Location: Newcastle, Australia
Back home safely. But to news that the exchange rate has crashed - this will add some spice to th debate!
Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Found out the airport here at Abu Dhabi is a wifi hotspot. Had a good flight here - we got an emergency exit row, so we could stretch out as much as we liked. Not so lucky for the UAE-Sydney leg (which is twice as long). Now we have a couple of hours to while away. We are enjoying seeing all the national costumes parading in this multi-cultural hub.
As I type this it is 7.30am Friday here, or 2.30pm in Newcastle.
Location: France
Day started with thick fog, but cleared to a lovely day, temp in mid-teens. After leaving Noyon we went back to Compiegne. First we visited the cathedral, St James (Jacques – building commenced 1235), and walked in the same space as Joan of Arc when she visited it in 1430 – on the same day she was arrested by the English, and we all know how that ended. Then we visited the chateau, which featured an exhibition on Napoleon III and Queen Victoria. It was really good, and we had audio sets that gave good explanations of each room. Got lots of pics in here, though had to turn the flash off. Lunched across the road from the chateau in Compiegne, and it was excellent.
We then drove to Champlieu and walked around some Gaulish Roman ruins. Then on to Senlis, but couldn’t find a place to park. So we went on to Chantilly, the home of French horse-racing. Had a relaxing walk around the chateau and stables, taking a few pictures. Then back to the car, where we decided there was nothing else to be done in the available time.
Drove to the airport and went around in circles 3 times before we worked out how to get into the car rental returns alley.
More reflections on France:
• They take their dogs to the restaurant – we often saw them lying under tables, or following their owners in and out.
• Driving was OK – especially in Burgundy where the traffic is relatively light. A GPS was extremely useful, though. Traffic lights are a bit different – they have the minimum number of lights, and you tend to look at a tiny set mounted at driver eye-level just next to you, as there is not a set to watch on the other side of the intersection.
• They almost always give you sugar cubes with your drinks, not sachets. You always get bread pieces with any meal, but never any butter. Even in little cafes, you don’t order at the counter. You always sit down at the table and get served. Reading menus was the hardest part of the language challenge for us.
• When you walk into a shop or room, everyone tends to say “Bonjour”, rather than ignore you.
As for the house-hunting: we are waiting on some feedback from a builder on the one in the canal village, Chatel-Censoir. Depending on how this comes back, and how the finances stack up on having to equip it immediately as a gite, we may make an offer. Otherwise there are a couple of others in or near Chatillon-sur-Seine that we may fall back on.
Location: France
Just typed a long epistle and lost the lot!
Left Chatillon-sur-Seine for the last time, which was sad because we liked the town. We gave Claude and Pascale at the Sylvia Hotel a little gift& tip - they are excellent hosts. Today started out raining, but got better as the day wore on. We drove a long way, out of Burgundy and through Champagne. Our goal was Compiegne, north of Paris. On the way we passed the main American WW1 War Memorial at Chateau Thierry. We chatted to an English lady there, who had come over the ask how to pronounce something in French.
Just outside Compiegne is a clearing in the forest where the amistice ending the shooting in WW1 was signed on 11/11/1918. Then in 1940 Hitler recreated the scene in reverse, in the same railway carriage. So that little clearing has seen a lot of history. I walked around, conscious of the fact I was walking on the same ground as had Adolf, as well well as other leaders of WW1 and WW2.
We then drove into Compiegne to have a look at the chateau. We saw it, but didn't get in. First we couldn't park, and then we decided to get a room booked first. After trying several hotels, we abandoned all hope of staying in Compiegne, and drove on to Noyon instead. Great choice of N's, as we found a nice Citotel easily.
G then went on alone to visit some important WW1 places, from an Aussie perspective. This included Villers Bretonneux and Corbie. In between the two is the main Australian War Memorial for WW1, showing pockmarks from a WW2 battle that was also fought there. The landscape in the area is so flat. Just outide Corbie and Aussie machine-gunner shot down and killed Manfred von Rictofen (the "Red Baron"). I have a book all about it, but as I wasn't expecting to get there this trip, I couldn't remember the details to be able to find the spot.
Our last night in France.... :-( Tomorrow the thing I have been dreading most of all - finding the airport and getting into the car rental return part. Not to mention another 24 hour ordeal in a sitting position. Then again - even Qantas passengers are doing it tough these days - I just saw the news on yahoo when I checked my emails!
Location: France
This morning it was back off to Chatel-Censoir to have another look at the favoured house (after an initial delay as G was unwell). We were there to meet Rosie and John, an English couple. John is a builder and will quote on lining the attic, which will make it an enormous room. Rosie would manage the place if we let it as a gite (holiday home), ie: clean it, do the washing etc between visits. Also we paid attention to what furniture we would want to buy from the previous owners, just in case.
On the way back we saw a tiny church/chapel on a high hill-top (Notre Dame d’Orion), so we drove up to it. The road was a dirt goat-track, and the A-class had trouble. It is a very wide car, and very low slung (with impossibly low-profile tyres), so it scraped a few times when the wheels were in ruts. Eventually we made it, and we sat and gazed for some time over the beautiful scenery (see pics). It was quite warm today.
Then we went to Ancy-le-Franc and had a guided tour of the chateau. It was fascinating to be in a place so old. We were in a bedroom in which France’s Louis XIV had slept. Then back to Chatillon, did a little souvenir shopping, and now are back in the Sylvia Hotel for the last time to organise the luggage and do some reviewing of our house options.
Location: France
Got up at a silly time (5.30am) and was suddenly able to upload photos. The system here must have limitations, depending on the number of users logged on. Note that Australia went onto daylight saving on the weekend, but France did not come off it (that happens next weekend), so the time difference is now 9 hours from Newcastle.
N has woken up with G's cold - just when G was starting to feel a bit better.
We left Chaumont and headed to Langres. G had a stroll around the ramparts, taking many photos but not really capturing the full impact of the lovely surrounds, or of this beautiful, old town. Then it was back to Chatillon-sur-Seine for a look at an additional house with BourgogneHomes.com. The house was lovely, and has just been fully refurbished throughout. Unfortunately, it has an asking price of 85,000 euros, but has new tenants in paying only 375 euro per month. That return is simply too low, and we would have to carry too much of the repayment load.
A general comment re France: Everywhere you go there are dozens of pharmacies and lots and lots of driving schools (Auto ecoles). Turns out pharmacies are so profitable here they are traded on the stock exchange, and apparently it costs an average of 5000 euro to get your licence in France. Hence the proliferation of these businesses.
Location: France
Drove up to Reims today, and had a look around the cathedral. Like so many others in France, it's called Notre Dame. I've seen a lot of cathedrals in my time, but none to surpass this. It was originally commenced in the 12th century, but had to be substantially repaired after WW1. After Reims we visited a small WW1 French fort. As we drove across to Suippes, we passed a few WW1 cemeteries, all French. That number of crosses in one place certainly sends a chill down the spine - these are large patches of ground covered with masses of crosses.
We ended up in Chaumont for the night. This has a huge three-tiered viaduct that I have seen on a lot of French tourism brochures. I've taken a few pictures of it, but not sure when it was built etc. The hotel we are in has free wifi internet connection, but we're unable to upload any pics. Line seems too slow and it always times out.
Tomorrow we have another house to view in Chatillon-sur-Seine, and Tuesday we are going for a 2nd viewing of the one at Chatel-Censoir.
Location: France
Started by going back to Chatel-Censoir for a good look around. The house is really close to the main square, though the square is only small.
The rest of the day was mostly driving. We drove north into the Champagne-Ardenne region. Had lunch at Sezanne, drove through Epernay and onto Chalons en Champagne. On the way we stumbled across the monument to the "Miracle of the Marne" in 1914, when the victorious German army was halted. Try as we might, we could not find the museum that the signs said was near.
When we arrived in Chalons this afternoon, we thought we had a hotel booking that we had made online, but they had not heard of us. We were lucky to find a reasonably priced hotel around the corner. No wifi, so this is being typed in an internet cafe. Not many pics taken today, but will post some when we can. Visited a laundromat, and had fun trying to interpret the signs re how to operate the machines - despite them being partly in English!
Location: Dijon - Avallon, France
After a visit to the pharmacy for some medication for G, we had til 2pm to get to an appointment at the Vezelay office of B4U. On the way we stopped at the source of the Seine River. The photos show it - everything has to start somewhere. Then a pleasant drive through Burgundy, arriving at Semur-en-Auxois around 11am. What a beautiful place. Went mad with photos but couldn't begin to do it justice.
Got to Vezelay on time, and looked at two houses. The one that originally took us there (LS1883V) was fantastic, but needs a lot of work to be ready to use as a long term rental or gite. Not for us - we live too far away. We also looked at LS1851V, and this one has us very interested. It's not much to look at, but the village (Chatel-Censoir) is on the river/canal. It has a big marina for boats, and due to the tourism this brings, it is very well serviced for its size, ie: shops, restaurants, service station, even a car hire place. The railway line passes through it too, going to Paris, but not the TGV. Along the river are cycle tracks (probably tow-paths when the river traffic was horse drawn). It's ready to use with very little work required. 2 bedroom, but a massive attic that could be converted to another.
In the evening G went for a drive back to Vezelay while N relaxed. A couple of pics taken late in the day are posted.
Location: Dijon, France
Left hotel at 8am and drove the 84km to Dijon. Met with bank and destroyed several forests in paperwork, but have an account all lined up in France. Then we booked in at our hotel (which does have wifi) and then went for a long walk through the town. It is a spectacluar place, and the photos will not do it justice. G has caught a cold which has brought on some gout, and as he omitted to bring his medication, it's off to the Dr at 5.45pm as the pharmacy could not help without a prescription.
Saw doctor at 5.45 and guess what! Foot had nearly self cured. So will carry my prescription as a souvenir, unless it gets worse again. The Dr looked like a caricature from a 1960's American sitcom. A Dr on these shows would have:
* Been dark and clean cut
* Worn thick rimmed black glasses
* Worn a white coat
* Had a stethoscope over said white coat.
Well, that was the guy I saw!
We ate in the hotel restaurant because it is raining tonight. N ordered steak tartar and asked for it to be medium. That means she asked for her raw steak to be cooked medium! :-)
Location: Chatillon sur Seine, France
Today has been fairly leisurely. We followed up with BourgogneHomes on a couple of matters, and have another house to look at next week. Then we went to the museum in Chatillon (just across the road from the real estate). Highlight is the Vase du Vix, a 2500 year old bronze vase (308kg) that is taller than Narelle, and quite ornate. Then it was off to the chateau at Tanlay. It was extraordinary, and all the better as the lady who gave us a conducted tour gave it in English (interspersed with French for the sake of the one other tourist going around with us, an older French lady). We gave the guide a big tip at the end. Then we drove back through Nicey again, the village with the wonderful house, B4U ref PW1775B. After a short break in the hotel (booked accomm for Dijon), bought some decadent things from a boulangerie for afternoon tea. G walked down to the local internet café, but it is closed for good, so we are borrowing the laptop of the long-suffering hotelier again. As his keyboard is not a qwerty, this is all being typed up on our laptop, and copy/pasted into planetranger via the USB drive we bought a couple of days ago.
Tomorrow we have an early start to drive to Dijon for an appointment with the bank (Credit Agricole) to open accounts, discuss euro mortgages and confirm our finances etc. All with their English-speaking specialist!
Location: France
Met Paul from Burgundy4u.com today. Looked at several houses and there are two that stand out as the best:
PW1775B – this is a spectacular home, with stone or wooden floors, beamed ceilings, fully renovated and ready to move in and decorate. It’s in a village called Nicey, which has one bar/restaurant, but no other “commerces”. Apart from when the occasional tractor rumbled past, the village is so quiet it is almost eery. It has a heritage listed church, and the buildings are charming. The house has no yard at all, and the outlook is boring. I think it may be difficult to let as a long term rental. Might work as a gite though, as Laignes, which has more commerces, is only a 10 minute bike ride away. Chatillon is only a 15 minute drive.
PW1606B – is in the village of Boudreville, and is also lovely. It comes with some lovely wooden furniture. It has a huge yard, and a fabulous outlook over fields and forests to the back. Again though, Boudreville has no restaurants, so any going out would 9involve a car ride.
During our visits we finally got to Tonnerre and this is a fabulous place. We looked at a very cheap townhouse there (PW1854B), but it was very run down and tired, and parking would be a problem. We were hassled by a little cat who wanted to get inside the house. Very friendly little thing!
Tonight we have been to the supermarket and bought a USB drive in the hope this blog can be copied onto it and transposed in one swoop onto planetranger. BTW, they have fascinating flavours of crisps here – fromage (cheese), bolognaise, vinegar & onion, braised beef, just to name a few.
Location: France
Spent the day with Mike and Paula from bourgognehomes.com and saw about 6 or 7 houses. While we adore the quaint little villages we have started to lean towards being in town. The villages mostly have no shops or cafes, often serviced by vans that do the rounds. In town we could walk to any number of cafes/bars/restaurants and walk home, even after a few too many wines. So the houses in Chatillon (which G likes especially) don’t tend to be as quaint and special to look at or be in, but after all, they put us 20,000km closer to the villages if we want to drive to quaintness and explore it.
Ref number 05_1372 is G’s favourite. Nothing to be done, just move in. Currently under long-term rental, which suits (in France they rent for periods of at least 3-6 years). One bedroom and bathroom, with a loft that could also take 2 single beds. Only fit people could stay in it though, as there are beams at floor and head level. Small private yard, no gardens or lawns to maintain, a small balcony off the bedroom, but only looks out over back yards. Close to some of the special places in Chatillon, a couple of brilliant churches, the museum, close to the centre-de-ville where the cafes and bars are!
There was also 05_702 – ugly to look at, and the house next door is also on offer (the yellow one on the website photo). Thus one needs too much work for us to take on, but by golly it could be made into a terrific place by a handy person – or even into two flats.
Dinner was at a bar/restaurant in the main square. Very nice again – reading menus is the hardest part of being here, language-wise.
There seems to be a conflict with our computer and the hotels wi fi. I am using the hotels compuet with a strqnge keyboard. Cant fins some punctation and have to relearn the letters. Wont be able to access again until at least Friday. Perhaps not then. No Internet cafes around yet either.
