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Published: August 28th 2006
"Camping - no one told me it was so much fun", said Vic Benger throughout our five week camping tour of France, Monaco, Italy, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and Belguim. She has been converted and will be seen by many camping throughout Australia in the near future.
We began our camping adventure in Northern France visiting war memorials (including an Australian) in the Battle of Somme area. Then to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathredral, Arc de Triomphe, stroll along the River Seine and the Louvre to see among other things the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. The D-Day landing beaches were next and one main highlight here was the American memorial overlooking Omaha beach where almost 10,000 soldiers are buried. Le Mont St Michel which is a monastry built on top of a massive rock was truly amazing and we would recommend it to everyone. The Loire Valley covered with charming chateaux was next where in Le Mans our entire exhaust system fell off (thankfully we had European breakdown cover). The next part of France was the Auvergne, an extinct volcanic region which inlcuded Le Puy En Valey, a beautiful village with an amazing cathederal, Notre
Dame statue and a St Michel chapel built on top of a volcano vent. We then finally spent some time on the French Riveria soaking up some rays and visiting Monaco, where as you could imagine we saw some massive boats and expensive cars.
Italy lived up to its expectations with the first stop the Leaning Tower of Pisa, then onto Rome to do the usual - visit the Colloseum, Trevi Fountain, The Forum, Vatican City, etc. We camped outside Rome on Lake Bracciano which supplies Rome with its drinking water. Tuscany was a highlight with its beautiful countryside and medieval villages/cities as was Florence with Michaelangelo's David. We then stayed at Bec and Grattsa's place in northern Italy and saw little Madix and enjoyed a bed for a couple of nights before visiting Venice.
Into the beautiful country of Austria we enjoyed the scenery and then visited Salzburg. Munich in Germany is a great city worth visiting where we enjoyed some German beer in a beer hall and some German sausages. Dachau - a German concentration camp is close by and was an unforgettable experience. We then ventured off to the Rhine Valley which is a beautiful
area full of castles and vineyards along the river. Luxembourg - just 52 km's wide and 80 km's long was a quick detour to Belguim and so we spent a couple of hours in Luxembourg City. In Belgium we went to Brussels where we visited the Grand Place (reportly the most beautiful square in Europe - no arguments here) and then onto Bruges another beautiful medieval European city.
We are now back in England (where its raining again) for six weeks before venturing off to Turkey.
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Lou
non-member comment
Hiya!
This blog takes me back to our trip! I'm pretty sure we had the same shot over Florence with the Contiki group! We witnesses the Italian soccer fans giving it to the Australians on the Spanish steps after they beat us. You both looked lovely and tanned, especially you, Vic, you're looking fantastic! I am so jealous, will have to plan some more travelling soon! Speak soon :)