All you can see is Champagne…

The 30 degree heat overnight makes the sleeping somewhat uncomfortable in our non air-conditioned rooms but never the less we manage to get a few hours in.Breakfast this morning is not the usual Petit Dejuner at the ground level of the hotel but taken in our rooms using the last of our Swedish bought food. Some bread, Juice and cheese. We need to finish all our food before we return home. The sniffers dogs at Sydney airport would love us otherwise. The sausage I bought in the Swedish village of Färila a week and a few posts ago still shows no sign of deterioration and is finished in a flash. Salted and heavily smoked it is known to withstand the harshest of climate conditions.

Today we’re doing a tour of the Champagne-Ardennes district. This is the only place in the world where every drop of sparkling wine produced is allowed to the get the label Champagne. First off we drive to the small village of Hautvillers to show Salme the tomb of Dom Perignon, who made some very important contributions to the production and quality of Champagne, what a treat for him to do all that tasting! The village itself is the postcard perfect place of a tiny French village with the narrow streets, flowers in every window, a baker, a Brassiere and an old church. Well worth the visit for anyone who’s considering a visit to France and the Champagne region.

Next we follow the “ Champagne Route Tourism” through tiny villages and every grain of chalk filled dirt has a champagne vine growing on it. Famous Champagne brands like Dom Perignon, Moet & Chandon, Mumm, Veuve Cliquot flashes past us as we slowly make our way north east towards Verzy.  In Verzy we take a walk through the National Park to inspect some beech trees which were thought to be cursed by divine intervention in medieval times before 20th century science arrived and concluded the strange looking trees were caused by genetic mutation.

All tree’d out we move on and next stop is the village of Verzenay which has a wine museum, which we ignore, but we do admire some great views of the champagne growing countryside. Check out the full panorama photo!

It’s past lunch time and we need to head towards Paris to make the deadline for our car drop off time. The French motorways are very good with a 130 km/h speed limit but as always the roads have to be funded and the road toll stations are frequent but if it can save some time we don’t mind to pay a couple of Euros here and there. Our Tom-tom GPS navigation device really comes into a class of it’s own as we get nearer Paris. Since it receives live updates of the traffic situation along our route we get the optimal travel instructions to reach our goal. Road works, congestions and accidents are all avoided and with the superb driving skills of Yvonne we navigate the streets of Paris with ease and reach our car drop off point right on time.

We sell the car back to Citroen and make no profit  nor a loss either…. A Taxi takes us through the busy peak hour traffic of Paris to our hotel in Montparnasse. We find to our delight it’s air conditioned and in the 37 degree heat it certainly makes life a lot more pleasant. A few wines later we head out for dinner at a nearby brassiere. Tomorrow we’re catching the bus to the Charles De Gaulle airport and it will be an early departure so we have and early night once we’ve finished the last bottle of wine.

Heatwave in Europe

After a very good nights sleep in our excellent hotel we wake up to yet another day of sunshine. We make the most of the free internet and manage to post our last blog which takes quite some time as it is from Sweden to Belgium.

After yet another good breakfast with lots of varieties to choose from  we are ready to explore Bouillon by daylight and lucky for us there is a fort built high on a rock face right above us.

We decide to drive uphill and as cars are parked wherever on the street and as ours is parked on the wrong side I manage for the first time this trip to drive on the wrong side of the road, which over here is the left side. Lucky for me there was no cars around before I realised my mistake and my passengers barely noticed the little mishap.

The fort is absolutely incredible sitting about 150 metres up, built on a big cliff. After paying our entre fee we walk along grotto like corridors taking us around with myriads of different alleys making it a most interesting 4 hours.

 

The only thing putting a damper on the day is the intense heat +34 and boy is it hot, summer has arrived with a vengeance.

 

After melting away watching the falconer show and some other  spectacular “bird friends” we say aurevoir to this fort built during the 9th century and opt for some well deserved lunch by the river making our plans for the last leg of our trip.

After some debating we come to an agreement to travel towards Champagnes Ardennes and decide to settle in the little town of Epernay. This we think is a great choice being situated right in the middle of the champagne country. But little did we know that day 8 of Tour de France starts in Epernay on this very day. The town is only very small but with all the hype of the bike race it is chaos everywhere, maybe not such a good choice after all but here we are and making the most of it.

But I am personally very pleased we decided not to travel to the town of Laon where I still somewhat have nightmares from 5 years ago when I drove through the horribly narrow streets and Peter yelling “look at the view” and having to fold the side mirrors of the car to manage to fit through the street. Epernay is a bit bigger with slightly wider roads and much easier to navigate.

We try and walk through the town but the heat get the best of us in the end . A few hours later we try again and hit the streets for some food and again we were not disappointed, the French certainly eat very well and I’ve go some extra rolls of flab to prove it.
The plan for our last day is to visit some Champagne vineries  and to deliver the car back into Paris without mishap but that will be the next entry of our travel blog.

From Stockholm to Copenhagen to Lubeck…..

Sunday 4th of July

A beautiful summer day awaits as when we wake up. After a quick breakfast Mats, Yvonne and myself head out on pushbikes for a tour of the surroundings.

Lot’s of walking and biking tracks through the woods and the fields makes it an easy and very pleasant ride for about an hour. Back at Mats house we have some lunch before the three of us and Mats & Åsas youngest, Frida, take the car to Stockholm city to visit the Museum of Medieval. Opened in 1986 it It describes the emergence and medieval development of the town and is built up round some of the permanent heritage monuments which came to light during the archaeological excavations on Helgeandsholmen (The Island of the Holy Spirit) between 1978 and 1980. Excellent display and audio guiding makes it a very pleasant couple of hours.

Before heading back home we have a Coffee at a cafe with great views over  Stockholm

 

8am Monday morning, 5th July,  and we say goodbye to my brother Mats and his family and say a big thank you for letting us stay with them for a couple of days. It’s been great to see them all again!!

First stop on the way south is Södertälje where we pickup Salme who has stayed with neighbours of the past for a few days. We take the E4 south towards Helsingborg. Motorway all the way and it’s a pleasant drive through the Swedish landscape with bright blue fields of lavender and bright yellow fields of rape giving the land a very pretty colour. Once we hit the second largest lake in Sweden, Vättern, it’s time for lunch. We stop at “Brahe Hus” (Brahe House), the ruins of a 16th century mansion built for the Swedish noble Per Brahe. Ravaged by fire in 1708 not much of it’s splendour remains except for the fantastic views of the the lake off Vättern.

One serve of meatballs and two serves of “Pytt i Panna” later we’re on our way again. We hit Helsingborg around 4pm and raid the local supermarket for some lunch essentials for the days to come as well as some essential last Swedish lollies. The ferry trip to Denmark and Helsingör only takes 15 minutes and with only 234 seconds on international waters our duty-free has to be carefully planned and executed!

45 minutes later and we ring the doorbell of my old schoolmate Staffan and his wife Bettina’s house. We are treated with a lovely dinner and we sit up and talk til late reminiscing of times gone past and times to come.

 

 

Tuesday, 6th July

After an excellent nights sleep we say our goodbyes to Bettina. Staffan is kind enough to drive us into Copenhagen for a couple of hours of sightseeing. We jump off in the old city and walk down to Nyhavn where a canal boat awaits us. We enjoy a whole  hour of excellent sightseeing on the Copenhagen canals and harbour. Unfortunately the little mermaid is at the World Expo in Shanghai China for a nice holiday and only a large sign in the water shows the place where she usually sits and greets the visitors and inhabitants of Copenhagen. Once back on dry land we take the short walk to the Queens castle and then back again to Nyhavn for some well earned lunch. Before we hit the road again the world famous “Ströget” gets a visit and Salme manages to spend our last Danish kroner on a new handbag, on sale of course and impossible to resist… : -)

Back on the road again, travelling south towards Germany. The 45 minute ferry trip is only interrupted by 6 car alarms going off at the car deck when someone accidently farts loudly.

270 kilometres later and we’re in Lubeck, Germany. A very old city dating back to the 10th century with many old buildings still visible in the city even though many of them was completely destroyed during WWII but has since been restored. 

We stroll the narrow streets for an hour or two before hunger succumbs our sightseeing minds and we head back to the hotel. Our hotel is a masterpiece in itself. A 4 star establishment, Hotel Kaiserhof,  usually well beyond our travel budget but through unforseen circumstances has been made available to us to a very good price.  We are allocated a suite with spa, lounge, bide and bathrobes only previously seen in  the movies! :-) After a typical German dinner in the hotels restaurant with copious amounts of food we can’t wait to get back to our suite to enjoy the pleasures usually only granted to royals and VIP’s.. :-)

Wednesday, 7 July

With the sounds of German birds singing and the sun shining in through our window we open our eyes to face another day in the land of the tourist. Breakfast is taken on the chandelier salon down stairs with silver cutlery and coffee brewed from selected now extinct Brazilian coffee bean plants. Once the billed has been settled we’re  back on the road again heading south. Once out on the Autobahn there’s unfortunately very little to see of Germany. It effectively bypasses all cities and all you see are road signs pointing to them. Bit of a shame when I’m sure there’s plenty to see in Germany and lot’s of pretty places but unfortunately for us it has just become a country you have to drive through to get somewhere else.

But after approximately 1500 km’s on autobahn over the last 5 weeks or so  we have all come to the joined conclusion that Audi makes the fastest cars in Germany where the minimum idle speed rarely goes under 160 km/h. And 85% of all Audi’s are black and has those little cool looking led’s in the headlights. I want an AUDI car!!

Today is a day of driving and driving only. We decided last night to try and get as close to France as we could so that we have the last two days before we have to drop the car off available for some sightseeing in France. 700 odd kilometres later and we arrive at our hotel in the tiny Belgian village Bouillon. Situated on the banks of the river Semois and with a population of 5000 it’s a postcard pretty place to say the least. The old castle dating back to the 10th century overlooks the village and is surrounded by mountains and thick forests. Very pretty indeed. After a quiet wine at the hotel we enjoy dinner at a restaurant along the river before it’s time to head back for a well earned rest after a long day of driving.

We will update tonight hopefully..

There's not enough time in a day at the moment to write..sorry

It’s been a few days!

Well it’s been a few days since I caught up with you but I’ve been out and about so here it goes. 
It has been really good to catch up with some old friends in Hudiksvall and you know who you are just in case I forget to mention everyone I was lucky enough to see. First I’d like to give a very big THANKS to my parents in law who as always have shown such great hospitality and made us feel very welcome and right at home, making sure we have enjoyed basic Swedish food from our extensive list of what we have missed. For myself it’s been ‘real buttermilk’ such a difference from the Aussie version and for Peter it’s probably been different variety of sausages. For this I thank Gunnar and Agneta for accommodating us with our special food wishes it has been truly appreciated.

While Peter was out fishing I was again lucky to get a call from Kerstin asking me if I’d like to go riding again, of course the answer was YES this time on a different horse, so thank you Kia for lending me Briina! Again we went out for hours catching up enjoying the beautiful countryside shared by lots of march flies as the warm weather had arrived and it was definitely very warm even for myself who you’d think am used to hot muggy weather. But it was sure worth it, much better than fishing in my books.

I had time to have lunch, share coffee and so on with numerous friends. It was good to spend some time with Inga-Märta, Anki, Helena,Ann-Kristin and Kerstin. There is so much to get through when you only see each other every 3 years or so.

On Thursday before catching my train Peter and I went shopping for a new phone for my father and as Peter is talking to the sales person I get the feeling that the kid with the gift of the gab is very familiar silently working out who this young man could be. After a while I can’t help myself but ask him what his surname is and YIPPY I was right!! It was the son of some good friends of ours and he is a copy of his father at the same age and I remember him very well as the first newborn baby I ever held just a few months before Louise was born. Small town syndrome I know but this is for me personally is such a good feeling of familiarity.

My train ride is uneventful but fast 270km in 2 hrs on the Express2000 (25 years ago this trip took nearly 4 hrs) from Hudiksvall to Arlanda Airport where I await my mother Salme who is arriving back from Helsinki the capital of Finland. We are picked up by an old friend Ann whom I grew up with and she has also lived in Australia as she is married to an Aussie from Qld.

We quickly share notes of our separate 10 days and it seems Salme has been very well looked after and has enjoyed her stay in Finland thanks to Seppo,Sirkka, Aarne and Paivie.

Salme is dropped off at one of her old girlfriends Bian and Ann and I arrive at another of my favourite people, Marie for dinner. Marie’s husband Lasse has taken off on solo trip to Abisko at the very north of Sweden, this meant the girls were on their own which in a way a pity because Lasse is a very likeable guy. During dinner the girls tell me their plans for the next day. We are going to travel to the island where my family had a summer house of my entire childhood and as long as we lived in Sweden. My memories are of Ann and I being literary dumped on the island when school finished in early June for the summer holidays with supervision and Ann has still got her family cottage there.

Friday morning we leave Ann's house and sorry Tony (Ann’s husband)I never got to have a chat with you, it’ll keep till next time. Quickly we trow some food together and we’re off and it’s hot. With the aircon on full blast we take the 1/2 hr drive to the mainland where Kaisa meets us with the dingy to take us across to the island.

I know this trip off by heart and it seems like it was yesterday I was there, I’ve even swum the channel next to the boat many years ago and once on land I feel I know every nook and corner. Ann and Tony’s little cottage is super with water views and it’s not before long we are parked on the jetty lapping up the sun. It gets so hot I even get encouraged to take a dip being a little paranoid of the cold water but my hot body wins and I decide the only way in is to dive. Surprisingly enough it is actually not to cold a big surprise to me who thought it would be freezing. By 7 pm dinner is served  with a bottle or two of wine and the evening is enjoyed by “girltalk”

In the morning we are greeted with more warm weather and as we are enjoying our breakfast we enjoy a spectacular view of sailing boats across the sea and in one of them coming in to dock we see Salme’s eager face as she arrives with her old friends in a very large sailing boat.

Not only has Salme met up with her old girlfriends I get some big surprises and meet a lot of people I know.Like kids I went to school with, neighbours, my sisters friends and so on. Of course these are no longer kids as I remember them but strangely enough they still look the same just a little bit more lived and the same goes for my parents friends still the same faces just a bit more worn.Such a good feeling and a very positive one to talk to them all.

The day went fast and much too quickly it was time to leave to meet up with Peter who had driven the 300 km from his parents. We were somewhat delayed leaving the island of Radön, not on land but on water as the outboard motor decided it had had enough and died, unluckily for me who was sitting by the oars and got enough exercise for at least a week rowing against the wind.

I catch up with Peter and a short drive later we arrive at Peters brother Mats and his wife Åsa, great to catch up and meet a niece and nephew minus one who’s out and about on a swimming competition.

The evening ends in another very good feed and our first BBQ Swedish style '”a la Uhlin” and  as per usual and we hit the sack for some quick ‘shut eye’

Snags, Midges and Elves

Tuesday morning and Lars picks me up from Mum & Dad’s house. Weather is great, a few clouds but mostly sunshine and 20 degrees. The car is packed with fishing gear, camera gear and the occasional food and drink item. We are heading west, approximately 100 km’s into the wild deep forest of the county of Hälsningland. The plan is to fish a few tarns, fish a few rivers but also relax and enjoy the scenery at the same time.
We drive west towards the the small country of Färila. Situated on the banks of the large river Ljusnan, which we are planning to fish a little later,  in my book Färila is famous for 3 things. A kind of very yummy smoked sausage (which I have praised in a previous blog a few years back), Arne’s fast food kiosk which serves traditional Swedish grilled sausages, mashed potatoes , prawn salad and home made mustard (oh so yummy but oh so not healthy) and the third thing is……hmmm….can’t remember now, maybe it was only two things after all….
Anyway, after visiting both famous places we take a left turn and after a couple of kilometres we stop at the very small village of Stocksbo. Here two good friends of Lars and his Wife Karin lives, Staffan and Yvonne, in a beautiful old 18th century farmstead  with the very pretty river of Stocksboån running right through their backyard.  They even have an old power station right next to their living quarters which in it’s glory days only produced DC power, interesting. They have cattle, a cat and a 12 year old dog which goes under the name of Nisse :-)
We are greeted with coffee and after a little chat we head out to try the fishing in the river. It is very pretty country, like taken out of a movie with the river meandering through the farming landscape, flowers of all kinds and colours covering the river banks, horses, cows and goats grazing in the thick grass along the river. So it doesn’t matter much the fish isn’t biting much apart from a few tiny little ones which I don’t even know what they are called, sardines perhaps..same size anyway.
We fish for a couple of hours before it’s time to have some dinner. We are treated to a lovely dinner at Staffan’s and Yvonne’s house and it’s not until 7.30pm we head out again. This time to a tiny tarn some 25 minutes away called Lust Tjärn (Lust Tarn?). It’s another picture perfect spot with the tarn having a glass like surface when we reach it and a cuckoo singing from the top of a tall spruce. A few mozzies tries to annoy us with their presence but we hardly take notice.
Within 20 minutes Lars has landed a nice trout but with the size restrictions on caught fish on our fishing license we cannot keep it and have to release it. I catch a tiny perch and despite there are to minimum size requirements on perch this one goes back to the water. It was tiny enough to be a toddler and not out of it’s nappies yet. A few more mozzies have now joined us and they brought some midges mates with them, it’s is starting to get annoying…
30 minutes later and we have to give in to the assaults of these little flying insects. Clouds with thousands upon thousands of midges are constantly on the attack and despite being covered from tip to toe in repellent they find every unprotected spot, like your eyelids, ear canal to mention a few.

A 400 metre dash to the car and we’re in safety after killing the 539 midges which managed to get into the car with us. We take the long way home in the hope of seeing some moose, bear or wolf but no luck this time. Back at the house I go for a walk in the fading light along the river. It’s 11pm and the sun has just dropped below the horizon. The fog is rising from the river and the meadows and it’s almost like  page out of the Lord of The Rings where you can see elves dancing in the fog and hear the mysterious Näcken (water spirit) play his fiddle.
After an hour I’m back in the house where Lars and I have a late cup of tea before heading to bed.
I wake up the next morning to the sound of rain….not a good sign. After a quick breakfast we say our goodbyes to Staffan & Yvonne who has been so kind to us and looked after us so well. We head north west until we hit the river of Ljusnan. After a tip from one of the locals we head down a very narrow road dirt road, definitely not built for the standard type of road car, and after a kilometre oo so we can see the river. The rain is bucketing down but with a rain coat and gumboots on we take no notice. The river flows quite fast in this area and is very wide, probably 200-300 metres. The river bank is incredibly steep, easily a 50-60 degree slope, which makes it hard work to walk and there are only a few spots where we can get our fly fishing rods out and try and do some fishing. As the rain eventually eases we sit down for a cup of freshly brewed strong coffee and something to eat. Some more fishing does not result in and fish and with our 24 hour fishing license almost expired it’s time to head home. But not before a stop and the yummy smoked sausage place for another purchase! :-)
With not so much fish to bring home but with lot’s new impressions of the lovely countryside and it’s people we head home late afternoon for a well earned rest.