The first few days

Thursday 24 July

After a fairly quiet day of having lunch with Mary in Sydney, we took off a bit late on our holiday. The Emirates plane is really good, lots more leg room than QANTAS, or Singapore, and we even had the seats we requested which was great.

One thing that really irritates is the people who get on with ‘cabin’ baggage that is as big as most people’s check-in baggage, and also those who have four pieces of cabin baggage when there really should be only one. I think I’m turning into a grump!

The short stopover at Bangkok was interesting. Usually when there is a fuelling stop you have to get off the plane and take all your stuff with you. However we were able to choose to stay on the plane or get off if we wanted. As it was only a one-hour stop we decided to stay, as it didn’t really seem worth the effort of getting the stuff out of the locker and carrying it off only to bring it back so soon. That was fine, but it was really fascinating watching the ground crew working out who was still on board, having them identify their baggage in the lockers, and check that they had done that for everybody – of course everybody was taking the chance to move about and have a bit of a walk while we were on the ground.

When we reached Dubai we were parked out in the ‘remote area’ and had to go to the terminal by bus. This wasn’t so bad, at least there were enough buses for everyone and no real problems. The ‘remote area’ really was a long way from the terminal, about a 10-minute drive in the bus. Then we had to walk to the other end of the terminal to the gate for the next leg. By this stage, Les and I were both a bit tired but got there. Then down to another bus! At least this plane was closer to the terminal so the ride wasn’t so long.

Another long flight, at least in the day time which was a bit better than night time I think. We arrived in Paris and guess what – yes, another bus! This time we waited about 30 minutes, on the stairs outside the plane, because there weren’t enough buses sent in the first place. Not happy! Then there were 4 people in passport control for a full planeload of people, so that took a while. Customs was a bit different too, only about 4 people there as well so just about everyone just walked through. I think there were only 4 checking stations, very different from Sydney.

We had a bit of a wait for the transfer to the hotel, it turned out that the driver had another pickup at another terminal and our plane was late so he went there first and wasn’t back when we got through passport and customs. Anyway, we found each other and got to the hotel eventually.

The hotel is very good, I’m glad we don’t pay the full tariff! King-size twin beds, European feather pillows, very comfortable!

Friday happened somewhere in the travelling above.

Saturday 26 July

Quiet day today, I’m sitting in the hotel with my feet up on the other chair, giving them a chance to get over all that flying, and Les is out having a walk around the area. We are on the Left Bank, though a bit further from the Seine than we expected. We had looked up Rue St Jacques, but it turns out that the hotel is on Boulevard St Jacques which is not the same thing at all.

We have a meeting this evening with our tour director, Virginie Gravier, and will meet the rest of the group for the first time.
After the meeting

We have about 37 on the tour, I think, there are some singles but mostly couples, and I think the biggest group would be from Australia. There are also people from New Zealand and South Africa, so we won’t mention the rugby, England, and Wales. It’s a mature-age group, and all seem very friendly which is a good thing!

Sunday 27 July

The first of the early morning calls, up at 6:30 am, bags outside the door by 7 am, breakfast, meet In the lobby ready to leave at 8 am. It was quite a long day, but very interesting as well. We had an early lunch at Troyes, learnt a lot about the Dukes of Burgundy in the 12-13 centuries which was very interesting I thought. Troyes is in the Champagne region, so we also heard about making wine in the double fermentation method which gives the bubbles. We stopped at Chablis and tried some of the local wine there, but I think our version is better!

We also visited Vezelay, which is a village built on a hillside. Its main claim to fame is that in the 12th century (I think) some bones were found in a cave. The bishops and pope decided that not only were these human bones, they were in fact the bones of Mary Magdalene. That led to Vezelay becoming an important place of pilgrimage and a church was built on the spot. It was here that St Bernard preached the second crusade and sent the Frankish knights off the Jerusalem. The English went too, of course! Burgundy also played an important role in the 100 years war with England, Joan of Arc I think got her army from the Duke of Burgundy. I’ll have to read a bit more on this, my French history is not wonderful!

Then to Dijon, where we are staying for 2 nights at the Hotel de la Cloche Sofitel – very good indeed! One of the bad things about travelling is trying to keep clothes clean, and having 2 night stays does help a lot.

Monday 28 July

Les has gone off on an optional trip to Beaune today, and I am having a quiet day in the hotel giving my feet a chance to rest. The skin graft looks good, and my feet are better but will improve even more for having a bit of a rest.