Sipping Champagne in...

Champagne! Lachie, Dan, Carly and myself got up at 4am on Friday morning and zoomed down the freeway to Folkstone where we put our van on a 30min train ride under the sea to France for weekend of champagne sampling and...more champagne sampling! Jolly good fun! I wouldn't recommend going to see vineyards in the middle of winter as there isn't much to see, but we were drunk most the time so it didn't really matter. We spent Friday and Saturday in the champagne region and Sunday night and Monday in Paris. I've been wanting to go back to Paris since we were last there in September 2006! Nothing monumental happened over the long weekend, but we had soo many laughs, good champagne and yummy toasted sandwiches in the van. The van passed it's test run with flying colours, everything is in working order, except the side mirror on the drivers side which was broken off by someone in Epernay, obviously they hadn't been drinking enough happy champagne. It was a sleeting/freezing cold sort of weekend but the company we were in made it not matter one bit. All the really good photos were taken on Dan's camera. Thanks Dan.

For 7am with an icy wind we look pretty happy! On the train Epernay where we stayed for the first two nights. Apparently there are 27 kilometres of champagne vaults under this city!

Making lunch in the van

The boys washing up

Epernay at dusk

A full moon. always a full moon over Easter...

Sampling some yummy golden sparkling champagne

Viva la France!

This was a badger on the side of the road. I'd never seen one before and didn't really think they existed outside of 'Wind in the Willows' so I was pretty excited to see one! Dead or alive.

Carly going in for the winning shot

A view over the vineyards
A statue of a pope...and a great view looking over the valley and the river Marne
Dan feeling mellow with a Chateau in the background
Feeling pretty hot


After a long day of champagne tasting

Lachie in the champagne vaults at Moet & Chandon

The view of Paris from our hotel room

YUM! eating at our favorite salad restaurant in Paris.

Trying to be as cool as the locals in Paris
Le Eiffel tower

A happy seat in the Paris underground

Dan the french boobie man

The happy gang. a few minutes before it started snowing...
This spider was only a few months ago out the front of the Tate Modern in London

We drove around the arc de triumph twice. 'monumental' was the word used by the driver, Mr.Love
Goodbye Paris! we'll hopefully be back again one day soon

Our mascot, Mr. Owl. Hand made by my Mum