As Audrey Hepburn said , “Paris is always a good idea”

barges moored on the Seine

Our passports needed renewing so a little break in Paris was required. C’est la vie.

Since the Australian embassy is in the 15^th arrondisement ( near the Eiffel Tower), we decided to stay nearby. We haven’t been to this part of Paris before, so it was an opportunity to explore. The area is mostly residential and there are some very attractive apartment buildings and lots of good shops around rue du Commerce.

not as distracting as one would think

view from our window - the tower disappearing into the fog

Loved our hotel. Not only did we sleep beneath a canopy picture of the Eiffel Tower, we could also see it from our window. The hotel has been newly refurbished and is very fresh and cheerful and quiet. The staff were so friendly they even gave us an upgrade. The tower did totally disappear in the fog one morning though. 

www.hotelgustave.com/en

can't miss the Australian Embassy

Passport interview took all of ten minutes and then we were off to the Grand Palais to see the Gauguin exhibition. Unfortunately, the building exterior is being refurbished so a bit of a building site, and the queue for the exhibition was 1 ½ hours, so we gave that up as a bad idea. Instead went across the street to the Petit Palais and their permanent collection including classical greek pieces and art of the middle ages, dutch masters and art nouveau furniture – quite eclectic.

Grand Palais, and the statues on the Pont Alexander always glow
no matter the weather

a Seine water nymph

Then off to another place we have always missed visiting, the Centre Pompidou. Loved the Derain exhibition as I didn’t know much about his work, but we weren’t impressed with the permanent exhibition of modern works or the way that much of the work was displayed.

there's always a park in Paris

A short walk from our hotel, we discovered a wonderful authentic french bistro for dinner. It is over three mezzanine levels and decorated in a style that  we all expect here. 

Lots of vintage french marketing posters and old mirrors beneath a glass domed roof. The food is simple, typical french dishes served by friendly waiters. Ours recommended to me the rhum baba for dessert as a specialty of the house. Not only did he sprinkle the baba with rum at the table, but he also left the bottle behind so that I could help myself  – as if it needed more ! The clientele was mostly couples and there was that hum of happy customers enjoying the experience .  Highly recommended.

www.lecafeducommerce.com

at the local shops, you can buy cheese.....

or a harp.....

On the last day we had brunch at an australian café. Matthew from Wollongong and his french partner, Tim, serve good coffee ( surprisingly hard to get in France) and avocado, poached egg and bacon on toasted bread (tartine). They even have vegemite and make fresh scones !

www.ocoffeeshop.com

A little shoe shopping was also included so a good break all round  and another part of Paris ticked off our list.

I do love the colours and style of Paris doors

Can also recommend the newly upgraded TGV service (Train à Grande Vitesse)  between Paris and Bordeaux. Two hours and eight minutes city centre to city centre (584 kms). Such a shame that successive australian governments can’t get their act together and build this from Brisbane to Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, at least.

Back home to raking and bagging all those leaves that are now falling. Next week's highlight, a trip to the dechetterie. Ah, well.

Bon week-end mes amis

The Road Trip 2017

An adventure in human relations & tribulations

A Father & Son bonding session

Part 2

Now that we have experienced the first part of our Road Trip, it is time to move onto the more “adventurous” part of the journey, but first a couple of recollections.

For me to fill the role of “navigator” to assist and interpret Madam GPS was always a contentious choice. As anyone who has driven with me would know, my navigational skills are well & truly of secondary standard. But as this was Chris’ journey and he wanted to experience the drive, I had little choice but to acquiesce to his suggestion……….perhaps he might come to regret that decision at some point in the journey.

We had made Nice without too much drama and had refreshed ourselves for a fresh start this morning on our shortish leg to Genoa in Northern Italy. As the journey was only around 2.5 hours, our objective was to drive to Genoa and then follow the coast road back to a number of villages and towns on the coast that cannot be accessed from the autostrada. A good plan we thought at the time…..but little did we know what was ahead.

The actual drive to Genoa was incident free and provided some glorious sights of the Mediterranean and the coastal villages. We agreed to drive to the Hotel (in Pegli, a suburb of Genoa and around 8 kms from the centre of the city) and drop our luggage before making the journey back along the coast. Initially traffic was not bad, but soon deteriorated as we got closer to the city. Madam GPS was doing a fine job and even “the navigator” was holding up.

The views from our hotel window

As we found ourselves approaching the hotel, we knew that the car park was at the back of the building and so we needed to find our way to the back. Trouble began when we found two different streets immediately on both sides of the hotel……which one should we take??? Madam GPS was determined not to assist on this occasion and “the navigator” was left to make a choice. “Take the first street” I said to Chris and as he turned into the street, it quickly became obvious that this was not a street….not even a lane…it narrowed sharply and as we reached the crest there was a small parking area for about 4 cars…but there were 6 cars parked there.

Ok I said, as I saw another area behind us and through a gateway ………this could be the Hotel (then again it might not be). Chris did a 27 point turn and managed to drive into the gated area only to find again about 7 cars parked in 5 spaces. Oh dear I thought….this is not the Hotel (in fact it was an old persons retirement home). Another 27 point turn in a very tight spot and at last we were facing the right way to get out.

As Chris drove out we soon found ourselves very close to the automatic gate and I was charged with making sure that we got out without contact with that gate. Well despite much swearing and other language from both of us, I guided Chris out cleanly with barely ½ an inch between the car and the gate……..at least that’s what I thought. While I was busy watching to bodywork clear the gate, I unfortunately missed the motor for the gate and it managed to gouge a nice big hole in the low profile (and costly Continental tyres of the Mercedes). Much more vibrant language was heard all over Genoa once again and even the caretaker of the home came out to complain about the damaged motor (actually it was only the cover that was damaged and the motor still worked).

With the caretaker rabbiting on in Italian (not even having the courtesy of being able to speak in English) and requesting Chris’ insurance details, we gave him the Travel Insurance details. Little did he know that our travel insurance did not work like normal car insurance. He even tried to call them on the phone, but failed to realise the time difference between Italy and Australia. He at least did explain that the Hotel parking was in the next street immediately past the Hotel itself. With air gushing out of the tyre, we managed expertly to drive back down the lane and into traffic and then up the next street to the parking area.

Once inside the hotel, we realised that our objective of visiting other coastal towns was now a non-starter and we spoke with the hotel reception about finding a replacement tyre. Well of course, a new Continental low profile tyre could not be found anywhere in Genoa and we would need to have one delivered from Milan, but that would not arrive until mid-afternoon the next day. The hotel was able to get a friendly motor mechanic to come to the hotel after 7pm and take our wheel away and put on a suitable second hand tyre that would do us for about 50-100 kms. This was enough to get us to the tyre shop about 1 km from the hotel the next afternoon.

Well now with plenty of time on our hands, we reluctantly managed to explore the local area and find somewhere for a meal that evening. It was not central Genoa, but it was right on the coast. The next morning, as we had plenty of time to wait for the tyre to be delivered, we opted to take the bus into Genoa and explore the city proper. The bus ride took about 45 minutes and stopped regularly for the predominantly elderly patrons………we had plenty of time and so it did not worry us too much. On arrival at the harbour in Genoa, we left the bus and explored the city on foot. I have to say that it was not one of my favourites, but that might have had more to do with our mood rather than the city itself. As Chris said, the “cons” seemed to outweigh the ‘pros” but that was just our opinion. After a couple of hours walking and photographing Genoa, we settled for a reasonable “Sushi” lunch just for a change from local.

Genoa Harbour

The return bus trip was another experience and this time as we got on at the first stop, we managed to get seats with no problems, but at the very next stop the bus filled with patrons both elderly and youth from nearby schools. It was now so packed that Chris could not even get up to offer an old lady his seat…..she just continued to glare at him for the entire journey, which took the best part of an hour. Finally we made it back to the hotel, but still had an hour to kill before setting off for the tyre change.

Downtown Genoa

Because of the delayed departure, we had to reconsider our itinerary and while we had intended to push onto Innsbruck in Austria that night, the timing told us otherwise. We decided on diverting the trip to Lake Garda in northern Italy where Kerrie & I had visited about 6 months ago …..it is a great spot and a wonderful stop over.

While it only took about 60 seconds to change the tyre, it did cost €180 but we were simply happy to be able to move on again. The drive onto Lake Garda was uneventful and the language in the car had settled back to a degree of normality considering my navigational skills. As we drove through the hills and then mountains of northern Italy, there were some great views and a couple of stops for the inevitable photos. After arriving at our hotel, we took a drive into Pescheria del Garda (right on the lake) to explore and take more photos in the fading light. Chris was again most upset with my inability to find the spot that Kerrie & I had visited 6 months prior and again a few choice words were exchanged as we searched for a suitable parking area close to the water. Mission accomplished and an hour’s walk and photos shoot finished the frustrating day. Later that night after dinner, Chris even allowed me the luxury of having a glass of Laphroaig whiskey to calm me done. Well done son.

The final day saw us heading to Basel, which is located right on the borders of France, Switzerland and Germany. We both had flights departing Basel the next day to finish the road trip stage of Chris’ journey. Again the trip into Basel took us through some wonderful scenery of high rugged mountains and beautiful lakes (Garda, Como & Lugarno). It was indeed necessary to switch roles driving and navigating (not that we need much of the latter at that stage) so that Chris could take some photos from the car, as there were few places to stop for them.

Lake Garda

The final leg saw us arrive on the outskirts of Basel only to find a combination of peak hour traffic and roadworks. It took us a good hour to go 8 kms, but finally we actually made it to our hotel where we checked in. We were supposed to drop off the Mercedes at the airport (French side) at 3pm, but it was now 5pm. None the less Madam GPS made one last gesture of help by bypassing all of the heavy traffic and we found our way to the correct side of the airport without any problems.

View from the Car crossing into Switzerland from Italy

Now we simply had to find our way back to the hotel……..ahhh we thought, let’s take a taxi. Sure enough, we found the taxi rank and all of the drivers pointed us in the direction of one cab…..a brand new BMW 7 series limo. Of course we did not think until after we arrived at the hotel that perhaps we should have taken an ordinary basic taxi. The cost of our ride (about 12 minutes) was €55 against the normal €27, but hey we had a great ride with the driver accelerating to 110 kmh in a 50 kmh zone and some hairy lane changes….he was obviously in a hurry  to get back to the airport and catch some other poor suckers.

Some of the imposing scenery in Switzerland - viewed from the car

And so ended our road trip together as we each headed our separate ways the next morning…..me flying to Bordeaux and Chris off to Copenhagen to start his journey through Scandinavia and onto the Northern Lights.

It is fair to say that there were a few times where voices were a little raised and some serious glares at times, but I do know that both of us fully enjoyed and appreciated the journey together. For me the best parts were at the end of each day when we would sit down for dinner and simply talk about all kinds of things. It had been quite some time since I had spent any quality time with my son and for this journey I am forever grateful. It just went to show me how much he had matured and become a wonderful, thoughtful and caring person.

I simply hope that he enjoys the rest of his journey and that he does indeed feel the need to come back in the near future to visit us again and then to explore Austria & Germany that he missed out on this time around.

Perhaps I might even join him again.

There’s a french market, then there’s a french market….

Stuff !

Did you know that french markets have seasons ? There’s always the local produce market in each village all year round, but for vide grenier, brocante and specialty items it’s different.

and more stuff !

and there is always a rug dealer

now this is a kitchen table !

In summer there’s a vide grenier (empty the attic) and/or brocante (not quite antique) market every weekend somewhere near you – thousands of them. This is how the french , and the tourists, spend their sundays. As there is always food and drink on offer it can be a whole day out.

almost large enough to pot a tree

"industrial" is a very popular look

In autumn it’s more the specialty markets like stamps, coins and medals, or books, or car stuff - anything collectable. And for us, the twice yearly two week brocante market in Bordeaux at Place des Quinconces is special.

even something for the birds

In december and january it’s the christmas themed markets. Wonderful to visit in the evening when everything is lit up and there’s music, vin chaud (mulled wine) and fresh crepes and churros for a snack , and a meal on offer of course.

Linen

and more linen

silverware anyone ?

There is a village between us and Bordeaux where they just love a brocante market. Rauzan has the ruins of the old chateau to visit, and is surrounded by vineyards so typical of this area.

not the sort of menu you would see at a market in Australia -
Cépes omelette followed by a trilogy of crème brûlée,
or a pear poached in grand marnier

naked ladies and walking sticks - something for everyone

During winter in this town they do something unusual , they have a brocante market  every  sunday in the ‘shed’ behind the school. Winter flea markets are not common as who wants to go out in the cold and damp and tramp around the streets (or worse, in a field) to look at other people’s junk, so an indoor market is such a good idea. But twice a year in April and October, they have a super three day brocante fair with dealers from all over France. That’s when we go along just to enjoy seeing the beautiful, the unique, and sometimes the just plain strange – and that’s just the people.

And the french do love their dead animals. If you can't eat it then you can always stuff it.

is he still moving ?

Another glorious sunny autumn day in southwest France.  Why would you be anywhere else ?

amour à tous

The Road Trip 2017

An adventure in human relations & tribulations

A Father & Son bonding session

Part 1

It all began 12 months ago when our son, Chris, decided that it was time to pay us a visit here in France. Chris’ plans included a few days with us in Sainte Foy La Grande, followed by a trip around the Mediterranean and up into Northern Europe and then onto Scandinavia to meet an old school friend in Stockholm. From Sweden he planned to head up to the Arctic to see and photograph the “Northern Lights”.

As it can be a little lonely and difficult to get around a number of European countries by car on your own, Kerrie & I discussed and agreed upon a plan for me to join Chris for the first 5 days and nights of his journey. Probably somewhat reluctantly, Chris also agreed to this plan.

And so it all happened in late September, with Chris’ arrival in Sainte Foy. He had booked an Alfa Romeo Julia for the driving leg, but we had to return it to French soil otherwise he would have to pay a “foreign surcharge” of around an extra €700. An itinerary was put together that saw us spend the first night at Montpellier (French Mediterranean) and then the next night in Nice, followed by a night in Genoa (Italy) and then onto Innsbruck (Austria) and our final night in Basel (Switzerland). The airport at Basel has a Swiss side & a French side, so we could return the car there with no additional cost. From Basel, I would fly home to Bordeaux and Chris would fly to Copenhagen to commence his Scandinavian adventure on his own.

The Mercedes instead of the AlfaRomeo

That’s enough of the background…..now onto the reality of the adventure.

On the Sunday morning we had to pick up his car from AVIS at Bordeaux and lo and behold, when we arrived, we found that instead of the Alfa Romeo that he had requested, they provided us with a quite new Mercedes 200 CL coupe. While he was a little disappointed with the change (every man wants to drive an Alfa at some stage of their life) we settled into the vehicle and yours truly had the fun of driving it out of busy Bordeaux and home. As Chris had never driven on the “wrong side” of the road before, nor on narrow roads with lots of roundabouts, I took him for a 30 minute drive in the country for him to get accustomed to the car and the roads. No problems and mission accomplished.

On Monday morning we said farewell to Kerrie and set off on our journey heading to our first overnight stop at Montpellier. I took the first stint in the car driving as far as the autoroute, where I handed over control to the young buck. Rather than go directly to Montpellier (about 4 hours from home) Chris decided that he wanted to revisit the old walled city of Carcassonne (he had previously been there as a 9 year old) and so we set the GPS and off we went. On the autoroute, he was able to get a good feel for driving, with plenty of room and good roads.

Around lunchtime, we arrived at Carcassonne and had to leave the autoroute and find “La Cité” and then park the bloody car. This was not too difficult but tested us with the reliability of Madam GPS……..she in fact did a pretty good job and we parked and walked up to the walled city. For those that have not been here, it is a great experience to find an entire city (albeit small) situated within the double walls that enclose the old city. It is very commercial and “touristy” but worth a visit none the less. We had a quick lunch and then on to our destination of Montpellier.

Crossing into La Cité

Chris outside La Cité

Once we found the hotel and checked in, we decided to take the local tram into the centre of Montpellier to explore and photograph this interesting city, a short distance from the Mediterranean Sea. Montpellier is a smallish city but a university town and it includes the oldest medical school in Europe. As a university city, there is a strong feel of youth and fun about the place and it has a mixture of old & modern all encompassed in and around the city centre. Chris spent quite a bit of time simply walking around the town centre and taking ample photographs. Indeed Montpellier was one of his favourites. We had a pleasant dinner in Place de la Comedie and then back to the hotel. Chris also had a plan to try a local beer (if there was one) in each stop.

Place de la Comedie - Montpellier

Next day since our destination of Nice was not a long drive (again around 4 hours)  we decided on a couple of detours first. Our first breakout was to the old Roman city of Arles, where there is a plethora of roman ruins including a fully functioning Arena (coliseum) and also a separate amphitheatre…….great for a keen photographer. Arles was also a very well-known for the Van Gogh presence and it was here that he painted “Starry Night” and other famous works of art, including “Le Café La Nuit”.

The Arena in Arles

Well Arles was our first test of our metal and as Chris was driving, it was my role to play navigator along with madam GPS. Now even though I had been to Arles previously (5 years ago) anyone who knows my propensity for navigation would have questioned the wisdom of this role being on my shoulders. Just ask Kerrie for her thoughts on my navigation skills!!! Trying to find a parking space in the middle of Arles was proving not to be that easy and after several circuits of the centre, together with a couple of heated exchanges between driver and navigator, Chris decided that it would be easier to park on the outskirts and walk into town (no more than 2 kms). Mission accomplished, we parked in an area that I was unfamiliar with, but Chris took over and soon had us in the centre of town and outside the imposing arena. For those that are interested, there is a better example of the arena in Nimes another city a bit further to the North, but be warned parking in Nimes is worse than Arles, so be prepared.

Van Gogh's - Le Café La Nuit - Arles

After wondering through the Arena (at a cost naturally) and plenty of photographs, we moved onto the amphitheatre and then walked around town in search of the café made famous by Van Gogh in “Le Café la Nuit”. Unfortunately, we failed in this expedition, but we did walk along the Rhone River and found a local boat that had been sunk, but was now in the throes of being salvaged. After a fair walk back, we found the car ok and decided to make our move onwards to Nice on the Côte D’Azur.

Before getting to Nice, we took a short diversion to the lovely town of Avignon (the gateway to Provence). Old Avignon is another walled city enclosing quite a large commercial and residential area and fortunately for us, the navigation and parking was pretty straight forward on this occasion. For those that do not know, Avignon is also famous for the “Avignon Papacy”. This arose when King Philip IV of France had an ongoing disagreement with Pope Boniface VIII in Rome. As a result Philip effectively established his own reign of Popes who were “legitimately” elected and based in Avignon, much to the annoyance of the Romans and the “traditional” church. There were 7 popes who were based in Avignon from 1305 to 1376. In this time the “Palais des Papes” was built and expanded. It is quite a massive complex with some ancient murals still visible in some of the rooms. While it may not rival St Peters and the Vatican, it remains a very interesting sight with an intriguing history.

Palais des Papes - Avignon and tombs of the Popes below

Driving from Avignon to Nice is a comfortable drive through Provence and what stands out for non-Europeans, is the limestone hills and mountains, the scrubby nature of the terrain and occasional glimpses of the blue Mediterranean. We arrived in Nice (a large city by French standards) close to “peak hour” and we were as usual relying on our good friend Madam GPS. Unfortunately at this time, Nice was undergoing major roadworks and building for the extension of the tramway all the way to the airport. This effectively cut the city into 2 parts and unfortunately our hotel was in the second part. After numerous attempts to find the hotel by GPS, we constantly ended up in some “dead-end” streets with great difficulty in even turning the car around. Chris did exceptionally well as the navigator again failed the basic test of finding a way around this mess. Eventually (about 40 minutes later) and after Chris reverted to good old “Google Maps” on his phone, we actually found our way to the Promenade Des Anglais and from there we finally were able to find our hotel tucked away in some strange part street/part goat track. This was certainly not one of the better hotels of the entire trip.

From the hotel, we needed to get to the Vieux Ville or the old town for dinner and a bit of exploration. Thank God for Uber. Within 6 minutes we had a very pleasant ride in an upmarket BMW into central Nice and “Cours Saleya”.

Cours Saleya in Nice

Here we decided to take an extended walk through the old town with very narrow streets and a strong Italianate influence. Chris was not overly excited by the closeness of all of the housing and commerce and it is certainly quite different to what he has experienced back in Australia.

None the less, I had promised him a good seafood dinner and after a bit of a walk to see the beach and coastline, we returned to Cours Saleya and found a good seafood place where we both indulged in oysters and then a fritto misto, both of which were delicious. Naturally, this was washed down with a different local beer and I even managed to sneak a glass of vin blanc to finish the night. Another Uber returned us to the hotel where we made notes and prepared for the next stage of our journey.

To be continued