Gretel dropped us off at our hotel in Bordeaux. We then walked through the old city, along the river to orientate ourselves. On the way back, we stopped for a beer at a pub to discover that the owner was a rugby tragic. Couldn’t wait to tell us that Adam Ashley-Cooper of the Wallabies, is now playing for Bordeaux. He also has autographed photos of Wallaby, All Black and Springbok players.
One of a number of gates into Bordeaux’s old city.
Another Bordeaux gate.
Electric cars everywhere!
The following morning our bikes were delivered to the hotel and our luggage picked up for the 50km journey to Cadillac (for us, 62km due to wrong turns!). We settled in on these touring bikes with Bosch electric motors in the crank housing, powered by a Lithium battery behind the saddle. This is the answer to the up and down terrain of the Bordeaux region – it doesn’t allow you to free wheel, but assists you when you go uphill. (4 settings: Eco, Tour, Sport and Turbo)
Annie and her bike in front of the hotel.
A stop along the river path.
Annie unfortunately, picked up a puncture in the front tyre, which we repaired. The next puncture on the rear tyre, happened downhill at 45km/h, which managed to cause multiple leaks in the tube. After 6 patches, I gave up and replaced the tube. Fortunately, the bike company provided a range of tools and spares!
Puncture no. 2.
We arrived in Cadillac which is a beautiful town at 4:30pm. After a shower we explored the town and had a dinner of duck, salads and frites, washed down with a bottle of local wine. Then, early to bed.
Cadillac town.
Cadillac street.
The next day, we set off to St Emilion over much hillier terrain, giving the Bosch systems a good workout. Again what was supposed to be a 54km journey, stretched to 68km because the route directions included in our pack, was in English for the first day, with the following 3 days in French! Annie gallantly navigated using her patchy school French, with me trying the new English-French app on my phone. I was hoping Google and GPS will get us there, while softly humming the Bonnie Tyler song of 1977.
On the road to St Emilion.
Chateaux along the way.
Getting quite hilly!
The landscape is really beautiful with old Chateaux and rustic buildings dotting the landscape. It is also grape harvest time and we looked in amazement at the mechanised harvesting. We arrived in St Emilion at 5pm, with an aching bum in my case – Annie being ever chipper. Our route included dinners and breakfasts at the 3 star hotels we stayed at, and the food was exceptional. The French know how to prepare fantastic 3-course meals in small portions. How they stay so slim, we can’t figure out!
Riding into St Emilion.
The town from our hotel.
Street scene.
After a walk around St Emilion the following morning, we headed off to Blaye for the 64km trip, which we did in 73km! At this point my derriere was really aching, but the historic hotel in the Citadelle, (Fortification guarding the Garonne river entrance to Bordeaux) plus a fantastic dinner washed down with a Bordeaux sauvblanc, eased the pain.
Searching for Panadol and anti-inflammatories in my saddle bag.
Entrance to the Citadelle.
View from outside the hotel across the Garonne river.
View from the dining room at sunset.
A ferry took us across the river to Lamarque the next morning, to cycle the last 62km back to Bordeaux. After 15km, we crossed a railway line and I spotted a railway station next to the road crossing. After feigning an impending heart attack, Annie gave me money to catch the train back to the city, while she set off doggedly to complete the trip – clocking up 82km!
Ferry approaching the Lamarque shore of the river.
Vines pruned so that all the fruit hangs at the bottom for mechanical harvesting.
After a pleasant train trip, I arrived at our hotel at 2:30pm, the same time as our luggage and after a shower and two calming Cognacs, had a relaxing recovery on the bed.
There are so many beautiful photos of this area in our photo collection – if there was more time and internet bandwidth, we would have uploaded them all.
The TGV train from Paris to Angouleme near Cognac took two hours, reaching speeds of up to 320km/h. Daan Prins, an old friend from University days, met us at the station and drove us to his place in La Maurie on the Charente river, about 15 minutes from Cognac.
Train spotting: The TGV beast.
Daan and Gretel his wife, bought this house a couple of years ago and renovated it beautifully. Gretel certainly has an artistic touch and has collected an eclectic mix of furniture at the local flea markets.
Gretel & Daan’s front gate. Note the date: 1825.
Inside the gate.
The lounge room.
Our room – check out the timber beams.
Our room 2.
They showed us around their village and the adjoining village of St. Brise, on our drive into Cognac on the Sunday. This is of course the heart of Cognac production where all the well-known Cognac brands are distilled. Late Sunday afternoon, we packed a few bottles of wine and snacks for a scenic river cruise in their dinghy to Cognac. Eye wateringly beautiful!
Entrance into Cognac’s old town.
The oldest house in town – now a Cognac tasting centre.
Lovely park in the centre of town with the Municipal offices.
Beers after all the walking: Daan & Gretel.
River, boat and jetty at the bottom of the garden.
Sundowner cruise.
River reflections.
The following day, we drove to La Rochelle on the coast, about 90 minutes from La Maurie.
La Rochelle old town.
Covered colonnades.
This popular coastal resort has a historic town centre and an enormous marina, giving access to the Bay of Biscay. As luck would have it, there was a Boat Show on in the marina, which we explored at length. With the Jeanneau and Beneteau yacht factories a short distance to the North of La Rochelle, there was a comprehensive display of all their sailing and power vessels. Conservatively speaking, this show is about 3 times the size of the Sydney International Boat Show!
La Rochelle boat show.
Jeanneau exhibition – please, don’t tempt us!
La Rochelle harbour – persecuted French Protestants departed from here to the rest of the world.
On Tuesday we did a long walk through the surrounding vineyards and saw first-hand how everything from pruning to harvesting is done mechanically. After lunch we visited Baron Otard, one of the oldest Cognac Chateaux’s, for a tour of their cellars and a Cognac tasting. Annie, a brandy lover, was in her element and we had to purchase some VSOP Cognac.
A walk in the vineyards.
Early morning jetstream trails over Cognac.
Entrance to Chateau Baron Otard.
Barrels of Cognac ageing for up to 50 years.
And now, for the tasting.
On Wednesday after another sumptuous breakfast, we said our goodbyes to Daan, and Gretel kindly drove us to Bordeaux, where she had some other business to attend to. This was a truly wonderful four days in the company of good friends.
Dining room at Chez Prins.
These croissants are much too nice!
Next: Madness? A five-day cycle tour through the Bordeaux region.
Our last evening in London with Michelle was at the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, a community urban garden on an old railway site, to listen to some live music and eat pizzas. It was an opportunity to hear about Michelle’s work at her NGO, as a specialist in abused and sex trafficked women. She is passionate about her work in this field and apart from support to these women, she liaises with the Metropolitan Police task force on trafficked persons and spends time in court with lawyers to support the victim’s cases. On this subject, she is doing additional work on her master’s dissertation to have it published. She will be interviewed by the BBC on this work next week. We are very proud of her.
When this beast get’s going, the shit flies, as is evident!
Annie, having just bought a Metro 10 ticket deal.
The Eurostar is a quick and comfortable train under the English Channel from London to Paris, travelling at a top speed of 335km/h and taking about 2 hours. We got on the Metro at Gare du Nord and found our way to our modest Hotel le Manhattan near Garibaldi station. After a Nanna nap we caught the Metro to Montmartre, the artist quarter and did the steep walk up to the Sacre Coeur Cathedral.
Sacre Coeur cathedral.
Portrait artists at work.
A walk down past the Moulin de la Galette with a few beers at a street bar to quench our thirst, brought us to the Moulin Rouge to take the obligatory photo. Annie did not pass the audition for the chorus line-up as she was too voluptuous.
Montmartre.
Calming ale.
OK, you have seen this place before, but Annie is devo about her audition.
Friday was a busy day starting with the Metro train from Garibaldi to Champs-Elysees station. From here we launched the big walk (in hindsight we should have utilised the rental bikes available all over Paris – with the first 30 minutes free!). First, the Grand and Petit Palais’, then the Invalides bridge, past the Place de la Concorde to the Musee de l’Orangerie.
Invalides bridge.
Monet donated his 8 panels of “Grandes Decorations”, Water Lilies, to France and designed this beautiful vestibule to house the culmination of a lifetime’s work. Breathtaking! The lower level houses the Paul Guillaume collection of works by Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, Derain, Renoir, Utrillo and Soutine. This small gallery has a quality collection, worth visiting.
Monet’s water lilies.
From here, a relaxing stroll through the Tuileries gardens to the Louvre. The queues of people waiting to enter, stretched around I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid. Having visited the Louvre before, we continued along the Seine and turned into the Marais district to visit the Pompidou Centre.
Rodin’s lovers outside the Musee de l’Orangerie
Tuileries gardens
This Piano and Rogers designed building was quite revolutionary in the 70’s, expressing its structure and services on the facades. Sadly, as with other similar Rogers designed buildings in London, it hasn’t aged well. The pigeons have a field day with all the perches it provides, and the pollution settling on the ducting and services, makes it look tatty. High maintenance!
Pompidou centre.
Pompidou centre
Not far from here is the National Picasso Museum, where we spent some time after lunch viewing the extensive Picasso collection, curated in sequence from his early days in Spain to his final years in Paris, as well as the works of other artist’s he had collected.
Picasso’s sketchbook
After crossing the bridge onto the Ile de la Cite, we visited Notre-Dame cathedral, my favourite French Gothic cathedral.
Notre-Dame’s flying buttresses.
Notre-Dame interior.
Getting foot sore, we caught the Metro to the Museum d’Orsay. Michelle our daughter, recommended this museum and I must agree, this former railway station has the best collection of western world art from 1848 to 1914. It has the most extensive collections of Impressionists like Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, Pissarro, Sisley, Gauguin and Van Gogh; Neo-Impressionists like Seurat, Signac, Cross, Bonnard, Vuillard and Denis; Art Nouveau like Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec. This is a breathtaking museum and we spent the whole afternoon there, until they closed at 6pm.
After Michelle.
Museum d’Orsay interior.
Van Gogh.
Degas.
We arrived back at Garibaldi metro station at 6:30pm and bought cheese, wine and salads to have in our room, as we were too knackered to go out for dinner. A good night’s sleep and we were ready to take the fast train to Bordeaux on Saturday.
The Friday night get together with Annie’s old school friends left us feeling a bit ordinary on Saturday morning. The girls were somewhere in Hackney after their catch up with friends, so we decided to take the train out to Greenwich for a relaxing day out. We couldn’t have asked for better weather – families were out in force enjoying the sunshine and picnicking in the park.
Greenwich Park with the Canary Wharf development behind, across the Thames.
The Docklands light rail took us through the Canary Wharf redevelopment of the docklands East of London. This is now a new city where a lot of the banks and corporates have built their new headquarters. Quite a change from 40 years ago! The light rail train is driverless and computer controlled, which is a bit disconcerting at first sight.
Since my last visit to Greenwich, Sir Francis Chichester’s yacht “Gipsy Moth 4” with which he circumnavigated the world in 1966-67, has been restored and relocated to Plymouth. The fast tea clipper “Cutty Sark” in the dry dock, had been damaged twice by fire since 2007 and has now been restored and enclosed in a glazed structure below her waterline.
The Cutty Sark.
Greenwich is a world heritage site which includes Greenwich Park, the old Royal Naval College, the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory. The red ball on the roof of the observatory drops at 1pm every day for ships on the Thames to set their chronometers. The Prime Meridian or Greenwich Meridian (longitude zero), was established at the Royal Observatory. A very pleasant day out, ending with an early night, while the girls caught up with their friends.
The painted dining room.
Figureheads at the National Maritime Museum.
The Royal Observatory.
Annie with the Prime Meridian between her legs.
Sunday was spent exploring the Brick Lane markets and the flower markets. This area is packed with people over weekends and food from around the world is available at the street stalls. A variety of buskers play along the streets, which in itself, is more than a day’s entertainment. I attach a few videos to enjoy.
Our squat on Brick Lane above Gandhi’s curry shop.
Street hip hop.
We revisited the Victoria and Albert museum to take our time individually to explore the collections. I particularly enjoyed the large collection of Rodin sculptures – 20 in all, 18 of which he donated to the V&A during the first world war for safe keeping. The rest of the week was a whirlwind of visits to the Tate Modern Gallery, St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, The Golden Hinde 2, Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, etc. London has so much to see!
Karen did her surgery course at St Thomas’ teaching hospital during the week before flying back to Sydney. On our last day in London, we visited the Queen Elizabeth 2 Olympic complex.
The Aquatic centre.
A strange structure.
Tomorrow, we take the Eurostar to Paris. We will report on France in our next post.
Since my last visit to London in 1975, the city has changed remarkably in demographics. English is occasionally heard on the streets and the multi-cultural mix is quite vibrant.
We were quite knackered on returning from our road trip, so to Michelle’s great disappointment, we opted for a quiet evening with a bottle of wine on our first night back.
Victoria and Albert museum.
After a good night’s sleep we were ready to go again on Thursday and so, set forth to visit the Victoria and Albert museum in Chelsea around 10am. This is a museum with an amazing collection, which we plan to visit again before we leave. On the way to a lunch date, we passed Harrods, the temple of ostentatious consumerism. The girls wanted to have a sticky beak, but I bolted back onto the pavement when confronted by the special of the week: a $365,000 diamond encrusted ladies watch. I watched a guy doing a sand sculpture on the sidewalk, for $2 in his collection box.
Sand sculptor outside Harrods.
We joined Pedro Roos, a prominent architect in London for a pleasant lunch at the Saatchi gallery in Chelsea. Pedro was a classmate of Annie’s at University. He lives in Surrey and has a weekender in Normandy, France.
Annie, Pedro and Michelle.
Karen our eldest daughter arrived in London after lunch and found her way to our place in Brick Lane by about 3pm. She will be in London for a week to catch up with friends and to do a surgery course at St Thomas’ hospital, across the Thames from parliament. It is great to have the whole family together again in more than a year and a half.
Annie and Karen with Michelle navigating the tube system for us.
The girls have stamina, so despite Karen’s long flight from Oz, we hit the tiles to celebrate her arrival. First, it was drinks at a Speakeasy pub in Whitehall, with an excellent trio playing jazz. Then it was dinner at Michelle’s favourite music venue, The Jazz Kitchen, with a six-piece brass outfit playing.
Kaz and Shel together again at the Speakeasy.
Great brass section at the Jazz Kitchen.
On Friday while the girls did their own thing, Annie and I set out on our own tour visiting some contemporary buildings, like the Gherkin, in our area. We visited the 36th floor of the “Walkie talkie” building to check out the 360-degree view of London and have a beer on the 35th floor terrace. We walked to the Tower of London and the Tower bridge, before taking the tube to Soho.
The Gherkin.
The 35th floor atrium terrace.
View across the Thames to the Shard.
Annie and the Tower bridge.
At six-thirty, we were in Soho to meet for drinks with Shirin Elahi architect, who studied with us at Pretoria university. Shirin has been living in London since 1980 and has two daughters the same age as ours. By 7pm we were joined by more old school and Uni friends of Annie’s and had a great dinner and evening in Soho. We managed to stumble home by 1 am.
Shirin and Annie.
Larry, Annie, Dirk, Derek, Dawn and Nushin.
Dawn, Derek and Annie late night.
Next instalment: Recovery on Saturday and a visit to Greenwich.
Driving North from Kent, we had to travel through the Dartford tunnel on the very busy M25 freeway to Cambridge. This was the only congested section of road we encountered – due to many trucks joining the road, enroute from the continent. We arrived at our B&B in Cambridge by late morning and spent the afternoon exploring the old city centre. Compared to Oxford, the colleges were bigger and each of them had an imposing church attached to it. Again, lots of history and a lovely relaxed ambiance.
Cambridge: The Round church, an early Norman building
King’s College
St. Catherine’s College on the left, Corpus Christi College on the right.
The next morning at 8:30 we set off on the longish 7-hour drive to Edinburgh in Scotland (350 miles/560km). We had about 2 hours of heavy rain on this section, which was the only rain encountered on our 10-day road trip. We were very lucky and happy with the good weather.
Edinburgh: View from Edinburgh castle.
St. Margaret’s chapel: Built in 1130, the oldest building in edinburgh castle.
Another excellent Airbnb near the centre of Edinburgh and the following day we explored the historic castle dating back to 1083 and the old town, before driving through the highlands to Inverness in the North. The Castle pub in Inverness had haggis on the menu, which was excellent, served with mash, sweet potato chips and a whisky sauce, washed down with Guinness.
Guinness and haggis at the Castle Tavern.
View of Inverness from the castle.
The famous castle of Urquhart on Loch Ness.
The drive from Inverness along Loch Ness down to Oban was spectacular, to the point of my eyes watering. We arrived at my old friend Murdoch MacDougall (Jock’s) place by midday on Sunday. We met back in 1970 when he, as a young 22-year-old, arrived in South Africa and spent 30 years there before returning to Scotland. Being from the island of Barra, he speaks Gaelic, which he teaches at the local high school. We had a pleasant day catching up, with Jock showing us around town and having dinner at an excellent seafood restaurant.
Dirk and Jock.
View of Oban.
We were sad to leave the next day, but still had a few places to visit. Jock’s son Michael has settled in Sydney and Jock promised to come and visit us sometime. On the way South along the west coast of the UK, we stopped at the Falkirk wheel near Falkirk. Designed by the architect Tony Kettle, it is a rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Clyde canal with the Union canal. It was opened in 2002 and lifts boats 24 metres, replacing 11 locks.
Annie and the Falkirk boat lift.
The lift rotating.
How it works.
Not far from the wheel, are the beautiful 30m high sculptures called the Kelpies, completed in 2013. The Kelpies represent the lineage of the heavy horse of Scottish industry and economy, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges and coal ships that shaped the geographical layout of the Falkirk area. We stayed overnight in Gretna Green, just North of the Scottish border.
The Falkirk Kelpies.
The following day was a short drive to Liverpool where I had to go and pay homage to the Beatles, the group that swept a 16-year-old teenager from Benoni in South Africa, off his feet in the early sixties. An emotional time was spent at the Cavern club, where we had a couple of beers with a crowd of people of similar vintage, from all corners of the world. We were listening and singing along to a young fellow, who not only knew every song composed by the Fab Four, but also sang the Lennon and McCartney vocals in a Merseyside scouse accent.
Entrance to the Cavern.
Dirk and John.
View across Albert dock to the modern Liverpool museum and the Three Graces buildings.
Outfitted with a new collection of Cavern and Beatles tee shirts, a contented Muller drove back to London. We dropped the car off at the rental company having travelled 1,821 miles (nearly 3000 km) in 10 days. We moved into an Airbnb in trendy Brick Lane near Petticoat Lane for the next 10 days.
Before our next post, some thoughts on our British driving experience: The Brits are very patient and good drivers, whether you are driving along a narrow country lane at 40 miles/hour or along the freeways at 80m/h. The roads are in very good condition for the most part and we didn’t see one accident. Compared to nanny state NSW in Australia, where all cars have to park in the same direction in the parking lane, here they can face either way.
It is unnecessary to fit indicators on British cars, as nobody uses them – you become very good at reading minds on roundabouts and intersections. Similarly, they could save the expense of green and red pedestrian signals at intersections, as jaywalking is an Olympic event in the UK.
