France redeems itself

After the day that shall not be named, we have had two wonderful days in France.

On Saturday we woke in the quaint town of Le Crotoy and decided to take things nice and slowly. We enjoyed a lovely breakfast outside in the sun but soon had to retreat back to the shade of our motorhome because, unlike our time in the UK, the summer sun was already quite warm at 8:30.

Our first destination was Amiens and, thanks to a Macca's free wifi on the way in, we finally located a laundromat. After time spent washing, drying, folding, finding an ATM and taking advantage of the free wifi at the laundromat, we were finally back on the road.

Matt was keen to check out some stuff related to the Battle of the Somme. His great grandfather, a citizen of Scotland at the time, had fought in the battle and thankfully survived. Unfortunately thousands didn't and we visited the Brit Monument in Thiepval which commemorated those who lost their lives and is dedicated to The Missing Of The Somme. There was a wonderful display on the war there and, although very empty, I noticed that the majority of visitors were Australian. The memorial itself is quite breathtaking. It dominates the landscape and has thousands of names written over it. Only a picture can truly demonstrate it's size. It was a tremendously moving and serene experience to visit this special place.

From there we headed towards Paris. Although 140kms away this is nothing when the speed limit is 130. There are no Aires located anywhere conveniently near Paris and, after a google map search, only 3 decent caravan parks. We had tried to book into one in Versailles while at the laundromat but it wouldn't work. So we took a gamble and decided to just rock up. Just as we got there it starting raining. And by raining I mean POURING! Luckily they had heaps of room available and we booked in for 5 nights. This will allow us plenty of time to explore Paris and Versailles without having to travel too far and without the worry of leaving our car on the road or relying on battery for so long.

On Sunday we headed in for our first day in Paris. Everything about the day was pretty easy and, because most people speak English here, we didn't get out our phrase book once. Matt has an amazing way of instantly absorbing the train network and I followed him onto 10 trains with confidence.

We started off outside the Louvre. We had intended to see it that day but it was the first Sunday of the month and it was free. That meant that every man and his dog were there, determined to save €8. Although the lines are usually quite long anyway this was ridiculous. After our experience with starting with the London Eye in London, we knew how a long wait could sap your energy and we didn't think an hour plus wait in a line was a good way to start off our time in Paris. We looked around at the amazing facade and out of place pyramid and then walked along the Seine to Notre Dame Cathedral.

Being a Sunday, we were not surprised to find a service going on inside and we went and took a seat at the back. Naturally it was in French, but provided a great opportunity to sit and take in the Cathedral. It is much much darker than any of the English ones, with smaller windows, and is lit instead by enchanting chandeliers. The service ended and we able to walk around and check the place out.

After 2 short train journeys we were at the Centre Pompidou, Paris's modern art gallery. Built in 1977, the building is itself an artwork with all the pipes, stairs and escalators on the outside. It is quite a different sight to the Louvre. Being the first Sunday of the month this too was free but much easier to get into. We turned down the opportunity to have audio guides for €5 each, instead opting to create our own. This is far more entertaining and we even recorded some of our commentary playing characters like the artist, art historian and curator. My favorite piece was a canvas, painted white, with faint straight parallel black lines drawn across it. That was it. I think our comments were much more accurate than any insight the audio commentary would have provided. We headed up to the rooftop restaurant and enjoyed drinks with an amazing view of the city.

Our next stop was the Arc de Triomphe and we got off one stop early to walk towards it along Champs de Élysées. We just caught the end of a group of war vets and dignitaries marching past and, from behind a barrier under the Arc, watched a ceremony take place at the Eternal Flame. It reminded me of an ANZAC ceremony and included the French National Anthem, time spent in silence, soldiers, flags, wreaths and a bugler. There appeared to be a very important guy there wearing a French flag sash so we took lots of photos of him to try and work out who he is. No luck yet.

Sightseeing is wonderful in Paris as most places we'll go have cheaper tickets if you're under 25. It makes us more likely to go see things. We therefore paid our €6 each and headed up the 224 steps leading to the top of the Arc. We spent a lot of time wandering around, taking in the magnificent Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Sacré-Cœur and Notre Dame. It was also quite amazing to look down at the 12 roads that radiate out from the Arc and watch the chaos at the laneless roundabout below.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner at a restaurant with a view of the Arc and made our way home, marvelling at the view of the Eiffel Tower lit up at night along the way. After a rocky start, I think France just may agree with us after all.