Europe, Here We Come!!!

April 5:
5:00am and most of us were at the airport on time.When everyone had arrived, we checked in and headed for Tim Hortons! Breakfast over, it was through security and on to the waiting area; this went smoothly. 8:00am: The flight was on time and Winnipeg was only an hour away.
Winnipeg and then on to Toronto where the 20 of us met up with the Hamels and Mackenzie Scott. Upon arriving in Toronto we discovered that our flight to Frankfurt was posted at an hour late. It turned out to be 1.5 hrs until we took off.

April 6:
We landed in Frankfurt in plenty of time for our 11:50am flight to Toulouse, France. Note: another (poor)group from SK touring with EF missed their connection to Vienna.
The leg to Toulouse was quite nice until we hit a series of turbulences coming through the clouds on our approach. The plane lurched twice and 2 flight attendants ended up in the laps of some of our group members.
After picking up our last member of the group, Pauline Wilhelm from Switzerland, we boarded the Transport Bigorre Bus for a 2 hour ride to Lourdes. There, we checked into
Hotel du Gave, had a delicious Good Friday meal and finished the day with a visit to the Grotto.

April 7:
This morning Mr. Sander took everyone on an orientation tour of Lourdes, including an outdoor market, some shopping and lunch. Some fell to the temptation of MacDonald's! It appears only to use WiFi!! At one o'clock the group gathered to visit the churches of Lourdes and do the Way of the Cross. This was followed by free time and supper at the hotel before attending Easter Vigil at St. Pius X Church with ten thousand people. The mass included a lot of singing and was held in 7 different languages. Despite the rain, which had set in during the afternoon, we had refreshments at Jean d'Arc Cafe after mass before heading for our hotel rooms, where we found some Easter treats on our beds.

April 8:
Easter Sunday, we had free time to shop (again) this morning. We walked the footsteps of St.Bernadette, and visited her home where she was born. After lunch we went to the caves called "Jes Grottes de Betheram". We got to see amazing stalactites and stalagmites, followed by a ride on a Viking boat and a train!
After the caves we took the scenic route back to Lourdes and visited the Lord of Lourdes‚ fort on the mountain. We explored it at our own pace and it was very beautiful. This evening we lit a candle at the Grotto for the students and staff of Turgeon School. Two of the group were former students of Turgeon so it was very meaningful.

April 9:
After breakfast, we got on the bus for our ride to Bourg St. Andeol. We stopped for lunch in the old Roman walled city of Carcassonne and got to do some shopping. The
visit to the Bascilica was impressive. How could people of the past with limited means build such a structure? When we arrived at Bourg St. Andeol we were welcomed in style as usual and moved into the convent. Some of us were staying in the dorm; the others had their own rooms. Before dinner we took a walk down to the Rhone River, which has nearly dried up. We visited some Roman ruins and took lots of pictures.
After supper we toured the gardens of the convent and also saw the oil bin where the oil was multiplied in the times of Marie Rivier.

April 10:
Today we left early on a bus ride to Montpezat. We visited sites that Marie Rivier would have visited and saw the famous Pieta before which Mother Rivier prayed so often
for her cure. Unfortunately it started to rain and so we did not get to climb the mountain to Thueyt. Instead we took the bus around the mountain to visit the convent Marie Rivier started in Thueyt. After dinner and back at the convent we played cards in the dorms and got some much needed sleep. The rain is so needed in the region of Ardeche that we cannot regret the rain. They have not had snow or rain for the past two months.

April 11
This morning we had free time to sleep in, but we had to shop at the open market in Bourg. New purchases were many. After lunch we toured around the convent and visited
Marie Rivier's office and the chapel where her remains still are. We will never forget her look as we gazed at her painting. Those eyes will follow us. After the tour we had
free time and packed for our flight to England.

April 12:
We had an early wake-up call today at 5.30am to get on the road for our airport destination of Marseille. Easy Jet airlines provided us a quick flight over to
England, landing in London Gatwick around noon. Adrian, our tour director and guide met us and guided us to our spacious coach where we made ourselves comfortable for a short ride to the Abby at Battle where the infamous Battle at Hastings took place in 1066. Many had a quick lunch of the typical English tea and scones. We then made our way through Kent County where we lodged for the night in a very nice "modern" hotel.

April 13:
At 9am we boarded our coach to make the short drive to the coast to view the "White Cliffs of Dover". We drove past the entrance to the tunnel (Chunnel/ Euro Tunnel) which crosses under the English Channel over to France. The port of Dover opens to a wide expanse of water facing the shoreline of France 23 miles/ 54 km in the distance. The British during Napoleon's time built many defenses along the high cliffs of Dover. These were increased during the World wars so as to protect England. We learned about the rescue of our soldiers from Dunkirk and how they arrived in Dover thanks to all the little fishing boats. We also got to stroll along the beach and some of us even dipped our toes into the icy Channel waters. Then on to Canterbury we went. A visit to Canterbury Cathedral was next on the agenda followed by a quaint re-enactment of
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Many of us enjoyed the best fish and chips to be had! Frenzied shopping followed before heading back to our hotel in Ashford.

 April 14:
We left our hotel in Ashford early this morning and drove through the county of Essex to Cambridge. Cambridge was a beautiful city and we were able to tour the Kings College Chapel. Cambridge is the second oldest university in England, with the “other place’ being the oldest. Cambridge was the proud winner of the recent boat race against Oxford. Go Cambridge!!!
    After our tour through the city we were able to go off on our own for some lunch and a bit of souvenir shopping- a lot of university sweaters were purchased in one form of another.  Then we were off to drive the renowned city of Nottingham, home of the famous outlaw “Robin Hood”.

April 15: 
Sunday morning, as the church bells were ringing, we left our hotel and walked to the Galleries of Justice Museum. The interactive museum taught us about the justice system in early England. A reenactment of a court scene called for some harsh sentences after Tracy Franc and Jean Vachon were found guilty by the wicked judge, being played by Mr. Sander. Hangings and hard labor or transport to Australia were common sentences during this time. After finishing in the museum we toured the brutal prison cells of the gaol used until the late 1800s. 
From there we made our way to the coach to travel to the awesome Warwick Castle. We spent part of the afternoon exploring the grounds and admiring Madame Tousseaud’s skillfully made wax sculptures which show off the interior of the castle during a party of long ago.
We then proceeded to Stratford Upon Avon, Shakespeare’s hometown.  Some of us took time before supper to walk down to the River Avon to observe the swans trying to find two who were “courting”. They were very beautiful and also very hungry, looking for a morsel of bread from passersby.

April 16:
This morning we toured Stratford Upon Avon.  We started with the archeological dig site of Shakespeare’s home, which is nothing more than a hole across the street from our hotel, the Falcon.
We took a short drive to Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare, his wife, his daughter Suzannah, her husband, and Shakespeare’s granddaughter’s husband are buried in front of the main altar.  We learned why Shakespeare’s epitaph says that anyone who disturbs his bones will be cursed.
From there we drove to the Arden Forest on the outskirts of Stratford to the home where Ann Hathaway, Shakespeare’s wife, was raised.  The house was in the Hathaway family’s possession for over 300 years.
Back in town, we visited Shakespeare’s birthplace; we even saw the room where he was born.
Time for lunch and shopping. We found a lot of things to buy.  Mrs. Sander even found a dress for son’s wedding this summer.
 At 7:30 we went to see The Tempest at Royal Shakespeare Theatre.  The best part was ‘the monster’.
We are all well, and most of us happy.

April 17:
Today we left Stratford at 9:30 travelling through the countryside to Wales for a one night stay.  We stopped at a coffee shop along the road that had some nice antique furniture.
The day was spent looking the beautiful scenery: canola fields in bloom, green pastures with grazing sheep, and rising hills in the distance. The weather today, as they say, was mostly showers with patches of sun.
Early arrival into Wales resulted in a city tour followed by an early check in at our hotel where WiFi provided some girls with much needed communication from home.   
A Welsh banquet provided us with good food and fabulous entertainment in the evening. “Yvette” made a special new friend for the evening. Mr.Sander was a bit of a goat in the skit that followed the meal.  We even had a chance to sing a rousing rendition of “O Canada”.
  
April 18:
Under cloudy skies we left Wales to travel across a long bridge back into England.  We made a short stop in Bathe, famous for a hot spring which continues to flow today.  The Romans were known to frequent these baths for theraputic care as well as much needed personal hygiene.
Next, we motored to Stonehenge; one of 900 circular stone structures in the UK. Today we only see 60% of what is left of the original structure.  This arrangement of stones is fo famous because it is the only one that has ‘lintel’ stones lying across the top of the upright stones and also the bottom stones are linked together by a special joint.  The building of Stonehenge began almost 5000 years ago and was built us in 3 stages.  They think that it was a calendar because of the way the stones line up with the sunrise in midsummer and the sunset in midwinter. We were hit by a sudden and quite violent rain shower which took out a few umbrellas but we made it through to continue the visit.
An hour and a half coach ride into London allowed most of us to have a brief nap to rest up for tonight’s supper out and the musical “The Lion King”.  Supper was fantastic; hors d’ourves, a large pizza, and ice cream for dessert.  The Lion King was an extraordinary production of talent and entertainment. This was a busy day indeed and we are all ready for a good night’s sleep.

April 19:
Alas another rainy day......
At 9:00 we started a tour of the cities of London and West Minister, and a few of the boroughs of the 31 that actually make up what we call London. Our first stop was at Westminster Abbey where we saw several of the 3,000 graves in the abbey itself.  Some were: Geoffrey Chaucer, Issac Newton, Charles Darwin, King Henry VII, Queen Victoria, Mary Queen of Scots, and The Unknown Soldier.
For lunch and shopping we travelled to Covent Garden. Rain fell most of the time while we were there but we did find lunch and a little bit of last minute shopping.
After lunch, we were off to see more of London’s sights: The Parliament Buildings, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Harrod’s of London, The Theatre District, the London Eye, and the Tower of London where toured the Crowned Jewels Exhibit.
Back at our hotel by five-fifteen... just in time to hear three very loud crashes of thunder and to witness the heaviest rain yet.  London has had a drought for the last two years, but apparently our visit is bringing an end to it quite quickly.  Rain, rain, go away.  Well, you get the idea.

April 20:
Well we got to sleep in until 7:45 in the fabulous beds at our hotel. After a big breakfast we headed to the airport to check to our flight home.  We said our good-byes to Adrian, our guide and also to the Hamels, Mackenzie, and Pauline as they are continuing on for another week in Switzerland. Some of us are quite jealous. Some also took the time to spent the last bit of the pound currency they were carrying. 
This is all for now and we will see you all when we get home tonight.