A La France

Wed, 10 Aug
Our BA flight from Heathrow to Charles de Gaule airport in Paris was over in less than an hour. The 'airbus' aircraft was extremely comfortable and we wished QANTAS would provide such roomy seats for its long-haul flights. As a group, we needed to find our arranged transport into Paris. This exercise demanded a walk with our luggage of over a km in the one terminal. The proportions of the airports are truly staggering and bear no comparison to the relatively tiny Sydney and Brisbane airports. Each terminal in London and Paris houses shopping facilities the envy of many cities.
The 'Hotel La Fayette' was disappointing. It had a 'seedy' feel to it and the rooms were extremely small. Our double bed barely fitted into the room and the shower stall was a challenge for Donna to fit into let alone me. Our room was on the 6th floor with a view to chimneys one could almost touch. The weather was hot and with no air-conditioning, windows remained open. For those in the front of the building this meant noisy, sweaty, sleepless nights. All the ladies wanted to leave Paris immediately. A stroll around the local area only compounded the problem....it was scruffy. Dinner in a local bistro did not raise morale. Nor did breakfast...a sorry offering compared to England and Ireland. We had been spoiled.

Thurs, 11 August
We all decided to go our separate ways to tour Paris and Donna and I walked to the beautiful Opera Garnier building where we boarded an open-top bus (the yellow one) for a 2 hour overview. We got no further than the Louvre some 15 minutes on. This world treasure was a ruin around 100 years ago and it is remarkable to think that the French were going to demolish it. As they were the Eiffel Tower in 1909 by the way. That was saved by a requirement to locate antennae for 'new-fangled' radio! The five hours we spent in the Louvre did not do it justice at all. Yes, we saw the 'Mona Lisa" and "Venus de Milo' and 'Winged Victory'. But these are the very tip of the iceberg. Paintings, sculptures, furniture, antiquities from Egypt, Islamic art, jewellery, porcelain, tapestries .... it goes on and on. A week would not be enough. Late in the afternoon we continued the bus trip and passed along wonderful boulevardes and avenues and by all those landmarks that epitomise Paris .... Eiffel Tower, Place de la Concorde, Champs Elysee, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and so on.
In the evening we ate at a nearby restaurant and planned tomorrow's activities. Morale had risen but dampened as we walked towards the ghastly hotel with its bed sheets with cigarette burn holes in them.

Fri, 12 August
Today it will be on the bus again to the Musee D'Orsay; a walk along the Seine; the Eiffel Tower; and Les Galleries Department store. The Musee D'Orsay is a five level converted rail station on the bank of the Seine. It houses a more modern art collection than the Louvre specialising in Impressionist and Post Impressionist works produced between 1884 and 1914. Again, the time available did not do it justice. However, the array of Van Gough, Degas, Lautrec, Monet and so on will stay in the memory forever.
The walk along the Seine to the Tower was about 3 km. The river is quite busy with tourist and working vessels always on the go. Each of the bridges has a fascinating history of housing accomodation,destruction, and re-building. An interesting story involves a massive flood in 1910 which covered even the base of the Eiffel Tower.The French have built a temporary beach on the banks of the Seine! Called the 'Paris Plage'. 1500 tonnes of sand and giant palms create a Riveira look and blue-and-white chairs, flags and umbrellas are sprawled along a 3.5km stretch. The idea is to take people's minds of the fact they are stuck in Paris while the rest of the city escapes for the annual holiday getaway. I understand other European cities have followed the lead.
Donna elected to remain on the grass lawns below as I joined the queue for the Eifell Tower. Forty minutes was not a long wait and after paying 10 euros 80 cents I am on my way. There are 3 levels in the 320 metre high structure built in 1889. The 2nd level offers a great view of Paris and has the usual gift shop etc. It is another 30 minute queue for the lift to the very top and it is worth every minute. On a clear day such as today was you can see over 65 kms. Paris appears 'white' and seems to stretch to the horizon giving credibility to the story that inner Paris houses 2 million whilst Paris environs houses a further 8 million. The incessant traffic also supports this argument and I am becoming apprehensive about driving in it (on the 'wrong' side) and not the least, navigating this vast, confusing metropolis.
Before heading home for our last night in the hotel we visited 'La Galleries" store near the Opera House. In fact there are two stores a men's and a women's on opposite corners, not unlike an upmarket David Jones in Sydney. The interior is circular in effect with beautiful, colourfully lit galleries surrounding each level. The domed ceiling is exquisite stained glass. This all very suitably sets off the highly priced designer clothing, jewellery and cosmetic offerings.

Sat,13 August
Today we leave Paris for Gif Sur Yvette, a smallish township southeast of Versailles. Pierre and Giselle invited us to visit them here when we met them in Brisbane in December 2004. The Valley d'Yvette is similar to 'silicon Valley' in the USA where high tech industry is pursued. Giselle's sister, Suzette from San Francisco, was also a house guest.
Fortunately, Pierre came to Paris by train and met us at the hotel. He and I took a bus to the 'Gare de Nord' where we picked up our Hertz 307 Peugeot. He drove us out of Paris to his home. Thank God for that however, I am acutely aware I will have to drive back and into Paris next Tuesday. The hospitality and food we enjoyed immensely. Donna even tasted pate of swan! We drank Bordeau wines with one outstanding red from 1976.
During the afternoon Pierre drove us some 24 km to the Chateau de Versailles. Versailles was the country's political capitol and the royal court from 1682-1789. The Chateau was built by Louis xiv (Sun King) in mid 17th century. The place was packed with tourists (summer bank holiday weekend) but the buildings and particularly the gardens and fountains are fantastic.

Sun, 14 August
It was a little difficult finding our way from Gif sur Yvette to Versailles and onto the A13 motorway to Bayeux in Normandy via Caen. Once on the mostly 6 lane motorway and adjusting to the 130 kph speed all was OK. The surprise was 4 separate toll 'peages' in the 200 km trip.
At Bayeux we checked into the 'Lion D'Or' hotel which was spacious, well maintained and staffed, and absolutely in accord with this beautiful town of 15,000 people. In the late afternoon we visited the 'Bayeux Tapestry". For Donna and me this was almost a religious experience and alone would be worth the trip to Europe. The tapestry is a 70 metre long strip of wool embroided linen. It was probably made in England and was commissioned by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and half brother to William the Conquerer, for the consecration of the cathedral in Bayeux in 1077. The tapestry recounts the story of the Norman invasion of England in 1066 - from the Norman perspective. The cathedral Notre Dame is an exceptional example of Norman-Gothic architecture. An enormous tree in the adjacent courtyard was planted as Australia was discovered by Captain Cook.

Mon, 15 August
This morning we explored the shops and buildings and in the afternoon Donna relaxed while I toured Omaha and Utah beaches central to the D-Day landings in 1944. 34,000 American soldiers landed on Omaha alone on 6 June. On all beaches: Utah, Omaha, Sword, Juno and Gold over 100,000 American, British and Canadian troops landed. 3,000 died on Omaha alone. The US cemetery at Colleville sur Mer is a very moving place with over 9,000 American crosses. Of the 8 people in my tour group, 3 were Australian and one of those was my son Phillip's 'Ops Sgt' in Darwin last year - a small world! I tried to view the area from the German defensive perspective and generally, their siting and design was sound. The soldiers however, were either very young boys or elderly men. They did a good job considering...
A beautiful dinner of duck this evening. It does not seem to matter where you eat in France the food has a soft, subtle, elegance. Pierre describes his best wines as God going down his throat in velvet trousers!

Tue, 16 August
Well, this is it. The much anticipated drive back into Paris. In the end it was notmuch of a drama. We missed our turn-off from the 'Perethetique' or ring road into Paris but took a chance about 6km later and with little trouble arrived at Gare de Norde (fluke). An RER train trip sees us again at Charles de Gaule and again the very comfortable BA flight to Heathrow. Spent a couple of hours in the BA equivalent to the Qantas Club and at 10.20pm onto QF10 for the 12.5 hour flight to Singapore.

Wed, 17 August
By a quirk of the International Dateline we arrived in Singapore at 5.45am. We opted for a Mercedes limo to get us to the Tanglin Club in Stephens Road. The club is reciprocal to our USC in Brisbane. It was established in 1865 by expatriates. It has since evolved with modern day Singapore to having 5,400 members of over 80 nationalities. The facilities and grounds are first class and our room is very spacious and well appointed. A truly magnificent base for our short Singapore adventure.