Reims to Albert

Saturday 30th May
Today's journey was from Reims to Albert. After another excellent breakfast, including large bowls of hot chocolate, we made our way out into the countryside again. We had no real plans for our destination.

In the town of Guise we visited an interesting complex of nineteenth century buildings created
by an industrialist, Godin, the maker of stoves and heaters. He created what he believed to be an ideal living environment for his workers, a utopia, which he called the Familistere. The complex of apartments included a theatre, swimming pool, gardens, all across the road from the massive factory complex.It is looking very shabby inside and is being restored but we can imagine it becoming luxurious living space again.












Our lunch stop was St Quentin. It was near here that my father was wounded in WW1. The city suffered terribly during that war but much has been rebuilt including the beautiful medieval Hotel de Ville in the massive central square. We were not able to see inside as there was a wedding in progress. All marriages in France are conducted by the mayor. We did visit the cathedral (as we always do, in every town) and enjoyed a baguette filled with jambon cru ( prosciutto) sitting in the shade (brilliant sunshine) listening to the regular sound of the carillon from the town hall.

We then drove to Villers Brettoneux, a town which celebrates its liberation by Australian soldiers during WW1. There are many references to Australia throughout the town, but we found it otherwise deserted and nowhere to stay. Just outside the town is the massive Australian War Memorial, in a splendid location on a hill overlooking the surrounding countryside.
It is here that the names are engraved of all those Australian soldiers who died, but have no marked grave. Interestingly in the cemetery itself, many of the gravestones indicate Canadians, Scots etc, although it is regarded as the Australian monument.



Our stop for the night is Albert, a town which is now the centre for much tourism, including guided visits to the WW1 battlefields. Our hotel, The Basilique, is opposite the massive ornate basilica which is richly decorated and very colourful, inside and out. Curiously it looks somewhat like a mosque with inlaid patterns in coloured stones in marble.
We dined at the hotel: an entree of a pancake stuffed with ham and covered with melted cheese, followed by rabbit with prunes and various vegetables and a dessert called 'chaud froid pomme' which consisted of a hot baked apple topped with apple-flavoured icecream. Very full, we staggered to bed.

Reims and Rosnay

Reims, Friday, May 29
The day began well with a traditional French breakfast of croissants, pains au chocolat, fruit and yoghurt. However on our return to the room I noticed some serious black smudges on the carpeted floor. The more I looked, the more I found and suddenly I realised my right shoe was the culprit. Impressed into the sole was a small stick of eyeliner that had gone missing from my makeup kit. What is it with me and other people's floors??
Franticly we got down and scrubbed the spots out: mercifully they responded to soap and water. Feeling pleased that we'd been able to clean up, we stepped outside the room only to find that I had left a telltale black spot with every second step up three flights of stairs!! There was nothing to do but confess. Madame, our hostess, was very good about it and later in the day, much to our relief, we noticed all marks had been eradicated.

As we had woken early we had a brief walk around Reims. Glorious sunshine, not a cloud in the sky. We visited the rather sombre cathedral and noted the smiling angel statue at the
entrance. Joan also found the statue of Jeanne d'Arc and a typical patisserie after we passed the magnificent Hotel de Ville (Town Hall)




We then set off for Rosnay, a nearby small village, to visit friends. Our two GPS, map and seated navigator (me) were not enough to counter the huge confusion of blocked roads and new one-way streets created by the installation of a major new tramway system. So it took some time to negotiate, and then, all at once, we found a car coming straight at us. We momentarily assumed we were going the wrong way, but no, it was another very confused tourist.




At last, at Rosnay, we met up with Guy and Evelyne who made us very welcome.They served us petits fours and Roederer champagne. We later sat down to a delicious lunch which included guinea fowl and concluded with a home-made strawberry tart. We were astonished when Guy produced a chilled bottle of white wine with the Kingtree label, ( a product of my brother's winery) a bottle we had given him 12 years ago! We were very dubious about it after so much time, but were astonished to find it perfectly drinkable.

We conversed easily in my fractured French and Guy's reasonable English, with John and Evelyn speaking English and French respectively. Guy suggested that he take us sight-seeing and we drove through pretty local villages and through lush green fields of crops on our way to Laon, a 'crowned mountain', where the old high town is reached after a long winding drive. Although the magnificent towers of the enormous 12C cathedral are clearly evident on the approach to the town, they vanish once you are inside and we had some difficulty locating them again. It is a superb building with marvelous gargoyles, including a hippo and a rhino just over the entrance. High above us on the towers there are carvings of oxen in honour of the beasts who dragged the stones up the mountain for the cathedral's construction. Light filled the space from the sun streaming in through the stained glass windows and from the lantern tower construction in the centre of the church.

The sun remained high but it was now about 8pm when Guy drove us to La Garenne, a local gourmet restaurant, for dinner. The meal began with an 'amuse-bouche' of a type of creamy smoked fish souffle, followed in my case with delicious lamb and grilled aubergines, washed down with more champagne and followed by delicious sorbets, meringues and 'tuiles', crisp sweet biscuits, like brandy snaps.
We returned to collect our car and say our goodbyes. John and I were a little apprehensive about the drive back, now in total darkness, on unfamiliar roads at high speed, after a champagne or two.
But we made it back without a hitch. Fell into bed exhausted after a lovely day.

Arrival Thursday, 28th May

Our flights to Dubai and on to Paris passed without a hitch. Good food, service and a great audio/video system. We ate too much of the food, watched too many movies and got almost no sleep but arrived on time, feeling just OK.
Dubai has a flash new terminal looking like a long glass tube station with an endless shopping mall and aeroplanes attached. Surprisingly we saw none of the expected gold jewelery stores.
There are a few teething problems like long queues at security and the toilets and later, just taxiing to get onto the runway to take off.
Anyway we had several hours to kill and after checking out the shops we looked for a coffee shop. Facing each other were Starbucks and the French Paul's coffee and patisserie with delicious berry tarts. Guess which we chose?

At Charles de Gaulle airport we met very little officialdom and were out the gate and collecting our luggage in no time.
But we took longer than expected to collect the car, a brand new Grand Scenic by Renault. The car has an inbuilt GPS which the fellow who signed over the car to us spent an inordinate amount of time trying to demonstrate, rather unsuccessfully. (I think he just wanted to play with a new car gadget!)
We eventually settled on using our own GPS until we can work out the Renault one. In the meantime we set out in a car so foreign to us that John kept fiddling with things as he drove, trying for instance to find something as simple as a trip meter. The dashboard is a computer screen. (We can choose what to display and in what colour scheme - if we can figure out the French user manual.)

There was also a bit of a performance filling the car with diesel as the car had only enough in it to get us to the nearest station, and we did an unnecessary detour around Terminal One. Then we couldn't get the diesel pump to work (John thought it might be a pre-pay) and I was running backwards and forwards asking assistance of Mohammed who was on the till, and another stranger who was quite obliging.

After a slow start we got onto the major toll road to Reims and made good time (140Km/h) passing through lush green farmland in fine weather.
We found the little Hotel Azur and staggered up three flights of stairs with all the luggage. The attractive little room was quickly messed up with all our assorted clothes and discarded papers.

The shower has been designed for someone about three feet high, but apart from that it's OK.

We had a drink at the local brasserie and decided on no more food and an early night.

Departure Day Stresses

Why do I have to wake up this morning, of all mornings, with an excruciating urinary tract infection? So today I have been running around to have the outside looking more presentable -- eyebrows and hair -- and trying to get my insides functioning properly again with visits to doctors and chemists. In addition there were clothes to collect from the girl who does alterations ( I've lost weight so my pants don't fit). No doubt they wont' fit when I get back either because of the weight I'll gain while away.
There were also bank transactions to sort out, tax papers to file ( the accountant finally faxed them to us today!) and all those last minute little things one must do when leaving the house for a month. Feeling very stressed. But very pleased to be invited to enjoy an early tea with our neighbours, Peter and Cathy, where we had a delicious tuna and vegetable quiche followed by fresh fruit salad and icecream. Karin is arriving soon to take us to the airport.
Here's hoping for a stress-free holiday.

Packing

The bedroom is a mess. Suitcases lie open, clothes are strewn about as I try to decide what to take and what to leave out. You wouldn't think we have done this numerous times before. But I always find that I discover items of clothing I haven't worn for years and suddenly think this is the ideal garment to take away. I must resist such urges.