The weather
I was a little unsure as to whether I would be able to do
much outside but the weather was not an impediment. In fact we had superb weather given it was winter. It delivered fine weather when we wanted it; it
snowed in Paris which I wanted to experience, and it was super cold in Canada
which is something I also wanted to experience.
The clothing I took was adequate for the most part, although when it
gets to five layers one also needs long johns.
In Canada a decent jacket and
gloves was a requirement as well as some protection for the face. We hardly had any rain during the time we
were away. I would happily go in winter
again. I know it would be a lottery with the weather but that is the case at
any time of the year. For the most part
people were dressed appropriately for the weather. We saw one very brave (or stupid) young
person who was wearing only shorts, a tee shirt and jandals wandering around La
Rochelle. The temperature was about 7
degrees and definitely a three layer day.
People
We found people helpful and nice . The French people are generally much more
polite than in New Zealand or Australia.
Where French was spoken I found that my attempts were regarded
positively and I was helped with vocabulary and grammar.
It was the engagement with people that was nicest. In Noirmoutier Paul and Dany provided us with
a wonderfully warm welcome and an insight into French culture that we would not
otherwise have experienced. In Canada,
Graham and Hedy did the same for Canadian culture. It was interesting to see how they had become
Canadians. In France and Hong Kong we
were frequently offered help with directions.
It was great.
We were lucky to have Lisa join us in Paris. Her unlimited energy and boundless enthusiasm
was great as it required me to to do things I would not have otherwise done
such as riding a ferris wheel in snow.
The car and driving
I enjoyed driving in France as the drivers seem to be more
predictable than New Zealand drivers and they were considerate of my uncertainty at times. There were a few problems with the car such
as not being filled with windscreen cleaner the need for a service during our
trip. The car was a Opel
Astra and it was reasonably comfortable for travelling long distances. We did about 2800 kilometres and for that
distance I am glad we had a Corolla or Golf sized car to travel in as it was able to cope with the speed on the
autoroutes. It was diesel so relatively
thrifty but when the speed got up over 90km/h it was much less thrifty than the
Golf. At 130km/h it was using around 7.5
to 8.0 l/100km. I am sure the Golf was
more like 6.0 to 6.5 l/100km at the same speed. The challenges as always were getting into impossibly narrow parking spaces. I needed Bev to help.
Airlines
We flew with Air New Zealand and Air Canada. The service we experienced with Air New
Zealand was very good. While we did not
have entertainment on the flight from Vancouver to Auckland they tried very
hard to get it working and apologised for not having it working. Both Business and Premium Economy were full
and the only seats in which there were free TV screens was at the back of the
plane which they made available to us.
We flew economy in Air Canada.
The service was not half as good nor was the food. The space between the seats was probably
about the same as Air New Zealand in Economy.
Fortunately on the flight from London there was no one in front of me so
they did not recline into my face. I
must say that having a space makes the flight much more pleasant and I am sure
it aids the recovery time when changing time zones.
Food
We had some wonderful food.
The highlight was the meal at Christopher Coutanceau in La Rochelle, the
service was impeccable and the food immaculately presented. The other meal would have to be one at the
restaurant near Notre Dame. This time I
only had one crème brulée which was not that
good. They did not not seem to appear on menus very often. The croque monsieur that we had in Honfleur
had to be the best we had (Bev decided to try them whenever it was appropriate)
during our visit. In Canada we had a
wonderful meal in Montreal at La salle á manager which was of the quality and
size of those we had in France.
The produce in France at this time of the year was from
Spain and Morocco and its quality was very good. Kiwifruit was Italian and often was the
Zespri brand. I think the highlight for
Bev was the cheeses, just the sheer variety of them is almost overwhelming. We tasted our way through a number of them
with Bev’s favourite being Bleu d’Agur a rather creamy and medium tasting
blue. Roquefort remains my favourite as
I love the balance between the sharpness and creaminess of the cheese.
One of the changes I noticed was that meals seemed to be
much larger than when I have been in France before. However, they were smaller when compared to
some of the meals we had out in Canada, with the exception of La salle à
manager. At the greek restaurant in
Vancouver we left about two thirds of the meal on the plate.
I visited a few supermarkets in both France and Canada. I like the French ones where you can choose
your cheese and only get what you want.
It meant we could get two of three different ones to taste. We did not buy any meat apart from a sausage
to put in a lentil dish that I made but the cuts looked interesting and very
different to what we have in New Zealand.
Final thoughts
I liked seeing France and Canada in winter. It is so different to our mild winters. Everything is stark and bare but life goes
on, people dress for the weather and the hardy smokers sit outside under
heaters looking after their addiction.
When I thought about the weather in New Zealand the contrast is that it
is really changeable and it is rare that we don’t see some sun on a regular
basis during winter, none of the ten or more days of grey skies. The landscape is so different as well and it
is the old architecture of the villages that makes France so interesting, in that
they seem to be part of the landscape rather than additions as they are in New
Zealand.
Bev seemed to really enjoy the trip, for her everything was new and I
loved trying to see things through her eyes.
Now that I have been to France a number of times it is very familiar.
I now look forward to the next trip whenever that may be.
