Enjoying the Mosel River area

I'm fed up, and out of here...

The Germans love their food, and this became obvious at our first hotel breakfast (provided with the room rate). Full range from cereal, several varieties of bread, meats, cheese, eggs, cake etc etc. Needless to say we tried our best :)

Left Saarburg and headed to Trier through reasonably flat cereal country. For the next 4 or 5 days we are going to hit some of the same country we travelled through 31 years ago… but can’t remember much so it all seems like new! (probably like a gold fish swimming in a bowl?)

A river full of history... and wine... don't forget the wine

Trier is very touristy, with noticeably quite a few US tourists around. It was also Saturday so a lot of locals in town for the shopping. But we were reasonably early so got a park for the car in a central city building.

Trier is in the Mosel wine region and is located on the banks of the Mosel river. It may be the oldest city in Germany, founded by the Celts in the late 4^th century BC then conquered by the Romans in the 1^st century BC. One of it's other claims to fame is being the birthplace of Karl Marx.

In the 4^th century AD, Trier was one of the largest cities of the Roman empire, with a population of around 75,200 (today’s population is around 110,000). From Roman to German, to France, to the Kingdom of Prussia and then back to German ownership over the years. Trier still has well preserved town gates, roman baths, an amphitheatre etc from the Roman Times as well as later churches and palaces.

Trier was heavily bombed in 1944. It officially celebrated it’s 2000^th anniversary in 1994 and has several UNESCO world heritage sites. We walked through the town, which was very busy, and via some cathedrals up to the Roman sites. 

Remains of Roman Gates and town wall 

Locals, and tourists, gearing up for the Saturday market.... yummy strawberries found! 

View of Trier city from nearby hill we climbed... after a bit of assertive discussion with car's GPS to get us to bottom.

After purchasing some strawberries at the market we left and drove along the Mosel River with vineyards overlooking the winding road. The vineyards are amazingly steep, disappearing from road level up the hills. Although we saw tractors towing spray tanks, it was obvious nothing could drive among most of the vines, and we found out that any spraying etc is done by dragging hoses, and/or necessary equipment, up the hills by hand. Alternatively many had little mono-rails winding up, with motorised carts which could be moved from one rail to the next as required.

Stopped at Bernkastel-Kues, another very old and picturesque town. Again the Romans were here first. A very touristy, but pretty, town which is a main stop for tourist boat cruises. Our first sight of these large (as in long) floating hotels with a number moored for the passengers to walk the town.

We walked up to the Bernkastel Castle, in 1291 Bernkastel was given town rights and the Castle (burg) landshut was built. It subsequently burnt in 1692 and has never been rebuilt. However it does have a café, gift shop and flush toilets now which are possibly not original!

Arrived at our AirBnB located in Traben-Trabach, a lovely smallish town split by the Mosel river and surrounded by vineyards (of course!). Once it was 2 separate towns but amalgamated in 1969. It has been documented as early as 830 AD, and was seized by France in 1683. A fortress overlooking the town was constructed by Vauban, the leading French military engineer of the time. It was mostly demolished (by the French) when the French withdrew in 1697  and it then became German rule again.

Our arrival coincided with a literal cacophony of church bells, the sound was almost overwhelming and we did wonder what was going on and if it was to signify our arrival! Our hosts were lovely, as was the downstairs apartment of their house, and they immediately explained that at 6 pm every Saturday the two (now joined) towns have a competition to see whose church bells are loudest!!, and this happened to coincide with our arrival.

They also told us that Germany was having a long weekend thus most business would be shut including the Monday, apart from restaurants and tourist services. That explains why it had been hard to find accommodation when we were trying to book a few days prior.

Our host is a wine export agent, but also owns a small family vineyard. Patrick kindly offered us a tour of their family production the next morning. They have 4 hectares of very steep land and produce 7 types of wine…. Intensive and complicated!!! The land and winery has been in the family ownership for centuries.... sort of puts Gibbston Valley in perspective! The wines of the area are mostly whites: Rieslings, some desert and a little Rose, but very nice!

 The range of wines produced by the family.... and no, we didn't, it was 10 am in the morning! (but we did sample their very nice sparkling (slightly) wine during our stay)

After our personal wine tour we headed for the pre booked bike rental, this was very lucky Noel had done so as the queue for bikes was large and most bikes gone. With bikes, and carrying lots of water, we spent a very pleasant day (20-25 C) biking down the Mosel River cycle paths to Zell and back.

Lunching on the way, a 40 km ride in total. A lovely way to see the countryside, with bike paths on both sides of the river tar-sealed/paved all the way. The tracks go for 280 km +, so maybe another time?

 Just one of many of the freight barges plying the river, complete with full housing and 2 cars on board (lifted off by inbuilt crane) for when they moor.

 Bikes, vineyards, trains, boats... all on or beside the fantastic riverside trail

No, not both for Noel.... Caro has discovered Radler....

With the holiday weekend there were lots and lots of people: biking and walking, also rowing and tour boating on the river, lots of campers parked along the river banks and lots and lots of motorbikes and flash convertible cars cruising the winding river road.

A fantastic day!

Language wise we have slipped easily into aspects of German, such as "zwei bier bitte" which now roles off the tongue easily! (must have come flooding back from our visit to the Munich Bier Fest 31 years ago).

Meals are mainly meat.... or meat. The staple seems to be wiener schnitzel, and you order with different combinations, mainly revolving around the meat, or the meat! For example, one night Noel had schnitzel with cranberry sauce, the next night schnitzel (crumbed) but with a potato mix whilst Caro had cream sauce over... you guessed it, schnitzel!. We are deliberately hunting out salads occasionally as it is all a bit much ... meat!

Bread is also a big item, and a variety always available and seemingly a bakery in every town/street corner.

Hey mum, are fairy tales real?

Left Traben-Trabach and followed Mosel for a while longer, some stunning towns and castles along the river such as Treis-Karden.

We found and walked to the medieval, still complete, castle of Burg Eltz. The castle is still owned by a branch of the family that lived there in the 12^th century… 33 generations ago!

The castle towers are up to 8 stories high, 30-40 metres. It was crazy busy, assuming the public holiday Monday effect still but there was lots of different languages/accents in the crowd. So although we did not do a tour we wandered around the parts that were open, once again ye olde café and flush toilets are present.

We had visited here 31 years ago, not nearly as busy… and don’t recall any cafes although we were the classic tight budget backpackers in those days and were obviously more focused on our 2 minute noodles than buying coffees.

Carried on to Koblenz through farmland, wheat country mainly. Koblenz is another stunning town, located on the confluence of the Mosel and Rhine rivers. 

Another UNESCO listed 2000 year old city. It has the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, originally built on the site in the 11^th century it is located across the Rhine and now accessed by aerial gondola or bridge. It was blown up by the French when they lost control around 1801 and subsequently rebuilt around 1820’s by the Prussians.

Koblenz is a university town and has church’s, an electoral palace and a very big statue of Kaiser Willhelm I, who was the king of Prussia and the German Empire. Koblenz was heavily bombed in WWII but most parts have been rebuilt.

On the day we were there, as it was that public holiday Monday, a Bier (beer) Festival was in full swing in the park area at the confluence of the 2 rivers. Very popular occasion but unfortunately we couldn’t partake in the beer as Noel still had to drive, and Caro is a sympathetic companion, to our hotel on the banks of the Fulda River just north of the city of Kassel.

The hotel seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere, but is located on a river bike path as most of the clientele were pedaller's (of bikes, not illicit products). A party barge, which really didn’t look too ‘sea-worthy’ was puttering back and forth along the river with the occupants obviously having a grand old time.

It rained that night and was still drizzling the next morning. Headed off following the river for a while, and possibly passing a speed camera by the sudden flash (the towns have few speed signs, it is a bit hit and miss if you are within limit or not, we will find out we guess!). Heading away from grapes and through forest and farmland: wheat, barley, oil seed rape, maize and fodder beet.

Stopped at Hann Munden, a lovely town on the confluence of the Fulda and Werra Rivers. With half timbered houses that are over 700 years old, the ruins of an 16^th century castle, the remains of 12^th century town walls, a town tower from 1885 and some big old church’s. Definitely gave the impression we might not have been the first visitors ever. Obviously still on the river side bike paths, lots of cyclists just leaving town after their nights accommodation. The town is meant to be very touristy, although we must have been ahead of the crowds as it was pretty quiet.

Carried on to Gottingen, a large university town with the Uni first founded in 1734. Lovely old buildings and church’s but we just lunched and left. 

Drove to Goslar (we worked out we had already visited here 31 years ago) winding our way through forestry and a National Park in the Harz mountains, a lovely drive.

Another UNESCO heritage medieval town with half timbered houses, some town walls and gate, an imperial palace and, yes you guessed it, big church’s. The town was originally based on copper and silver mines that are over 1000 years old but closed in 1998. A WWII Luftwaffe airbase near the town, and several war supplier companies, had been close by along with 2 ‘sub camp’ concentration camps however the old town escaped any bomb damage.

Then it was onto Wolfsburg, and our camp ground ‘mini hotel/barrel cabin’ for 2 nights. A huge thunderstorm overhead after our arrival was impressive.

A first!... a "barrel cabin' at Wolfsburg campground. Quite comfortable, although it did have a slight leak in the night but it was an extreme thunderstorm!

Which country today?

Drive 3 countries in one day... only in Europe

Away from our accommodation by 8 am and on our way to Luxembourg City, a 3 hour drive. The GPS makes navigation very easy… Caro is loving it! The Peugeot is a lovely car to drive, now that Noel has adjusted to the various new techy bits… the auto engine cut off when stopped at lights/intersections seems a bit over-promoted, as anyone who had ridden in Noel’s 1962 Kombi last year would know… it did that too!!! (The Kombi has been 'fixed', perhaps should have left it the way it was… obviously ahead of it’s time)

Arrived and parked up in Luxembourg City by lunchtime as we are booked on a bike tour at 1 pm.

Only ourselves and Paul our guide, who was a lifelong Luxembourger who was in his 60’s.. so a great knowledge of the area to pass on.

Luxembourg City is the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ( or just Luxembourg) which at 2586 square km's and a population of around 600,000  makes it one of the smallest countries in Europe. The city is built around the confluence of the Alzette and Petrusse Rivers. Originally a strategic location for the Romans it was formally acquired by Siegfried I (a Count) in 963, when cathedrals and castles were built. A fortress was built around the rocky bluffs in the 16^th century to enable defense and it became a formidable and impregnable site for any attackers. 

 Quite an amazing church, literally built against the cliff face and so small inside that the pulpit can also be seen from outside for those unable to get in.

Through varying political manoeuvre's its ownership has changed over the years involving a  number of nationalities. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 the Congress of Vienna made Luxembourg into a Grand Duchy meaning the territory is ruled by a Grand Duke or Duchess. The city fort and old town area became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994.

We rode past the Grand Dukes residence, around some of the churches, houses, forts and historic parts before reaching the new area of European Parliament. This newer area, has since the 1970’s until today, been focused on new builds and really appears quite sterile compared to the rest of the stunningly beautiful city… a shame really. Paul our guide as a local strongly bemoaned this fact also.

Luxembourg is a wealthy country, after WW2 the banking sector was attracted due to low operating taxes. The economy is still banking based along with the technology/data industry. The tax for outside companies must be low as they have all the brand shops and lots of shoppers. Fuel is also cheaper than elsewhere in Europe, some 25 cents less per litre! So it appears the philosophy is to be quantity but they definitely appear to have quality also. Luxembourg has one of the highest wealth per capita for Europe, according to google it's the 2nd richest country in the world.

Other interesting facts is that almost half the countries residents are foreigners. Voting is compulsory for all citizens between the ages of 18 and 74 years but foreign residents  (about 45%) are not allowed to vote. 87% of it's citizens are Catholic. The Prime Minister is gay and  euthanasia has been legalized. So it all makes for a vibrant, bustling, trendy city.

After the bike tour, and then an ice cream, we headed to Saarburg in Germany for tonight's accommodation (but not before filling up our empty fuel tank on cheaper gas before crossing the border!!)…. So it’s Guten Tag now rather than Bonjour….

Saarburg is a small German town set along the Leuk River, which flows into the Saar river which is large enough for boat transport. The town is overshadowed by vineyard covered hills and is an historic town of at least 13^th century. It has the remnants of medieval gates, towers, a castle, waterwheel and a Glockenspiel. A nice place to spend the night… into Wiener Schnitzel country!!

Enjoying Alsace in eastern France

Soaking up the French atmosphere

Feeling more alive this morning after a good sleep, and had a lovely breakfast (supplied).

Another quick walk around Provins, the place is relatively quiet with tourists but teeming with all ages of school children. Obviously on end of year day trips... lots of them :)

From Provins we drove on quiet rural roads to the town of Troyes, still lots of gently rolling cropping fields: cereals, lucerne, lupins (break crop?) maize and some onions. Looks very productive country.

Troyes old town is eye popping beautiful, mostly dating from 16th century, lots of mainly Tudor buildings lining the meandering paved streets... could well have been the set for Harry Potter. There is several huge Gothic church's, it is located in the Champagne wine region.

We spent a couple of hours wandering around, every corner a photo opportunity... and it was hot, 30 C plus.

Because our GPS told us we still had 4.5 hours drive to get to Colmar, our next 3 nights accommodation, we took the toll roads to speed things up (although Noel's jet-lagged mind struggled a little at the first toll booth,  we got there!). At 130 km/hr speed limit we covered the ground... our car handled this no problem. 4 - 6 lane motorway, lots of trucks with not so many cars. Got us to Colmar around 6 pm, checked into our AirBnB which looks great and has a washing machine... bonus!

Wander around to find dinner revealed another beautiful town, lots of Tudor (more painted)... so rows upon rows of gingerbread houses, just stunning. Also lots of tourists!

 Get on ya bike...

Next day dawned, we were awake early so wandered through town just after 7 am. The buildings are amazingly cute and no tourists at that hour to block our way :) Medieval and Renaissance buildings, 15-17th century surrounding a 13th century church.

Colmar was founded in the 9th century, it has had a checkered ownership of varying conquering countries. The last being Germany in WWII and was the site of much fighting of combined French and USA troops which resulted in liberation in 1945. It is on the Alsace cycling wine route which is around 200 km long in total and is surrounded by vineyards.

The day evolved into another 30 C day, a bit of trip planning and washing and then down to the nearby railway station to hire bikes. We followed a very loosely marked trail which took us to the town of Eguishein... another medieval village filled with beautifully restored buildings.

We then meandered (ie lost!) to the town of Trucheim riding through vineyards that don't have boundaries but had lots of tracks through which it seems fine to ride through. Trucheim is a walled medieval town, again the buildings are stunning.

Back to the bike rental by 5 pm, pretty much by following our noses (and the gestures of a road worker that we asked) rather than the instructions. Seemingly spent half the day lost but worked out fine.... the thrill of the adventure!!

Day 4 (quatre)

30 C again, loverly…. We are going to Strasbourg on a midday train (sounds like a song coming on?) so in the interim we went for a drive into the hills above Colmar to fill in the morning. Following Route des Cinq Chateaux (the 5 Castles route).

It is a 20 km stretch of road winding up through the forest on the foothills of the Vosges range. The first stop was les Tois Chateaux D-Eguisheim or “3 towers” overlooking the Alsace plains. These buildings date from the 11-13^th centuries. The oldest of the towers (all castles originally) was constructed in 1026 AD.

A quick stop at Le Hohlandsbourg, which is a castle… this was paid entry and as we were limited on time we just took a picture! Then a walk into Chateaux Du Pflixbourg… a castle/fort that was noted on records for the first time in 1220 but thought to be from the Bronze Age (3000-1200 BC) so quite old then!!

We took the train to Strasbourg, around 40 minutes, through vineyards and fields of cereals along with some market gardening.

Strasbourg (population around 280,000) is the capital city of the Alsace area of France. It is a formal seat of the European Parliament, a role it serves along with Luxembourg and Brussels. The historic city centre became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988 which coincided with its 2000^th anniversary, having been mentioned in documents as far back as 12 BC. It was noted as a Roman camp prior to that time.

Strasbourg is on an island set between the Rhine and Ill rivers. Over the years its ownership has been fought over between France and Germany, with the influence of both cultures clear to see. Now even though it is French rule the people prefer to call themselves Alsatians… a French/German mix.

The old town is a mix of old architectural styles, narrow winding streets and bright flower pots. The Tudor type buildings looking like Gingerbread houses;(more of them!) Just stunning!!

The temperature dropped back to 12-15 C during the day, with rain threatening but not effecting the start of our activity of a city bike tour. 5 clients, an American family of Mom and 2 teenagers along with ourselves. Our guide was a Polish lady.

First stop was to view the original city wall, not much left but some has been incorporated into other buildings so it is still useful some 2000 years later!

There is the Vauban Dam, which is a 17^th century weir built as a city defense wall. There are churches…. So many elaborate churches!! The Cathedrale de Notre Dam is a huge intricately carved 142 m high structure built over a 400 year time frame (and you thought your tradie's were slow sometimes!!) One wonders how this was achieved without cranes etc… an amazing building and that was only on the outside as we did not view the inside.

Unfortunately at this point it started raining but we rode onward through what was the German town square/buildings from the 1870’s when Strasbourg was ‘acquired’ by the Germans.

We then rode past the European Parliament buildings which meets once a month for 4 days. There was some lovely state housing, and lovely parks and gardens, in that area. The European Parliament building itself is quite memorable, a new design but deliberately built so it looks unfinished, or a work in progress. This was done to reflect the forming of the European Union…. the debate must be on as to if a portion needs removed once BREXIT is completed!!

The Alsace area is the spring/summer home to the stork (as in the ones that deliver babies). They winter in Africa and return to this area to nest and rear their offspring. As the numbers were dwindling some towns have placed large metal rings on their high-points to encourage nesting… and this has worked. Plus there is some flat topped trees that appear purpose built for nest sites! Interestingly Storks utilise the same nest all their lives.

The gardens area of Strasbourg has lots of Storks, the Colmar area also has them. In autumn the young are pushed out of the nest by their parents… a quick lesson, they either fly immediately or end up wandering around on the ground until they realise how to get lift off!

With the fantastic bike tour over we wandered a little more before having a meal and catching an evening train back to Colmar. Strasbourg is a lovely city, although the first large city visited in Europe.

Another menu to puzzle over... at least this one had pretty pictures!

Bonjour... nous saluons le retour

Hello, and welcome back to Europe

A good flight over, where Noel managed to get quite a bit of sleep and Caro adequate to get through another day! After the 2 flights we are caught up on any movies we needed to see, and some we probably didn't.

Arriving into Paris Charles de Gaulle airport about 7 am after a 13 hour flight, was a bit of a shock initially with huge queues waiting to clear immigration... although it transpired a perfect storm had occurred where multiple large flights had arrived at a similar time. The staff even appeared a little frazzled!

But there was no problems....they let us in! After a couple of mis-starts finding the meeting point we were collected by the 'Euro Lease' van. Off to pick up our new car!!

Yes, we are now the proud owners of a Peugeot 308 SW for the next 2 months. The euro-lease program had been recommended to us and seems a great option. Basically works on system where EU residents pay a high tax rate on a new vehicle, however if they buy a second hand car with a few km's, the tax rate is significantly lower.

So French car manufacturers sell the new car to non-EU residents (i.e. us!) and then guarantee buy back at the end of the 'lease'. Payment works out less than what an equivalent rental car would cost, and includes unlimited km's, full insurance and breakdown backup etc and the enjoyment of having a brand new car. And by new, they mean new, as the odometer proved when first started...

Although expecting just a base model, Noel thought it was a pleasant surprise to find it is a higher spec GT line model, with higher trim levels, sports gearbox option etc.

A lesson on the GPS and we were off. What appeared to be a bit of a "double back" way out of Paris outskirts and then a very pleasant drive through French villages and agricultural landscape to the village of Provins... and hour and a half south.

Nearing Provins we were driving through gently rolling cropping country; wheat, barley and peas at least. The farmhouses were huge, brick and stone buildings incorporated into huge sheds of same materials.

Arriving in Provins around midday, wandered around a bit until we could check in at 1 pm. Provins is one of the best preserved medieval towns in France (according to their brochures) and as such was added to the UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2001. It is a walled city, most of which is largely still in place.

In the 12th and 13th centuries it was the capital of the Counts of the Champagne region, these feudal lords offended and fought the kings of France. They were the first to introduce a passport system thereby provided safe passage across their territories, and so it became a huge trading hub.

The town began its decline in the early 14th century as other cities across Europe prospered, thus leaving it to a quiet life as a rural town. The majority of the old town is amazingly still intact with Tudor buildings, stone buildings and windy streets that are buzzing with Renault, Peugeot and Citroen cars tearing around! The old and new seem to coexist!

The town is simply stunning.After walking, and a baguette and croissant lunch (of course!!). we checked into our accommodation... also stunning (setting a very high standard for the rest of the trip!).

The view from our room of the hotel gardens

After much needed showers we walked around the town. There are towers, churches, an abbey and lots and lots of beautiful buildings. Also a lot of flowers, including Damask roses brought back by the Count of Champagne from one of his crusades.

The town has medieval festivals a couple of times a year and daily demonstrations of jousting, knights, cavalcades etc. There was  to be a bird show demonstrating how they were trained as weapons of war. Unfortunately there were not enough spectators for the show to go ahead so instead we wandered around the aviary which had a range of birds: Eagles including USA bald eagle, hawks, falcons, vultures and owls.

A climb of the Caesar tower, which was built in the 12th century, and a walk along bits of the defensive wall filled in our time.

With our afternoon done and the threat of sleep if one sits too long in one spot we went out for dinner and with the help of a sympathetic waitress we muddled our way through the menu to order a very nice meal. So hopefully we will catch up on some much needed sleep tonight and will head off in the morning.

Provins definitely outdid our expectations, so mind boggling to try and picture it in its peak, when Henry I actually was associated with the town!

Provins was chosen (after a little research) to give us an easy to aim for base not far from Paris. but in the general direction of our travel plans, after our long flight and not having to drive an unfamiliar vehicle too far. So pleased we did...

Caro so chuffed to find her knight in shining amour... 

which leaves Noel in anguish as he thought she had done so 35 years ago....

And so it begins for 2019...

Yes, we are back! For 2019 we are heading to Europe, 31 years after we previously visited during our extended O.E. of the time.

A DISCLAIMER:

This first blog of 2019 is also an exercise in re-acquaintance for the blog writers... us! A new laptop for travelling, a new method of photo uploading etc, so for the technically challenged we need the practice!

Once again a reminder, these blogs are principally for our own records. For those of you sad enough to consider yourselves followers of this dribble, we applaud you and bless your little souls... have you considered some form of solo retreats to enhance your imaginations? Anything must be more enthralling than reading this stuff!!!

Anyway....

Singapore - a welcome stop-over:

We would have once said "Nah, we will fly all the way through to Europe" but we felt no, it was time to try a break. Plus the added bonus of being able to catch up with Caro's niece Karla who lives in Singapore made an easy decision.

We found the break to be beneficial, and gave us a chance to refocus on our upcoming travels.... although people have kept asking us over recent weeks if we were excited, we really had not been excited nor looking forward to our trip due to our concern over our aging dog Zeke. We had to make a sad and very tough decision as it was going to be a difficult winter for him due to his quickly reducing mobility and increasingly deteriorating toileting.... guess it will come soon enough to us all!

We will never forget what a great family companion Zeke was to the boys and us, and we are struggling (from a distance) with his absence, but know we made the right decision.

Get on ya bike...

First up for Singapore was a 4 hour guided bike tour... the first of many booked for this trip, we found during our last years adventures these are a fantastic and fun way to get a good overview of a city and 'get our bearings!'

Caro doing her best Lewis Hamilton impersonation on the F1 Circuit.... without a car, or a helmet, or a fire suit, or a whole lot of stuff really

 Tour covered various areas: Singapore Flyer, Formula One circuit (although not as fast on our bikes as Lewis in his car), Marina Bay, Chinatown, Arab quarter, City area. Also some of the newer 'ex-pat' Quay areas. This gave a good understanding of much of the history of Singapore. Place and building names often reflect the Raffles name, the founding chap for Singapore as a trading post of the British East India Company...

Gaining independence from the British in 1963 after the earlier, obviously tumultuous, WWII period of Japanese occupation, the country has thrived and developed a strong economy largely based on external trade and its large workforce (5.6 mill population on a geographical area around twice the size of good old Inver's!). 39% of the population is foreign nationals.

Housing is well catered for with many of the apartment complexes being on a long term lease and subsidised by the government.

A real multi cultural island nation makes for a diverse and interesting place which now has a huge range of economic drivers; finance, IT, healthcare, manufacturing, tourism etc.

Lots of facts learnt, most of which will slip through the in-built filter too quickly. Chatting to our guide about the compulsory military training all Singapore males (18 years old) are required to do was interesting... basically you don't know what arm of the services (including not only military but fire/police etc) you are to be allocated to until you are. Our guide was an expert on bush rescue out of helicopter! There's compulsory training for woman too but that starts at 20 years or after you finish university and it's not for as long,

Wandering in the heat.. spot the spices

After the tour ended, we wandered back to our nearby hotel via the Hindu quarter. Full of colours of the various spices etc on market stalls, and different architecture again from the other areas.

The heat is coming on during midday, but not really complaining, and still not so overpowering to stop our walking about. Visited the Fort Canning Park area, opting out of visiting any of the many museums in the city. A pleasant area also full of history from the days of colonial occupation.

Great to spend the evening with Karla and Johnno who kindly took us out for a lovely meal.

Sunday... where the locals go?

Packed and checked out, but left our bags in hotel storage as we headed back to the Marina Bay area to explore. A note on our hotel, which probably emphasised how much of a premium space is... it was a fantastic hotel, no complaints at all, (on 15th floor great view) but we were bemused at how they can fit a lovely room into such a small space. Whole room was only wide enough to have the double bed across one end... and they still fit an en-suite etc in!

First walked via the "Cat Cafe", opting out of entering due to the $20 entry fee, where you can have your coffee whilst patting a cat... who would have thought huh, we shall go home and discuss this as an Arrowtown option with our cat Spyder!

Lion Statue, symbol of Singapore... the Lion city

The Marina Bay Sands resort is a crazy looking hotel, how someone could come up with the idea of a huge boat look-a-like sitting on top of 3 hotel towers! Apparently building commenced just as the Global Financial Crisis hit which caused quite a few nervous times.... but as it emerged it reached break-even within 2 years of construction (hotel and casino).

Marina Bay Sands... incredible hotel, the boat on top has roof top bars at front, and a large swimming pool in middle section!

Probably a reflection of what happens here, fast paced development and infrastructure within a thriving economy.

The area was fun to visit, and there was a dragon boat competition in progress. International corporate teams on an annual fixture. We then had a brief look at the huge shopping mall, which was busy with families out on a Sunday.... we think the attraction of air-conditioning appeals.

Across from the resort is the Gardens by the Bay, which is a beautifully laid out area with lots of natural, and not so natural attractions.

Then made our way back to the hotel via the efficient MRT (Mass Rapid Transport) system to collect our bags and head for the airport. Once checked into our flight we explored the adjoining, newly opened, Jewel mall..... along with what seemed like the majority of Singapore's population!!

Absolutely stunning complex, in the middle of what is already a world renowned airport (Changi), it features the world's largest indoor waterfall....

Then, onto our plane and Paris bound.....

 One for the sheep farmers....