2011-8-21 to uk

2011-8-21 to uk

Said goodbye to Paris "au revoir ma cherie"
and headed down the A4 after once again riding down the Champs Ellysee.

TVG train tracks in gully on left.

Greg had memories of the 1980's, kiwi driving buses to the continent, Aussie and Kiwi courier on bus.

Murray & Ross leading, Greg's GPS with veronica for Disneyland and Le Palais de Versaille.

Calais, Dover and welcome to UK the land of miles/hour etc, just how fast is 60mph (um 30=50kph so 60 is 100kmph) don't want a ticket this late in the journey. Dropped M & R  at the Ibis and headed to Little Houghton to clean up trucks.

Had agreat BBQ , thanks Ian & Fiona and then watched the new header in action.

Ian later dropped us back at Heathrow

That all folks !!!

Thanks for your interest during our great traverse across the globe,
best wishes in your own travels
Maurice

2011-8-20 Sat in paris

2011-8-20 Sat in paris

Off to the Eiffel Tour, Champs Ellysee, & the Arc de Triumphe. Early morn, fine, clear skies, no traffic for the magic photo -end of trip.

'Not many people get to drive down the Champs Ellysee !'. Some Gendames saw us doing the magic circuit and had a pantomine of beating each other up in their car, still very early no-one around.

We then parked the trucks on the hotel footpath and set off for the Catacombs and a hop=on bus to see the sites. Very hot day and many wishing they had sunhats.




Lunch was very pleasant under an umbrellla at a cafe on the rive Gauche before heading back to get ready for the 'LIDO'.
Fantastic show, lots of pretty ladies and entertainment. Good meal, champayne and company Alexis and Luba from La Russe.
Off to UK and ferry in morn

2011-8-19 Friday to Paris.

2011-8-19 Friday to Paris. Again !

Left Ladenbach near Manheim & Heildelburg around 8am for the french border on our way to Paris. We would leave the German autobahn and travel on the French autoroute.

We travelled through the town and its surrounding roads keeping off the autobahn until we found the main one which would take us direct to Paris.

We crossed into France at a near deserted border post, Trucks are inspected here however. We then pulled into an Autogrill for fuel and a feed, back to Euros and now French and English. The food although highway food is definitely french, croissants, eclaire, sandwiche et tous. Later we entered a toll station and noted the very real gendames presence inspecting 'toutes les automobiles'. You have to stop at the barrier to get your ticket or pay your tolls, very convenient place to carry out an observation.

We left behind german villages and were soon travelling past french villages. Still difficult to photograph close up because of the sound and sight restriction barriers, can't disturb the locals or distract the driver. A familiar farm windmill for pumping water was near the edge of the road as were paddocks of sunflowers for the seeds.

 One surprise were oil-well pumps bobbing up and down. Round hay bales were stacked on their sides sometimes 5 high to make a pitched stack and covered with tapaulins, must be a french word ?.

we approach Paris and join the 'Peripherique' the ring road serving the city and spot the 'Tour Effel' in the distance. Tonight we dine together at the hotel, 'plus d'argent' in central Paris. The RER or metro is across the road and I talk to 'Madam la concierge' for a ticket to the 'Lido', Folie Bergere ? finished 30 plus years ago. The competition is the Moulin Rouge, but I didn't like the movie so gave it a miss. Another pleasant evening with wine and good food. We plan to rise early as we did in Moscow for a photo at the base of the tower and a quick romp around the Arc de Triumphe.

Onwards to Paris 2011-8-19 - friday

Leaving Germany

We have landed ! 12,500 Km, wow. we'll be home in a week or so. It's all over.





Auto-Route en France

Hay Stacks France

Welcome to Paris

2011-8-18- to Ladenbach

2011-8-18-Ladenbach

Now in Germany so travelling on the ancient autobans, still in reasonable condition for 50yr old roads, and we can travel at 130km/hr should we wish. A lot of trucks so have to venture very carefully into the fast lane, pass the queue of trucks and back in before you get rear ended. Sometimes it is possible to change lanes when trucks are merging onto the autoban but with the potential threat of a very fast car coming from behind this has to done with

 good visibility. Sometimes the trucks just have to slow down to merge behind you and then speed up slowly to their 90Km/hr.

Harvesting of grain in full swing but not the maize yet. We did see farms of solar panels.

We passed many signs indicating 'Ausfahrt' which I thought was a town, but it must have covered the whole of germany as there was a 'exit' to it every 5km !!!. Eventually the penny dropped !.

Motorway travel is not conducive to good photograghy as banks, wall, barriers, grids, glass, road signs, trees, poles etc all get in the way of a view which could distract the driver and transmit noise to the local town nearby. However you can suffer 'canyonitis' stuck between walls for long periods of time.

The roadside petrol stations have extensive cafes and retail and clean loos although we had to pay 70 cents.



Furhrers Car



Our intermediate destination is the 'Sinshem Auto & Technik Museum'. Planes galore and many working exhibits,and of course more military hardware.The american cars of yesteryear are quite magnificent. The russians also built a concord!. Two hours  wasn't really enough time but was good.

Then off thru country roads to Heidelberg and Mannheim to our hotel and a walk into the historic centre for tea. The medicinal benefits of Radler bier was debated as no age limit here although I did notice the Waiter served The mother not the child. Very pleasant balmy evening 29C. Tempertures were mid 30's today. Very sad, in Paris tomorrow !

2011-8-16-Krakow saltmines & 17th to Praha

2011-8-16-saltmines & 17 to Praha

We travelled out to the saltmines about 13Km SE of Krakow for a decent into

the darkness. the stairs down into the mine were very dizzying. Alas The

welsh miners were not invited and inspite of the main cavern (chapel) being

used for weddings and a very mediocre light and sound show there was

nothing made of the beatiful acoustics of the place. Ho Hum !.

Doubting Thomas

We had a relaxing day back in krakow with a tourist lunch in the hotel

basement. Grandad had a nana nap and V a few vitamins and off to bed to

throw a cold.
Georgia and I went off at 8pm in the pouring rain to an orchestral ensemble
in the little chapel in the town square, the Quartet were magnificent and
finished me off with Porgy & Bess as an encore !!.

CZ`roads bumpy concrete

I drove am towards Prague in the am, had two small lunch stops for fuel and

Praha-new

CZ road tax and then down the clippetty concrete hiway .

Spot lost two lives on the top of the L/C and then the defender on the way
to the car park building 500m away.

a short walk to the river after tea to whet our cameras in the morn.

2011-8-15-at Auschwitz-Birkenhau

2011-8-15-at Auschwitz-Birkenhau
We arrived in Krakow in the late afternoon feeling a bit sat and overcome
but shook ourselves and wandered off into the Old Town Square which was
buzzing!

But We had been down the road!

Auschwitz



'End of the Line'



Life really does end here ! The expectency of resettlement is violently squashed by the welcoming remarks of the camp Kommandants.

'You are here to die'

From far & wide !!!!

Can you count the chimneys ?.

Each chimney is 200 persons with a lift expectency of 3 months !.

The ultimate Killing Machine

Auschwitz I &II bottom right

 and Birkenhau top left,

400 acres of death !