Villers-Bretonneax

Tuesday 4th October, 2011

Kim had bought some bags with her for each of us that take the air out and compact all the clothes down so we spent a couple of hours trying to sort all that out and get all the odds and ends into our cases. We finally managed most of it but still had some extra carry bags!! God knows what we’ll do when it is time to come home cause we have Paris and London yet. We thought we’d pack up most of the summer stuff cause we had seen the weather forecast and it is going to be a lot cooler from herein apparently. We have been so lucky though because we didn’t expect to get what we have had and by all accounts all the locals have said how unusually warm the weather has been wherever we go.

As we’d had a big lunch we did what we usually do in that instance and bought a couple of treats at the patisserie on our way home so after getting the packing done we treated ourselves to that and a cuppa. Dinner done. Not sure if I’d mentioned it but we can’t believe how a lot of these things in the patisserie’s usually cost less than a cup of coffee and it looks like a lot of work goes into some of them.

Left this hotel, where the staff were fantastic, and Reims by about 8:45am to visit the Australian Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux. We arrived there at about 10:30am, we stopped in the middle of the road to ask this old man if he speaks English, he started to speak in French and continue to speak in French. Clearly we couldn’t understand him nor I imagine could he understand us but he did seem to get ‘Australian Memorial’ and by his hand gestures of what direction, left and right, etc. we got there. Just goes to show that you don’t necessarily need to know the other person’s language to be able to communicate.

We were both very impressed with the memorial as it is a very important part of our history and is situated on top of a hill overlooking the fields and a couple of little villages. It is also very well tended to and although the weather finally turned nasty on us we were both glad we made the trip. As we got further and further away from Reims it got greyer and greyer and by the time we got to the memorial it was quite chilly with a bit of drizzle. We stopped down in one of the little towns that the memorial overlooked which was Fouilloy and had a cup of coffee. You go into the ‘bars’ for coffee and they obviously sell alcohol as well and when we went to this one where they didn’t speak English we managed to get what we wanted but there was a lot of laughing and we got the impression it was at us. Probably cause we were clearly underdressed for the weather being that we were in shorts. It was also before midday and the alcohol was already being served which happens a lot here. I think they must live by the ‘one before eleven or eleven before one’ rule!!

We headed off to the Charles de Gaulle airport to drop Cindy our trusty Citroen off. As much as she’s been amazing and we’ve had no problems whatsoever there was no way we were going to be driving in Paris. Some people both here and at home thought we were mad driving at all, and there was a few times we thought it ourselves but we are very happy we did and were quite pleased with how we have done under some of the conditions we have had to deal with. Anyway as with when we picked the car up we had a hell of a time trying to find the damned drop off point. When we pulled over and asked someone another car stopped as he was looking for the same place so it wasn’t as if we were idiots, it was their directions. We eventually found it, the other car going off in another direction to us but funnily enough when we did get there he was pulling in just in front of us. So sadly we dropped her off and have packed Ruby away for a rest cause god knows we tested her at times, I think she was sick of saying ‘turn around where possible’!!

They grabbed a taxi for us to get into Paris who was a very pleasant black man that opened the doors for us and lifted our now very, very heavy cases into the boot. He said he didn’t speak English much the same as our Melbourne cab drivers but he understood enough to be able to find the hotel and when he got going he put the radio on which came up with a few English songs. We started singing along which he acknowledged with a smile. When I asked him about a stadium we saw he told us what it was and from then on became our tour guide, pointing out various points of interest. Kim got very excited when the Eiffel Tower came into view which he found amusing. As it turns out our hotels position is quite good, we are in the Saint-Germain area and close to the Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, etc. We arrived at the hotel at about 3.30pm to which the cabbie also unloaded all our bags and took them into the hotel so we took them upstairs and by 3:45 we were back out on the streets wandering around to familiarise ourselves a little. We did this for about an hour when we had seen some people in a café/restaurant eating and thought well that means we can too and as we hadn’t eaten anything all day took the opportunity to do so. This is rare cause by the time we usually feel like or get around to eating with all the sightseeing and stuff nobody is open for food, only coffees and drinks. Maybe here, because there are always people around, tourists, etc. they open at any time for eating, not sure but it suited us. We then made it back to our room to plan for the next few days here in Paris. This afternoon the clouds started to break up and the sun started shining again so hopefully the weather won’t be too bad. The receptionist said it should be much the same tomorrow maybe a little warmer and today was about 23 so here’s hoping our luck continues.

Australian Memorial - Villers-Bretonneax

Epernay/Reims

Monday 3^rd October, 2011

The receptionist at our hotel had recommended a restaurant on Saturday night which we didn’t make it to but it was closed last night being a Sunday night so we asked her again where we could get a meal and she gave us directions  to a 5-10 minute walk away. The first one that we came across in the area she recommended looked nice so in we went. We both really enjoyed our meals¸ Kim had lamb with roasted vegetables which she said was really nice especially the jus/sauce and I had salmon which was also very nice. We splurged and had a dessert also, Kim’s was a strawberry fondant with a shortbread base and I had a crème brulee. Very nice, very filling. We haven’t eaten out a lot as we are always so busy sightseeing, etc. and when we’re ready to eat it hasn’t been their mealtimes or we are so buggered after doing everything that we can’t be bothered and just have a snack. Back to our hotel for a coffee, ready for another wonderful day tomorrow.

Bit chilly this morning as it seems to be lately even though the weather is still in the high 20’s, again today about 27 and sunny. We left for Epernay just before 9:00am to make sure we had enough time to find Moet & Chandon. We found it ok so parked the car and went down the road a bit for a coffee. Whilst we were there a couple from America that we’d met and were chatting to yesterday at Pommery’s came in. I went over to say hello and they were so pleased to see us. We told them we had a 10:30 reservation at Moet & Chandon which they said they would try and make as well. We did go in a little early and didn’t see them there so figured they’d missed it. The tour again, like Mumm, was very informative, and as previously mentioned had another sample of the champagne all in the name of research. After we came out and were wandering through the shop they came over to greet us, they’d done the tour after us, apparently they didn’t like the Moet as much as they did the Pommery. We had no real opinion on any as we don’t usually drink champagne but it didn’t seem to stop us in the tasting rooms!

Kim at Moet & Chandon (tasting room)

We left there and wandered for a little while around Epernay and then stopped for lunch, I had a salad which came and was a bit like an egg and bacon on lettuce with a few slices of tomato which came in a bowl and Kim had lasagne and salad. Taking pot luck can be a gamble sometimes when you don’t understand the language but the salad was tasty all the same.

We then left to head back into Reims where we arrived at about 2.00pm. We went upstairs to unload and then headed across the street where the city centre is and wandered around there for the next couple of hours as we hadn’t had much of a chance to see the city sights because we had been out enjoying the champagne!! They have trams here that are longer than in Melbourne but some have the overhead lines and some don’t and they are extremely clean both inside and out.

Notre Dame Cathedral in Reims

Tramline in Reims

 Both Reims and Epernay are both nice towns, Reims being larger than Epernay. Unfortunately there weren’t a lot of shops open in Epernay being that it is Monday. The receptionist here wasn’t sure why that was but it has happened to us somewhere else because of it being Monday. Anyway it was nice to stroll the streets and have a look around at the different sights without having to go in and out of shops.

We have to try and compact all our luggage down tonight as we leave for Paris tomorrow and drop the car off. Wish us luck cause I think we are going to need it!

Reims

Sunday 2^nd October, 2011

The very friendly receptionist at our hotel organised a cellar tour for us for the Pommery champagne house at 11:00am so although we didn’t sleep in much we took our time and packed our bags to move into the next room. We were originally told that we could leave everything in reception whilst the next room was being made up but then they told us to leave it in the original room and they would move it for us when the new room was ready. That was great and very handy for us but you don’t understand how much stuff we are lugging around and couldn’t  help but feel sorry for the poor bugger that had to do that. Anyway we trundled off a bit early in case we got lost as we sometimes seem to do but in this instance all was good. We took some photo’s to kill time and then headed in for the tour. We chose the one that was recommended by the staff which had a choice of 2 flutes each from 4 champagnes so he said we could get 2 different one’s each and therefore taste all four. The tour takes an hour (although they do have a ½ hour one) and takes you right down to the cellars where it is 10 degrees. It was recommended in the brochures that you wear warm clothes but of course Kim and I forgot about that and off we went in singlet/tshirt being that it is another beautiful sunny day, albeit only 25 today and tomorrow. It wasn’t unbearable though so that was good but we were both very disappointed in the tour. We took the tour so as to learn about the champagne making etc. but it had art crap that most people never get the meaning of, music and noises playing through various speakers throughout the cellars and half the time we couldn’t hear our tour guide. When the tour finished back in the tasting room we were last up to the bar. We showed the barman our ticket and he referred us to the next barman at the end of the bar, obviously the special one (very good looking barmen by the way). He poured the first 3 flutes and for the last one he asked if we’d prefer rose or sweet and when we couldn’t decide he poured both so we ended out with 5 instead of 4 and when we took them back to a table to sample them everyone else was looking at us. Apparently most of them had just taken the standard which was one flute of the basic champagne. We polished those off and thought how well we were doing for a couple of chicks that don’t like champagne!

As Taittinger was just around the corner we decided to pop into there as well but alas without Ruby,  as we’d decided to walk, we got lost and couldn’t find it. Back to Pommery’s to get the car and set Ruby up, a couple of minutes by car around the corner and we were there. Just not the corner we took by foot. Now we are not stupid people, and maybe some will disagree, but you have no idea what the road signs, etc. are like over here. As we’d stuffed around trying to find it on foot we had to wait around for about ½ hour for it to reopen as it had closed between 1pm and 2pm. We didn’t do the tour there as we didn’t have enough time but had a look around anyway.

We arrived back at the hotel to find our luggage all moved into our new room and everything sorted. We had a quick break there before we headed off to our next appointment that the lovely reception staff organised for us at G. H. Mumm for 3:20pm. That one was within walking distance of about 15 minutes from our hotel but this morning’s receptionist did send us a little up the garden path! We did however find it with plenty of time to spare as we allowed enough for that very reason.  We started on the tour with a very informative guide who explained everything from the grapes grown to the crushing, fermentation, rotation, etc. Much, much better tour and just what we wanted without all the bloody arty farty crap. Then it was back to the tasting room….another couple of flutes, once again we’d taken the multiple choice where everyone else except for a couple of Columbian’s had gone for the one flute option. Kim downed both of those whilst I wasn’t impressed with the sweeter option so left that but walked back to our hotel very pleased with ourselves.

We have had a very enjoyable day, for obvious reasons, but both Kim and I expected the Champagne houses to be like they are in our Yarra Valley district not in the middle of a city like they are here. They are surrounded by gardens and their cellars underground go for many, many kilometres but we thought they’d be on a vast property surrounded by vines.

We are biding time now before going out to dinner and then tomorrow we head into Epernay for another appointment that the lovely receptionist has made for us at Moet & Chandon. Now don’t get the wrong impression here, this is all research that Kim is helping me with for my father Col and we are happy to oblige.

Jane at Pommery

Kim at Mumm

Chateau de Chaumont-sur-Loire

Saturday 1^st October, 2011

Left the hotel this morning to go and visit the Chateau of Chaumont-sur-Loire. Another chateau, of grand scale with many hectares of grounds, stables, etc. Because we get up early, and we still haven’t figured out what time they do things here we arrived early for it opening. We actually knew what time it opened but as we didn’t want to have breakfast where we were staying we thought we’d get some in the town before the Chateau opened. Big mistake, huge. Not much was open especially not for breakfast. We wandered around a bit and walked along the river to get a look at the Chateau from that angle as it overlooks the river. Then went into an accommodation place where we could see the patrons eating breakfast and asked if we could get a coffee. He obliged so we sat down and filled in some time there and warmed ourselves, chilly mornings. When we were walking out we realised they had opened the gates and we were literally the first in which was great to take photo’s without hordes of people all over the place. We spent a good couple of hours there wandering around and when we left we thought we’d try this other little place that we noticed had just opened for a coffee and something to eat, we still hadn’t had breakfast. We said can we get a coffee and we noticed crepes on the menu outside so asked for that. She said no and told us just drinks. We were a little undecided because we really wanted something to eat but then thought we’d get a coffee and have something from the patisserie we saw earlier. Well she directed us to a table, after shaking her head apparently at our indecision, and took our order, 1 cappucino & 1 tea. Other people were coming in and they were seated on the other side and given menus!! We apparently weren’t allowed to order food but everyone else was. We were sitting there dumbfounded, not really sure where we went wrong. Anyway then my cappuccino came and it had whipped cream on top, not froth, and chopped nuts!! Have you ever?? Weirdest thing I’ve had in a while and Kim’s tea looked like dirty dishwater.

Anyway we then took off and decided that we’d stop at one of the La Boutique’s (no more autogrills, although we still see the occasional one) and we got a jambon and fromage sandwich, which in actual fact is a ham and cheese roll or baguette. That hit the spot as it was now 1.00pm and on our way to Reims. Ruby got us a little bit lost because they had a new freeway, or whatever they call them here, but we soon managed to get back on track again. We arrived at our hotel at about 4.00pm after a couple more stops a bit hot and bothered. It has been another beautiful sunny day of over 30 but perhaps a couple of degrees cooler in this region now.

There had been a muck up with our booking which we found out about on email and they didn’t have the twin room available for tonight so we are in a double again and then will move to the twin for the next two nights. The girl at reception has been so nice and couldn’t have been more helpful with all the questions we have been up and down asking ever since we arrived. They are going to organise a tour of one of the champagne houses, Mumm for us tomorrow morning and we’ll probably do another on in the afternoon. In between each of those we will have a look around at the monuments here as we didn’t get time this afternoon.  She also told us they had some entertainment on tonight which we can hear just sitting here now. Not too loud thankfully. Another long day again today but who could complain, we’re in the champagne region of France for god’s sake.

Chateau De Chaumont-sur-Loire

Kim at Chateau du Chaumont-sur-Loire

Blois

Friday 30th September, 2011

Off to Blois today which is a halfway point for us on our way to Epernay/Reims. A 3 hour drive that was uneventful except that Ruby couldn’t locate our hotel and that is because she was looking for the street in Blois when even though that’s what the hotel touts itself to be they are actually in a suburb of Blois. We parked the car and went in search of the tourist office so that they could direct us to where we needed to be and the girl there couldn’t have been more helpful. For the little bit that we saw of Blois itself it seemed to be a really nice town. Once we got back into the car and put the correct address into Ruby we were fine. Unfortunately though once we found the hotel it wasn’t open, some of the hotels you can’t check into until late afternoon (god knows why) so when we arrived just after 12:00 we found a sign saying it was closed between 12:00 and 3:00pm. Bloody nuisance really but the others that we’ve chosen so far we’ve been able to get into no matter what time we’ve arrived. Anyway you get what you pay for, we haven’t even got a mini fridge in this one to keep our drinks cold, luckily it is only a quick stopover!!

We decided to head off to Chambord Chateau which is one of the many Castle’s & Chateau’s in the area and was only 30 minutes away. King Francis I started the building of it in 1519 but didn’t see it finished before his death in 1547 when his sons Henry II & Louis XIV finished it. We’re always amazed at the grand scale everything is done, it is all so huge. In the centre there is a spiral staircase that links the three floors. It consists of two concentric spiral flights of stairs that wind independently around a hollow central column, so if two people each take one flight of stairs they can see each other through the openings in the central column but will never meet! Yes straight from the brochure but we walked up them and it was really fascinating, amazing really. The estate covers 5440 hectares but only 800 hectares are open to the public, as if anyone would see all of that. Once again it is very hard to write exactly what we see and make it interesting for anyone else, we’re always saying even the photo’s don’t do justice to what we see.

Chambord Chateau

Kim at Chambord Chateau

Kim & Jane at Chambord Castle

As you can see by our attire, another sunny day of 30+ temperatures, beautiful one day, perfect the next. We asked a gentleman if he would take a photo of the both of us which he had a little trouble doing but eventually managed. But as we started walking back towards him he thought he'd take another and was very pleased with himself. I actually prefer this one (the above photo ), Kim not so much.

Heading into the champagne region tomorrow, after looking at another chateau here in the morning, look out!!

La Rochelle

Thursday 29^th September, 2011

We had a better night without any bugs and insects to contend with although the beds are never quite like your own and always hard to get used to. We got up early again this morning to a thick fog. We were worried that yesterday might be the last of our good fortune with the weather but at about 10:30am the skies cleared and the sun came out and it was another hot +30 day. We weren’t in any hurry to get anywhere and with the fog early we fluffed around in the room catching up on some stuff, booking accommodation for next few days, catching up on emails, etc.

We then headed off to the island, Ile de Re which was only about 20 minutes away and is accessible by car over the bridge but they do sting you for a 9 euro toll to get over. We’d heard people spend all day there so thought there must be plenty to see and do so off we went. It has about ½ dozen little villages there and some ruins dotted around but from what we could see not a lot else. We did stop in one of the towns, St-Martin which I think was one of the bigger one’s and parked the car which you had to get a ticket for and we thought that was a bit rich considering we’d had to pay to get on the bloody island in the first place. Anyway we wandered around for a while looking in the shops and doing the usual stuff but found it to be quite expensive for what it was. When we went to leave and we put the ticket in to pay for the parking it came up with something in French which of course we didn’t understand but it happened that the polizia were right next door and a couple of them happened to be walking back into their office. Kim asked if they spoke English to which one said yes and the other pointed and laughed. As it turned out the one that said yes didn’t and the other one did!! Anyway they told us to bring the car up and they would let us out so it didn’t cost us anything in the end, lucky us.

St-Martin on Ile de Re

We got back to our room at about 1.00pm and then headed down to the city centre of La Rochelle again. Not very French I know but we found a little Irish pub opposite the waterfront and decided to stop in there for a drink or two, or three, or four as it turned out. A nice couple of hours spent doing as they like to do over here, sitting side by side, facing the passersby, taking in the sun and just watching the world go by. We then came back to our room at about 5:30pm to fill in some time before dinner but whilst Kim was writing in her diary I very promptly fell asleep. Out to it apparently, snoring my head off, so much so that she took a photo that I was very unaware of and will never see the light of day!!

Kim & Jane in La Rochelle

I woke just before 6:30pm so we freshened up and headed back into town for dinner. We chose one of the many restaurants and sat down. The girl that seated us was very nice and spoke very good English and obviously catered for the tourist. I was tucked away and every time the waiter came over, who also spoke English quite well, leant down to Kim and his face was always about 6 inches from Kim’s face and after every question he would wink. He would sometimes stand behind Kim and ask a question and also wink then too, we were very amused by this but the funniest time was when he leant down and asked Kim if she wanted some wine with a bit of a wink. I found it really funny watching from the other side cause every time he did this Kim would lean back a couple of inches and laugh. Anyway Kim had a t-bone and I had a thai curry chicken, I know, once again not very French. Kim also enjoyed a glass of wine (Sancerre) that she tells me was very nice. They do like to ask you about dessert right after you’ve eaten we’ve noticed but we were too full so we just sat there for a while and enjoyed the atmosphere, once again watching the passersby. After doing that for a little while we decided to share a dessert (La Moelleux au chocolate) which was a chocolate fondant with vanilla ice-cream. Rich and delicious. Back to our room for a coffee and get ready for another day ahead.

La Rochelle

Wednesday 28^th September, 2011

Up we got early again after another restless night but with only having to swat about ½ mossies this time, it didn’t seem to stop the other bugs and beetles from coming in overnight though...anyway needless to say we packed up and left the bug ridden place under the cover of darkness!! We had a 7 hour drive ahead of us to get to La Rochelle so it worked out ok, we wanted to get as much space between us and the bugs. The drive, our longest yet, took us about 8 hours with stops along the way for coffee, toilet, etc. We sang most of the way and always have a laugh whatever we’re doing so life’s not too bad at the moment. It was going to be a beautiful day where we left and fortunately it stayed with us and was a very warm 30+ degrees on arriving in La Rochelle at about 3.00pm. We have been so lucky with the weather and have only had one day that wasn’t really warm and sunny and have been told that it is unseasonable but everywhere, even Paris is getting it so we are counting our blessings for that. We have noticed here in France that they don’t drive quite as fast as the Italian’s and they have more speed signs than they have so we tend to think they are a little more strict. We also found it amusing that they have a different speed limit when it is raining.

Anyway I digressed a bit but when we arrived here we were really pleased. A nice little, or not so little as it seems, seaside town which smells fresh and looks very clean. It has a very picturesque marina filled with boats and yachts and we took a couple of hours to familiarise ourselves with it by wandering the streets and browsing here and there. Something we noticed was how many restaurants there were and wondered how they all survive. We always find it hard to go past the patisserie’s and chocolate shops without looking in. The work that goes into some of these little sweet treats looks amazing and they aren’t that expensive, usually cheaper than a coffee (yes we’ve tried a couple, who could resist?) We got back to our room at 5.30pm starving having not had much throughout the day so made ourselves some dinner with a baguette and some bits and pieces we’d bought. We will go down to one of the restaurants tomorrow night which are all within walking distance. There is an island here that you can drive over to which apparently has lots to do so we will have a quiet, hopefully restful night before heading over there tomorrow.

La Rochelle