France

Travels in France

May 20 An uneventful Paris arrival on the Metro and a walk to a travel bureau opposite the Centre Pompidou got us a 2 star hotel booking to Hotel Cronstadt near Cadet Metro station. To combat jetlag we walked to Mont Matre and the Sacre Coeur through thick Saturday shopping crowds, then to Arc de Triomphe. After observing the parking and driving habits of the locals (right) we were glad we didn't have the car yet.

May 21 to 24 “Did” various museums and gardens including Musee Rodin, Jardin de Tuilleries, the Louvre, and les Invalides. At the Luxembourg gardens was an outdoor exhibition of the fine aerial photographs of Yves Arthus-Bertrand. Unfortunately the Musee d’Orangerie and the Musee d’Orsay were both closed. The Orangerie paintings are on tour in Australia in 2001. Of course we climbed the Tower and walked the Champs Elysee along with hundreds of Spanish soccer fans for the European Cup Final.

May 25 Our lease car Peugeot 206 was ready for pickup but first we had to find our way through the maze that is the commercial district of Courbevoie, site of the other big arch. The taxi driver didn’t know where the street was either and it ended up being only a few hundred metres from the station! After the Peugeot was loaded up Pat set off to Versailles with me attempting to navigate. The Palace was impressive even if all restored post-trashing by revolutionaries.

May 27 We are in Rouen today looking at more Gothic stuff. This is the site of Jeanne d'Arc's burning. We are going to tour more of Normandy this weekend including St Malo, Bayeaux, Mont St Michel (right).

From Normandy to Brittany, the Loire Valley, the Atlantic Coast, the Pyrenees…

Haven't had any major lowlights so far but almost had our car towed in Angers, France due to not reading the French notices carefully enough, and only one cold so far: during the first week in Paris.

June 6 Bayonne It hasn't been as hot here as it's been cold there- cloudy and raining with occasional hot patches! We did Brittany, the Loire Valley Chateaus (some famous, Chanenceau, Villandry, Usse... and not so famous ) and then headed down the west coast. Lots of lovely fields of flowers and my favourite gargoyles on most chateaux and cathedrals.

June 7-13 Western Pyrenees (Pyrenees Atlantique) We managed some mountain walking in between heavy rain and snow from St Jean Pied de Port to Garvarnie a few valleys east before crossing into Spain south of Lourdes. Luckily some mountain passes were open.

June 21 We reenter France (after Spain) so that Pat can meet his "work" obligations to visit his office near Nice, if only for one day. The Eastern Pyrenees are quite different to the west - drier and not as high - with beautiful lake and moutains vistas such as the one on the left. Provence is a great contrast: Roman ruins, Papal palaces hosting modern art exhibitions (a Jeff Koons in Avignon, right), crowded seasides...

June 27 The small hillside villages behind Nice are well worth a visit with hidden vineyards, good food, and art and perfume shops. Our camp was amongst vines at St Jeannet, where we met the first of our friendly middle-aged Dutch couples with an Australian connection. They generously gave us some wine and cheese.