Conduissent en Europe/Driving in Europe
I was surprised how easily I adapted to
driving in Europe, especially with a vehicle much larger than I normally
drive. Once I got used to its size I
stopped scaring Bev by driving to too close to the kerb or more commonly parked
cars.
The Italian drivers were remarkably polite
for the most part. Occasionally someone
would do something slightly dangerous but generally they were more predictable
than New Zealand drivers and seemed less angry.
The major exception was in Turin where horn parping seemed to be
mandatory despite the fact that it had nil impact on the flow of the traffic.
The country roads and some around the towns
we went into were in a very poor state, perhaps reflecting a country that is
broke with no money to spend on the infrastructure. There were potholes everywhere and broken tarmac. While the autostrada was better than the
French autoroutes, they were not as smooth and seemed to have had little money expended
on them. One thing the Italians do very
well is tunnels. It seemed that if there was a hill to go through they
would. I have never been through as many
tunnels as we did on the Italian side of the Alps. In contrast the French seemed to avoid creating
a tunnel unless they really had to. The
French roads were in good repair - even
the smallest country roads.
Les contrastes de richesses/Contrasts in wealth
There was a marked
contrast in wealth between the three countries we visited. In both Switzerland and France there was
evidence of public infrastructure expenditure while generally Italy there
seemed to be little. The country roads in
Italy for instance were full of potholes or the tarmac was breaking up. Turin in particular seemed grimy with
graffiti everywhere despite the magnificent buildings that I would have thought
would be respected and if not the buildings cleaned up.
Switzerland is very wealthy and it is
really apparent in terms the quality of the trains, the general pride that the
population seems to have in the environment and the great infrastructure. The railway system seemed to me be superb –
frequent and fast.
Les deux visages de France/The two faces of France
As a visitor to France I have a very
positive view of the French people. They
are generally polite and helpful. For
instance, on one occasion when I was reading a map in order to orientate myself
, a man who overheard my discussion with
Bev, asked if he could help (in English).
It was much appreciated despite the fact I did not need his assistance.
So it was interesting to get a view from
our Saumur hosts, Colin and Myriam, who live in France but originate from other
countries. They told us that despite living there for years they are still
treated as outsiders. Colin is fluent in
French having studied there and has his own business. They told us how difficult it is for any
immigrants to be part of the French society.
You not only have to speak French fluently but you also have to have the
correct accent to be considered truly French. They said that it was no wonder some
of the immigrants feel so angry and alienated from the society general. They said there does not seem to be a way being
both French and keeping your heritage in a meaningful way. You are either French or you are not. They were very passionate about the state of
affairs. They also talked about the inefficient bureaucracy, the indulgent
social security system and the high unemployment amongst the youth with the
impending problems that it is going to bring.
Dany (our host in Sancerre), who is French, spoke about immigrants and
was clearly intolerant of the cultural differences. It was not in overtly racist manner rather an
inability to comprehend how people might think differently to the French. It was very odd from my point of view.
Both also talked about a medical system
which is very good but with medical personnel who are more impersonal; they
don’t discuss what they are going to do or get permission to do things that are
potentially intrusive.
The social security system is very generous. If you are made redundant or lose your job
you receive payment that is equivalent to the salary you had whether you earned
the minimum wage or were a big earner – you got what you had been getting when
employed. Retirement benefits are
generous. They said that drivers on the
trains retire at 50 despite there being no physical reason as to why. This is
based as far as they could tell on an historical precedent when driving trains
was very physically demanding and by 50 you were likely to be physically
spent.
Despite this they said there was a way of
life that was good.
Vin et la nourriture/Wine and Food
I hope I speak for Bev, that some of the
best things have been the food, the wine and the cycling. Piemonte was a complete surprise to me. The food was delicious and the wine so much
better than I expected. It is very
different to New Zealand and Australian wine and really made to drink with
food. Andrea said that we would be hard-pressed
to find a really bad wine from Piemonte and I have to say whether the wine was
five euro or 10 euro it was well made and great to drink. The more expensive wine was just a bit more
complex and interesting to drink.
In France we tried wines from three
different regions; Savoie which was ok but nothing great, Burgundy which are more
savoury. I really got to like the pinot
noir from Savigny – a complete surprise, and it was a bit cheaper than the more
illustrious wines from the Côtes de Nuits.
We tried quite a few Loire wines – Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre which
were so different to the New Zealand model.
Some are fresh and very acid with not much fruit interest but the better
ones we had from Henri Bourgois were five and six years old and had a different
sort of fruit interest. Even the Pinot
Noir from him was ok, I thought the Clos Henri from NZ at the same price was
better. We tried both Chenin Blanc and
Cabernet Franc from the Anjou which is where Saumur is located. We really liked it. I have not drunk a lot of either but each was
superb and reasonably priced.
Bev and I really enjoyed the cheese. Both the Italian and French cheeses were very
tasty. The highlight on the cheese front
for me was an Italian soft blue that we got in Zurich. Another one I really enjoyed was Beaufort
which we got in Saumur. But overall they
were much better than the cheeses we get in New Zealand. I think New Zealand cheese makers try to make
too many different kinds rather than perfecting a regional cheese that reflects
what the French would call terroir. The French
and Italian cheese are about half the price we pay in New Zealand for them and
even when exchange rates are taken into account even our average cheese is more
expensive than there counterparts in France.
Faire
du velo/Cycling
I really enjoyed the cycling. It felt safe to ride on the roads in France. Drivers were generally patient and courteous
which is very different to New Zealand and Australia. While there are lots of cars around there are
also lots of cyclists of all ages riding bikes of all types. Around the areas we were, we saw lots of
commuter bikes. In Paris cyclists are
much better catered for than when I was last there. Cycleways and cycle lanes are everywhere! The cycling was quite easy compared to
Wellington but if you are inland a bit from the Loire you could expect to do a
bit of climbing and descending. It was
not as flat as I expected.
The question I always ask myself is whether
we did we do all that we wanted to do. I
don’t think we could have done much more. It was both relaxing and exhilarating. I loved being faced with the day to day
problems which arise when in a new country and finding that by and large they
could generally be resolved. There are a
few things we would have liked to have squeezed in such as going to the Palais
de Versailles and to spending more time at Chateau de Chenonceau.
Le
fin
Finally, it seems more expensive than when
we were last there despite the claims of deflation occurring. In France some things were about the same
price on an exchange rate basis and some things were the same price but once
converted from Euro to NZ dollars made them about 40% more expensive. Eating
out was quite expensive – with mains about 10-20% more expensive.
