It has been a lot of fun learning how to shoot with the Lomo Diana
F+. Shooting on film is such a different game compared to digital, especially
on the Lomo. While there are have been some really tough and disappointing lessons,
the results have also been incredibly rewarding.
Buying a roll of black and white film for Paris was a great move. For
the record, the shots above are straight out of the camera – no editing or
adjustments.
Waaayyyyyyyyy back in July we decided to head across to Paris to
celebrate our two-year wedding anniversary. It was a lovely and relaxing few
days. While we definitely did a fair bit of touristy stuff, we also made sure
that we took some time to take it easy and soak in the Paris atmosphere.
A few highlights included….
> Staying in a beautiful top floor corner hotel room overlooking
The Pantheon...
> A daily routine of sitting outside at a brasserie, eating croissants, crepes and omelettes, and watching the world go by...
> Making a trip out to Versailles and reliving the incredible
gardens of the Palace, and Marie Antoinette’s hamlet...
> Somewhat unexpectedly having an amazing night out at a Paris
swing-dancing club...
> Toughing out the long queue to go up the tower of Notre Dame.
Seeing the ubiquitous gargoyles overlooking Paris was well worth the wait...
> Getting caught in the rain at The Louvre. It cleared the square
of people, giving us the rare opportunity to take some tourist-free photos. The
cost…we got drenched!
After driving 1300kms in 3 days we finally arrived back in Lille. Because there were no campsites open we spent our last night at a Formula 1 hotel. It was a bizarre feeling being back in Lille after doing a three month loop around Europe.
We headed into Lille and strolled through their Christmas market enjoying some Glühwein and crepes. It was a nice, relaxed and festive way to finish up our holiday.
We got up the next morning and spent a couple of hours cleaning the van and getting it ready to hand back. We surprised ourselves at the amount of packing up and cleaning was required!
It was a very sad moment when it finally came to handing the keys back. The van had become our home. While it was never too much fun going outside to cook or walking to the toilets each morning, we had grown to love it and the freedom that it gave us. We will take those memories with us for the rest of our lives.
One thing that we have thoroughly enjoyed while in France is the pastries. Like so much of France, they are exquisite works of art. They are also particularly cheap by Australian standards which has enabled us to do the responsible thing and try lots of them to make sure that they’re up to scratch. Yum yum.
After some reflection on the hastening of the European winter we decided to tweak our route slightly to try and stay warmer for longer. Our new route will see us head east through Switzerland and Austria now, rather than the absolute middle of winter.
With our new course set, our first stop was Strasbourg, and then a few days meandering through the very pretty Alcase region in eastern France. When we had dinner with Monique’s family in Holland, her Great Uncle Bernard suggested a driving route through the area. At the time we hadn’t planned on heading that way, but with our new plans, it lined up perfectly.
It turned out to be a fantastic tip. The area is particularly beautiful, drawing lots of architectural influence from Germany and Switzerland.
As we started making our way back to the car park (no quick task given the enormity of the property), some very dark and ominous clouds started building up in the east, while the sun was starting to set in the west. It had been a fairly cold, dreary and drab day, but some golden rays of sun managed to sneak out from behind the overcast sky.
We were half hurrying back to the car to avoid the oncoming rain, and half still trying to squeeze in as much of the palace gardens as possible.
Sure enough, we lingered in the gardens too long and it started to rain fairly steadily (with our brollie sitting warm and cozy in the van). We made our way out of the last hedge maze and as we turned to face the palace the sun had lit it up like gold against the dark backdrop of the storm clouds and there was a crystal clear rainbow arching perfectly over it. The golden light was shining through the rain and it was as if we were standing amongst falling glitter.
In order to get in touch with her rustic side, Marie Antoinette had a provincial French hamlet built near her chateau for her and her mates. As with the palace and the gardens, the hamlet’s beauty was overwhelming, but in a different way. Walking through the hamlet was like walking into a story book (think Belle’s village from Beauty and the Beast!).
We were surrounded by autumn shades, flowers, streams, ponds, swans and a vineyard. Each house in the hamlet had a veggie garden growing pumpkins and leeks as well as balconies lined with blue ceramic pots overflowing with dainty red flowers. If Monique could transport it to Melbourne, she would!
We arrived back in France and on Lucinda’s advise headed to The Palace of Versailles, famous for being Marie Antoinette former abode.
The Palace is truly spectacular. The French royalty certainly spared no expense in ensuring that they were comfortable. Every feature of the palace – from the grandest hallways through to the most seemingly insignificant door handles and everything in between – is handcrafted in the most meticulous detail. Every room left us standing with our mouths gaping, overwhelmed at the incredible beauty, creativity and thought that went into making such an incredibly opulent environment.
As if the palace wasn’t enough, the gardens we equally beautiful. Again, no expense was spared in crafting detailed outdoor ‘drawing rooms’ featuring stone-carved water fountains and statues of philosophers and goddesses. Even standing there, it is hard to imagine that the human mind could create something so very beautiful.
If you recall, after arriving in Paris we resolutely planned on keeping the van tucked safely away in the campsite with no desire whatsoever to venture back onto the Parisian roads.
Well, unfortunately that plan didn’t come to fruition.
We received an email from the campervan hire company telling us that they had booked the van in for it’s 60,000km service. We knew that this was coming up, but for a whole lot of logistical reasons, it had been booked in at a service centre for 9:30am right smack bang in the middle of Paris - just around the corner from the Eiffel Tower. The service ended up taking two days, so rather frustrated, we had to repeat the drill. Throw in our trip into the heart of Paris for the Grand Final and we actually ended doing quite a lot of driving.
Driving in Melbourne’s heaviest peak hour is but a Sunday drive compared with Paris. The sheer volume is traffic is disorientating. Paris is full of wide boulevards that have no lane markings. Cars just float along four abreast, drifting across lanes at their leisure with no thought of indicating. Motorbikes and motor scooters dart in and out at a frightful pace. The constant sound of horns is headache inducing. Smart Cars find gaps in traffic where most would fear to tread. It is genuinely stressful.
At face value, it is easy to look at the Parisian drivers and call them mad, crazy, erratic or rude. However, on reflection, we have come to the conclusion that they must be the most skillful drivers in the world. Consider for a moment the absolute carnage and uncontrolled road rage that would surely flow if you magically transported Melbourne’s drivers into the heart of Paris?
If we can survive driving in Paris, we can survive anything.
Interacting with the French has been interesting. Typically our conversations go something along the lines of: ‘Bonjour. Parlez vous Anglais?’ with the typical response being a short, sharp, blunt and abrupt ‘Non.’
Typically though, after persisting for long enough, we have generally managed to get the information that we are looking for. It seems as though quite often the French speak more English than they give themselves credit for.
Now, we’re not wanting to paint all French people with the same brush here, and similarly, if a French person came to Australia and asked if we were able to speak French, our response would be exactly the same. It has just been an interesting contrast when compared with the Dutch and Belgians. When asking people in Holland and Belgium if they speak English, they typically look at you indignantly and say ‘of course’. The French, on the other hand, tend to look at you equally indignantly, but give a rather different response. Fun times.
The AFL Grand Final was on in Paris while we there. For some silly reason we thought it was on at 10pm our time, but thankfully due to a chance checking of Facebook at 12am, we found out that it was on at 6:30am at a pub in the middle of Paris called Café Oz.
Daniel was being a sook, saying not to worry about it. Thankfully, Monique talked some sense into him.
So, at 5:30am the alarm went off and we drove into Paris. The biggest challenge was interpreting the parking signs. Having already got one parking fine, we were keen to avoid a second. We asked some random drunken French guys and eventually established that we were safe.
We made it to the café about half way through the first quarter. The atmosphere was incredible. The place was full of Aussies in full voice.
It was almost like we were watching Australia vs. Collingwood. Every time Geelong kicked a goal the place erupted, while there was but a mere smattering of support for Collingwood. The only thing more unanimous than the support for Geelong were the jeers and boos when Julia Gillard’s head momentarily popped up on the screen.
While it hurt getting up, is was a great experience and well worth the effort. And one thing is for certain - whether in Paris or Melbourne, there is nothing better than watching Collingwood lose a Grand Final.
Getting up and seeing the sun rise over the Eiffel Tower
Montmartre – we took a free (you tip at the end) walking tour through the old artists village, saw where Monet painted his famous Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (most exciting for Monique!) and finished up eating dinner at a classically French Brasserie. Daniel had the option of eating snails but passed it up for a hearty and less scary option of provincial roast chicken (soft).
Getting into The Lourve for free as it was the first Sunday of the month. We thought we’d outsmart them and get there before opening to beat the crowds. Unfortunately every tourist in Paris had the same idea and when we arrived the queue was literally about a kilometer long! It was also quite funny watching literally hundreds of people clamoring to get a picture of the Mona Lisa.
Our week in Paris has definitely been a highlight so far. We crammed a huge amount in and were utterly exhausted by the end, but it was so worth it. It’s probably hard to say much about Paris that hasn’t already been said, but we loved it and thought it was beautiful.
We approached seeing Paris with great enthusiasm – it would be hard not to. Paris is immediately and simultaneously breathtaking, exciting and captivating. Of all the places that we’ve been to so far, it’s the one where we have both said ‘Yep, we could live here’ (don’t worry Mum…not plans yet).
Our first stop was a café to sit down (with a terrible coffee) and plan out our five days. There is so much to do that it is overwhelming to narrow things down. Nevertheless, we did, and here are a few highlights:
The weather - apparently there are no clouds in Paris. We got to bust out our summer clothes and enjoy five days of the most perfectly radiant sunshine imaginable.
The Eiffel Tower. It’s hard not to be impressed.
The architecture – everything is pretty, old, beautifully preserved, and detailed. It seems like the most seemingly insignificant features of buildings are still worthy of being made to look incredible.
The city planning. It is amazing to stand at every major intersection and see incredible landmarks and monuments in every direction
Getting a hop-on hop-off boat ticket to go up and down the Seine. A relaxing and fun way to get around and see Paris.
Catching up with Daniel’s friend Lucinda. It was great to be shown around Paris by a ‘local’.
The drive to Paris from Luxembourg was long. We decided to be stingy and take the route that avoids the toll roads. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best move.
We knew that we were finally approaching the city as the traffic started to get heavier and heavier. We thought that we knew what heavy traffic was, but driving into Paris at 5:30pm brings whole new meaning to the concept. It took us about an hour to drive four kilometers. While we were very thankful for a few thousand kilometers of practice at driving on the right hand side, we were still very relieved to finally arrive a the campsite.
Exhausted, we sat down and resolved to leave the van parked in the campground for the next five days, and avoid driving into Paris at all costs.
