Real Madrid?

Another day, another city and another language – although to be honest apart from the absolute basics we have stuck to English. The short time we were in Madrid, we were quite impressed although it was somewhat of a paradox. It was certainly cheaper food wise and very friendly – the cab driver gave a full running commentary in Spanish on the way from the airport on all the sights of which we picked up on the odd word here and there. It seemed we were back in Italy with churches on every corner – well in the centre of the city where we were staying anyway. You could even buy all your chalices, vestments etc at any one of a number of shops – just what every house needs. Perhaps this was needed to balance the seedier side of life. On exiting the airport where once again customs was a non-event (so far we have not actually spoken or shown our passports to anyone from any government department anywhere in Europe including Italy when we first arrived) we were handed a card for a ‘Lesbian show’ in the city, then we were offered a condom while walking up the street arm-in-arm and also in the middle of the afternoon there were hookers about every 5m in the square including outside of McDonalds. They were almost as frequent as the lottery stands and with beers for 50c all the vices were covered!

With a minimum of fuss travel arrangements have gone according to plan although a moment ago the phone did receive a message from Telstra warning us about data plans in Portugal. We do know that we are on the correct train but didn’t realise that we actually left Spain during the trip – hopefully we will make our way back to Spain and to Sarria otherwise the train is lost.

The weather has been fine – unlike what we have heard from home, however it is supposed to be wet on the Camino. Looking out the window of the train, the clouds are starting to get heavier so the predictions may be accurate. Will just have to see what awaits, however we could be doing some ‘walking in the rain’!

Made it to Sarria safely, had a huge dinner for 8 Euro each including beer so definitely much cheaper than France and Italy. Off walking tomorrow with all the other pilgrims who hopped off the train this afternoon.

Love to all

S&E

One Night in Paris (+3)

There she is

 After a very hectic and exhausting time in Paris and then on to Madrid we have some reflection time and time to catch up on the blog while on the train to Sarria before we start our walk across northern Spain on the Camino.

Paris is still a bit of a blur as we tried to fit in as much as possible. We became quite adept at the Metro jumping on and off between lines to get all sorts of places – museums, restaurants, bike shops, internet cafes, closed gluten free cafes you name it. Just saying but our major cities in Australia could benefit from a Metro – cheap, fast, regular and very easy to use. We certainly made use of and got our money’s worth from the Paris pass if only with Metro travel.

Chocolatier at Choco-story - just
had to visit there!

Saw the sights – Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Chateau of Versailles, Grand Palais, Pont Neuf, Latin Quarter etc etc and lined up countless times with the thousands of other tourists. We joked that as the lines were so long for people that had already bought their tickets, it was probably quicker to not buy tickets because those lines were invariably shorter. A number of times we seemed to get stuck behind American tourists who loudly protested that they had priority tickets to avoid the lines – like we all did!! To make things even more interesting at the Louvre they decided to move the line for people who had tickets – we arrived at 8:45 found the sign for people with tickets and thought we were doing extremely well with only about 20 people in front of us and a long line forming behind us. About 5 to 9 an official came along took the sign down and told the whole line to move outside to the area which when we eventually got to the sign said for people without tickets. When the officials were quizzed they said no that is the line for people with tickets – I know my French is not much chop but I do understand the English in which the sign was written. Needless to say several hundred people were then in front of us. Didn’t really concern us but of course some were not happy. The expected hundreds of people were around the ‘famous’ items but it was just as interesting looking at the Egyptian antiquities and lesser known items as fighting the crowds at Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa. We did however get the photos to show we were there.

Versailles garden

A cruise down the Seine at dusk (well it was before dusk when we started but the cruise company only runs until 9:30) was certainly a highlight. The Eiffel Tower looks much better at night as the lights come into effect than it does during the day. It does make for late nights however waiting for the sun to set and it was 11 o’clock before getting back to the apartment to get to sleep. No wonder the Parisians don’t start the day until 10 o’clock in the morning!

Eiffel light show

A trip out to the Chateau of Versailles (even though we thought we were going the wrong way for a start – then it turned out we actually did and took the long way round). Darn French  have both Versailles Chateau and Versailles Chantier (what do you mean we should read the whole sign) and so we had to walk a whole 5 minutes further to get to the Chateau (which we eventually worked out after again having to turn the data on the phone to check we were not completely and utterly lost). Not a problem because we actually wanted to go to a restaurant recommended for having gluten free options on the way to the Chateau. We turned up to find out that Versailles is the only place in France where lunch actually goes from 12-2 so it was almost 3 and they were closed. Everywhere else lunch goes through to 4 at least! Actually just kept up the record with Gluten free options for Elizabeth – so far we have tried three specific destinations on the basis of reviews only to find them closed for one reason or another. Needless to say Elizabeth has eaten plenty of steak and frites and salad and Stephen has eaten far too much bread. The Palace of Versailles explains without any documentary exactly why there was a French revolution. We were pleased that we went to see it but also pleased once we left as it was just too gaudy – you could appreciate some of the exquisite beauty but all in all it was far too much and we left overwhelmed rather than appreciative.

Elizabeth’s Anecdotes.

Overall, we have had a wonderful time in France. The time spent tripping around in our little “camping-car” was great fun and we look forward to a repeat in the UK in a few weeks, although hopefully in a slightly bigger version. The French countryside and villages were beautiful and we saw all the things we expected. Paris was just as we expected too, very busy lots and lots of crowds. I am finding the number of people trying to get money out of you however they can a bit overwhelming. Knowing nothing of the social security systems over here it is easy to be judgmental, but I am over people rattling paper cups in my face, handing me slips of paper on trains with their stories printed on them, rubbing their fingers together in the universal sign for money if you look like you are looking in the direction of their street act, fake babies in baby slings, fake petitions for drugs, orphans, and anything else that ends with a donation. I have only been caught once, not entirely my fault as the man had a shirt with a railway emblem on it and before I could protest he had grabbed my bag and hustled me onto the train for Nice. It all happened so fast that when we realised what had happened, we weren’t even sure we were on the right train. I said thank you and then he demanded payment for his “assistance”. So many of them have multiple dogs with them, we figure because it may engender more sympathy for the welfare of their pets. On the Champs Elysees we had to watch where we walked all the time, lest you trip over someone lying on the ground with the paper cup waving at you. I guess it makes you realise how sheltered a life we live in little old Bundy.

Love to all
S&E

An EifFULL of Paris

View from top of Eiffel Tower with
Arc de Triomphe

 Our first day exploring Paris and after the huge day yesterday it was a good thing it was not a big one. We headed off and wandered down the Champs-Elysees at the very unseemly hour by Paris standards of 8:45am and almost had the place to ourselves. Could have almost had a bike race up the street there was so little traffic!

Looking up the Eiffel Tower

Our goal was the Eiffel Tower for today and the area around it. We arrived, managed to line up and get our tickets without too much fuss and it didn’t take too long. Amused ourselves by watching the game of cat and mouse between the hawkers flogging off the cheap Eiffel Tower mementos and the Police who were chasing them away. The 2 Police officers would push through and the hawkers would leave while their mates would move in from the other side. The army officers with the automatic weapons were obviously not concerned with the hawkers as they just ignored them. One of the soldiers looked like he was barely old enough to shave – I’m sure his mother would have had to take up his uniform as his gun was almost bigger than him. Takes a bit of getting used to for us from Australia of rounding a corner and almost running into a soldier with a gun – we really would prefer if the gun wasn’t pointing in our direction!

Parc du Champ de Mars

Unfortunately the weather was not great but as we said we are in Paris, at the top of the Eiffel Tower – what is there to complain about. I managed to overcome the fear of heights as we walked around the top – in actual fact it really wasn’t a factor apart from a degree of discomfort standing on the glass floor panels on the first floor. The Tower is certainly an engineering feat particularly for the time and an example of grand thinking. While Mr Eiffel’s design is amazing, whoever thought in the first place to build a tower was a great visionary. It was certainly an amazing morning and the steps were not too much of a problem (say those who only came down them!).

The Seine from Level 1

We then had some time walking around the Parc du Champ de Mars and Trocadero Gardens before the rain came in heavier and chased us home.

Tomorrow the weather promises to be better and we have a full day planned after a fairly restful one today.

Love to all

S&E

The footsteps of war

Entrance to Trois Arbres war
cemetery Steenwerck

 Well those of you who keep up with Facebook posts would realise that we made it to Villers Bretonneux for the dawn service which was just such an amazing privilege. A number of posts have been made to the blog today as we have re-connected with regular internet and the backlog has been cleared.

Herbert Henry Dale

We have finished our France ‘camping car’(you have to love the French way of describing things) expedition and made it safely back to Paris. The camping car and both of us have escaped unscathed surviving even the demonic GPS. Today has been a huge day commencing with the Villers Bretonneux dawn service which was such a time of wonder. The echoes of WW1 commenced yesterday as we successfully found Trois Arbres War Cemetery outside of Steenwerck in northern France and the grave of Herbert Henry Dale who died on 2 August 1917 aged just 21. The cemetery was just as you imagine, a beautiful setting immaculately tended and just such a peaceful spot. The French certainly know how to keep a promise to look after the fallen. We couldn’t help think that for a young bloke from Murgon in the South Burnett he would have almost felt like home in amongst the dairy farms and crops of Steenwerck. We’re unsure if Herbert Henry has ever had any other family visit but there we felt such a sense of privilege to bring a poignant greeting from ‘back home’. We had our lunch there just spending some time among the young and some no so young men who never made it back to their homes. The GPS must have recognised the importance of the task at hand to find the cemetery even with the somewhat vague directions because it was surprising simple. We figured it would be on this particular road D77, even stopped in Steenwerck to check with the local Office du Tourism (however they were closed for the lunch break) so took the punt and there it was.

War stone Steenwerck

Australian War Memorial
Villers-Bretonneux

We then made our way to Corbie to spend the afternoon cleaning the motorhome and packing up ready for the Dawn Service and the return of the camper. Up bright and early and over to the designated area for the bus pick up at 4:10am. As we were walking along we saw the 3:50am bus leave at 4:00am so figured it would be late. As the rain started and people for the 4:30am bus started to arrive we decided that we would walk the few kilometres to Villers. As we along with many others were walking along we passed the bus which was supposed to come back to pick up us up stuck in the snarl of buses still trying to deliver the first group of visitors. We met up with the Harveys eventually at the Dawn Service and stood through a very wet service. It seemed somewhat appropriate for it to be a wet and bleak morning for ANZAC Day – so many of the pictures you see and the stories you hear of the Somme tell of the mud. We even broke out the plastic ponchos we had brought with us to go over the top – when we opened them we found they were from World Youth Day in Sydney 2008 which never got used! Rugged up in thermals, Wallabies jersies and scarves adorned with Elizabeth’s knitted poppies (part of the knitted poppies project in Federation Square Melbourne) we stayed fairly warm and dry initially but as time went on that changed. By the time the last post came around we were chilled to the bone. Not sure if it was the cumulative effect of the cold wind or the emotion of the moment. While we walked back to Corbie in the rain knowing that we would get into a heated car and dry out it was hard not to imagine what it was like for diggers who lived like that for months in between having to fight or more especially those men and women who forever have the cold embrace of a land not their own. Lest we forget!

Setting off for Paris to return the camper the GPS was determined to take us via Villers-Bretonneux however we kept ignoring it so ended up heading to Amiens. Again appropriate as we would have travelled past the place where Uncle Agin received his Military Medal as the citation said ‘to the east of Amiens on the road to Villers-Bretonneux’.

Looking back to Villers-Bretonneux

We made it to Paris in time after eventually locating the Avis depot and made our way to the smallest apartment we have come across as yet – but literally 50m off the Champs Elysees. The opportunity to stroll around the street, have a meal and people watch. Sitting and eating we could not help but notice the guy from Tommy Hilfiger who was looking very sharp. He was standing at the entrance decked out in the trendy gear (trousers too short, no socks and deck shoes not to mention a very bizarre haircut) doing the moves and ready to greet everyone coming into the store and help out in any way possible (hold the motorcycle helmet or a stuffed Eyore or move the beggars along). I must say I was disappointed to find that there was not Youtube clip of ‘Tommy Hilfiger guy’. An early night in the midst of a thunderstorm in Paris.

Love to all

S&E

Twice across the English Channel

Concrete caisson which doubled as
sleeping quarter for the men in the harbour

Arromanches looking west to
Pointe de Tracy

 We arrived in the late afternoon to a particularly inhospitable weather welcome from Arromanches-les-bains with a very strong wind blowing straight off the Artic somewhere. After a few days of very warm weather this came as a bit of a shock and we had to search out the thermals. The inhospitable weather also hid the amazing jewel that is Arromanches. We set off in the morning to discover the D-Day museum and were absolutely enthralled. Like the Australian War Memorial it was a place you didn't want to leave because the story was told so well – the ingenuity, the awe, the heroism, the futility, the hope, the waste, the poignancy of realising that so much blood was shed on that beach 71 years ago.

Iron causeway - was used as a traffic
bridge in France after the war

Little did we realise the sheer scale of the D-Day invasion and the fact that the Allied forces created 2 artificial harbours - Mulberry A and Mulberry B (A for American, B for British) to sustain the invasion. Mulberry A was destroyed in a wild storm only a couple of weeks after D-Day but Mulberry B survived and was used through until December 1944 when the front line was too far from Arromanches for it to be effective as a supply base. The whole harbour was created within a few days of D-Day. First they sank merchant ships (obviously they weren’t good for much anymore) to make a break wall then 115 huge concrete ‘caissons’ were sunk after being towed over from England to make the permanent breakwall and have anti-aircraft guns installed. Next they installed the floating docks connected to the beach by 1.2km of floating causeways – one going to the beach for unloading and the other to for empty trucks to return to the ships to collect more supplies. Two other one way causeways were installed to unload fuel and munitions and another for troops. Again all of these causeways were towed from England. It was an amazing engineering feat with the harbour operating 24 hours a day and able to unload 18 000 tonnes of supplies a day. Some of our ports these days may struggle with those figures! To think all this had to happen in a couple of days and be hidden from the Germans in the planning stages.

Outside of the Bayeux tapestry museum

Our second trip across the English channel (not literally) occurred with the visit to the Bayeux tapestry and the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror in 1066. Some 900 years difference and sailed in the opposite direction but probably travelled at about the same speed. In both cases the invading force was met with jubilation from some but huge bloodshed in battle. It just goes to show that we don’t always learn from history and that our footsteps may be very muddy.

With almost a minimum of fuss we travelled to Mers les bains – for whatever reason the GPS decided it did not want to take us down the non-navigable country lanes but instead over a couple of amazing modern bridges at Honfleur and Le Havre and delivered us safely. Tomorrow we head off in search of the Trois Arbres War Cemetry to find Lance Corporal Herbert Henry Dale  – some very sketchy directions courtesy of the Australian War Memorial and now with our knowledge of French road sign chaos we will see what occurs.

Love to all

S&E

A little jump forward of 16 000 years

Chateau Royale Amboise

Stained glass windows in St Hubert
Chapel - resting place of Leonardo Da Vinci

Stephen atop Chateau Royale with
Loire river in background

Amboise in the Loire valley – where Leondardo Da Vinci died and is buried and we stayed on an island in the middle of the Loire river. We got in late – had no idea of what we were actually doing with getting into the Aire (camping area) because we had to get a ticket and get through a boomgate. We didn’t feel too silly though, there were a whole lot of native French speakers who were pushing the help button on the automatic ticket machine and seemingly abusing the voice on the other end, because apparently they didn’t know how to get a ticket either!  We got in, but then weren’t sure if we would ever get out, certainly we spent the next 12 hours with Stephen having to hurdle the gate to press a button to let me back in.  Amboise is a pretty little town, whose claim to fame, apart from Leonardo, is that French King Charles VII, swiped the Chateau d’Amboise from some bloke who had plotted against him, and then he stationed archers there. Eventually, Charles VIII was born there and eventually married Anne de Bretagne, who was already married to another bloke, but what the king wants, the king gets, so he just annulled that marriage, got the girl and the kingdom that came with her. Anne set the castle up just the way she liked it, surrounded herself with lots of arty types, had some renovations done. Charles VIII hit his head a door lintel and dropped dead without a heir, so Anne then had to marry Loius XII. The whole clan were very incestuous, cousins marrying cousins etc, all for territory. Still no heirs, so Francois 1 become king in 1515 and after fighting the Italians and claiming some of their territory, he become very paly with Leonardo Da Vinci, so he invited him to Amboise and gifted him a house, Le Clos Luce. The Mona Lisa was actually in the house for a time. We toured both the Chateau and the house, both very interesting. Michael you would love this place - I can just imagine you as a child engrossed in all the models of the inventions. You would then have set about trying to build them all - probably always destined to be an engineer. As we toured the house and went into Leonardo's bedroom there is a cat asleep on the bed. They take their pets (particularly their dogs) everywhere - museums, Lascaux caves, restaurants!

Le Close Luce from the garden

The most amazing thing for me was that d’Artagnan (of Three Musketeers fame) was in the Chateau in 1661 escorting Nicolas Fouquet to Paris for his trial. Now that makes history and those books I read years ago come to life!!

Off to Arromanches to continue to jump forward in history with the beaches of Normandy and D-Day.

Love to all
S&E

Some of the first footsteps in our history

Entrance to the cave of Lascaux II

View of the Vezere valley - more gorgeous
countryside.

 Well we found our caves and grottos in Montignac another charming little French village. There we discovered Lascaux – the site of amazing Cro-Magnon era cave art dating back some 17 000 years. The cave was discovered by 4 teenagers in 1940 when their dog fell down a hole created by a fallen tree. We entered Lascaux 2 a completely artificial reproduced replica of the original cave. The original cave was closed to the public in 1963 after it was discovered the carbon dioxide from our breath was destroying the images on the limestone cave walls. Over a period of 20 years a copy of the most of the cave and the art was reproduced about 200m away from the cave. The paintings were all reproduced but much of the etchings are not in Lascaux 2. Next year Lascaux 4 will open as the current site is not coping with the number of visitors. The detail of the paintings depicting Aurochs, stags, cave bears and cave lions was astounding. Given that the culture has not continued the experts are unsure of the reason for some of the art and its purpose. The animals depicted were not ones that were hunted and Cro-Magnon people did not live in the cave but rather went to the cave to paint on ladders and scaffolding. No wonder the French Professor when he first saw the cave described it as the Prehistoric Sistine Chapel.

They were certainly artists using the structure and curves of the limestone to create aspects of the creatures’ bodies. It was interesting to compare it to Aboriginal Rock art in the Northern Territory. The aboriginal art was not about recreating the look of the animals but rather functional and conveying the story. Given that the Aboriginal culture continues the advantage is that the ‘story’ can be told of the art – the reason for it and the meaning conveyed. This is lost with the Lascaux artwork and is simply open to interpretation and hypothesis.

Auroch and baby - very cute

After Lascaux 2 we headed out to Le Thot (apparently well signposted – well it was apart from one important turn at a round-a-bout) to see a museum where they ‘recreated’ some of the animals of the time of Cro-Magnon. We eventually got on the right road and headed out to the ‘farm’. The Auroch no longer exists but some scientists set about trying to breed backwards from a series of old breeds and now have is the ‘reconstructed auroch’ which is a registered breed in France. We hadn’t noticed flies in France but once around the aurochs, mountain goats, deer, bison and horses they were well and truly present. We also had the experience of sitting through a great animation where mammoths, bison, deer etc from the Cro-Magnon era appeared entirely in French. Understood the odd word here and there but it was certainly entertaining. Another group of school kids – everywhere we have been whether in town or at the museums etc we have seen at least one group of students – we joke about bring along your 2 euro for the bus and we will go to the Vatican, Cro-Magnon paintings, Leonardo Da Vinci’s house etc. Just amazing opportunities but we have also seen them walking around the villages – the teachers probably want to get them out of the cooped up school buildings because there does not seem to be anywhere to play.

We then headed off to Amboise in the Loire valley.

Love to all
S&E

The place the GPS forgot (St Forgeaux)

Market in Annecy

View across Lac D'Annecy

 We finally made it to our little campsite in St Forgeaux (much more by good luck than good management and with no assistance at all from the GPS). We were warned by other travellers that the GPS has a mind of its own and will take you on the most bizarre path – well now we agree. Yesterday’s adventure paled in comparison to the drama of this afternoon in trying to travel the 32km from Lyon to St Forgeaux. The day started brilliantly in Annecy (more about that later) and the GPS even behaved itself on the trip to Lyon. After that, it appeared to have been taken over by some poltergeist that had an obsession to turn right, whether there was a road or not. We turned right when we were able, usually into narrow one way streets that convinced me that Stephen’s driving skills rival those of the Positano drivers. I definitely think St Christopher had a mighty hand in getting us here alive.  After nearly two hours lost on a voyage that should have been about 14 miles, we admitted defeat, ( I think I was hyperventilating by then) turned data back on the iphone and worked out where the hell we were, thus enabling us to work out where the hell we needed to go.  We think maybe yesterday’s adventure with the closed tunnel was just a foretaste of things to come. Our second revelation was to read the written directions in the Aires de Service book when you get close, they actually do lead you to the sign for the Aire!

Anyway, here we are in another little French village, free camping, free electricity and free water, can’t complain about that. We have one friendly French neighbour (Marie Claire) whose English was OK enough to have a chat and after dinner and a nice little Moscato from the Bordeux region, all is good. We swapped email addresses and Marie Claire I hope your travels continue to go well and you do get to Australia one day.

View down the canal with flowers in
pots on the lock 

I have decided if we emigrate I am moving to Annecy! Snow covered Alps above the shores of a crystal clear Lac du Annecy, little canals running through the centre of town, beautiful gardens of all sorts of bulbs and our first authentic French Market. We strolled around just soaking up the myriad of stalls of all the French delights that I have seen on SBS cooking shows for years. We bought goats cheese Chevre and Saucisson, fresh vegies, good wine and even treated ourselves to morning tea at Le Peche Mignon Patissier- Chocolatier- Glacier, and yes the treats were as good as that sounds! We must have a connection with Annecy – everywhere we looked were Golden Retrievers just like Kally and not to be outdone we then saw an unclipped Shantii! We also found ourselves in the midst of another marathon, after the same thing happened in Florence. Must be marathon season here. We found it hard to pack up and hit the road towards Lyon. Had we known what awaited us perhaps we would have stayed.

See Caitlin - an unclipped Shantii!

Apart from being really lost, the countryside in this part of the world is breathtaking to us coastal Aussies. The day started out cold and sunny with no wind, so we had great views up the Rhone valley on the way here. It is quite heavily populated, but they seem to be mainly small towns and villages. The toll roads, when you get on them are at 130km/hr, but we are finding that the convenience comes at a hefty price. Today’s trip of just under 100km on the toll road cost 19 euro, so about $27.00. Won’t be complaining about the Gateway Arterial anymore!

Tomorrow, we will give the GPS one more chance, perhaps we should change the voice to a bloke! We are going to try fastest route with tolls, after shortest route is apparently a disaster waiting to happen. Heading for the Bordeaux region, hoping to get to Sarlat la Caneda where there are caves and grottos to explore although that may be too much for the GPS as it may try to take us to Quebec.

PS – Photos again for the blog – found the reason for ‘fuzzy’ photos of Marseille a grubby fingerprint on the inside of the zoom lens.

Love to all

S&E

Fancy we're in Annecy

Arco Della Pace Milan

Sorry about a couple of photos tipped on their side - in a bit of a rush and not sure how to rotate them within blogger.
Well catching up with the blog on Saturday night at a delightful campground in the city of Annecy in France. Our second night in the camper after last night we spent the night in a quaint little French village (just like we had imagined) of Bedarries.

Torre del Filarete Sforza castle Milan

Quite a bit has been packed in to the last few days – mainly travelling as we headed across Italy and into France. From Venice we made our way to Milan where we met up with Brad, Janice and Olivia for a great dinner before we headed by train to Marseille. Our time in Milan certainly did not really go according to plan and it certainly added to the adventure. As Elizabeth posted on Facebook – our accommodation ended up being changed and then after coming home late from dinner we found the key to the apartment did not work. By happy circumstance we had passed our original host in a bar downstairs from the apartment so we went to see him. Despite being very inebriated he was able to get on to the apartment owner who told him how to get in through an unlocked door. Given that the apartment owner spoke as much English as we speak Italian, someone was looking after us because otherwise we would have been outside on the street. All this happened after the tram driver on our journey home stopped part way through the run and ordered everyone off the tram. At the start of the tram journey he had jumped out of the tram to have a disagreement with another driver when they both tried to get around the same corner – obviously he was not having a good night. Again fortunately from an earlier wrong turn when we were walking around the city we knew our way home from where we were turfed off the tram. The wrong turn came about on our way back from the Duomo which we could not get in to because of a state funeral being held. Therefore we missed out on the chance of seeing inside the Milan Duomo – a shame as many people have said it is their favourite cathedral.

Santa Maria delle Grazie

After the somewhat event filled night we made our way to Marseille first travelling to Ventimiglia then changing trains to Nice and then the final leg to Marseille. The travel through the countryside was wonderful particularly the parts of the Italian and then French Riviera. The weather was a bit overcast and we didn’t see it at it best. Therefore it was probably not as impressive as the Amalfi coast as far as we were concerned. We were looking forward to the trip through Monte Carlo however the whole part of that journey was spent in a tunnel under the ground – we just had to look back on the coast line after going past.

We had a night in Marseille before picking up the camper to begin the touring around France adventure. Marseille was certainly interesting we arrived early evening and made our way to the hotel which was very close to the station. In then heading off to find something to eat, we quickly decided wandering the streets around Gare St Charles was not the place to be so it was find the closest vendor with something that looked reasonable and retreat to the hotel. Did not even try the ‘sans gluten’ idea for Elizabeth – ended up with a kebab which was then dismantled. Marseille the next morning in the daylight was much more attractive and the Vieux Port area was lovely – unfortunately the camera was playing up so the photos did not work.

Trying out the school French (not terribly successfully – but what can you expect from 30+ years ago and being taught French by one of the sisters with a broad Irish accent) we managed to get to Avis and collect the camper and get the low down on how everything worked. We then set off just to the north of Avignon for the first night. We managed to make our way along some narrow country lanes with little drama (the GPS is not the easiest to follow) to a lovely little garden area next to a creek. A wander around the town – like something you see on a TV show was a wonderful way to start the day.

Into the camper to head to the mountains – literally. The way the GPS took us ended with a tunnel being closed and a deviation in place so it was up and over the mountain to reach Annecy. A narrow road with French locals speeding their way around (well we assume they were locals maybe not) meant some tense moments. Then of course we needed to avoid the cyclists who obviously were using the mountains for their training – I did think of getting out and commandeering a bike as I am missing the bike – however then I looked at the mountain and thought better of it. It was certainly a long day and we were very happy and relieved to pull up stumps here rather than heading any further. Explore around the lake and town tomorrow before heading off towards Lyon. We have decided we need to reduce the length of driving to enable us to spend more time in the regions. 

Internet connections may not be all that easy to find so until next time.

Love to all

S & E

Merchants of Venice

A portion of the ceiling in the portico
of the Basilica of San Marco 

Bell tower Piazza San Marco

 A final night in 'The Nest' our little apartment in Florence and then we were bound for Venice. The Italian train system again delivered us on time to start exploring the   streets and canals of Venice. Armed with a map on the iPad which lasted about 20 minutes before we bought a paper version we set out to tackle what must be the most confusing place to get around in the world. Changes of street names, lane ways that don't exist on maps, non sequential house numbers and then the canals which mean you have to backtrack and find another way. There was only once when we crossed a bridge and all of a sudden found we were on a street marked two streets to the south of where we thought we were. It was at this point that we almost gave up on the map and figured we would head in the general direction we wanted and then try to narrow it down once we were in the area. We did fairly well getting around and then getting back to our luggage before sorting out the Vaporetto to get to our accommodation which gave new meaning to the idea of small and was another great example of Italians making use of every available piece of space in their houses. The bathroom was literally the area under the stairs which in Australia we would probably make a cupboard if we utilised it at all.

Simply watching the life of Venice was amazing - the ambulance racing down the Grande Canal, the delivery barges carrying everything from groceries to linen to cranes and then the porters with their specially designed trolleys trundling down a laneway barely wide enough from their trolley to be met by another delivery guy heading in the opposite direction.

Mary Poppins?

Venice is certainly an amazing place - how they managed to bring in all the materials and then build the enormous marble palaces and churches is astounding. The other question is why they would build a whole city on what must be marsh land? We felt sure there was a lean on the bell tower in the Piazza San Marco!

Visits to the Basilica San Marco, Doges' Palace and the Ponte di Rialto for a lovely dinner were accomplished along with some shopping in amongst the streets and lanes. The pigeons in Piazza San Marco were a source of great entertainment for the adults and children alike! Elizabeth said she felt like she was on the set of Mary Poppins the musical feeding the pigeons!

The sun setting on San Marco's basilica

We decided that you should not visit Venice after you have been to Assisi as once again we were assaulted by hawkers and found that most places you visited wanted payment. Apart from the toilet at Assisi everything was free whereas even most of the churches wanted payment in Venice. It was 2 euros to go to the tomb of St Mark in The Basilica of San Marco where it was free to go to the crypt of St Francis and you needed to be quiet and respectful. Got to respect the credibility of the Franciscans.

Ponte di Rialto at night

Didn't do the gondola ride but did travel the Vaporetto at night to see the city lit up before continuing our journey through the Italian countryside on the train to Milan.

Make me a means of your peace

Street scene in Assisi

 The homeward journey of an exhausting but exhilarating day in Assisi. The scenery was simply breathtaking and I must say the religious significance was much easier to appreciate without the huge crowds of people. The absence of the hawkers trying to flog off 'selfie sticks' and really tacky souvenirs was an extra bonus.

Plenty of walking around the hilly streets of Assisi as we traipsed from one spectacular church to another. Managed to find and photograph the outside of the churches of St Rufino and St Chiara (2 of the sports houses of St Francis Tannum Sands).

St Francis and his faithful followers would certainly have kept fit living in this area as most of the 16 000 steps completed today seemed to be uphill.

The loo with a view over Umbria

I must say that it was worth it to spend the 0.60 Euro to go to the bathroom in the Piazza of the Basilica of San Francesco as it certainly is a 'loo with a view'. Really struggling with the whole idea of having to pay for toilets in a country which takes pride in letting everyone know that they had sewerage systems in ancient times.

To hear the recitation of the 'Prayer of St Francis' in the crypt of St Francis really made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up even if it was in Italian and we could not really join in. Certainly a day of amazing experiences and a peaceful presence characterised the time.

An absolute minimum of fuss negotiating public transport with the least crowded train we have experienced in our time in Italy. Just a wonderful experience.

Basilica San Francesco at Assisi

Under a Tuscan Sun

Utilising some time sitting on the train to Assisi to write the blog while Elizabeth knits poppies for us to wear on ANZAC Day. This is part of a campaign for 5000 handmade poppies to be displayed in Federation Square on ANZAC Day - we will have our own little link to Australia.

Since the last post the amazing experiences have continued - we left Sorrento to visit Pompei before heading on to Florence (our pick of Italian cities so far).

Stepping stones in Pompei street

Plaster cast of Pompei victim

Pompei was everything we expected and more. Again to actually walk in the streets that we learnt about in history classes and see the images in real life was mind blowing. We decided to hand over money for a guided tour and thought we may almost be bilingual by the end of the tour as the guide (who was excellent) explained things in English and Italian. The stepping stones across the street, the water pipes under the footpath, the fountains to control the water pressure - it is amazing the foundations of many technologies we use in modern cities found in the first century city. Not sure what it means that one of the best preserved sections or 'highlights' is the red light district. In history like advertising 'sex sells'. The other thing we knew but didn't really appreciate was how small the people of Pompei were - we are no giants but we certainly felt like it in comparison to the plaster casts.

Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore Florence

On to Florence where we easily discovered 'The Nest' - our accommodation for a few days. In a lovely area with handy ristorante and supermarket and welcoming chocolates and vino - what a delight. Recharged the next morning we headed to Sunday morning mass at Santa Maria del Fiore - what a cathedral! Apparently the Bishop of Florence set about building the biggest Roman Catholic cathedral in the world because Pisa had an impressive Cathedral (at the Leaning Tower which we visited later). Being like warring siblings (which still seems to continue - nothing is different the world over - think Bundaberg and Maryborough when I was growing up) they had to outdo each other. We were able to follow Mass in Italian, although most of the time we responded in English. The Parish bulletin provided the readings in English and the American priest gave an English message at the end. We were duty bound to explore the city - visit David and the Ponte Vecchio as well as dream about leather jackets etc. A trip out to Pisa to again visit the sights, take a bus tour around and have some time at of all things - a garden expo with entertainment. Not the usual entertainment however the dancers and performers dressed up in the colourful costumes throwing the flags around. It was amazing all the various flowers for sale which looked the same as our Australian ones - begonias, impatiens, hydrangeas, daisies. Stihl also had a stand with mowers and whippersnippers - not sure what they would have to mow. It must be a huge status symbol in Italy - if you have enough lawn that you need a mower you are rich because we have seen very little of it in the cities. Maybe they were for the farmers visiting Pisa.

Pisa cathedral and tower with the very green grass

Lucky I've been working out!

Off to the train station again for the adventure that is buying tickets to find our way around and manage to get the tickets and get on the correct train. 


Actually the time sitting still on the train traveling through the Tuscan countryside is a welcome break from a fairly hectic few days. The countryside is simply stunning and so picturesque. I'm sure Assisi will provide more amazing memories. Just had our tickets checked by the conductor which answered our question because up to now it seemed to be an honour system - no one checked anything to Pisa yesterday. We also know we are on the right train.

One good turn deserves another

Both of us above Positano 

Today we traveled from Sorrento to Positano and Amalfi on the spectacular Costiera Amalfitana thankfully with Pepe driving. A very narrow road, on a small bus, on the edge of cliffs, with Italian drivers - now there is something to get the heart racing. NO way that I would drive that road - yes I do have great respect for the engineers who built the road and even more respect for Pepe and his band of other merry bus drivers who battle tourists and each other to get from point A to B. If there is a spare 5mm on each side of the bus then there is plenty of room. Given that the bus actually takes up the entire road going around some of the hairpin corners the warning horn on the approach is vital - unfortunately some tourists don't know the system and then have to try to reverse out of the road of the bus. 

Santa Maria Assunta Church Positano
from the beach

Once we got past the fear of plummeting into the Tyrrhenian Sea 200 metres below the scenery was just awesome. 

The water was crystal clear and that amazing aqua colour you hear about. A stop overlooking Positano was the first opportunity to get out and see the sights before we made our way to Positano itself. After marveling at the what appeared to be DIY electricity wiring on the buildings we investigated the black rocky beach - not exactly the white sand of Queensland and surprisingly the water was not absolutely freezing. Not warm enough to entice us in however.

Fiordo di Furore on the Amalfi Coast

On to Amalfi and the chance to get on the water to see the coast line from a boat. Got to have a look at Villa Amalfi - Sophia Loren's house which apparently has its very own Funiculare (we know what that is now). From the water you could really see the stepped houses that hug the cliffs. How they are built there defies logic and the persistence of people over hundreds of years to live and build on these rocky cliffs is amazing. I'm sure the fishermen from a hundred years ago would be astounded at the tourists flocking from around the world to visit their little patch of paradise.

Stepped houses of Amalfi from the water

The devotion to Mary in this part of Italy is quite amazing with the grottos in all sorts of nooks and amazing churches. How people managed to get the materials to build these ornate buildings is astounding.

We resisted the temptation to stay at the Hotel Il San Pietro di Positano for 1000 Euros a night and instead headed back to Casa Consy in Sorrento. Tomorrow we head to Florence (it is just amazing to type that) for a few days after a visit to Pompeii. In Florence we will have the chance to get to Pisa and Assisi.

It has been an amazing couple of days on the Amalfi Coast and special thanks to Bianca for convincing us to have time here!

love S and E.xxx

Caesar shuffle and Prayers with the Pope

Aqueduct on Palantine Hill 

 A couple of days since the blog has made an appearance mainly due to the tiredness of the authors.
It certainly was a huge few days in Rome which filled our minds with images and information to last a lifetime. Night time was not the time to write the blog and try to convey thoughts to others - it was just a time of reflection and processing.
We started with the Caesar shuffle - The Palantine, Roman Forum and Colosseum along with the other 'sites' of Rome - Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon and then ventured to the Vatican.

Colosseum

Temple of Saturn - Roman Forum

Pantheon

 To walk in the area of people of history that we learn about in school - Roman emperors and the like was mind blowing. Certainly never thought that this would occur. To see Roman ruins lying on the ground almost forgotten about was astounding. As was pointed out people only really became interested in archaeology in the last century so it is no wonder that things were not preserved before that.  

We did the tourist things - were astounded by the immense proportions of the building of Ancient Rome - you have to say this for them they certainly knew how to build things. Amazing what a captive workforce of slaves can achieve.


Then we took to walking through the streets/lanes/alleys (narrow pathways anyway). Almost each time you turned a corner you happened on another magnificent building. We managed to find the church of St Ignatius and marveled at the architecture and artwork when from the outside it was a building not really any more impressive than those around it.

St Peter's during Papal audience

 Unfortunately the Trevi Fountain is still undergoing significant restoration and the only water in the fountain were two trickles from the water dispensers. We also made the mistake of trying to follow the street signs to the Trevi Fountain which meant we managed to 'lose it' for a while.
After a whole lot of walking we collapsed back at the apartment. The next days were spent mainly at the Vatican - early entry to the Sistine Chapel on an organised walk which was worth every cent. To stand in the Sistine Chapel with only about 100 people - as opposed to the several hundred when we went back through later in the day was mind blowing. Such a privileged experience and one in among so many others for which we are so grateful. The tour through the Vatican Museum where it was a case of just not knowing where to look - so many priceless items from history. We then went to have a chat to the Swiss guards to organise tickets to the Papal audience on Wednesday and just like that we had tickets - hard to believe.
The highlight to be in St Peter's Square with thousands of others for the Papal audience and blessing was again mind blowing.

Papa Francesco

On the Tuesday we met some young people from Milan - there were 7000 of them at the Vatican making their 'profession of faith' - it was a bit like World Youth Day in Sydney all over again but in the Vatican.

Wednesday afternoon we had the Scavi tour at the Vatican - the tour of the excavations under the Basilica including pagan mausoleums and the tomb of St Peter. I must admit previously I did not know the detailed study which had gone in to verifying the remains - a man in his 60s from the first century and then the 'circumstantial' evidence supporting the fact that they are St Peter's remains. While not definitive proof (which is not possible as we don't have his DNA) it is certainly enough for me. 

We then had to rush to the train to make it to Naples - fortunately we had the blessing from Pope Francis in the morning so we survived the taxi ride and arrived at the station with plenty of time to spare. We were being 'looked after'.

If you get the sense that we are all just somewhat overwhelmed by our time and experiences in Rome you would be right. 

Off to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast to celebrate our wedding anniversary!   

Elizabeth's Anecdotes:

Roman drivers are seriously insane, like certifiable. I don't like flying but the cab ride to the Termini was more terrifying! The lines on the road are but a suggestion, texting while driving, kids on laps in the front seat, we saw it all. As pedestrians it was hard enough to remember that the cars were coming from the other direction, but you also had to be aware that they don't have to stop at crossings, or red lights it appears.

Whackiest sight at the Vatican:Nuns in full habits with their iphones on selfie sticks taking selfies! That and the nun with road rage leaning on the horn in Vatican city.

Most annoying: People selling the selfie sticks every 5 metres! That and the smokers.

Most mindblowing,: Standing on the remnants of the marbled floor in Augustus' Doma and knowing he had walked on it before me!

Transport revelation: A furniculare is a cablecar inside a tunnel. Don't go looking for a tram like we know it, Made this discovery in Naples last night.

Love to all S and E.xxx