This site records our month in Europe during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games (our first time had been http://www.stringertravelling.com.au/heart).
Living, as we do, in a suburb that was one of the core centres of Games activity, we decided that our ... ah ... lack of total commitment to athletics, coupled with the certain arrival into town of many, many people with intent only to party (and that ALL NIGHT !), added up to a need for us not to be here during that time.
We organised for quasi-family who *wanted* to be here then (chacun son goût !) to house- and cat-sit.
Predictably, everywhere we went in Europe -- perhaps I ought state immediately that for "Europe" you may substitute simply "Italy and France" -- we were asked «What are you doing here ?!»: it seemed that the concept of our NOT attending the Games when we had every opportunity of so doing was utterly astonishing !
Well ... We started in Milano because at that time Alitalia was still flying out of Oz and Malpensa was their base. It wasn't until we got there that I realised how much I love that city.
Our next stop at Jera was one of CS' instinctive brainwaves once we'd plumped for Lunigiana, an area to die for -- trust me on this !
Living, as we do, in a suburb that was one of the core centres of Games activity, we decided that our ... ah ... lack of total commitment to athletics, coupled with the certain arrival into town of many, many people with intent only to party (and that ALL NIGHT !), added up to a need for us not to be here during that time.
We organised for quasi-family who *wanted* to be here then (chacun son goût !) to house- and cat-sit.
Predictably, everywhere we went in Europe -- perhaps I ought state immediately that for "Europe" you may substitute simply "Italy and France" -- we were asked «What are you doing here ?!»: it seemed that the concept of our NOT attending the Games when we had every opportunity of so doing was utterly astonishing !
Well ... We started in Milano because at that time Alitalia was still flying out of Oz and Malpensa was their base. It wasn't until we got there that I realised how much I love that city.
Our next stop at Jera was one of CS' instinctive brainwaves once we'd plumped for Lunigiana, an area to die for -- trust me on this !
Alba was simply a sensible stop before the border, on our way to France -- and it turned out to be another example of CS' genius for pinning the tail on the stopover donkey.
Grignan he actually chose for itself, as he liked what he'd read about it. To say that this was a good choice is GROSSLY understating the case.
Nolay pretty much the same.
Dijon we didn't get to stay in because TGV staff strikes caused problems and we had to travel early, but we want to go back because what we saw of it made us unhappy to have to leave.
Paris was -- Paris. It's one of CS' favourite places in Europe, and there was no way we were going to miss going there.
Amsterdam ... note the size of its name in the side menu, and enough is said. :-\
In fact, although the menu is made up of the names of the towns or cities in which we laid our heads down, it would possibly be more accurate to have used the *areas* we explored -- such as Lunigiana for Jera, or la Drôme Provençale for Grignan, etc.
The photos, which you access place by place by clicking on the links (such as the one below), are the purpose of the site. Enjoy them ... :-)
Grignan he actually chose for itself, as he liked what he'd read about it. To say that this was a good choice is GROSSLY understating the case.
Nolay pretty much the same.
Dijon we didn't get to stay in because TGV staff strikes caused problems and we had to travel early, but we want to go back because what we saw of it made us unhappy to have to leave.
Paris was -- Paris. It's one of CS' favourite places in Europe, and there was no way we were going to miss going there.
Amsterdam ... note the size of its name in the side menu, and enough is said. :-\
In fact, although the menu is made up of the names of the towns or cities in which we laid our heads down, it would possibly be more accurate to have used the *areas* we explored -- such as Lunigiana for Jera, or la Drôme Provençale for Grignan, etc.
The photos, which you access place by place by clicking on the links (such as the one below), are the purpose of the site. Enjoy them ... :-)
