Friday 18th April 2008 – The Road to Andorra

The day was overcast but the drive from Carcassonne to Foix along the route of the Le Tour was very pleasant. The tree lined roads, the bright yellow of Canola fields contrasting with the bright green of the barley and vegetable crops and the stunning hilltop villages all combined to make for a pleasant and relaxing drive.

We stopped in Foix and again we encountered “market day”. We brought cheese, baguettes and local sausage before heading on towards Andorra.

As we approached Andorra the winds picked up and the first few spots of rain progressively developed in snow and as we entered the Principality it was covered with a thick layer of fresh snow.

Upon descent into La Vella itself the snow disappeared only to be replaced by steady by constant rain. When we think of Andorra we will probably think of Queenstown on a gigantic scale but with more Audi’s per metre of road than anywhere on this earth.

Tonight was our first night outside French territory for sometime so we were anxious to see what the food would be like. It proved immediately to be completely different and absolutely delicious. The waiters were anxious to point out that we were being served Mediterranean food. We have been seeing an enormous amount of white Asparagus (Asperes) in the markets. Tonight Bernie had the opportunity to have it served with a Rochford cheese sauce as an entrée… she is still smiling a couple of hours later. We also have seen a lot of fresh strawberries in the markets and have been buying them as snacks – they are large and extremely sweet – I am not certain whether it is just the holidays but they do seem much superior to those that we get at home.

Thursday 17th April – the Medieval City

The morning was cold – who in the hell suggested that we carry a minimum of clothes? The wind blasted us as we walked across the old bridge from the new city ot Carcassonne into La Cite - the medieval city. It screamed at us in broken French “what in the hell have you got ourselves into? What on earth are you doing here? – don’t you know even winter in Australia is warmed than it is here?” .

So what was it that kept us going as we climbed the hill to the entrance … it was without a doubt, the majesty of the 15 meter defensive walls and the 25 meter towers that were dotted along its length. From a distance and indeed from within the walls itself this is an impressive piece of history. The site is a credit to the early French government officials that established the historic monuments restoration organisation in the early 1800’s.

We think that preservation of our history is a recent phenomenon but the forethought of these people who as early as 1810 recognised that the state needed to invest heavily in the restoration of the historical sites is something that took me by complete surprise. La Cite was a restoration project that took almost 70 years from about 1820 to around 1890. The result is a stunning representation of how medieval communities defended themselves.

Did the wind really die down during in our visit to La Cite or was it just that we return across the bridge with a better understanding of why we needed to walk the walk to and from the Medieval City. What ever the reason the return back to the new city (founded in around 1600) was really quite pleasant.

Wednesday 16th April – The Journey to Carcassonne

We made our way to Carcassonne by way of Arles and Sete arriving in town around 3:30 in the afternoon.

Between Avignon and Arles we were stunned to see a considerable amount of Rice under cultivation. I had no idea France had any sort of rice industry. We were not certain it was rice but it looked very much like it – perhaps another topic for some further study.

At Arles the highlights were two - In the order – a French apple tart served with local ice cream and café de crème at a small but terribly expensive café at the foot ot the roman ruins and a Roman Amphitheatre that is now used as a bullfighting arena (apparently without any harm to the bulls).

While the theatre is in amazing condition and it was quite an experience to wander through the circular passage ways that make up the entries and egresses from the both the amphitheatre seating and the area surface itself, the apple tart was something that, had the café existed, the Christians would have chosen as their last meal before entering centre stage at the focal point of activity within the arena.

From Arles we wandered down toward Sete past canals that seemed ideal for Pam and Andrews bike riding activities and lakes that served as a refuges for hundreds (thousands?) of pink flamingos. The flocks that we saw were either quite young or they did not get as much access to carotene as their Mexican cousins as they were a much lighter colour than those we saw at Los Regos.

The motorway trip to Carcassonne was rapid and an experience. I did notice that at 130kph the fuel consumption of the little 1.4 litre Peugeot 207 started to approach 10litres per 100 kilometres - Having said that it is a great little car. We love it.

We have decided that having booked our accommodation ahead on the internet and having received what we thought were real bargains we should prepare ourselves for disappointment by simply rating each one in reverse order based on the number of bottles of red wine we needed to consume to make the accommodation feel adequate. We approached Carcassonne looking for places to buy at least three bottles. To our pleasure and surprise the wine was not required for the purposes of accommodation renovation. The Ibis overlooks Gambetta Square and is a neat and tidy and well priced at 45 euros.

Dinner was just on the other side of the square where we partook of a bean, duck, bacon and sausage stew – a local speciality known as Couiselet. It comes in a large bowl and is really delicious with subtle flavours and variety of textures. I doubt that there would be many people who could manage to e consume the entire bowl.

Tuesday 15th April – Our last day at Vaisons La Romaine.

Amazing … I swear that last night when I went to bed there was a square out the front of the hotel and there were miles of narrow streets with nothing but the odd car to restrict movement around the town. This morning there are literally hundreds (maybe four or five hundred) stalls spread across the square and along EVERY street surrounding the city centre. Car access is banned – the weekly market has come to town!. The produce is amazing and the variety is stunning. There is everything from fresh sea urchin to silk dresses. Everyone is there buying their weekly provisions. The fish vendors come equipped with refrigerated display cabinets and awnings that are the length of a semi trailer and that can be closed up and towed away behind a large van inside about fifteen minutes. The scene was just amazing. Equally amazing was the reality that we returned some six hours later and everything had gone and the streets and square were back to normal … I now know what is actually meant by market day!

We took the opportunity to purchase chicken, cheese, bread and avocados for our lunch and headed off through Avignon to the Pont Du Gard. We are doing everything at a slower pace now.

We dined on our cheese, bread and water at the Pont Du Gard. For me it is a mysterious structure that demands a little more study. There is something odd about the design that is inconsistent with the normal Roman approach. It is an impressive structure and the visitors small in number and very relaxed.

We again fought with the parking machines … when will we ever learn that “accepting a card” actually means accepting a “chipped” credit card rather than the Australian magnetic strip cards – beware approaching an automatic booth on a toll way without coins or a chipped card … the standard cards do not work and the note readers are a disaster unless you have a very effective note holder.

Upon return to Vaisons La Romaine we spend a quite evening drinking Kir de Maisson’s while watching the early evening bustle of the Square Du Montford.

Monday 14th April 2008 – The Palace of the Popes

If the French had no idea how to run the Palace at Versailles as a tourist icon, someone must have taught them something on our train trip down from Paris to Avignon. The Palace is situated inside the old walled city of Avignon, a site well worth visiting in its own right. The Palace was the home to four Popes in the middle ages and the Palace has been well if not ostentatiously preserved and the visit comes with a very well presented audio tour that provides a good description of the palace and its history in user selectable detail.

We found the little GPS system a “god-send’. It worked perfectly to steer us around through the maze of one way streets that is the walled city of Avignon.

We left Avignon and headed out to the Village of Gordes in the hills on the way to Aix Provence. The little village is spectacular in the extreme.

We also found our way to the wonderful little deserted Village of Bories before heading home through the mountains pass the Monastery of …… and the Popes summer residence at Seqret.

We returned once again to the same restaurant on the terrace overlooking the roman bridge. Bernadette has threatened divorce if I explain any of the details surrounding the photograph of her in the restaurant.

Sunday 13th April - Vaisons La Romaine

The TGV is indeed an impressive means of transportation. From the pure size and neatness of the TGV chamber at Gard Nord in Paris to the very nice conditions within the first class carriages make it indeed one of the better ways to get to the south of France in style and with speed.

We had a great instructor in the ways of the French rail system at Gard Nord in the form of an executive from the International Red Cross who was travelling from Paris back to his home base in Geneva. We met him when he overheard us trying to order a drink of hot chocolate intervening between us and waiter to ensure the successful delivery of the required beverage. He told how to interpret the signage and how to validate our tickets before escorting us to the correct platform. The trip to the Avignon TGV station was over in what seemed just an hour. In reality it was a three hour trip with the train leaving the vehicles speeding along the motorway in its wake. The ride was smooth and extremely comfortable.

On arriving at the Avignon Station we rang the Peugeot people and in no time at all we were fitting the Tom Tom and heading off on our way to Vaisons La Romaine some 40 kilometres from Avignon.

Vaisons La Romaine is lovely French town of around 6000 people situated in the Rhone Valley close to the mountains. The weather was beautiful although there was still snow clearly visible on the upper peaks. The hotel is on the central town square a short distance from a monastery that dates to the middle ages.

The monastery is located across a Roman bridge that dates from the Year 0 AD. Behind the hotel were the remains of the Roman occupation of the area.

We were to use Vaisons La Romaine as a base for three days in the Rhone Valley. Soon after we arrived we started our exploration of the town at the Monastery. The weather was just beautiful and the scenery magical. We completed the day with dinner on a terrace overlooking the bridge and river drinking copious quantities of local wine and chatting away in extremely broken French-English to the restaurant owner

The Hotel Burrhus we would recommend to anyone. It is a lovely two star hotel with nice polite service with receptionists who have quite adequate English skills. The rooms are freshly renovated. It is right on the main square in the middle of town. There are plenty of restaurants in the immediate area and there is car parking in the square immediately in front of the hotel.

Saturday 12th April - The Palace at Versailles

We again ventured out on the bikes for a tour of the Palace at Versailles. It involved a ride to the train station, a train trip to Versailles, an hour or so buying picnic supplies from the Versailles markets, a couple of hours riding around the Palace grounds, a picnic lunch in the grounds looing back along the lake to the palace followed by a tour of the palace itself. The tour group were mostly Australian couples with a few Americans thrown in.

The markets were great and it was an experience to jostle with the crowds to purchase baguettes, cheese and pastries for our lunch.

The ride around the palace grounds was very pleasant but again, we were I suspect, two or three weeks early. The gardens were only just starting to emerge from winter and the trees were yet to acquire their new leaves.

The Palace itself was a disappointment. Not so much for its beauty but for the quality of the site as a vehicle for presenting the history of the French people. Certainly it is opulent almost beyond belief but the way it is presented is poor in the extreme. Signage is terrible and the organisation is almost non existent. The crowds even in this semi off-season were over powering with numerous tour groups each with their own tour leaders fighting for position within each room of the enormous palace. The tour groups themselves were not only competing with each other but also with the hundreds (thousands?) of self guided individuals each equipped with their less than adequate audio guides.

Even the car park was a scene of chaos. Bernie and I sat and watched a queue of cars lined up for entry with the ticket dispense sometimes taking up to two or three minutes to admit just one car.

To cap it all off a tourist venue that sees thousands and thousands of visitors each year had only one café. It was inside the grounds and had impossible queues. Outside the grounds there was no sign of any form of convenience ranging from toilets to food stations and not place for the many waiting visitors to sit down.

Versailles is not something that the French should be proud of either now or in the days of Louis 16th

In the evening we tried dinner at an extremely well known French bistro known as the Brusserie Balzar. By reputation it is one of the finest restaurants in the Latin Quarter that specialises in local French food. That being the case then we assume that the French eat cold chicken and exceptional rare veal served with less than adequate white wine.

Off to Avignon tomorrow.

Friday 11th April 2008

Montmartre and a Stroll around Paris

We again met Bernie Minute and made our way to Montmartre in the north of the city this time we decided to use the iron horses underground rather than shanks’ pony as BernieR would have objected with a degree of violence had we suggested too much more walking.

The Montmartre area is quaint if considerably less polished than the rest of central Paris. The view from the cathedral steps over Paris is spectacular, the building itself is impressive overall it was one of less inspiring cathedrals that are spread throughout Paris.

I was fascinated by the crassness of some endeavours … witness the Le Sacre Resto – other wise known as the local Pizza and burger outlet located on a terrace immediately below the cathedral

We had our morning coffee in a small backstreet café before heading back into central Paris. Bernie and I were intrigued by the street side crepe makers and resolved to recommend to Phil Sefton that he forget his idea of a bagel shop and acquire himself a crepe franchise.

We again wandered our way around town in the vicinity o the Bastille. Again we found our way into numerous closed courtyards of the stately precincts that enabled the aristocracy to isolate themselves from the rest of society. It was difficult not to enjoy the peace and beauty of these gardens but at the same time it was difficult for the pigeon and I not to contemplate the enormous inequity that existed at the time.

Bernie Minuti continued to seek every opportunity to practice her French conversation skills. Here she is seen accosting a local women on the pretext wanting to know more about the history of this enclosed garden.

We strolled back along the Seine to Notre Dame all the time admiring the architecture and the newly bursting blossoms. Paris will look amazing in other two or three weeks.

10th April 2008 A Day with Bernie Minuti

The day started with bread, cheese and orange juice purchased from the local supermarket the night before. It was something that Bernie and I had talked about for so long so to be finally having such a breakfast was a delight.

Bernie and I set off to the Muse D’Orsay by metro but after seeing the throngs of anxious, would be appreciators of fine art all arranging themselves in a queue that resembled a depiction of the serpent from an aboriginal dot painting we both felt that our mental and physical state would be better served by a casual stroll along the Seine towards the Eiffel Tower.


The stroll was in reality quite a respectable walk for a pair of doddering old fools like us but the weather started to smile on us with glorious sunshine and a gentle if cold wind cooperating to not only enhance the majesty of the scenery but to make the environment for the stroll most enjoyable.















I particularly enjoyed looking over the Seine to see the buildings on the various tiers of the horizon slide past one another. It made me feel like I was stationary and the architecture and history of Paris were moving before me.

We had planned to meet Bernie Minuti at the Australian Embassy quite near the Tour d’Eifell, where we were all going to catch up with Ruth Mahon for lunch. Ruth is the daughter of our mutual friends John and Liz Mahon from Wagga. Ruth is a lovely lady with delightful parents. She has been working in the Embassy in Paris for about five or six years in a variety of positions most recently in the consulate area looking after Australian who have problems when in France.










After a very pleasant lunch in the tiny basement of a Parisienne street café we left Ruth at the Embassy and went touring a number of Bernie Minuti’s favourite spots in Paris. Bernie has been a French teacher for many years and has been to and stayed in France many times. Her ability to interact with the locals and her experience in the nooks and crannies of Paris made for an extraordinarily pleasant if not tiring afternoon. I doubt that she appreciates the extent to which her company and her insights into Paris and French people enhance our whole parisenne experience.

We walked down the Champs Elysee from the Arc De’triump to the Gardens of the Tullieries











past the Peugeot store

and the Concord and stopped for desperately needed coffee overlooking the Gardens of the Tullieries .

We experienced a rally of French public servants, a rally that in that environment seemed to and probably did have an element of theatre that is usually absent from such rallies in Australia.

We even saw policemen on in-line skates

We made our way to some of the courtyard gardens of the historic aristocratic enclaves that in those days represented residential retreats for the upper classes that separated them from the poorer and less hygienic environment of early Paris.

We stopped for a “Chocolat” in the immediate environs of the George Pompidou Centre

and ended up at the Notre Dame which is only about 20 minutes walk from our hotel. It is impressive and popular with the tourists. The windows were magnificent.

I was impressed with the consistency of the architecture and obvious pride that the typical parisienne has in their city. Even the Pompidou Centre with it ultra modern theme of exposed structure and utility is tastefully confined in locality and extent to enhance rather than to detract from the atmosphere of Paris.

In most areas they were an almost total absence of graffiti of both the painted and virtual kind. For example there was a consistency even of the way in which people treated their balconies – there were no clothes out to dry nor boxes being to sent to Coventry and even the lower boxes were of a common style. Building alterations to suit a change in occupancy seemed to match the environment in what seemed like a harmony of design philosophy amongst the community. The French certainly do have style.

I have decided there is such a thing as French eyes. Not only do they appreciate style in their architecture but it sets them apart from others of different genetic makeup. When you a French person in a pensive mood they look almost melancholy if not teary. When they are overtly cheerful their eyes still have a hint of moisture about them. I was particularly impressed by the Frenchified North African young women. They were stylish and glamorous.

We were taken by the "bikes for hire" concept of the City of Paris. Dotted around the city are standards of relatviely new and modern bikes. If you subscribe by paying around E30 a year you get the first 30 minutes on a bike for free. of course people then you one bike, ride to another station and change to a new bike. The result is that bikes remain evenly distributed around the city and an individual has access to the bikes for a fixed annual fee. The bikes are also available for tourists and the stations come equiped with maps and a credit card machine to effect the hire.

We arrived home tired and very ready for our cheese, bread and cheap French red wine. .

Another great day.

9th April – The Bike Tour

After returning to the hotel and checking in we tried to have a short nap but were entirely unsuccessful – perhaps it was just the jet lag.

At around 3.00pm we headed off for the meeting point of the night bike tour of Paris at the south tower of the Eiffel Tower. As usual we arrive early and spent some time wandering around in the immediate environs of the tower itself. It was larger than I thought and I was taken by the left and right brain interactions that must have been at play (or perhaps it was war) in the mind of Gustav Eiffel.


The cycle tour started on time at 7.00pm (of course it was still light at that time and would be for another couple of hours). The group consisted of around 10 people, mostly Canadians and Americans with occupations that ranged from oil workers to flight attendants. Initially we did feel a little out of place but that feeling soon dissipated as we realised firstly that they were all really nice young people but secondly that we were more competent bike riders than most. Our only issue with the bikes were that they had “high rider” handle bars that were quite difficult to get use to.

The tour itself was an absolute delight so our gratitude goes out to Pam and Andrew for their encouragement to take it. While the operators claimed the tour would be all on bike paths or cycle lanes. They failed to mention that the cycle lanes were shared by buses and taxis. While Bernie and I did not experience any difficulties, the tour leader himself came awfully close to being squashed by a bus. I could imagine Steve telling the young tour leader some home truths.

Riding a bike in the immediate vicinity of the glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre, along the right of Seine and past the Notre Dame Cathedral all at night is a breathtaking experience – I have small bruises on my arms from pinching myself to check that I was not imaging it all.






The ride concluded with boat tour along the Seine. Again sipping red wine and passing under the bridges of Paris and past some of the remarkable structures of history was simply stunning. Any one who goes to Paris must do the night boat trip. While the Eiffel Tower is an impressive structure during the day and at a distance at night, from the vantage point provided by a night boat tour it is simply the most magnificent scene that I can currently recall.


A taxi ride home ended our first day in Paris.

We have arrived!

9th April 2008

Well we finally made to Paris.

We approached the flights with some nervousness in relation to how Bernie’s back would hold out on a long flight. After an initial scare there turned out to be no need to worry – we took advantage of the lounge in Singapore to get her a neck massage and that was all that was needed to turn her into a brand new traveller. We had a very nice French lady wine maker in the window seat – she and Bernadette managed to synchronise their needs for (very little) little girls room leaving relatively undisturbed. Both Bernie and I go lots of sleep and arrive at Charles De Gaulle feeling really well and ready to take on Paris. Never again (well at least for the time being) complain about airline food – we both thought it very good indeed.

We took a train to the Hotel Des Mines in Luxembourg and I must say that the graffiti artists in Paris are in an entirely different league to those in Australia – I found myself admiring that which was present on the rail line leading into Paris – It all seemed relatively tidy and fairly artistic to me but I guess I should qualify that by admitting that people often comment on my lack of taste!

The train service into town was excellent save for three unfortunate things … Firstly we were travelling in peak hour through the heart of Paris and secondly the turnstiles at French underground stations refused to allow both a passenger and their case to pass through with one registration of the ticket…. After some particular embarrassment as we held up a huge queue of anxious workers scurrying to their places of employment our significant suit cases, some lovely French people came to our assistance and help up manhandle the cases past the infernal barricades. To cap up our trip into the hotel the escalator on the way out of the underground was broken and we had to manhandle the cases up what seemed liked endless flights of stair … once again contrary to what most people seem to say about the French, there were plenty of people prepared to help.

The Hotel Des Mines is a delightful with clean but very small rooms. It is located next to Luxembourg garden on Boulevard St. Michel very close to the underground.

We dumped our cases and headed for a walk around the local environsincluding a walk through the gardens where preparations for spring were well underway.

The time has come!

Well ... all the last minute preparations have been (almost) completed. It is now less than 50 minutes before we need to get in the Taxi and get to the airport.

There has been some last minute scrambling as Bernie decided (quick rightly I believe) that she had packed too much into her case. Having made the decision then came all the work associated with deciding what to unload ... to cut a long story short there is now a bag of Rebbechi possessions sitting in Dione's cupboard for collection upon our return.

Unless it seems to the reader that Bernie is the only one scrambling this morning, I should say that I had to take the tram into town this morning to purchase the train tickets from Paris to Amsterdam - all of that is now done and all that remains is for me to remember to change our departure time from Bordeaux to Paris otherwise we will not make the Paris-Amsterdam connection.

Some frantic changes

I went to Sydney yesterday for a final meeting with AARNet before my departure. It became pretty clear that I should touch base with Martin Beck from the Danish NREN in relation to the Australian National Health Network. A few enquiries revealed that he would be in Amsterdam on May 14th and 15th for the SurfNet User Conference. The opportunity was too good to miss so we decided to change our flight time home by three days and incorporate a quick trip to Amsterdam before we fly home.

Preparations at home continue

Final Preparations Begin

Well final preparations are underway. We have restricted ourselves to one small case each with its size being determined by the luggage space in Peugeot 207. last preparations have included me climbing up on the table so Bernie could measure up my jeans for shortening - the things we go through for overseas travel.

Of course the other major activity has been getting the garden ready for the Australian winter and closing down the grey water system that has been so vital to keeping the garden in reasonable condition.