Chapter 1
Well . . .
We’re here ! Had an excellent flight all the way. No turbulence , no chundering, (no sleep ) Magnificent views of Bahrain from 35000 feet. Actually we had magnificent views of all the places we flew over. It was totally clear 95% of the flight. No cloud.
Any way, after 7 + 13 + 1.5 hours of flying, we haven’t shaped up too badly. We jumped into our magnificent Vauxhall Corsa and promptly did 170 Miles around the south east of Edinburgh. Kelso, Jedburgh, Roxburgh, Galashiels, Melrose just to name a few. Awsome. Had dinner at a little B+B out of Gorebridge where we are staying. Excellent Ale (Gaulder ??). Totally stuffed now as we have had no sleep in almost 2 days. Saw an F18 buzz Floors Castle where the Duke and Duchess of Roxburgh reside. Amazingly loud and quick. (Castle was incredible too, these guys actually LIVE there all the time.) Heaps of bridges, castles, ruins , & video tape being filmed ! No to mention photos.
Au Revoir
Francois et Meloine
Chapter 2
Edinburgh, the castle, Holyrood House. Heaps of flowers for Diana. Took a bus tour through the city. Saw the house where Alexander Graeme Bell lived, also the guy who wrote Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde. Statue of Walter Scott. One of the most beautiful cities I have seen. Something very deep in it. Thursday went to Stirling Castle. This is very special as it is virtually complete. . There is a chapel here which dates back to 1093 ! They are spending 20,000,000 pound on restoration ! Some rain but still sunny and mild. Long drive to Aberdeen. Finally found a B+B for 30 pnd. Lovely dinner at The Ashville. What is Haddock ? Some kind of fish, like flake.
Shalom
Frango et Meloni
Chapter 3
Friday drove from Aberdeen to Inverness via Kildrummy castle, Huntly castler and it’s getting hard to remember what the last castle looked like. Through Dufftown and the Glenfiddich distillery. This was grouse. Went on a one hour tour through it. Very interesting. The entire process is done here except for the drying of the malt. Then on to Balvenie castle, and Elgin cathedral. This would have been an enormous church in its day, and even today, it is still awesome. Next to it is the Biblical gardens, but we really didn’t have a good look through there. Found a B+B in Telford St. and then walked through town. Checked out Inverness Castle. Not very impressive as it is nearly brand new (1834) and is used today as the Sheriffs Court. Had dinner at a pub called the Waterfront. Fine steak and haddock. Then attended a concert of a guitarists called Jim Hunter. Very nice, but nothing too flash. If he’s one of their best, then I could easily get a gig here!
Ciao
Franchesco e Melania
Chapter 4
Saturday, the day of Diana’s funeral Drove to Culloden , the site where Bonnie Prince Charlie was defeated, it was closed. Still nice. Saw the flags showing where the 2 armies would have stood. Went to Fort George, still in use as a military training area, it was closed. Went back to Nairn to see the beach. Yes there is sand, and is was lovely. Now back through Inverness and on to Urqhart castle on the banks of Loch Ness, it was closed. Still, like the other 100 people, we jumped the fence and had a look. Had lunch at Fort Augusta where there are these sluice gates dropping in level about 10 feet. Very pretty. Down through Fort William which is quite non-descript and continued on through Glencoe, Bridge of Orchy to Crianlarich. These are the Highlands. Very rugged countryside, hills with tiny rivers cutting their way down to the valleys, very green and lush. Road signs everywhere warn of deer crossing, but we saw none. Crianlarich is a very small town, 2 shops, 2 B+B’s and naturally 2 pubs.
Later
Frank + Mel
Chapter 5
Well we're now in Pommy land.
We've been down through the Highlands which were just magnificent, a bit drizzly, but that was what we imagined it to be like. We spent 2 nights in the lakes district at Windemere and saw the beautiful views around the area. Went on a walk to a waterfall which was great until we got lost on the way back ! There were no signposts or arrows or any indicators of which way to go. We almost started to panic when we finally worked it out. a 40 minute walk had become a 1.45 hour walk.
Then down from the Lakes through Glasgow, (windows up and doors locked) then down the M6 motorway all the way to Cardiff (Caerdydd). This was a very long drive, made worse by an accident where a lorry hit a bus carrying old ladies on their way y to London to pay their respects to Lady Di. Two actually died in hospital later. Thus the trip took 7.5 hours and it was sunny and hot in the car ( 22 degrees.) We had a quick squizz around Cardiff Castle then headed to Swansea. We found a marvellous B+B in Mumbles n the side of a hill and we had the top room, 3rd floor, overlooking the bay. Had dinner at The George, a lovely pub which also overlooked the bay. It was nice seeing the lights on the other side of the bay from our table. We were then due to stay with Nigel's folks at Ebbw Vale, but thought we could squeeze in a trip to the west coast of Wales to see a place called St. David’s where there are ruins of a massive castle and a cathedral (not in ruins) it was a long drive, but well worth it. We made it to Nigel's folks place an hour and a half late as a result. They were wonderful people. We had a nice meal that night with them and a good nights rest. Rowlie and Rhodda convinced us to stay another night and we couldn't resist. They both took the day off and drove us around the sites, an old Welsh museum, the moors and have dinner at the Vine Tree. We left early the following morning (10.00 in the morning) and drove over the new bridge (Second bridge of the Severn) over through Bristol and on to Bath.
Bath is beautiful and is the site of the old Roman baths found about 100 years ago. They were unearthed, and then built around and over with buildings which now serve as a tourist area through the baths. The water in the baths is a constant 46.5 Celsius and the springs which feed them pump out over a million litres of water a day. ( Imagine filling a bath with water 8 times a minute for a day, then keep doing it for a few million years !) There are so many wonderful old buildings, churches, bridges around Bath, but it really is for the tourists, and has been since the Romans settled there. We then set off for Stonehenge !
Stonehenge cannot really be described adequately, so I won't try. Needless to say it was awesome. The monoliths came from 380 km west in Wales and were floated across from there and then dragged / carried to their present location. You actually do get reasonable close to them, 10 -12 feet, but cannot touch them. The lightest of them is around 5 tonnes ! No..... you put it up there !
Hope you are all well.
F+M
Chapter 6
- 18/9/97Hello all
Only been away 2 and a bit weeks, but it seems so long !
Since Stonehenge, we stayed at Salisbury at a YHA hostel. Not too bad except that we left our power adaptor there. We drove through to Brighton which is a fairly up-market holiday area. It also has it’s fair share of scum considering they were holding a National Speedway trial for cars and bikes on the beach. Tried to get accommodation there, but we couldn’t. So on we went to some place 5 miles down the road where we found a B+B with a room overlooking the ocean for 30 pound ! Bewdiful ! That night we drove back to Brighton and saw Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery. Then we drove on to Dover. Not really much to see except for the ferry terminal which is the World’s most busy passenger terminal. There were at one stage no less than 6 ferries and one hovercraft in the terminal ! You can get over to Calais for 2 pound ! And it only takes 35 minutes or an hour & a half return. And you can get all the Duty free stuff you like ! Not Bad ! The White Cliff’s are a sight though. Dover Castle id also very interesting. There is a system of tunnels under the cliffs which have been used for strategic military uses from Napoleonic times. The original tunnels were added to extensively as a military hospital for the frontline soldiers and they go down more thant 170 feet. They have only been open to the public for the last 2 years, so we have been lucky.
We've been in London for the last 4 days and each day we've been into the city. Seen Westminster Abbey, St. Stephens Clock (acka Big Ben), been on a cruise up the Thames, had tea at Liz's place (or have I spelt palace wrong ?) Houses of Parliament, been on the underground a million times, St. Paul's cathedral, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Leicester Square ( the body piercing capital of the universe), Harrods, (where I refused to spend a pound to leave my mark in the lavatory, and saw a coffee table on sale at a bargain - basement price of 53,900 pounds . Roughly, that's more than We paid for our house and all the furniture in it !!!) Marks & Spencer's, seen a stupid woman get hit by a motorcycle courier, seen a very smart chick crack the sh-ts at Burger King and throw her full tray at the staff over the counter, going to see West Ham play Newcastle in a league soccer game, seen a West End production of Oliver at the London Palladium with Barry Humphries playing Fagin, Other than that, it's been very dull. Ohh, by the way, we've got another 6 weeks of this to go !
Till next time, ciao
Franklin L Mindum. Esq. and his good wife, Lady Melanie Mindum.
Chapter 7
23/9/97Guttentag Volks !
Vell das flight vrom England vas gutte und dere vere no problems. If you have das divviculty mit reading das letter, perhaps you should try to sprechen De Deusche !
Any way, we are well. Germany is lovely and Dad’s cousin and family in Guttersloh are very nice . We’ve been through the area surrounding Guttersloh and Cologne, and today Franz (the German relative) drove us to Berlin in his brand new 230 E Benz. Gee 220 kmph really isn’t that fast after all ! MUCH ! Berlin is absolutely fascinating. It’s incredible to touch walls which actually still have bullet holes in them from WWII. Much of the city was rebuilt very badly with prefab concrete crap , but now they are tearing much of this down and rebuilding it as it used to be pre- war. Berlin at night is spectacular with all the churches, libraries etc lit up, and the Brandenburg gate looked fantastic. There is so much history here.
Any way to things on your side. Saints will win the flag against Adelaide riding on Mark Harvey’s Brownlow. How do I know ? Well we are in East Germany after all. Tomorrow the Berlin wall or at least what remains of it, Checkpoint Charlie, Potsdam (something about some crappy old castle about 700 years old.) and then back to Guttersloh.
Sorry to bore you ! Yes we are reading your emails. Dave, tell Rita we’re sorry about their cat but shit happens ! (You must also have a very shitty basket ball team to lose against girls!) We also saw West Ham lose to Newcastle at Upton Park (tickets were 29 pounds each! ) Nige, thanks for pay details (sound ok but I really don’t give a shit right now!) and jokes (not appreciated by our brit friends though ) Donner’s, what can I say, a wealth of useless but important information, Dill’s, HAPPY BIRTHDAY for the 17th (sorry we’re late) and we hope you are surviving without Janey, although she’s probably back from Vietnam by now. Hey Nige, maybe you should speak to Jane about your planned trip to Vietnam at Xmas, but then again you don’t know each other. No matter. Paul, Ros, please don’t leave unless I can come too! (That goes to you too, Nige !). Kathy, I’m not sure if you’re receiving these emails, but I’m mucking about with your address so hopefully this one will get to you.
AveiderZein (No, don’t run a spell-checker on this.)
Fritz und Melonia, ya das is gutte ?
PS Dave and Nigel. Your parents are great, but apparently we are too old to adopt ! Their hospitality and freindship were greatly appreciated, as was their food, washing, beds, homes, etc,etc,etc.
PPS Talk to you all again in a week or so from some other exotic location.
PPSS Nigel. Please tell Ted That YES it does work, but I will continue further evaluation, and that YES, it will cost him a good couple of hundred bucks or more by the time I’m through. If he has a problem with this, let me know, but tell him "Suffer in you jocks !"
PPSSS We’re watching North playing Westcoast on the TV with French commentary ! BIZARRE !
Chapter 8
27/9/97Vitame Vas V Praze. (Welcome in Prague)
Just a short howdy, to let you know, yeh, we’re still here. It was a long drive from Guttersloh to Rothenburg ober de Tauber, but I pushed our little 1.2 litre Corsa upto 160 km/hr for at least 2 seconds, once, downhill, with a tail wind, despite the fact the brochure claimed that it would only do 145! !
Rothenburg ober de Tauber was built around 900AD and has a fortified wall surrounding it, which took us two hours to walk around. It was a prosperous town until 1618, when the thirty year war occured. This killed 40% of the townsfolk, then came the Black Plague! The town then hybernated for 250 years in poverty. Then some arty farty wankers saw this unchanged town from the 1600s and thought that it would be nice to paint it, and all of a sudden with all the publicity, it became properous again. Then came WW2 when a third of the town was bombed, not because it had any strategic importance, but because the Allies knew that there were a large number of Nazi’s stationed there, three months before the end of the war. To get the town going once again, they decided to "sell" the entire wall surounding the city, metre by metre, to people all over the world. They advertised everywhere , and each person would bought a piece of wall has a plaque on it bearing their name, and how much of wall they own. Not bad marketing. With this money, they rebuilt the entire town !
Now onto Prague, where things are grey, misty and picturesque. Language is a problem for us since these Gyps don’t speak bloody English! Nevertheless, we have seen much of the town, especially the older part around the Castle and the Royal Gardens. However, I’m sick of these scummy bastards coming up to you, whispering something in your ear and waiting for a response. I think they are wanting to exchange foreign currency through the black market. Somehow I don’t think so. Very shadey characters ! Unfortunately, I still don’t know how to say F-ck Off in Czech.
Tomorrow it’s off to Budapest! Or Vienna ! Or anywhere we bloody please ! ! ! !
Anyway, Jakakoliv reprodukce mapy nebo jeji casti je dovolena pouze se souhlasem vydavatelstvi.
(I think it means "You may not reproduce this map without our prior consent.")
(And you thought that we were saying goodbye in Czech.)
F & M
PS Who won the Bloody Football !!!!!!!!!??????????? Someone, Please ring my mobile and let me know on the paging service.
Chapter 9
1/10Gutten Abbent
Sick of this crap yet ? Good !
No history lessons today, just a reminder that it’s my birthday tomorrow. Just leave all the presents beside my desk , (wherever it may be ! ! I read the mail from Mark about rearranging desks. I’m sure that got a great response.)
We’ve been in Vienna 4 days now and it’s not too bad. Bloody expensive though, and you just cannot get accommodation. We’re paying about $130 per night ! The city is beautiful and there’s always heaps going on around the mall areas. We dare not go into any shops though. The buildings and general architecture are the main highlights. However, tonight it’s off to the Konzerthaus for the Mozart Symphonic Orchestra. Balcony seats too !!! Tomorrow we’re going to head to Budapest, but it seams we may opt out of going to Italy all together. We may have bitten off a bit much in terms of the actual travelling distances by car. The problem really is that you have to travel about 400 - 500 km on the days you are going from main town to the next one. Then you get diverted all over the place due to road works so this turns it into a 8 hour drive. You then get into town tired, hungry, stressed from the driving, and you then have to find accomodation. Most hostels in the Lonely Planet guide we have found to be booked out, and the other options in there like private hostels and homes are generally absolute shit-holes. But 4 star is no option either. Trying to find a medium proves very hard and time consuming. Nonetheless, we are pushing on.
Thanks for your overwhelming responses to my emails. Perhaps you are really sick of hearing me harping on about how wonderful a time we are having, but this is HARD WORK. You have to be in a totally beautiful country surrounded by the foundation of civilisation as we know it, put up with eating out EVERYDAY, having to sample different beers wherever you go, seeing artifacts from centuries ago, have breakfast cooked for you EVERY MORNING, spend money like it’s the leaves fallen from a tree in autumn in Vienna, (which incidentally are the most glorious shade of gold at the moment), then try find a way of filling up the remaining 23 seconds of your day ! ! !
Grosse Gotte,
Frank und Melanie.
Chapter 10
9/10We met up with Melanie’s uncle Ian and part of his family in Vienna, and he took us out to dinner with a business associate ( taxi driver ). We ate at his local pub and had the best schnitzels ever ! Then a tour by night around Vienna. This was great because being a taxi, he could go where normal cars were not allowed. The following morning, we drove to Budapest and met up with Maree Brooker (ex Dept. Finance) who fortunately had booked a room for us at the Hotel she was staying at. Beautiful city with the Danube seperating the two cities. Maree saved us a lot of time as she had been there for a few days and knew her way around the Metro etc. I was amazed at how much Hungarian I knew considering I haven’t spoken it for so many years. For example, at the old city of Pest, this "tour guide" was forcing his services onto us. Politeness failed 3 times (in his own language,) so memory clicked into action and I was able to throw some verbal abuse at him in Hungarian to get the desired effect. The city is magnificent at night as it is all lit up along the Danube. Much nicer than Vienna, and a quarter of the price !
Then back east avoiding Vienna, all the way to Steyr, half way between Vienna and Salzburg. This area between the two cities is called the Romantik Strasse (Romantic Road). The scenery is spectacular. We stayed in beautiful little towns which really haven’t changed in 250 - 300 years. The saltmines are still a mainstay of the economy, bolstered by tourism. The great thing for them is that there is really a year-round appeal for these places, so there are always tourists. However, they are enough off the main tracks that it is not crowded, and still relativley cheap. Saw some magnificent ice - caves while in Obertraun. These alpine areas with the rugged mountains climbing up at unbeleivable angles have really grabbed me. I’ve seen them in postcards and movies, but seeing them up close, (or not so close) is indescribable. Mel reckons they may be to heavy for hand-luggage, so I’ll have to leave the ones I’ve collected. Hallein is a town 20 minutes from Salzburg where we stayed in a farm house with a family who spoke NO English, and we spoke NO Austrian. Very interesting trying to ask if we we could do washing of clothes in our room ! Very cheap accomodation, 920 Shillings for 2 nights and breakfast included, (about $100 aud). We went on the "Sound of Music" tour which was very interesting in terms of seeing the surrounding areas of Salzburg, but had little to do with the film. (Very disappointing for Mel as she could not prance aroung a hill singing "The Hills are alive . . . . . Blah Blah Blah" .)
Anyway, now on to Switzerland, but first through the renowned country (Yes, OK, it IS a country Mel. You were right !) of Leichtenstein. All 25 x 5 kms of it. A very prosperous, yet non-descript place, apparently a tax haven. Back in 1993 they suffered their highest unemployment rate ever. 1.8% (242 people). Then we drove all the way to Interlaken through some very long tunnels under the mountains, some over 12 kms.. Not too bad so far, just don’t think you can actually afford to do anything once you’re here.
Catch you in a week or so.
FTB & Mrs. FTB
Chapter 11
14/10Bongiorno Tutti
Interlaken . . . home of the Swiss Army Knife, of so you would think. Every second shop sells them, and they are actually quite cheap, by about $10 less than in Australia. We bought Melanie one ! (Too late if you want us to get you one, we’ve left there already.) Stayed at an American summer camp, or so it seemed, called Balmers’s. It wasn’t too bad and we were able to get a double room with breakfast. Atmosphere was pretty good with heaps of younger people, mainly Yanks. Caught the cable car from Murren to Birg, then to Schilthorn. This is one of the highest peaks in the Jungfrau region. We did not go to Jungfrau as it was totally clouded over. Cable cars were grouse ! You think you are going really slow, until one comes past the other way. Shit, they move ! The view was something else. Although there was a bit of cloud, it was clear most of the 360 degrees around. (Schilthorn is were they shot "On Her Majesties Secret Service" the 007 classic.) Despite a bit of drizzle, we decided to have a bit of a walk to a point about 150 meters away from the peak. We had all the right gear with us, so, no problems. Got to this point, and were able to take a couple of photos and some video despite the rain. In my infinite wisdom, I decided that it really wasn’t far to walk to the further point, which is the one where the cable car does it’s final run to the summit from. It took us about 1.5 hours, and despite "all the right gear" we were soaked ! However, it was worth it, except that it then cost us another $15 to get back to Schilthorn by cable car. ( a total cost of $98 EACH to get there !)
The following day we visited some "underground" (inside a mountain) waterfalls just out of Lauterbrunnen. Spectacular, especially as there had been rain. Drove to Montreux on the edge of Lake Geneva. Very pretty, but really just a stop - over. Saw the Chateau Chillon on the banks of the lake, the most visited historical site in Switzerland, but we’re not sure why ! Then we headed off to Italy, or the North thereof. Drove to Turin (Sorry , Torino) and were initially so disapointed that we desperately tried to get out of the town , whereupon, we found the actual town ! Stayed one night, just enough to see a bit of the town and the River Po, and estalbish that we could not see the Shroud of Turin as they were renovating the Cathedral. Then off to San Margharita Ligure. On the coast of the Mediterranean. Beautiful little village and surrounds. Except for the bloody motorscooters. These guys and girls are absolutely MAD. There are no rules for them. However this fits in with the general driving skills in Italy. There are NO RULES. Die if you think of stopping at a red light, risk life and limb if you dare to stop at a stop sign. You will be hit whatever you do. Eyes closed, no indicator, foot flat on the accelerator and one hand on the horn is the order of the day. I never imagined it to be this bad. Never mind, I can adapt ! Drove to Portofino, saw that it would cost us $24 to park for 2 hours, drove back to San Margharita Ligure and caught the bus to Portofino for $1.70 each and spent the day there. Extremely picturesque little bay. Totally postcard material with a small marina, colourful buildings, shops selling their goods for 10,000 times their value, real tourist stuff. Tomorrow, off to Monaco, and hopefully 5 days freeeeee accomodation ! ! ! ! (Time to relax at last. (and do some washing !)and hopefully no steps to castles, cathedrals, etc, etc, etc. Sick of them !)
Ciao,
Francisco e Melaniano
PS Kathy, please give copies of these emails to Mum, and perhaps she can also give them to Bev and Roy. (Preferable sensored) Also let Mum & Dad know that Bev & Roy will be picking us up from the airport. ALSO HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR FRIDAY YOU OLD BAG ! ! ! I’ll try give you a buzz on the phone.
Chapter 12
20/10Bon Jour, hope you are all tres bien.
Alors . . . It seems that le ‘oliday est almost finis. Only neuf (9) days to go. Details of the last few days are flimsy to say the least. We left our little Italian coastal town of San Margharita Ligure for even sunnier shores along the Cote d’Azur. MONACO !!! Ahh Oui ! What can I say. 3 kms long, 300 meters wide, tax free, totally slendid beaches, everything within walking distance, and best of all we had a 3 bedroom Penthouse suite on the top floor of a building called the "Europa Residence" located on the main suave street, overlooking Le Meditereane with views that stretched as far as the eye could see, for 5 days, and it did not cost us a cent ! ! ! Ahh , it’s not what you know. (Obviously !) This was our holiday within the holiday. We really did not do much after we saw all the sites to see, such as the palace, changing of the guards, Prince Rainier’s personal car collection, tramping all over the old town, visiting the poor cousin of Monaco, Nice, sipping wine on the balcony watching a sunset that stretched on until tomorrow, but for relaxation value, this was it ! Strangely enough, despite it’s chic status, food and other goods really were cheaper than they had been at Portofino in Italy. We dined out relatively cheaply and even made a killing at the Monte Carlo Casino ($15) !! We left this morning sadly, knowing we will never be back. Next time, we would have to actually pay for things like accomodation, and since we had experienced better than 5 star for free, there is no point coming back. (We may have been blacklisted from the casino anyway !) We made it to Lyon in one big hit today, about 550 km. (Let’s not talk about the tolls though !) Back to reality now. Quite a nice town and we found reasonable accomodation close the the guts of the town. Checked out all the cathedrals, Roman theatres, bridges etc, so tomorrow it’s off to Dijon, then on to gay Paris. There will be one final communication after this one, then you’ll have to see THE FILM !!!!
"Mel & Frank Do Europe !"
Salut
You know who !
Chapter 13
28/10OK . . . Last one ! Really ! After this one, I’ll be back home and will see you in person to gloat and carry on about things, so I’ll keep this one short. Dijon. Well . . . they are famous for mustard. Now on to Versailles. The only thing there really is a bit of history and a bloody big palace. We spent two days there, both days were spent tramping aroud this huge castle and it’s gardens. Then to Paris. The worst part was trying to find accomodation, but I won’t go into that here. (The internet is sensored isn’t it ?) Drove around the city on the peripheral road which was fine. Kind of like the South Eastern on a footy Saturday. Managed to get to our hotel to drop our luggage off, then on to drop the car off at La Defense. I must mention DRIVING AROUND THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE . Yes we did it without damage. Piece of cake ! ! ! (Thanks to Mel’s superiour navigation skills.) La Defense is the new business centre. Heaps of new style skyscrapers and, of course, La Grande Arche. A kind of open cube building that some wanker architect got away with. From the top you get a good view down past the Arc De Triomphe to the Obelisk at Place de La Concorde. Went up that tower thing, not bad, checked out some old crap paintings at some Louvre joint. (Saw no louvres that would fit my car !) A Bastille that doesn’t even exist. (Lucky we didn’t have to pay to see that one !) Walked down the Champs Elysees where we had lunch on the footpath. Took a squizz at Napolean’s tomb, saw exactly where a princess died not long ago, saw the tomb of James Douglas Morrison, Frederick Chopin and Oscar Wilde, also another church called "Notre Dame". (Although I think this was THE one.) Most of this was done as pietons. (Pedestrians. Buses and trains are for wimps !) Took a night cruise by bus and boat to then see most of this stuff when it’s dark. (That tower thing was the best at night. Bloody Awsome !) Heaps of shopping was done today to really give Mr. Visa something to think about.
See you in a couple of days.
A Bientot.
The Totally Buggered Mr. & Mrs. Frank and Melanie Mindum.