France, Belgium & Luxembourg : 14 September - 14 October 2004

This page describes a trip by the Kilfoil family (Paul, Karen and Scott) to France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Check out our travelogues page for details of other trips we've done.

If you enjoyed reading this, please send an email to Paul. All correspondence is appreciated!

Capital   Government    Area   Population    Language   Currency	Paris Republic 543 970 km2 56 700 000 French Euro (EUR)
By European standards, France is a large country with a number of different regions and vastly differing climates from north to south. It has coastlines on the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and land borders with Spain, Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Monaco. France is the most popular tourist destination in the world.

[Tuesday 14 September 2004 : Cape Town, South Africa] Flew to Johannesburg on SAA, then boarded our flight to Paris (also on SAA). Changing planes at Johannesburg International Airport was a shambles ; SAA messed up our boarding passes and we had to wait in endless queues.

[Wednesday 15 September : Paris, France] Landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris and took the train (RER) into the city, then caught the metro to our hotel on the Left Bank (south of the Seine, near Boulevard St Michel). Met Karen's parents outside Notre Dame - they'd been in Paris for 3 days already. Visited the Pompideau Centre and then took a boat trip down the Seine, past most of the well-known sights of Paris. Had pizza for supper then hit the sack early.

[Thursday 16 September : Paris, France] Went to the Eiffel Tower, but incredibly it was shut - there was some kind of strike on. There were barricades up and a sign in French saying exceptionally ferme (literally, "exceptionally closed"). Walked across the Seine to the Arc de Triomphe, climbed to the top and had a magnificent panoramic view of Paris. Then we strolled down the Champs Elysees, through the Tuileries gardens to the Louvre. In the evening we took the metro to Montmartre and had supper with Karen's parents in a restaurant near the beautiful Sacre Couer cathedral. The cathedral is at the top of quite a steep hill, and the views of Paris from there are stupendous.

Scott dwarfed by the Eiffel Tower

[Friday 17 September : Brussels, Belgium] Karen and Scott went with her parents to a cottage (git) in the country they'd booked, while I caught the 09h25 Thalys express to Brussels. "Thalys" is the name for the high-speed train (a modified French TGV) that runs from Paris to Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne, and it was an incredible experience - the rail distance from Paris to Brussels is 336 km and the train covered this in only 85 minutes! That is a staggering average speed of 237 km per hour. At times when the tracks were next to freeways the cars looked as if they were crawling along as we blasted past them. There were no stops between Paris and Brussels and the train was rock-steady and virtually silent inside ; no shaking, rattling or clacking of wheels. You would hardly know you were moving unless you looked out of the train window and saw the countryside passing by in a blur.

[Saturday 18 September : Brussels, Belgium] Brussels has a reputation as a boring city, but I found it quite interesting. The central square in Brussels (Grand place) must surely be the most beautiful city square in Europe, if not the world - an expanse of cobbled stones surrounded by venerable old buildings displaying the most exquisite architecture. I also went to (inter alia) the Belgian Comic Strip museum (Herge, the author of Tin Tin, was Belgian), the European Parliament buildings, "Mannekin Pis" and the magnificent Gothic cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula.

[Sunday 19 September : Bruges, Belgium] Took an early train north to Bruges in Flanders, found a place to stay, dumped my gear then caught another train north to the coast. There is a tram that runs along the entire north coast of Belgium, from the border with France at De Panne in the west to the border with the Netherlands at Knokke-Heist in the east, and I rode the length of it, getting off and exploring a few places on the way (Ostende, Blankenberge, de Panne, Knokke and Zeebrugge). Virtually the entire Belgian coastline is built-up, with houses and buildings crammed together all the way from France to the Netherlands and hardly any open land. But the tram ride was very pleasant, and the seaside communities are all neat and well-kept (as are most things in Belgium). The seafront promenade of Ostende was crowded with weekend trippers enjoying the good weather before the onset of European winter.

From Ostende I took a train down to Ghent, walked around the town centre (which contains a magnificent collection of well-preserved old buildings) before heading back to Bruges in the evening. Bruges is also an extremely pleasant city, with gracious old buildings flanking canals and cobbled streets. The Belgian train system is fast, frequent, comfortable and very efficient.

Walking alongside the Seine, Paris (with Notre Dame in the background)

[Monday 20 September : Luxembourg City, Luxembourg] I left Bruges early, caught a train back to Brussels and then connected with an inter-city express (ICE) to Luxembourg. My luck was in, because I found a fabulous hotel for the next 3 days - I had a big, airy room in a quiet location near the station and the city centre. Luxembourg City is an incredibly beautiful place, with two deep gorges cutting right through the city. Much of the old battlements still exist, and the bottom of the gorge is a well-wooded park. Had a superb pizza for supper at a place near my hotel. I have no hesitation in including Luxembourg on my Most beautiful places in the World list.

[Tuesday 21 September : Luxembourg City, Luxembourg] Walked round the city, visiting inter alia the administrative centre of the European government, the casemates (old city walls), Notre Dame cathedral with its sombre crypt beneath which lie the Royal Family's tombs, the Grund and Clausen districts as well as the park at the bottom of the Petrusse gorge. There are several bridges across the two gorges and I strolled over three of them.

[Wednesday 22 September : Luxembourg City, Luxembourg] Explored the Luxembourg countryside via the extremely efficient train and bus network, visiting the Ardennes forest in the north (including some delightful villages such as Wiltz, Diekerch and Kautenbach), the industrial area in the south (Esch-sur-Alzette) and as far as the German border in the east at Wasserbillig. In Wasserbillig I managed the rather unusual achievement of walking from one country to another when I strolled over the Moselle River bridge and thus crossed into Germany from Luxembourg - the Moselle River is the border between the two at that point. Of course, in these days of European unity there was no border post or passport check.

[Thursday 23 September : Dijon, France] Took the train south to Dijon in Burgundy in cold, grey weather, with persistent rain most of the day. I had a two hour wait in Metz where I had to change trains, so I walked around the city, but unfortunately it rained non-stop and the place looked gloomy, dark and depressing. The train from Metz got into Dijon in mid-afternoon ; thankfully the rain had stopped by then. The old part of Dijon is remarkably well preserved and its small enough that it can easily be explored on foot in a couple of hours (which is all the time I had). Didn't see any sign of mustard though ...

Life aboard the barge ...

Relaxing after a hard day on the canals

Ambling along

[Friday 24 September : Dompierre sur Bresbe, France] From Dijon I took a succession of small country trains via the little villages of Montchanin and Paray-le-Monial to get to Dompierre. From Dompierre train station I walked 3 km to the Canal du Lateral, where I met up with Karen, Scott and her parents on the canal barge that they had rented for the following week. They had taken a taxi there from the cottage they'd been staying in for the previous week. The five of us (Paul, Karen, Scott, Wilf and Wendy) set off that afternoon down the canal, and after we'd tied up for the night Karen's brother and sister-in-law (Tom and Dain) cycled up the towpath and joined us on the boat ; they had flown to Toulouse a week before and cycled up from there. So the boat then had seven of us on board (six adults and one child), resulting in the space being pretty cramped at times.

[Saturday 25 September : Decize, France] Ambled up the Canal du Lateral on our barge, opening and closing "locks" on the way. Canal locks are used to regulate the flow of water and raise or lower the water level on slopes.

[Sunday 26 September : Cercy-la-Tours, France] We turned north onto the Canal du Nivernais shortly after leaving our overnight spot at the rather run-down town of Decize. Cercy-la-Tours, however, was a charming little village.

[Monday 27 September : Anizy, France] More canal ambling ... What a great way to travel - pootle along the water, drinking tea and eating biscuits, baguettes and croissants. Occasionally we took the bicycles off the boat and cycled along the tow-path, or rode into nearby villages to buy food.

[Tuesday 28 September : Chatillon-en-Bazois, France] Had a superb omelette and chips for dinner at an old stone restaurant in the village of Chatillon (where we tied the barge up for the night). The French do know how to make omelettes ...

[Wednesday 29 September : Port Brule, France] A fabulous day of boating - we went through an exquisite landscape of forests, tunnels and deep ravines, and tied up for the night in the tiny but beautiful settlement of Port Brule. The canal went through a dark tunnel for several hundred metres at one point ; an eerie feeling.

[Thursday 30 September : Corbigny, France] Our last day on the boat, and it was a hard one - 24 locks, of which 16 were one after the other. We docked for the night at the boat base, which was quite a distance from the village of Corbigny so five of us (Karen, Paul, Scott, Tom and Dain) cycled into town to get food. It was a pleasant ride through the French countryside but we got lost coming back. Eventually we intersected the canal a long way upstream from where we were docked and had to ride back down the tow-path to the barge. Had a fabulous shower at the boat base - the showers on the barge were cramped and uncomfortable.

[Friday 1 October : Lyon, France] Took a bus from Corbigny to Clamecy, then five trains : Clamecy to Auxerre (just made that one by a few SECONDS), Auxerre to Laroche-Migennes, Laroche to Dijon, Dijon to Lyon Part-Dieu and Lyon Part-Dieu (the train station in the new financial district of Lyon) to Lyon Perrache (the station near the centre of the city). Very tiring. We hadn't planned to stay over in Lyon, but it was an exhausting day and we were relieved to dump our packs in the hotel.

The statue of Louis Pasteur in Lyon

[Saturday 2 October : Lyon, France] Explored Lyon, the second biggest city in France. It has a well-preserved old town, including some impressive Roman ruins and a HUGE cathedral that contains two entire churches, one on top of the other. The old town is steep and cobbled, and many buildings have rambling, picturesque courtyards that you can wander around. However, two days in Lyon is enough and I can't imagine we'd ever want to return ; it is generally a nondescript and uninspiring sort of place.

[Sunday 3 October : Avignon, France] Took the train south to Avignon in Provence, a charming city entirely surrounded by medieval walls. It's pretty hot this far south and we're all in shorts and T-shirts. For a brief (and contentious) period several hundred years ago, Avignon was the residence of the Pope ; the Papal Palace that was used during that time is now an impressive museum.

[Monday 4 October : Avignon, France] Explored Avignon and relaxed (which means we caught up on laundry, e-mail and planned our next few days travel). We walked round the city walls and saw the broken Pont du Benezet, the bridge across two rivers and a swamp that was built by a simple peasant (Benezet) who later went on to become a saint. Completed in 1185, it was almost 900 metres long - a very ambitious undertaking at that time. The bridge was partially washed away and rebuilt at huge expense several times over the centuries, but became increasingly perilous as arches collapsed and were replaced by unstable wooden supports. A catastrophic flood in 1668 swept away most of the bridge, after which it was abandoned and left to nature. Since then several more arches have collapsed and today only 4 of the original 22 arches remain intact. That night we had a 3-course "set menu" supper on the main square.

The ruined Pont du Benezet, Avignon

[Tuesday 5 October : Avignon, France] Visited the picturesque villages of Isle-sur-la-Sorge and Fontaine de-la-Vaucluse. Isle-sur-la-Sorge is built on and around the Sorgue River, and is full of water-wheels, most of which are no longer used. The Sorgue river comes from an incredibly deep pool near Fontaine de-la-Vaucluse, the bottom of which has not yet been found ; explorers such as Jacques Costeau have gone down to a depth of 308 metres without reaching the bottom. Nearby is a still-working vintage paper mill and a man-made underground cavern that provides a simulation of the caves around the source of the river. We also climbed up to an abandoned and ruined castle on the hill above - it was nothing more than a pile of stones.

[Wednesday 6 October : Les St Maries de-la-Mer, France] Took the train south to Arles, where we got off and had a look at the extremely well-preserved Roman amphitheatre there (one of the largest outside of Italy, it is still used for bull-fighting in summer), and then caught an afternoon bus to Les St Maries de-la-Mer, the "capital" of the Camargue region. St Maries de-la-Mer is most well known for the legend that in 40 AD Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome (mother of the Apostles John and James) and Mary Jacobe (Jesus' aunt) came ashore here in a boat from Palestine. The relics of these three Saints are kept in the crypt of the 12'th century church in town, and have been venerated by generations of pilgrims for hundreds of years (I had previously visited this church in 1987). That afternoon we watched French bull-fighting in the arena on the waterfront - the bull is not killed or hurt in any way, merely teased, and when he's tired they bring in a fresh bull and start all over again. Very humane, and a far cry from the brutal, cruel and deadly bullfights that are so popular in Spain.

[Thursday 7 October : Les St Maries de-la-Mer, France] Went horse riding in the Camargue, through dunes, marshes and along the beach ; it was only my second time on a horse, and it was far more pleasant than my first experience (in Ireland in 1990). The weather was great, and in the afternoon we lazed on the beach and swam in the Mediterranean Sea (well, two of us swam - Karen does not easily put her feet in water that isn't tropical in temperature).

The beach at St Maries de-la-Mer

[Friday 8 October : Carcassonne, France] It proved quite difficult to get to Carcassonne, not very far west of St Maries de-la-Mer. We had to get a taxi to Grau-du-Roi (on the western edge of the Camargue) via Aigues-Mortes, La Grande Motte and Port Camargue, then a bus from Grau-du-Roi to Montpellier. In Montpellier we had to take a tram to the train station (Montpellier's trams are VERY slick), from where we had to catch two trains - first to Narbonne, then a change of trains, before reaching Carcassonne late in the afternoon. The trip through the Camargue brought back memories of when I'd driven through the area in my own car way back in 1987. We walked some distance from Carcassonne train station through the new town before finding a great place to stay on a side street just below the walls of the old town - very convenient.

[Saturday 9 October : Carcassonne, France] Carcassonne is stunning. The old town was painstakingly (although somewhat inaccurately) restored in the 19'th century and is entirely surrounded by double city walls. It is now a UNESCO world heritage site and unfortunately overrun by tourists. Cars are not allowed inside. That night we had a delicious dinner of Cassoulet (the local delicacy, a stew of pork, goose, sausage and beans) for supper at a restaurant in the old town.

[Sunday 10 October : Carcassonne, France] Explored Carcassonne, went on the castle tour and visited the macabre but fascinating Museum of Torture. This museum documents in graphic detail the many mind-bogglingly sick ways that people in medieval times were tortured, often merely because they were suspected of (say) witchcraft. The museum was mostly devoted to the means of torture used during the Inquisition ; some of the instruments on display are truly the stuff of nightmares. The most incredible part of all this cruelty was that a great deal of it was perpetrated in the name of religion.

In the afternoon I strolled into the new town, visited a few car rental agencies and booked a car for us for the next day.

[Monday 11 October : Carcassonne, France] Early in the morning we collected our rental car (a tiny 3-door Puegeot hatchback), drove out of Carcassonne and visited the caves of Labouiche near Foix. These caves contain the longest subterranean river in Europe - you climb down then go by boat for several kilometres through the caves.

From there we drove to the ruined castle of Montségur, which is on the top of a VERY steep hill and required a stiff 30 minute walk to reach it. This castle was the last outpost of the Cathars before they were all eradicated during the Albigensian Crusades. However, the ruined castle that is there today is not the original Cathar stronghold - that was entirely torn down after the Cathars surrendered. Thereafter a new castle was built on the same site, and the ruin of this latter castle is what remains. Below the castle is the tiny village of Montségur, which has a small but fascinating museum.

After the final destruction of Montségur in March 1244 the Cathars effectively disappeared and today the sect no longer exists. The ruined Cathar castle is an eerie place with a mysterious history, all the more so because over 200 people (who refused to recant their faith when the castle was overrun) were burnt alive en masse in a huge pyre at the bottom the hill. Although the French government today recognizes Montségur as a site of historical significance, no attempt has been made to publicise it or make it accessible to tourists - there are a few parking spaces on the road below and a rough, uneven track up the hill to a pile of stones. That's it. It is almost as if the memory of the Cathars is still being suppressed to this day ...

In front of the old city of Carcassonne

[Tuesday 12 October : Paris, France] Spent all day on the train getting back to Paris, a pleasant and relaxing ride after our non-stop travelling of the previous several days. Luckily we had an 8-seat compartment to ourselves for the entire trip.

[Wednesday 13 October : Paris, France] Walked up the first two levels of the Eiffel Tower then took the mandatory elevator to the top (FREEZING cold up there), walked around the massive 10-storey department store Galleries Lafayette and then took the train (RER) to the airport. There was a problem at one of the metro stations (St Michel) and this meant we were delayed, had to take a different route and only just made it in time for our flight to Johannesburg.

[Thursday 14 October 2004 : Cape Town, South Africa] And that was the end of our trip ... next stop Thailand and Cambodia in 2006.