2geonomads

Wednesday 21st October 2015.

Time to move on to Lac Annecy and we both feel that Grenoble has been a disappointment. With its setting it could be a magnificent city but the inhabitants seem to take no pride in their home town. The amount of graffiti is astonishing and no wall, bridge or monument is immune to this wanton vandalism. Moreover, sadly in keeping with so many other French cities Grenoble suffers from canine incontinence of Olympic proportions. To cap it all off the young women in particular seem incapable of going more than few minutes without lighting up another fag.

I will now leave my ‘Grumpy Old Man’ act behind and focus on more pleasant matters.

We are out of the apartment before 11.00am and very soon we are climbing up out of Grenoble to the north. The morning haze detracts somewhat from the views but we are still able to take in some glorious scenery and still more stunning autumn colours. We pass over the Col de Porte at 1326 metres and in due course stop for a snack in the pleasant alpine town of Saint Pierre de Chartreuse. Next stop is Saint Laurent du Pont which was the scene of a nightclub fire which killed 146 people in 1970.

The scenery becomes even more breathtaking as we pass through the huge gorges above the river of Guiers-Mort ( famous for kayaking and similar activities ). The famous rock formation known as Pic de l’Oeillette is a real highlight.

Now it’s time to join the D1006 and make our way to the beautiful lakeside town of Annecy taking care to avoid the A41 Toll Road for the last stage from Chambery.

Annecy is much larger than expected and the approach to the town via an industrial area is not the best introduction to this idyllic spot. As we have arrived here ahead of schedule we take a short lakeside drive and this soon lifts our spirits.

We finally meet up with Murielle, the owner of the apartment who is delightful young women who teaches deaf children when she is not playing the role of a property tycoon ( she has 3 apartments in this one block ). She shows us to our apartment and then directs me to the nearby car park.I get cranky with having two women( Murielle and Gail ) barking conflicting instructions on how to reverse into a decidedly tight space and give the keys to my better half, who finishes the job albeit not without a few hiccups. My problem is that with tri-focal glasses I see about 3 cars all at once and have no peripheral vision, hence my Mister Bean performance.

In front of apartment in pedestrian street

Studio is is very stylish and well-appointed and could not be in more convenient location in the heart of the OldTown. Murielle is married to a photographer Nicholas  who travels extensively both in France and overseas, especially in Asia.

Finish off our first day with a meal of another restaurant that G’s exhaustive research has thrown up, L’Affaire de Gout. My chicken great but G’s steak is a bit ‘coriace’ although very flavoursome. BTW ‘coriace’ is a new French word ( for me that is ) which means ‘tough’. Notwithstanding this the rest of the meal is excellent, the girl serving us,Lisa, speaks excellent English and the prices are reasonable.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Tuesday 20th October 2015

Woken up before 6am by a phone call from Australia ( which went unanswered ). This is the second consecutive day that this has happened so I have asked Brooke, who looks after Handeze  when we are away, to call the numbers to identify human alarm clocks.

Use the laverie at the apartment to put through a load of washing which has been building up and once that’s out of the way we set off to change some more money. Both in Spain and France we have encountered problems when trying to use our Visa and Mastercard although Amex which is far less acceptable in Australia has come to the rescue on a number of occasions. in any event we try to keep a good supply of ready cash as a safety measure.

We next find a local service station and we are initially delighted to actually find a person at the payment desk rather than a machine. I make a comment to this effect to the guy in question and his response confirms that he is another charisma by-pass recipient. I am tempted to make return visit tomorrow and comment that it makes a pleasant change to have a machine there rather than a person!

On an overcast day we drive south and quickly climb up into the mountains, first to the small village of Lans en Vercor and then on to Villard de Lans, a popular ski resort in a glorious setting. Lunch in a small cafe where we enjoy some great galettes ( crepes ). Continue on to Correncon en Vercors with its picturesque 18 hole golf course costing 60 Euros for a round.

Gail has mapped out a route  back to Grenoble which takes us on a detour via the south west part of the magnificent Parc National Regional du Vercors. This turns out to be even more adventurous than expected as when we arrive at the junction of the C103 and the D531( which is supposed to get us back to Grenoble fairly quickly ) the road is blocked off in both directions. However, as this delay occurs at the spectacular Pont de Goule Noire, a well-known potholing and caving area.Some useless info for you. Apparently the correct term for a cave-explorer is a spelunker and the science of studying caves is speleology. Don’t you all feel much better knowing that!

The amazing autumn colours

Given the road blockage we are forced to take a much longer detour via the superb town of Pont en Royans. The scenery along the way is breathtaking as the D531 ( post-blockage) follows the Bourne River hugging the cliff face high above the valley floor.

We don’t have time to visit the Grotte de la Choranche, one of the most visited sights in the Isere region but we mark it down for future reference.

Whilst we may have cursed the road works at the time they gave us an opportunity to experience probably the most impressive of our trip so far.

Dinner at the apartment and then turn in after a memorable day.

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Monday 19th October 2015

Weather very overcast and with poor visibility but in time it clears up enough for us to take the cable car up to La Bastille fort high above the river. To my own surprise no vertigo problems on this occasion.

Great views across the city of Grenoble now that the mist has cleared somewhat and decide to venture afield and take the fairly demanding walk up to the Memorial for the 150000 soldiers from various nations who died in mountainous regions during the World Wars. Amazed to see so many people of all ages using this steep climb up from the city as a training run!

Still astonished that no action seems to have been taken to stamp out the graffiti which is so evident throughout the city. As you will see from the blog photos no part of the city is immune from this curse and it is what prevents this fine city from fulfilling its potential.

Another good meal from Master Chef Gail all washed down by a bottle of chablis.

A good end to the day as we receive an email from Craig informing us that all is well in WA. On that positive note we get off to sleep by 11.00 after I have finished bringing my blog notes up-to-date.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Sunday 18th October 2015

Very hard to get going after the previous day’s long drive but we start to switch on by mid-morning and take the tram into Grenoble city centre just to check it out.

One has to say that first impressions are anything but favourable and we are both taken aback by the incredible amount of graffiti and general pollution.

However, during our short stay in town we do find a cafe, Coffee and Go, which is run by a girl who has spent one year in Australia on working holiday. To Gail’s great delight she offers Cafe Allonge which is a long black as G would get in Aus. It’s pleasant change as when Gail usually orders an Espresso with extra hot water the response is ” Oh, you mean an Americano! “Mrs I’s muttered response under her breath is unprintable.

The young girl and her partner are desperate to move to the USA for a while and they are trying to build up sufficient funds through the business.

Time to make tracks back to the apartment to see the Wallabies v Scotland RWC Qtr Final.The Scots may have been the wooden spooners in the 6 Nations Championship but right from the start they really take it up to us. Although we score 5 tries to Scotland’s 3 to win 35-34  it is with a disputed penalty in the last 2 minutes.

Quite simply Aus are fortunate to get through and Foley at fly-half puts in a truly dreadful performance, missing 3 kicks while the Scottish captain Laidlaw kicks all of his. Two of Scotland’s tries come from charged-down box kicks and still the Wallabies persist with this over-used tactic. No doubt the papers tomorrow will be full of the injustice of the result but Scotland made the fateful error of going long on their lineout rather than short and retaining possession for the remaining 2 minutes.

The only consolation is that surely the Wallabies cannot play so far below their best in the remaining matches.

End the day enjoying a lovely dinner of prosciutto, eggs and fresh bread bought in the city.

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Saturday 17th October 2015

Up early to pack and Evelyne’s friend Marco duly arrives to check us out of the apartment.

The next 5 hours or so is taken up with driving from Collioure to Grenoble almost entirely on toll roads and at a cost of approx 50 Euros.

On arriving at the first pay station we encounter huge queues and when it’s our turn to pay into the auto machine it can’t read our ticket and won’t accept either of our credit cards. By now I am starting to visualise the newspaper headline- ‘ white-haired man beaten to death in France in road rage incident’. Eventually, a woman whose name is apparently called ‘HELP’ comes on the intercom and the issue is resolved with that old faithful- cash.

Stop off at a freeway cafe and get surprisingly good coffee and pastries and some time later we enjoy a picnic lunch in a beautifully maintained area well away from a freeway service area.

As we progress north the scenery becomes far more impressive and our destination for the day Grenoble, which neither of us has visited, is in a stunning location on the Isere River and surrounded by mountains. We find our accommodation for the next four nights without any problems( thank you TomTom ) and the apartment located in a former chateau, La Chateua de La Rochette in Fontaine west of Grenoble is all that we could wish for.

We settle in to watch the Springboks beat Wales in the RWC Qtr Final and then it’s off to the local Geant supermarket to buy a packaged Moroccan meal which proves to be very tasty.

End a long tiring day by watching the All Blacks annihilate France in their Qtr Final and go to bed wondering whether any team can beat our’friends’ from across the ditch while they are in this form.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Friday 16th October 2015

First of all drive to Port Vendres and after good coffee and snack at a harbourside patisserie I leave Gail at a beauty parlour where she is having her nails done. About an hour later I meet up with Gail who is very happy with the beautician’s work and we drive across to the other side of the harbour where find a real gem, a poissonerie selling a huge range of quality seafoods. We decide to return later to buy some of the seafood but for the time being we drive south out of Port Vendre to Cap Bear and the lighthouse on the promontory. We reach there by taking a very narrow single lane road which is not for the faint-hearted given the huge drop down to the rocky coastline.

While at the Cap we have a nice chat with a couple from the Somme area of France and to our surprise the husband is wearing a Wallabies shirt from the 2003 WC in Australia.

Back in Port Vendres we have a lunch of mussels and monkfish at a great waterfront restaurant. Cote Mer Cote Ger (Ger being a French Department in the south-west.

Return to the previously visited poissonerie to buy anchovies and Norwegian salmon which Gail cooks up for a great meal.

BTW Collioure/Port Vendres is very much the centre for anchovies.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Thursday 15th October 2015

Another beautiful but cold day and after breakfast we head north to Argeles sur Mer and then drive inland on the D115, passing Le Boulou and on to Ceret a hinterland town suggested to us by our newly-acquired oracle Bruce Taylor. The town turns out to be an absolute delight nestling in the foothills of the Eastern Pyrenees. Loads of character, picturesque squares and lane-ways. Reproductions of paintings by such as Picasso are to be found at various sites throughout the town and in the Place de la Liberte there is a fine sculpture called La Douleur ( The Grief ) by Maillol, the apparently world-famous sculptor who was only brought to our attention a few days ago. La Douleur commemorates the 154 children from Ceret killed in WW1.

Picasso design and signed fountain

Sculpture “The Grief” in memory of lives lost

incidentally, Ceret was very much part of the Resistance Movement during WW2 and has always been in the forefront of such activities.

Coffee and pastries in a lovely patisserie and we then just stroll around the various sights of this glorious small town. Later lunch at a restaurant serving organic food ( probably our healthiest meal in weeks). The lady who owns Le Chien de Pascale has spent 20 years in Canada and speaks excellent English but I do manage get in some much-needed French practice.

In the midst of all the sightseeing G and I manage to buy some shoes which I am reliably informed ( by Gail) are an excellent brand and much cheaper than in Aus.

I have come to realise that many of the locals speak a sort of patois which may be Catalan with some Basque thrown in although I know that this is not really their region. In any event at a local delicatessen the owner and I seem to get by with our version of Esperanto.

Eventually leave Ceret after a memorable day and head further west along the valley of the River Tech. The scenery becomes markedly more spectacular as we go through Amelia-les-Bains and Arles-sur-Tech eventually climbing up to the small town of Corsavy high above the river. The minor road up into the mountains and the one back down via Montferrer are of the type that Andy’s wife Mo adores, albeit from her usual vantage point under the passenger seat!

With time running out we have to get back to our Villa Bellevue (can’t think of a worse name) and enjoy the goodies bought from the deli in Ceret. We could happily spend more time in Ceret which has certainly lived up to Bruce Taylor’s glowing reference.

Just to end the day on an amusing note. While in Ceret we are  approached by some schoolboys from Barcelona who are doing some sort of survey. We are not much use to them but I notice that one of the guys is wearing a Barca shirt while his mate is a Real and C Ronaldo fan. I try to stir him up by showing him a photo of Barca player Messi taken at Nou Camp. He quickly says he hasn’t the time and hurries away. G points out to me once the boys have gone that he probably thinks I’m some sort of pedophile about to show him some hard core porn rather than a fully-clad Messi! How the world is changing.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Wednesday 14th October 2015

Awake to a clear but very chilly day and decide to take a trip south and back into Spain.

First stop is Banyuls-sur-Mer with a fine bay but the usual pebbly beach. Toilet stop at a loo with auto cleaning and on this occasion Gail does not have to contend with her own personal tsunami from the flushing system. By the way Banyuls is the birthplace of the world famous sculptor Aristide Maillol. His fame has sadly not reached Busselton as we have never heard of him.

Follow the winding road N114 high above the coast with numerous rocky coves and some tempting little bays and at Cape Rederis we get a superb view of the coastline. The cliff-top road then winds through vineyards although we see  a number of abandoned vine terraces where development has taken over.

Drive through the small seaside town of Cerbere which is the last town before the Spanish border heading south and the location of an international railway hub.

On to Portbou, the first resort on the Costa Brava, and then Colera,Llanca, Port de La Selva and finally the delightful Cadaques,made famous by the surreal artist Salvador Dali.

We follow the same route back to Collioure pausing for a moment to observe the now totally derelict and graffiti-covered customs/immigration buildings on the French side. Gone are the days when I could  fill up a passport in no time at all with all of the entries and stamps accumulated during my travels working for Coats Patons.

Get back to Collioure by 4.00 in time for Gail’s hair appointment and while she takes about 30 years off her age  I again watch the French Special Commandos going through their training in the harbour.

After another tip from Bruce Taylor we stop to have drinks at the Tempier Bar and Art Gallery for a drink and to check out the various artworks on display. Bruce had told us that one of the works was very valuable but that we would never guess which one. As this old philistine wouldn’t know a Picasso from a Nicholson cartoon taken from The Australian the painting’s secret is safe with me.

At Tempiers we meet up with Martin and Shona, two Aussies from City Beach in Perth and remarkably Martin is the brother of Jonathan from Capel whom we had met a couple of days earlier. We decide to get together for a very enjoyable dinner at a nearby restaurant. A great evening with lots of laughs, a very pleasant waitress and good food at reasonable prices. M and S are looking to buy a summer property in our area so we exchange details (including my blog address) and agree to catch up in the future.

THe weather has now turned very cold so it’s a fairly unpleasant walk back to the villa but our day’s outing has underlined what a spectacular coastline and hinterland this area offers.

Just to end on a piece of trivia- Collioure was once the haunt of the radical artists known as Fauves ( wild beasts), a group which included some well-known artists such as Matisse and Derain.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Tuesday 13th October 2015

For a change we enjoy a breakfast of cereal and pastries outside the villa on the balcony.

We have had some rain overnight but by the time we set off on our walk into town the temperature has risen to a comfortable level.

Gail is keen to get her hair done as the grey is starting to show through a little in contrast to my situation which finds my hair now completing the transformation from grey to white. We stop by to check out Zavier Beauty Parlour but it is closed. According to Bruce Taylor whom we meet in the street it is always closed and in any case they are far too expensive. Instead Gail makes an appointment at a hairdresser across the road for the next day.

Given our problems with the Wifi at the villa we are delighted to learn that we can get 30 minutes of free Wifi at the Tourist Office in town although time is too short to take up the opportunity today as we are keen to trek up to the Fort St Elme.this proves to be a fairly undemanding hike and the 6 euros each for the tour of the fort is well worthwhile. Take the return walk via Port Vendres and try to purchase a SIM card at a local shop but they only have one for voice and not data.

View over Colliour Harbour from Fort Elme

Displays in St Elme Fort from 16c

Make the mistake of stopping off at a cafe in Port Vendres for a coffee and a glass of water. The waiter who looks as though he can’t wait for the tourist season to end is a miserable SOB and completely ignores our request for the water. As the water doesn’t arrive until just as we are leaving I don’t leave a tip and as Gail will testify I am usually a very generous tipper.

Back in Collioure Gail this time uses her 30 mins of free Wifi to download loads of her great photos for my blog.

A meal of chicken at the villa along with a nice bottle of red kindly given to us by Evelyne when we first arrived. The entertainment for the evening is trying to work out the mysteries of the clothes dryer.

Just before we go to bed we see a TV news report containing the startling information that Dutch investigators have concluded that the Malaysian Airlines over the Ukraine was brought down by a Russian-built Buka missile! Now there’s a surprise. Watch for the report due out in 2050 which will confirm who launched it!

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Monday 12th October 2015

Breakfast comes in the form of the quiche bought the day before and then it’s ‘happy hour’ as G vents her spleen on the question of the Wifi or lack of it. G texts Evelyne and is advised that it will not be on until 2.00 pm. Not happy Evelyne!

This frustration now covers other items such as the limited supply and quality of the towels and bedding .in the villa and we are starting to feel that we are not getting value-for-money. The villa has so much going for it but with just slightly more attention to details such as these it could be top-notch.

Views overlooking Collioure from the house

Collioure Harbour

Take the now familiar walk down to the town but find the tourist office closed. Nevertheless, we have an interesting morning observing some French commandos going through some very intensive training in the water in front of the quay.

In spite of the overcast weather we decide to take the 4.5 kms walk from Collioure along the coast to the next town of Port Vendres, an attractive fishing and commercial port.

Many restaurants closed ( it’s Monday) but we do come across Chez Pujol on the waterfront. Very enjoyable seafood cassolette and local white wine.

Our afternoon is made all the more enjoyable when an English guy at the next table spills red wine all over his table and his sweater. We start chatting and this turns out to be Bruce Taylor, Vice-President of the Saracens Rugby Club in the UK. Bruce is a real character who in his younger days ( he is now in his 70’s ) played senior rugby for number of clubs including Saracens and Leicester and now divides his time between this area and the UK. He is hoping to visit Perth next year so we give him our details and invite him to come and see us in Busselton. Incidentally Bruce informs us that he has put 1000 pounds on France to win the RWC at 11 to 1.

Bruce speaks fluent French but speaks the language with the same accent as that other renowned linguist, former British Prime Minister Ted Heath. He is desperate to retire but his wife, whom he portrays as a real slave-driver keeps dragging him back to work for her.

Bruce kindly invites us to share a bottle of wine with him and we stay for over an hour after finishing our meal. In the meantime the fantastic restaurant staff have had his sweater cleaned for him!

Almost 5 pm by the time we leave but we have enjoyed the type of extended lunch that makes these holidays so special.

On the walk back to Collioure we meet up with a couple from Capel Vale in WA, Jonathan and Kay  who are returning from a walk up to the Fort St Elme on the hillside above Collioure.

Gail still enjoying her linguistic journey, greeting people she meets along the way with a cheery ” buona sera”!

Cheers The Obese Ferret

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Sunday 11th October 2015

We have lie-in for once on a beautiful day but then it’s time to stroll down to the town again and have lunch at a riverside restaurant La Gourmande. This proves to be a peculiarly French lunchtime experience as a young woman next to us is chain smoking and a fellow has his little dog tucked in under his jacket while he tucks unto his meal. More on smoking in France later.

While trying to tell the waiter that she wants to leave it a few minutes before having a coffee Gail reminds me that she is a female polyglot of sorts. “Fem minuter” ( 5 minutes in SWEDISH) she says to the bemused fellow and not for the first time on this trip I notice that she is prone to dredging up a real melange of foreign words from the deepest linguistic recesses of her mind. Sadly she then uses them in the wrong country so it’s not her language skills but her geography which needs some fine-tuning. I am starting to see a parallel in this situation and the Morecambe and Wise comedy sketch involving the famous conductor Andre Previn. Previn is conducting Morecambe on the piano but stops him to tell him that he is playing the wrong notes. ” No I’m not says Eric but I’ll grant you that are in the wrong order!”

We decide to taste the local ice cream parlour but G who is something of a gelato ( I know I’m in the wrong country!) connoisseur judges that it is lacking a natural flavour and that the one in Barcelona was far superior.

Continue our walk around the waterfront of this attractive town and to the southern end we find a promising looking eatery Anthytrion which we recall from the notes in the villa. Noted for future reference. Once again the coastal water is remarkably clear but the beaches are awful.

We finish the day by watching Ireland beating France 24-9 and thus avoiding a clash with the All Blacks in the Quarter Final. Sadly, however, they be without their skipper Paul O’Connell and fly-half Jonathan Sexton for the next game due to injury.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Friday 9th October 2015

A fairly early start for me as I have pre-booked a tour of the Nou camp, the Catalan football Mecca and home to the best club football team FC Barcelona. Gail has made doubly sure that I get to the stadium on time by using two alarms. One is the traditional alarm on her phone and the second one comes in the form of Gail knocking over a pedestal coat stand and creating enough noise to wake up the whole street as she rushes to turn off the phone ( which is in the kitchen)

Gail is doing her own thing while I am away having my football fix.

As always the efficient and inexpensive Barcelona metro comes to the rescue and I duly arrive on time to begin my tour.

Barca FC Museum complete with all the trophies they have won and a superb photo gallery of the super stars who have played for the team over so many years. What this gallery brings home to me is the total lack of any British players. Gary Lineker does rate a short mention on his time as a Barca player but that is all. Countries represented include Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria,Italy, Brasil, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark but no Brits. For me it’s a sad indictment of British fooball that Barca do not consider a single UK player to be worthy enough to join their ranks. Maybe the powers that be will one day understand that what makes the EPL such a great league for spectators is what makes the players ill-equipped to compete in the international competitions. The game at its best is one of a change of pace and not one of full-on pace with 22 rapid dogs running around for 90 minutes and thus sacrificing high skill levels. Just a thought!

The highlight of the tour is the moment when we are allowed to go down to the hallowed turf which would not look out of place at a bowling club. The surface is of a standard far higher than I have ever seen before.

The only downside of the tour comes when they try to sell photos of you holding the Champions League Trophy or photo-shopped to look like Lionel Messi. With prices of 20 Euros for 1, 30 for 2 and 55 for 5 I decline their kind offer and apart from anything else they are over-exposed and make me look like an albino old codger (yes I know that makes them quite accurate).

Off to the railway station to book tickets to Collioure on the border between Spain and France. Sadly the equivilant of the bullet train goes at the wrong time and so it has to be a local regional train  which can only be booked on the day ( tomorrow). My enquiry about first or second class is greeted by the ticket clerk with wry amusement and some incredulity. Second it is then.

Meet up with Gail who has had a very enjoyable time visiting the Palau de la Musica Catalana the beautiful concert hall commissioned by the Catalan musical society in 1905.

The Catalan Music Hall

Pillars depicting flowers of Catalan

Stained Glass skylight

We make our way to the station for the funicular which takes us up to the Olympic Stadium used for 1992. The whole complex is very impressive and would that more cities could make as much use of the various arenas post-Olympics. One stadium is staging a U2 concert that evening and there was already a very long queue of fans trying obtain the plum seats.

Walking through the lovely gardens next to the truly enormous building housing the Museum of Catalunya Art we find ourselves at viewpoint offering a wonderful vista over the city and looking straight down to Plaza de Espagna. Rather than take the funicular back we walk down the steps and past numerous fountains all of which make for a memorable spectacle.

Once at Plaza de Espagna we get a close-up view of the Arena de Barcelona, once one of the great bullrings but since this delightful ‘sport’ was banned in this city it is now a venue for less brutal pursuits such as taking hordes of tourists round the still impressive stadium.

On the way back towards our apartment we find a great bar and so it’s a Mojito for Gail and Sangria for me. The latter is far too strong for my sensitive stomach so I feel a bit sozzled as we move back to the area close to the Cathedral.

Nevertheless, we find a great tapas bar/restaurant on Calle dels  LLedo and have the unusual experience of the waiter actually DISCOURAGING us from having more than 3 courses.

Some more blog work then in bed by 12.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Thursday 8th October 2015

An early start as we have to catch the Metro in time for our 9.00 visit to La Sagrada Familia,  Gaudi’s masterpiece and Spain’s biggest tourist attraction. Nothing can prepare the visitor for the awe-inspiring first sight of this huge cathedral which has been a work in progress for more than a century and became this astonishing architect’s holy mission. Sadly when he was knocked down and killed by a tram in 1926 less that a quarter of La Sagrada Familia had been completed.

Gail is braver than this blogger and takes the lift up the tower above the Nativity Facade and from this vantage point she gains some fantastic views of the city.

After 2 hours of touring round this truly unforgettable piece of architecture which will accommodate 13000 faithful when completed it’s time to move on to two other Gaudi works La Pedrera and Casa Batllo which are within walking distance.

La Pedrera

We decide to give La Pedrera , a Modernista apartment block, a  miss as the queues are very long and we feel that Casa Batllo will be the better option.

Casa Batllo is located on Barcelona’s grandest boulevard and Gaudi really let his imagination run riot when he designed this apartment block although the term doesn’t do justice to this whimsical building.

The heart shaped fireplace

Even the chimneys were different

We return to our more modest apartment to prepare for dinner at a restaurant called Meson del Cafe. Stefania, our contact for the flat works at this establishment on several evenings a week and has promised us a Paella to remember if we go there.

We arrive as agreed at 8.00 to find that Stefania is not at work ( problems with her young son) but the owners are aware of our booking for dinner. What follows is a scene from Fawlty Towers.

The husband and wife are both in a very grumpy mood ( probably due to being short-staffed) and his decidedly curt welcome to us makes Basil appear positively polite and attentive. He does dump a couple of glasses of white wine on a table next to us but makes no attempt to direct us to said table. We , therefore, stand like stunned mullets for some time until the food is also placed on what appears to be our table for the evening.  The restaurant is by now quite full and judging from the amused expressions other guests appear to be receiving the same level of service.

To make matters worse the poor stressed-out husband who is not the most mobile or agile of men is forced to perform something of a limbo dance while he tries to carry out the meals from behind the counter and negotiate one of those old-fashioned hinged flaps which one normally raises to clear a path out. We are not sure whether he just does this to keep fit or the hinges are broken.

To be truthful the paella is not very good but all is forgiven when we try to pay the bill and we are told by the couple that the dinner is complimentary.  Moreover, their demeanour towards us is now very warm and we appreciate the kind gesture. To be fair we feel that with a full restaurant and just the two of them on board they were well and truly stressed-out. In any event they provided us with an evening

that we will not forget in a hurry.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Barcelona

Wednesday 7th October 2015

Wake up  at a reasonable time and head off to find a place for breakfast. This turns out to be the Orangutan Cafe very close to our apartment. It is one of the Fair Trade coffee shops specialising in special origin coffee which are the best we have had for some time. The accompanying pastries are very tasty if doing little for our waistlines.

We meet Stefania who brings along some essentials missing from the flat and then we set off to explore the city. Starting with the nearest ‘ Top Sight’ we visit La Catedral which is increasingly overshadowed by  Gaudi’s  La Sagrada Familia. Nevertheless this poor relation which was begun in the late 13th century and took 6 centuries to complete should not be overlooked with its extravagant  northern- European Gothic styles.

Couple of hours are spent walking up and down the famous La Rambla pedestrian thoroughfare and stopping off at one of Europe’s great produce markets, the  Mercat de la Boqueria with its astounding array of foodstuffs. We do little to line the stallholders’ pockets when we splash out on two small plastic cups of fresh fruit. The Head Barman at Bar Pinotxo in the market ,Juanito, has become a legend and has been described by a leading Barcelona food critic as’ the true spirit of the market’. The long queues at his stall bar testimony to his popularity.

As we have time on our hands before we do the tour of  Museu Picasso at 3.30 we walk down to the fine Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar which with its simplicity and lack of gilded chapels  stands in stark ( and welcome) contrast to La Catedral.

Picasso Museum is world-class gallery that traces his development as an artist and dedicates much of the exhibition to his formative years. What is most surprising to Gail and myself is the traditional nature of many of his paintings during his early formal art education and the subsequent variety of his later more avant-garde works. I am trying to be kind as the meaning behind some of his later offerings is completely lost on this old Philistine!

End our first full day in this fabulous city at a great tapas bar where we meet a lovely elderly ( my age ) German lady and a young German guy and English girl off a German Navy vessel. ( Not the elderly lady who was merely enjoying travelling on her own!)

The evening ended on an amusing note when the heavens opened and North African umbrella vendors appeared from nowhere to offer us their wares. One such fellow came past us about 10 times with same spiel and we almost bought one from him to reward his persistence. However, we resisted the temptation and we got back to the flat relatively dry.

We are quickly learning that these vendors are very resourceful guys and in addition to the brollies are flogging, with considerable success, the ‘selfie sticks’ for  smart phones. Personally, if I see another selfie stick I would like to stuff it somewhere where the sun doesn’t shine. I’m with Kate Blanchett who recently bemoaned this selfie stick epidemic.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Madrid to Barcelona
Tuesday 6th October 2015

Early checkout from Hotel Europa then it’s a walk down Carrera de San Jeronimo ( nothing to do with John Wayne movies) to the Thyssen- Bornemisza Museum and Art Gallery. On this occasion we avoid the mistake of lingering too long on the religious paintings of the 15th – 16th Century and move quickly to the superb collection of works from later periods, including Impressionism and Post-Impressionisn.

All the more remarkable is the fact that this collection was acquired over two generations of the Thyssen-Bornemisza family and remains one of the world’s foremost and most distinguished private collections.

After a couple of hours we head back to the hotel, pick up our suitcases and on the advice of the hotel concierge drag them across the Plaza Sol and quickly hail a cab to the railway station. Surprise, surprise our friendly little cab driver, through no fault of his own, ends up behind a procession of senior citizens protesting about pensions ( or maybe lack thereof ). Now at least we have a cause with which we can identify!

Arrive at the station in very good time to board the bullet train to Barcelona and we are soon up to speeds in the region of 300 kms an hour. As we had been told by other travellers there is no real sensation of these high speeds and and the whole journey is very comfortable.

Madrid Station

The scenery during the initial stage of the trip is unremarkable and the landscape is for the most part very arid flat.

However, as we move further east this gives way to more fertile plains and a marked increase in more built-up areas.

Two and a half hours sees us arrive at Atocha Station and another very obliging driver ( where were they all when I was visiting Europe when working for Ladybird Childrenswear in the 1970’s) drops us off at Plaza de Sant Jaume where we are supposed to be met by the owner of our apartment, Sergio.

Unfortunately, initial telephone calls provide futile but eventually Stefania, the Rumanian girl who manages the property for Sergio arrives to take us up the five flights of steps of the spiral stairs to our accommodation. While waiting for the welcoming party to arrive this old blogger had put his 4 by-passes to the sternest of tests by hauling the heavier of the cases up to the 5th floor.

Stefania is delightful girl who has obviously worked very hard to overcome the animosity of the local population towards Romanians and all this while bringing up her 3 year old son Giovanni.

She gives a full briefing on the apartment and then leaves us to settle into this very fine flat in a superb location.

From lounge window overlooking the square

Apartment right in corner of square St Jaume

After a brief walk around the area and the nearby cathedral we have dinner at a restaurant where the food is acceptable without being spectacular. As is our wont we get into a conversation with a Swiss family at the next table.

The arrival of two Flamenco guitarists who sit down at a table next  to us sends us into a momentary panic  but as it turns out they are in fact quite good entertainers. Nevertheless we beat a hasty retreat before I am required to swing my Titanium knee round the small dance area.

First impressions of this city are very promising so we can’t wait to get moving early the next morning.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Madrid
Monday 5th October 2015

Gail has pre-booked tickets for a visit to the world-famous Prado museum and we arrive there very early hoping to beat the worst of the crowds, a ploy which proves be fairly successful. The Prado is in some ways similar to the Louvre and the Uffizi Gallery in that its size is completely overwhelming.

We don’t help ourselves by spending far too much time going through room after room of ancient paintings, all too often with religious theme of Christ’s nativity and crucifixion.Without wishing to be too irreligious it’s the same sort of boredom that sets in when one is reading a whodunnit but knowing how it starts and ends.

The second group of rooms is, for us at least, far more interesting as here we see works from some of the great painters, including Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Goya, Gauguin, Velazquez and many others.

Notwithstanding the earlier criticism the Prado contains one of the world’s great art collections and two such Philistines such as ourselves spend over 5 hours walking these famous halls.

We have managed to pre-book tickets for a late afternoon guided tour of the iconic Plaza de Toros a short distance out of the city.
We join a small group to set off on the tour with a female guide who happens to be Italian.
During my time at college in the early 60’s my Spanish studies included an in-depth study of the culture, language and theatre of this so-called sport which has now been banned in the more enlightened city of Barcelona. However, in Madrid and numerous small towns throughout Spain this ritual lives on and at this the most famous of the bullrings the fanaticism remains undiminished.

The top Matadors earn up to 50,000 Euros per bullfight and having watched a video of such an event I come to the conclusion that they earn every Euro.
A statue outside the Plaza de Toros of one bullfighter who was killed at the age of 21 bears testimony to the grave dangers faced by these men.

To be honest the tour is mediocre at best and putting us through the embarrassment of being photographed, supposedly in a matador’s traje de luces ( suit of lights) does nothing to add to the occasion. Needless to say I don’t see many takers for the photos at 10 euros each.
Return to the area near the attractive Plaza Isabel and enjoy a pleasant dinner at the Vergara restaurant which we had spotted earlier on our walks.

We end up chatting with first a couple from Brisbane and then a lovely elegant lady from the Netherlands and her daughter. Just before we leave the restaurant we are bailed up by a guy from California who is one of those gregarious, pleasant U.S. guys who also seems to have a hearing problem.

Next stop a much-anticipated visit to the city of Barcelona.

Cheers
The Obese Ferret.

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Madrid
Sunday 4th October 2015

Wake up to reasonable weather and in keeping with our promise of the previous day we get as far away as possible from the culinary delights of Hotel Europa.

Our room top floor 2nd from left

Heading west from Puerta del Sol square we find a small cafe near to Plaza de Isabel  where we enjoy a more than passable breakfast special before continuing up to Plaza de la Encarnacion, Plaza del Oriente and the Palacio Real. This is a very attractive part of the city with many fine cafes and tapas bars but the enormous Palacio totally dominates the whole area. It occurs to me that the 30 percent youth unemployment could be wiped out in one fell swoop if the youngsters could be set to work keeping what must be hundreds of palace rooms clean.

Today has been designated to be a walking day so proceed on a fairly long walk down past the palace, the Basiilica de San Francisco El Grande and finally arrive at the southern end of the famous El Rastro Market, reputed to be the largest flea market in Europe. The teeming masses attest to its popularity and Gail is able to buy two beautiful scarves for 3 Euros each. No day would be complete without  ‘ Gail ‘ moment and as we are working our way through literally hundreds of stalls and thousands of people Gail casually comments that being here reminds her that we must visit Busselton market again soon after we get home. I am still trying to work out in what way  El Rastro, with a population probably higher than the city of Busselton, is reminiscent of our home town’s offering.

The last stop before the hotel is the impressive Plaza Major although the scaffolding curse hits the Irelands again as one end of the Plaza is covered in drapes purporting to show how the windows normally look.

By now we are both dragging our feet somewhat so after a quick takeaway snack we get to bed at civilised hour.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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London Madrid

Saturday 3rd October

No need to get up too early as our flight to Madrid is not until 2.00 pm.

Yet another full English breakfast and then it’s time to pack and for Gail to catch up on paperwork such as printing off boarding cards etc. Gail would make a great travel agent if ever she tired of living a life of relative leisure married to this old member of the ‘ Zipper Club’.

Dropping off the rental car proves to be totally hassle-free and we arrive at the airport hoping to use the British Airways lounge. No such luck as after their new agreement with Emirates BA no longer have reciprocal rights allowing Qantas Club members use of their lounges.  Nevertheless, the whole procedure through Terminal 5 is a far cry from the previous days when it was all too often a scene of utter chaos.

A very smooth flight down to Madrid although Gail is seated next to the Argentine Puma’s forward pack in the shape of one man-mountain with thighs that would make Clive Palmer look anorexic.

However, he is a very friendly guy from Córdoba in Argentina and we manage to conduct a conversation of sorts on the RWC given his total lack of English and my very rusty Spanish.

Not for the first time on our travels we get caught up in a protest , this time in favour of the flood of immigrants coming into Europe. Many of the roads to our hotel are blocked but our very friendly taxi driver manages to manoeuvre his way to our accommodation , Hotel Europa, overlooking the popular Plaza de la Puerta del Sol.

As the Wallabies are playing England this evening we set off to try and find the James Joyce Irish pub, one of the very few public places where the match is to be shown on TV. On arrival we find the pub packed out with well lublicated South Africans and Kiwis and even if I pull myself up to an impressive 1.72 metres we both feel that we would be safer in the hotel room.

We once again get caught up with the protest whose slogan is ” construyamos otra Europe. Por un Europa de las personas digamos ! Basta! a la Europa del capital” ( we are building another Europe . For a Europe of the people we say ” enough of the capitalist Europe”.

It’s a very impressive turnout with noble sentiments although I’m not sure what the majority of the population think when youth employment currently stands at just under 30 percent.

Back at the hotel where we are able to watch the Wallabies put in great performance to beat England 33-13 and we’re able to scream and shout like a couple of superannuated, out-of-control old rugby tragics.

The victory has whetted our appetites for a good late night dinner in an outdoor setting at the hotel.

Unfortunately, the half-cold meal served up doesn’t even bear a passing resemblance to lasagne and we resolve not to eat at the hotel for the rest of our stay.

To end the day on a good note we wander around the still very lively Sol square and soak up the atmosphere. It’s well after midnight before we return to the hotel where the guys on reception explain that such crowds are the norm for a Saturday evening.

View from hotel room 1:00am

In bed by 1.30 still on a high after the boys in green and gold have come up with a performance which has made all the other teams sit up and take notice.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Stafford

Friday 2nd October 2015

I am left back at the house while Gail, Marg and Tone drive into Stafford to attend to various matters. Marg is off to her weekly Aqua- Fit session and Gail and Tony have some shopping to do in town.

Andy and Mo arrive and by the time the rest of the crew return there is little else to do other than to have a light lunch, pack our bags and say a fond farewell to everybody.

Moments like these remind us that we live on the other side of the world but at least we know that we are planning to return in September next year.

Tone and Marg as always have been fantastic hosts and we have enjoyed some real quality time together. It’s always good that Tone and I can have our long chats and reminisce about the times when we could both run up and down Milford Hills and we were the two greatest footballers to have played the game!

The drive down to London was uneventful and we arrived at our accommodation for the night, Harmondsworth Hall, a little gem of a B and B very close to LHR.

Dinner at a local pub is of the same high standard as the B and B and then it’s off to bed with me trying to revisit my Spanish vocabulary from 1965!

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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Stafford

Thursday 1st October 2015

As Tony has an appointment with the specialist to decide on the next move with regard to his troublesome toe Marg, Gail and I drive the short distance over to the National Arboretum which over an area of 150 acres is a magnificent memorial to the many who have died in the various wars.

Women are not forgotten

Although not strictly related to war the area set aside for infant deaths is particularly poignant and thought-provoking.

Leaves are in memory of children

We spend close to two hours walking round the whole park before having a quick snack in the cafeteria.

As his her wont Gail goes out of her way to let the people in the cafe know that if the baguettes are not available with the roast beef it needs to be taken off the menu board and replaced with ‘ bread roll’ !

We watch Wales make hard work of beating Fiji ( 23-13) and after our last dinner with T and M for this trip we turn in at a relatively civilised hour.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.

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