The Somme

On September 15 I got to attend the 90th Anniversary Memorial Service of the Battle of the Somme in Longueval, France. That date was chosen as it was the date that the first New Zealand battalions joined the battle. The push they made that day only covered a few miles, but it was the largest amount of ground covered by any group of soldiers throughout the battle.

I got to go as a representative for DIA, and Ariane came along as a groupie. It was a long journey in a mini-van, but it was made up for by going through the chunnel (they loaded us onto the train in our van - that was weird, sitting in a van on a train!) and the service itself.

The Somme was literally a bloodbath, but today the memorial to our fallen soldiers is a beautiful patch of green in the middle of open fields, just down the road from the tiny village of Longueval. Amongst the attendees at the service was the NZ ambassador to France, the Australian, Indian, German and South African ambassadors to France, the head of the French Defence and his aides, and the Mayor of Longueval.

First, four NZ soldiers dressed in WWI uniform took up watch at end corner of the memorial. Local Veterans led the procession and a unit from the French Army provided the brass band. The procession was greeted by Jodie who sang a traditional Karakia and then we listened to (on cd) Kiri Te Kanawa singing Poi Kare Kare Ana. By now there wasn't a dry eye.

Many speeches were made, and schoolchildren from France and NZ laid flowers. One of the children read a letter from a NZ soldier who had fought at the Somme which described, in typical laid-back kiwi style, how horrific the fighting had been. He was still positive and ended the letter remarking how he couldn't wait to get back into the fray to help his friends. He was killed in battle not long after. (More tears from Angela.)

We were invited back to the Town Hall where the whole town had turned out, and we got to sample many delicious french tid-bits. Ariane provided my entertainment. On the bus with us was Major Steve Guerney and his lovely wife who had just arrived from NZ. It was their first visit to Europe so they wanted to stay on in France and go directly from the service to Paris. We got talking to the Head Advisor of the French Defence Force - who was absolutely charming - and when Ariane found he was headed back to Paris that night promptly asked him if he could give Steve and his wife a ride! He wasn't able to, but he was so gracious he found out about possible trains for them. And people say the French are rude...

It was a moving service and I was surprised at how well attended it was by Kiwis who were travelling in the area.

Open House London

On September 16-17 London had it's "Open House" weekend where buildings all over London open their doors for the public to come along and view them for free. Many are buildings that would not not normally be accessible to the public (as they are secure workplaces) or cost an admission price. There are so many different buildings that it was very overwhelming to choose what to see. In the end we left the organising of our 'itinerary' to Fiona, whose boring job left her with time on her hands. She was also our official photographer, so cheers for the pics Fi!

You have to be super-organised for this event as most of the popular buildings (like the Gherkin) require booking in advance. You can see things like Jimi Hendrix's house, kindergartens, synagogues, offices, stately homes - all kinds of architecture.

Cameron joined Fiona and I on the first day. Our first stop was The Foreign Office in Whitehall which is just gorgeous. It was made to impress dignitaries and has had many a grand soiree in its time. It has an impressive covered courtyard, a great hall (above) which has been restored, and a grand marble staircase (below). The restoration of the hall was amazing - in the 70's someone obviously decided 'hey, all that gorgeous decoration is a bit naff, so let's wallpaper over it with plain beige...' Yeah, good one. Naturally the colours and details are done justice in the pictures, but believe me, the 3 of us were walking around gob-smacked. Fiona is scheming to get a job there, so she can move into a broom cupboard and live there. Stay tuned.

It also provided Cameron and I endless silly photo opportunities (below).

We also looked in next door at the Treasury (too bad the mint wasn't open) which has an impressive open circular courtyard, and we tried to get into the HorseGuards in Westminster, but the queue was waaay too long. So we settled for harrassing the Guards instead.
The next day Fiona and I were joined by Yvonne (also a fabulous Kiwi, from Tauranga), and we headed off to explore the 'city' area around Bank. Our first stop was Victoria House where we got to see the amazing Art Deco ballroom and bar in the basement.


Yvonne and I in Victoria House - Art Deco Bar

The bar has been recently refurbished so it's modern art deco, and it's very stylish. If we all get rich, that's where we will hold our parties.

After that it was off to The Guildhall (above) - apart from being a functioning guildhall, it is also home to an art gallery and the remains of a roman coliseum. It was long thought that London must have had a coliseum during Roman rule, and it was recently uncovered under the Guildhall when they went to renovate the basement. Quite an apt spot for it. The Guildhall is also home to London's clock museum (who knew, eh?!).

We then went off to Fleet Street to see the Hollywood-glitz of the foyer of the Daily Express building. It is a glittering example of art deco. You may infer that I am a fan. I'm so pleased we got to see it, as it's the sort of place you'd never go into normally.

We rounded that off with a visit to the Cheshire Cheese pub down the road (revamped in 1667! ), a favourite haunt of Dickens. It's a funny old pub, with lots of gloomy little rooms. And lots of hot barmen!

Guernsey

I've just returned from 3 days on the beautiful island of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands are part of Britain, but are very proud of their independence. They use British pounds but have their own notes and coins, and use a different system of governance. The Channel Islands are of particular interest to me, being a history buff, as they were the only British territory to be occupied by the Germans during WWII.


I stayed at the picturesque Auberge Du Val, a B&B that I would recommend to anyone. It's run by a mad Italian called Fernando, who would gladly walk upon hot coals to accomodate the whims of his guests. It's set in a peaceful valley in St Saviours, and has beautiful gardens complete with a babbling brook running through it. After bustling London, I thought I was in Paradise!



Guernsey is very beautiful - and in the words of Fiona "is like NZ but with English houses". The beaches are great, and the fusion between French and English influences is evident everywhere, especially in the architecture. It's full of stone cottages, cobbled streets and narrow country lanes - just the thing for a relaxing time. They have an excellent bus system in summer for an island of 22,000 people. I went around the entire island for a mere 60p. I was, as always outside of London, struck by the friendliness of the locals and the good service (in London retail staff will seldom stop chatting with each other to serve you). If you want to live there though, you'd better be plenty rich. Non Islanders pay exorbitantly more to rent and buy property. A one bedroom flat here would set you back around £200,000.

It's very hilly, like Wellington, and most people walk everywhere, so I certainly got plenty of exercise. I went to Castle Cornet, which is situated at the mouth of the harbour which was first built in the 13th C, and was home to the Royal Guernsey Militia up until recent years. They still fire off the Noon Day Gun. The shops are really cool and generally swanky and upmarket, but there's a great cafe vibe to St Peter Port, the island's capital. I rate the Victorian Parlour highly - nice aniseed lollies.






The Guernsey Museum is also amazingly good and was quite informative about the history of the island and it's more famous residents. Victor Hugo was exiled there and was where he penned 'Les Miserables' which I still refuse to read as I love the musical so much...







I visited loads of places, the details of which I won't bore you with - visit for yourself! But the best places were the German Occupation Museum and the La Valette Military Museum. As I mentioned, Guernsey was occupied by the Nazis during WWII and as such, was left with a plethora of WWII memorabilia when they surrendered, so the collections of both museums are vast and fascinating. You name it, they have it. Nazi uniforms, guns, artillery, underground bunkers, propaganda, cutlery, stationery, souvenirs carved by the soldiers etc.

They are both surprisingly pretty unbiased - not really portraying the Germans as Nazi monsters nor overly glamorising the resistance of the Islanders. For instance, you can see a poster warning the soldiers not to touch or damage the historical artifacts in the town hall in any way, and many of the school children reported that the soldiers were very kind to them as they missed their own kids. For me it is the stories of the Islanders themselves that are of most interest, as they were placed in a unique situation as British citizens. Any form of resistance could have severe reprisals (one woman was sent to prison for months in Germany for answering a 'Heil Hitler' with a 'Heil Churchill'), and Guernseymen were executed as examples to others, but at the same time, any cooperation with the Germans was viewed harshly by most of the Islanders and to be labelled a collaborator would have been a harsh fate in such a tight-knit community.

Kiwis and Canadians are very welcome to Guernsey. At the end of 1944 the whole island (including the Germans) were in danger of starving and they appealed to the Red Cross for help. Just before Christmas the SS Vega made the risky journey to St Peter Port carrying parcels of food from NZ and Canada which probably did save the lives of many people. The local schoolchildren made it their mission to find out as much as they could about the countries that these 'parcels of providence' had come from, and their letters of thanks to our respective governments are very funny and touching. The chocolate seemed to be a recurring theme...


Anyway, Guernsey is lovely and I'm keen to visit Jersey now. Stay tuned.

Last Night of the Proms

On the 9th of September I went with my mate Debbie (and 50,000 of our close pals) to Hyde Park to see the Last Night of the Proms in Hyde Park. It was so much fun and highly recommended for us foreigners in search of 'British experiences'. Basically it's a big concert with a mix of classical and modern music, that hooks up live with the actual last night of the Proms held down the road in the Royal Albert Hall (it has a waiting list of years).

Debbie and her housemates got there at 3pm to get a decent spot when the gates opened at 4pm. There were queues for Africa. Most people were super-organised with picnics and deck chairs (I'll know what to do next time!) and many people seemed to use the event for big family reunions. It was actually really nice to see so many families. We had a family next to us - one kid sporting a 'Lionel Ritchie Fan Club' t-shirt - and they had the time of their lives. They sang and danced and joked around with each other all night.





A 'Madness' tribute band kicked off the pre-entertainment, followed by Chas and Dave, who some of you may remember, and the X-Factor reject, Chico. I predict his new single 'C-h-i-c-o' (a rip-off of the song 'D-I-S-C-O') will not exactly burn up the charts. But I greatly admire his knack for self-promotion. And his spelling prowess.





The official show was hosted by Sir Terry Wogan, and featured Angela Gherghiou, the impossibly gorgeous 'Vittorio', Alison Balsam (arguably the best trumpeter in the world), Carl Davis and the BBC Orchestra, and the headline act was Lionel Ritchie. Now, I like Lionel. I would not be seen dead wearing his fan club t-shirt of course, but let me tell you, the man can sing and work the stage! From the moment he stepped out on the stage he had the crowd on their feet dancing and singing their lungs out to 'Dancing on the Ceiling' and many of his other hits. Hyde Park then was hooked up live with Albert Hall and other proms in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, Swansea, Manchester and Wales for the traditional Proms bit where the stiff-upper-lips brits go silly and sing songs like 'Land of Hope and Glory', Jerusalem' and 'Rule Britannia' and wave the union Jack around. I sang myself hoarse. It was an absolutely brilliant night!

Recent Wanderings

A couple of weeks ago I went out to Stonehenge and Salisbury for the day. Stonehenge is a lot smaller than I expected, but I think it looses much of its impact by the fact that you aren't allowed close up to the stones - all thanks to past visitors taking bits as mementos. Plus they are covered in all kinds of rare lichen which get damaged by greasy human fingers touching them.

Disappointingly I was not overcome with feelings of mysticism or 'vibes'. It was a stinking hot day, there were screeds of tourists, and I was admittedly concerned about whether we would have time to fit in watching the (ill-fated) England vs. Portugal game. On a less busy day I think it would be cool to drive up and see Stonehenge looming up on the hill in the middle of nowhere (apparently it used to be surrounded by forest).




Salisbury itself is lovely - there is a great weekend market, and there are loads of nice pubs and cafes alongside the river canal.


















Salisbury Cathedral is amazing - even when half covered in scaffolding. It's home to the best version of the Magna Carta, kept in the Chapter House. Now for those of you who have been to Washington DC or who have seen the movie "National Treasure", you will know how guarded and well protected the Declaration of Independence is, in the USA. Well, the poor old Magna Carta is in some shoddy display case that looks like it was whacked together in the days before the personal computer. You almost stumble over it, rather than it beingmade a big deal of - very strange for a founding document. Even the Treaty of Waitangi has a far worthier display. The statue of the photo is of the 'Black Lady', the ghost who has been seen many times in the grounds.

I also went to St Thomas' church and saw the Doom painting. No one is sure who painted it, but it gives quite a powerful image to what happens to the saints and sinners amongst us!

"I've been to London to vist the Queen..."

Yes, I really did see the Queen at Buckingham Palace the day - even if it was from afar...

It was another case of working at NZ House paying off, as I managed to get tickets to one of the Queen's annual garden parties, and wangled it so that Kara could come along to same one as Dave and I. NZ gets allocated only 200 tickets for the 3 annual garden parties, so we were pretty lucky. It was brilliant - I'm sure I'll remember it for the rest of my life, and fully intend to bore people with my "I Remember the time I went to Buckingham Palace" story in my dotage. Unfortunately, you can't take pictures inside the grounds, otherwise I could do a slide show too...

The dress code is strict - dresses and hats for the ladies, lounge suits for the men. I bought a dress especially for the occasion, but I borrowed a hat from my friend Sarah, who went last year. I have since passed the hat on to my boss's wife who is going to this week's party, so technically Sarah has gotten lots of wear out of that hat, although she's never worn it herself since. The 3 of us looked fabulous naturally, and had to fight off the media as we alighted from our black cab at the grand entrance to Buckingham Palace. Ok, so I made that last bit up.

We walked through the palace itself (a HUGE thrill!) to get to the gardens at the back, which are very extensive (there's a lake, in case you didn't know). Two brass bands were placed at each end of the lawn, and three tea tents (i.e massive marquee) were set up around the lawn edge: one tent for Royalty, one for the Diplomats and one for the plebs. Strangely, someone had forgotten to put the royal tea tent pass in my invitation pack, so rather than make a scene, we settled for the pleb tent.

As a non-tea-drinker, I can't tell you if the tea actually was any good, but I rate the lemonade, and we all munched the salmon sandwiches, tiny devonshire scones, chocolate cake (complete with crown motif) and other nibbles quite happily. We walked around the garden, and basically spent most of the time calling each other 'darling', and sticking our pinkies out as we sipped our lemonade. We all stood for the national anthem, at which point HRH came out, accompanied by Charles and Camilla. Everyone rushes to the front(the wild plebs being necessarily restrained by a rope cordon to allow HRH safe passage to walk amongst the crowd). I could have busted out my 'elbows-of-steel', honed to razor-sharpness thanks to the Seoul subway, but I erred on the side of decorum. In other words, I didn't want to fight some wrinkly for pole-position to see HRH as I'm reliably informed that they only ever 'single out old people' for her to shake hands with. Short of shrieking "I'm actually 75 and this is all botox!", I figured I had little chance of success.

Dave managed to see Chuck and Cammie up close (he says Charles is very brown - must be all that gardening..). Kara and I happily spent most of the time people-watching, as it was quite fascinating to see what people were wearing, and basically who had managed to nab invites. There were loads of city councillors and mayors, and armed servicemen, several priests, and I even saw the actor, Donald Sinden. Only no one knows who he is, but I was excited to see him! FYI, he's the old bloke on the left. The majority of people were
appropriately dressed (a few even in their national dress), but there were
some people who looked like they'd just walked in off the street, and also several women who missed the point of it being a 'garden party' and instead looked like they were going to a wedding. Of course, they may just have thought 'hey, here's a chance to wear that bridesmaid dress again'.

We were also super-lucky with the weather as we had a perfect sunny day, without it being a total scorcher. My workmates had all attended a party last year and moaned that it had been far too hot to actually enjoy it. All in all it was brilliant fun. I'm a fan of the royals I admit, but even hardened anti-monarchists would enjoy the pomp and decadence of an afternoon like that.

What I've Been Up To

Hmm, I'm so bad at keeping this thing current!

Ok, quick run-down on stuff I've done lately - which isn't much, but I always seem to be busy. That's life in London. It's hard to not be out literally every night. There's always something to do. Although not according to these dreadful American college students I sat next on the tube the other week. Now most of you know I love America and Americans, but these 2 were prime examples of the 'American abroad' stereotype. Student 1: "Ok, so we've like done the Tower and Buckingham Palace. There's like, nothing left to do here." Student 2: "Oh I know. But you know what, there's like this boat cruise you can do on the Thaymes..." It took a LOT of willpower not say "Um, the river is pronounced 'Tems', you dumb-ass ". Ah, bless. To be fair, nothing here seems ever to be pronounced remotely how it looks.

I digress. So back in April I went to a pre-ANZAC dinner/talk all about the formation of the Kiwi national identity through WW1. That was quite interesting, as it was something I studied way back in 7th form history. It was run through the Kiwi Society which has a disturbing lack of young people. Mostly old 'gels' and 'chaps'. I even managed to get my butt out of bed for the ANZAC dayDawn service at Hyde Park and was quite impressed at how many others attended it too. NZ is finally getting it's own memorial at Hyde Park to be unveiled by the Queen on Armistice Day, by the way.

I went with Fiona and her friends Mel and Lee to see Bodies. It's an exhibit all about the human body using actual cadavers which have been preserved. You get to see everything - all our muscles, our innards, the lot. It was gross, but so fascinating at the same time. I also went with Fiona and her mates to Kew Gardens, which is lovely. If it wasn't for it being on the flight path of Heathrow, you'd forget you were in London.

I've been exploring London quite a bit and am making it my mission to actually go to more off-the-beaten-track things that I read about and think, oh I should go to that, but never do. I found Postman's Park, which those of you who saw the movie 'Closer' will recognise. It's this little park near St Paul's, which has plaques commerating people who died saving the lives of others. Rather morbid and strange, but interesting too. Anyway, Natalie Portman's character takes her name from one of the plaques. I went to Borough Market the other day - a foodie's dream!



I went to on a day Hever Castle, and to Rye with Fiona and Neil - and ran into Yvonne from our Normandy trip. We are Tracks travel groupies! The castle belonged to Anne Bolyen's family and is more of a fortified manor than a castle, but it is lovely. The exhibit on the Boleyn family is great - not too lengthy, and yet, still informative if you already know a bit about them. They have 2 prayer books that Anne herself wrote in. The castle is extremely well preserved as it was bought by the American millionaire family, the Astors, who restored it, and re-created the Tudor village alongside it for their staff to live in. The grounds are lovely too - Italian renaissance style, with a huge lake, and a water maze - step on a wrong stone and you get squirted with water (great for summer). We were there for May day, so we got to see many re-creationalists enacting typical village life. We even saw Anne herself being presented with presents.

Rye is a gorgeous little village with lots of Tudor houses, cobblestone streets - Mermaid St being the most famous as the houses are all called random things like "The House with Two Front Doors", or "The House next door" etc.




I went to see "Moving Out", which is based on the songs of Billy Joel. I was expecting a musical, much like "We Will Rock You" (which is absolutely fantastic by the way). But this was a dance show instead, with a band performing all of the songs on a platform above the dancers. It tells the stories of 3 friends over the 70's thru to the 80's. The dancing was pretty incredible, and it was worth seeing for the "Goodnight Saigon" sequence alone, but it's not a patch on WWRY.

I've had lots of catch-up sessions with mates, and games nights (learnt a new one called Powergrid). Fiona, Ariane and I went to a girly night at Molton Brown (like the Body Shop, only posher). The goody bag of free stuff was a winner! I got to catch up with Cameron who takes the 'fresh off the plane' crown from me (although Fiona informs me he doesn't really count as he is staying in Ireland). Helped Ariane move into her flash new digs at North Greenwich. I've also moved myself, out to North-East London. The area I live in is ok, not too dodgy. There's loads of chavs which is great. I love Chavs. For an in-depth explanation of the Chav phenomenon and to check to see if you yourself might be one, visit http://chavstest.com/quiz/index.php Brilliant! I've attended a few bbq's and picnics, as the weather has finally decided to get sunny and warm.

Anyway, apart from upstairs neighbours who seem to be occasionally re-enacting Riverdance, I'm enjoying the flat. My flatmate Giselle is German, and is very nice. We've had many good chats about stuff like weird things that kiwis/germans/brits do, what it was like to live in Berlin before the wall came down, and of course, our favourite topic - movies. If you think I love movies, I've got nothing on Giselle. Her collection dwarfs that of my parents. Oh yeah, and she was equally as obsessed with the tv show 'Prison Break' as me. Monday nights just feel so empty now series one has ended...

My small group at St. Mary's is going well, and we've even got British people in it now! It was just aussies and kiwis. We meet every Tuesday, and they are proving to be a great bunch of people. I've found the scriptural side of St. Mary's to be a little on the Diet Coke side of things, so my small group discussions have been making up for that lack of depth.

England is in the grip of World Cup fever which is loads of fun. Personally I am going for Germany. The fact that they are my work sweepstake team has some bearing on this. The country comes to a standstill for the England games - the streets are practically deserted. The last game was hilarious - we had 3 japanese guys next to us (all wearing their newly purchased England shirts) who were literally tearing their hair out with excitement whenever "Engrund" got the ball. Despite my allegiance to my beloved Deutschland, my aussie friend Debbie has roped me into attending an Aussie-fest party to watch the Aussie v. Croatia game on Thursday.


I went to the 7's at Twickenham, which was fun, but a totally different vibe from the Wgtn one. There was lots of singing! Apparently the English got rather yobbish and spoiled it, but I wasn't there then, thank goodness. Ummm, what else? I went with Yvonne to the museum of advertising and branding in Notting Hill. It looks at advertising and packaging from Victorian times to the present and I thoroughly recommend it.



Dave, Cuffy, Nicola and I went to see Def Leppard last night (bogans came out of the woodwork!) and they went off! It was such a good concert, and jeez, for hard living rockers, they haven't aged as badly as I expected.







For the most part I am enjoying myself. I can't believe I've been here 10 months! Work is going well (although I am actively looking for another job). I love my workmates, and since we got a change of team leader, for some reason we've all become way more social. Not that our old team leader wasn't a great person! But generally going to work is a pleasure, as we just have a good laugh. Mark and Lee are especially good at keeping me entertained. Our office banter gets rather random at times - we do stuff like, speaking in aussie accents, or like pirates (Lucy is a pirate freak, don't ask why), sing annoying songs that won't get out of your head for days (we even made up a dance routine to 'Mr Sandman', as we were all singing it for weeks...) and between us, we must have tried every cocktail on the extensive list at Freud's in Covent Garden. It's taken a while, but I now feel like I have a good bunch of mates here in London, and have resigned myself to the fact that most of them are foreigners. Plus I have the luxury of having old friends here - although I'm already missing my 'wing-man' Kara, who is tripping around Europe at the moment! Obviously the best part of being here is the experiences you get to have - all the travel, and the different people, and seeing stuff that you've seen in pictures or studied. Good for the little grey cells.

Anyway, that's about it for now - I'll put up a post about Amsterdam sometime soon.

PS Saw Saffy (Julia Sawalha) from Abfab shopping at H&M. Very exciting!
PPS I must confess that I actually watched an entired episode of Eastenders the other day. I'm so ashamed!

And more...

Playing Scotland Yard with Neil, Fiona and Drew in Croydon (I suck as "Mr X!")
Spring in Monet's Garden

Cathedral at Rouen



























Angela, Debbie and Kara in Honfleur

Mont St Michel

More pics of Normandy trip

British Memorial Cemetary, Bayeux

USA

D-Day Memorial Cemetary

Easter In Normandy

I went on an organised bus tour of Normandy for the Easter holidays with Dave and Kara (and Kara's workmate Debbie from Aussie). So for those of you who know all 3 of us, I apologise, as you will get three versions of the trip, but no doubt each of us will have our own spin on it! To Dave, Kara and Debbie: Our goodbyes yesterday were so rushed, so guys, thanks for being such great travel buddies.

We went over with Tracks Travel who are a budget tour company, and as such, it attracts Kiwis, Aussies and Saffas. There were 51 of us on the tour and pretty much everyone was really great. Our guide Eddie was a something of a public schoolboy stereotype (the sort of chap who in the old days would have gone around saying 'what-ho' and 'by jingo' etc), and was quite often unintentionally funny. He wasn't at all organised, but he and his brother Martin (the bus driver) were so nice and well-meaning, I didn't really mind.

Thursday:
We caught an overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre, and the trip over was awful. The ferry had been over-booked, and for some mysterious reason we were the last bus allowed onto the ferry (despite getting there first). So by the time we boarded, not only had our preallocated seats been taken, but so had anywhere else around the ferry that was half-way decent to sleep. We were fobbed off with free breakfast and an upgrade to clubclass on the return trip, but some people got quite worked up about it. It wasn't the travel agency's fault, and nothing could be done. I don't know what they were expecting anyway as the trip was so cheap! We just made the best of it, and spent the night in chairs or on the floor. The only downer was, as I got so little sleep that night, the 'jet-lag' effect of it lasted the whole weekend, so I didn't feel as sociable or as switched-on as I'd have liked.


Friday:
We got to France in the morning, and as I'm a bit of a Francophile, just being in France is a dream come true, so it perked me up no end. We spent the morning in Rouen, one of the most ancient French cities, most famous for being where Joan of Arc was tried and executed. We looked around the spectacular Cathedral, which is deliciously gothic. I was particularly excited to see it, as Monet (my fav. artist as most of you are more than well aware) painted it many times. After a brief stop at the tourist info shop I promptly lost most of the group, which wasn't a bad thing in the end, as I got to see a great deal of the city. The place du Vieux-Marche marks the spot where Joan was burnt to death back in 1431, and is now home to a huge cross in her honour. Joan is a popular figure all over Normandy - largely thanks to the discovery of the transcripts of her trial which show that she wasn't some lying nutter who sold out in the end, but was instead unwavering in her humility and devout belief and was tricked by the darstardly English (boo, hiss). I'm something of a Joan fan, so this commentary is a tad biased...

I had a good look around the town centre, which has quite a charming market, and is home to lots of swanky boutiques and popular high street stores. I was of course completely delighted by seeing many of the usual french stereotypes: impossibly coiffed and stylish women with equally coiffed little dogs out shopping, boulangeries and fromageries on every street selling the most delicious looking breads and cakes and cheeses, buskers playing french folk music on the accordian. I kept my eyes peeled for gorgeous men wearing berets and stripey shirts, reading Satre while they munch on baguettes; but they must have all been out of town for the day. Still, the old guy who I bought my lunch from was nice enough not to laugh as I butchered his language. In fact, I must say, all the French people I came in contact with were very nice. (But then, I haven't been to Paris.)

In the afternoon I was like a kid in a candy store when we got to Monet's home in Giverny. Even the people on our tour who weren't 'into Monet' like me seemed to really enjoy being there. His famous waterlilly garden is incrediby beautiful, as is his house, and we were lucky to be there at a time where most of the spring flowers were blooming (loads of tulips!). It just felt so incredible to walk around and see the things that he painted, still there, and still as beautiful and as inspirational as they clearly were to him - the japanese bridge over the pond, the willow trees, the tall poplar trees, his blue kitchen, the yellow dining room etc. Being there is a memory I will really treasure.

None of his original paintings are on display, but his house has many family photos and his famous collection of japanese prints.

After a long trip through the achingly beautiful French countryside (I'm sure poor old Dave got sick of my gasping with delight at every Chateau/house/falling-down shack. I just love French architecture) we got to Caen, which we used as a base for the rest of the trip. Caen is not as nice as the other places we went but the old ramparts of William the Conqueror's favourite chateau and the 'old town' are still lovely. We had dinner at this funny restaurant called 'Miam Miam Glu Glu', the upstairs of which for some reason is decorated with Warner Brothers cartoon characters. Random! Anyway, we had a delicious dinner of crepes - Normandy being famous for camembert cheese. Almost everyone on the tour was shattered from the ferry trip, so we had an early night.

Saturday:

The next day we set off for the D-Day beaches. It was a gloomy, drizzly day, much like it was on the day itself. Dave asked the guide if we could possiby stop at Pointe du Hoc, and I'm so glad that he did, as it was the highlight of the D-Day experience for me. Unlike the rest of the area, Pointe du Hoc still bears the scars of the invasion and as such it really gives you a sense of the absolute mess and carnage that the invasion must have been like. The area is still deeply pitted with shell holes and completely mangled German bunkers. It was fascinating. I was very moved and felt so privileged to be there.



We went to the American cemetary at Colleville-sur-mer, which features in "Saving Private Ryan". It has an impressive memorial to the fallen soldiers. The rows and rows and rows of white crosses is of course sobering, and I must admit to losing it when I entered the chapel ad read the inscription: "Weep not for their passing, but remember the glorious spirit in which they died". We also went to Utah Beach. Unfortunately it was high tide so we couldn't see much of the ships that were sunk to create artificial breakwaters. We went to see a 360 degree movie that was great and good for people who don't know much about D-Day. Quite simply, you go into a room and a film is shown all around with images of D-Day, interspersed with images of how it looks today. Much of what was destroyed was faithfully restored or rebuilt, and is the surrounding countryside is breath-taking.

We had lunch in the town of Arromanches where the artifical harbour was made to protect the landings during the invasion. The sheer scale of it blew me away - it stretches for miles.

We then went onto Bayeaux to view the famous tapestry. We didn't have enough time there I feel, but then, the way it is exhibited is too time-consuming anyway. Basically, first you read all about on long sheets of canvas (very cleverly done, I admit), and then you watch a superbly cheesy film that tells you all about it, and then you view the actual tapestry itself with your own audio guide. We however, were armed with Kara, who has a vast knowledge of English history - soon to be unleashed on a pub quiz near you - so her commentary was more interesting.

I knew little about the tapestry I admit, but it is incredible, and certainly a fantastic piece of history. The detail is incredible (right down to the men's bare legs when they are in the water, and the dashing moustaches of the English). It tells the tale of how Edward the Confessor, having no heir, decided that William the Conqueror would be his successor. William dispatches his cousin Harold to tell Edward that he accepts the throne, but the darstardly Harold decides to put himself on the throne when Edward eventually dies. A raging battle ensues and the villainous Harold is dispatched to the hereafter by an arrow through the eye. The craftsmanship of the tapestry and it's rich detail of medieval life alone make it priceless, especially when you consider that it was at onetime used as a cart cover!

We stopped briefly at the Commonwealth cemetary which was very moving as the families of the soldiers had all been invited to put their own inscriptions on the crosses. This serves to hit home that these were real people, teenagers mostly, who were loved and greatly missed.

Saturday night we had a brilliant fondue dinner (much effort went into ordering the food - largey thanks to Debbie, who speaks pretty good French). We went to an Irish pub(!) , which was great fun, as most people from the tour came out, so we all had a good time getting to know each other. Having now spoken to so many people who are in the UK on 2 year working visas, I am even more grateful for my ancestry visa, as it gives me the luxury of time. 2 years is just not enough time to see everything, and puts so much pressure on you.

Sunday:
Debbie and I managed to squeeze in some early morning reflection on Easter Sunday, which set the day up nicely. We drove out to the stunning Mont St-Michel, a monastry perched on what must have been a remote island (which now has a causeway) in the middle of nowhere, built after the Archangel St Michael appeared before the Bishop Abert. It is reached by walking up the steep main street of the underlying village, which is crammed with souvenir shops, food stalls and hotels. Being Easter Sunday, it was crazy. Every Mama, Papa, Enfant, Grandmere, Grandpere and petite pooch was there on a pilgrimage, which I actually thought was a rather nice way to spend your Easter. There were shades of Korea though (Erin and Laurence, you will know what I mean) as I followed an immaculately groomed woman in a fur coat, Gucci sunglasses and high heels down the hill. Visually, the Mont is one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen. From its' silhouette is dramatic, and up close, its' construction just made me marvel. Leisha from South Africa was with me in one of the most impressive and expansive chambers. Being at the Mont was a life long dream for her, and she made me laugh when she saw the room and sighed "Look at this place! Honestly, why don't we make things like this anymore? We modern people are just so lazy!" How true.

We spent the afternoon in the exquisite town of St Malo, and strolled around the top of the walls that enclose the citadel. We were all excited to see the golden sand beach (I almost kissed it!) and were granted a great performance by two men who bravely strode out into the large pool on the beach for a quick dip (It 'ain't summer yet!). One of them let out a most unmanly squeal when he hit the water, but the other guy managed a brief swim. The town has so much character. I would love to spend a week or so there in summer - unfortunately, I suspect most of France would as well.

We got back to Caen and had a drink of Kara's wine, and watched some quality TV. 'Lucky Luke' was on! We watched a hilarious Italian gameshow. Let's just say it was an intriguing mixture of "Who wants to be a Millionaire" and "It's in the Bag", only with a muscular hunk and a scantily clad bombshell (not to mention the a sinister cowboy in silhouette), hosted by a Sophia Loren wannabe. Now if that doesn't make for quality tv, I don't know what does.

Monday:


Our guide made an excellent executive decision to include a wee pit stop at a Calvados distillery (the local drink of choice made from apples). A few shots of that, and we were all much more perky! I think the proprietors made a siginificant chunk of change out of us. We had a look around the picuresque seaside town of Honfleur, which apparently is the best preserved of the old Ports of Normandy. I was absolutely charmed by the place - although I may have been swayed by the glorious weather. The old town centre has a stunning bassin of 18th century houses, that now are home to numerous cafes, patisseries, restaurants, etc. Definitely the sort of place where you could spend the afternoon sitting under a sun umbrella sipping en cafe, and watch the world go by. Alas, I had to go catch the ferry back home. We did get to sample the local fish, which, as all the food seems to be in France, is excellent.

The ferry trip home was brilliant as not only did I soak up the sunshine and sea air, but we had a fantastic game of Settlers with some of our fellow tourmates. The hours passed quickly, and Kara and I would surely have won if our ore supply wasn't stopped all the time, eh Kara? Well, that's our excuse anyway!














I got home just before midnight. The tour was brilliant, and I feel so lucky to have seen things I've always dreamed of seeing. Like I said to Dave yesterday "Travelling rocks! I can feel my mind broadening as we speak".