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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    A little whine

    7 septembre 2019, France ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Pommard, built around 1760 on the outskirts of Baune, ( Cote de Beaune one might say,) is a typical example of the Burgundy landscape, where every village manor is a chateau and every grape has its own fiercely protected DOC. Burgundians are known for their tight grasp on their wallets and their wines, making potential customers pay dearly for sampling the produce and even more dearly for the social cachet of owning a bottle, whose price rises in increments of 30 Euros from 30 Euros up to the current world record of about 2500 Euros for a 3/4 litres of Romanee Conti, (vinyard shown.)
    I came as close to trying the wine by eating one of their grapes, a 2019 Pinot Noir, and frankly, it wasn't much to sing and dance about.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Picnic with chocolate

    8 septembre 2019, France ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    My host administers the site "Friends of Burgundy", consisting of American and English expats. One of the first events they organised was a wine tasting / picnic to which I was invited. The winery by Alise Sainte Reine is relatively new. It was started by a wealthy surgeon from Lyon who died after spending his money establishing the vines but before he could sample any of his vintages. His wife took over, although since she lives ion an island off Madagascar, she doesn't have much to do with the day to day operation.
    The day itself was cold and overcast, the only such day this month, but we could use one of their halls so all went well. The wines were forgettable.
    The nearby town is Flavigny-sur-Ozerain where the film "Chocolat"was filmed, so here are some shots to remind you of it.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Le Puy en Velay

    18 septembre 2019, France ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    When a bishop, Godescalc, took a stroll to Santiago Di Compostella in 951, he put his town on the map as it became a focal point for fellow pilgrims. The fortified area around the cathedral is still in good condition and used for different civic endeavours.
    In the treasury, apart from this intricately carved oliphant, can be found a metal bit for Emperor Constantine's horse; made from nails taken from the True Cross.
    The locals hung out the bunting on the day I visited.
    This chapel is all that remains of a hospice for pilgrims.
    The 8th of Sept is feted normally as the birthday of the Madonna who has been venerated here since the 4th century in the form of a black Madonna. In 1855 this date coincided with an important French victory at Sebastapol. The Lord Bishop of Puy, by then a wealthy and influential man, linking the two events, had the cannons returned, melted down and cast as the statue of the Madonna overlooking the town from its vantage point at 748m on top of Mount Anis.    En savoir plus

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Alès gut.

    19 septembre 2019, France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Not much to visit in Ales and those were closed. I was impressed by the way the inhabitants had adapted their old buildings to make a very liveable town. For example, the Eglise des Cordoliers has been transformed into the Maison de Tourisme, with photovoltaic panels covering the side.
    And introduced some modern vernacular in the built environment. Colours and mirrors.
    The cathedral bell seems to have been a bit of an afterthought.
    Many old buildings are now homes, with classic cars setting the rural French ambience.    En savoir plus

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Gypsie Queens

    20 septembre 2019, France ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Many years ago a party of Palestinian refugees landed on the south coast at a Celtic site sacred to he threefold water goddess, Oppidum Priscum Ra. Most moved on, to find jobs further north, but two of them, Marie-Salome and Marie-Jacobe, remained, to become in time, objects of veneration to the local people.
    Even more important locally is the third statue of Sara-la-Kali, whose origin and identity are quite mysterious. The gypsies that throng to worship her each May believe Sara to have been a powerful local queen who welcomed the tired travelers from the Holy Land, while other sources suggest she may have been an ancient pagan goddess or a black Egyptian woman who was the servant of Christ's mother Mary. Whatever the explanation, the three female statues are the subject of the fascinating Pelerinage des Gitans, or 'Pilgrimage of the Gypsies', held each year on May 24 and 25.    En savoir plus

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Montpellier patrimonie

    22 septembre 2019, France ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    The fat Dominican priest, Herve Ponsot, (doctor of theologies and ex-director of the School of biblical studies and archaeology in Jerusalem,) led us in his sandles around the 1643 convent. Sacked during the revolution, their chapel has been renewed with paintings and Windows by Henri Dechanet / Henri Guerin. (No, I hadn't heard of them either.)

    From its foundation in 985, the Seigneurs des Guilhems allowed anybody to teach medicine: meaning especially that Jews and Arabs were permitted to work. In 1220 the popes legate Cardinal Conrad obtained from Honorious III the blessing of his statutes for a school of medicine, which became a university in 1289 under Nicola's IV. Many of the teachers came from Salerno, the oldest school, and when it closed in 1811, Montpellier proudly took over as the longest existing one. Today they opened the anatomical museum, (no photos, lots of wax casts of gross body deformities,) and the ancient classroom for dissecting corpses.
    The so called Arc de Triomphe (a finger raised to Parisians I suspect,) was built in 1692 as a gateway into the city. I would have climbed to the top lookout but it was pouring with rain so the guides closed it.
    The drawing room, recreated in the museum Fabre, contained these unusual lamps. Never seen a vase urging its keep in this way. (OK, that's very light humour.)
    The funny tower housing the old astronomy was similarly closed.
    The only unusual part of the Cathedrale Saint Pierre (1364) that I could find are the 2 enormous pillars holding a completely useless portico over the front door.    En savoir plus

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Chartres

    27 septembre 2019, France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Named after a Celtic tribe, the Carnutes, who made it their principal Druidic centre, Chartres is 88km from Paris in the Eure-et-Loir region, and directly on the route back to England where I must go to get the van tested / taxed and insured.
    After a very wet day, the Chartrain and Chartraine, (for that is how the locals call themselves,) are not to be found on the streets; but the rain stopped for long enough for me to wander around another medievil city.
    The dolls hospital was the only unusual sight.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Chartres

    27 septembre 2019, France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Named after a Celtic tribe, the Carnutes, who made it their principal Druidic centre, Chartres is 88km from Paris in the Eure-et-Loir region, and directly on the route back to England where I must go to get the van tested / taxed and insured.
    After a very wet day, the Chartrain and Chartraine, (for that is how the locals call themselves,) are not to be found on the streets; but the rain stopped for long enough for me to wander around another medievil city.
    The dolls hospital was the only unusual sight.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Twin towers still standing

    27 septembre 2019, France ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    OK so there is one other reason to visit Chartres: Notre-Dame de Chartres. The cathedral is UNESCO World Heritage listed rightly because it is a well preserved example of High Gothic style building.
    It was built following a fire that destroyed most of the previous Merovingian church in 1194, the new choir being complete by 1221 and the whole building consecrated in 1260.
    Everyone takes the same photo of the West façade built around the middle of the 12th century and its 2 asymmetric towers, but I couldn't resist yet another copy.
    A taste of the rest is provided, but judging by the half a dozen photo-tourists following me around to take the same shots from exactly the spot where I took mine, I suspect that they are no more unique than the tower shot.
    Like the priests house - you would expect no les for a Bishop.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    A taste of blue

    27 septembre 2019, France ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    On the inside one is struck by the mainly blue stained glass windows which have survived since the 12thC.
    Also by the clean-up of the soot coated limestone, which can be seen in the before shot of the clerestory and the after shot on the other side.
    There is a clear hole in one of the windows. Light is supposed to enter on June 21st and hit a nail buried in the floor - ie a solar calender that we have seen in several other churches. Only that they got it wrong. Not only does the facade receive little sunlight but also when it does it doesn't hit the spot on the right date!    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Cowspiracy?

    27 septembre 2019, France ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    The trend nowadays is to vegetarianism and an up-to-date town council doesn't declare itself to be a 'Nuclear Free Zone' but a 'Beef Free Zone'.
    Or maybe its just that this has been and continues to be a major sheep farming area.

    Churches everywhere in Normandy. St Leonards (built 1520-1540) at La Pyle is one such example. Note to campers: there is a tap in the yard which actually works so you can fill your water bottles.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Final frontier - for now

    28 septembre 2019, France ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    Last stop in France is the port of Dieppe, an insignificant little fishing village until promoted by King William I for their contribution to his successful campaign tn 1066.
    For some reason they seem more keen to remember the disasterous Canadian campaign on the 19th of August 1942 when they failed to take the beaches.
    What I noticed was the incredible variety of restaurants that have sprouted in town: Moroccan, Antillian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Indian and 'local'.
    The shop fronts too are interesting though not always clear as to their relevance. Hats?    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Fantastic

    28 septembre 2019, France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    For the first time,the chateau de Dieppe is holding a festival "Mer et monde fantastique", a playful mix of medievil,Game of Thrones and Lord of the Ring themes. Everyone is inviteed and the gendarary have given specific instructions on permissable weapons and how to carry them in the streets.
    Some have even come out, and are no longer in the closet.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    No, not quite the end.

    2 décembre 2019, Tanzanie ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    I was going to start another trip in FindPenguins but it was too difficult, so I will just keep going.
    Which is what its all about really.
    After "The End" it took a couple of months to sell the Renault van and get visas, tickets, vaccinations etc as I planned a roundabout route back to Oz . Fortune had smiled on me for, 2 days after I had sold the van, the new owner sent me an SMS informing me that the clutch had broken.
    I set off on 30 Nov after having been pampered and fed by my big sister and b.i.l whilst I enjoyed the rain in Sussex and visiting nephews and nieces. Foolishly I had booked to leave Gatwick on Sunday morning, totally forgetting the interminable problems with Souther Rail. No trains early on Sunday morning, and the last train on Saturday turned out to be 2 trains and an intermediate bus journey. Good fortune stayed with me for everything was on-time, I found in the marbled caverns of Gatwick South a small piece of carpet on which to have a kip, the 2 Turkish Airlines flights taking me to Dar es Salaam via Istanbul kept to the chedule and I arrived at 2 in the morning of Mon.
    Istanbul airport is very long and the only way of knowing you are not in Dubai or Singapore is that Duty Free prices are posted in Euros, (though unfortunately coffee is in TLira.)
    Everybody knows that airlines lease aircraft from fleet management companies and there is very little difference in quality between them. Dynamic seat pricing and allocation was one of the first centralised facilities, followed quickly by food supplied local caterers to an international standard of flavour. Savvy airlines have gone one step further and now lease their waitresses and waiters (specially trained to comfort you if the plane falls from 30,000 ft altitude after an accident,) from a central pool, ensuring uniformity of quality and presentation (smile, illustrations of lifejacket assembly, advanced trolley management etc) Thus each airline can focus on the important things, like what to wear, brand management, advertising strategies and free flights for employees.
    This is Any Airline and probably a member of the Star Alliance. So in choosing your flights, worry not about the safety and track record of the carrier but ask, "Is it Any Airline rebranded "? You will not go far wrong.
    And yes, Turkish is Any Airline and the stewards oufits are distinguished by melted, fire engine red berets and modernised janissary costumes.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Arusha

    3 décembre 2019, Tanzanie ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Arriving in Dar es Salaam at 2 a.m. local time I was processed through immigration and customs with scarcely a pause, and strolled across to the grubbier domestic terminal for my trip to Arusha at 10. Once again I found a comfortable bench just behind the security scanners where I could grab a few winks without excessive worry about my bags.
    This little turbo prop took me to Arusha, the nearest big town to Mt Kilimanjaro. I was told that I would be collected from the terminal and sure enough there was a guy there with my name on a piece of cardboard. But it is Africa so I was expected to pay for the tuk-tuk we took to town, which involved going to 3 or 4 ATMs before finding one that worked and only charged me an extra 8000 T shillings to deliver some shillings - the same as the price of the tuk tuk. Its hard though to worry about these surprises when you realise that 8000 Ts is about 3.15 Euros!
    We arrived just in time for lunch and a warm welcome from everyone. In the afternoon I got a Tanzanian SIM and have re-directed WhatsApp to it so comms should work.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Health check

    10 décembre 2019, Tanzanie ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    Investment in health has diminished in Tanzania as overseas debt repayments take priority following IMF restructuring.

    The ingenious local National Health Service is pioneering techniques, following the lead of Dick Turpin, to restore the budget.

    Other NHS agencies take note.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Compound factions

    11 décembre 2019, Tanzanie ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    Down a mud road, just off the end of the tarmac, Stephen and Ritziki have rented a compound from the local butcher. Family, some students and the volunteers all stay here whilst helping at the school that is 10 mins walk away, also in hired premises for now .
    The compound, reached through a narrow gap between buildings which serves as the spout for water collected in the yard, is a series of square, concrete, single story rooms interconnected only by the exterior. They all have a window at the rear and a steel door at the front. Beds are all doubles: two for the family, three for the girls, and two for the boys. Luckily, I have one to myself.
    The tree is laden with mangoes. What a shame they are nowhere near ripe.
    One of the rooms has a camping gas stove and is used to store pans and crockery - as well as another double bed. So this is the kitchen, and home to the motorbike at night.
    We eat in the living room, sitting on sofas around a coffee table.
    The local butcher owns the shop at the end. He chops meat up with an axe, starting at six every morning and selling everything by 2 or 3 p.m. Just as well since there is no fridge.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Tribal trinkets

    15 décembre 2019, Tanzanie ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    I walked passed the Mt Meru Market, now named the Masai market as part of the Great Masaii Brand Naming convention, and paused there a while to check out the gewgaws in a large tin shed with 110 stalls lined with identical tourist paraphernalia. Unlike Australian tourist knick-knacks which are made in China, these momentous are locally made. (Its cheaper!)
    Some of the paintings are quite distinctive, copies of those in the cultural museum. Printing copies from a photograph is far too expensive in Tanzania, so the copies have to be made by hand, using oil paints. Fools a lot of Americans!
    I noticed some good quality cloth bags which could have come from anywhere and many rhinos and elephants carved from ebony. Ebony is light on the outside and black on the inside which allows the skilled artisan to make some amazing two tone pieces. Big wooden spoons or salad fork / spoons are nearly as common as giraffes and rhinos and of course brightly coloured Tanzanian shirts which Tanzanians eschew in favour of Man United T shirts.
    Many beads. Many many beads. It was Beadlam in there.    En savoir plus

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingVoyageur

    Around Arusha

    16 décembre 2019, Tanzanie ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Arusha is a growing town that serves as the starting point for many safaris to the West - mainly the Serengeti and Ngorogoro parks - but is itself by a national park, (Arusha NP of course.) It lies at 1300m altitude on the side of the second largest mountain in Tanzania (Africa?) the 4566m Mt Meru.
    The main streets of town are lined with individuals selling handfulls of veggies or fruit from recycled junk turned into stalls, or straight off the pavement.
    I hoped to try some fresh Tanzanian coffee that I thought was being brewed Turkish style in a market cafe. Sad to relate, the kettles just had water and the coffee was instant. At 200 TSh though one doesn't want to complain too much.
    If the main mosque didn't have Arabic writing along the freize it would look just like all the other churches I passed. Most of them seem to be Lutheran or some sort of Pentacostal. I listened to one where there were two choirs taking turns to woo the audience who were all swaying and clapping in time. It certainly seemed a joyous occasion to them. Just as well since I am told that they can easily go on for 4 hours.
    The clock tower is one of the main landmarks as it is the only building on a roundabout. Its claim to fame is that it lies half way between Cape Town and Cairo.    En savoir plus

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