A quiet last day in Paris

With Graeme off running around Disneyland and Disney Studios, the Sheards and I have had a lovely peaceful museum-free day walking in Paris. We did "Hip Paris" from Les Halles to the Marais, and some of "Undiscovered Paris" near Gare du Lyon. Everywhere are wonderful buildings and small parks to relax in. At lunchtime we found ourselves in Rue des Rosiers, heart of the Jewish district, where we had a great falafel in pita bread - apart from the falafel, hummus, tahini they added red cabbage and eggplant; it was so yummy.

Judy got us around in the best way on the metro, and also provided the commentary from her Michelin guide. The Metro is fantastic - it looks to us as though the average time between trains on all lines is around 3 minutes. What a pity it can't be like that in Melbourne.

We are about to go out for our usual 3 course fixed price dinner - also delicious food with lots of choices. After dinner we'll hop on the metro to visit the 59 story Mont Parnasse tower, for a final night-time view of Paris. Home tomorrow!!

Paris and the World Cup

The penalty shoot out is about to start and the streets are full of excited French people and the odd Italian group. There is lots of noise and people are painted and dressed in French flags/colours. All very exciting. The street near us with lots of little restaurants has crowds outside each restaurant with a large screen TV. Paris is awash with World cup fever. In spite of this Graeme has gone on a night bus tour - the rest of us will go tomorrow night while G is at Disneyland - when it's safer and there are no street blockages.

If France win the soccer the Sheards and I will hop on a train to the Champs Elysees to share the excitement; if they lose I think I should get rid of the Italian flag that happens to be on our balcony!

A few TMB photos

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A few funny stories

At Auberge de la Nova on day 2 we had someone with a strong French accent telling us what was available for dessert. We thought she said “dry cheese” or “lychees with cream”. 3 of us ordered lychees which turned out to be “white cheese with cream”.

In Courmayeur we went to the same restaurant both nights as the fixed price menu was excellent. There were about 6 choices for dessert and Jenny bravely tried the “beer and chocolate cake” on the second night. When it arrived it had no beer but a lot of pears in it! Again a problem with accents!

On the Amalfi coast John wanted Judy, Sue and me to sit on a rock for a photo. I said – OK we’ll be like 3 shags on a rock (for those who don’t know a shag is a type of sea bird). Then came Judy’s classic comment “I feel like a shag on a rock”.

While sitting in deck chairs admiring Mont Blanc at Refugio Bonatti, an English couple arrived and the woman said how glad she was to finally be there (she was wearing elastic bandages on both knees and was obviously in pain). Mean Graeme quickly told here that the refuge was full and she would have to walk on another 20k to the next refuge! They actually had a booking and we became good friends; her husband has Graeme’s same wicked sense of humour. We became even better friends when I gave her all my Voltarin tablets and her knee pain was cured overnight. The tablets lasted her to the end of TMB.

On day 2 I had just had a shower and washed my knickers, socks and T shirt (the daily routine). We were carrying the minimum of spare clothes (one spare pair of knickers and socks) so imagine my horror when I could not find my spare knickers in my pack, and the other pair were now wet. Then I remembered that to save space I had packed them in my spare shoes!

Courmayeur to Rifugio Bonatti - can it possibly get any better??

The day out of Courmayeur was an up 1500m, down 900m day which sounds horrific but was out of this world. The day dawned clear as a bell and Graeme decided to opt out and revisit the Aiguille du Midi again (see his post). Judy went with him as she had missed out on the rest day and the remaining 4 did the TMB high route. It was magnficent - once we ascended to the ridge the hard work was mainly over and the views in all directions were stupendous. Mont Blanc was visible all the time as well as countless other peaks and aiguilles (needles ie. pointy jagged peaks usually without snow). I have never felt so exhilarated in my life. We arrived at Rifugio Bonatti at the same time as Judy and Graeme who had come the short way down the valley after their great cable car trip. So everyone was happy. We all sat out in deck chairs on the terrace in front of Mont Blanc and the Grand Jorasses and relaxed and soaked up the view. The refuge was great - we had private rooms, and dinner was 4 courses of delicious food. To anyone doing the TMB I would recommend staying in at least a couple of refuges to complete the experience. It's now 2 days later and we have crossed the Grand Col Ferret (pronounced ferray) to return to Switzerland. Unfortunately photos will have to wait until Paris - they may help to capture some of the amazing scenery.

TMB - one day down, ten left

Well today we started the tour of Mt Blanc, an 11 day walking tour around the Mont Blanc massif, covering about 170 km and ascending and descending around 8000m at least. We all were ruthless in deciding what to put in our packs but still they seem so heavy - probably 8 or 9 kgs each.

We made today a little easier by taking a cable car up 600m, but still we were stuffed when we arrived at Hotel Le Grizzli in Les Contamines. The pack did seem to get lighter by the end of the day; maybe because we ate lunch and drank water, or maybe we were adjusting. Tomorrow will be a test as we have to ascend 1300m and descend 900m. If we survive thqt the rest of the tour should be doable.

There is no Internet cafe here but the hotel owner is letting us use his notebook. However the French keyboard is a chqllenge as the letters A and Q are swapped around and I have to keep correcting things.

Graeme had quite some difficulty with breathing on the Zermatt walk so we are hoping he is ok tomorrow with the altitude being a couple of hundred metres lower.

There will probably be no more posts until Courmayeur in 3 days.

The Cinque Terra – more stunning villages clinging to the cliffs

We got to the Cinque Terra easily by train. Prices here are way higher than Florence. We are paying about the same for our apartment as in Florence but it is about one third the size. Our bed is in the kitchen! The bathroom is so small you can barely dry yourself after showering.

Today we took the train from Monterosso where we are staying at the north end to Rio Maggiore at the south end, and did the 5 villages walk back. It was great – see photos. Quite a bit of up and down and stunning scenery. It’s a bit of a worry that we only walked 10 km and ascended maybe 180m and we are exhausted – that
is nothing compared to what we’ll be doing on TMB next week.

John has been learning Italian for a couple of years now and is finding our group’s pronunciation of Italian a trial. Cinque Terra is pronounced Chinkwa Terra but Graeme insists on Sankwa Terra. Meanwhile Sue can’t get her head around duomo (cathedral), pronounced dwommo – she insists on doomo. John keeps correcting but to no avail. Surprisingly I still remember the bit of Italian I picked up over 30 years ago when my mother learnt Italian and played recordings constantly at home.

Italy - Amalfi, photos, trains and troubles

We had little time to get to an Internet cafe in Amalfi; hence the long delay between posts. Above are some of the photos from there. We had a great 4 days there and were set to have a great 3 days in Florence when the day from hell hit.

Yesterday we got to the train station at Salerno at 1030 am and did not get to Florence until 11pm!! We waited hours as the trains were delayed due to some protest that had blocked the lines. To cap it all off while walking from the station to the apartment (no taxi at station!) Graeme was approached by 2 guys who chatted and appeared friendly and then promptly stole his wallet from his pocket - normally it is in the bum bag but alas not this time. So we then had to phone Australia (at $5 a minute I think) to cancel the cards - not a fast process as you go through the automated menus and get put on hold. I dread to think how much the phone bill will be.

On the plus side - Judy's luggage has turned up, we still have a flexi card for getting money from our savings account, our apartment is magnificent (3 huge bedrooms, separate lounge and kitchen and even a washing machine and dishwasher), and Florence is as beautiful as ever although there are too many tourists - wish it was only us! Graeme will fill in details soon no doubt - he loves keeping the blog updated, especially with embellishments.

Santorini – Far from the Madding Clients

A bit over a week ago I was still sweating over clients’ problems; now that seems like decades ago. The photos say it all – constant sunshine, picturesque villages, stunning sunsets, azure blue seas. Plus good food and a bit of an up-market hotel. We are in the honeymoon suite of Blue Suites, supposedly a 4 star hotel and quite nice but not what we would call 4 star at home. We do have 2 balconies (one for morning sun and one for afternoon sun), a 4-poster bed, a large sitting room and a lovely pool. But we do NOT have a plug for the bath, shampoo or tea and coffee making facilities. And the “buffet” breakfast is hardly inspiring.
We have shifted from a motor scooter to a 4WD all terrain vehicle (see photo). Lots of people are driving around in them, probably because they are cheaper than a car and do not require a motorcycle license. Yesterday we explored the south end of the island, today the north. Santorini is crescent shaped and is the rim of a volcano that massively exploded around 1600BC. It is almost unique in having the caldera of the volcano in the sea. Other islands to the west make up the rest of the crater rim. Tomorrow we are going on a boat tour to see the volcano centre, hot springs, etc. Then we fly to Athens and the next day to Rome where hopefully 5 of us will meet up at Rome station for the train trip down to the Amalfi coast.
Time to go to the pool for a dip and to read some more of “Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants” – quite appropriate since it’s partly set in Santorini. Then before dinner it’s down and up the 600 steps and 250m vertical to the sea, a daily effort to stay fit for Tour of Mont Blanc.

Training and Tribulations

Sue's sore knee continues to give problems, but only walking downhill. Will she have to walk all the downhill sections (about 7000m altogether) backwards? Only time will tell. Meanwhile shopping continues for necessities for the walk. Kitty and Graeme tested their new packs on a 14 k walk in the Brisbane Ranges, where Kitty discovered what a weakling she is. 7 Kg is definitely the maximum pack weight for her! She is now frantically trying to build up some upper body stremgth on the home gym - but only 4 weeks to departure now.