PARIS
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| Vieux Port |
Well, on to Aix, where Joy tried to find her soap shop, so she can load us up with some heavy gifts for a few thousand of our close friends. Unfortunately, the shop had closed, probably replaced by another Gucci. However, I did find a shop totally devoted to Converse All Star tennis shoes. Probably a fashion I started years ago.
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| Soap factory |
On to Marseille, to La Residence, our favorite hotel on the Vieux Port. We settled in on the seventh floor where we spend endless hours on the deck watching the shenanigans of the French on boats and cars. We were here with the Dodson’s a while back, and it turned out they were celebrating the founding of Marseille 2500 years ago. Try that on for a bit of history! Seems the Greeks got here first while setting out colonies all over the Med. We found a small soap factory, La Savonaire, that Joy had seen on TV (Samantha Brown). We bought so much soap that they gave us a tour. Most of the machines were over a hundred years old but built so massive they are still working fine. They don’t build ‘em like that, anymore.
BLANKENBERGE, HOLLAND
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| Italian resuarant |
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| Our stateroom |
We boarded a huge ferry for an overnight trip Scotland. No huge waves on the North Sea, just a great lightning storm during the night. Checked into the Hotel Premier Inn - 85 Pounds ($170) new, no phone, no minibar, no coffee maker, no coffee. Had to get up and go next door to a restaurant for breakfast, about $20 each for a buffet. Found out later we could get a $6 continental breakfast.
Visited the Queen’s ship, Britannia. Recently decommissioned. The incredible waste of resources is mind boggling. You had an admiral to run 250 crew. These folks would sail around the world to visit all her domains, review the fleets and all that, but really, was any of it necessary? Not to me, anyway. Even more pathetic was the dukes job, probably all make work shit, which he could do in his very own little play office.
FALKIRK WHEEL
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| Falkirk Wheel |
The main reason we came up to Scotland was to see this jewel of the world’s engineering projects. Recently regenerated two old canals, replacing 11 locks at this place with a fabulous wheel. A pretty far out concept, with lots of really sticky problems to solve, all done in about 3 years. The first canal ran from sea to sea yet was only 172 km across Scotland. What’s that? Like Sonoma County? When your boat gets to the top, you go thru a tunnel under the Antonione Wall, Romes’ way to keep out the bloody Scots to the north. These Scots must have been real buggers if the Romans couldn’t suppress them.
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| Firth of Forth Bridge |
The 1890 engineering feat. At the time , it was comparable to our flight to the moon.
This is a monstrous structure, consisting of huge steel tubes 12' in diameter. The term “Like painting the Forth Bridge” meant a job that would never be finished. However, the Brooklyn Bridge (suspension) was completed in 1883 but was not subject to the huge winds of the Forth. Also the Forth’s span is greater at 1710' vs. 1595' for the Brooklyn. 63 workers died during construction. About the average for the time. No worker’s compensation there.
We specifically took the ferry from Holland in order to come in under the bridge.
Our first order of the day when we arrive at a new town is find a good Italian restaurant. We found Prezzo right next door and had a few meals there. Our waiter was a large fellow from Estonia (Wherever that is). He had great accent so we told him he looked like a movie actor playing a Russian in a James Bond movie. He said he had done a couple of bit parts.
Salade Caprese, Ministrone soup with a bottle of Pogobonsi Chianti.
The first day in Scotland,
after visiting Falkirk, we started
walking up to the Royal Mile, where all the goodies are in Edinburgh (Pubs,
Scotch tasting, etc..) About halfway up my body began to fall apart with a
tremendous pain in my back. We had to abort and get back to our hotel so I
could writhe in pain lying down. After a couple of hours I began to feel OK. We
had no idea what happened , thought it might be my back was out. Next day we
got into the pub so Joy could have real Fish & Chips. After waiting a long
time and finally getting a table, I was so ill we had to leave immediately. We
found a cab, back to the hotel to writhe around a bit. By the next evening, after several hours of
agony, Joy got a cab to the Royal Infirmary emergency room. The first nurse I
talked to said “Have you ever had Kidney stones?”. That made us feel better
right away as I had no idea what the hell was wrong with me. After several
tests the young woman doctor said I should get an x-ray to see where the stone
was. This was at one AM & we had to get to the airport in a few hours so I
checked out. Guess what? Even though this was Scotland, they didn’t charge me!
(Unknown tourist). But they also didn’t give any pain pills.
AMSTERDAM
By the time we flew to
Amsterdam, checked into our houseboat “Donna Teresa”on the De Costa Gracht
canal, I had more attacks and pretty much in pain on this nice modern
houseboat. By the time we left after a few days we realized I should have gone
to a hospital there.
Beautiful women, hair and skirts flying, zipping along the
boulevards and traffic, are all over the place.
Nobody wears a helmet, except they might put one on a little kid. Most
bikes are rattly old things as theft is a major industry there. Bikes have the
right of way. Any accident with a bike, the taxi or car is automatically
responsible. Unlike here, where motorists try to run down anyone on a mere
bike. | |
| Our hotel window |
Our hotel was a major chain with all modern rooms and baths. However, no phone, no minibar, no coffee maker ($240!). Worse, there are no restaurants in town open before 9 AM. We at least like to have coffee at 7 AM but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet. The hotel did have a nice breakfast buffet for $30 that opened at 8 AM. Talk about a captive audience! We finally frequented a coffee house called “Stads Koffyhuis” on a canal, great coffee and pastry (Apple something with Slagroom (Whipped cream) & ice cream). We were always the first one’s there. They employed a local retard lady to stuff silverware into a paper pocket.
Time to return to France. Took a train to Brussels, then one to Lille, where we got a Hertz car to drive down to Honfluer, just across the Seine from La Havre. We were so ill the last time we were here (a terrible cough) we wanted to be here again, after all, this is Calvados country. It’s a wonderful old medievil town, our hotel was built about 1650, but the rooms are super modern. The old buidings surround the Le Veaux Port (Old Port), a major port in the old days, the explorer Champlian began all his trips to the new world from here, discovering Quebec and lakes. I finally found a restaurant that served frog legs (Grenvilles), something I hadn’t had since a ten year old in Iowa. I caught my own then, however.
In our hotels, I always like to study the fire exiting drawing to see how the owners installed bathrooms when plumbing was finally introduced. It used to be pretty basic, as all you needed was an intricate winding stairway in the back of the building, even when it was four or five stories. Usually a lift was installed about a hundred years ago that fit inside the winding stair. Of course, the lift is only 18 inches wide by about three feet. One person with bags can squeeze in.
Visited the Margolis Calvados Distillery nearby. They had an interesting museum with a lot of old tools used in the process. Once you get the apples fermented, it’s pretty much like making cognac. Use column stills or copper pot stills, depending on the quality you are looking for. The first product is cider, which has various grades, usually about 5% alcohol. A nice, refreshing drink that isn’t as filling as beer.
It gets pretty confusing when traveling around different countries, although it certainly is easier with most using the Euro (Except the Scots). Don’t have to count up the thousands of Lire any more for a glass of wine. One has to remember what the platform is called at the train station. For instance. Is it a Voi? A Spoor? Your train car is one thing, also a seat. How do you buy a ticket for a tram? Sometimes in a tobacco shop. Don’t forget to punch your ticket in the yellow box when you get on the tram or before boarding a train. Tipping is different , too. France usually is included in the price of dinner. But Holland and Scotland want tips as an extra. About the time you learn it, it’s time to move on.
These countries we were visiting all had great water in cafes, but do you think I could get Joy from buying two bottles of the stuff per day? At 1.5 Euros x 2 = $4.5/day = $210
per trip! She thinks she has unlimited funds, I guess.
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| Pompideau Center - Paris |
To be continued….
