Update

Well looks like Valencia is quite the party town. On Wednesday we woke to rain again so after a full day in our tent going quite crazy we decided to go into town, we went to an irish bar which was great to talk to other English speakers, and ended up having a great night when we had a group english/spaniards show us around (wed is foreign student night). We spent yesterday recovering on the beach.
Today we jumped on the train to Barceloña for the weekend... to our suprise it is a long weekend here and HUGE fiesta all weekend that ppl worlwide travel to, we are staying in a youth hostel to make it easier and are excited about another good night out tonight. GOOD LUCK to Mel and (if dad got through semis) soccer grand finals- am thinking of you both!!!

Valencia Spain

Yes we are happily back on the coast. There is no camping in Valencia so we are staying a bit further south in a very Spanish little town called Mareny. Although it is a small town we love just hanging around watching the locals, the buildings are all white or colourful with big archways and vines and window shutters, it is very hot here so has a misty and sandy feel too. Our camping site is right near the beach so we spent all day yesterday sunbaking n swimming in the Mediterranean (some jelly monster scared me off a bit but). All the shops close for siesta, such different lifesytle- last night went for dinner at 7pm but restuarants dont even open until 9.30pm. Nonone speaks any English and everyone STARES at us, although we try to fit in we must look foreign!
Today we spent day in Valencia looking around, just had a HUGE meal; seafood paella (apperenly entree but so filling) n something else i randomly pointed to on the menu- was steak n chips- damn- now we feel like a siesta too.
We are going to stay here until Friday, the relaxing by the sea is too good to leave too soon. Also being hot we can lay on our sleeping bags with just sheets so have had the most comfortable sleeps yet! Love you all!
p.s. have eaten the yummiest stone fruits- so many orchards

Madrid

I knew San Sebastion was too perfect to be true!!! That night we slept very happy with ourselves and excited about our week of sunbaking on the beach...BUT woke up to rain which is not fun while u r camping and the weather forecast- 3 days of rain! So we decided to move onto Madrid on our way south.
We set off and arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning. By midday it boiling hot, too hot to go into town (which we had decided was a dump the night before) so were excited about the huge resort style pool at the campsite. BUT to our disgust the pool is only opened in summer so even though it is sweltering hot and we paying high season prices it is the "Spanish Law" to not open pools after september, so we layed our towels in the dirt outside the pool gate and baked- not exactly dream Spain. The campsite was like a trailer park, really noisy but also very expensive (only good thing was the ground fairly soft on our backs). This morning we eargerly set off to coast with evil thoughts of the hellhole Madrid, when i went to pay for my ticket out i realised some seedy spanish has stolen my wallet out of my bag on the metro!! So i called home to get help cancelling my cards n luckily keep everything seperate from wallet so everything safe except missin bit of cash n now dont have any bank access- i knew i was with Em for a reason! Anyway, hopefully we find a nice campsite here in Valencia on the Medditterean where we will stay for a good week rain hail or shine!! xo

San Sebastion Spain

We have hit Spain and we are loving it!!!!! Yesterday we left La Rochelle (after having an great night out going to a Jazz bar- but again waking up NOT feeling like travelling)n arrived in Irun last night, this was a hole so we came a bit further West to San Sebastion...and dont want to leave! We have spent all day laying on the beach and now intend to do it for a while. The beach is so different to oz, it more of a big bay and at low tide it is HUGE with lots and lots of people, the sun is also very different, we stayed in it all day and are not lobsters, so we planning on a gradual golden tan, haha. Our campsite is a bit out of town, the bus drives along tiny roads along the coastline but it is so cliffy and green, ill have to get some pics, very stunning. Well we are going to stay here for a few more days, tomorrow meant to be very hot, loving life, adios!!

La Rochelle

Yesterday we packed up our tent and made our way to the Westcoast town of La Rochelle, because we didnt reserve seats on the train we were put on kiddy seats between carriages- very uncomfortable; but we munched on camembert n bagettes to keep us happy- by high speed they really mean high speed trains too!! We set up our tent and had a little bake. The town is really nice, basically ports for the yachts (rich French) u can see in pics. Today has been very relaxing, strolling the town and more baking... everyone here is so golden brown we are obviously tourists!! There isnt a great deal more to do here so tomorrow we are off to Spain!! Will be 8hr train to the north border city of Irun; then hopefully to Madrid asap depending on trains. So we are saying goodbye to France for a while and moving on to a whole new experience... xoxo

Rugby World Cup Fever

The city of Paris (and our campsite) has Rugby World Cup fever; even the Eiffel Tower has a huge tacky blow up ball in its centre... They have big TVs in parks set up and the pubs are covered in flags. On friday we wanted to get involved but bailed for the free Louvre (which is an amazing building and we got to see the famous Mona Lisa), so yesterday afternoon (saturday) we found an Oz pub to watch the Auzzies smash Japan- bit pathetic really! But Em n i had a blast- we made most of happy hour and ended up in the busy nightlife of Champs Elyeese. The French are all suddenly so friendly when they realise we are auzzies and not Americans (or English); but some dont believe us because we are so blanc (white)! The weather is really warm here which makes camping nice and it hasnt rained yet- touch wood. Tomorrow we are heading to La Rochelle which is a tres beau town on West coast; after this we will head down to Madrid in Spain then further south along Spanish coast, so looking forward to some lazy days on the beaches. I forgot my camera cord today but will post some Paris photos when I can. Thats all for now, love you all!!!!

I love Paris

Well we have settled in to Paris, it is such a beautiful city, everyone is so well dressed and actually friendly (unlike what i have heard), the city has so many trees and gardens (so pretty) it is arranged in circular blocks which is weird and i do not understand traffic system but beside that i love it here. On Tuesday we took train from Calais to Paris where we found a hostel in Bastille; well it was more of a cleaning closet that we paid loads for, it was full of dirty sheets & a cook burst in at 9am for butter from the huge fridge in room (ew); anyway Wed night we had some wine and went to Oberkamp which was apparently party town but beside meeting heaps of 'unique' people we never actually found anywhere good so went back to hostel to wake with shocking headaches and having to lug our 20kg bags through metro to camping ground.
Yesterday we bought a tent and set up camp; we went to La Defence to do this and saw the biggest shopping centre. Today we woke up sore not sure if from lugging our backpacks or sleeping on rock hard floor! We have spent day exploring Paris saw Arc de Triomphe in Champs de Ellyese, Eiffel Tower and are now just up the road from Moulin Rouge. Soon we going to Notre Dame and Friday nights is free at the Louve so we heading there too. I cannot get over how EVERYONE here is either eating a bagette or carrying a bagette; i have never eaten so many breads and pastries in my life! And Mel there are heaps of dogs they are allowed in shopping centres and on trains and buses- you would love it. I was so nervous about talking French at start but have picked up enough for polite conversation. Anyway will put up pics soon; the time about to run out on computer, so au reviour!!!!! xo