Nice - Genoa - Rome - Naples - Rome

Nice – Genoa – Rome – Naples – Rome

Given I was in Nice at the time of the Bastille Day attack I feel like I should say something about it, but I know not what. Unspeakable sadness for the victims and anger at the attacker. But we’ve been here before and so many words have been said about terrorism that there’s not much more that I can add. My silence will have to do.

Nice reminds me of a French version of the Gold Coast, which is to say fun and touristy, but still infinitely more elegant than the actual Gold Coast because it’s, well, French. The Mediterranean is indeed beautiful. 

Of the nearby coastal towns I liked Antibes the best. Proper sand beaches, a beautiful quaint old town and a relaxed coastal vibe. Cannes was a bit more tacky and ostentatiously wealthy. And Monaco was A LOT more ostentatiously wealthy. Seriously, it must have the highest density of millionaires of anywhere on the planet. But fun to visit for a day. No, I didn’t don a tux and play baccarat with James Bond at the Casino du Monte Carlo ...

Crossing the border, Genoa was my first experience of Italy. Italy is a bit grittier and more chaotic than France. The food is great, the customer service no so great: the standard level of service for a café in Italy seems to be the level of sullen resentment you get from a 7/11 cashier at 4 am in Australia. But amazing pizza, chianti and espresso make up for a lot of surly waiters.

Rome was interesting. It’s actually a bit calmer than what I was expecting. The obvious monuments are obviously beautiful: the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon. Staying a bit further out in the suburbs, away from the Centro Storico (historic centre) it’s a lot more like any other big city, and not like the romantic image of Rome that I had in my head. But around the historic centre and Trastevere is beautiful.

Naples was amazing, one of the highlights of my trip so far: ridiculous pizza and baba (both of which were invented in Naples); a crazy chaotic vibe; a beautiful centro storico and monuments.

Pompeii was cool and well worth a day (though to my mind, not a patch on Angkor Wat if we’re comparing ancient ruins). The Amalfi Coast is simply stunning. The bus ride from Sorrento to Positano along the winding road on the side of the cliffs is scarily beautiful.

I’m now back in Rome for a couple of days, before heading off to Budapest where I meet up with Dannie. Life is good.

Paris – Dijon – Lyon

I’m in my apartment in Lyon as I write, desperately hiding from the 36 degree heat. I’m wilting badly, but for you, dear reader, I will press on.

 My view as I type

I left off near the end of my second Paris stint. The remainder of Paris was fun, if uneventful. More food and more wine. Instead of eating out every meal I’ve taken to doing as the French do, and buying bread, cheese and pastries and having them at home. Very delicious.

Sacre Coeur

As for sightseeing, the best was the Sacre Coeur, a beautiful cathedral atop a hill with panoramic views of Paris. I also went to St Germain and Montmartre, where I saw the cafés made famous by Sartre, de Beauvoir, and Picasso – Café de Flore and Les, Deux Maggots – as well as the Moulin Rouge. All fine, but a bit tacky and touristy. The area around the Moulin Rouge is filled with sex shops, so it feels like they’ve transplanted a piece of fin de siècle Europe into modern Fyshwick.

View of Paris from the Sacre Coeur

After Paris is was on to Dijon, centre of the Burgundy wine region. After the action of Paris, I was a little bored in Dijon, which is really just a moderate-sized country town and therefore a bit soporific. 

Park in Dijon

A few nice museums (with some very interesting medieval and renaissance pieces) and some cute old buildings, but not really enough to hold the attention for a week. But the wine was good.

 Musee des Beaux Arts

More museum-ing 

Apparently they had Brazilian Jiu Jitsu during the Renaissance, but hadn't quite worked the finer details of a proper Rear Naked Choke ...

I’m now in Lyon, which is a much bigger, and better, city. It has this amazingly cute old town, complete with tunnels through the building and hills that used to be used to smuggle resistance fighters during the Second World War. 

 Old Town in Lyon

A Traboule (tunnel) created by silk workers and later used by the resistance 

More cute old town

And the food is excellent: Lyon is supposed to be the culinary capital of France … which I guess, by implication, makes it the culinary capital of the world? Either way, I’m happily eating my way to an early death.

 The Rhone

St Just Cathedral

I’ve got a couple of days in left in Lyon and then I’m headed to Nice. And the beach!

London – Paris – Rouen – Paris

Well, my plans to update this blog after every city haven’t really worked out … I’m currently in my second Paris stint, the first being bookended by London and Rouen. I’d blame the fact that I’ve been too busy enjoying Europe to write about it (which is true). But it’s also true that travel is a topic I find hard to write about: I’m acutely aware that what has been interesting to me might be dead boring to the reader at home. I think the solution is to pad this out with lots of pictures …

 Tower of London selfie

London … I don’t have much to say about London. Not that I didn’t enjoy it – I definitely did. But it was largely met my expectations of having miserable weather, being culturally similar to Australia, and being a lively ‘international’ city. Very cool. Though perhaps less cool in years to come as Brexit happens and the English retreat underneath their protectionist blankie. (What were they thinking?)

Piccadilly Circus 

Big Ben

Paris … Paris is just beautiful. The tree lined streets, cafes and brasseries on every corner – exactly what I was hoping for. My thoughts on the stereotypes:

One, the French do seem to operate on a different sense of time here. Unless I have a good hour to spare, I’ve taken to getting my morning coffee a emporter (takeaway) as who knows how long it will take to be served and pay the bill. However, when I have the time – and given I’m only holidays, I mostly do – sitting in a Parisian café in the sun, sipping coffee and people watching is a good life to live.

Two, the French are not as rude as pop culture makes them out to be, but neither are they over-the-top friendly. Insouciance is a thing. I’ve not yet been yelled at for not speaking (much) French. But when I said (in French) “sorry, but I don’t speak very good French” to a guy at the tourist desk, he challenged me with “why not?” Well, because I’m here for a month and it takes years to become genuinely fluent in another language, so it’s not really worth it buddy! But mostly they’ve been tolerant and patiently let me try to mangle their language before gently continuing the conversation in English.

Notre Dame

As for touristy things, I’ve done Notre Dame by day and the Eiffel Tower by night: both genuinely magnificent. I’ve rambled through the lush gardens and crumbling tombs of the Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise in the drizzling rain, and looked over the graves of Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde. I’ve browsed the books of Shakespeare & Company, and drank beer on the banks of the Canal St Martin. All delightful. More to come.

Edith Piaf's grave

Rouen … was the highlight of my trip so far. Gorgeously picturesque with it’s quaint old buildings and grand churches. My French AirBnB host was fantastic, and went out of her way to give me the authentic French experience – or was it the idealized French experience? Either way, I enjoyed it immensely: sitting on the roof of the church next to her apartment arguing politics while drinking Bordeaux and eating Neufchatel cheese on crusty bread; shopping at the local markets for croissants and brioche; making crepes from scratch. 

French breakfast

Other highlights included, more sitting in cafes drinking coffee or wine, more pretty churches, and a bizarre museum that seemed to combine the history of the writer Gustav Flaubert with the history of medical devices. None of the explanatory plaques were in English, so the reason for this will remain a mystery. Due partly (completely) to my incompetence, I missed out on day trips to the Normandy coast and Jumiege, so I’m contemplating coming back to Rouen at the end of my trip, if time permits.

Exhibit at the Gustav Flaubert Museum?!?

A Bonaparte on a horse.

Anyway, I must be off to do more of the things. I’ve got a few more days in Paris, then on to Dijon, Lyon and Nice. Now ... back to the wine!

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to this little blog about my European adventure!

The adventure starts in London, where I arrived last night. As yet, it's too early to have much of interest to report. Only two things worth mentioning:

First, long distance flying reminded me of how much I love hot towels. Seriously, how good are they? More importantly, why do you only ever get them on a plane? I think there are plenty of other situations in which they'd be the bomb. My job involves long meetings. Tell me that, after arguing over the details of some arcane bit of patent law for an hour, you wouldn't want a refreshing hot towel? Yes, I thought so.

Second, what is it with everyone smoking here? I was expecting this on the continent: being leered at by seedy Frenchmen through clouds of Gauloises smoke everywhere I went. But England? I thought Brits were practical enough to want to avoid lung cancer.

Anyway, that's enough writing for now. Time to do some actual exploring!