Paris, France to Montone, Italy - June 17 to June 24, 2006
Across The Channel..... Just over an hour’s flight from Luton and we arrived in Paris for three days. Our hotel was in the heart of the Latin Quarter on the Left bank and within 5 minutes walk of the River Seine. Our corner room gave us an extended balcony to sit on and enjoy a bottle of wine and nibbles and watch the passing parade. The Left Bank is full of nightlife and a wide range of restaurants and is very central. We found the Metro the best way of getting around as the trains run at regular intervals.
World Cup Fever..... Paris is such a lively city especially at night when all the Parisiennes come out to wine and dine. Again the World Cup fever was here as well, and the bars and restaurants were filled with supporters. Usually the chairs and tables on the sidewalks face outwards, but when France was playing, the chairs faced inwards to watch the TV and the crowd extended onto the street as well. We are now really interested in the matches and the atmosphere is fantastic. You mention “Australia” and we do have some French on our side. Again the weather has followed us, but much warmer, around 29 - 32 degrees each day and down to around 16 – 17 degrees at night.
We walked our legs off..... We visited Notre Dame, on the Ile St Louis and sat in the pews to just take in the surrounds of this beautiful cathederal. We visited the Pantheon and rested at the Tea Room in the Luxembourg Gardens. This is a great place for coffee and to watch the French enjoy their Sunday morning. We found our way to the Marais District and Place des Vosges which was the centre of Parisian culture during the 17th century with the beautiful arches all around the square, and we did a cruise up the River Seine at night. What a beautiful city with all the buildings illuminated, especially the Eiffel Tower. Rob found his Bunnings in the basement of a huge department store right in the centre of Paris next to the Hotel de Ville. He could have spent hours here but there were other sights to see and Liz had to drag him away. The store sold everything you could possibly think of and the variety was incredible.
A Bit Of Art & Culture..... Of course, we had to visit Montmartre, the bohemian area of Paris. The up and coming artists set up their easels and paint and sell their paintings in the cobbled streets. You can have your portrait done or sit outside the many restaurants and take it all in. We climbed the hundreds of steps to enter Sacre Coeur Basilica. This white basilica dominates the Parisian skyline. Again we sat in the pews and took it all in. The most fantastic 360 degrees view of Paris is on 56th Floor of the Montparnasse Building. In 38 seconds with ears popping, the fastest elevator in Europe takes you to a height of over 210 metres. Audiovisual and interactive facilities help you to discover and understand Paris.
Liz has spoken her schoolgirl French and it is appreciated by the French. Just a few words of their language bring a smile to their faces, probably because of the pronunciation, not sure. Anything can happen here including a little old lady who had decided to wash all her clothes in the Laundromat, including the clothes she was wearing. She was marched away by the local police in a policeman’s coat.
We will return to Paris for two days at the end of our trip to enjoy more of one of our favourite cities but it was time for more adventure.
Our Little Adventure.... We had spoken to the receptionist at our hotel for the best way to pick up our car at Peugeot. The Met was suggested as being quite straightforward. He advised against taxis because of the distance (depending on traffic – 1 hr – 2 hr) and the expense, plus it was quicker by train. So being intrepid travellers, we took off at 9.00 am with all our luggage in tow.
The first part to the local station and to the next interchange station went very smoothly – no problems at all. We changed platforms for the next part of the journey. Hey, the guy on reception was right, this is a breeze. Then the train started to slow down until we reached possibly the worst train station for things to go wrong. It was Concorde (a very busy and big interchange station). Everyone started getting off the train including us, not knowing what was going on. The station was jammed packed with people and an announcement was made, naturally in French, that there was a delay, unfortunately due to a suicide at the next station.
Oh no. Hours of delay!!!!! We were working out our next move which was looking pretty horrendous, but the French are so organized that within 20 minutes the train continued its journey. Our assessment was that nothing will disrupt the Paris underground except for a suicide bomber. We arrived at La Defence. This is a very large station in the modern commercial area of Paris. We approached a taxi stand to take us to Peugeot – 1.6 km distance. Not one French taxi driver would accept us and we were told to walk. We rang Peugeot hoping for a courtesy car, but we were given directions as to where to catch a bus with all the luggage. This we finally did, and arrived at Peugot, did all the paperwork and took possession of our brand new Peugeot 307 sports station wagon. We were finally on our way out of Paris.
Honk If Your Horny..... The most used piece of equipment in a vehicle for driving in Paris is the car horn with little patience shown for hesitation. The definition of a split second from the lights turning green to the guy behind you beeping, takes on a whole new meaning. On the expressways it is a different story. All drivers are very disciplined. They are always in the correct lane and nearly all observe the speed limit of 130 Kph.
The Summer Solstice, Time For Celebration..... We travelled south through Avallon, and small villages, Quare-les-Tombes, Villars- le- Dombes and into the Rhone Valley. In the Rhone Valley we stumbled across a small village called Paladru situated on a lake. Here we stayed at a very peaceful “chambre” for a night and had dinner at a restaurant right on the lake. The summer solstice is a big event in France as all small towns/villages celebrate the longest day with live bands and music into the night. We were entertained with a band singing in French and English, including a Rolling Stones song “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction. Very interesting!
Life's A Beach..... Our days were running out so we took the expressway south and stopped at Le Lavandou, a small town on the French Riviera. It was very busy with sunbathers lazing on the beach – some in full bathing suits, some topless! There were lots of holidaymakers and very expensive boats. We travelled along the coast a further 20 kms to St Tropez – the place definitely for movie stars and partygoers wanting to be seen. Rob decided to drive right into the very middle of St. Tropez and we ended up down these tiny little streets by default. After a good look around we left in bumper to bumper traffic and found accommodation for our last night in France in a very small and quiet town just out of St Tropez.
This Cannot Be Real..... Further around the coast is Monte Carlo, Monaco and for us a “must see.” We parked the car in a parking lot which was 10 floors deep below the ground. From street level Monte Carlo was below us and we discovered, much to our delight, that there are lifts strategically located throughout Monaco to cover much of the vertical travel you have to undertake to get to the harbour. The harbour was full of the most luxurious, expensive boats and parked opposite the boats were the owners expensive cars. We counted seven Bentleys and Rolls Royce’s on one small wharf. One of the boats even had a helicopter parked on the roof. Surprisingly, we heard the Australian accent a number of times, not only tourists from Australia, but also Australians working on these boats.
Serious Money....... Monte Carlo is absolutely for the “rich and famous”. From any vantage point in Monte Carlo, the view is spectacular. There are beautiful designer clothing shops everywhere. Everything is pristine and manicured to perfection. We walked to the Monte Carlo casino surrounded by manicured gardens with a spectacular view over the water. We entered the Hotel de Paris next door to see the foyer and were politely asked to move on as we were not dressed in jacket and tie or the appropriate designer frock.
We Had To Tunnel Our Way Out Of France..... It was then time to hit the road, or should I say tunnels and bridges, and make the run into Italy and to St Margherita arriving around 5.30 pm with no accommodation booked. We had stayed here 4 years ago in a nice hotel called Fasce Hotel. We couldn’t remember the name but we eventually found it and luckily there was one room available for the night. We spent a delightful evening in St Margherita. The next day we drove to Montone and found our perfect apartment with balconies overlooking the piazza. After planning this trip for the last two years, we have finally arrived here to live for the next ten weeks.
Ci siamo……….Bella Italia
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