Forumites Abroad! Jeane & Les in Paris/ MaryG & PaulB on the Cote d'Opale.
28 September 2007
Paris by Jeane Trend-Hill: Les and I had headed off to Paris by Eurostar on 21st.The weather was very sunny, around 23c. As well as the usual sightseeing, shopping, eating delicious pastries, shopping, sampling the local vino and shopping, we stopped off at some wonderful cemeteries. The sightseeing involved Notre Dame which we love (second photo) and climbing to the top of the Sacre Coeur - no mean feat after having walked to it as on a hill anyway! The views from the top were well worth the effort.The crypt was quite interesting as well, there was one rather spooky monument of a bishop holding his head in his hands - it had been severed!
We visited four cemeteries,Montparnasse, Montmarte and the huge Pere Lachaise home to Jim Morrison (top photo), Oscar Wilde (below right), Chopin, Edith Piaf and many more. We spent 5 hours there alone! We also went to the charmingly tiny St Vincent’s cemetery which is close to the Sacre Coeur. We took around 800 photos between us which I am still sifting through.
We love Paris and really feel at home there, the Metro is wonderful, you never wait more than about 2 minutes for a train. Luckily Les has a good sense of direction as it can be a little confusing for blondes!
Hopefully we'll be back there again early next year - can't wait!
Jeane Trend-Hill
**********************************************************************
Cote d'Opale by PaulB
Journalist Mary Graham and myself headed off to France at the same time roughly as Jeane and Les. We expected it to be a real adventure as neither one of us had ever tackled the continental hazards of driving on the right handside of the road before. We were not planning to overtax ourselves as the plan was merely to head along the beautiful coast road (the D940) and sample both the horrors and delights of ...ahem..serious international travel. Onwards then, best foot forward..the Brits abroad !!
After a smooth crossing on The Rodin we left the docks of sunkissed Calais and headed the whole mile, yes thats right the whole mile, to our hotel. Adventurous for sure..well that's us...the wreckless rogues of international travel. Having secured a room with a view we lounged around at the Holiday Inn in fine style. No hardship so far.
After a sojourn around the various bars, with the Le Centaur being a particular favourite (where we sampled the heady extravagance of a few large Muscadet) we took an unsteady stroll around the evening harbour where I took this easy going shot of MaryG catching the late rays. In the background you can see the fishing boats. They unload here everyday and sell extremely fresh out of the ocean fish from the white stalls you see on the dock. Lovely idea for the fish connoisseur...even had very good displays of sole. Not sure if they are Dover Sole if they are sold in Calais..but sole they were. And of course lots of other varieties. Calais is big on fish.
Then back for a bit of late evening posing on the balcony of The Holiday Inn before venturing off out to Dinner. It was truly a busman's holiday for me as I have the same view in Dover, but only from the other side as it were.
The next day we eventually made it onto the famed D940 and the road was a real treat. A lovely winding road through endless rolling hills, all offering spectacular views over Cap Gris Nez and at times beyond to the rolling surf of Wissant. The area, and not a lot of people know this, is one of the top 25 designated areas of natural beauty in France, and we enjoyed every bit of it on our 'factfinding mission'. Our destination was Wimereux and although I dont have any exciting pictures of the splendid seafront due to a technical mishap, I can offer you these two above of the town behind the seafront. One shows the splendid railway viaduct over the local River caught in the evening sun, and the other our stop-off resthome for the weary traveller. The Saint Jean....yes really.
One final bit of true glamour posing in the exceptionally bright evening sun, well it was exceptionally bright as the weather excelled itself in a final flourish before winter. Thats my story anyway..the story as to why I am permanently hidden from 'my public' by large sunglasses !!lol
PaulB.
Paris by Jeane Trend-Hill: Les and I had headed off to Paris by Eurostar on 21st.The weather was very sunny, around 23c. As well as the usual sightseeing, shopping, eating delicious pastries, shopping, sampling the local vino and shopping, we stopped off at some wonderful cemeteries. The sightseeing involved Notre Dame which we love (second photo) and climbing to the top of the Sacre Coeur - no mean feat after having walked to it as on a hill anyway! The views from the top were well worth the effort.The crypt was quite interesting as well, there was one rather spooky monument of a bishop holding his head in his hands - it had been severed! We visited four cemeteries,Montparnasse, Montmarte and the huge Pere Lachaise home to Jim Morrison (top photo), Oscar Wilde (below right), Chopin, Edith Piaf and many more. We spent 5 hours there alone! We also went to the charmingly tiny St Vincent’s cemetery which is close to the Sacre Coeur. We took around 800 photos between us which I am still sifting through.
We love Paris and really feel at home there, the Metro is wonderful, you never wait more than about 2 minutes for a train. Luckily Les has a good sense of direction as it can be a little confusing for blondes!
Hopefully we'll be back there again early next year - can't wait!
Jeane Trend-Hill
**********************************************************************
Cote d'Opale by PaulB
Journalist Mary Graham and myself headed off to France at the same time roughly as Jeane and Les. We expected it to be a real adventure as neither one of us had ever tackled the continental hazards of driving on the right handside of the road before. We were not planning to overtax ourselves as the plan was merely to head along the beautiful coast road (the D940) and sample both the horrors and delights of ...ahem..serious international travel. Onwards then, best foot forward..the Brits abroad !!
After a smooth crossing on The Rodin we left the docks of sunkissed Calais and headed the whole mile, yes thats right the whole mile, to our hotel. Adventurous for sure..well that's us...the wreckless rogues of international travel. Having secured a room with a view we lounged around at the Holiday Inn in fine style. No hardship so far.
After a sojourn around the various bars, with the Le Centaur being a particular favourite (where we sampled the heady extravagance of a few large Muscadet) we took an unsteady stroll around the evening harbour where I took this easy going shot of MaryG catching the late rays. In the background you can see the fishing boats. They unload here everyday and sell extremely fresh out of the ocean fish from the white stalls you see on the dock. Lovely idea for the fish connoisseur...even had very good displays of sole. Not sure if they are Dover Sole if they are sold in Calais..but sole they were. And of course lots of other varieties. Calais is big on fish.
Then back for a bit of late evening posing on the balcony of The Holiday Inn before venturing off out to Dinner. It was truly a busman's holiday for me as I have the same view in Dover, but only from the other side as it were.
One final bit of true glamour posing in the exceptionally bright evening sun, well it was exceptionally bright as the weather excelled itself in a final flourish before winter. Thats my story anyway..the story as to why I am permanently hidden from 'my public' by large sunglasses !!lol
PaulB.