Hello from Paris where it is trying hard to shower on our parade but failing to dampen the enthusiasm of our group on their last day exploring this romantic City of Light. Unfortunately there is also a strike about the retirement age in France taking place today. Consequently all museums and art galleries are closed and public transport is running on a reduced timetable which is still about 75% better than the PT in Sydney.
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| Group ready to fly. |
Our Classic European Interlude tour finishes tomorrow. Twelve of our group of 21 return to Australia with the rest continuing on with individual travel to various places. John and I are taking the Eurostar to London tomorrow. After a couple of days there, we fly to Turin Italy and have 4 days with our friend Daniela and her parents. We will be back in Sydney 20 Oct.
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| St Pancras station London |
Our group left Australia on 29 August and from what we gather it was a good time to be away and miss to hoo-haa with the independents deciding which party to side with. Also missed the AFL finals. Sad the Swannies bowed out early and just heard the score of the grand final replay today which sounds like a bit of a non-event after the original grand final game last week. Suppose we have to acknowledge the Collingwood players, although I would have been much more gracious with the praise and happier if St Kilda had won.
It is 35 days since we flew out of Sydney and our tour since seems to have gone so very quickly until we recall landing in Rome and that seems like months ago. Altogether we covered 4659 km travelling in three very comfortable Peugeot Tepee 9 seat vehicles which are an absolute dream to drive. For the Rev-heads - our diesel average was 8.9L/100kms and the average speed was 59km/hr. Each vehicle carried 7 passengers, each with one large baggage and one carry on. As always, the baggage weight, size and number increased significantly after numerous shopping sprees!!
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| Trevi Fountain Rome |
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| A tight fit but we made it! |
From Rome we had a lovely meander through Tuscany to stay in a stunning small hotel in the center of the historic hilltop village of Cortona (have you read Under the Tuscan Sun?).
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| View from Cortona |
The over-night ferry took us across the Adriatic Sea to Croatia. Everyone really enjoyed the experience of this mini cruise. Sunny Croatia is a beautiful as ever and the magnificent Plitvicka Lakes in the National Park never fail to impress. Hungary came next.
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| Central Markets Budapest |
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| Hero Square Budapest |
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| Visit to the wonderful Jewish Museum Budapest |
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| Central Market Budapest |
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| Opera House Budapest |
We stayed at Keszthely on Europe's largest fresh water lake - Lake Balaton before our three nights in Budapest where I must reveal the Danube is still not blue. I still think the amazing architecture in this city is just about the best in Europe. It was wonderful to dine in the ever so elegant Gundel restaurant again.
Our splendid musical fix was had in Vienna thanks mainly to Mozart and Johann Strauss. Not to forget the wonderful buildings here either, such as the Schonbrunn Palace, the State Opera House and the Romanesque facade of St Stephen's Cathedral to name a few. Memories of Mozart chocolates and the renowned Sacher Torte will not be forgotten quickly as most of our group admit they are taking some home on their hips!!
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| Schonbrunn Palace |
Light rain greeted our arrival in Prague and on one of the free days there it was so very heavy it did mar the day for sightseeing. However this group is particularly fond of shopping, very creamy rich cake, ice-cream, coffee and a vino or two; so they were just a happy to take refuge in one of the delightful cafes, bars, restaurants or shops. Not necessarily in that order!
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| Beautiful architecture in Prague |
Austria came next. Here we had 3 nights in a gorgeous hotel nestled in the forest woods around the very small Austrian Village of Acharting, 9 km from Salzburg. www.hammerschmiede.at We were fortunate that the weather cleared enough for our handsome Austrian guide Helmut, to take us to visit Hitler's Eagles Nest. The group really had a hoot in the Salt Mines too. Weather was perfect for our day in Salzburg, so everyone was very happy.
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| Our hotel in the forest. |
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| Dressed to go down the salt mine |
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At Hilter's Nest
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The small Slovenian lakeside village of Bled is one of the most picturesque and romantic villages in Europe. Our group loved this stop and took full advantage of the wonderful fresh air revelling in the immence natural beauty whilst strolling the pathway around the lake and taking a ride in the rowboats.
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| Bled from hotel balcony |
Back to Italy and Mestre/Venice. Yipee - the Interlude staff had a full day off here and whilst most of the group discovered Venice, we made the short train journey to historic Padua. Here we met up with Australian friends who had rented a magnificent old villa set in a wonderful parkland garden. They treated us to a delicious lunch with a table set in the garden under the trees - sooooo Italian and great fun.
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| Lunch in Padua |
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| Villa kitchen |
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| Villa in Padua |
Our final days in Italy were spent in historic Verona and then Stresa on Lake Maggiore. I had not stayed in Stresa before. Totally gorgeous.
The weather worsened as we arrived at the home of the magnificent Materhorn, Zermatt, Switzerland. Rain, rain and more rain. However the ride on the Gornergrot to the top station was still possible and everyone thought very worthwhile.
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| Zermatt |
From Switzerland to Colmar France. On the way we called at Mulhouse and visited the Schlumph collection of classic and vintage cars in the Mulhouse National Motor Car Museum. Colmar has a charming city centre with half timbered houses, balconies, wood sculptured facade and gables from the Renaissance era. One of the quaintest areas is what is known as Little Venice where ancient houses are reflected in the waterway which passes through the city.
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| Little Venice -Colmar France |
On the home stretch now staying at Reims in the heart of the champagne area of France and visiting the Moet & Chandon cellars and having a sample or two. Not the drivers of course! Following that visit, the passengers slept until we arrived in Peronne.
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| Australian Memorial at La Hamel |
Our last day before heading for Paris was spent touring the Australian battlefields and monuments of the Somme. The relatively new and beautiful Australian Memorial at La Hamel which was opened by Quentin Bryce only two years ago is very sobering and graphic in detail of the battle fought there in 1918. On my last visits to this area I have told you about the Franco-Australian Museum at Villiers-Bretonneux which tells the story of the Australians during WW1 with exhibitions including photos, uniforms, models, letters and a video room. We spent some time at the imposing Australian National memorial which bears the names of missing Australian soldiers who fell in France and have no name on their gravestones.
Later on this so far sombering day, we jollied up for the final group dinner of the tour. It has become customary for each bus to put on some sort of performance on this night. I must say this group outdid the previous groups with songs, dances and poems composed about the trip. Our bus also put on a pantomine based on Roald Dahl's revolting Cinderella. It is amazing how the shy shine on stage and thoroughly come out of their comfort zone to entertain and have fun. It was all recorded on video and it has been hinted that it may appear on U-tube. A great way to wind up a truly wonderful tour.
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| Bus # 1 - Cinderella skit |
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| Bus # 2 |
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| Bus #3 |
On our travels we visited many lovely villages and very scenic areas on the back roads. One village in particular I would like to mention is Cesky Krumlov in Czech Republic. Totally gorgeous, put it on your must-visit list.
Our last European tour was two years ago and it is interesting to note and enjoy the improvment in hotel services throughout this tour. Breakfasts in particular have been excellent - seems the dreaded 'continental breakfast' is a thing of the past. Internet corners and Wifi connections are available in most hotels - many free. Towels are bigger and thicker. Overall our varied accommodation has been wonderful particularly the small boutique hotels with so much character.
So we finish this tour here in Paris. The hotel is a new one for Interlude, sourced by John when he was here for the Rugby World Cup. It is situated in a perfect position across the road from Bir-Hakeim metro and just around the corner from Tour Eiffel and the Australian Embassy. As with all Parisian hotels, the rooms are small but tastefully furnished with a good sized bathroom. I would certainly recommend it - have a look
www.eiffelseine.com.
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| Foyer & small bar of Hotel Eiffel Seine |
It is satisfying and a bit of a relief when the buses are returned and everyone is safe and sound at their final destination without any major mishaps. The worst that happened was that one of our fellas was pick-pocketed on a tram in Prague which was somewhat upsetting for him. I would advise everyone especially when travelling to join Secure Sentinal or similar. If credit cards, phones are lost or stolen it only takes one reverse charge call to them and everything is cancelled and reissued without fuss.
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| I made a friend in Vienna |
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| Sampking the local fare in Vienna |
Somewhere I left behind my favourite 'dress up' shoes, John left a book with only a couple of chapters to go, in the hotel in Peronne. If anyone has a copy of Mistress of the Game, please can we borrow for a day or two! To add to the excitement, the third bus driven by John lost sight the other two buses as we came into the centre of Paris. They got caught at a red light and their two-way ran out of battery so they could not pick up instructions from our navigator. Awfully stressful , but John just got a taxi to guide them to the hotel. I am lucky, John and Graeme Furness are excellent drivers and Kim Furness is a very competent navigator.
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| The Interlude Staff taken in Zermatt |
Looking forward to getting home and finalizing the Interlude tour for 2011... a great tour to Canada in September.
Hope to catch up soon,
Jeanette 5.10.10
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