Jules in Europe

LIFE IN FRANCE

Since coming back from Germany, we have been doing some fun things in France. Here are some of the things we have been doing...

WALIBI

Recently I went to Walibi, which is a theme park. It has lots of rides, some in the water, some out. The first ride we went to was called La Bamba.

The second ride was the Mini Rally, which was a motorbike race, and I came second because the guy behind me kept on bumping into me. I also went on a roller coaster called the Boomerang and it’s really scary and hurts your stomach when it goes fast upside down.

We went to this ride called the Ladybug of the mountains. We all went to it and it wasn’t scary at all but it hurt your elbow. I went to a ride called the Zig-Zag; it turned around by surprise and the turns were really sharp so it looked like you were going to fall out. We also went on a water slide called the Aquafall. It has several bumps and the first bump splashes water all over you.

In the water section, we went on slides called the Serpent of the Sea and the Hell Shark. They are almost the same except the Hell Shark is a closed slide and the other one is open. On another slide, you lay down on a mat and slide down really fast. I also swam a little.

The last ride we went on was called the Tam-tam tour. You go on this boat and it is really boring because it is too slow.

There is one thing Australian in the park. Can you guess?
(answer: the wallibi - this is how the French spell wallaby). Weird...

CHAMONIX

One day, we went to Chamonix, a town at the bottom of the Mont-Blanc ('Mount White'). The Mont-Blanc is the highest mountain in Europe, it is 4810.45 metres high.

We took a mini train up the mountain. It went through 9 tunnels and was very steep. It is called the Montenvers train.

We saw a glacier called La mer de glace (the sea of ice). The glacier is melting because of global warming. The snow on Mont-Blanc never melts though because it is so high. That is why it is called mount white.

We took a lift down and took another 319 steps down to an ice cave. It was like a house, there was furniture made out of ice. Afterwards, we climbed back up and went to a crystal museum and heard about a dog called a Saint Bernard that saves people from avalanches. My favourite part was the ice cave because I enjoy the darkness inside.

ANNECY

Annecy is very different from Melbourne in many different ways. There are mountain creatures here such as marmottes and bouquetins. Bouquetins are very good mountain climbers. Marmottes sleep all winter.

A typical mountain food is potato, dry meat and melted cheese that is made from cow’s milk.

There is also fish from the lake that you do not find in the ocean (filet des perches). We ate some in a restaurant and it was so yummy that I had 3 serves of fish, 2 serves of hot chips but I had only 1 serve of salad.

Typical houses in the mountains are often made of wood and stones. In the summer, you can go hiking up the moutains and you will get a great view but then you have to go back down.

We also went to the gorge and walked on a very narrow bridge. The rocks are formed by the water eroding them over time. Some look like human faces.

I hope you are all well. I will write soon.

JULES