France - La Pomme

 Chapter 40 - France - La Pomme

Dear Diary...
(This is not a diary anymore... Now is a Fairy Tale :o/
Yes... We are now in 2012 and Dad still writing chapters from September 2011 !!
Should I say ... once upon a time !?
Anywayyy....

Finally we arrived in France as you must have read it before
(If you forget the adventure by now, go back and read again)

We finally get to go into the farm, in small village called Conceze  and soon we started the apple picking work.
What can I say ? well... from my side is not much to say really as I have been parked on the back of the farm for all the time. Mum and Dad have slept inside in  me every day and had to go to work very early, Luckily they did  have a community kitchen and toilets and shower, this left me be the only privet room for some time.
As I did say, is not much to tell about this part of the travelling. I was there, stopped for 3 weeks , and only really went out once to the  "Acordeon Festival" which is an annual event in France.
This event brings lots of people out to the streets but the Parents had to drive me out of the place to visit the festival. This was in Tulle.
Good fun ! Many bands were playing on the streets. Mum and Dad got rather drunk (as usual) but not only them, all their friends got drunk too.
Again... I ended up having Catamina and Joao sleeping inside on my bunk beds ;)
was fun !! :)

Next morning we got back to the farm !!

About the Apple picking...
That was a hard job , parents say... but at the same time funny.
Most part of the people we met were travellers and they all join in the Park in Objat on the weekends for some Jamming sessions with bongos , didgs, Flutes , wine, beer and other percussion instruments  :)

Dad was learning flute with Mum and they had a plan to do some street performance but they still have to work on to this one :o) (maybe next year)

They met lots of nice people in the apple picking and they plan to get back next year... this year... whatever !!! :o/
Making a countability, most of the people in there were was Portugues, except for 2 couple of very nice Spanish people and 1 French :o/ aaaahhhh ... and ovecorse... Mum, the only Hungarian ! :o)
(Was that stunning blond girl, from Holland ?? if so, she was living in Portugal for many years too ;)
Haaa.. that was Mercedes, The Capataz !! I mean... Team leader...

Mum celebrated her Birthday there and it was very funny (please see the video)
Mums Birthday song was sing in 5 different languages:
* English
* Portuguese
* Spanish
* French
* Hungarian

She received some presents from the people and Catamina did  a cake specially for Mum...
Dad did  give some presents for mum too but I am not telling you what... hihihihihihi
(was not apples for sure;)

Work was arch but people was funny and bosses were cool , they didnt make us run, they only wanted quality !  Mum and Dad have problems with Authority, they dont like to be told, but all was good there !

I would love to named everyone we meet in France as they became friends but ... at the end of the day, is night !! (maybe is a light at the end of the post !? ;o)

While I was parking in there, Mercedes (The team lieder... not the truck !!) brought a friend from Portugal called Sofia, She had a big camper (bigger then me) and she was travelling around.
Many of the people we met there, left after to go and pick grapes.
Mum and Dad had to return to UK but that is another chapter :o/

(dam... I just notice... Dad keep call this girl by Catamina !! )
SHE IS NOT CATAMINA... HIS NAME IS CATARINA !!
Jesus ,Mary &  Jose ... Man's !!
anywayyyy...

Anyway (again ) all the rest was , work, work, work... Hard !
One day, they decided to make a barbecue but that was not all...
Joao (a good friend there) make us a very nice dinner for all and Mercedes (The capataz) did a good dinner too on other occasion.
Dam... this now sounds like the end of the "once upon a time story" !!
Oh noo, one more thing to remember...
In the village where the farm was on, there was a so called "pub". Haha..but it wasn't just any ordinary drinking place. First, this place can not be recognised as Pub from outside, It was just one of the village house, but inside...
This place was run by A lady, a lady who is 93 years old.
YES!! You read it right.(93!!!! :):)
Her front room,(living room) Was converted into "this pub", with tables, chairs, AND, of course drinks:) she was running her own business, serving drinks in the front room, and having family in the other.  She was really adorable !:)

Anyway (again x2) I leave the photos and video for you all to enjoy. And as you noticed, this time I didnt ask you to INSERT COIN


Now, just wait for another fairy tale of...

Freeka
" The climbing apple trees Campervan "

At the end of the day... is night !
Night some times means... Moonlight !
Moonlight is Beautiful...
Making Friends is beautiful too...
Thank you all for your friendship !
Fred , Erika & Freeka - 2011/2012
Catarina / Joao / Mercedes / Joao Esteves / Ismael / Sandra / Maribel / Bruno / Jorge Silva / Hugo / Sofia / Tiago / Paulo Barco-iris / Julia / Adega Camada / Julio Ventura

(Video of Erika's Birthday songs ;o)
(Video of  Paulo's Marioneta work)

***Welcome to comment at the end ;o)

Switzerland 2 France

Chapter 39 - Switzerland 2 France

Dear Diary....
After all the beauty of Switzerland, Mountains , green lands and amazing views, we are now on our way to France.
Mum and Dad had  to wait few days in France to go and Pick apples and they had to met some friends to get things organized and go to the farm to start working but that will be on next chapter ;)

From Switzerland to France was not too far but we were not in a rush, so we had time to make the most of the driving... and we did !

One important point to register... If you drive in France DO NOT GO ON THE MOTORWAY, is expensive and you will loose beautiful places.

I did told you in chapters before that  parents did offer me a TomTom (wish they decide to call him "Freekas P.S" ) 
The TomTom is an amazing tool on the road.
Try to go into a wrong road and the Tom Tom will get you back in the same road but... will take you on very rare roads and true some very peculiar villages you never get to know if the Tom Tom do not take you there.
Mum and dad found some amazing medieval places in France and they never dream that France could be soo amazing as it is.
Close to the Swiss border, we found a beautiful medieval village called Pouncin. Half of the village looked dead. Lots of shop were closed down and there were not many people around, but the buildings and the energy of the place was truly amazing.

We did stop many times and we have stayed in a couple of camping parks while travelling our way to France.
One of the park we stopped was just 15km away from the famous Volvic.
The place we stayed for a night was Camping Bel-air.
Nice camping area with very big old trees and shadow. Although dad didn't really like the service and the owner was not the friendliest we met along the way.
(maybe he didnt like my freeky look compared with all the posh looking caravan he had on the side!?)
* Its an expensive camping park,
* The owner is arrogant and...
* They didn't have Internet access...
Fodam-se !!
DID I OFFEND SOME ONE ?

And so, we arrived to our destination  with no problems :0)
Mum and Dad know of some market and they tied there lucky by going to sale in there ;)
They made some new friends and met some others that was there looking for work too.
Should I say... Only Portuguese people. Not only... but almost all.

So we spent couple days in Objat and when our friend arrived, she join us to get into the farm to start work.

If you look at the photos, you will see lots of Renault (very old) but they still on the run and working hard :)
Was brilliant to see my old ansestrals ;)

Soon I will tell you all about the apple picking but for now

INSERT COIN !

Thank you !!