Bullecourt to Berlin and Beyond

Berlin 1986 (from the author's own collection)



Australian Memorial at Bullecourt

Preparation and Planning

I am off again. I will be away from Saturday 1 April, returning to Melbourne on Thursday 4 May.  I wont tell you to much of my travel plans just yet so that my adventures unfold before you as you read this blog.  As usual I promise that the blog will be interesting, educational and humorous.  With a little pathos and whimsy thrown in for good measure.  For the foodies amongst you I promise I will provide detailed descriptions of every meal, including photos NOT,  unless the food is shaped amusingly like a piece of human anatomy, like Baldrick said 'a turnip shaped like a thingy'.

Without giving too much away the blog title will give you a possible hint as to some of my intended travels. 

I will be doing the usual battlefield stuff which I am sure that you are all looking forward to with eager anticipation.  

I intend to maintain the blog on a regular basis however if I miss a few days don't panic, it doesn't mean that I have fallen down a mineshaft or been kidnapped by gypsies it just means that I have been busy and possibly distracted by the pleasures that Europe has to offer.

If there are any new readers to the blog just be warned that under some extremely trying circumstances I might be less than complimentary about some of our European kinfolk, particularly the Belgians and the gypsies.  I might also be less than complimentary about fellow Australian travellers, tourists in general, gypsies or anybody else who may have particularly irritated me on that day.  All is soon forgiven and forgotten........except for the gypsies.

Day 1 & 2 Saturday and Sunday 1st and 2nd April 2017

Donna and Clair picked me up at home a bit before one and although we met with a bit of peak hour Saturday traffic we were at the airport in no time.  A quick check in for me whilst the ladies parked the car and time for a quick drink before saying our farewells.

Springtime in Paris

The flight was half an hour late taking off, it was an older 777-200 with no bar down the back, but I made do.  For those of you who may be interested dinner on the plane was sesame crusted tuna and beef tenderloin, accompanied by a Gruner Veltliner from Austria, which was a bit reisling like and a Bordeaux from, well, Bordeux.

The amazing thing about the whole trip was that the flight landed at 7.10am on Sunday morning and I was checking into the hotel at 8.15!  After disembarking I walked through immigration, picked up my suitcase and walked through customs all in a matter of minutes.  Next thing I knew I was out of the airport jumping in a cab and on the way to Paris.

The Hotel de Seine has not changed since myself and Flashy stayed here in 2012, come to think of it it probably hasnt changed much in the last 100 years, but it is comfortable and in a great location.  A little explanation here, Flashy is my mate Roger from Cairns.  In 2012 we did the epic Battlefields and Burgundy Tour and for the purpose of the blog Roger was Flashy and I was the Major.  I will go into a bit more detail of that trip at another time, Flashy was suffering from post operative amnesia and got a little confused as to the difference between Bordeux and Burgundy. (The places, not the wines).

Anyway after checking in, showering etc I went for a long walk to try and walk off the jetlag, this was unsuccessful.

As I go along I will make some observations about the French, generally complimentary, as I do like them.  I walked to the Luxembourg gardens and I saw large numbers of French men and women jogging, now this something that I have not noticed before.  The French would not normally indulge in anything that was not elegant and breaking out into a sweat whilst jogging is certainly not elegant!

For dinner on Sunday night I went to a local bistro and had a rare entrecote (steak), and rare it was, anywhere else in the world it would have been 'blue'.  Medium steaks from here on in.