AfricaEurope2007

Finally found an internet site, a pool hall that smells of cigarette smoke like a lot of Portugal and France.
We left Lisbon by easyjet flight to Paris, rushing to get an unallocated seat together after being bussed across the tarmac to our plane : then a rush to change terminals at Charles DG airport to catch the TGV train and a regional train to St Malo ; on the English channel coast, in NW France / Brittany.
This is a small walled town with a castle, that was and still is a major port ; now mostly ships in Brits on a day tour. Had a great walk around the wall then in amongst the lanes and streets and along the beaches. Full of tourists on day trips, but we found a nice bar and cafe further back, away from the main gate.
The second day we took a ferry to Dinard, a beach resort with great cliff walks, set up a bit like Portsea. Then toured a museum of St Malo set up in the castle, showing its maritime history back to the 1500s.
The St M hotel was about 300 years old, nicely fitted and great breakfasts ; our windows looked onto the outside wall of the town.
Yesterday by TGV and regional rail to Tours ; found our hotel room here had been trashed by the previous occupants, so we were moved to another hotel. This morning we toured two chateaux ; great buildings, great gardens, well preserved with furniture and tapestries. Tomorrow we will somehow cover 5 chateaux.
Weve found that English is not spoken much anywhere we have been, but my French has coped except for the trashed hotel room incident ; I was lost for acceptable French words. Service in the hotels has been just ok everywhere, as well. We have managed to find cafes or bars that are off the beaten track, and cheap
Today is Tuesday here, and we go to Paris on Thursday for some final culture.
Hope youve all enjoyed these travel rambles. There have been more hits than expected, so hope youre inspired to also visit the three countries weve seen ; all terrific in different ways.
It will be good to get back to traffic where the cars come at you from the right side of the road when crossing.
Regards
Rob and Ailsa

We have enjoyed the 6 days in Lisbon ; nice people, plenty to see, good food. We get by with English, but people always try to help us if we are stuck.
The country´s main exports are cork and marble, which isn´t much to sustain an economy, so tourism is important here , the visitors seem to mostly be Brazilian, Spanish and German.
Yesterday we did a 12 hour tour to areas north of Lisbon and saw . . Obidos, a small castle village preserved the way it was 500 years ago ; two monasteries that are UNESCO rated, one is the longest in Portugal, and the other the highest, both built in the 1200`s ; a beach resort Nazare which was once a nice fishing village but now looks like Maroochydore ; and, a centre of Catholic pilgrimage called Fatima, designed like the Vatican, which has a supermarket for all kinds of religious paraphernalia the size of a Coles supermarket.
The tour leader had to do her talks in spanish, portugese, french and english , a long day for her as well.
Today we went to a suburb along the river called Belem, and saw two distinctive maritime monuments and a superb museum with 40 coaches from the 17C and 18C as used by the monarchy in this country.
Our hotel room fronts onto a nice mall with cafes etc., but also with the noise until late, of the diners, and then even later of the street people. The weather here and Morocco has been superb , not below 23 Deg C, so we haven´t used any of the warm clothes so far.
Tomorrow we go to St Malo in NW France by EasyJet, TGV and regional French rail , another experience to experience.
Not getting any news from the real world, which makes for a nice break.
Goodbye to this blue net cafe.
Rob & Ailsa

One last thing about Morocco, our tour had the usual tour director and driver, but we also had a Moroccan national guide to ensure we got the correct political and religious stories, and a drivers assistant to help with security of the bus ; a bit more than happens in Europe.
Our trip to Lisbon involved flight and airport announcements in Arabic, Spanish, Portugese and poor english ; so poor that we missed the advice to move our watches forward 2 hours in Madrid, and we nearly missed the connecting flight. Getting around Madrid airport is like a visit to Ikea.
Lisbon is a great tourist place. Nice cafes and restaurants, and the people are friendly. We´re near the city centre, and its all cobbled streets and laneways. They also specialise in beautiful ceramic tiling on the walls of buildings. There are great little yellow tourist trams in the inner city areas, and a couple of hilly districts with lanes and alleyways that go everywhere , washing on the verandahs, small cafes etc. This inet cafe is playing reggae music, and surrounded by Fitzroy-type shops in one-way streets. Best food is from a pasteleria, like a French pastisserie, and we have drunk Mateus rose for the first time since our student days. Its easier to get a drink here as well
Have also had day trips by train along the coast to some of their beach resorts, and to a place like the Dandenongs called Sintra, that has a 12C palace and 10C moorish castle on top of a hill. A good metro and regional rail system.
We have spent time with our younger son Leon here. He is in the middle of his round-the-world trip, and we had dinner here on his birthday , great catch up.
Its great not having a mobile phone, watching TV or reading a newspaper.
Rob & Ailsa

This is the last evening of our bus tour. We have travelled from Casablanca through Rabat, Meknes, Fez, Erfoud, Ouarzazate, Marrakesh & back to Casablanca. We also crossed the Rif mtns (after which the term reefer was named, as this area is the 2nd largest producer of hashish in the world) Ouarzazate is a major film production centre with several film studios surrounding the city. Films like Lawrence of Arabia, Cleopatra & 10 Commandments were filmed from here, which gives you an idea of how dry that area is.

The drive to Marrakesh was a beautiful trip over the high Atlas mtns (2260 metres above sea level) and we had a fascinating day in the markets of Marrakech watching snake charmers, bargaining & buying. Tomorrow we fly to Lisbon for 6 days exploring.

It has been interesting to experience Moroccan life & culture as the further east you go away from the coast the more conservative & traditional life is & quickly slips below being 3rd world. The big cities are like big cities anywhere but you also have villages around oases near the Atlas mtns & Algerian border where people still live a subsistence existence.

Women are much less covered in the city than in the mtn areas, ranging from having all but one eye covered in the Berber areas of the east to young women riding motor scooters in singlet tops in Marrakesh.

Bus tour people have been a happy friendly bunch & we look forward to our nightly predinner drink sessions. However, Ramadan has just started which means even worse service in the hotels & we again have to walk to another hotel to get a beer as this one does not serve alcohol.

Off to Lisbon now.

Rob & Ailsa

The downside of Morocco is that there is little alcohol, being Moslem; Our previous hotel in Fes was the only source of alcohol within walking distance, so they had a happy hour at which stubbies of beer cost 9 dollars aust (this is a french keyboard)
A clear stress factor when travelling is waiting for the cases to come thru the carousel in a strange airport ; ours arrived eventually, being spred across 2 separate carousels.
We have crossed the Atlas mtns, ridden a camel out on the Sahara desert, visited an oasis, walked through a primitive village and walked through a medina (old city) in Fes which fits 250000 people into an area a little larger than the MCG. I think we were the tourist attractions in the village. but it was great to see their simple village life.
We also visited a factory that sold fossils, a bit hard to believe given their importance, but thats part of tourism here; fairly pushy, but the people are nice
The tour group is fine ; of 40 on the bus, 20 are Aussies. The local food is superb, but we have to drink bottled water and not eat salads.
Next edition when we get back to wester Morocco, at Casablanca.
Rob and Ailsa