Dubai, Saturday August 15th to Wednesday 19th
Not much of Saturday left as we arrived at the hotel at about 11.30 pm and it was still hot and steamy. The plane trip was as we expected, sat behind each other despite several at the airport to rectify the BA stuff up. We were not on our own as there was a family of 4 in business all seated separately. Only BA could be so customer (dis) orientated. The level of on board service was also way below JAL, Cathy and Qantas, although we must say that the crew were polite and helpful. Obviously BA are seeing how low they can go before the flying public totally revolt.
What can we say about Dubai other than it was an experience not to miss. On the one hand there is some marvellous architecture but on the other hand it all reeks of a house made of playing cards.
I have never seen so many abandoned projects, both civil and built, and I would not want to be in the crane hire business as without exaggeration we must have seen over 1000 idle cranes on deserted sites. I guess you would not want to be in the plant hire business full stop.
Whilst the “international financial crisis” is obviously part of the scenario, it seemed to us that there was also a long term demand and a speculation issue. Even if the ICF has caused a drop in tourist numbers there seemed to us to be far too many elaborately built overly large malls, and an outright abundance of unoccupied accommodation.
We only visited three malls, The Mall of the Emirates, near our hotel, the Dubai Mall and the ...... Mall. All were pretty deserted particularly the Dubai Mall which is massive. In some arms we observed that there were no customers at all for extended periods and those few people who were strolling around were not carrying shopping bags. We reckon 90% of the few visitors that were there, were doing what we were doing and just having a gawk. Here were also many vacant shops particularly in the Gold Souk which was almost totally devoid of customers in the hour or so we spent there. The Mall of the Emirates was bit busier but potential customer numbers seemed to be way below sustainability.
Also impacting on the latter was the fact that it was surrounded on at least two sides by abandoned projects and for miles around by road works which seemed at least a year off finishing. Our hotel was only a couple of hundred yards from the rear entry yet because of the road works was virtually inaccessible by foot. In addition to get from the shops by car or taxi to our hotel required about a 4 km detour, (to cover the 200m lateral distance). It was the same every time we came back, we would pass within 2-300 metres of the hotel and then divert for 3-4 km to get there. And this was just not a problem in our area, several really high class hotels had appalling approaches to the extent you would not have wanted to stay in them they were so isolated. One 5 star hotel we visited to drop off other tour guests on the way back from our Desert experience was accessible only down a string of laneways boarded by abandoned developments. Heavens knows what the views looked like from the rooms.
The site between our hotel and the Mall was a massive hole in the ground several stories deep and covering at least 5 hectares and it was apparent that it had been all but abandoned for a very long time. It is difficult to imagine just when or even if work will recommence on any or of these sites and if not what will become of them. There must be thousands of such projects in terminal distress. We saw only a handful where there was any work in progress.
The development outlook from our perspective looked positively frightening.
On the other hand we were enthralled by the completed architecture and the vision. Even though I was aware of the size and magnitude of the “palm” developments I was quite taken aback by the intensity of development and the number of multi story apartment blocks. Just who owns the product and how much is ever occupied is anybody guess.
I was also somewhat perplexed by the number and dispersement of the commercial buildings, and wondered for a city of that size, even with the “international” influence, how they could all possibly be fully utilised and where the supposed demand was or all those coming (or at least were coming) out of the ground. I also found the distances between centres and infrastructure links, particularly transport, perplexing. It did not seem that there was any rhyme or reason to locational decisions and the transport network in its current state, (where everything seems to be half finished) chaotic. Traffic was also heavy on all major roads and a smog haze hung over the whole place whilst we were there, although to be fair the heat was also a factor.
I guess I am just too conservative and lacking in vision, however this would be the last place I would currently invest in.
From a tourist viewpoint however we had a ball, we overlapped with Lesley and John for a day and took the opportunity to join them on the desert safari and night BBQ. It was a long drive out but when we got off road, bloody hair-raising, although I thought Michele handled it pretty well even if her knuckles would not relax their grip in the hand rail in the back seat when we arrived at the “tent”. I did manage a pretty poor sand boarding attempt on the dunes and we both enjoyed our 200m camel ride and Michele her henna tattoo. The food was terrific and I will post a photo of the dunny sign when I get the chance. There was also a pretty good looking belly dancer who certainly did not cover up in the Islamic tradition.
The third night Michele and I also enjoyed a dhow cruise dinner on Dubai Creek, which I guess would be more properly described as an inlet. I should acknowledge that both the window, and actual shopping had its moments.
Dubai was also bloody hot and surprisingly humid at this time of the year. We had expected a clearer heat and not for our glasses to fog up every time we went outside.
Suggestion to anybody thinking of booking Dubai accommodation, the further out you get the more likely you are to be affected by road works or abandoned development works, in retrospect we would have been better off closer to Dubai Creek than the Mall of the Emirates.
Hong Kong, Wednesday 19th to Friday 21st August
Very different to Dubai, busy everywhere and although hot, I thought easier than Dubai to handle although Michele felt the humidity more.
Neither of us had been here for some time and found much had changed. Stayed in down town HK on Col Stubbings’ (very good) advice and close to times square.
We both found that it was much more modern than 20 years ago and much more cosmopolitan.
Certainly the shopping has changed, particularly in the malls, to upmarket designer stores, although the old style markets and stores do still exist. Around where we stayed, near the Times Square Mall, there seemed to be few westerners around, although plenty of Japanese but no touts, or very few anyway. Kowloon was much different, more tourists and full of touts.
We spent our two nights and three days here casually wandering around in various directions and kept tourist activities to the star ferry to Kowloon and a trip up the peak. We enjoyed the executive treatment at the hotel (we upgraded on arrival) and in particular the evening drinks on the 26th floor taking in a view of the Peak. Of course there was some shopping, notably for a new suitcase to replace our now two broken ones and a new pocket camera for Michele.
We also ate well, why is it that Chinese food tastes much better over here than at home, is it MSG or lack of?
As I type this we are awaiting our 11.15 evening plane home and looking forward to sleeping in our own bed tomorrow evening and to a Lions victory!!.
PS. Our first Qantas flight on our One World ticket and they s*** all over BA for service both on the ground and in flight!!!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Blog notes, firstly I have not as yet re typed the Cruise blog but intend to so if for no other reason than I promised Karen Butchers. Secondly Michele has not done a Spain entry and probably won't as it is so long ago now. Therefore this new post covers Prague and London. The next will probably be Dubai then the boat.
Since the Boat
Since the lost blog what has happened?
Monday 10th August to Wednesday 13th August, Prague.
Left the boat in lovely Budapest on the morning of Aug 10th and about 1/3 of the boat travellers journeyed to Prague by bus. The trip itself was about 8 hours and a bit boring, mostly on a motorway and we wondered whether or not Scenic should do this transfer either by air or train if practicable.
It was also memorable for the wrong reasons as there were only two breaks, the first of which was at a clean and reasonable motorway roadhouse. The second was scheduled for a lunch stop at a hotel, however for some reason to do with timing was instead made at a lower standard roadhouse where the food options were average to say the least. The general consensus was that if we had known we all would have bought sandwiches at the first stop.
The hotel in Prague on the other hand was very comfortable and well located for our three day stay.
Prague is said to be the Paris of the east and we could see why. We were some 100m off the middle of Wenceslas Square, which is really a very wide boulevard about 1 km long rather than a square.
On our first day we did the obligatory walking tour of the castle, the Charles bridge, the old town, old town square with the astronomical clock (dates to 1420), cakes and coffee. It is really impressive to see the attempts made to preserve these old areas.
The afternoon and the next day were at our own program and we went at our own pace. As usual Lesley and Michele spent a good portion on retail therapy.
As with all the towns we visited on the tour, Prague was in full tourist season, full of visitors of all ages and tourist shops the same everywhere with similar ranges of goods. I love (heart) Prague, Paris Budapest or where ever T shirts, local and not necessary local football shirts, carry bags with the name changed and nick-knacks. The real trick is picking the somewhat unique ones for the country or region.
Our last tour dinner was at a “traditional Czech” restaurant and other than it was very hot was a pleasant way to finish the tour.
As with all tours there were a range of co travellers mostly from Australia, with couple of Kiwis, Canadians, Yanks and Brits.
One lady would be a real role model for the Bubbles girls. Janet was a sprightly 92 year old travelling on her own and keeping up pretty well. At one stage she queried whether the “slow walking group” would be too slow (and they were as it was made up of a few strugglers) and on the last morning in Prague she took a lady about 20 years younger to the astronomical clock and then pointed her in the direction of the hotel so she could continue on alone to see some of the other highlights. Not only was she physically up to it but was a very knowledgeable, independent thinker and good company.
Michele and I parted from Lesley and John in Prague (if not explained earlier Michele’s sister Lesley and Brother John were on the river cruise), as they went to Dubai and we went on to London.
London Thursday 13th and Friday 14th August
Although we only effectively had two nights and one day in London, we made good use of them by seeing both, Billy Elliot and Hairspray and spending a delightful time at the British Museum.
Stayed at a hotel in a chain recommended by Geoff’s niece Rebecca which turned out to be a great choice as it was located in a fairly quiet street right behind the British Museum and only 50m from Russell Square. The latter was a very peaceful respite with beautiful Georgian Gardens. Michele was particularly interested in that the plants in the garden beds were the result of a collaboration with a local school where grades 3 and 4 had researched and visited Georgian gardens to determine the type of plants used in that era and then helped plant them, to a truly great effect. We would recommend The Grange –Whitehall to anybody visiting London as well located and reasonably priced by London standards (just under 100 UK pound a night).
We chose the location as it was close to Covent Garden and the theatre district, but would you believe that Billy Elliot was on the other side of town just behind Buck Palace and opposite Victoria Station. However even this turned out to advantage as to get there we walked the tourist route and killed two birds with one stone. Shaftsbury Avenue, Leicester Square, Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square (fenced off due to a concert or whatever so Aerlyn would not have been able to climb a lion as she did in ’95), The Mall, the gardens, Buck Palace (passed at 6pm and saw them change the guard although not the ceremonial one). Dinner in a Pub and a spectacular theatre performance. The lead boy was truly fantastic as for that matter were the rest of the cast. Home by underground, left mortgage with station master, although as this was our only UG trip we were able to redeem the same the next day. Don’t ever complain about the cost of Brisbane Bus fares!
As noted above visited the British Museum and although we were “museum’d” out a bit (lot) we still enjoyed our couple of hours there mostly in the Egyptian and Middle East section but also in the special displays of clocks and watches and the history of coinage and money.
The only London lowlight was dealing with British Airways who managed to seat Michele and I in separate rows for the second time on a long haul flight (this time to Dubai, the first time on the NY-London leg) and in this instance were unable to re-seat us. To cut a long story short BA have a terrible booking and seat allocation system and even poorer public relations. In addition their in-flight service, at least in Business, is far below the other airlines we have flown with as part of our one world ticket (although to be fair the in flight staff were polite and efficient). No wonder they are going down the gurgler!
Given the choice we have resolved to never fly with them again.
By coincidence Michele was chosen as one to fill out a survey in which she gave them a real serve, particularly in regard to our being left hanging on an international roaming call for some 15 minutes. We are determined to send them the bill for the call.
Had drinks to celebrate that Friday is Bubbles day before seeing Hairspray which although very different to Billy Elliot is another great musical theatre experience. This time the theatre was only a few hundred metres away and an easy stroll home until we reached our street corner at the same time a fire engine, siren blazing and lights flashing did a two wheeler around it and nearly sucked us into its slipstream before screeching to a halt behind another appliance and a couple of Police cars right outside the entry to our hotel. Flashing lights everywhere!
Passports in flame? No instead an accident between a cab and a car the cause of which or even the action of which was difficult to determine in such a quiet low speed street. Notwithstanding what seemed to be a low impact apparently the rear seat passenger was in a bad way and getting him out via the door (wide door in a London Cab) not practicable or else desirable and we watched as the firies first took out the rear window and then the side windows. Interestingly the ambulance was the last vehicle to arrive.
Trust the Brits to put on a show for us on our last night, we just hope the passenger was OK.
Saturday morning once again saw in a Taxi to Paddington Station and then on the Heathrow Connect to the airport, a really efficient was to get to and from the airport, only this time our train was cancelled and we got a free upgrade to the more expensive and quicker Heathrow Express an even faster and more impressive alternative and one which did not entail a change of train to get to terminal 5. Win-win all round. To all the cities we have visited before, each time you re-visit, you see a different face of the city or perhaps the memory is fading and it all seems new again.
Since the Boat
Since the lost blog what has happened?
Monday 10th August to Wednesday 13th August, Prague.
Left the boat in lovely Budapest on the morning of Aug 10th and about 1/3 of the boat travellers journeyed to Prague by bus. The trip itself was about 8 hours and a bit boring, mostly on a motorway and we wondered whether or not Scenic should do this transfer either by air or train if practicable.
It was also memorable for the wrong reasons as there were only two breaks, the first of which was at a clean and reasonable motorway roadhouse. The second was scheduled for a lunch stop at a hotel, however for some reason to do with timing was instead made at a lower standard roadhouse where the food options were average to say the least. The general consensus was that if we had known we all would have bought sandwiches at the first stop.
The hotel in Prague on the other hand was very comfortable and well located for our three day stay.
Prague is said to be the Paris of the east and we could see why. We were some 100m off the middle of Wenceslas Square, which is really a very wide boulevard about 1 km long rather than a square.
On our first day we did the obligatory walking tour of the castle, the Charles bridge, the old town, old town square with the astronomical clock (dates to 1420), cakes and coffee. It is really impressive to see the attempts made to preserve these old areas.
The afternoon and the next day were at our own program and we went at our own pace. As usual Lesley and Michele spent a good portion on retail therapy.
As with all the towns we visited on the tour, Prague was in full tourist season, full of visitors of all ages and tourist shops the same everywhere with similar ranges of goods. I love (heart) Prague, Paris Budapest or where ever T shirts, local and not necessary local football shirts, carry bags with the name changed and nick-knacks. The real trick is picking the somewhat unique ones for the country or region.
Our last tour dinner was at a “traditional Czech” restaurant and other than it was very hot was a pleasant way to finish the tour.
As with all tours there were a range of co travellers mostly from Australia, with couple of Kiwis, Canadians, Yanks and Brits.
One lady would be a real role model for the Bubbles girls. Janet was a sprightly 92 year old travelling on her own and keeping up pretty well. At one stage she queried whether the “slow walking group” would be too slow (and they were as it was made up of a few strugglers) and on the last morning in Prague she took a lady about 20 years younger to the astronomical clock and then pointed her in the direction of the hotel so she could continue on alone to see some of the other highlights. Not only was she physically up to it but was a very knowledgeable, independent thinker and good company.
Michele and I parted from Lesley and John in Prague (if not explained earlier Michele’s sister Lesley and Brother John were on the river cruise), as they went to Dubai and we went on to London.
London Thursday 13th and Friday 14th August
Although we only effectively had two nights and one day in London, we made good use of them by seeing both, Billy Elliot and Hairspray and spending a delightful time at the British Museum.
Stayed at a hotel in a chain recommended by Geoff’s niece Rebecca which turned out to be a great choice as it was located in a fairly quiet street right behind the British Museum and only 50m from Russell Square. The latter was a very peaceful respite with beautiful Georgian Gardens. Michele was particularly interested in that the plants in the garden beds were the result of a collaboration with a local school where grades 3 and 4 had researched and visited Georgian gardens to determine the type of plants used in that era and then helped plant them, to a truly great effect. We would recommend The Grange –Whitehall to anybody visiting London as well located and reasonably priced by London standards (just under 100 UK pound a night).
We chose the location as it was close to Covent Garden and the theatre district, but would you believe that Billy Elliot was on the other side of town just behind Buck Palace and opposite Victoria Station. However even this turned out to advantage as to get there we walked the tourist route and killed two birds with one stone. Shaftsbury Avenue, Leicester Square, Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square (fenced off due to a concert or whatever so Aerlyn would not have been able to climb a lion as she did in ’95), The Mall, the gardens, Buck Palace (passed at 6pm and saw them change the guard although not the ceremonial one). Dinner in a Pub and a spectacular theatre performance. The lead boy was truly fantastic as for that matter were the rest of the cast. Home by underground, left mortgage with station master, although as this was our only UG trip we were able to redeem the same the next day. Don’t ever complain about the cost of Brisbane Bus fares!
As noted above visited the British Museum and although we were “museum’d” out a bit (lot) we still enjoyed our couple of hours there mostly in the Egyptian and Middle East section but also in the special displays of clocks and watches and the history of coinage and money.
The only London lowlight was dealing with British Airways who managed to seat Michele and I in separate rows for the second time on a long haul flight (this time to Dubai, the first time on the NY-London leg) and in this instance were unable to re-seat us. To cut a long story short BA have a terrible booking and seat allocation system and even poorer public relations. In addition their in-flight service, at least in Business, is far below the other airlines we have flown with as part of our one world ticket (although to be fair the in flight staff were polite and efficient). No wonder they are going down the gurgler!
Given the choice we have resolved to never fly with them again.
By coincidence Michele was chosen as one to fill out a survey in which she gave them a real serve, particularly in regard to our being left hanging on an international roaming call for some 15 minutes. We are determined to send them the bill for the call.
Had drinks to celebrate that Friday is Bubbles day before seeing Hairspray which although very different to Billy Elliot is another great musical theatre experience. This time the theatre was only a few hundred metres away and an easy stroll home until we reached our street corner at the same time a fire engine, siren blazing and lights flashing did a two wheeler around it and nearly sucked us into its slipstream before screeching to a halt behind another appliance and a couple of Police cars right outside the entry to our hotel. Flashing lights everywhere!
Passports in flame? No instead an accident between a cab and a car the cause of which or even the action of which was difficult to determine in such a quiet low speed street. Notwithstanding what seemed to be a low impact apparently the rear seat passenger was in a bad way and getting him out via the door (wide door in a London Cab) not practicable or else desirable and we watched as the firies first took out the rear window and then the side windows. Interestingly the ambulance was the last vehicle to arrive.
Trust the Brits to put on a show for us on our last night, we just hope the passenger was OK.
Saturday morning once again saw in a Taxi to Paddington Station and then on the Heathrow Connect to the airport, a really efficient was to get to and from the airport, only this time our train was cancelled and we got a free upgrade to the more expensive and quicker Heathrow Express an even faster and more impressive alternative and one which did not entail a change of train to get to terminal 5. Win-win all round. To all the cities we have visited before, each time you re-visit, you see a different face of the city or perhaps the memory is fading and it all seems new again.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Bugger had a new post ready to paste to the blog relating to boat trip and lost the lot!!!! Over wrote the whole word documentand lost everything since arriving in Paris !!! Bloody computer.
Suffice to say we are in Prague and leave for London in the morning and I will have to endevour at some stage to retype the lost masterpiece. The boat trip other than an odour problem exceeded expectations.
Geoff and Michele
Suffice to say we are in Prague and leave for London in the morning and I will have to endevour at some stage to retype the lost masterpiece. The boat trip other than an odour problem exceeded expectations.
Geoff and Michele
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Been lax on the blog, a combination of internet conditions on the boat and a lack of time and or inclination when there is time, will catch up over the next few days.
Paris Friday 24th to Monday 27th
Geoff arrived at the hotel first carrying his own bags from the train, Michele sms’d from the airport notifying a safe arrival but lacking luggage!
Apparently this is not unusual in Europe where, either or both, a transfer is involved or Paris airport is involved. The concierge at the hotel had a list of customers, and not a small one, with lost luggage which he followed up every two hours and our regular bulletin for over 24 hours was “no new news”.
Michele without a change of clothes, nor make up for two days, unheard of!
A situation relieved with the purchase of a new skirt and a couple of tops and make up at Paris prices. It’s a good thing that well organised Geoff carries a spare tooth brush and other small essentials. The luggage finally arrived at 2.30am (yes am) on Sunday morning, apparently having been offloaded at Madrid on the way between Valencia and Paris. To say Michele was pissed off would be an understatement!
We had been warned, but boy o’ boy is Paris expensive. At the hotel internet was 7 Euro an hour (free everywhere else we had been, a cup of tea, crepe and beer 40 Euro ($30)! We later heard of a couple who had a room service cup of tea.... 40 Euro (80 $A)
In fact the whole hotel, the Westin was a joke, the blurb, including the compendium in the room, assured us that every room had a safe, iron and ironing board in the wardrobe. In our case in our very small room (rack rate 750 Euro per night!!!!), without joking, our wardrobe was not big enough, at 800mm deep, (just big enough for a jacket and a couple of shirts), to contain the safe let alone the iron and ironing board.
It was far and away the smallest wardrobe we have ever come across in a hotel of any star rating. The drawers were 100m deep and 100mm high, you could not even put your smalls in them! The staff from reception up to the duty manager insisted that there was a safe in every wardrobe in every room, however housekeeping told us that around us none did so. Whilst waiting for Michele, Geoff being the sort of troublemaker he is had taken the in room compendium down to reception and the duty manager had been summoned. An indictment on either their knowledge of there own hotel or an entrenched dis-information policy from management down!
But Paris, cost of living aside, what can you say, surely one of the finest cities in the world by any scale of measurement. We had a ball.
If there was a particular highlight it was Monet’s water lilies at the Musée de l'Orangerie followed by dinner on the Eiffel tower, the tour of the Opera and of course the finish of le tour on Sunday afternoon.
Our hotel was adjacent to the course, opposite the Jarden de Tulleries, just inside the 1km to the finish archway and 100m from the Place d concorde. We managed to snare a barrier spot which we held despite the efforts of the Gendarmes who kept trying to move us on, “ ja’no parle francee officer”! It gave Michele a great insight of what Geoff had experienced and she was amazed by the caravan and all the cars and motor bikes following the riders and the speed at which they all went in order to keep up. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and a great carnival atmosphere.
Monday said goodbye to Paris with some reluctance, and a bus to Amsterdam via Brussels.
This took almost all day. Lesley had caught the fast train form Paris and it only took her 2 hours. The trains top speed is 500k but they usually cruise at around 300 – 400k. While we toddled along at around 50-80k.
Met up with my brother John who joined us on the boat too, he had been to Italy and UK. So the four of us are travelling for the next 2 weeks. This is the longest time I have spent with any of my family members for years, apart from Lesley, as she and I have had a few holidays together.
The boat is quite luxurious, and is new (only commissioned in April). We have been going through some lochs or (locks) which are very tight, with the ship almost scraping on both sides, he is a wiz, the captain. I am glad I am not responsible for squeezing a huge big ship into a small space.
There is however one major problem, every time the boat stops our cabin and the cabins around us fill with sewerage gases which effectively makes the cabin uninhabitable. Thankfully the problem virtually goes away when under-sail and every night we are on the move so we can use it for sleeping.
Paris Friday 24th to Monday 27th
Geoff arrived at the hotel first carrying his own bags from the train, Michele sms’d from the airport notifying a safe arrival but lacking luggage!
Apparently this is not unusual in Europe where, either or both, a transfer is involved or Paris airport is involved. The concierge at the hotel had a list of customers, and not a small one, with lost luggage which he followed up every two hours and our regular bulletin for over 24 hours was “no new news”.
Michele without a change of clothes, nor make up for two days, unheard of!
A situation relieved with the purchase of a new skirt and a couple of tops and make up at Paris prices. It’s a good thing that well organised Geoff carries a spare tooth brush and other small essentials. The luggage finally arrived at 2.30am (yes am) on Sunday morning, apparently having been offloaded at Madrid on the way between Valencia and Paris. To say Michele was pissed off would be an understatement!
We had been warned, but boy o’ boy is Paris expensive. At the hotel internet was 7 Euro an hour (free everywhere else we had been, a cup of tea, crepe and beer 40 Euro ($30)! We later heard of a couple who had a room service cup of tea.... 40 Euro (80 $A)
In fact the whole hotel, the Westin was a joke, the blurb, including the compendium in the room, assured us that every room had a safe, iron and ironing board in the wardrobe. In our case in our very small room (rack rate 750 Euro per night!!!!), without joking, our wardrobe was not big enough, at 800mm deep, (just big enough for a jacket and a couple of shirts), to contain the safe let alone the iron and ironing board.
It was far and away the smallest wardrobe we have ever come across in a hotel of any star rating. The drawers were 100m deep and 100mm high, you could not even put your smalls in them! The staff from reception up to the duty manager insisted that there was a safe in every wardrobe in every room, however housekeeping told us that around us none did so. Whilst waiting for Michele, Geoff being the sort of troublemaker he is had taken the in room compendium down to reception and the duty manager had been summoned. An indictment on either their knowledge of there own hotel or an entrenched dis-information policy from management down!
But Paris, cost of living aside, what can you say, surely one of the finest cities in the world by any scale of measurement. We had a ball.
If there was a particular highlight it was Monet’s water lilies at the Musée de l'Orangerie followed by dinner on the Eiffel tower, the tour of the Opera and of course the finish of le tour on Sunday afternoon.
Our hotel was adjacent to the course, opposite the Jarden de Tulleries, just inside the 1km to the finish archway and 100m from the Place d concorde. We managed to snare a barrier spot which we held despite the efforts of the Gendarmes who kept trying to move us on, “ ja’no parle francee officer”! It gave Michele a great insight of what Geoff had experienced and she was amazed by the caravan and all the cars and motor bikes following the riders and the speed at which they all went in order to keep up. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and a great carnival atmosphere.
Monday said goodbye to Paris with some reluctance, and a bus to Amsterdam via Brussels.
This took almost all day. Lesley had caught the fast train form Paris and it only took her 2 hours. The trains top speed is 500k but they usually cruise at around 300 – 400k. While we toddled along at around 50-80k.
Met up with my brother John who joined us on the boat too, he had been to Italy and UK. So the four of us are travelling for the next 2 weeks. This is the longest time I have spent with any of my family members for years, apart from Lesley, as she and I have had a few holidays together.
The boat is quite luxurious, and is new (only commissioned in April). We have been going through some lochs or (locks) which are very tight, with the ship almost scraping on both sides, he is a wiz, the captain. I am glad I am not responsible for squeezing a huge big ship into a small space.
There is however one major problem, every time the boat stops our cabin and the cabins around us fill with sewerage gases which effectively makes the cabin uninhabitable. Thankfully the problem virtually goes away when under-sail and every night we are on the move so we can use it for sleeping.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Friday 17th July, separation day
(please excuse spelling and format errors, as not only do we have key board problems but I have also lost temporally my proof reader who picks up my dyslexic errors)
Today we went our separate ways for a week, so separate posts (if Michele has the facility to do so).
I took the plane to Geneva for my tour de France experience, and arrived to a wet and cool city, quite a contrast to Madrid. For a banking centre with plenty of “private banks” it has very few ATM’s as I discovered. I walked for miles and got thoroughly drenched in the process before I found one and had was able to get the currency of the country (Switzerland still has francs and not Euros, although you seem to be able to use both). The weather broke in the early evening and I took a walk along the lake.
I was surprised by the population mix, it may have been the district I walked in but the overwhelming proportion was Middle Eastern and Muslim, with a smattering of sub continentals and North Africans. In an hour I only passed one European family and one European girl, until I got back quite close to the hotel.
The Tour Experience
I will merge the next few days into one blog.
On Saturday I picked up the car (this time from Europecar) and drove from Geneva into France to Besancon, some 180 km to see the finish of stage 14. Not an easy drive as it was still wet and cool, thankfully clearing up as I arrived. It turned out that the finish was well on the other side of town so rather than having to navigate through the town and then finding somewhere else to park I decided to walk part of the way and catch a bus.
It became very evident what having the tour pass through your town or city means to them, quite a major event. Finally found the finish (after missing the stop as the driver did not announce it as promised) which was located in a cutting in the freeway which gave it an amphitheatre like feeling.
A real carnival atmosphere, lots of noise, caravans selling memorabilia and clothing, and sponsors handing out caps, whistles, balloons, and product samples. I positioned myself 150 metres from the finish so that I could watch the big screen located there.
Ian Murray had told me about the caravan, however I had really not appreciate how lengthy and carnival like it would be.
I just so wish Ian could have been here with me as we had planned. It really makes one realise you should live life to the full whilst you have the chance.
As I fully expected, the arrival of the riders was almost an anti climax as today there was no real sprint due to the breakaways. It was exciting enough though.
I managed to get a view of the presentations albeit through a security fence. A minor highlight, or incident anyway, was that an interloper managed to get back stage and present himself on stage as a guernsey recipient, to great cheers, before being virtually thrown off the stage.
A bonus when I got back to the car and went looking for a WC before the long drive home, in that I came across the hotel where the teams were staying and walked amongst the busses and watched the mechanics at work (and the clothes been washed). The buses are a very interesting set up, part work shop and part laundry and I guess massage station. I gather the riders have a mini bus for transport.
The drive home was easier as the weather was now fine and warm, but 360 km in one day left me pretty tired and when I got back and finally found a car park I was too buggered to think about dinner.
Transferred to Chamonix on Sunday morning, a pretty easy drive, and found my hotel without too much fuss (I may have taken the wrong exit). It’s on the edge of town but clean comfortable and very friendly.
In the early afternoon crossed back into Switzerland to Martingy to see the tour pass through. A different atmosphere to a finish as most of the spectators were locals and it was naturally less crowded. I noticed an Aussi flag on a bridge so went there and saw the tour pass with a South Australian couple who, like me, were staying in Chamonix with a view of travelling each day to see the stage and moving on to Paris on Friday. Great minds think alike. Walked into the centre of town where the sprint had been and there was a big screen there so I saw all the final climb, which I gather no SBS watchers did form the blogs.
Similarly at dinner I sat next to two 30 something Americans also doing the same. It transpired they had been room-mates at college and as both were bike riders were using the experience to get re acquainted.
Monday was a rest day so I spent it sightseeing, which is not difficult as the scenery here is so magnificent that it’s almost indescribable.
Due to a communication error I went up a cable car to a mountain top east of town thinking I was going to a glacier, no matter as it was fantastic anyway.
Next took the train (you would reckon I would know the difference between a train and a cable car) to the glacier, which has retracted considerably and was a bit of a letdown.
Finally made it to the Midi cable car which takes you up to a mountain top where you can ogle Mount Blanc closer up ( I can see it from my bedroom window). Once we got there they told us it would be two hours before we could descend again, however this did not matter as it was quite a complex with multiple viewing platforms. It was also the stopping off point for those who were going to climb the mountain and I was surprised about the number who set off so late in the afternoon, obviously to camp over night so as to get an early start. There were a group of Aussies on one of the bikestyle tours (but not the one I bailed out of) on the gondolier who it turned out when I got back to my hotel, were staying in the hotel next door. Although it has a bar it is apparently it is not as good as mine.
As it was a lovely fine day the views were spectacular and I took over 100 photos, I will be able to get my own back on Phil when I return and Insist he look at every one of them.
Tuesday was always to be my big day as I intended to see the top of the final climb at the Col de petite Bernard.
This involved going through the Mont Blanc tunnel, some 11.4 km between France and Italy. The return toll was 41 euro, and it is regulated so that each vehicle is about 300m behind the one in front. This is achieved by a series of lights on the sides of the tunnel and you have to keep two blue lights behind.
Again my google maps instructions let me down and I missed my exit just outside the tunnel, and the next one was some 40 k down the motorway. However sometimes it all comes together and I found that to get back to where I wanted to, was in fact the tour route for the day. So I got to “ride” the route.
As I hoped I was able to get as far as La Thuile before they closed the road, which left me 13 km or so short of the summit (and an extra km or so from where I was able to park the car).
It took about 2 ½ hours, and a climb of 700 m before I reached the top. The closer I got the more spectators there were. I have never seen so many cyclists in my life. There must have been over ten thousand (or at least it seemed so).
Many rode to the top and then down again to where they wished to see the race from. Thousands also like me walked and thousands more had driven up either the day before, or possibly very early in the morning (I believe they closed the rode at 8.00am). I now know why you have to book a campervan at least a year ahead.
I had not expected the top to be a small ski lift site with several hotels. Bit of a bugger that, as I had chosen to carry food rather than my binoculars.
Once I made it to the top (there is Photo evidence) I decided to await the race back about a km where from a hillock you could see about 2 km of approach including, right in front, one of those zig-zag bits so popular on TV. By chance two guys from Brisbane came and sat behind me.
Again the caravan took about 40 minutes to pass, plenty of noise, car horns, car chimes (in the tour jingle form), bells ringing, crowd shouting and cheering (some of whom by this stage really full of cheer). Many are dressed up and I actually photographed the devil on the way up. Some of the cow bells were massive and on huge belts and must have weighed 30 kilos or so. As usual it was gen y who dress up the most, including a couple in life savers right below me. Cars also passed out chalk so that the road can have the names of the riders written on it. I have never seen so many cycle shirts on non cyclists, it a bit like the footy at home with the spectator wearing team jumpers, only more so.
You can see when the race is getting close due to the proximity of the helicopters, and a great cheer went up when the riders came into sight.
Today they were strung out and took quite some time to pass, to both the enjoyment and encouragement of the crowd. It was quite strange to be able to get so close, and to see how young some of them looked. I resisted the temptation to reach out and touch one (naturally) but I was within a metre or so.
Discretion suggested I begin to make my way down before the hordes and I had in fact gone more than a km before the last rider passed, but it didn’t help much as very soon there were cars and vans going both ways and bikes everywhere. Bloody dangerous for a walker so I took to the fields and followed a very rough track under some power lines, as did most of those on foot. Whilst rough and steep at least it was shorter and I only took 1.5 hours to get back to the car (once I found it). As expected there was a lot of traffic on the road and for several Kms before the turn off, (either left to France or right, further into Italy), we went at snails pace. This time I went the right way and arrived in the proximity of the tunnel to find that there was a 2 hour queue, good thing I had brought my book.
Home again very tired but totally exhilarated not only the race but the achievement of the climb.
Le Tour Continued
As might be expected slept well and decided not to leave early. Plan A was to drive some 40km to Cluses and see if I could ascend the Col de Romme which was the second last climb of the day, however this was to be reviewed once I got there and I was tired. However the morning rest helped and I left at about 12 and got to the base of the climb easily, I guess a lot of spectators would have gone to the final climb.
The Col de Romme was however the steepest and I figured would be the one where all the action was and when I got there I was feeling pretty good so went for the top, some 8.8 km at an average grade of almost 9%. At the base I sought directions from a gendarme and when he pointed out the mountain to me I was in disbelief as it just looked like a cliff face. In fact the first 3 or so Km was in fact cut into the cliff face and seemed to be well over the 9%, which is apparently true. When I came to the 5 Km to go marker, 3.8 Km up I was a bit deflated as it had been hard work, but once there I was committed. It rained on and off for the first hour or so but cleared for the second hour, I took 2h 15m to climb.
Stopped several times to talk to Aussies and walked several Km with three young people who it turned out were from Brisbane, one of whom lived in The Gap “off Payne Road”, would you believe in Kalimna Street at the corner of Barrabooka Drive. Six degrees and all that!! Several small villages once the cliff face was ascended and some open fields the rest of the way. The grade eased off a little to just steep.
As I neared the summit the caravan passed and I found out about the cycle shirts. Actually T shirts from sponsors one of which I collected together with caps, glasses cloths, sugar bears, cheezels, cloth bags etc. I can now understand what Ian meant by leaving space in the bag for souvenirs’.
Ian is constantly in my thoughts.
Made the top about 30 minutes before the riders and like yesterday I decided to watch from a little lower where you could see also them on curves lower on the mountain. I was right it did sort them out big time and I have never seen so many distressed faces as the passed and all this with another similar climb to come. Amazing, strength, fitness and willpower. The real disappointment was Cadel who was way back and looked quite ashen when he passed.
Again a long walk down and I actually jogged a bit (shuffled really with short steps) on the theory that I would use muscles slightly differently. Again missed a turn near the car and took a little while to find it.
Back to the hotel tired but again well satisfied and it is amazing how well you feel after a shower and a change into fresh clothes. Great steak washed down with half a bottle of Hermitage.
Thursday was time trial day and again I did not leave all that early, and arrived at Annecy at about 11.00 paid the toll only to be sent back from whence I came by the gendarmes, two tolls in 100m!!
Tricked the buggers though as I turned off at a village and came in the back way, where a nice gendarme directed me to a paddock to park the car and to a bus.
I really made sure this time of not only the route to the bus stop but also where to catch it back from!
Annecy was different, the whole place was in carnival mood and people everywhere. Saw a few starts, the field where the team busses were, huge crowd around the Astana bus even though the stars were hours away from warming up, and soaked up the atmosphere.
The finish was a bit constricted but I manage to get into a small compound at the line for a while and then wandered down the final kilo or so. The crowd thinned out as you git further along. Back to the finish where I saw Matt Lloyd cross, but bailed out at 3.30 for two reasons. Firstly I had to return the car to Geneva by 6.00 and secondly because it looked stormy. In fact the storm hit just as I reached the car and it rained heavily most of the way back to Geneva (although as I understand it not all that much fell on the course.
Other than a lack of directional signs near the centre of town got back OK and returned their car with only a broken mirror and a scratch on the wheel!
Tended to domestic chores, coin laundry, and sank a couple of beers and a kebab at the shop next door, I only mention this because the laundry was in the middle of the red light district and nothing was discrete. One on offer even took me by the arm and attempted to lead me across the road, all with a bag of washing over the shoulder. I have decided that Geneva is not the clean banking and UN centre it appears in the brochures, at least not in the vicinity of the railway station.
Off to Paris (on the TVG) and to be reunited with Michele as I type this.
The reason we came, the river cruise tour, starts in Paris this arvo, but have we had some fun and experiences on the way.
(please excuse spelling and format errors, as not only do we have key board problems but I have also lost temporally my proof reader who picks up my dyslexic errors)
Today we went our separate ways for a week, so separate posts (if Michele has the facility to do so).
I took the plane to Geneva for my tour de France experience, and arrived to a wet and cool city, quite a contrast to Madrid. For a banking centre with plenty of “private banks” it has very few ATM’s as I discovered. I walked for miles and got thoroughly drenched in the process before I found one and had was able to get the currency of the country (Switzerland still has francs and not Euros, although you seem to be able to use both). The weather broke in the early evening and I took a walk along the lake.
I was surprised by the population mix, it may have been the district I walked in but the overwhelming proportion was Middle Eastern and Muslim, with a smattering of sub continentals and North Africans. In an hour I only passed one European family and one European girl, until I got back quite close to the hotel.
The Tour Experience
I will merge the next few days into one blog.
On Saturday I picked up the car (this time from Europecar) and drove from Geneva into France to Besancon, some 180 km to see the finish of stage 14. Not an easy drive as it was still wet and cool, thankfully clearing up as I arrived. It turned out that the finish was well on the other side of town so rather than having to navigate through the town and then finding somewhere else to park I decided to walk part of the way and catch a bus.
It became very evident what having the tour pass through your town or city means to them, quite a major event. Finally found the finish (after missing the stop as the driver did not announce it as promised) which was located in a cutting in the freeway which gave it an amphitheatre like feeling.
A real carnival atmosphere, lots of noise, caravans selling memorabilia and clothing, and sponsors handing out caps, whistles, balloons, and product samples. I positioned myself 150 metres from the finish so that I could watch the big screen located there.
Ian Murray had told me about the caravan, however I had really not appreciate how lengthy and carnival like it would be.
I just so wish Ian could have been here with me as we had planned. It really makes one realise you should live life to the full whilst you have the chance.
As I fully expected, the arrival of the riders was almost an anti climax as today there was no real sprint due to the breakaways. It was exciting enough though.
I managed to get a view of the presentations albeit through a security fence. A minor highlight, or incident anyway, was that an interloper managed to get back stage and present himself on stage as a guernsey recipient, to great cheers, before being virtually thrown off the stage.
A bonus when I got back to the car and went looking for a WC before the long drive home, in that I came across the hotel where the teams were staying and walked amongst the busses and watched the mechanics at work (and the clothes been washed). The buses are a very interesting set up, part work shop and part laundry and I guess massage station. I gather the riders have a mini bus for transport.
The drive home was easier as the weather was now fine and warm, but 360 km in one day left me pretty tired and when I got back and finally found a car park I was too buggered to think about dinner.
Transferred to Chamonix on Sunday morning, a pretty easy drive, and found my hotel without too much fuss (I may have taken the wrong exit). It’s on the edge of town but clean comfortable and very friendly.
In the early afternoon crossed back into Switzerland to Martingy to see the tour pass through. A different atmosphere to a finish as most of the spectators were locals and it was naturally less crowded. I noticed an Aussi flag on a bridge so went there and saw the tour pass with a South Australian couple who, like me, were staying in Chamonix with a view of travelling each day to see the stage and moving on to Paris on Friday. Great minds think alike. Walked into the centre of town where the sprint had been and there was a big screen there so I saw all the final climb, which I gather no SBS watchers did form the blogs.
Similarly at dinner I sat next to two 30 something Americans also doing the same. It transpired they had been room-mates at college and as both were bike riders were using the experience to get re acquainted.
Monday was a rest day so I spent it sightseeing, which is not difficult as the scenery here is so magnificent that it’s almost indescribable.
Due to a communication error I went up a cable car to a mountain top east of town thinking I was going to a glacier, no matter as it was fantastic anyway.
Next took the train (you would reckon I would know the difference between a train and a cable car) to the glacier, which has retracted considerably and was a bit of a letdown.
Finally made it to the Midi cable car which takes you up to a mountain top where you can ogle Mount Blanc closer up ( I can see it from my bedroom window). Once we got there they told us it would be two hours before we could descend again, however this did not matter as it was quite a complex with multiple viewing platforms. It was also the stopping off point for those who were going to climb the mountain and I was surprised about the number who set off so late in the afternoon, obviously to camp over night so as to get an early start. There were a group of Aussies on one of the bikestyle tours (but not the one I bailed out of) on the gondolier who it turned out when I got back to my hotel, were staying in the hotel next door. Although it has a bar it is apparently it is not as good as mine.
As it was a lovely fine day the views were spectacular and I took over 100 photos, I will be able to get my own back on Phil when I return and Insist he look at every one of them.
Tuesday was always to be my big day as I intended to see the top of the final climb at the Col de petite Bernard.
This involved going through the Mont Blanc tunnel, some 11.4 km between France and Italy. The return toll was 41 euro, and it is regulated so that each vehicle is about 300m behind the one in front. This is achieved by a series of lights on the sides of the tunnel and you have to keep two blue lights behind.
Again my google maps instructions let me down and I missed my exit just outside the tunnel, and the next one was some 40 k down the motorway. However sometimes it all comes together and I found that to get back to where I wanted to, was in fact the tour route for the day. So I got to “ride” the route.
As I hoped I was able to get as far as La Thuile before they closed the road, which left me 13 km or so short of the summit (and an extra km or so from where I was able to park the car).
It took about 2 ½ hours, and a climb of 700 m before I reached the top. The closer I got the more spectators there were. I have never seen so many cyclists in my life. There must have been over ten thousand (or at least it seemed so).
Many rode to the top and then down again to where they wished to see the race from. Thousands also like me walked and thousands more had driven up either the day before, or possibly very early in the morning (I believe they closed the rode at 8.00am). I now know why you have to book a campervan at least a year ahead.
I had not expected the top to be a small ski lift site with several hotels. Bit of a bugger that, as I had chosen to carry food rather than my binoculars.
Once I made it to the top (there is Photo evidence) I decided to await the race back about a km where from a hillock you could see about 2 km of approach including, right in front, one of those zig-zag bits so popular on TV. By chance two guys from Brisbane came and sat behind me.
Again the caravan took about 40 minutes to pass, plenty of noise, car horns, car chimes (in the tour jingle form), bells ringing, crowd shouting and cheering (some of whom by this stage really full of cheer). Many are dressed up and I actually photographed the devil on the way up. Some of the cow bells were massive and on huge belts and must have weighed 30 kilos or so. As usual it was gen y who dress up the most, including a couple in life savers right below me. Cars also passed out chalk so that the road can have the names of the riders written on it. I have never seen so many cycle shirts on non cyclists, it a bit like the footy at home with the spectator wearing team jumpers, only more so.
You can see when the race is getting close due to the proximity of the helicopters, and a great cheer went up when the riders came into sight.
Today they were strung out and took quite some time to pass, to both the enjoyment and encouragement of the crowd. It was quite strange to be able to get so close, and to see how young some of them looked. I resisted the temptation to reach out and touch one (naturally) but I was within a metre or so.
Discretion suggested I begin to make my way down before the hordes and I had in fact gone more than a km before the last rider passed, but it didn’t help much as very soon there were cars and vans going both ways and bikes everywhere. Bloody dangerous for a walker so I took to the fields and followed a very rough track under some power lines, as did most of those on foot. Whilst rough and steep at least it was shorter and I only took 1.5 hours to get back to the car (once I found it). As expected there was a lot of traffic on the road and for several Kms before the turn off, (either left to France or right, further into Italy), we went at snails pace. This time I went the right way and arrived in the proximity of the tunnel to find that there was a 2 hour queue, good thing I had brought my book.
Home again very tired but totally exhilarated not only the race but the achievement of the climb.
Le Tour Continued
As might be expected slept well and decided not to leave early. Plan A was to drive some 40km to Cluses and see if I could ascend the Col de Romme which was the second last climb of the day, however this was to be reviewed once I got there and I was tired. However the morning rest helped and I left at about 12 and got to the base of the climb easily, I guess a lot of spectators would have gone to the final climb.
The Col de Romme was however the steepest and I figured would be the one where all the action was and when I got there I was feeling pretty good so went for the top, some 8.8 km at an average grade of almost 9%. At the base I sought directions from a gendarme and when he pointed out the mountain to me I was in disbelief as it just looked like a cliff face. In fact the first 3 or so Km was in fact cut into the cliff face and seemed to be well over the 9%, which is apparently true. When I came to the 5 Km to go marker, 3.8 Km up I was a bit deflated as it had been hard work, but once there I was committed. It rained on and off for the first hour or so but cleared for the second hour, I took 2h 15m to climb.
Stopped several times to talk to Aussies and walked several Km with three young people who it turned out were from Brisbane, one of whom lived in The Gap “off Payne Road”, would you believe in Kalimna Street at the corner of Barrabooka Drive. Six degrees and all that!! Several small villages once the cliff face was ascended and some open fields the rest of the way. The grade eased off a little to just steep.
As I neared the summit the caravan passed and I found out about the cycle shirts. Actually T shirts from sponsors one of which I collected together with caps, glasses cloths, sugar bears, cheezels, cloth bags etc. I can now understand what Ian meant by leaving space in the bag for souvenirs’.
Ian is constantly in my thoughts.
Made the top about 30 minutes before the riders and like yesterday I decided to watch from a little lower where you could see also them on curves lower on the mountain. I was right it did sort them out big time and I have never seen so many distressed faces as the passed and all this with another similar climb to come. Amazing, strength, fitness and willpower. The real disappointment was Cadel who was way back and looked quite ashen when he passed.
Again a long walk down and I actually jogged a bit (shuffled really with short steps) on the theory that I would use muscles slightly differently. Again missed a turn near the car and took a little while to find it.
Back to the hotel tired but again well satisfied and it is amazing how well you feel after a shower and a change into fresh clothes. Great steak washed down with half a bottle of Hermitage.
Thursday was time trial day and again I did not leave all that early, and arrived at Annecy at about 11.00 paid the toll only to be sent back from whence I came by the gendarmes, two tolls in 100m!!
Tricked the buggers though as I turned off at a village and came in the back way, where a nice gendarme directed me to a paddock to park the car and to a bus.
I really made sure this time of not only the route to the bus stop but also where to catch it back from!
Annecy was different, the whole place was in carnival mood and people everywhere. Saw a few starts, the field where the team busses were, huge crowd around the Astana bus even though the stars were hours away from warming up, and soaked up the atmosphere.
The finish was a bit constricted but I manage to get into a small compound at the line for a while and then wandered down the final kilo or so. The crowd thinned out as you git further along. Back to the finish where I saw Matt Lloyd cross, but bailed out at 3.30 for two reasons. Firstly I had to return the car to Geneva by 6.00 and secondly because it looked stormy. In fact the storm hit just as I reached the car and it rained heavily most of the way back to Geneva (although as I understand it not all that much fell on the course.
Other than a lack of directional signs near the centre of town got back OK and returned their car with only a broken mirror and a scratch on the wheel!
Tended to domestic chores, coin laundry, and sank a couple of beers and a kebab at the shop next door, I only mention this because the laundry was in the middle of the red light district and nothing was discrete. One on offer even took me by the arm and attempted to lead me across the road, all with a bag of washing over the shoulder. I have decided that Geneva is not the clean banking and UN centre it appears in the brochures, at least not in the vicinity of the railway station.
Off to Paris (on the TVG) and to be reunited with Michele as I type this.
The reason we came, the river cruise tour, starts in Paris this arvo, but have we had some fun and experiences on the way.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Thursday 16th July
Visited the Prado today, not just an impressive collection but also an impressive building and very easy to navigate, particularly with the audio guide. I decided that El Greco was my favourite, way ahead of his time, however the range of artists and the quality of work to our uneducated eyes was all good.
After siesta (we learn quickly) and bubbles drinks, took Lesley to the market we found the other day beside the Plaza Mayor, it really buzzed at night and we bought some of the special ham off the bone and ate it for dinner whilst talking to a range of locals and fellow tourists. It really is a very social place and quite an experience.
Friday 17th July, separation day
(please excuse spelling and format errors, as not only do we have key board problems but I have also lost temporally my proof reader who picks up my dyslexic errors)
Today we went our separate ways for a week, so separate posts (if Michele has the facility to do so).
I took the plane to Geneva for my tour de France experience, and arrived to a wet and cool city, quite a contrast to Madrid. For a banking centre with plenty of “private banks” it has very few ATM’s as I discovered. I walked for miles and got thoroughly drenched in the process before I found one and had was able to get the currency of the country (Switzerland still has francs and not euros, although you seem to be able to use both). The weather broke in the early evening and I took a walk along the lake.
I was surprised by the population mix, it may have been the district I walked in but the overwhelming proportion was Middle Eastern and Muslim, with a smattering of sub continentals and North Africans. In an hour I only passed one European family and one European girl, until I got back quite close to the hotel.
The Tour Experience
I will merge the next few days into one blog.
On Saturday I picked up the car (this time from Europecar) and drove from Geneva into France to Besancon, some 180 km to see the finish of stage 14. Not an easy drive as it was still wet and cool, thankfully clearing up as I arrived. It turned out that the finish was well on the other side of town so rather than having to navigate through the town and then finding somewhere else to park I decided to walk part of the way and catch a bus.
It became very evident what having the tour pass through your town or city means to them, quite a major event. Finally found the finish (after missing the stop as the driver did not announce it as promised) which was located in a cutting in the freeway which gave it an amphitheatre like feeling.
A real carnival atmosphere, lots of noise, caravans selling memorabilia and clothing, and sponsors handing out caps, whistles, balloons, and product samples. I positioned myself 150 metres from the finish so that I could watch the big screen located there.
Ian Murray had told me about the caravan, however I had really not appreciate how lengthy and carnival like it would be.
I just so wish Ian could have been here with me as we had planned. It really makes one realise you should live life to the full whilst you have the chance.
As I fully expected, the arrival of the riders was almost an anti climax as today there was no real sprint due to the breakaways. It was exciting enough though.
I managed to get a view of the presentations albeit through a security fence. A minor highlight, or incident anyway, was that an interloper managed to get back stage and present himself on stage as a guernsay recipient, to great cheers, before being virtually thrown off the stage.
A bonus when I got back to the car and went looking for a WC before the long drive home, in that I came across the hotel where the teams were staying and walked amongst the busses and watched the mechanics at work (and the clothes been washed). The buses are a very interesting set up, part work shop and part laundry and I guess massage station. I gather the riders have a mini bus for transport.
The drive home was easier as the weather was now fine and warm, but 360 km in one day left me pretty tired and when I got back and finally found a car park I was too buggered to think about dinner.
Transferred to Chamonix on Sunday morning, a pretty easy drive, and found my hotel without too much fuss (I may have taken the wrong exit). It’s on the edge of town but clean comfortable and very friendly.
In the early afternoon crossed back into Switzerland to Martingy to see the tour pass through. A different atmosphere to a finish as most of the spectators were locals and it was naturally less crowded. I noticed an Aussi flag on a bridge so went there and saw the tour pass with a South Australian couple who, like me, were staying in Chamonix with a view of travelling each day to see the stage and moving on to Paris on Friday. Great minds think alike. Walked into the centre of town where the sprint had been and there was a big screen there so I saw all the final climb, which I gather no SBS watchers did form the blogs.
Similarly at dinner I sat next to two 30 something Americans also doing the same (trip). It transpired they had been room-mates at college and as both were bike riders were using the experience to get re acquainted.
Monday was a rest day so I spent it sightseeing, which is not difficult as the scenery here is so magnificent that it’s almost indescribable.
Due to a communication error I went up a cable car to a mountain top east of town thinking I was going to a glacier, no matter as it was fantastic anyway.
Next took the train (you would reckon I would know the difference between a train and a cable car) to the glacier, which has retracted considerably and was a bit of a letdown.
Finally made it to the Midi cable car which takes you up to a mountain top where you can ogle Mount Blanc closer up (I can see it from my bedroom window). Once we got there they told us it would be over two hours before we could descend again, however this did not matter as it was quite a complex with multiple viewing platforms. It was also the stopping off point for those who were going to climb the mountain and I was surprised about the number who set off so late in the afternoon, obviously to camp over night so as to get an early start. There were a group of Aussies on one of the bikestyle tours (but not the one I bailed out of) on the gondolier who it turned out when I got back to my hotel, were staying in the hotel next door. Although it has a bar it is apparently it is not as good as mine.
As it was a lovely fine day the views were spectacular and I took over 100 photos, I will be able to get my own back on Phil when I return and Insist he look at every one of them.
Tuesday was always to be my big day as I intended to see the top of the final climb at the Col de petite Bernard.
This involved going through the Mont Blanc tunnel, some 11.4 km between France and Italy. The return toll was 41 euro, and it is regulated so that each vehicle is about 300m behind the one in front. This is achieved by a series of lights on the sides of the tunnel and you have to keep two blue lights behind.
Again my google maps instructions let me down and I missed my exit just outside the tunnel, and the next one was some 40 k down the motorway. However sometimes it all comes together and I found that to get back to where I wanted to, was in fact the tour route for the day. So I got to “ride” the route.
As I hoped I was able to get as far as La Thuile before they closed the road, which left me 13 km or so short of the summit (and an extra km or so from where I was able to park the car).
It took about 2 ½ hours, and a climb of 700 m before I reached the top. The closer I got the more spectators there were. I have never seen so many cyclists in my life. There must have been over ten thousand (or at least it seemed so).
Many rode to the top and then down again to where they wished to see the race from. Thousands also like me walked and thousands more had driven up either the day before, or possibly very early in the morning (I believe they closed the rode at 8.00am). I now know why you have to book a campervan at least a year ahead.
I had not expected the top to be a small ski lift site with several hotels. Bit of a bugger that, as I had chosen to carry food rather than my binoculars.
Once I made it to the top (there is Photo evidence) I decided to await the race back about a km where from a hillock you could see about 2 km of approach including, right in front, one of those zig-zag bits so popular on tv. By chance two guys from Brisbane came and sat behind me.
Again the caravan took about 40 minutes to pass, plenty of noise, car horns, car chimes (in the tour jingle form), bells ringing, crowd shouting and cheering (some of whom by this stage really full of cheer). Many are dressed up and I actually photographed the devil on the way up. Some of the cow bells were massive and on huge belts and must have weighed 30 kilos or so. As usual it was gen y who dress up the most, including a couple in life savers right below me. Cars also passed out chalk so that the road can have the names of the riders written on it. I have never seen so many cycle shirts on non cyclists, it a bit like the footy at home with the spectator wearing team jumpers, only more so.
You can see when the race is getting close due to the proximity of the helicopters, and a great cheer went up when the riders came into sight.
Today they were strung out and took quite some time to pass, to both the enjoyment and encouragement of the crowd. It was quite strange to be able to get so close, and to see how young some of them looked. I resisted the temptation to reach out and touch one (naturally) but I was within a metre or so.
Discretion suggested I begin to make my way down before the hordes and I had in fact gone more than a km before the last rider passed, but it didn’t help much as very soon there were cars and vans going both ways and bikes everywhere. Bloody dangerous for a walker so I took to the fields and followed a very rough track under some power lines, as did most of those on foot. Whilst rough and steep at least it was shorter and I only took 1.5 hours to get back to the car (once I found it). As expected there was a lot of traffic on the road and for several kms before the turn off, (either left to France or right, further into Italy), we went at snails pace. This time I went the right way and arrived in the proximity of the tunnel to find that there was a 2 hour queue, good thing I had brought my book.
Home again very tired but totally exhilarated not only the race but the achievement of the climb.
Visited the Prado today, not just an impressive collection but also an impressive building and very easy to navigate, particularly with the audio guide. I decided that El Greco was my favourite, way ahead of his time, however the range of artists and the quality of work to our uneducated eyes was all good.
After siesta (we learn quickly) and bubbles drinks, took Lesley to the market we found the other day beside the Plaza Mayor, it really buzzed at night and we bought some of the special ham off the bone and ate it for dinner whilst talking to a range of locals and fellow tourists. It really is a very social place and quite an experience.
Friday 17th July, separation day
(please excuse spelling and format errors, as not only do we have key board problems but I have also lost temporally my proof reader who picks up my dyslexic errors)
Today we went our separate ways for a week, so separate posts (if Michele has the facility to do so).
I took the plane to Geneva for my tour de France experience, and arrived to a wet and cool city, quite a contrast to Madrid. For a banking centre with plenty of “private banks” it has very few ATM’s as I discovered. I walked for miles and got thoroughly drenched in the process before I found one and had was able to get the currency of the country (Switzerland still has francs and not euros, although you seem to be able to use both). The weather broke in the early evening and I took a walk along the lake.
I was surprised by the population mix, it may have been the district I walked in but the overwhelming proportion was Middle Eastern and Muslim, with a smattering of sub continentals and North Africans. In an hour I only passed one European family and one European girl, until I got back quite close to the hotel.
The Tour Experience
I will merge the next few days into one blog.
On Saturday I picked up the car (this time from Europecar) and drove from Geneva into France to Besancon, some 180 km to see the finish of stage 14. Not an easy drive as it was still wet and cool, thankfully clearing up as I arrived. It turned out that the finish was well on the other side of town so rather than having to navigate through the town and then finding somewhere else to park I decided to walk part of the way and catch a bus.
It became very evident what having the tour pass through your town or city means to them, quite a major event. Finally found the finish (after missing the stop as the driver did not announce it as promised) which was located in a cutting in the freeway which gave it an amphitheatre like feeling.
A real carnival atmosphere, lots of noise, caravans selling memorabilia and clothing, and sponsors handing out caps, whistles, balloons, and product samples. I positioned myself 150 metres from the finish so that I could watch the big screen located there.
Ian Murray had told me about the caravan, however I had really not appreciate how lengthy and carnival like it would be.
I just so wish Ian could have been here with me as we had planned. It really makes one realise you should live life to the full whilst you have the chance.
As I fully expected, the arrival of the riders was almost an anti climax as today there was no real sprint due to the breakaways. It was exciting enough though.
I managed to get a view of the presentations albeit through a security fence. A minor highlight, or incident anyway, was that an interloper managed to get back stage and present himself on stage as a guernsay recipient, to great cheers, before being virtually thrown off the stage.
A bonus when I got back to the car and went looking for a WC before the long drive home, in that I came across the hotel where the teams were staying and walked amongst the busses and watched the mechanics at work (and the clothes been washed). The buses are a very interesting set up, part work shop and part laundry and I guess massage station. I gather the riders have a mini bus for transport.
The drive home was easier as the weather was now fine and warm, but 360 km in one day left me pretty tired and when I got back and finally found a car park I was too buggered to think about dinner.
Transferred to Chamonix on Sunday morning, a pretty easy drive, and found my hotel without too much fuss (I may have taken the wrong exit). It’s on the edge of town but clean comfortable and very friendly.
In the early afternoon crossed back into Switzerland to Martingy to see the tour pass through. A different atmosphere to a finish as most of the spectators were locals and it was naturally less crowded. I noticed an Aussi flag on a bridge so went there and saw the tour pass with a South Australian couple who, like me, were staying in Chamonix with a view of travelling each day to see the stage and moving on to Paris on Friday. Great minds think alike. Walked into the centre of town where the sprint had been and there was a big screen there so I saw all the final climb, which I gather no SBS watchers did form the blogs.
Similarly at dinner I sat next to two 30 something Americans also doing the same (trip). It transpired they had been room-mates at college and as both were bike riders were using the experience to get re acquainted.
Monday was a rest day so I spent it sightseeing, which is not difficult as the scenery here is so magnificent that it’s almost indescribable.
Due to a communication error I went up a cable car to a mountain top east of town thinking I was going to a glacier, no matter as it was fantastic anyway.
Next took the train (you would reckon I would know the difference between a train and a cable car) to the glacier, which has retracted considerably and was a bit of a letdown.
Finally made it to the Midi cable car which takes you up to a mountain top where you can ogle Mount Blanc closer up (I can see it from my bedroom window). Once we got there they told us it would be over two hours before we could descend again, however this did not matter as it was quite a complex with multiple viewing platforms. It was also the stopping off point for those who were going to climb the mountain and I was surprised about the number who set off so late in the afternoon, obviously to camp over night so as to get an early start. There were a group of Aussies on one of the bikestyle tours (but not the one I bailed out of) on the gondolier who it turned out when I got back to my hotel, were staying in the hotel next door. Although it has a bar it is apparently it is not as good as mine.
As it was a lovely fine day the views were spectacular and I took over 100 photos, I will be able to get my own back on Phil when I return and Insist he look at every one of them.
Tuesday was always to be my big day as I intended to see the top of the final climb at the Col de petite Bernard.
This involved going through the Mont Blanc tunnel, some 11.4 km between France and Italy. The return toll was 41 euro, and it is regulated so that each vehicle is about 300m behind the one in front. This is achieved by a series of lights on the sides of the tunnel and you have to keep two blue lights behind.
Again my google maps instructions let me down and I missed my exit just outside the tunnel, and the next one was some 40 k down the motorway. However sometimes it all comes together and I found that to get back to where I wanted to, was in fact the tour route for the day. So I got to “ride” the route.
As I hoped I was able to get as far as La Thuile before they closed the road, which left me 13 km or so short of the summit (and an extra km or so from where I was able to park the car).
It took about 2 ½ hours, and a climb of 700 m before I reached the top. The closer I got the more spectators there were. I have never seen so many cyclists in my life. There must have been over ten thousand (or at least it seemed so).
Many rode to the top and then down again to where they wished to see the race from. Thousands also like me walked and thousands more had driven up either the day before, or possibly very early in the morning (I believe they closed the rode at 8.00am). I now know why you have to book a campervan at least a year ahead.
I had not expected the top to be a small ski lift site with several hotels. Bit of a bugger that, as I had chosen to carry food rather than my binoculars.
Once I made it to the top (there is Photo evidence) I decided to await the race back about a km where from a hillock you could see about 2 km of approach including, right in front, one of those zig-zag bits so popular on tv. By chance two guys from Brisbane came and sat behind me.
Again the caravan took about 40 minutes to pass, plenty of noise, car horns, car chimes (in the tour jingle form), bells ringing, crowd shouting and cheering (some of whom by this stage really full of cheer). Many are dressed up and I actually photographed the devil on the way up. Some of the cow bells were massive and on huge belts and must have weighed 30 kilos or so. As usual it was gen y who dress up the most, including a couple in life savers right below me. Cars also passed out chalk so that the road can have the names of the riders written on it. I have never seen so many cycle shirts on non cyclists, it a bit like the footy at home with the spectator wearing team jumpers, only more so.
You can see when the race is getting close due to the proximity of the helicopters, and a great cheer went up when the riders came into sight.
Today they were strung out and took quite some time to pass, to both the enjoyment and encouragement of the crowd. It was quite strange to be able to get so close, and to see how young some of them looked. I resisted the temptation to reach out and touch one (naturally) but I was within a metre or so.
Discretion suggested I begin to make my way down before the hordes and I had in fact gone more than a km before the last rider passed, but it didn’t help much as very soon there were cars and vans going both ways and bikes everywhere. Bloody dangerous for a walker so I took to the fields and followed a very rough track under some power lines, as did most of those on foot. Whilst rough and steep at least it was shorter and I only took 1.5 hours to get back to the car (once I found it). As expected there was a lot of traffic on the road and for several kms before the turn off, (either left to France or right, further into Italy), we went at snails pace. This time I went the right way and arrived in the proximity of the tunnel to find that there was a 2 hour queue, good thing I had brought my book.
Home again very tired but totally exhilarated not only the race but the achievement of the climb.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Tuesday July 14th
Different city different language different climate. Actually found the airport OK from Oxford, it was well signed and Rebecca’s map spot on.
Hertz! Returned the car with the minor scratch on the plastic strip attached to the door, put through the third degree like a criminal and then told the charge would be 125 UK pound. Suggested this was ridiculous as it was not the door just the protection strip. Made to look argumentative as it was all in the computer. This required a phone call which went unanswered (obviously to put us under pressure, although and from our first experience we knew calls went unanswered for ½ an hour). In the end we just with a warning that we disputed it and for them not to just put it on our card. Won’t be using Hertz again!
The Plane‘s business class was not much above Qantas domestic cattle when the middle seat is free.
As soon as the plane flew over the Spanish border it was obvious that it was hot dry and brown and the taxi ride confirmed this.
As we had booked an apartment without a lobby we had to wait for ¾ hour for the girl to come and let us in and first impressions were average at the best. The complex only had a door way entry which although freshly painted was bland and the cafe next door, outside where the taxi drew up and where we went into to catch a bite whilst we waited; was dingy, greasy and full of smoke. Silly us, on leaving the café, I noticed the deli on the other side of the door way, clean neat full of wholesome food and a smoke free zone.
Senorita (pretty) arrived and showed us inside and up to our attic apartment; astonishingly well appointed roomy and almost brand newly renovated. Michele was amazed and Geoff again took all the credit. Kitchen, living room, bathroom, and generous outdoor patio (too big to be called a balcony), down stairs and large mezzanine bedroom upstairs. The only minor dilemma is the head height, or lack of, Geoff’s side of the bed.
Had a walk around the centre of town, we are close to both the main downtown plaza’s, Sol and de Mayor. Time is different here as the afternoon seems to start at 4.30 pm and runs to 9.30 pm after which everybody goes out to dine. So our 4.30 start rather than being late-ish was spot on. A lot of construction work underway including the Plaza de Sol, just like King George Square. A number of the streets running off the square are malls and most of the others are traffic constricted, it all very pedestrian friendly. Dined (early as it turned out at 8.30) in the Plaza, de Mayor, which reminds us of the Plaza san Marco in Venice for size and arrangement of restaurants.
Wednesday July 15th
Slowish morning and made use of the pasteria next door for breakfast and awaited Lesley’s, Michele’s sister, arrival from New York. Quick dash upstairs for the cab fare as she did not have any Euros (*!*for those who know Lesley).
By the time she settled in it was 3.30pm before we ventured out and we quickly learnt about siesta time, it was bloody hot and nothing was open. We won’t make that mistake again.
As Lesley went to bed early Michele and I ventured out to dinner looking for all the al fresco restaurants we had passed on the way home the night before. Where were they? All we could find was a few open. Lesson two, at 9.00pm precisely, tables and chairs materialised out of nowhere and the streets (laneways really) quickly filled. Tomorrow night we will dine later.
Found Madrid fascinating, all the windows with wrought iron balustrades, and enormous wooden or metal doors at building entrances. Impressive public and commercial buildings and a generally happy and carefree atmosphere. You have to watch for cars creeping up the laneways and streets and also for the scooters some of which are actually bigger than the motor bikes.
Different city different language different climate. Actually found the airport OK from Oxford, it was well signed and Rebecca’s map spot on.
Hertz! Returned the car with the minor scratch on the plastic strip attached to the door, put through the third degree like a criminal and then told the charge would be 125 UK pound. Suggested this was ridiculous as it was not the door just the protection strip. Made to look argumentative as it was all in the computer. This required a phone call which went unanswered (obviously to put us under pressure, although and from our first experience we knew calls went unanswered for ½ an hour). In the end we just with a warning that we disputed it and for them not to just put it on our card. Won’t be using Hertz again!
The Plane‘s business class was not much above Qantas domestic cattle when the middle seat is free.
As soon as the plane flew over the Spanish border it was obvious that it was hot dry and brown and the taxi ride confirmed this.
As we had booked an apartment without a lobby we had to wait for ¾ hour for the girl to come and let us in and first impressions were average at the best. The complex only had a door way entry which although freshly painted was bland and the cafe next door, outside where the taxi drew up and where we went into to catch a bite whilst we waited; was dingy, greasy and full of smoke. Silly us, on leaving the café, I noticed the deli on the other side of the door way, clean neat full of wholesome food and a smoke free zone.
Senorita (pretty) arrived and showed us inside and up to our attic apartment; astonishingly well appointed roomy and almost brand newly renovated. Michele was amazed and Geoff again took all the credit. Kitchen, living room, bathroom, and generous outdoor patio (too big to be called a balcony), down stairs and large mezzanine bedroom upstairs. The only minor dilemma is the head height, or lack of, Geoff’s side of the bed.
Had a walk around the centre of town, we are close to both the main downtown plaza’s, Sol and de Mayor. Time is different here as the afternoon seems to start at 4.30 pm and runs to 9.30 pm after which everybody goes out to dine. So our 4.30 start rather than being late-ish was spot on. A lot of construction work underway including the Plaza de Sol, just like King George Square. A number of the streets running off the square are malls and most of the others are traffic constricted, it all very pedestrian friendly. Dined (early as it turned out at 8.30) in the Plaza, de Mayor, which reminds us of the Plaza san Marco in Venice for size and arrangement of restaurants.
Wednesday July 15th
Slowish morning and made use of the pasteria next door for breakfast and awaited Lesley’s, Michele’s sister, arrival from New York. Quick dash upstairs for the cab fare as she did not have any Euros (*!*for those who know Lesley).
By the time she settled in it was 3.30pm before we ventured out and we quickly learnt about siesta time, it was bloody hot and nothing was open. We won’t make that mistake again.
As Lesley went to bed early Michele and I ventured out to dinner looking for all the al fresco restaurants we had passed on the way home the night before. Where were they? All we could find was a few open. Lesson two, at 9.00pm precisely, tables and chairs materialised out of nowhere and the streets (laneways really) quickly filled. Tomorrow night we will dine later.
Found Madrid fascinating, all the windows with wrought iron balustrades, and enormous wooden or metal doors at building entrances. Impressive public and commercial buildings and a generally happy and carefree atmosphere. You have to watch for cars creeping up the laneways and streets and also for the scooters some of which are actually bigger than the motor bikes.
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