After winding our way through Greece for the last month we’re now about to board a ferry from Igoumenitsa, Greece to Brindisi, Italy. We have loved almost everything about Greece with the exception of a few observations mentioned in my last blog post. Greece has it all, amazing historical sites, breath taking landscapes, warm water sunset beaches and wonderful people, we’ll definitely miss the laid back lifestyle of Greece. Our only regret on leaving is missing the islands of Mykonos and Santorini. We planned on seeing them both but became concerned about where we could safely leave our motorhome for a few days. When we checked into the last minute peak season overnight trips available to us, it was the extreme cost that replaced our first concern. We finally decided that a relaxing cruise through the Greek islands and into Turkey someday would be a much better option, and value, for us.
Since the last blog we have spent most of our time on the impressive Peloponnese Peninsula, home of the Spartans and the birthplace of modern Greece. After crossing over the grand canal built near the end of the 19th century, you enter the neighbourhood of civilizations that date back over 3500 years. Our first stop was the very strategic and important ancient city of Corinth that at one time had a population of 750,000. Conquered by the Romans and reconstructed by Julius Caesar himself, these fabulous ruins are the largest Roman township ruins in Greece today. Corinth, under Roman rule, also had a reputation for licentious living and St Paul was put on trial here in AD52 for challenging this promiscuous lifestyle. As impressive, if not more, was Olympia the site of the first Olympic Games. These ruins (still being excavated) are also massive in scope and they include the ultra important Temple of Zeus, God of the sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, justice, and “The father of Gods and men”. What a feeling of awe one gets just walking around this ancient sacred site. The 1700BC (Bronze Age) Mycenae ruins and tombs were also amazing and were only discovered in 1874. What a splendid view from it’s mountain top location. On the more lively side, was the really fantastic traditional town we visited called Nafplio with it’s massive fortress Palamidi looming above it. This was the first capital of liberated Greece in 1829 and through the ages was a major battle zone between the Turks and the Venetians to control it’s critical trading port. Another very cool and traditional town we visited was the small coastal town of Lefkada which happens to be a major windsurfing and sailboating recreational area, and a great place for Margot to shop for souvenirs. We pre-booked our ferry crossing for August 28th and because we moved up the coast a bit faster than expected, we found ourselves with a few days of unplanned down time to suffer through. We managed to find a beautiful campground located on an impressive sandy beach bay near the wonderful old Greek town of Parga that could easily be accessed by a fishing boat water taxi for an evening out. After five days of relaxing, we’re now looking forward to sailing West and exploring the southern boot of Italy, but saying “good-by” to Greece is not easy.

Road Ramble: “Food”

This trip was never intended to be emphasize by food. Sure, we want to experience as much of the local traditional cuisine as possible but the real focus has been on exploring the many treasures of Europe and historical places you find them in. Having said that, over the last seven months, we have truly enjoyed many great specialty meals in some wonderful local establishments. But, the majority of our meals have been motorhome based and they range from a “sandwich-to-go” to chicken and ribs on the BBQ. Lots of stir fries and pasta dishes served with a salad, beer and wine. Our breakfasts are simple, like toast and peanut-butter, or a banana and yogurt with a spot of tea to wash it all down. Without an oven or a microwave to work with, Margot has done a fantastic job of cooking up a storm and producing some very interesting meals with just a 3 burner stove to work on. I try to help out when I can by firing up our very impressive little break-down gas barbecue that you actually wash-up after every use.
Grocery shopping can be a bit of a challenge considering the ever present language gap and the fact that every store has a slightly different selection presented in a slightly different configuration. We like to patronize the small local grocers but have also found a few larger chain outlets that do make life a bit easier when we can find them, but it still amazes me as to how much time we can spend in one store looking for refried beans for Margot’s burritos. As far as selection and price are concerned, we have been pleasantly surprised and on average would compare them to prices in Victoria. The big exception to this is alcohol where a decent bottle of wine can be had for 5-6 dollars, and a half litre of good beer will set you back about a buck fifty. Lucky for us, this one has the potential of dramatically helping in bringing us in on budget:-) All-in-all we’ve had a great food experience so far, we’ve had no related health issues, we’ve eaten some very fine meals, and we’ve enjoying a varied selection of the “commoners” food like gyros, pizza, breads and pastries. Going out for dinner is still a treat for us and as we continue this wild adventure we’re looking forward to sampling many more traditional foods along the way… bon appetite!

We drove inland from Mt. Olympia some distance to pay a visit to the famous 13th century Monasteries of Meteora. Like everyone that comes to admire these treasures perched atop sky -high rocky outcroppings we were duly impressed. Some of the dozen or so ancient monasteries and convents are still in use and inaccessible to the general public but we managed to tour three that were open for viewing. From Meteora we drove to the “Centre of the Earth”, Delphi. This ancient sanctuary dates back to the 6th century BC and is located in a strikingly beautiful location high on the side of a mountain overlooking a carpet of olive trees to the distant ocean. From our campsite on a cliff we sat back with a glass in hand and enjoyed the view and the stars until midnight. Delphi is the home of Apollo and for much of it’s colourful history has played a significant religious, social, and political role in the Greek and Roman worlds. The ruins are in great condition and you can almost imagine yourself dressed in a toga and strolling along the “Sacred Way” past thousands of statues and treasures on your way to the amphitheatre or Athletic Stadium. But, with all the hot weather we needed to treat ourselves to some beach time, so we headed for the famous beach area south of Volos. Good decision as the campground we found was one of the best sites so far with great facilities, great restaurant on a sandy beach and really warm water. We planned on spending two nights and pushed ourselves away after four. Since entering Greece the weather has been very hot and on most days the thermometer approaches the forties range so walking about and exploring things during the day has been a thermo challenge. Luckily we’ve had a few great campgrounds with good beach access to the warm Mediterranean to help us bring the body temperatures back to normal. Not that we’re complaining, it cools at night for a good sleep and I don’t think I’ve had a tan like this since I was 12 years old. After driving south (on some pricy tollroads) and checking out the Temple of Poseidon at Sounio, we drove on into Athens. How does one describe Athens?… Historical treasures like the spectacular Acropolis with it’s Parthenon as a crown and the Temple of Zeus with Hadrian’s Gate nearby are truly outstanding in every possible way and combined provide enough reason for making Athens a must see.
But, unfortunately Athens has two sides and outside of the main tourist areas the extreme beauty of the city is tarnished by signs of poverty and urban decay. In fact, in many parts of Greece we were surprised at the amount of unsightly garbage just thrown about and left at the side of roads and highways. Compounding this problem is the vast amounts of unsightly graffiti on just about everything, even in the most remote areas. All of this left us with the impression that Greece could do a much better job in presenting itself and is desperately in need of a national cleanup campaign. In parts of Athens this problem is even more exaggerated and combined with a few other social factors, it can actually become concerning and uncomfortable for a couple of wayward tourists. Certainly we have met many, many wonderful people in Greece and have visited some strikingly beautiful places along the way but overall I would say that Greece has a serious social environmental issue that needs to be addressed and when it does, this country will be even more amazing. Perhaps the person in charge of the Metro in Athens could assume a leadership position for this national task. If the few Metro stations that we used were typical, they could act as a perfect starting point for a positive cleanup campaign as they were completely graffiti clear, were the cleanest we’ve seen in all of Europe, and felt very safe to be in… Go figure!

Note: I was just reviewing the blog and discovered that the chronological order of the photos has been somewhat scrambled during the downloading process. This has happened before and can make things be a bit confusing to follow. I don’t know why this is happening but I’d bet it has something to do with slow and questionable wifi. Sorry!

Our original plan was to zip around the corner from Venice and slide down the Adriatic coastline towards amazing Dubrovnik while taking our time along the way to enjoy the seaside. From Dubrovnik we planned to cross over the mountains through Kosovo and into northern Greece. Scrap that plan!… Kosovo it seems is still considered to be somewhat of a hot spot and after being warned off by a number of very reliable sources we decided to completely avoid the area and altered our malleable plan accordingly. So, from Venice we did zip around the corner slightly, but only as far down as the northern coast of Croatia for a night, and then turned north east for a speedy autobahn drive to Budapest, Hungary for a quick visit. We were quite impressed with Budapest and spent the better part of two days exploring the sights on both sides of the Danube. I never knew that on the west side of the Danube is the city of Buda looking east across the river at the city of Pest. The two are linked by a number of impressive bridges and now collectively make up what is known as Budapest. We did the Big Red Bus tour as things are a bit spread out and really got a good feel for this still merging tourist Mecca. Despite the thirty plus degree heat, we were determined to try the local Goulash soup and we weren’t disappointed at all, who would guess that cold Hungarian beer goes so well with it. From Budapest we turned south for another autobahn slide through Serbia and Macedonia to Thessaloniki, Greece. We did however encounter a few unexpected twists in this quick slide south. Along the way we drove through Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia and into Greece each with long wait border crossings (going in and out). We drove through 10 highway toll booths with significant wait times as well (costing a total of about sixty dollars Canadian). One autobahn accident with a 30km traffic back-up and a little construction to boot. All-in-all, I would guess that we spent about 6 hours in lineups. Because of the added time we couldn’t complete the drive in one day and ended up on a dark rainy mountain road very late in the evening and too close to the border of Kosovo. We decided it best to stay the rest of this night in an isolated but busy hotel parking lot with designated area for motorhomes along with a few other tired RV travellers.
After the turmoil of Yugoslavia breaking up with the years of unrest that followed, much of this part of the world is still considered “Emerging” and the depressed economic conditions of some towns and villages that we saw, can attest to that. We thought we might stop for a night in Belgrade, Serbia but the feeling we got driving in on the freeway through many rundown buildings and endless graffiti unfortunately turned us off wanting to stop. I know you’ve heard this before but… It’s times like this that you’re reminded of how fortunate we are to be living in a country like Canada. Crossing into Northern Greece we were also surprised at the number of closed businesses and slightly run-down areas. Hopefully Greece’s damaged economy will completely bounce back soon and when we drive south towards Athens we’re hoping to see some evidence of that happening. Greece is beautiful and fascinating in every way possible and we’re really looking forward to exploring as much of this amazing country as we can. For now we’re sitting in a slightly over cramped and lively oceanside campground just below Mt. Olympus. Warm water, colourful lights, great restaurants, shops and people activity to entertain us until we decide to move along.

Road Ramble:

It’s surprising how many pictures we’ve taken so far and how quickly they all add up. We are now in the neighbourhood of about 4000 saved pictures and someday I’m sure we’ll look at each one of them at least one more time, unless the kids want to see them a few extra times… (I hear what you just said Cameron!). Our basic Nikon camera has been working great and other than burning up the battery charges rather quickly we haven’t had any real photo technical issues, until recently when trying to download photos for this Blog. Lucky for us I don’t think it’s a camera problem, it seems it has more to do with a bad SD memory card instead. Unlucky for us, I think we’ve lost a number of pictures including some from Budapest and our drive south to Greece. Can you hear the crocodile tears hit the motorhome floor. I do plan on bringing the SD chip home with me though and hopefully our good friend Dave, who is the master of all things computer, can magically retrieve some of the lost and locked up photos inside (Yes, that was a “heads-up” Dave). Unfortunately however, this Post is therefore minus a few interesting photos that Margot was quite excited about of Budapest and the drive through Serbia and Macedonia. Just incase you are interested, At some point I will talk about the details of our basic camera and photo management in the Nuts & Bolts section.

After visiting the Olympic museum in Lausanne, we drove into Geneva and found a good campsite right on the lake about 20 minutes from downtown with a large contingent of German campers in attendance which turned out to be a great bonus for cheering on Germany to their big World Cup win. We enjoyed a warm sunny day looking around the city centre checking out the waterfront and admiring the great selection of exclusive personal banks available to us if we’re ever in need. Geneva itself is a very beautiful and business-like city but I have to say that the most exciting part of Geneva for us was our fascinating tour of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) just outside the city on the French border. This truly amazing international project of gigantic proportions is the largest and most complex machine ever built by mankind. The particle beam accelerator smashes protons together to recreate conditions similar to the “Big Bang”. In doing so scientists attempt to prove and disprove theories of physics that could provide key answers to the origin of the universe and lead to a single Universal Theory. The specific details of this machine and it’s potential discoveries are truly mind-blowing and if you read more about it, you could be easily fooled into thinking it’s just good science fiction.
We burst into Italy driving through the 10 km long Mt. Blanc tunnel and into the beautiful d’Aosta Valley. Italy has been a real “change-up” from northern Europe as things seem a bit more random and laid back south of the Alps. The locals have been very friendly and we’re quickly adjusting to the casual Mediterranean influenced lifestyle. Milano was a big and bustling city with some very interesting sites to see like the worlds largest Gothic Cathedral across the square from one of the most prestigious high-end shopping malls in Europe. The old castle was cool as well. We were very impressed with historic Verona and even managed to squeeze in a visit to the home of Juliet (of Romeo & Juliet) which has become quite a popular tourist attraction. But the best part of Verona for me was a walk through the beautiful 2000 year old Coliseum (3rd largest in the world) that’s still in active service featuring world class performances throughout the summer.
We lucked into a great campsite on the peninsula across from Venice in a place called Punta Sabbioni. We bought a metro transit pass for the bus-like ferry system and have spent the last four full days exploring Venice and Islands. You cannot help but be impressed with this place, it really is magnificent and romantic too, if you don’t mind sharing it with a few others. When Bert and I were here in the fall of 72 the streets were mostly empty with the exception of a few guys selling freshly roasted chestnuts. Today, Venice reminded me of a busy shopping mall in Edmonton on the 24th of December minus the panic purchasing. Margot really enjoy all the Murano glassware shops and I enjoyed the air conditioning they provided. Despite the large crowds of international tourists and all the street sellers trying to earn a living, it really is a very impressive and exciting place to be that we’ll always remember with fondness. And then the rain… on wash day!

Road Ramble:

You may be wondering why you keep seeing us dressed in the same repeating set of clothes week after week but you’re just too polite to make a nasty comment or ask why. Overall I think we did a good job of packing “flexible” clothing for the different seasons with the concept of layering in mind and I think we carried over the right quantity too. We tend to unpack and utilize certain clothes that work best for the present weather conditions but when they are in need of laundering, we have very limited space available in the motorhome for storing dirty clothes. Therefore, we try to launder our clothes regularly and then conveniently hang them back up in the handy dandy closet for quick reuse. It looks bad in the photos, but it is practical.
Doing laundry on the road has been a bit of an issue for us. Most of the campgrounds have at least one washer and dryer available but they are often busy (summer especially) and are very expensive. Two loads can easily cost $25 dollars or more to wash and dry with no guarantees about the condition of the clothes when finished. We can’t quite figure out why staying clean is so pricey over here but we do understand why so many people tend to use clothes lines. I’m sure we could have bought and paid for our own machines by now, if we could only figure out how to drag them along with us. By the way, I had almost forgotten how nice it is to climb into bed with freshly washed bedsheets that were dried in the warm sunshine.

Despite major amounts of rain lately, you might say that Switzerland has been a highlight for us. Continual breathtaking alpine panoramas with lush green slopes looking more like groomed parks than typical farm fields. Quaint villages sprinkled about between immaculate lakeside cities like Geneva, Lucerne, Zurich, Bern, Montreux (with its amazing medieval castle “Chateau de Chillon) and Lausanne (the IOC Olympic Capital) all add up to one impressive and very beautiful country.  The Swiss people are friendly and helpful and we have been treated wonderfully. The only downside so far has been the inflated cost of just about everything and the somewhat limited camping availability compared to neighbouring countries. We were told the minimum hourly wage in Switzerland is very high and that’s why a simple cup of coffee at Starbucks can cost about $8 with a pizza and beer for two costing about $100 Canadian. We tend to eat at the motorhome as much as we can and shop the supermarkets for our culinary inspiration. Margot has done a fantastic job of learning to cook a variety of interesting and tasty dishes in the limited motorhome space. Campground choice has been limited and sometimes nonexistent, like in Basal and Davos. The famous ski resort village of Davos has special meaning to me as this is the town I worked in for a part of the winter of 1972 at the Davoserhof Hotel. So I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t spend more time showing Margot around because of the limited camping issue. Sneaky street camping was not even a remote possible considering the preparations that were under way for the yodelling contest. Now you may be thinking “Big Deal!”… and you’d be right. This small alpine town, in two days time, was about to host 10,000 yodellers from around the world and 100,000+ supporting spectators. You can imagine the temporary infrastructure going up to handle all this and the resulting organized chaos in the streets as we drove into the village. Parking was tough but camping was impossible so we headed over the mountain to Klosters where Bert had worked (and learned to ski like a pro) hoping, but unfortunately not finding, a place to camp.  We had to quickly move on before darkness so it looks like a return visit to Davos/Klosters is now on our bucket list.

Road Ramble:

Since my first ramble stated off on the topic of “Safety”, I can’t think of a better topic than “Health” for my second one. We were in a Zurich and it was late, about 1:00am and a large group of us campers were sitting in a  designated viewing area beside the lake watching the World Cup Soccer “shoot-out” between Holland and Argentina on three big televisions placed on posts in the water. To expedite my late trip to bed, I grabbed my floss, and while watching the soccer action, I began the mindless task. Bad safety judgement on my part; as the intensity of action on the screen grew, so did my flossing, Just as the Dutch scored the winning goal, I felt that awful sensation of a rough tooth from under a now missing dental cap. Margot grabbed a flashlight and we scoured the grass for my dental work to no avail. I went to bed excited for Holland and ticked about my tooth. It must have been a good balance because I slept well and when I awoke, I give the ground search one more try in the brilliant sunlight. After a few minutes of working a strategic “search grid”, I amazingly found my tiny white “cap” nestled in the grass about ten feet away from where I was sitting (Wow!). We were told that dental work in Switzerland was very expensive so we decided to drive back into Germany where we found a very kind dentist.  He actually specialized in tooth implants but after hearing my sad story he took pity and invited me into his chair. He was a pro… Zip-Zap! he had everything back to normal and we were on our way with a dental bill of only 46 Euros. Considering our free Stellplatz for the night and a cheap diesel “filled-up”, we actually broke even on the ordeal. Yes, It’s a happy ending to this frightening story, but I end with this dental safety warning to all of you… do not floss your teeth while watching horror movies or gripping sporting events.

I didn’t plan on preparing a blog post this morning but for some strange reason the wifi connection here at our stelpllatz is working exceptionally well so before racing off to visit the famous Neuschwanstein Palace (Located Southwest of Munich), I decided to quickly piece together this photo-blog update. questionable and unreliable wifi connections continue to be a challenge for us so we try and take advantage to the good connections when we can. Doing everything on an iPad also adds a little extra complexity to the blogging experience  

Here’s a quick overview of our last few days. We left Paris and made a stop at Fontainebleau Palace to visit Napoleons favourite home. It was quite impressive and well worth the days visit. We then drove onward to Nancy, France which turned out to be one of the nicest little cities that we’ve visited so far. Nightly they put on a spectacular light show inside what’s considered to be one of the most impressive central square in Europe, and from our limited experience, we could agree. The animated laser-light and sound show is projected onto five grand buildings that frame the square and from under the night sky it was a really great experience. We had a nice look around the wonderful city of  Strasbourg but unfortunately our time here was marred by an all-night “Rap-driven-Rave” just outside our campground that almost drove us crazy.  Anxious to move on, we turned our attention South towards the Alps and in doing so we realized our opportunity to explore the beautiful Black Forest region and popular Lake Constance area.  From this Neuschwanstein stellplatz we’ll continue our drive East along the German (Bavarian) Austrian border, and then we’ll turn 180 degrees and drive West again through Austria to Innsbruck and then on into Switzerland. As we do move along, I’m hoping for more of this reliable wifi to help keep our travel progress posted. Wishing everyone a warm and wonderful Canada day.

Our impression of Paris is apparently linked to the clock because the longer we spend here the more infatuated with the city we become. We had a similar kind of experience with our visit to New York but in a head-to-head competition, we both agree, Paris wins. Paris is incredibly beautiful with all its wonderfully grand architecture woven into such an amazing history dating back to the Roman occupation and before. The Seine river winds its way through the old city providing a platform for beautiful bridges that connect ornate architecture on both banks while providing a social and commercial highway for all kinds of transport. Lucky for us our great campsite in “Boulogne Park” was overlooking the Seine river and it was an easy commute to central Paris. As you explore iconic buildings and structures like the overwhelmingly impressive Louvre, unbelievable Versailles, amazing Cathedrals like Notre-Dame and monuments like the Eiffel Tower and Arc De Triumph, you can’t help but think of how much of this was built for the sheer pleasure and entertainment of a small and privileged group. At first it seems so unjust and unreasonable but, in a poetic twist of fate, it’s now the average citizen that has access to all this splendour and the treasures within. I doubt it was part of the original Royal intent to create such a lucrative tourist industry that would continually employ so many Parisians. I’m sure a good argument could be made for what a wonderful job they did in support of the French culture and it’s economy. Too bad Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette couldn’t have used this line of defence to save themselves from the guillotine in 1793 after the French Revolution.
Personally, I think some of the best “free” entertainment in Paris is in the streets. My first traffic impression was that these drivers are the worst and most dangerous I’ve ever seen, but after a few days of careful observation, I’ve come to a complete opposite conclusion. This is truly a case of Darwinian Law… “poor drivers will parish” only the best will survive on these streets. Especially impressive to me are the kamikaze scooter and motorcycle drivers that split and swerve through traffic at alarming speeds with only inches between themselves and buses, cars, buildings and pedestrians. I’m sure some of the impressive young women weaving there Vespas between moving targets as they ride to work all dressed up with high heels and brief cases could teach me a few tricks about riding in this crazy and chaotic traffic.
We’ve really enjoyed our time in Paris with it’s abundance of fantastic parks, sidewalk bistros, beautiful boulevards, impressive shops, buildings, and monuments. Parisians themselves have been very friendly and helpful and we’re now feeling a little sad about leaving all this behind just as we’ve entered that “comfort zone”. This truly is an amazing city that everyone should have the opportunity to experience at least once. But, I must say, after two weeks in Paris and countless kilometres of walking the highway is now calling and we’re setting our sights high… onward and upward towards the Swiss Alps.

After visiting a few truly magnificent chateaus along the “Loire River Valley” we developed an understanding of what it was that ignited the French Revolution in 1789. The splendour of Chateau’s like Chenonceau and Chambord is stunningly outrageous compared to the average lifestyle of the time. Some of these outstanding Palaces were utilized as mere recreational properties for important things like hunting, and providing a home for the mistress. Many Chateaus of all sizes dot the countryside and some are still privately owned. The upside of this extravagance is now everyone has an opportunity to wander through these splendid places and imagine what life as a Royal was like in the 14th – 18th centuries. It is however difficult to understand the “who’s-who” in the family trees and how they’re all interconnected over time and distance. Do you know how many Royal Henry, Louie’s, Anne’s and Elisabeth’s there are? Contrasting the spectacular palaces are a vast number of old caves built into the sides of the cliffs and used for farm and residential purposes. Some of these caves are very valuable now and have been converted into very unique  and modern homes (and businesses). Driving the back roads in France can occasionally be a challenging experience considering the narrow lanes with no shoulders and lots of large trucks.  Small roads can quickly turn into smaller roads and then into one-at-a-time lanes with an assortment of traffic obstacles like an old house protruding into the roadway. And circles!… how many circles can you fit into one kilometre? Lucky for us, the drivers in Northern Europe are generally very skilled and predictable with the exception of a few overly aggressive lunatics. But, having spent some time driving a motorcycle in Calgary traffic, a motorhome on French back roads is relaxing. And now onto Paris! One last thing… today we’re thinking of Kristin and Danny who are in Bali getting married. Kristen and Erik are at their side and our thoughts are with you all. Congratulations! and best wishes to the bride and groom.

What a grand entrance we had to Brittany.  “Le Mont St. Michel” made for one spectacular and dramatic first act. As you approach this tiny fortified medieval island treasure it looks like the backdrop for some kind of stage production but as you get closer to the rock it becomes clear you’re in for something much more special. St Michel is an island at high tide, at low tide it has many kilometres of sandy beach in front of it. We witnessed much of the fascinating “flood” tide from the “high-altitude” courtyard of the magnificent pre 11th century gothic Abby. To reach the Abby you must walk and climb “the Pilgrims Walk” through the narrow winding streets of the medieval village below it. This place is truly fascinating but an element of commercialism has crept in and taken away from the romantic atmosphere somewhat. Not surprising considering this medieval attraction draws millions every year. Its massive parking lot was only about 20% full during our visit and the place seemed quite busy so we can’t even imagine what it would look like during peak season with a full parking lot. Construction on a new connecting bridge to the island is almost complete and when finished it will replace the old land causeway restoring the eco system and provide better access to the Island.  Not far away is the important ancient port city of St Malo. This was the home of Jacques Cartier and it was from here that he sailed West to not only discover Canada (first to map the St. Lawrence River) but to give us our name as well. There is a nice park and statue marking the significance of all this but strangely it’s lacking any Canadian flags and we couldn’t quite understand that, but we did find Jacques resting tomb in the local Cathedral.
On the west coast of France we visited a “Rockin” little town called Carnac. This place is world famous for it’s 3,000 (planted?) rock boulders. It’s said that these large (some very large) rocks were placed in long straight rows around 4,000+ BC and they are still confusing the experts much like Stone Hedge in England (I wonder how one determines how long a rock has sat in one place for?). As you can see from the picture, Margot thinks it’s all a hoax (Wink!). On we drove to the beautiful port city of Nantes. Located inland on the Loire river this place was once the capital of Brittany until Anne, the daughter of Francois II was obligated to marry two French Kings (at different times!) and in so doing, united forever Brittany to France. We spent the better part of a day going through Anne’s castle museum. This port city has a rich history including ship building, military, fishing and import/export that included the slave trade. Today much of the industrial ship building business has shut down but a few years ago a very interesting new business popped up in it’s place. It’s sort of like a “If you build it… they will come” story. In some of the old ship building sheds, groups of skilled visionaries, craftsmen and engineers started to build “Machines”. What are machines you ask… BIG moving creatures that are paraded about on the old ship assembly grounds. They draw thousands of fans from all over the world to see this stuff and even ride on these incredible mechanical marvels. By the way,  this has all evolved in the old neighbourhood of the famous si-fi author Jules Verne… wonder if there’s a connection?  Erik, you’d be very impressed with the quality of engineering. This weekend is a “Machine” festival and new machines will be officially added to the collection with a big city parade . It really is a cool thing to see (especially for an old Tech Ed teacher) but when you see some of the grand future plans they have in mind you realize this gallery will soon be a mega tourist attraction. Tomorrow we head “up-stream” to explore the chateau loaded Loire River estates on our way towards Paris.