Thursday, May 25, 2006

From Paris

Bonsoir and hello again,

Following on from my last update from the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia, we continued north back into Italy via Slovenia and a visit to the world-renowned Postojna Caves. Those who took the two and a half hour cave tour certainly appreciated the natural beauty of the magnificent caverns, the glistening stalactite formations and cave animals in this largest and most visited cave in Europe. After a picnic lunch in brilliant sunshine along the river in the park at Postojna, we had a slow trip for our three nights in Verona. Heavy semi and truck traffic plus a truck accident slowed travelling to a snails pace for some kilometers. However we kept amused with a sing-along in the buses and arrived at the elegant Hotel Giberti in Verona around 7pm, in plenty of time to find a good restaurant for dinner.

Our very passionate local guide of Verona was the same chap we had on our last visit here. Those of you who were on that tour would surely remember Andrea. You would also remember the fantastic meal we had at the Il Cenacolo restaurant - roughly translated to 'The Last Supper'. Well nothing has changed except a slight price increase, absolutely delicious food and great service. Thanks to Jaak Jarv for the restaurant recommendation some years ago, we enjoyed this gastronomic indulgence again.

Although Verona is very much a walking city, many locals ride bicycles, as did Myles and John, who took the hotel bikes and cycled around - a great way to go.
The sun shone for our entire time here as we strolled through this truly impressive city with its picturesque winding lanes of the old town centre, lovely walks beside the river, the Arena, churches and monuments and shops to die for. As you know, Verona was the romantic backdrop of Romeo and Juliet's mythical and tragic love affair so of course we visited the courtyard of Juliet's house with the famous balcony! In this courtyard is the brass statue of Juliet with her very shiny right breast, enthusiastically polished by the fondling of many tourists eager to find their true love, which allegedly will follow! Let's see! 'Verona' is the name painted on the lead-light in the front door of our 100 year old home in Naremburn. It would be interesting to know why the house was so named. Maybe our home is like this city, ancient and modern, calm and chaotic, yet with its own charm and significance.

En route to Switzerland we had a splendid drive particularly around beautiful Lake Como. We lunched outside at a lakeside café in Tremezzo and were flabbergasted by the absolute opulence of the magnificent villas that surround the lake. Here is serious money! We arrived at our family owned and run hotel in the village of Intragna to be instantly invited to join the family on the decorated hotel terrace for an aperitif at 5.30 to celebrate the marriage that afternoon of the eldest daughter. Well all Australians love a party and it was not too long before we were singing, dancing and supporting the piano accordion player and violinist with me playing the spoons and Nancy expertly converting a tray into a tamborine. Although the more reserved bona fide wedding guests were clearly enjoying themselves, I did feel they might have been slightly thankful when our group moved into the dining room for dinner at 7.30pm and they to the wedding breakfast. It was a fun impromptu evening.

Intragna is a delightful small village with many buildings made of stone giving one the illusion of having stepped back into the 13th century. It is also unique because (as we witnessed), it combines Italian grace and charm with Swiss efficiency and hospitality.

The next two days we spent in the village of Lauterbrunnen in the spectacular Lauterbrunnen valley surrounded by the natural beauty of the Swiss Alps. From this base our group used their time to individually explore the area. Some took the amazing mountain rail to mountain villages or the cable car further up to the Schilthorn (2970 m) and on to the Top of Europe the Jungfaujoch (4158 m). Myles and I hiked to the spectacular Trummelbach, ten glacier waterfalls inside the mountain. Interlaken was a popular shopping destination and easily accessibly by train. As a result, more purchases included a rather large cuckoo clock found their way into our buses!

Our last stay before reaching Paris was in a elegant XV11 century Château set in a 27 hectare private park near the vineyards of Bourgogne, in the Saulon la Rue district about 16km out of Dijon. It was here we had our last official group dinner and what a gastronomic experience it was, true to the Bourgogne tradition.

Paris was unseasonably cool when we arrived and had apparently had a week of very cold days. This morning was cool however the skies cleared this afternoon and the sun peeped through enough for one to confidently anticipate a better weather day tomorrow. This city is full of light and magic no matter what the weather.

We hear that Sydney has had some rain, the Swans had another victory last weekend, Sophie is making remarkable progress and Tony Mundine is still 'the man' - so all is apparently well!

Those who are flying directly home or staying over three nights in Bangkok depart Paris on Saturday. It has been a great tour and gone rather quickly.

Looking forward to catching up with friends and relatives very soon.

Au revoir for now,

Jeanette

25 May 2006


Jeanette

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't wait until I retire to join one of your tours (2 years to go!)

Alison said...

I was on the tour and have nothing but praise for Jeanette, her organisational ability and her driving skills - especially in tiny medieval towns!

We've seen amazing sights, discovered magnificent food and wine and enjoyed the companionship of a warm and friendly group of people.