Cruise to Kalaallit Nunaat (aka Greenland)

Cruise Line: Oceania Cruises, USA (Motto - “Affordable Luxury”). A five vessel line of medium size Cruise vessels. Oceania is noted for the interesting destinations visited, the 5 star food provided (under the direction of the French chef Jacques Pepin), and highly trained crews. In my view, it should also be noted for the overpricing of services (Internet usage USD1 a minute, 30 ml. cans of beer USD8, outrageously high shore excursions – ranging from USD100 to USD500). As well, tips at the rate of USD15 per passenger (“guest”) per day were mandatory, debited to the shipboard accounts of guests.

Our cruise featured a marketing night, where the benefits of booking other Oceania cruises well in advance (for large discounts) were strongly promoted. The benefits from becoming a frequent Oceania cruiser were also emphasized, there being a progression from first timers to Silver. Gold etc. levels. The senior cruiser was rolled out (“Mabel” on her 51^st. cruise), to the accompaniment of gasps and cheers from the assembled guests.

The Cruise: 6577 nautical miles over 20 days, Southampton to Southampton. Titled “Viking Odyssey”, for obvious reasons.

The Vessel: Nautica, 30,277 tons, accommodating almost 700 guests, served by 400 crew (mostly East European, Indian, and Asian). Facilities were limited - beyond a gym., library, casino, heated pool, there was a shuffleboard court, and a golf putting range

Accommodation: Because we booked very late, and the Cruise was full, we could only get a cabin on the second lowest level midships, with an area of 165 sq.ft. The cabin had a reasonable sized window, and was well designed, such that all of our large amount of clothes could be hung out of sight, and our suitcases placed under the beds. The cabin also came with Bvlgari toiletries, and 1000 thread duvet covers. Despite all these things, there was no getting around the fact that living in a room of 165 sq. ft for 20 days was hard work.

The guests: 684 of them. Children are not encouraged, so there only one or two. 64% of guests were American, 15% British, 10% Australian, almost all elderly folk. The oldest guest was 98, an old gentleman who tottered cheerfully around the ship, with the aid of a walking stick.

The Food: Top quality. There were two specialty dining rooms, where food of the highest quality was served free. Because of our lowly status, we were limited to two free dinners at each of these. Higher status guests were entitled to four free dinners at each. We ate mostly in the “Grand Dining Room”, or occasionally at the Terrace cafe. Dress for dinner in the dining rooms was “Country Club Casual”, meaning that most males wore jackets, as did Kim and I.

Each afternoon at 4 p.m. afternoon tea of cucumber sandwiches and also with cakes was served in one of the lounges. The waiters wore white gloves for this occasion. A drawback was that the tea was by way of Twinnings tea bags, and the water provided was never boiling, only lukewarm. I enjoyed this ceremony, and I am thinking about introducing it for guests at the KL apartment. Either Kim or I could serve, dressed in shorts and T-shirt as usual, but wearing white gloves.

The seas: The oceans, mostly the Atlantic and a few smaller seas (North Sea, Greenland Sea etc) were remarkably calm throughout, despite their reputations for being rough. There was one “Sea Band” day, and one night when bits and pieces fell off the shelves in our cabin. We used “Sea Bands”, knitted bands for each wrist, with a plastic stud pressing on the Nei Kuan pressure point. These fixed any nausea almost immediately.

The weather: Much warmer than we thought. At our northernmost call (Tasiilaq, Greenland at 65 degrees north and only 106kms. south of the Arctic Circle), the temperature was 11C with bright sunshine. Hardy guests from the American mid-west wandered around the town in shorts and sand-shoes. There was no wind at any of our calls, despite most of these places being very windy, in general.

THE CRUISE

Leaving Southampton and after a day at sea doing lifeboat drills etc., we berthed at Leith, near Edinburgh, via a lock system. A day ashore strolling around (we had been here before).

 The second call was Kirkwall (pop.8000, and founded in 1035 in the Viking times) largest town and administrative centre of the Orkneys (pop.20000), which in fact start only about 10 kms. from the northern Scottish coast. These islands were the first of the calls on islands which are treeless, lack good soil, and are buffeted continuously by vicious winds. Thus there is little agriculture in the Orkneys, although there are cattle which produce good beef. There are also sheep. The buildings in Kirkwall were in general grey and dour two storey structures, with a cathedral dating to the Viking times. The town is remarkably clean, with no rubbish at all in sight. The locals joked that small animals and frail ladies on walking sticks are no longer seen on the streets, all having been blown away. We took a tour to see Scapa Flow, an extensive sheet of water (120 sq. miles), famous for the scuttling of 74 ships of the German fleet at the end of World War 1, and for the sinking of the battleship “Royal Oak” by the submariner

Gunther Prien, in 1939. Our tour also took us to two well known and well preserved Stonehenge like structures – the Standing Stones of Stenness, and the Ring of Brodgar.

The third call was Lerwick (pop.8000 and dating from the 17^th. Century, although there has been human habitation in the area for 3000 years) largest town and administrative centre of the Shetlands pop.20000). Again a dour, grey town in the old part, but with extensive new residential areas as a consequence of the oil boom in the 1970s. It is a hilly town, topped by an old fort, and a grand Town Hall. There is little agriculture, although there are sheep and shetland ponies.

The northernmost island of the Shetlands is Uist, and the islet of Muckle Flugga, off its northern coast, marks the northernmost point of Great Britain.

The Faroe islands, 17 of them, are 300 kms north of the Shetlands. An autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, the islands have a population of 70,000, and the capital is Torshavn (pop.17,000, and dating from the 9^th. century), our fourth call. Here the architecture started to change dramatically to the colourful Nordic style wooden houses with white windows and turf roofs. This architecture predominates in Greenland. The Faroe islands struggle to support the population with fishing, fish farming, tourism and a small IT industry. and are dependent on significant aid from Denmark. This aid has enabled modern infrastructure (roads and tunnels) to be put in place. The first road in the Faroes was built only in 1916. Faroese are an insular folk and disdain many “Western” brands. The only fast food chain represented is Burger King with one store, opened in 1995. There is one shopping mall in Torshavn, built in 1977. Although there are modern shops in it (and Wi-Fi), there are no KFCs, Starbucks etc. Here we first struck the Nordic problem of only being able to buy beer of 2% alcohol content or less at a supermarket. Strong beer can only be bought at special shops, often run by the Government, most at inconvenient locations. There are no restrictions on wine. The rationale is that, because the populations are prone to drink too much alcohol, cheap alcohol should be made difficult to buy. Beer is of course much cheaper than wine. In the Mall supermarket, I was surprised to see most beef labelled from New Zealand. This was the case in Greenland too, suggesting that the people from Enzed are very entrepreneurial.

The Faroese (of Norse/Scottish stock) are an insular and traditional folk. They have a particularly grisly tradition, called “Grinderdrap” - the whale hunt. An annual event, which took place just after we left, it calls for pods of whales (mostly pilot whales), and some dolphins to be driven to the beach by boats. Once the whales are beached, Faroese males (men and boys) descend on the beached whales and in a frenzy, hack them to pieces in a bloody mess. This is a tradition dating to the old times, when the population had to kill and eat whales to survive, as the land could not support them. Now anti-whaling protestors arrive at the time of the grinderdrap, but are promptly arrested before they can get near the beach, even though Denmark has signed the anti-whaling convention.

CRUISE HIGHLIGHT 1. On our way to our next call in Iceland, we passed the most north westerly island of the Faroes, called Mykines (pron. Mitch-ness), “the most unspoiled island on Earth”, it is said. 4 square miles in area, it rises from the sea in a series of spectacular cliffs, topped by a few intensely green small valleys between peaks of more than 1000 feet. Nestled in one of these valleys, we could see the only settlement on the island, also called Mykines (pop.22). A small cluster of brightly painted houses and a Church, we marvelled at the type of folk living in such an isolated, but remarkably beautiful, place. We learned later that a famous Faroese painter came from there, and this is not surprising, given the beauty of the place. There are no roads on the island, and movement is by way of walking on footpaths. The village is serviced by helicopter, and when conditions permit, by a ferry from its tiny beach down a ricketty staircase from the village. A Google search of this island is worth looking at, in my view. We were quite a distance from it, and weren't able to appreciate the island's beauty fully.

Our fifth call was Akureyri (pop.16,000) the second city of Iceland, on its northern coast. It sits at the head of a magnificent fjord, and has an extraordinarily warm climate. It is in fact so warm that there is a famous Botanical Gardens in the city. The city has an iconic church, and is a seat of learning and culture, with a University and a major teaching hospital.

Greenland was the next destination. The Arctic is not a continent like the Antarctic. However, as well as Greenland, there are a few other large islands near to it, each having a handful of inhabitants – Baffin Island (Canada), and Spitzbergen (Norway).

From Akureyri we had a day at sea, and for the first time, saw icebergs. We learned that the two smallest classifications of icebergs are “growlers” and “bergy bits”, the latter having a maximum height of 4 metres, and a maximum length of 14 metres (this is before “small”, “medium” etc. classifications start.) From then on, the movement of the ship was punctuated by thumps and bangs as it pushed these little icebergs out of the way. I listened for the alarm klaxon, and for shouts of “Abandon ship – Iceberg Dead Ahead”, but heard nothing like this.

Greenland (another autonomous country within the Danish Kingdom) is one of the largest islands in the world at 2.1 million square kilometres, but the least densely populated, at 56,000 (Nuuk, the largest town, has 15,000 inhabitants). The terrain is stunningly rugged and mountainous, and unsuitable for human habitation. Fishing, hunting, and mining are the chief activities, There are no roads between towns on the island, transport being by sea or helicopter. Our sixth call was Tasiilaq (pop.2,000), on an island very close to the east coast. Inhabited by indigenous peoples for hundreds of years (with their descendants still living there), the town is now given over to supporting hunters, fisherman and miners. There is a thriving tourist trade in the summer – for kayaking, heli ski-ing and dog sledding. The town has a spectacular setting, overshadowed by high, snow covered mountain ranges. Again, there were brightly coloured houses everywhere.

Kim had contracted a heavy 'flu, and by the time we reached Tasiilaq, he was too sick to go ashore. It was inevitable that his 'flu would pass to me, as it did. I didn't think that the locals were particularly friendly, were not at all attractive (stunted folk with weatherbeaten faces), and indifferent to visitors.

Tasiilaq was our most northerly call (almost at the Arctic Circle), and we then turned south along the east coast, passing Cape Farewell, the southernmost point of Greenland, and then north along the west coast to Qaqortoq, our seventh call. Part of this journey was spectacular – a three hour traverse of the Prince Christian Sound, lying between the Cape Farewell archipelago and the mainland. After leaving Tasiilaq, and noting its huge cascade of rubbish falling into the sea at its outskirts, we saw no signs of human habitation. Range after range of rugged mountains were passed. In the Sound, where a Sound Pilot was used, the mountains closed in. Ice covered peaks of around 4000 feet rising from the Sound, and glaciers dominated the journey, and at one point the Sound narrowed to about a kilometre across. Amazingly, halfway down the Sound, the settlement of Aappilattoq appeared out of nowhere, crouching on a small flat piece of land at the foot of a high, snow covered range. It comprised a small cluster of about 10 houses plus a church, and we wondered what type of folk could live here. Presumably indigenous folk hunting and fishing. A large satellite dish and a clearing for helicopters suggested the way they contact the outside world. However, winter conditions here must be terrible. Three inhabitants, who looked like indigenes, came to the edge of the water and waved as we went past. Near Aappilatoq, we passed a small yacht flying the Canadian flag, and greeted it with blasts of the foghorn. We saw few, if any, vessels of any size during the entire cruise, except near our calls.

Still accompanied by our growler and bergy bit friends, we reached our seventh call, Qaqortoq (pop 3500, founded in 1774). Again, a colourful and spectacularly located town with the usual old church, administering a large region, and also with research stations of various types. Air Greenland has offices here. There was a good supermarket also, again featuring beef labelled New Zealand. The locals (of Danish extraction) were quite friendly, and spoke good English – they don't see too many cruise ships. A detracting feature of the town was the cascade of rubbish at its outskirts.

Leaving Qaqortoq and after a day at sea on the Atlantic, we reached our eighth call, Reykjavik (pop. 80,000 and dating from the 9^th. Century), the capital of Iceland (pop.320,000). This is a bright and modern (but not prosperous looking) city, with no sign of the catastrophes of the GF C. At that time, the country virtually went bankrupt. We stayed at Reykjavik for a day, and whilst there took a tour around the island. Again mostly treeless, and with few signs of agricultural activities except herds of Icelandic horses, the scenery was in places, spectacular. Waterfalls and geysers abound, and there was even a part of the island where parliaments had first met in the 9^th. Century.

Leaving Reykjavik and after another day at sea, we reached our ninth call, Portree, on the Isle of Skye. Kim and I had been here before, and this time the town was overrun by tourists, mostly from the Continent, wearing shorts and thongs. We went by local 'bus to Dunvegan Castle, a noble pile about 20 kms. from Portree, and also had a Ploughman's lunch at a local hotel.

Our tenth call was Belfast. Kim and I had been here before, and this time we took a HO-HO 'bus around the city.

CRUISE HIGHLIGHT 2: The Falls Road and the Shankhill Road. A generally depressed area of the city, many of the buildings and shop fronts have been left boarded up and pockmarked from bullets, as a poignant reminder of the Troubles. A memorable experience, traversing this part of Belfast.

Our eleventh and final call was Dublin. By this time, I had caught Kim's 'flu, and it had worsened. I was too sick to go ashore. Kim and I had been to Dublin before, but he went ashore, roaming around the Temple Bar, and along the Liffey.

I went to the ship's doctor, a German, instead. He wanted to do a blood test in case I had legionnaires' disease. I agreed. The medical facilities on the ship are high quality, and the analysis of the blood test was virtually immediate. It showed I had neither flu nor legionnaires' disease. The doctor prescribed antibiotics, from a supply I had brought with me. These solved the problem, but I had a grave shock when the bill came to USD577 (including consultation USD145). Before he did the blood test, the doctor said that I could get the cost back from the insurance. I should have become suspicious then, and refused the test.

Leaving Dublin, we returned to Southampton, where the disembarkation was efficient and quick. On the afternoon of our arrival, Nautica filled with new guests and headed off for its next cruise – destination Murmansk, in Russia.

No balaclavas required at Balaklava (Black Sea, July 2012)

We took this cruise primarily to view where the Charge of the Light Brigade took place (The cruise was entitled "O the wild charge they made" - Lord Tennyson), and to look at the ruins of various colonies (Greek, Roman, Russian, Ottoman), which are now cities, around the Black Sea. These ruins dated back to around the 6th. century BC. The cruise started and ended in Istanbul.

The cruise company is a boutique operation ("Voyages to Antiquity"), with one ship, the "Aegean Odyssey". This ship, of about 11,000 tons and 463 feet in length, is a 30 year old car ferry, tastefully refurbished as a small cruise ship.

Gambling that the Black Sea would be a millpond, we took a cabin on the highest floor (something we wouldn't do on an Antarctic Cruise !). Our gamble paid off, except for a four hour period one night, when we were thrown around the cabin a bit. 

The ship had a full complement of passengers - 351. The average age was 68 (children are not encouraged on this cruise, and there were only 2 or 3 on board). More than 60% of the passengers came from the UK or USA, and there were 19 Ozzies on board. There were 85 "Odyssey Club" members - those who had been on earlier cruises of the ship. One night, they went to a Cocktail Party, to which no other passengers. Despite the age of the passengers, many of them were serious travellers. For example, we came across one couple who had driven from Alaska to Ushuaia (near Cape Horn), and another couple who had landed on Saint Helena Island (where Napoleon Bonaparte was imprisoned)were invited. 

The service on the ship was excellent (most of the crew being Filipinos and Indonesians), The amenities were good - our cabin had TV and a DVD player, although internet could only be accessed at a few locations on the ship, at a high cost (USD6 per hour). The food was generally, but not consistently, good. We were invited to eat at the Captain's Table one night, but we ate the same food as everyone else (though the Chef came out to enquire whether the food was satisfactory). There were three lecturers on board, specialising in ancient civilisations, Slavic language and lifestyle, and the Crimean War respectively. Every shore excursion was subject to a comprehensive pre-briefing, with particular attention being paid to any walking difficulties. Each excursion had a local guide, with the quality of these being generally good.

The four countries the cruise called at are middle to lower quality - Georgia (GDP per head USD3210), Russia (USD12993), Ukraine (USD7200), and Bulgaria (USD7201). These compare with Malaysia (USD9700). Although these countries are not particularly prosperous, we saw no signs of poverty. The people were reasonably dressed, and there were no beggars (an occasional busker)

Although this cruise took place at around 40/45 degrees north latitude, the weather was very hot, but dry. No balaclavas were certainly necessary at Balaklava !

The first port was Trabzon (pop.250,000) in eastern Turkey, close to the border with Georgia. This was originally a Greek colony, dating from the 8th. century. A major trading port then (and now), it has only one claim to fame aside from this - it is the birthplace of Suleyman the Magnificent. Trabzon clearly reflects its trading nature, with lots of warehouses, factories etc.

Our first excursion took place here. We travelled always in the same group of 40 people ("Red2 group", which was always off first and back first). Within our group, 1 gentleman used two walking sticks, and 19 had one walking stick. Given this, and the high average age, the top speed of the group was not high. The Trabzon excursion took us to the Sumela Monastery, a spectacular building perched on a ledge and built into rock walls in the mountains behind Trabzon.  It has numerous well preserved frescoes. Young crew members were located along the rough trail to this Monastery, helping elderly folk clamber over tree branches etc.

The second port of call was Batumi (pop.229,000) in Georgia, but only 20 kms. from the Turkish border. This was originally a Greek colony, and legend has it that Jason (of Argonauts fame) and Medea met here (there are monuments to Medea throughout the city). It changed hands over the centuries (Arabs, Ottomans, and Byzantines) but now is undergoing a transformation to an ultramodern resort city. Money (mostly Turkish)  is flowing in, in the form of casinos, condos, and similar. Even Donald Trump is involved.  There is a spectacular Sheraton hotel here. The extensive beach is black sand. The shore excursion took us to the Gonio Fortress, dating to the 1st. century BC. Only the walls are left now, and the barest of structures (store rooms etc).

The third port of call was Sochi (pop.71,000) in Russia. This is a long established  fashionable resort city, famous for beautiful parks (in Soviet times it was the centre for botanical research), and sanatoria. The city has won the 2014 Winter Olympics (two hours from the city are the snowfields), and every lamp-post had a poster about these games). It is also hopeful of getting a Formula 1 race. The shore excursion here took us to a dacha built by Stalin. Buried in a lush green forest, the dacha is also painted dark green. so as to be invisible from the air. Stalin was neurotic about his safety, and many of the interior walls of the dacha have spyholes.The dacha has now been converted to a hotel in part, and Russians pay large sums of money to stay there.

The fourth port of call was Feodosiya (pop.100,000) the first of four ports we visited in Ukraine. This was also a Greek colony dating to the 6th. century BC. However, in the 13th. century it fell under the control of Genoa, which built a magnificent fortress at nearby Sudak, to protect Feodosiya. This fortress is very well preserved (with most gatehouses and towers intact) , and has a spectacular location on the top of a cliff overlooking the Black Sea. Now, rather than looking for hostile ships, one can look at windsurfers, banana boat riders, and wall-to-wall sunbathers on the beach !

The fifth port of call was Yalta (pop. 150,000). Originally a minor Greek colony, and later taken by Genoa, this city gained prominence in the 19th. century as a fashionable resort. It attracted Russians such as Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov. Russian royalty also patronised the city, and constructed palaces. Not only are there royal structures, but in the early 20th. century, a wealthy German oil baron (Baron Von Steigel) built the famous "Swallow's Nest", perched atop a 130 foot cliff. Built for one of his mistresses, she declined the gift and it fell into disrepair (Von Steigel having lost his money meantime). It is now an Italian restaurant, but it features on all tourist posters of Yalta. The shore excursion took us to the Swallow's Nest and also to Livadia Palace, where the famous conference took place between Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalian in 1945. This was a memorable visit, with many of the rooms used by the attendees being preserved as they were in 1945. Old TV programmes play continuously throughout the palace. This palace was a favourite of the last Czar of Russia (Nicholas II), and he unsuccessfully  asked the Bolsheviks after the Revolution if he and his family could retire to this palace (they were all executed by the Bolsheviks instead). There are many photos of the last Russian royal family scattered throughout this palace. We saw another famous Palace in Yalta - the Vorontsov Palace - another magnificent creation by a Russian noble family. We also visited Chekhov's house, which was quite small but full of memorabilia of his life.

It was school holidays in Russia whilst we were in Ukraine, and Yalta was packed with Russian tourists. The public beaches were wall-to-wall with sunbathers, though the black sand was unattractive to my eye. I had a rather surprising experience in Yalta. Whilst walking by myself along the promenade, I was approached by a buxom young girl, probably 50 years younger than me. I was surprised she chose me (rather than a younger person) , and I assume that although she was young, her eyesight might be impaired. Words spoken by her were "Time" (pointing to my watch) and then "Maybe coffee now". I was so surprised that I didn't respond, and she left me !

The fifth port of call was Sevastopol (pop.350,000). In Soviet times, this city was closed to visitors (except relatives of residents, most of whom worked in the naval facilities). This was because of the naval facilities, which included a  pen for nuclear submarines). It was opened to outsiders  in 1996, but still has a shortage  of hotels for the sun seeking tourists from Russia who flock there every summer.  It was originally a Greek colony dating from the 5th. century BC, and on one of our two shore excursions, we visited the well preserved ruins of Chersonessus, which was the name of this colony.

The highlight of the cruise took place here. This was the visit to the battlefield where the Charge of the Light Brigade took place - between Sevastopol and nearby Balaklava. From the top of the hill facing east where the overall commander of the English forces - Lord Raglan - was positioned, we looked down on two valleys (running east and west), divided by a low range  over which and to the south Raglan could see the second valley. The first valley was surrounded on three sides (east, north and south), by Russian forces. The Light Horse (sabre equipped) under the Earl of Cardigan had gathered immediately below Raglan (where there is now an Esso petrol station on a road crossing the valley !), This force had access to both valleys, though Cardigan could not see over the low range to the second valley. Apparently Raglan intended the Light Horse to capture Russian guns on  the slope of the range facing the second valley. The Brigade thus would have moved south into the second valley, and taken the guns. Instead, the Brigade charged into the first valley, and came under fire from Russian guns on three sides. They were decimated. It is not known why the Light Brigade did this - the orders were apparently poorly drafted, not being clear about which Russian guns were to be taken. Cardigan led the charge and survived. That evening he returned to his yacht, moored at Balaklava, and had a champagne dinner. Blame for this fiasco was apportioned between The Earl of Lucan, who had overall command the Light and Heavy Brigades (the latter, under Maj. Gen. Scarlett, also fought on that day) and Lord Raglan, the senior General.

In Sevastopol, there is a "Panorama" building which comprises a 360 degree painting of scenes from the Crimean War. A remarkable accomplishment.

The experience of seeing this battlefield was the highlight of the Cruise.

We also had another brief shore excursion - to Balaklava. There we visited the submarine pen, which, being underground, were quite cool,and thus pleasant.

The next port of call was Odessa (pop. 1,600,000), the fourth largest city in Ukraine. This is, and always has been, a very cosmopolitan city. Its first mayor was the Duc de Richelieu, a Frenchman, who wanted to make Odessa as beautiful as Paris. Indeed the architecture throughout this city is striking ( reminiscent of Prague, I thought). The 193 Potemkin Steps (from the shoreline to up to the City) is a striking feature of this city. Our brief shore visit enabled us to stroll through the streets of the city, viewing the architecture, and looking at the famous Opera House,and the Cathedral. The Eastern Christian Church is the dominant religion here, though many religions are represented, all living peacefully together.

The last port of call was Nessebur, in Bulgaria. Although originally a Greek colony dating to the 6th. century BC, it changed hands over the centuries (Roman, Byzantine). This has left the old city of Nessebur a treasure trove of ancient churches (there are 40 of them - with names like St. John the Baptist and Christ Pantocrator). Now, Nessebur is a major holiday destination for package tourists. Near the old city, there are more than 500 hotels strung along the beach, packed with holiday makers. Unlike the holiday resorts in Ukraine, tourists to Nessebur come from the UK, Germany and other European countries (as to almost 80% of visitors). As a consequence of this, English is well spoken by locals, and Nessebur is the only one of the resorts we visited where it might be possible to go to on a "free and easy" basis. Without Russian, visits to the other resorts would be most difficult. Crimea is in the Russian leaning part of Ukraine, and even the locals favour Russian over Ukrainian. Western visitors are not at all frequent.

From Nessebur, we returned to Istanbul, where we stayed a few days at a quite large serviced apartment. Istanbul has changed for the better since I was last there. It is now serviced by an extensive and spotless underground railway system, and there is an abundance of good quality restaurants in the Taksim area, where we stayed. We also ventured to the suburbs to look at one of the new mega malls (Istanbul Forum). In all, Istanbul gives an impression of increasing prosperity, though the old buildings still remain.

An interesting and enjoyable holiday.

A LOOP AROUND FRANCE WITH ONE MEAL OF LOUP (May, 2011)

As Kim had a one month break between leaving his job in Singapore and starting his new one in Hong Kong, we decided to take a holiday of one month. We have to wait for him to be in his new job for a year before the next holiday. France was chosen.

The flights to and from Paris were on one of SIA’s A380 aircraft, the first time I had been on one of these. From our location at the front of the upper deck it was not easy to gauge the size of this aeroplane, though from our location, a grand carpeted staircase led down to the suites on the lower deck. An obvious change was in the size of the toilets in our section -much larger than on any other type of aircraft I have been on. Unfortunately, I had the same problem that I had on our flights to and from New York a couple of years ago. The cocoons are just a few inches too short for me, which meant that although I was able to lie flat, I had to try to sleep without putting my feet into the recess provided. This was not possible, so I ended both flights with numb toes and feet.

In Paris, we rented a quiet apartment fronting a tree filled courtyard in the Temple/Marais area. This proved comfortable, although neither the TV nor the internet connection worked. Attempts to fix this by the Real Estate Agent’s workers were not successful (we learned that in France repairing things takes time, and folk are relaxed about this). We had only a couple of days in Paris (and one of them was May Day, when all museums and similar were closed). We had never seen Versailles, so one day was taken up there, and on other days we used the HOHO (Hop On Hop Off) ‘buses to try to familiarise ourselves with the city, to which we have been only once before). Our Melbourne friends, Bob and Di, who were fortuitously in Paris when we were, also took us to a high quality restaurant for lunch. This introduced us to quality French food, with the menu comprising typical French meats of duck, rabbit and veal.

We collected a car from the Gare du Nord, and the drive from there to the highway leading to Bayeux, our first stop, is one that I would prefer not to do again. I drove, with Kim navigating. The car was fitted with GPS, and we had our own Garmin as well, but not being familiar with either one, and in a strange car, driving on the opposite side of the road, I was glad when we left Paris behind. The fact that I mistook the cruise control lever for the turning lever didn’t help. Occasionally the car wouldn’t respond to my foot on the accelerator, which upset the drivers of following cars! Bayeux is one of many ancient towns we saw in France. All of them have congested CBDs and a lack of parking. It is famous for the Bayeux Tapestry. This is actually an embroidery, as the coloured threads are sewn into the cloth, not woven. This is about 70 metres long (7 or 8 metres are thought to be missing), and depicts the story behind the Battle of Hastings. Edward the Confessor, the king of England who died without issue in 1066, left the throne to William, Duke of Normandy. The King’s brother-in-law, Harold Godwinson, had agreed to this before the King died, but reneged on his death and tried to take the throne. Thus William came to England, defeated (and killed) Harold at the Battle of Hastings, and took the throne. All of this is shown with great clarity and colour. A remarkable achievement.

A tour out of Bayeux was to Mont St. Michel, another of the most visited sites in France (along with Versailles – see above – Chenonceaux and Carcassonne – see below). Mont St. Michel comprises a tiny village (pop.42) at sea level beneath a small mountain, which is crowned by an ancient abbey, long one of the most famous pilgrimage sites in Christendom. Stairs lead upwards to the top of the Abbey, at 240 feet above sea level. Mont St. Michel is at the end of a Causeway, the parking areas along which are susceptible to the tides. There are signs advising when cars should be shifted from the car parks. These have to be obeyed, as the tides race in at about 20 mph. I rated this place as one of the highlights of our holiday.

Another tour from Bayeux took us to the D-Day beaches. This was a very poignant visit, reminding me very much of Gallipoli. The entire area appears to be hallowed ground, with a number of beautifully maintained cemeteries for the fallen on the Allied side, and a small one for the German side. Offshore can still be seen remains of some of the mulberries used. An interesting place was Pointe du Hoc, an idyllic headland which during WW2 housed major gun emplacements. These were overcome by a force of American Rangers who climbed the cliffs. It was also heavily bombed, and there are many craters still evident on the headland.

At Bayeux, I became acquainted with Normandy oysters. The largest fleshy ones (No. 3) were most tasty, but at Euros 15 or so for 6, were not cheap.

From Bayeux we drove south to Amboise, in the Loire Valley. This valley is famous for grand chateaus, and we visited two of them, near to Amboise. Chenonceaux, a 16th. Century palace astride the Cher River, is one of the few chateaus in France built for pleasure, rather than for aggrandisement or protection of the owners. Looking at it, I was reminded of the opening lines of the poem by S.T. Coleridge (a few words would have to be changed) :-

"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan,

A stately pleasure-dome decree,

Where Alph, the sacred river ran etc. etc."

The second chateau we visited, Chambord, was much larger than Chenonceaux, very impressive from the view outside the chateau but unlike Chenonceaux, many of its 440 rooms were bare (and many were closed to the public).

From Amboise, we continued south to the Dordogne Valley, where we stayed at Sarlat. The Dordogne Valley is littered with limestone caves full of prehistoric artwork (some only recently discovered).We visited one (Grotte de Rouffignac), where a small train took us into the extremities of the cave, looking at mostly black coloured artwork of animals on the roof as we progressed. Another tour from Amboise took us to Beynac, a typical old village in the Dordogne, tumbling down a riverside mountain, on top of which was perched a forbidding, but crumbling, castle. The cuisine in the Dordogne revolves around duck and mushrooms, and virtually every restaurant features duck, and often only duck. When I ordered chicken at one restaurant (having found it in small print buried within the menu) I was looked at askance by the waiter. Tins of foie gras abound in the shops in the town.

Travelling south from Sarlat, we next stopped at Carcassonne. This comprises one of Europe’s largest and best preserved fortified towns (dating back to the 13^th. Century), surrounded by the more modern town. Although a major tourist destination, the fortified city does not give the impression of great age (as does, for example, Mont. St. Michel), mostly because of relatively recent renovations. Nonetheless, it was worth visiting.

By now, we were very close to the Mediterranean, and we next stopped at Cap d’Agde. En route there, we looked at the Pont du Gard, part of the famous aqueduct dating from Roman times. The aqueduct (of about 50 kms. or so), which, by dropping one inch in every 350 feet, brought water to the city of Nijmes, which in those days was one of the largest cities in Europe. At the Pont du Gard, the aqueduct crosses a canyon on a massive bridge. This is almost perfectly preserved, and is a stunning example of Roman building, At a museum nearby, we learned that Nijmes had a commissioner for water, and he was constantly plagued by local folk siphoning off water without paying for it. Between Pont du Gard and Cap d’Agde, we had our first experience of the mistral, the strong chilling wind from the north which affects this area. There are windsocks along the roads, and we came across one accident, where a van had been blown on its side, unfortunately on top of an overtaking car.

Cap d’Agde is one of Europe’s major naturist settlements, and most of the resort buildings are within a naturist village, which is separated from the surrounding town. The village has a permanent population of naturists, who are mostly retired. There is a large influx of folk from northern Europe, once the summer school holidays start. We stayed at a new apartment on the outskirts of the village. The village is self- contained, with supermarkets and other shops, and a wide variety of good restaurants. Clothing is optional throughout, and was also in our apartment complex. An interesting experience observing the naturist cycling in the full glory. Here we enjoyed a bar which reminded me of New Orleans. Oysters were shucked in front of you, and were quite cheap (one small bottle of beer plus 6 oysters for 7 Euros). Seafood meals predominated, and we had one meal of memorable loup fish (sea bass).The mistral spoiled the first day, but the remaining two days were fine and hot, and we joined many hundreds of folk on the beach. Many of the folk used walking sticks, and a number were in wheelchairs. Despite this, all appeared happy, and brown all over !

From Cap d’Agde we turned westwards to Arles, on the Rhone. This city is notable as a place where Vincent Van Gogh lived and painted for a while, and throughout the city there are small monuments in the shape of easels, showing where Van Gogh actually completed particular paintings (eg one shows where he painted “Starry Night over the Rhone”). At a museum here, we learned that the mistral was often so bad that Van Gogh sometimes had to kneel on his canvases in order to paint on them, and at other times had to lash his canvases to a lamp post before he could paint). Arles dates from Roman times, and as a consequence has a number of Roman monuments – eg an arena which had a seating capacity of 20,000 – Colosseum in Rome 40,000, El Djemm in Tunisia 30,000. Many of these Roman sites are undergoing restoration. The food in Arles had elements of North African cuisine, and we enjoyed this type of food each night we were there. A side trip from Arles was to Les Baux, an ancient fortified village perched on a mountain.

From Arles it was over 400 kms to our last stop, in Chamonix. The highways in France make for quick travel. Speed limit is 130 kmph, and most are four lane. Diesel cars predominate (the appropriate fuel costs about 1.5 Euros per litre). Ours was also, but it had long legs on the highway.

Chamonix was a highlight of our holiday. A ski-ing village in the French Alps, it nestles beneath Europe’s highest mountain – Mont Blanc, at 4800 metres. Quite close to Mont Blanc is the Aiguille du Midi, a needle like peak . At about 3800 metres, the top of this peak can be reached by gondola from Chamonix. The top of the peak has been extensively tunnelled to include restaurants, souvenir shops, and viewing terraces. Quite remarkable, and well worth the visit, although many of the exposed terraces still had snow on them, and the wind blew strongly at the time of our visit. From Aiguille du Midi, another small gondola goes about 5 kms. or so (without any solid pylons along the way) to Heilbronner Point, the Italian border station. The French/Italian border slices through this station, where it is possible to stand with one foot in each country). Last Christmas we were in the Andes at 4200 metres, approximately the same height as we were at Chamonix. The major difference is that in the Andes we were only about half way up the range, whereas at Chamonix we were virtually at the top. Nonetheless the sight of the Alps stretching away in the distance was stunning.

In Chamonix, we rented an apartment with a terrace directly facing Aiguille du Midi, and it was warm enough to sit on our terrace in the evening and have a beer, whilst looking at this superb view. The cuisine in Chamonix is distinctive, featuring potatos and melted cheese (“tartiflettes”). It is difficult to find a dish without any cheese in it.

A side trip took us to Annecy, a nearby lakefront city (an old portion and a new portion), with a strong educational element.

From Chamonix to Paris was over 600 kms., but given the high quality of French highways, took us only 6 hours of driving time. This is to the outskirts of Paris, but the last 25 kms. From there to the Airport (where we stayed), with me driving and Kim navigating, was not something I would want to do again.

In all, a pleasant holiday, France being more attractive than I thought it would be. Easy to drive through, good food, good wine, but with the beer being only average quality. Not expensive, with most of our hotels being around 150 Euros a night. The evening meals were in line with what we would pay in Singapore.