|
Day 7 - Paris to Thieze via FontaineBleau
 |
 |
On
our way to the Contiki chateau in Thieze, we had a quick stop at FontaineBleau
Palace
for a lunch break. FontaineBleau was like a mini Versailles and was used
as a hunting lodge for royalty. While most of group went shopping or
waited in line for the toilet. |
|
Lake behind FontaineBleau Palace
|
Kate & Me in the Cave at Chateaux de Cruix
|
|
I took a quick stroll of the gardens in the back (free) and took a pic of the lake (not a painting).
After
a few more hours, we arrived at Chateaux de Cruix which was a
Contiki owned property in the heart of Beaujolais Wine Region by the village of
Thieze. We were disappointed the pool was closed but the scenery was
pretty amazing in the middle of French wine country. It was surprising to
see that the grape vines were only knee high. The weather was sunny and warm
as it had been all week. At the chateaux, the bathrooms were
shared so the girls were a little stunned to see boys in there. We had a
wine tasting early in the afternoon and in the evening there was a private school theme
in the
basement bar, the Cave. Where else can you buy a bottle of wine
and drink it with a straw? The grappa shooters did in one guy in from our
group, though. |
Day 8 - Thieze (Chateaux de Cruix)
|
A hike and picnic lunch was planned to a viewpoint on a hill nearby.
Since it was a hot day, it turned into a death march since there was little
shade and we were carrying our heavy picnic baskets full of wine purchased
the previous evening. |
 |
 |
|
Julia, Nicole, Lisa, Carolyn & Katherine at viewpoint in Thieze
|
Contiki gang at pub in Thieze
|
|
Everyone eventually made it up though. The way down was much
nicer through a shortcut and a stopover at the local pub overrun by Contiki groups. The
rest of the day was for rest and relaxing and a party in Room 12 at night.
A couple notes about France. I
impressed myself with my own high school French and limited vocabulary.
Though the French that dealt with tourists a lot could usually speak
English, the average person did not. Instead of assuming that everyone
in the world should understand English, the polite thing is to ask someone
if they can speak English ("Parlez vous anglais?") before attempting to ask
a question. Knowing "hello" ("bonjour") and "thank you" ("merci") in
the local language can do wonders.
The staple food in France had to be
the ham & cheese baguette. My jaw was hurting and I finally realized
it was from all the baguettes I had chewed on. Our tour manager had suggested we try the gnutella crepes
but I didn't get an opportunity to. |
Day 9 - Thieze to Barcelona via Pont Du Gard
 |
 |
This
was a long driving day. We had a lunch stop at Pont Du Gard which is a
well preserved 2000 year old Roman Aqueduct. We got into Barcelona in the early
evening and had a quick picture stop at Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. There
wasn't enough time to go inside nor go up the spires though we were told it
was a construction zone inside. The bus driver got a little lost
getting to the campsite but it was actually a fairly direct route from the
city via the highway. |
|
Pont Du Gard Aqueduct
|
Ben at the Sagrada Familia (took this pic on my back)
|
|
The campsite was fairly nice and was right on the beach west of
the city. We had our first laundry service for 10€ a bag. Cabins were roomy with four
sharing with bunks. The bathrooms were separated but after coming from the
Chateaux, some in the group still thought they weren't. We went to the
beach in the evening and then to the campsite bar for a drink. I was
starting to get a sore throat but we had been warned about the "Contiki Cough"
which would spread through the bus and from other groups. |
Day 10 - Barcelona
|
Another early morning as we started our bus tour
visiting the 1992 Olympics site at Montjuic and a castle overlooking the city.
We then headed back down for a walking tour from the Columbus statue and up La Rambla
which is the main pedestrian mall and through the Gothic quarter. |
 |
 |
|
Contiki group walking through La Rambla
|
Ben at Parc Guell Entrance
|
|
Barcelona was also our first encounter with the "statue guy", the first of
many that we'd see on our trip.
After our walking tour ended at a jewellery and leather shop, we had lunch, took the
metro to Lessops station
and walked to Gaudi's Parc Guell which was like an enchanted village. We metroed
back into town, walked along the city beaches and back into the Gothic Quarter
to the Picasso museum. We then met the bus to head back to camp to get
ready for our optional Spanish dinner and Flamenco dancing show. After
the show, we bused
to see the dancing fountains and a group of us stayed in the city to bar hop. Four
bars later, we were at the Maremagnum complex by the water. The taxi back to
the campsite was an hour wait and around 20€ I think. It had been a long day and late night.
Local food included tapas and paella
which we sampled at our dinner and local drink was Sangria. You could
buy Sangria bottled or canned and it was also served as our welcome drink
the previous night. |
Day 11- Barcelona to Biot
 |
 |
This would be another long travel day. We stopped off at Aigues Mortes,
an ancient walled city, for lunch. This was also our first encounter
with the squat toilet. Though common in Asia, I didn't realize they
had them in Europe as well. |
|
Aigues Mortes Entrance
|
Cabins at Camping Le Mistral in Biot
|
| Inside the
main entrance were duelling
statue guys... luckily they were on a break when we arrived.
Our campsite was in Biot within walking distance to the
beach and train station. Biot is situated east of Antibes and between
Cannes and Nice. The campsite had roomy cabins (no bunks), nice outdoor
shower/toilet blocks and a small bar. The entire group headed down to the pebbly
beach for drinks and to watch the sun set. |
Day 12 - Nice/Cannes/Monaco
|
We had the option of taking the train to either Cannes or Nice or both.
I wanted to do both and since there was more train service from Nice, it was
better to go to Cannes first. The ticket machine was broken and the
train had just arrived so we all just jumped aboard. |
 |
 |
|
Laura, Caroline and Me at Nice beach
|
Laura and Caroline strolling through Nice
|
|
Otherwise it would've cost 3€ for the short trip. There is a youth
discount if you are under 25.
From the station in Cannes, we walked to the film festival red carpet area
to take some pictures. The festival had just wrapped up the day before
and crews were tearing down the site. With not much else to see in
Cannes, we trained over to Nice which is a much bigger city. We walked
along the beach promenade but there wasn't a lot of beach goers since it was
a cool and windy day. Most of the girls had brought their bikinis
hoping to lay out on the pebbly beach but were disappointed by the weather.
Next, we walked up the Parc du Chateau to a viewpoint overlooking the city. We had hoped to
train back to the campsite early but there weren't any trains running for a
couple hours. It was either a siesta or long lunch break and most of the
group ended up waiting together at the cafe next door. In the evening, we had an
organized tour of Monaco. The Grand Prix had just run the day before so
some of the track was still setup. We got dropped off at the grand casino (10€
entry?, probably free for high rollers) with the Ferrari's and Rolls Royce's
parked outside and had an hour to sightsee or gamble. We then headed back to
the campsite since this would be our last evening in France. |
|