
Yeah, one afternoon, our bus got cancelled, the bus
that was going to take us home.
There was an event on andit got cancelled, so we were
waiting, waiting, and trying tofigure out why it hadn't come.
And you know, a really lovely lady whospoke French and Spanish, you know,
she explained to us and what was goingon, and she offered to even travel
with us on the metro to our place.
And she was genuine.
She wasn't a dodgy, shady character.
(45:11):
And eventually, we just built up thecourage and we came up with a system,
you know, because we had the stroller,we had the kids and our bags and things.
So we kind of came up with a system and,we kind of realized really quickly as
we were going through the turnstilesthat we'd have to, one of us would have
to swipe the ticket and go first andthen wait for the children, swipe the
tickets for the children through andthen the other would kind of go behind
and once you do it once and you comeup with a system, you kind of just roll
(45:34):
with it the next time and the next time.
Annie (45:36):
Yeah, the metro is really not that bad.
I mean, it's not my favorite,but it's not that bad.
And once you figure it out, it'svery handy to travel by metro.
But again, because of the Paralympics,they have realized that Paris metro
stations are not very accessible ornot accessible at all, which means, to
strollers as well as wheelchairs, andso they have vowed to make it better.
(46:03):
We'll see, but they say it'll take20 years, so don't hold your breath.
Yes, don't hold your breath.
You mentioned that you don't need topack so much next time that you were
worried about bringing all of the things.
Tell me about that.
Suzie (46:17):
Well, even here, I'm always, one of those mums that carries around, you
know, paracetamol and, you know, things,band aids and all those sorts of things.
So, with going to the lavenderfields, we even got EpiPens for our
children, even though they don'thave allergies or anything like that.
But I would still do that again,because in a foreign country, you
don't want to be waiting for anambulance and trying to figure that
out, you know, I would still take that.
(46:37):
But, yeah, I just, I think, being thefirst timers again, like, we just, you
know, weren't sure, but after goingto the supermarkets and pharmacies and
realising how easy it is to buy things,I would go with much less next time.
In fact, we retired a suitcase afterParis and we kind of just left it
in the car and didn't really useit, anything from there again.
But we did take diapers and formula atthe time, whereas next time, you know,
(47:00):
our son doesn't need those things anymore.
Annie (47:02):
Right.
Yes, he was two.
He's going to be done with thatstuff by the time he goes again.
And you mentioned that skincareproducts, you liked them in France.
Suzie (47:11):
Yes.
I didn't realize the range andthe quality, it's exceptional.
So, actually when I was atDisneyland one evening I tripped
and I actually hurt myself.
And I had a big, massive, you know,big ball above my arm, my eyebrow.
Then we went to Paris straight after and Ihad this massive egg on my eye basically.
So I was forced into, go into thesupermarket to try and get some
(47:33):
makeup to cover it up type thing.
And that was when we sortof, I got exposed to it.
And so I bought home some French makeup,you know, and also just skincare products.
So, face washes and hand soaps andall sorts of beautiful perfume, which
now I order straight from France.
Annie (47:50):
You're sold.
You're sold.
They gotcha.
They hooked ya.
That's wonderful.
All right.
The last question I want to askyou is, because a lot of people do
also visit Spain as well as France.
Tell us a little bit about yourexperience in Barcelona and you
went to the other side, you wentto the Basque country as well.
Suzie (48:10):
Saint Sebastián, so my abuelo is originally from the Basque country,
so that was why we chose to go there.
And obviously being in the north ofSpain, it's very luscious and very green.
We did spend four nights there.
We fell in love with it, the wholetapas scene, which is something,
you know, we just relished in it.
We were able to walk from ouraccommodation, you know, out every
(48:31):
night to go and have binchels and,we loved being food lovers, that
was something that we really werelooking forward to and that we loved.
And since then they make the, Idon't know what they call it, but
like a burnt Basque cheesecake.
So now I make that here in Australia.
Annie (48:44):
Nice, nice.
And Barcelona, how was that for you?
Suzie (48:48):
Yeah, we enjoyed Barcelona.
We only spent about three nightsthere, so that only gave us a
couple of days of sightseeing.
We sadly couldn't go to the stadiumbecause it was closed for renovations.
So we just pretty much went down to thebeach, you know, ate in some restaurants.
We went to the markets there as well,one of the indoor, undercover markets.
And we just found the people in Spainwere very welcoming, very warm towards
(49:12):
us, particularly with the children.
There was one time in Saint Sebastiánthat we got some ice creams and we
came out of the store and there wassome seats there and everything.
And one of our children had spiltbuilt ice cream on themselves.
One of the abuelas there, one of thegrandmothers, was passing me napkins
and saying, you know, you can sithere, you know, trying to help us.
So even strangers on the street werevery loving, looking lovingly at the
(49:34):
children and saying hello and smiling.
We really loved French people, but theSpanish people we found were even warmer.
Annie (49:41):
Yeah, I often think that France is prettier, but Spain is happier.
Yeah.
All right.
Thank you so, so verymuch for talking to me.
You've done, you've given some great tips.
Do you think you will do this again whenyour children are a little older, perhaps?
Suzie (49:58):
We've already booked our flights for next year, so we're going back
for, we're going back for a few daysmore, actually, so a few days longer.
Annie (50:05):
Wow!
Suzie (50:06):
Already started booking things there, so...
Annie (50:09):
Fantastic.
Well, thank you very, very much.
And, have a wonderfulsecond trip to France.
I'm glad to hear that thefirst one went so well, Suzie!
Suzie (50:19):
Thank you, Annie.
Annie (50:20):
Merci beaucoup.
Suzie (50:21):
Merci, au revoir.
Annie (50:23):
Au revoir.
Annie Sargent (50:31):
The Join Us in France travel podcast is written, hosted,
and produced by Annie Sargent andCopyright 2024 by AddictedToFrance.
It is released under a CreativeCommons, attribution, non-commercial,
no derivatives license.
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