Fri, 18th May 2012, Lechatelet, Burgundy & enroute Paris, France
Today we travelled from Burgundy to Paris. We wanted to get off the motorway to see what else there was to see. So, initially we set the TomTom for Paris via the motorway, but then used the France road atlas to get off the main roads and travel up through some more scenic roads. Using the TomTom and the road atlas made it so much easier and enjoyable. It was fantastic driving through all the little villages and seeing the amazing scenery. We had lunch in a village up in the highlands, where we bought some home made chocolates. Then while we were making our way back to the motorway we continued to take little roads through little villages, and making the TomTom work over time to find our way, in the meanwhile see some very beautiful countryside.
We made our way into Paris at about peak hour on a Friday afternoon, using the TomTom to plan the route for us to the Hotel D'Angleterre in St. Germaine De Pres. We all did a really good job making our way along the north bank of the Siene River, and then switching over to the south bank from the east side of the city. We finally made our way to 44, Rue Jacob where the hotel is, and then had to find parking close by. We found the hotel on the first lap on a small one-way street, but no parking nearby. So, around we went on the next lap with the TomTom guiding our way really well, and then 100m before the hotel on Rue Jacob we found a tiny spot half on a cross walk. So, on went the hazard lights, out we jumped, pulled out as much of the luggage as possible to take to the hotel. I went back for the remainder while Vera checked us in. We got up to the room, and quickly sorted everything out and then went back to the car (all okay).
We werent supposed to take the hire car back until tomorrow, and even though the hotel had some underground parking somewhere close by we decided to take it back straight away. Again we entered the Avis rent a car address in the TomTom (the one we were supposed to take it back to, and later found out not the closest) and found it quite quickly. It was now about 1830, and the streets were surprisingly quiet. Then we walked back to the hotel, using the TomTom to guide us.
We got back to the hotel and decided to pop out to a cafe (Cafe de Flores) for some dinner.
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Thu, 17th May 2012, Lechatelet & Nuits-Saint-Georges, Burgundy
Today we were taken to the L'Imaginarium. This is where they show you how sparkling wine (Cremante) is made. Very, very interactive and something that many, many Australian attractions could learn from the way they present the history of a subject.
We tasted a number of Cremante's; and of course bought a few as well.
We learnt the different methods of making, cooking with, serving Cremante.
Later in the afternoon, Vera & I went for a lovely walk around Lechatelet to stretch our legs, as we had spent quite a bit of time in the car over the last few days and it was great to walk around the old town and look at all the different buildings of varying ages.
Later Chris & Liz took us to a lovely little restaurant call Simon. We all shared a great dinner together for our last night. The picture is of the table ornament from Restaurant Simon - rooster (coq) being the French national symbol - although this one looks like something out of the movie "Chicken Run".
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Wed, 16th May 2012, Beaune & Dijon Burgundy
Today we headed off to Musee de l'Hotel Dieu, Hospices de Beaune. This is an old hospital that started operation in the 1400's, and progressively developed until it closed as a hospital in the early 1900's. Very interesting in how it was developed; including where the money came from to build it, etc.
We had a quick lunch in Beaune, and then headed up to Dijon and a wander around the city centre. We went into a mustard store and you can virtually get every colour and flavour. We went into a Notre Dame church, and then headed to Chris Pye's favourite restaurant in Dijon.
The central plaza of Beaune near Hotel Dieu was absolutely beautiful, with the old buildings around the outside, and a pretty little central square. While there we also went into a typical French patisserie.
What we noticed was both of the central square's/plaza's had cute little carousel's, and it was great to see so many people of all ages riding around on bicycles.
The photo is of the lovely coloured and patterned roofing tiles of the Hotel Dieu (its not actually a hotel; thats just what they called hospices where patients paid to stay).
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Tue, 15th May 2012, Hotel Cascarot, Lechatelet, Burgundy & Suerre, Burgundy
Today we just spent some relaxing time around Lechatelet and Suerre. We went into Suerre to the Metro bulk grocery store to get some provisions. On the way back we stopped into a local restaurant (see photo) for some late lunch. In France like a lot of European countries most businesses close up shop between 1400'ish-1500'ish. We got there at about 1330, and the Maitre De didnt like it; however the kitchen said go ahead. The Maitre De ended up leaving at about 1400, after we had been served, leaving the waitress to deal with us. It was a good lunch, and our first real test of French using menu's, etc. We did okay!
We really spent most of the day just relaxing.
Lechatelet is a beautiful little village - the mornings are a little crisp, but it is quiet and very beautiful - including the region surrounding the village.
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Mon, 14th May 2012, London, England, Paris, France & enroute Lechatelet, Burgundy, France
Today was an early start at Hyde Park House to get to St. Pancras International Train station to catch the Eurostar to Paris at 0831. We shared a taxi with Chris & Liz Pye, and suprisingly got all of our luggage and four of us all in the taxi. We got to St. Pancras very quickly and in plenty of time - even before our train check-in opened. But, we finally got to go through customs until they picked up the sailing knives that I bought for the boat in my luggage. I knew there would possibly be a problem on the train as you have access to your luggage while aboard. However, I explained what they were for and showed them my RPYC membership, Yachting Australia membership & Restricited Skippers Ticket; and after the supervisor came down and asked questions and checked everything he let me proceed with the knives in my luggage. It shouldnt be a problem on the Lufthansa flights as they will be in my luggage stowed away below.
So, we boarded the train in Premium Economy, got served breakfast and had a look at the route that we wanted to take in the hire car from Paris to Burgundy.
We arrived in Paris just before lunchtime, and headed downstairs to get the hire car. As the Pye's and another couple are also heading to Burgundy to stay at the Pye's Hotel Cascarot in Lechatelet; and they were catching trains we offered to take the majority of the luggage. So, with all the luggage loaded in the car and Ken (TomTom) giving us good directions we set off. Although, we didnt have any Euro's yet and we also wanted a real map, so we got off the ring road and found somewhere to get some cash and off we set again.
We found our way back onto the motorway and headed south again; however soon realised we were on a tollway so we decided to get off and get intentionally lost to see what we could see. We went via a couple small towns/villages in the rural part of Paris. the photo for this entry is a village called Lechamp and is of our first old French church that we have visited. I think it was built in the 1500's, and has had some significant damage done to it, and it is obvious that there has been some restoration done to it over the years; as well as some happening now. We then decided that to just jump back onto the tollway and head to the Burgundy region and just see what we could see on the way; plus it was starting to get late.
We finally got to the Hotel Cascarot in the village of Lechatelet at about 1915, just before the others. This is where we are basing ourselves until Friday thanks to Liz & Chris Pye who are currently renovating the hotel.
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Sun, 13th May 2012, Queen Mary Sailing Club, Queen Mary Reservoir, Ashford, Middlesex, England
Well today is the last day of racing with another early morning. We were hoping that we were going to get 4 races in today with the RPYC team, however with the delays from Day 1 & 2 we only got 2 races in. Although, we were out for the final Round Robin race of the day between Seawanhka & Royal Thames which was absolutely fantastic and lsted 25mins (normally about 15mins) because of the backwards and forwards, and closeness of the teams racing. It was a perfect race to watch from a teams racing training point of view. In the coming week i will get a video of it up on the Swagman Sailing YouTube channel.
The 3 race final was between NYYC & Seawanahka; although it only lasted 2 races, with NYYC taking it in a clean sweep. The racing was very good.
We then went back to the Queen Mary Sailing Clubhouse and had the presentations. Following presentations and with drinks there was the normal swapping of team gear.
We then headed back to Hyde Park House, had a few drinks at the bar, and then got showered & changed and headed out for a final dinner down the road in Knightsbridge. We decided on a curry a a Pakistani Curry House which was decorated very heavily.
After that we had to head back to Hyde Park House and started packing ready for the early start in the morning to get to St. Pancras International Train Station to catch the Eurostar to Paris.
The attached photo is from just up the road from the Pakistani Curry House, and is typical of the sort of vehicles you see in Knightsbridge
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Sat, 12th May 2012, Queen Mary Sailing Club, Queen Mary Reservoir, Ashford, Middlesex, England
Well another early start with another day of racing - hopefully with some success - but alas we still didnt come up with any success. Today Andrew (me) did some sailing. I was shared between the two RPYC boats to give some of the others a break. I did mainsheet on both boats. Even thought we didnt a win, we still got very very close and had some good racing against the top teams.
After the days racing we had the regatta dinner back at Hyde Park House. Each team had to do a little skit (typical British entertainment), and was very entertaining. The RPYC team did a ditty about the sailing to the tune (although a bit off key) Advance Australia Fair. We didnt win that either, although tied for runner-up.
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Fri, 11th May 2012, Queen Mary Sailing Club, Queen Mary Reservoir, Ashford, Middlesex, England
Up early this morning for the first day of racing in the Cumberland Cup Teams Racing event. Today I (Andrew) am just acting as reserve/support. I was able to get out on one of the supprt rib's for most of the day. This was great! I was able to get some good photo's and some reasonable GoPro video (which I will put up on the Swagman Sailing YouTube channel soon). The team had some good close racing, however weren't able to convert it into any wins.
The RTYC write up of the days events and results are here.
After the sailing we had a free night and we wandered down the road into Knightsbridge to have a dinner at one of the restaurants on Montepelier Road. Vera then went onto the casino across the road from Hyde Park House with a couple of the others.
The photo is of the RPYC team in boats 1 & 2.
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Thu, 10th May 2012, Hyde Park House, Royal Thames Yacht Club, Knightsbridge, London, & Queen Mary Sailing Club, Queen Mary Reservoir, Ashford, Middlesex, England
Today was to be the official practice day of the Cumberland Cup. We arrived at Queen Mary Reservior to find the wind blowing very strongly, with some big gusts in it. The event organisers decided to delay any practice, and review at midday; however there was no change and so all practice was cancelled for the day. Lucky that we had organised the pre-training day yesterday - something that we definitely need to undertake in any future teams racing events we attend anyway.
We all returned to Hyde Park House and relaxed and got ready for the official reception at St. James Palace with HRH Prince Andrew (not me!) - The Duke of York. We departed RTYC on an old double decker London bus (our official transport for the whole event), and made our way across the centre of London to St. James Palace where we waited outside until it was time for us to move inside. We were not allowed cameras or mobile phones, so I am afraid there are no pictures. We mingled inside until HRH arrived - he is the honourary Commodore of RTYC. A couple of speeches were made, with HRH apologising for the London weather causing the cancellation of the practice day. Andrew (me) then commented that "The Australians got out yesterday in 20kts plus". Once the speeches were over HRH approached Andrew, probably because of his interjection, and discussed sailing in Australia. Great conversation!
Once finished there we all had to make our own way back to Hyde Park House, and we sat down for a team dinner in the restaurant.
A good night was had by all, and we are ready for the first days racing tomorrow.
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Wed, 09th May 2012, Hyde Park House, Royal Thames Yacht Club, Knightsbridge, London, & Queen Mary Sailing Club, Queen Mary Reservoir, Ashford, Middlesex, England
Well today was our first activities for the Royal Perth Yacht Club (RPYC) team for the Cumberland Cup. Due to the high possibility of very little wind at this event, the team decided to get an extra days practice in - just in case. So we booked ourselves a mini-bus and a J80 (the boat we are sailing on for this event) for 3hrs to get a feel of the boat and 'bed-in' how we will work on these boats as they are set-up a little bit different to the BW8's that we trained on at RPYC.
There was some good wind out there; although it looks like the forecast for the event is light winds. But, we got comfortable with the boats and figured out what we needed to do. We tested some spinnaker sets; although in these winds they would not normally use spinnakers for this event - but we needed to train with them anyway. We got some good processes in place and should be right for the regatta. The official training/familiarisation day is tomorrow (Thursday) and the races run Friday-Sunday with the finals on Sunday.
There is a webcam of the venue; although I am not sure it is working, but here is the link just in case - Queen Mary Sailing Club Webcam & Weather link.
I think this is the link to the Royal Thames Yacht Club (RTYC) Cumberland Cup website and hopefully it will show the results - but I will try to upload them each day RTYC Cumberland Cup link.
This is the link to the GoPro video on the Swagman Sailing YouTube channel, of the our pre-training day.
When we got back to RTYC after the training session we did the official registration for the event. We have a 'meet & greet' tonight in the RTYC Quarterdeck Room (Jacket & Tie....grrrr - but you have to do it).
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Tue, 08th May 2012, Hyde Park House, Royal Thames Yacht Club, Knightsbridge, London, England
Well today we woke up to a nice and fine day, although it got cold later in the afternoon - but that is probably expected.
Today we decided to take the Underground over to Lords Cricket Ground and on the way take a wander around Sherlock Holmes territory along Baker Street and take a leisurely stroll through Regents Park.
We didn't go into the Sherlock Homes Museum at 221b Baker Street, but went into the gift shop and looked around at the souvenirs. We then wandered over to Regents Park and had a light lunch, and then walked over to Lords.
At Lords we went into the Museum while waiting for our tour. Lots of English cricketing memorabilia and of course the Ashes urn (or old perfume jar which we later found out on the tour). Of course you are not allowed to use Mobile Phones (cameras) or cameras because most of the items are on loan from private collectors. Attempt to take a photo of the Ashes urn during the tour but didnt work.
We went into the Pavillion and the visitors dressing room. They are currently getting ready for the England v West Indies test match on Thursday; so we werent allowed on to the ground, but got close enough. We went through the stands and then up to the UFO shaped media center. Great tour - just under 2hrs - but very informatiive. Interesting the tour guide had a two-way radio and they dont number the for identification - they use famous cricketers names. Our tour guide had Truman (I think?).
Went and bought a few things at the Lords Cricket store.
We then caught the Underground back towards Knightsbridge and got off at Bond Street to do a quick bit of shopping along Oxford Street. Bloody packed with plenty of people spending lots of money; even though everything is very cheaply priced. Saw a security guard pick up a pair of pants somebody had dropped. He said they were old ones that somebody had swapped with new ones and had walked out with the new ones - no security tags on anything.
We came back and then wandered down Brompton Road for a light dinner at a local Tea Room - very nice and very reasonably priced.
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I am particularly liking day 4 when you go to Lords how exciting....shame you couldn't step on the hallowed turf.
Sounds like purchases are being made every day too, you little shoppers
Have fun and kkeep posting, Luv Pen
Mon, 07th May 2012, Hyde Park House, Royal Thames Yach Club, Knightsbridge, London, England
Monday was a Bank Holiday in the UK; although there was plenty of stuff open. In the morning we hired the public bikes in Hyde Park and had a short ride around before breakfast. We rode over to Kensington Palace which is at the end of Hyde Park, and rode up embassy rode. Vera said that I must have put all the security guards on high alert because I had my black beanie and sunnies on and looked like an international THUG! It is the first time in our lives that we had to watch out for horses as they are everywhere in Hyde Park.
We then came back and headed out to the British Museum in Bloomsbury. On the way we stopped off at the Disney store, which is where the photo is from with me standing with Woody from Toy Story.
We started out walking and then it started raining (funny that); so we head down to the Underground to get the rest of the way. The British Museum has had a real re-vamp over last decade and is very good. We hired the electronic guides and did the Britain & Europe History section, and then because we are going to Athens we decided to do the Parthenon section. This section was very good and very very interactive, and we spent about 2-3hrs in that section alone. The freizes that made up part of the Parthenon we display very well and current interpretation explained very explicitly. Really enjoyed that bit.
In the British & European History section they had some amazing jewellery that had been recovered from English dig sites; as well as Bog Man who is an extremely well preserved specimen over 2000 yrs old, we think!
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Sun, 06th May 2012, Hyde Park House, Royal Thames Yach Club, Knightsbridge, London, England
On Sunday we did a Big Bus Tour of the city. It was great; although it took most of the day. It also included a tour boat trip in the main part of the Thames. Around lunch we hopped off the tour down on the Embankment and went to OceanLeisure Chandlery and picked up some sailing gear including my new watch. The Big Bus Tour Company is very good; although at the end of the day we got caught in traffic and we didnt get to see much. After Ocean Leisure we went to The Sherlock Holmes Pub in Embankment. Vera tried the Sherlock Holmes ale - which was warm.
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Sat, 05th May 2012, Hyde Park House, Royal Thames Yacht Club, Knightsbridge, London, England
This is a photo of the daily exercising of one of the Queens Regiments.
Sitting having breakfast at Hyde Park House overlooking Hyde Park the view is wonderful. We are here in London from 05/05/2012 until Monday 14/05/2012 to compete in the Cumberland Cup Teams Racing event. This is an invitation only event to all Royal (or equivalent) yacht clubs using two team boats (J80's) and we compete against 7 other teams. We arrived yesterday (midday'ish) from Perth via Dubai on Emirates Airways. Great flight, and flying the A380 was magnificent; such a magnificent aircraft. Walked around Knightsbridge yesterday afternoon. Had to go into Harrods and have a look around, which was great - damn busy with all sorts of people. Had coffee just outside Harrods watching all the luxury cars (with & without chauffeurs) pull up and park outside.
We then wandered down Knightsbridge and did some window shopping, and Vera bought her first item of clothing (leather jacket) for an extremely good price. Vera is very happy with me as she said I was the one that made her decide on buying the jacket; otherwise she would have just left it - good parchase. We and had an early meal and pint at a corner pub just on Knightsbridge.
We then went for a late afternoon walk around Hyde Park - magificent park, and came back and wandered through the eastern end of Knightsbridge looking at all the luxury cars, little terrace houses that have been turned into luxury residences - very, very high priced. One note is that their are a huge amount of Balkan's (Russian, Ukrainian, etc), and a hell of a lot of money.
Today we are going for a Big Bus Tour of London, and make our way to Ocean Leisure Chandlery to pick up a couple of things and have a look at what boating items I would like but probably wont get. We will then probably hire a bike in Hyde Park and have a ride around the area.
When we finish here we will be head over to France via Eurostar for a week; with a few days in the SE of France (Burgundy) at our fellow RPYC club members hotel that is being renovated (Lechatelet), and then back to Paris for a few days. Then we are off to Croatia; Dubrovnik for a couple of days and then off to Split where we pick up a Junneau Sun Odyssey 36i charter boat for a week. Then back to Split and Dubrovnik for a night each before we head off to Greece for a week and a half. We arrive in Thessaloniki, Greece, and then head west over to the Prespes region to see Vera's Mum's village for 2 nights. Then we drive down to the island of Lefkada in the SW for 2 nights, and drive over to Athens for about a week. Then back home via Dubai again.
I will attempt to Blog as often as possible while we are away to keep family and friends updated.
Today was also the annual SS34 Association Commodores Race at Fremantle Sailing Club. Because we are away I had Phil Somerville-Ryan and Murray Gardiner sail the boat down for the race. They should be finished soon, so I will message them shortly to see how they went.
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There you are looking at parks and men in red suits and all we have is the federal budget to look forward to today! Great to hear you are loving it in my old country, have fun Luv Pen
