Another chateau to satisfy the appetite - our next stop was Chateau Chambord in the Loire Valley. Although it was intended as a mere hunting lodge, the 156 m long and 56 m tall building (with 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces and 426 rooms) became known as a chateau. The mixture of Gothic and Italian Renaissance external architecture creates a surprising jumble of towers, turrets and chimneys above the roof line.
Although a seemingly complex building on the outside, it's interior was very simple. The most interesting feature, which was attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, was the double helix staircase - those going up never meet those going down. An "Equestrian Spectacular" held in the grounds of the chateau was great entertainment as we witnessed amazing horsemanship, spectacular jousting and engaging sword fights.
On to Beaugency, which is an interesting historical city. It was here in 1152 that the marriage of the King of France was annulled, allowing his wife to marry the future King of England. As a result, her huge land holdings in southwest France passed to the English crown and thus began struggles between the French and English which culminated in the Hundred Years War, from 1337 to 1453. It was also here that Joan of Arc drove an English garrison from the city in 1429 in the height of her campaign to free France from England. Slowly the pieces of French history are slotting into place.
On our voyage around the French countryside, motorways are being avoided as much as possible and everyone is enjoying the breath of fresh country air. Undulating hills covered in a patchwork of ripe crops of barley and canola are highlighted against paddocks of emerald green sorghum and golden sunflowers. As the roads lead north the headers have been witnessed in force - there is nothing like harvest time when the rewards of months of work are being fulfilled. One morning Vid, Tom & Ellie went for a walk from our campsite to a local grain siding to view the activity and machinery.
Disneyland - Paris
What better way to spend a day in France then at Disneyland ... or so we thought. If only we had known the temperature was going to be in the high 30's and every other EU citizen would be adventuring as well. Despite the trying conditions the staying power of the children was amazing, although lining up for a ride at 8:00 PM for 45 minutes which was then cancelled due to "technical difficulties" was the last straw. The temperature was still above 35 degrees after 9:00 PM when Mrs Tom Tom had the last laugh by taking us to our campsite which was 10 minutes away - 5 minutes up the freeway and 5 minutes back down the freeway to the front gates of Disneyland (the campsite was where we had parked all day). Luckily giggles were heard in the back of the motorhome and not tears.
As for favourite rides: Georgia had "heaps", Tom's favourite was the rollercoaster in darkness that flew around the solar system, Ellie enjoyed the Star Wars spaceship simulator, and Vid and Sarah just loved all the ones with the really short line ups (which obviously everyone else didn't).
Paris
Four days of PARIS. The first day was another hot but lazy day recovering beside a pool at our campsite. The next two days we headed into central Paris and the last day we went to the Palace of Versailles.
La Tour Eiffel did not disappoint. The 324m high tower built for the 1889 World Fair was impressive as it looms majestically above the surrounding Parisian skyline. We climbed the 670 steps to the second platform which offered us magical views over the city.
The Eglise du Dome holding Napolean's tomb was our next stop. Although it is an extraordinary and extravagent tomb, his early role of uniting the French citizens and strengthening the country against imminent international threats deserves recognition.
Whilst at Les Invalides we explored the many exhibitions on offer including the Museum of Arms and Armour (plenty of arms, plenty of armour) and the museum of "Louis XIV to Napolean III", which is an extensive first class display of French artifacts and completes another piece of the complex jigsaw puzzle of European history.
Lunch on the steps of St Marie Madeleine (an impressive columned church) and we were soon entering the arch way to Musee de Louvre with its iconic 21m high glass pyramid.
The museum was vast and although we only saw a small number of the staggering 35,000 exhibits we felt culturally enriched. The Mona Lisa was impressive - we cannot comment as art critics but there was definitely something empowering about her as she watches you move around the (very crowded) room.
Our discoveries began on the third day in Paris at Notre Dame Cathedral with its massive pipe organ (7,800 pipes) and then Musee D'Orsay to view its collection of French paintings and sculptures dating from the 1840's to the early 1900's. The collection of Impressionist paintings by Monet, Renoir, Cezanne and Van Gogh were "impressive" (ahh ... so that's why they are called Impressionist paintings - you can see the Heaths have no idea on art).
We stopped off at numerous points on the Hop On Hop Off' bus before stopping at the Arc de Triomphe. The arch, inspired from Roman times, was constructed at the behest of Napolean I in honour of the Armed Guards.
From its platform roof (over 50 m high) we were able to admire one of the finest views of Paris down the Champs-Elysees and the 11 other avenues that radiate out from the arch at 30 degree angles. It dominated this area of Paris more than we had envisaged.
Our last few stops were at the Trocadero (where Tom and Vid in particular enjoyed the Marine Museum), the Pantheon church and the Luxembourg Gardens.
Weary feet led us back to the train station and home.
The Palace of Versailles was magnificent and the enormous gardens filled with canals, pools, statues and neatly trimmed box hedges were awe inspiring.
The sheer size of it is mind boggling - the gardens alone are over three kilometres long in one direction. Vid now knows how the garden is to look at home. This is one of the SMALL gardens off to one side - see if you can find it on Google Earth (just search for "Palace of Versailles"). You will need to zoom IN to see this garden, but zoom OUT to see the whole package.
Once again certain members of the family (mainly female) relished in the myriad of corridors, rooms, halls and opulent bed chambers within the palace, such as this one, the Hall of Mirrors.
The travellers left Versailles just before 6pm intending to be at the next campsite near Amiens in Picardy (northern France) within two hours, however this was not to be. It all went a little crazy when Mrs Tom Tom tried to take us onto a motorway with a height restriction entry. Half an hour later, stuck in heavy Friday evening traffic and looking for a fuel station, we turned down a road that Vid said looked like the Champs-Elysees ... not quite but as we turned a corner, there, about 200 m ahead of us was the Arc de Triomphe - we laughed and laughed at our efforts of trying to LEAVE Paris. An hour later we were getting extremely low on fuel, half an hour later we had fuel but we could still see the Eiffel Tower.
Amiens - Calais
With the rich culture and bright lights of Paris behind us we began another chapter of French history that involved us a little more personally - Vid's grandfather and Sarah's great-grandfather both fought for the British Empire (Vid's grandfather as an Australian) in World War I in the Somme Valley and further north in Flanders. We had a wonderful couple of days visiting war museums, war memorials and driving through the picturesque countryside that nearly 100 years ago was a scene of devastation.
The children enjoyed the small war museum at Villers Bretonneux as it honoured the Australians who retook the town after a German invasion, and the underground museum at Albert, as it was set in an evacuation tunnel.
The countryside is dotted with numerous memorials and cemeteries, all beautifully maintained. We visited the imposing white stone Australian Memorial near Villers Bretonneux which is perched on a hilltop overlooking scenic farming country.
The British Memorial, honouring over 73,000 unknown soldiers, was chilling as we learnt more about the battles of the Somme. The Newfoundlanders, the Irish and Americans all had magnificent monuments in memory of lives lost and the battles fought.
The Lochnager Crater was also chilling and a stark reminder of the damage man can do to the landscape - this mine crater is 100 m in diameter and 30 m deep. The detonation of this mine, and others like it, occured at 7:28 AM on 1st July 1916 (signalling the commencement of the Battle of the Somme) and was intended to cause havoc to the German front line. Unfortunately, despite the massive explosions, the desired effect on the enemy failed, and as the British sent men over the front line they were mown down by German machine guns. The British incurred 58,000 casualties on the first day alone, including 20,000 deaths.
Also interesting were the open trenches still on display at Beaumont Hamel. Although now partially collapsed and grassed over, the chaotic maze of trenches gave a good indication of the battlefield madness that was experienced in "No Man's Land" between opposing frontlines.
Although these last two days have been sobering, they have also being very fulfilling and rewarding.
Tonight we are camped RIGHT beside the noisy ferry dock at Calais. Surely ferries don't run ALL night. We can see the land mass of England where we will continue our adventure tomorrow.
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