Napolean's Legacy

EUROPEAN CAMPING TOUR 35 DAYS 12 COUNTRIES

DAY 1 LONDON TO PARIS THU 7-JUL-05

In true Jodes style I almost missed the bus which would have been a really uncool way to start my European escapade. I arrived on time to check-in, have my bag weighed etc then was waiting outside for the bus to be called and loaded. After a time I thought "hmm" and went looking. There were quite a number of other tours leaving about the same time so there were many excited people and a lot of luggage to wade through. Fortunately I found my bus still there. Jumped on and grabbed the only available seat, at the front and next to 'Dale' as he introduced himself to me in a strange accent. About 12 seconds after I got on, the coach left the station. See. Cool as. No need to worry.
We were introduced to our crew. Claudia, a pretty blond girl talking on the mic as our tour manager. Ducky, our super cook, an excitable chick who could hardly stay seated and our driver Nidhin who looked to busy negotiating London traffic to notice anything else. This particular leg was simply to take us to the white cliffs of Dover for our ferry to Calais, France.
My coach buddy Dale explained to me he was a multi-national. Depending how the sporting world was ranking he'd choose the top nationality. So he wasn't really an Englishman that often...
About 10 minutes after jumping on the ferry and finding myself in a queue for breakfast I received a text message which actually made my heart stop a second. Dad was saying they were hearing reports of bombing in London and asking if I was ok. He then rang my phone and was relieved when I told him I wasn't in London and definitely ok. I was shocked that we had left only about 2 hours earlier. There wasn't much information about at that early stage but Dad was going to spread the news to the fam that I was ok. I felt a little shell-shocked about the timing of events. Yesterday I had been in London when they were announced as the holder of the 2012 Olympic Games. Everything had seemed so light then. (Even though I also watched Queensland get walked over in the third State of Origin.) But that was yesterday. Today I was in France on a bus to Paris and London was in smoking chaos.
Arriving at our Paris campsite early evening, we were taught how to erect our tents. To me it was all very straight forward but I knew we'd have problems till the last day with some people.
Special treat time! Escargot! Seriously, it's France. What did you expect?
We're told the proper technique is to hold the little critter in your hand (still in it's shell) and poke it 3 times with a toothpick. One to make sure he's in there. One to make sure he's dead. And one more to scoop him out and pop him in your mouth. Chew a few times then swallow. Retch if necessary.
Now, before this point in my life I had absolutely no desire to eat any form of slug even one astute enough to have his own apartment and I was quite happy. But this is France so yeh I ate one. It didn't seem spectacular on either end of the spectrum so I had another to be sure. Same. Just tasted like meaty garlic. Not slimy. Not stringy. But I certainly don't know why there is so much fuss over them. Perhaps it's a huge joke on foreigners. Or the French are to arrogant and stubborn to move from their own gardens when searching for an appetizer?
Now that last point has to be addressed. The French people have possibly copped the most unkind and stubborn of stereotypes of all the European countries. France is the most visited country in the world. Paris has the greatest number of tourists anywhere at anytime of the year. How would you feel if hordes of visitors descended upon your home to see your treasures, wanted to see your culture and lifestyle and eat your food and kept babbling away in their own language expecting you to understand them? The French are very proud to be French. They have so many amazing things in and about their country it's not hard to see why. Monuments, museums, history, fashion and a certain 'ritz' factor I haven't seen or felt anywhere else. Yea it's still crowded, smoky and the River Seine is definitely not what you’d term clean but Paris still has "It". Other French localities blogs are to follow:
More Paris - I´m okay
Limoges & Ax Les Thermes - Travelling France
French Riviera

Hackey sack & the Palace of Versailles

- Sunny Posh Southern France & Monaco

And surely as a traveler, isn't it in your life motto to explore and accept differences? Enough said.
After our first campsite dinner, we went on the coach for an 'Illuminations Night Tour' of Paris. Claudia talked about Parisian history and details of monuments and bridges as we drove past. The special places for me included Notre Dame Cathedral, Eiffel Tower (which is spectacular at dusk when the lights lining the entire structure sparkle to great effect), the Louie Vuitton building and the little golden Joan of Arc statue. Of course also included is the world's most famous and craziest roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe at the end (or start) of the Champs Elysees. This roundabout works in the opposite way to every other roundabout in the world. Vehicles on the roundabout have to give way to those entering. And with about 10 lanes around and 12 streets shooting off, it's not for the faint-hearted. Much to everyone’s delight, our coach driver had a go at it! Seems appropriate he'd been nicknamed 'Bronco' not some half hour before. That spin around the Arc de Triomphe roundabout was so thrilling it almost wrecked me for all roller coasters from then on. Almost. It's a roundabout people let's not get carried away. Cool.
After this most spectacular night tour, we drove back to our campsite where most went to the bar to socialise and get to know this curious group of travelers.

DAY 2 PARIS FRI 8-JUL-05

This morning I got to fulfill one of my childhood dreams and climbed the steps on the Eiffel Tower. Pause. Ah.
You can only climb to the second level so I took the elevator the rest of the way to the third level. After a while there, and you need a while coz the elevators aren't quick and the line is long, our tour group left to visit the Palace of Versailles.
Quick Note - Paris was one of the main contenders for the host city of the 2012 Olympic Games which, alert readers would already have realised, they lost 2 days ago. So there was quiet an amount of unnecessary and certainly wrong promotional signage around that was hurriedly being taken down...
The Palace of Versailles car park has a motzer of pawners of fake goods. The best method is to ignore them and keep walking. We're told they can get quiet aggressive and you could get yourself in a nasty position if you don't watch yourself. But, there are none of these vendors allowed inside the Palace gates which are free for you and me to enter. 3Euro will let you explore the gardens which are pretty amazing. I didn't pay just walked around the sides of the palace. Inside, there apparently are some pretty chamber rooms and a magnificent 'Hall of Mirrors'. Entry is 20Euro which I thought was rather steep and so did a couple of people I talked to who paid it. Myself and a few others entertained ourselves in the main courtyard playing hackey sack until Security told us to stop. So we went our and across the street and played there.
Tonight we dressed up for a restaurant dinner and cabaret show
Our dinner was good with plenty of rose-giving. Ah, the city of romance works it's wonders so quickly. Definitely not quietly though.
All the food was of traditional French fare. Entree choice of raw vegetables or goose pâté - I had the veggies which turned out a great choice, I tried Dale's pâté and it was rather uninspiring. Main choice of duck, chicken or beef. - I had the duck. Actually we ate the kitchen out of duck. Was good but tasted like dark chicken. Chicken that just had a beach holiday in the Mediterranean and developed a nice cancer rash (also known as a tan).
Dessert was meant to be a flaming masterpiece but it turned out a real fizzer.
Dashing back onto the coach to go to the 'Nouvelle Eve', little sister of the Moulin Rouge and coincidentally just down the road. Cute little venue and half a bottle of champagne each for the show. The show in a word was Spectacular. The costumes, the dancing, The extra acts. Wow. There was a lady performing acrobatics on a little swing and once supported her entire weight with the back of her neck. Later we were told this woman is 54 years old. There was a magician/acrobat dude with rather questionable grooming methods but geez he was funny.
It was an absolutely fantastic show and everybody was so gee'd up at the end the coach danced back to camp.
Not too much later in the evening back at camp I was given a new perspective on the world when Jonesy, inadvertedly, hit me in the head with his recently discarded beer bottle. You should have felt the egg on my head. It was huge. Hey Jonesy.

DAY 3 PARIS SAT 9-JUL-05

Today was the first of several coach-free days we would be having on this tour. So we had to use the local bus and Metro (train) systems to get around. Another Jodie-like maneuver with a museum card (I left it in my tent) meant I handled this all solo. Those museum cars incidentally are worth every euro cent. 18Euro and it gives fast entry into so many museums and, for want of a better word, attractions around Paris. Three entries to make it worth the money. I made four.
First stop I planned to make was at Notre-Dame. A disorientated map however (not mine!) meant I found myself on a cute shopping street with the word 'Sale' displayed in every window. Now I'm not much of a shopper but this is Paris and it deserves a look. So I did and ended up buying 2 nice shirts. Ok, back on track now. I corrected my bearings and found Notre Dame and the 10 people wide, 3 km long stretch of people waiting to get inside. I thought I'd check back later. So I walked along to the Lourve which wasn't that far on the map but well, it was.
I managed to see the famous pieces I wanted to see. The glass pyramid, Venus De Milo, Grand Sphinx, Winged Venus and the Mona Lisa - which I actually liked despite the claims of it being very underwhelming. Moving on because there was so much more to see.
I tried a choclat crepe for 3euro at the gates but it wasn't as good as the one I had in London near Big Ben. Still alright though.. I suppose..
I contemplated my life and the world's history at the eygptian obelisk and fountain past the gardens out of the Lourve and walked the length of the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. Here it's an underground passage to the roundabout, another flash of the museum card and about 400 steps up a very tight spiral staircase to the top. If you don't know much about Paris sites then the top view is not really that much value. At the base, the Arc is most awe-inspiring. It's inscribed with the names of Napoleon’s Generals. The underlined names and those that died as a result of the battles they fought for him. The Unknown Soldier, is a heart-warming monument under the Arc put in after WW1 to commiserate all the dead.
I walked back the opposite side of the Champs Elysees and found it just as populated. I had a stroll along the River Seine which I didn't find terribly attractive like the way some Parisians do when they picnic alongside and sunbathe there in the summer months.
Used my museum card to visit Sainte Chappelle. I was told by our tour manager this was an absolutely beautiful building but walking initially into the 'downstairs' part I wasn't at all thrilled. Checking out the 'upstairs' almost absent mindedly as I left revealed the true place of such praise. It's stunningly beautiful. Gorgeous stained glass work everywhere. I've seen photos of this place since and they do no justice to it's real life beauty and impact. Spent some time here just gawping then I thought I should get going. I cut in the line at Notre Dame and was impressed at it's vastness inside. The flower of stain glass was impressive but after Sainte Chappelle it may have lost some impact on me. Outside I meet up with fellow tour people and admired the Cathedral’s outside architecture, particularly the flying buttresses out the back. I came back to camp with several people for dinner and a few drinks before hitting the li-low.

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