BARCELONA, SPAIN

BARCELONA, SPAIN

After a few more sun filled days in Perpignan with Fran and Sasha as well as a couple more dips in the pool, we left France behind and jumped on another train bound for Barcelona, Espana! It was a beautiful ride along the Catalan coast and on the way we met a student from Belgium named Sofie. She was really nice and gave us some walnuts from her mother's boyfriends tree. They were really delicious, almost as good as the ones from Olivia's grandparents. We arrived at the main station in Barcelona and had to change trains for Tarragona where our friend Tony from New Zealand's Aunty Jo lived. He had given her a call on our behalf and sent her an email and she welcomed us with open arms. She picked us up from the station and when we got back to her house we met her husband Jordy and shared a couple glasses of wine before going to bed. 

We were up early and caught the train into Barcelona to start our sightseeing. We were both really excited and when we arrived at the station we bought a three day bus pass and tube pass and set off. The first stop was the Parc Guell. Olivia was super excited as she had studied Gaudi and his architecture whilst at university.
It was quite breathtaking to say the least and we knew that we were in for a couple of incredible days sightseeing if this was anything to go by. It's quite hard to accurately describe the design of the architecture and sculptures everywhere but it is very evident that he got a lot of his inspiration from nature and was truly unique in his concepts. There were lots of bone like shapes and curves and he used mosaic techniques everywhere. It was amazing and very colourful in places.

After spending a good couple of hours walking around the park looking at all the gorgeous buildings and taking lots of photos we walked back to the metro station and headed to central Barcelona. Our first stop was a place called the 'La Rambla' which is a pedestrian only avenue that leads down towards the waterside from the famous Plaza de Catalunya. It's huge and makes Cuba mall look like a neighbourhood cul de sac. You can find any label you want along the way as well as a myriad of restaurants, cafes and pubs. It is a hive of activity with street performers doing their utmost to relieve the unsuspecting tourist of their money! About half way down 'La Rambla' is the most incredible market called 'Mercat de la Borqueira.' Talk about mouth watering, there was the most delectable food everywhere with hamon (jambon or ham) , fresh fruit and vegetables. Fromage, sausages, salamis, fresh meat and poultry, but the best part was the SEAFOOD! There were things there that we had never even seen before but it all looked so fresh and soooooo yum!


Unfortunately we missed the lunch serving time and decided that we would come back the next day to sample some of the goodies as we had lots more to see. We went on a walk around the streets nearby and took in some more of the local sites. After a while we wandered back to the 'Rambla' and a quick check of the time and we realised that it was 'BEER O'CLOCK.' So we stopped for some tapas and a drink. After that we headed to an area lined with bars. We chose a bar that had outside tables and ordered 'dos cerveza.' While we were waiting for the beers we met a group of American guys and joined them. The waiter arrived with two huge 'STEINS' of ice cold beer. We were both surprised with the size of them but I think that Olivia's was more out of shock, whereas I was stoked! Needless to say we ended up having a great evening with them talking about the All Blacks and the World Cup and promised that we would look them up when we finally got over there.

We caught the train back to Tarragona where Jo picked us up and surprised us by taking us to their favourite local restaurant where she treated us to a scrumptious seafood dinner. It turned that after our chat with Jordi on the night we arrived about our love for seafood that he had suggested to Jo to take us there. The owner and head chef is a long time friend of theirs and we were treated to a veritable feast complete with a bottle of Rose.

The next day we went to see Gaudi's 'Casa Battlo.' The roof of this building looked like a dragons back with scales for roofing tyles and the design of the rest of the building was unreal. From here we then went to see 'Casa Mila' which is a majestic building. We decided to go inside and take a look and weren't disappointed. The architecture inside was as incredible as the outside. On the top floor there was a exhibition that gave us a real insight into Antonio Gaudi the man and his inspiration. There were 3D models of his buildings and the most ornately carved wooden furniture. It didn't stop there. Out on the roof the theme of amazing design continued. Coupled with an outstanding view of the city it was truly incredible. We capped off our visit here with a little purchase in the store on the ground floor of a Gaudi inspired silver ring for Olivia to celebrate our third anniversary. 

Next on the list was the 'Sagrada Familia' which unfortunately Gaudi never got to finish as he died before it's completion. In fact they are still building it today and it won't be finished for some years yet. We then walked down the 'Rambla' to the waterfront and on the way saw a 'break dancing crew' putting on a show to a huge audience. After checking out the shops we headed back up the 'Rambla' to a tapas bar that Olivia thought looked quite nice so we went there for some more incredible nibbles and yes some more wine and beer!

Our final stop that evening was Museu National d' Art Catalunya. We had to catch the metro there but it was well worth it. Although we missed the famous fountain show there as it was out of season, the promenade leading up to the building was stunning as was the building itself.

We decided we wanted one last look at one of Gaudi's buildings so went back to see the 'Casa Battlo' all lit up. It was a fitting way to end our stay in Barcelona and on the train journey home we reflected on a wonderful couple of days. 

That night Jo and Jordy had more surprises in store for us. Jo works for Paco Rabanne at the International Airport and she gave Olivia a whole lot of women's perfumes and samples. She also had a couple for me. She took us down into their garage to get them and the whole garage was full of Barcelona Football Club trophies and photographs. I asked Jo why that was and it turns out that Jodi had been the manager of Barcelona Football Club for many years. I was blown away. It was no surprise then that Jodi gave me a whole lot of Barcelona supporters gear as a going away present. Talk about generous aye? 

We left their place the next morning for the airport totally humbled and were so thankful for their amazing hospitality and making us feel part of the family. They said that we were welcome to come back at any time and who knows we may very well take up that offer sometime in the future. Next stop......LONDON!

COUPE DU MONDE de RUGBY 2007, FRANCE

Coupe du Monde de Rugby 2007 

Marseille

A week or so later we were off to Marseille for the All Blacks opening game against Italy. Whilst on the train from Perpignan which was constantly filling up with more and Kiwis along the way we met a Maori guy called Grant who was heading to Marseille to meet his French partner and had everything crossed that he could get tickets to the game! When we finally arrived the train station was packed with people wearing All Black jerseys and a surprising number of them were French. It was such a hot sunny summers day that Tama ended up just wearing his flag and sun glasses. A couple of drinks and a baguette later, we went into the stadium and found our seats and to our surprise there was former Mayor of Wellington Mark Blumsky in the row in front of us. We were practically on the half way line and had a great view of the game that the All Blacks ended up winning very convincingly.

The celebrations afterwards were awesome. We met up with Tama's cousins Sean and Katrina, her husband Martin, Aunty Fay and Uncle Mike and others. We had a couple more Heinekens in the sun before heading down the port of Marseille where the festivities continued on into the wee hours. We had a great night and caught up with Grant and his partner Ginie (who managed to get tickets in the end) and Barrett and Sparrow. The port was a hive of activity and we finally made it back to our hotel room a bit worse for wear. We had been very lucky as Mike Te Whata had offered us the spare double bed in his hotel overlooking the harbour so we awoke to a spectacular view of Marseille.

The next morning feeling a tad under the weather we caught up with Grant and Ginie for brunch. They told us all about the amazing jobs they have in France working on luxury yachts for millionaires and mixing with the rich and famous celebrities of the world - what a hard life.

We then went to an Irish pub to wait for Katrina and Martin and watch some more World Cup Rugby. Whilst there Tama ran into some friends from New Zealand (surprise, surprise).We were going to be moving on to Toulon that afternoon but when Katrina and Martin arrived they had a special surprise for us - they had shouted as a hotel room in Marseille for the night so that we could spend the day together and catch up properly. Very generous! So once the last game had finished for that day we went and checked into our room and dropped off our bags. We decided that we would go on a harbour cruise that evening so we walked along the harbourside to where we would catch our boat. Katrina had run ahead to make sure we wouldn't miss it and when got there she was having apertifs with some people on the wharf. We assumed that this was part of the cruise so when they asked to join them we said thank you and had a drink with them. The next thing we knew the captain of the boat we were going out on came over and asked us if we were going on a cruise and if so could we hurry up and board so we could leave. It turned out it was a local dive clubs drinkies!

We left the harbour and the views from the sea of Marseille were breathtaking as was the gorgeous sunset that followed. We met another Kiwi couple, Selena and Angus on the cruise who had been to the game the day before as well. As we swapped stories Selena said that she worked at MTV UK and that I should send in my CV as I might be able to get some work at the Anuual MTV Awards in Munich later on in the year. We sailed out to an island and anchored off the shore and then the captain offered everyone a drink of rose or picard ( a French liquer). We all had a toast and then we heard a big splash as Katrina and Martin jumped off for a swim. It was a beautifully still night and when we sailed back into the harbour Marseille looked like incredible all lit up.

A quick shower and change back at the hotel and then the four of us went out for dinner. We found an amazing restaurant and settled in for what was to be a delicious feast! The menu was incredible and we were starving and thought that we would order a main each at least! What happened in reality was we ordered a "Stella Pizza" to share which had four different cheeses on it for a starter which disappeared before it touched the table. Katrina spotted a gorgeous looking pasta on the table next to us so we ordered that as well as another "Stella" this time "avec champingon" - with mushrooms. The wine continued to flow and when we knocked those dishes off we realised that we may not be as hungry as we had thought! So it was yet another "Stella" but this time "avec champignon, avec chorizo". YUM!
The next day we had a coffee and croissant in the foyer of the hotel then went for a walk along the harbour. We all went to a seaside restaurant for a seafood lunch then to a beach for a swim.
After that we packed our bags and jumped on the train and headed off to Toulon.Toulon

We arrived in Toulon after a short journey and were picked up at the station by Sean's cousin in law Francois who we met in St Jean Pied de Port. He took us to his house where we met his gorgeous children and after dinner crashed out so we could get an early start to look around the next day.

The next morning we caught the bus into town and went sightseeing. We got off outside the Toulon rugby stadium where Tana Umaga had just returned from New Zealand to take up a position as player coach and wondered about the waterfront where we eventually had an amazing seafood lunch. From there we strolled through the stunning buildings and once again were blown away by how beautiful European cities truly are, especially in baking sunshine.
When we got back to the house, Francois and Chantalle packed up the children and we headed off down to the beach for a dip in the "Med". To say it was a breathtaking setting would be an understatement. The water was like a bath and the view down the coast was accentuated by the evening sun. Feeling totally refreshed we ordered pizza for dinner and weren't disappointed when it finally arrived. Over dinner Francois had a little surprise for us and asked if it would be ok if we went into his school the next day to give a talk to some students. The group would be made up English language students and some that were involved in playing for the schools rugby team. Of course we said yes and the next day we went to the school and ended up doing a presentation to about 40 kids. It was a great deal of fun and Olivia and I told them all about New Zealand and I am gave them a demonstration of the haka. There were many questions about the All Blacks and all in  all it was a lot of fun. The kids all wanted Tama's autograph after he did the haka! 

Francois lent us his car as he had to work for the rest of the afternoon and we went for a drive to the coast to check out the local market. What can you say about the French and their markets - unreal! This had all the trimmings plus it was set right on the beach. We got some olives, jambon and baguettes to take back to Perpignan.

We drove back to the school in time for Francois to drop us off at the station and we settled in for our homeward journey. We read and played some more Grass and Fran was there to meet us at the station to take us back to their place. We spent some more time in Perpignan and a week or so later we were primed and ready for the next game of the All Blacks campaign.....

Lyon

We caught yet another train to Lyon and were lucky enough to find a room at an Ibis which was quite literally 800 metres or so from the entrance to the stadium. Getting off the train we got a connecting Metro to our stop and found our hotel right across the road. There were All Black and Portugese jerseys and flags everywhere and a festive atmosphere was already in swing! We checked in and went down to the bar where we waited for Uncle Mike and Aunty Fay to arrive as we had a couple of spare tickets for them. A couple of nice cold beers later they arrived and we al headed off to the game. The stadium at Lyon is in another class to the one in Marseille. It was so well laid out and it was an easy transition through the turnstiles and searches by the guards. Once in the ground we found our seats, which were once again AWESOME and watched the All Blacks absolutely run riot over the poor team from Portugal. To their credit though they scored a try which was hugely popular with everyone in the ground.

After the match we said farewell to Uncle Mike and Aunty Fay and went back to the hotel bar to watch another match. There we met a whole crowd of other Kiwis including one group that we ended up going out with in town. We caught the train into the centre of Lyon and went to have a beer at a local pub/ cafe which was a lot of fun. From there we trekked off to find the "Maori Cafe" which was owned and run by a Maori guy who had been living in France for 20 odd years after a career in Professional Rugby League.  It took awhile to find it and we saw group after group of All Blacks fans enjoying the Lyon cafe and bar scene until we finally found The Maori Cafe. 

It was amazing to go into a bar in France and see New Zealand beers and hundreds of pictures of our gorgeous homeland and the All Blacks. We met Tai the owner and ended up buying Tama a t-shirt as well. For dinner we ate these incredible Kiwi burgers which were yum! We continued partying for awhile there listening to Kiwi music and after Tama got a buzz out of meeting an ex-All Black captain and great Tane Norton we all headed for the train back to our hotel. 

The next day we went into town again to find somewhere for breakfast and ran into Richie McCaw, Leon MacDonald and Andy Ellis. After a quick chat (in passing) we had a good walk around the centre of town looking at all the sights and beautiful buildings, fountains etc. Then we went down to the side of the Seine where there was a gorgeous farmers local market where we found fresh oysters, empanadas (Argentinian Cornish Pasties), fromage and coffee! All eaten on the side of the Seine - magnificent.

It was a fitting end to a wonderful couple of days and so reluctantly we headed back to Perpignan. Lots more fun to come though!