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Published: April 19th 2006
Spring blossoms
Lovely as always but we are looking forward to being in Japan in autumn for the opposite seasonThursday pm: Well I never! I’m writing this as we fly at 11,000 metres; with the temperature at -55 degrees Celsius. We are 300 km’s north of St Petersburg, looking at frozen lakes and broken ice, tracking towards Stockholm with 2077 km’s left before we are due to land in Paris at 4.20 pm.
The trip began smoothly until the baggage conveyor belt broke. It took an extra hour to load the luggage whilst we sat on the tarmac and said nasty things about Macquarie Airport’s efficiency. Our angst was dissipated somewhat as we were in the front pointy bit of the plane where we’ve never been. It’s where you turn left as you get on and where there were only 8 other passengers being looked after by three hostesses!
The flight was smooth and made memorable by champagne, lovely Japanese food and good service. Our 5.30am start meant that we made good use of the beds (they were flat and comfortable) and we arrived in Narita refreshed. Its spring in Japan and the blossoms were out and even in an airport hotel the garden was lovely. We stayed overnight at the Nikko Narita near the airport. Our luggage
was booked through to Paris and we had the new JAL flat beds which are seats that can tilt, lie flat or at any angle you set, with lumbar support and even a vibrating setting!
Thursday evening, from Ambonney near Epennay and south of Reims:
Good plans don’t always work do they? Smooth trip, no luggage hassles or problems getting the car BUT then things went wrong for a while. We drove a hundred metres before discovering that we had a flat tyre. We couldn’t stop and go back to the car place so we drove to the nearest garage& rang the company. One hour later the very flat tyre was changed with the spare and we left to drive to Ambonney. Arrived Ok after getting lost a couple of times when our body clock was telling us it was 3.30am and our first task on Thursday was to have the spare tyre fixed at a Citroen dealer near Epernay. Rick I can hear you and Jan laughing from here, recalling your adventures with Citroen and tyres!
Friday we conquered the GPS navigation system and now a nice lady tells us when to turn left etc and she
Winter care
I love the way they look after the trees in Japan. No wonder they live to such old ages gets very upset with Col who every now and again ignores her and goes in the opposite direction to see a view or a church or something when she is trying very hard to get us by the shortest route to our destination.
Highlights of first days in France have been:
Food: Fresh baguettes and soft smooth brie of course. We watched a chef prepare traditional steak tartare for a group of 5 in Chez Max in Epennay, and had a magnificent meal in a small country inn near Ambonney. For entrée Col had jellied pig cheeks (yuk) whilst I had smoked salmon, mains were pink lamb cutlets and of course a crème brulee dessert with chocolates to finish (well it was Easter Saturday).
Champagne and champagne caves: Our gite host is a third generation maker of Souterin award winning wines and we sampled the local brew. Valerie (daughter) took us to their cellars and explained the production process. In Epennay we toured Mercier cave (commenced 1858 and one of the oldest wineries) and in Reims we visited Taitinger which is one of the best and stores over a million bottles in their caves- of course we tasted
in each!
Churches: Reims was as beautiful as I remember it and it was sad to see it deteriorating due to age, war damage and pollution. The cost to communities and governments in Europe to maintain and restore such treasures must be immense. The atmosphere was amazing when you enter and it was more so when we were there as the choir was rehearsing for Easter Sunday services.
On Sunday we drove to Ronchamp near the German border north of Besancon to Le Corbusier’s Notre Dame du Grand Haut. What a difference a day makes. We went from a high Gothic cathedral to a small 20 century chapel yet the sense of peace and serenity was as great when we were in this small chapel as it was at Reims. Le Corbusier designed the chapel on a hilltop overlooking the town. It reminds me of the Opera House in that it sits so comfortably in its surrounds. It was also the result of a competition and interestingly another competitor was a young man called Renzo Piano! Having seen his drawings and the finished chapel I’m sure they made the right choice.
NEXT WEEK: GERMANY
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kristine needham
non-member comment
food, wine and grace
Hello you two - obviously you have wasted no time in enjoying all the fine things in French life. I am jealous of you having sun at Ronchamp as we had only grey and the stained glass didn't show its true colours. Look forward to the next chapter. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy - you deserve it. Kris