Verdun and Vauquois

The Douaumont Ossuary memorial at Verdun.

Day 7: early start, clean up the place, go to Verdun. It's a pretty town, surrounded by a thick green forest. During the war this forest was a muddy wasteland. The battlefields have masses of white crosses. Parts are mown to shown the huge craters. They look like a jumble of golfing bunkers all tightly mashed together.

The battlefield was up over the hill. They never reached town.

While driving, there are many cemeteries for French, Americans, even Germans along the roads around the place.

The amazing sights of a hill in Vauquois

We stop 20 minutes on at a high hill at Vauqois, still with the trenches, tunnels and barbed wire. The boys have a great time running around the giant craters, the trenches and barbed wire.

The trenches and tunnels have been preserved.

The whole drive rolls along near the WW1 front. Arrive at Reims at 6. The car won't start.

These craters are *very* big.

Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Day 6: Luxembourg city, what a nice city, super clean, buildings are mostly preserved, in immaculate condition, footpaths, gardens, lots of trees, some bike lanes.



The place is a financial centre. Some big multinationals are headquartered here for tax.

Right in the town centre - immaculate.

Compact and nice for a walk or a jump.

The nice parts are wrapped around the river.

This is a European city like they look in the photos. An enormous traffic jam clogged up most of the way home.

Strasbourg, Helling and Heckenberg

A nice surprise for the kids: chickens at Helling 

Day 4: Strasbourg, hired 3 bikes, one with a kid seat for Louis, who fell asleep while we rolled along the rivers. We spent a while in the park while he slept and after. At the end of a nice day, we couldn't find the bike shop, going in circles trying to find it, and got properly soaked in the rain. A nice city.

The small entrance to Heckenberg

Day 5: Thionville for the kids park, then Helling for lunch. We saw a lady feeding the town's chickens, and joined in giving them some apple cores which they loved. There were rabbits in a hutch, elsewhere but the chickens are the main event. The boys saved their bread from lunch, so as to go back and give them something.

Big guns on a 90 tonne rotating turret

Then we visited Heckenberg, a large fort in the Maginot Line. There's a tiny electric train that took about 40 of us 1.5km inside. It took 1800 people 6 years to dig the tunnels.There's space for 1000 odd people, 5 major gun turrets, and multiple smaller machine gun placements.

After the Americans attacked the Germans at the end.

During the short invasion, the people inside were well able to continue the fight. They had to be ordered by the high command to surrender. They did so only after 2/3 of France was overrun, and the Vichy government made peace. The Maginot line sure didn't cave in. It was the tactics around it that failed. Easy to say with hindsight, though at least one senior French army man thought the Ardennes would only take days to cross well prior to the event.

A bit noisy on the 1.5km electric train ride 

Sadly, the lines of chalk running through the rock expands with water. The constant expansion destroys the walls. A lot of the fort is not open for visiters.

I bet they ate well

Healthcare for all under the ground.

Last school holidays

Taking a turn in Tournus

Day 1; got up late, left at 10. Stopped for lunch at Orange, walked past the amphitheatre 2000 years old, seating for 10,000 and still used. The neighbour saw Dire Straights there, must have been a nice atmosphere!

Stayed in Tournus, a pretty town on the river, overnight.

The attractions of Tournus

Day 2: more driving, stopped at Nancy and its picture perfect town square. It was a pottery display day. The boys got a chunk of clay to squish for a bit. We watched a man showing kids how to use a potting wheel. They killed cups, and he'd rescue them.

The cathedral at Metz

Got to Metz at 6pm. The appartment is in a roof space, spectacular and huge. The kids took the double bed in the loft and to their excitement. We had a broken sleep worrying about them falling down the wooden stairs in the night.

The bannister is held by 2 bodgy screws. Ollie managed to pop it out, but did not go all the way through it. There's a drop on both sides. We tried out the jacuzzi, the boys yelling "oh, it's a bubble bath!!". We economised by skipping bath the next 2 nights.

Scootering around the city centre in Metz

Day 3: scootered around Metz all day today, cathedral, fortifications and gardens are v. nice. Ate at a typical place for lunch, the Dauphine, v.v.good and packed.

Going back in time

They seemed to hit each other a bit too seriously.

Going about a month back, we went to the Medieval Festival at Biot. After the displays, and goods stands, we saw the show. Everyone insulted each other on the microphone, not sure who the good side was, but it didn't matter as everyone got slayed in the following battle. The dead breathed heavily where they lay. It was all in good sport though, as conquerors and vanquished helped each other get back up again afterwards.

Young destroyers launch missiles to knock down a wall.

Then it was time for the usual falconry, where the bird flies off, sits there, and won't come back. Falconry is fauconnerie, which sounds the same as faux connerie, which is some stupid activity, and involves faucons (the bird), which sounds like faux cons ie  a.holes who are fake. Lots of merriment all round.

I've got no idea what went wrong with my lunch order, but we did eat, and I think it was enough.







The other two shots below are one Sunday, and a 4 year olds birthday.

At a local beach

At Vaugrenier, a park nearby.

Random jots

Le Bord du Mer

Sunday Streets
Last Sunday, they closed down the main road through here for recreation. Everyone could go for walk, ride or play games. There was a jumping castle, pony rides, a kids gym, and battery powered racing cars for kids. No stink, and loads of space. How nice would it be if it was permanent.






April fools

Nearly at the top, 800m

The no. 1 favourite trick here is the fish of april. That's a paper cutout fish which the kids colour in, and then stick on someone's back. So, every kid at Louis' school came out ready for action with a couple of paper fish.

For Ollie, it was red dots on their faces. Every kid in the whole school had the measles! I only saw Ollie and his dotted face. Marie explained he's got the measles. Gee I'm a sucker.

The boys sort it out

On TV, they ran some old jokes. A report annouced the transformation of part of Versailles for public housing. It was to reduce homelessness, and increase supply of housing, in areas where there was vacant space. They delivered it so straight faced that it got groups of protesters out on the streets. Another one showed half the Eiffel Tower being helicoptered away for maintenance.

School lunch is in the canteen
We were talking about the kinds of food they get at the school canteen: the different kinds of entree, cooked main and desert.
So I told Ollie how we always had sandwiches for lunch at school. "They served you sandwiches at the canteen??" he said in horror. Having a sandwich for lunch is unthinkable, only if you really don't have time to eat properly eg when you want to go for a bike ride, hiking etc for a couple of hours.

St. Jeannet and the start of the walk to the Baou.

I always had my sandwich packed in my bag before leaving home. And I had to explain that canteens didn't serve cooked food. Ollie after thinking for a bit "...for real???"


Bushwalk to the Baou
The Baou of St Jeannet is the towering chunk of rock that sits looking over the Var river near Nice here. The village is about 300m altitude, then you walk up to 800m height. Not bad for the littlies. The view around is great. It's amazing that it's so close to town.

Pompeii

The road into town from the sea gate.

Today we went off to Pompeii. A rattly old train ride around the mountain, the volcano towering above all the villages and buildings, ready to rain down fire anytime. The last time was 1944. I suppose it wasn't as bad as the various earthquakes and then the allied bombing. You get off the train, wander past the ticket booth, then up a hill and into the Sea Gate. It's a arch in a wall, with a stony path through it. Each side of the path vees up about 30cm, in a way that no street does now. It's clear this is the real thing from a good 2000 years ago. The city has lots of Greek bits in it from a long time before that.

An altar for animal sacrifices. Not enough!

The ref sends them off

Sadly an earthquake had knocked down a lot of the city. Although the things we see today are well preserved from 2000 years ago, lots of rooves and structures are half there. All the wood has been burned out by the hot volcanic ash and stones, including people. Where they fell down, they blocked a space. Then their flesh decayed away, leaving a body shaped space and a skeleton. The clever diggers filled the space with plaster, dug around, and hey presto, there's a body forever frozen in their final resting place.

The kids play in the streets.

There's a home restored to original condition, a open gymnasium/field that's huge and an amphitheatre, like the Colliseum, but in amazing condition, as if parts were build recently. This place is a highlight of this trip and our whole time here, just amazing. Thanks to Angelo, the father in law of Yumiko, grandfather of Ricky and Allen, who went to school with Ollie, Louis, Rubina and Leonie.

Countertop in a shop. Holes are for vases full of goods.

On the last day we went to the archeology museum. Most of the frescoes, mosaics, and day to day objects from Pompeii were moved here to get it out of the weather.


The people of Pompeii had homes we can only dream of today. The frescoes are really beautiful. Imagine having enough artists to do paintings all over your walls. The mosaics are intricate and very realistic. Even the ceilings were lavishly patterned, as were the ceramics and metal plates (for food I suppose). The most amazing thing is to see the glass cups, for drinking. They really had every comfort except for good lighting, TV and internet. Now we need to see the film!

Down the Gladiators entrance into the amphitheatre

Typical home with a private courtyard in the middle

In the afternoon, we visited the underground tunnels of Naples. 1km of the whole 170km network is opoen for viewing. Slaves in Greek times cut the Tufa, which is porous and easy to get out. Then they used them to supply water to the city. Then there was a cholera outbreak. Finally they were used again for an air-raid shelter.








Today's the first day back at work. Sigh.

Red roof, fresco walls, white marble floor.

Naples

The monastery of Santa Chiara in the old town.

Today I got up early to get Gabriella, Leonie and Rubina from the airport. The first part takes 10 minutes, and the last km takes 15 minutes, with buses, trams, cars and pedestrians all trying to get in and out of Place Garibaldi. This time, we don't get lost walking.

The craziness of the place is rubbing off.

Closed in shopping centre

Lunch was anchovies done rollmop style with vinegary red onions, and creamy fennel sauce, really amazing. The restaurants have a lot of competition, and have been great. We stopped at an old nunnery where they care for kids. You follow another street that's about a car and a half wide, go through an arch, then arrive in a big courtyard. Entering the church, we're at choir level. Every piece of wood is hand sculpted, the roof painted, and the grill incredibly ornate. The nuns would normally go in for life, and never appear again. It's a large island in the middle of the street chaos outside. The roof above slopes down so the old ones can lie down on it, and attend mass.

Piazza Plebiscito

Ollie and Leonie at our place.

Santa Chiara monastery is similar but bigger. Lemon and orange trees drop their fruit on the grass. Each path is lined with tiled columns. Each scrap of wall is coloured with frescoes, or more tiles. The library has 500 year old hand written colour books, some of which are starting to decay on the spine. There's some ancient baths being unearthed in one of the gardens.

Rubina and Louis walk the streets.

Frecciarossa to Napoli

The Frecciarossa goes up to 300km/h and is painted red.

Today we got up at the crack of 7 or 8, (Marie) got everything together and got on the train. It was one of the new ones, the Frecciarossa. Everything about the Frecciarossa is awesome. We had 4 super comfy seats around a table that folds out. The boys spent the time doing drawings, while the speedo on the video screen clicked past 200, then just on 300km/h. And it's smooth. Kids travel free. Tuesday to Thursday 11am to 2pm, tickets are half price. There's a Freccia waiting lounge. Near us, there were two toilets. When someone's in there, the WC letters change to red. We need that at work. Sometimes you end up going up 3 flights of steps to find a free one. 

Catching a train like that is cool.

The distance is about 220km, or Sydney to Budgewoi and it takes 1 hour 10 minutes. Napoli is another world. Marie says it's like Asia in Europe; bikes flying around everywhere, cars here and there, often there's no footpath. There's a table across one footpath. People were seriously gambling on the three cups and a ball thing. The back streets are a maze. We get lost. This place is positively medieval, a shock, and a taste of real Italy. They say they invented the pizza here, and it's seriously tasty. For the afternoon, we took a train to the seaside, and hired a 4 seater bike object. Ollie ran along beside most of the way.

Typical streets of Napoli

On the way home, we tried the lottery that is Napoli shopping. This time we lost. For a couple of bits of cheese, olives, a packet of pasta, pack of biscuits, and a bottle of wine, it cost 39 euro. Everything was artinasal, which means hand made and expensive. Stopping at another shop, we got a loaf of fresh bread for 50 cents. Lunch was 30 e$ for 3 massive pizzas, 2 beeers and 2 bottles of water. Can't complain.

Via dei Tribunali, where we're staying - claustrophobic, mad.

Naples is proof that people will drive no matter what. Our street is about 2.5m in the middle. The footpath is
just marked by steel bollards. Mostly people use the side to display things for sale, or parking. So people, cars and motor bikes mix in the middle. The cars and bikes are generally calm. A handful try to go hard and brake hard when people appear. It's crazy. This place is not designed for cars. Cars park here, there, double and triple parking on the main roads. 

Going natural

Going natural - the predators stalk Lou

I've been reading all sorts of good things about the Via Appia. It was the principle road south out of Rome. It's amazing it's still existing. It is all very pretty. The wall museum was good.

Ollie and the kangaroos

Then we walked along the road in the rain on a 50cm strip on the side, while cars roared past. You need a lot of imagination to go back in time. We got to the catacombs at 12, just when they shut for 2 hours. We ate a bit, then gave up.

Boys get inside the head of a T-Rex.

The next stop was the Zooligical museum, which the boys really liked. Lots of skeletons, stuffed birds, stuffed kangaroos, models of fish, fleas, ticks, snakes bats etc. After 30 minutes of waiting around for Rome's confusing buses to turn up, we got home.

Dino puzzle.

For our final day, the weather was clear. Better late than no clear days. So we walked around. At the parliament buildings, there are several different popes names on different impressive buildings and monuments, Clemens, and Innocent. It's like the popes are each trying to outdo each other. We wandered to the Trevi fountain again, and the Spanish steps, which has a pretty crap view of town, and at least one more pope's name.



The papal competition continued at the Vatican, where surely the winner is the dude who did the horseshoe thing around the main square. 4 rows of columns ring the thing in a massive circle, and his name is in massive capitals all over the place. Surely he's the Max of Pontifex Max.'s, his name up in lights, and being infallible. There's a road leading away along the river, which has the best view we'd seen over the city, a highlight of the trip.

The boys fiddle around while Rome waits.

We found another rare park for kids, and our kids went nuts. Walking back over a bridge home, there is a tiny little monument with someone's name on it. He must have been a mediocre pope with such a tiny thing.

Paulus 5's effort - a bit lacklustre.