Paris pre Christmas 2008

We don't know if it is the storms in Kos, or the festive Christmas atmosphere, but one morning we look at each other and say "lets do it... lets go home for Xmas!" Perhaps it was always going to be too tempting to know that we still have our booking and all we have to do is get to Paris to connect with our return flight to NZ.

So here we are in Paris and it is Christmas, probably the most wonderful time to be here. The city is aflame with festive lighting and decoration with Christmas trees being sold in every street corner store. We have trouble deciding the highlight for us. Maybe it is Galleries Lafayette Department store with its Christmas Tree the height of several stories through the central atrium... or maybe it is the Eiffel Tower shining blue in the night sky... and then again, what about the trees lit up on the Champs Elyses - or the storefront window displays especially for the children...? Oh well, maybe we are in culture shock... from the Greek Islands to Paris?

Now, how on earth do they manage to get those chooks to look so real in the window? -When you have a close look their bums are plucked!

Emily is busy making Christmas fruit mince pies for her many customers and followers of her culinary website www.dernieremiette.com, so we go exploring. Our glee is completely bubbliing over when we find a boutique selling hand knitted childrens' finger puppets. We spend ages in there choosing which ones we will buy and for who...

Helen, Emily and Marc make us very welcome and organise for us to 'house sit' a friend's house in a posh gated community in the centre of Paris - the 16th Arondisment. It is a real treat. We feel as though we are riding a magic carpet.

We also ride the Metro to Marc and Emily's apartment in the 11th Arondisment, very quickly becoming familiar with the 'system'. We spend a flying visit catching up with Helen who drives us all over Paris to make sure we have seen all the sights, and in one particular excursion we have a mission to purchase the best macaroons in Paris. As the light fades at 4pm on our last day, Helen and Emily queue for the Holy Grail of macaroons so we can take some back to NZ for the family.

Christmas Comes to Kos

We notice the lights going up around town and each night it looks prettier. We hear that the Xmas tree is going to be lit up in the town square tonight at 6.30 pm so go along on our bicycles to join in the fun and festivities.

It has been a glorious winter day with hot sunshine and no wind (for a change). Tonight it is crisp and cool but not too cold.

The moon comes up over the castle behind the Turkish Minaret in the town square as the town brass band plays Xmas carols which we all sing along to. The children are queuing up to have their faces painted. The crowd counts down in Greek and the Xmas tree lights up. Light projectors spread a kalaidescope of moving lights in star shapes around the buildings.

We stop to take photos of Santa with the children but are not too impressed with his beard.

Tomorrow is going to be a market day in the town square with lots of people selling their home made crafts and xmas gifts.

We take photos of the crowds and festivities including a wonderful carousel, then ride home on our bikes for dinner and an early night. We have been up late last night (1.30am this morning!) at the Yacht Cafe, attending the regular Friday night quiz night.

The market day consists of lots of stalls loaded with Greek home made delicacies and colourful home made xmas decorations. We buy small round Greek sweets which are like deep fried honey and batter with cinnamon - by the time we have finished those up we feel quite sick.. oink oink!

High Winter Winds and Hot Swims in Kos

7 December 2008



We are now spending a bit of time dodging the wind which has been howling in from the south - straight into the cockpit, so need to keep the washboards in while we are on board as it brings with it lots of red dust straight from the Sahara Desert. It is not cold - just fierce!

There is a good strong high sea wall around the marina so the water is very flat inside contrasting with the waves crashing against the wall from the outside. The fuel dock which is outside the wall gets a fair thrashing and would not be tenable at all in a southerly wind.

We regularly go to sleep with the sound of the wind howling around us.

This brings with it problems of being a bit stir crazy, so the bikes are coming in handy. We take a long and energetic bike ride out to the 'hot springs' we have been told about. It is around 10 km with a gentle uphill to start with to get us warmed up and then a real slog up and over. We find the "therma" which is down a winding metal road from the main road high above where we leave our bikes. It is all very Greek style and rustic - hot sulphuric water bubbling in a deep hole in the black sand and seeping through the warm sand down to the sea shore. We lie in the hot water until we cannot bear it any more and then swim in the sea to cool off. The ride home is a fast freewheel downhill past the marina and straight to the ice cream shop...mmmm. A well deserved treat!

The Christmas lights are all up around Kos Town and it is even more lovely than usual.

This morning we wake up to a rainbow over the boat.