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Europe - 2015

September - October 2015
A 45-day adventure by Phil Read more
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  • Phil DouglasEurope - 2015
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    Day 11

    Dijon

    September 16, 2015 in France ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    Saying goodbye to Paris and on the train to Dijon. There is a fast train available which is quick and comfortable, just try and book it far enough in advance to get a good price. Paris is perhaps the most iconic travel destination of them all and you can't help reflecting on your own experience in relation to that image. Yes Paris is expensive, but there are exceptions. We stayed in a studio apartment with facilities for meals. A breakfast of some fruit, muesli and a croissant was quite cheap. A baguette chomped down on a park bench in one of the multitude of gardens - you guessed it - cheap again (and so tasty). A fairly small and average cup of coffee and a bit of cake, on the other hand can be pretty expensive (especially converted to Aussie dollars).
    On the other hand, if there was ever any truth to the stories of the rudeness of French service it is certainly not the case now.- friendly and helpful is far more likely.
    Dijon should be very different to the mad scramble of Paris - we'll see.    Read more

  • Phil DouglasEurope - 2015
    Day 12

    Dijon

    September 17, 2015 in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Our first day in Dijon was fairly damp with persistent light showers. The best remedy seemed to be the remarkable 'Muses des Beaux Arts', a museum located in the Palais des Ducs, the palace built by the various Dukes of Burgundy. As Philip the Good and Philip the Bold were a couple of the main men, I was feeling quite at home. The museum had an interesting mix of history, culture and arts and it was free. We found out later that all the museums in Dijon were made free by the city council, presumably to encourage people to get out and visit them. When the weather would improve, we would duck out and do a bit of exploring along the 'Owl Trail' which was a kind of do It yourself guide to finding your way around the major sites of Dijon. Then perhaps a coffee and pastry and back to the museum. A good day all in all.Read more

  • Phil DouglasEurope - 2015
    Day 13

    A bit of historical perspective

    September 18, 2015 in France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Second day in Dijon and the showers are not quite gone, but definitely on the retreat. Plenty of blue sky and sunshine as long as you had plenty to do if a shower came along. It was market day which meant plenty of stalls and crafts and food - of course - so after our usual breakfast at home we headed out. The markets were interesting with a mixture of craft, food and tourist baubles. We resisted all sorts of bargains, but ended up grabbing a bit of lunch and taking it back to our studio to enjoy as a shower went over.

    The highlight of the day came in the afternoon. We did a bit more of the owl trail taking in a nice garden and some very pleasant walking. Then we returned to the old Duc's Palais to climb the tower. We are not big tower climbers, but this one was quite large so that the steps could go up at a reasonable rate. The air was particularly clear after the showers earlier in the day and the view was spectacular. A good day finished up with a good meal at the Bistro Amiral Roissen - a restaurant just up the road.    Read more

  • Phil DouglasEurope - 2015
    Day 14

    Abbaye de Fontenay

    September 19, 2015 in France ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    Another nice day on the horizon and we have a tour booked to get out in the country and see some of the country. Our tour guide is actually an american, Steve (or Stevie in French :) ) and we are the only two customers. That american accent is easy to understand without having to concentrate so we are good to go.

    Our first stop is a beautiful, old village, Flavigny-sur-Ozerain. It is somewhat famous as the town that the film 'Chocolate' was filmed in, but I'm not at all sure that much was actually done there. It is old though, and is certainly interesting to walk around and explore.

    Next stop is the Abbaye de Fontenay which claims to be the world's oldest Cistercian site (whatever that means) and is not only very beautiful and peaceful, but UNESCO heritage listed as well.

    Finally a stop at Semur-en-Auxois, a commune of the Côte-d'Or complete with castle walls and photo opportunities every way you looked. The two guys fishing were quite uninterested in whether they were in the photo or not.

    All in all a good day out!!    Read more

  • Phil DouglasEurope - 2015
    Day 15

    Hotel Dieu - Beaune

    September 20, 2015 in France ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Another fine day and the plan is for a self guided trip - to Beaune, one of the wine communes of the Côte de Beaune subregion of the Burgundy wine region. But for us it was just another interesting old city to go ramble about. It was only about half an hour by train from Dijon. Stevie, our guide from the day before had marked out some suggestions on our map, but we were pretty much on our own to explore the city.

    The Hotel Dieu was a highlight - run by the Hospices de Beaune it was a hospital for the poor (and not so poor - you could pay for a bit of extra comfort). It was certainly ahead of its time and even got support from Louis IVX who seems to pop up all over the place.

    A wine tasting tour in tunnels under the city was another interesting diversion for the day, even if we still can't really taste the difference good wine and really good wine and really, really ... well you get the picture.    Read more

  • Phil DouglasEurope - 2015
    Day 16

    Salzburg

    September 21, 2015 in Austria ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    Last day in Dijon and time for our longest travelling day. We have to catch a train from Dijon to Zurich which is about 7 or 8 hours. We are giving the Swill a miss as we have heard how expensive it is and how Austria is just as beautiful, but considerably cheaper. So we have a half hour to change to a train to take us to Salzburg. We made the switch without too much of a panic and then had about 4 hours to go to Salzburg.

    Our only real brush with the (mainly) Syrian refugees in the train station. There were armed forces personnel about and the refugees had a space within the train station. Trains had been stopped between Salzburg and Germany, but there didn't seem to be much disturbance that we could see.

    We got to our hotel in the evening and only had time for a bit of a walk around the area and dinner at the hotel.    Read more

  • Phil DouglasEurope - 2015
    Day 17

    Fortress

    September 22, 2015 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Salzburg wasn't really on our itinerary, but we had booked an extra night so we could have a look around. Our hotel was conveniently located and we were able to walk down and cross the river into the old town. On the way we stopped off to have a look at the Schloss Mirabell. We didn't bother going into the palace, but we enjoyed a stroll around the extensive garden. Many (but not me) would be aware that some of the Sound of Music was filmed here - 'Doh a Dear' anyone?

    Then over the river to wander the old town ending up at the terrific fortress on the hill (where else). Fortresses are pretty common in Europe, but this one is definitely one of our favourites. A nice funicular ride to get up to it (unless you really want the climb) and a good variety of sections of the castle open to the public including great outlooks, princes' quarters and fortifications. Not to mention a superb piece of Sacher Torte in a restaurant overlooking Salzburg.

    Very pleased we had the day in Salzburg - tomorrow we head to a tiny town on a big lake - Wolfgangsee.    Read more

  • Phil DouglasEurope - 2015
    Day 18

    St Gilgan

    September 23, 2015 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    Our hotel in Salzburg wasn't anything particularly special, but the room was really big compared to what we have had so far and it was in a really good spot. It was easy for us to walk to the bus stop where we caught a bus to St Gilgan, a tiny town on lake Wolfgangsee. Very cloudy and a bit of drizzle when we arrived, but again our hotel was fairly close to the bus stop and we managed to walk it ok.

    The hotel was interesting - almost a BnB as I think the breakfast was automatically included with a booking. Kniick-knack heaven you could say, with an alpine twist. We settled in and disregarding the less than spectacular weather decided to grab a ride on the cable car. As you may be able to tell from the photo, this wasn't the greatest idea. We are talking a very long cable car here and while the ride was ok there really wasn't much to see or do at the top. You could barely see the person standing next to you let alone any sign of the lake. The cable cars coming up after us materialised out of the cloud like the tardis.

    The town was very pretty though. WE wandered around the town which was small enough to cover in an afternoon. We figured we would get a better day ahead.and we scored really well for dinner. Tripadvisor came in handy again and sent us off in search of a restaurant which sounded good. We had a bit of trouble finding it, but it more than lived up to our hopes and would have to be one of our favourite restaurants from the whole trip which was certainly unexpected.    Read more

  • Phil DouglasEurope - 2015
    Day 19

    Hallstatt

    September 24, 2015 in Austria ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Another really cloudy day for our first full day in the mountains. Undaunted we set forth on a day trip to Hallstatt, another tiny town on another lake, Hallstatter See. We first caught a bus to Bad Ischl - sort of mid way between the two lakes and then a train to the Hallstatt Bahnhoff (train station) which was very conveniently on the wrong side of the lake. So then we had a short boat ride to finish the journey.

    The journey itself was quite fun and Hallstatt was worth the time and effort as well, so it was a win. This place has been around for a long time and its claim to fame is a salt mine. It is hard to get a grip on just how important salt was back in the day. The salt mine is still there and is the major tourist draw card. We didn't go the the mine, but they had a small museum which was really interesting. Lately the place has grown to have great archaeological interest. The place has been going for so long and there is so much salt spread around the place that they are finding artifacts in a very well preserved condition. A couple of hours was plenty to see what there was to see. You can tell my fascination with the layer of cloud that had formed around the lake at just a certain altitude.    Read more

  • Phil DouglasEurope - 2015
    Day 20

    St Wolfgang

    September 25, 2015 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    This was the day for the big trip up to the top of Schafbergspitz (mountain? I would say so) on the Schafbergbahn Cog Railway. A long, long way up some of it steep enough to be thankful that the engine made its way with cogs which locked into the railway line as we climbed (even more reassuring on the way down). We still didn't score a clear day, but we did manage to get the best day available for our trip. While some of those vistas would have been spectacular with a blue sky for background, the day we had was pretty special as well. As you stood there bits and pieces of the landscape would come into view and then vanish as a low cloud passed by. If we had come on our first day we would have been lucky to see the hands in front of our faces.
    Very cool spot..    Read more

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