July 4th 2013
After departing Leper (Ypres) and headed for Champagne region of France, our very knowledgeable host and historian, Alan Forbes give us and in depth account of some pivotal World War 1 battle sites and cemeteries.
These include; Fromelle, to view the new memorial to the uncovered graves of 200 Australian/British soldiers who died in July 1916 at the battle of Fromelle.
In addition we stopped at Villers Bretonneux to see the grave site of the Unknown Soldier that was removed and placed in the War memorial in Canberra.
Other places included Messene Ridge, Hill 60, Polygon Wood, Tyne Cot and Villers Bretonneux.
Alan has a very passionate and gave detailed accounts of key battles of 1917 from an ANZAC and allied perspective.He hosts any tours through Belgium and France and gives real meaning to the sights we saw and the places we stopped through northern France.
As we make our way to Champagne, one cant help but notice the vast areas of cereal crops.
It kind of reminds me of home but also reminds me of my Nuffield study- The synergies between Arable and Dairy. Plenty of work to do in that space !
Travelling on the motorways in France often means being on a toll road.
Usually this is a relatively inexpensive exercise with either a flat rate of a couple of Euros or a ticket system and payment based on distance traveled.
Seems straight forward enough, and it is- until you loose the ticket during the journey!
The driver and navigator, can not be named due to a confidentiality clause - or 'What goes on tour stays on tour'. However entire van was all but turned upside down in the search for the elusive ticket.
Of course the toll booth was unmanned, so ' The Driver' is frantically pushing the help button at the toll gate.
As a security van pulls up behind us, it seems our problems are over.
Unfortunately the two security guys are not interested in helping us, they just want to get passed !
Time to wake up Allan our historian, who by pushing the help button and speaking French at the same time is able to understand that we can pay the toll with our credit card and it will cost 36 Euros as apposed to the normal 2.80 !
One of the highlights of France was a visit to Thibaud Brocard a fellow Nuffield Scholar on thier Farmily Vineyard near Celles-sur-Ource.
After departing Leper (Ypres) and headed for Champagne region of France, our very knowledgeable host and historian, Alan Forbes give us and in depth account of some pivotal World War 1 battle sites and cemeteries.
 |
These include; Fromelle, to view the new memorial to the uncovered graves of 200 Australian/British soldiers who died in July 1916 at the battle of Fromelle.
In addition we stopped at Villers Bretonneux to see the grave site of the Unknown Soldier that was removed and placed in the War memorial in Canberra.
Other places included Messene Ridge, Hill 60, Polygon Wood, Tyne Cot and Villers Bretonneux.
Alan has a very passionate and gave detailed accounts of key battles of 1917 from an ANZAC and allied perspective.He hosts any tours through Belgium and France and gives real meaning to the sights we saw and the places we stopped through northern France.
 |
| Barley in Northern France |
As we make our way to Champagne, one cant help but notice the vast areas of cereal crops.
It kind of reminds me of home but also reminds me of my Nuffield study- The synergies between Arable and Dairy. Plenty of work to do in that space !
Travelling on the motorways in France often means being on a toll road.
Usually this is a relatively inexpensive exercise with either a flat rate of a couple of Euros or a ticket system and payment based on distance traveled.
Seems straight forward enough, and it is- until you loose the ticket during the journey!
The driver and navigator, can not be named due to a confidentiality clause - or 'What goes on tour stays on tour'. However entire van was all but turned upside down in the search for the elusive ticket.
Of course the toll booth was unmanned, so ' The Driver' is frantically pushing the help button at the toll gate.
As a security van pulls up behind us, it seems our problems are over.
Unfortunately the two security guys are not interested in helping us, they just want to get passed !
Time to wake up Allan our historian, who by pushing the help button and speaking French at the same time is able to understand that we can pay the toll with our credit card and it will cost 36 Euros as apposed to the normal 2.80 !
 |
| Anyone seen the Toll Gate Ticket ? |
One of the highlights of France was a visit to Thibaud Brocard a fellow Nuffield Scholar on thier Farmily Vineyard near Celles-sur-Ource.
Thibaud gave a tour of his farm with his father Pierre.
The vineyard is made up of 20 ac.and some vines are also rented.
Since the 1930's the area of land devoted to grapes in the Champagne region has been restricted to allow very limited increase in area so as to restrict production and keep the integrity of the Champagne brand intact - very clever !
This means the land in grapes has a value of some 1.2 m Euros per ha. It also explains the economics of growing barley adjacent to the grapes. That land is worth a mere 15000 Euros per ha.
A tour of the winery revealed many traditional methods being used to produce their Champagne including a Shiner Vertical press used to separate the juices from the skins not to mention the mode of transport for our tour..
 |
| Vineyard Truck - 1940 GMC |
 |
| The scholars are outstanding in their fields ! |
Lunch was also very traditional with the Brocard Family taking us to their favorite restaurant for lunch followed by a couple of wine hours tasting.
 |
| Nothing beats a Steak Tartere - ahh I ordered mine well done......... |
 |
| Carly Buttrose, Aust. Caroline Miller, Scot. and David (Cookie) Cook, Aust. |
Next its off to Paris to drop the car off before checking into our hotel for the next 2 nights.
Oh, I nearly forgot, the ticket for the toll gate, it turned in the door sleeve ! "But it wasn't there yesterday"
Interestingly it was mean’t to take 2.5 hrs to get to Gare Du Nord but the last 10 minutes took closer to 2 hrs alone - Friday afternoon traffic in Paris is no fun !
 |
| Champs- Elysees |
Tafi Manjala (NZ) and Lachie Sears (AUS) Nuffield scholars catch up for a night out in Paris before a free day in the City. This means time to catch up on laundry and some admin stuff before taking in the sights.
 |
| View of the Arc de Triomphe from the hotel window. |
 |
| Sunset from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. |
An email from Chontell our travel agent in Australia had everyone scrambling for a couple of hours. It seems because the flight to Dublin tomorrow is with Ryan Air, we have to check in online and restrict our baggage to 20 kg - after six weeks of gathering up presents, keepsakes and giveaways from meeting, I don't think so !!!
Rounding everyone up is a challenge on its own, ten people all gone sightseeing in different directions!
Figuring out how to get all our luggage to Dublin in the least expensive manner was the next challenge and have you ever tried to find affordable luggage in Paris at short notice....
And don't forget to print the boarding passes- that will cost an extra 70 Euros !
What Bullshit.
My advice is pay the extra and go with a reputable carrier, it's still cheaper in the long run.
No comments:
Post a Comment