A Parisian World Cup Weekend 26th-30th October '23

 This was is the story of our trip to Paris to see what we could see of the Rugby World Cup Finals weekend. For those of you who don't know, the semi finals were between New Zealand and Argentina then England v South Africa. The results of these games meant that England contested the bronze final against Argentina, leaving the final to either New Zealand or South Africa to win. 

We have never used the Eurostar train before, I would like to share our experience with you. Our destination will be Gare du Nord nearly in the heart of Paris. 

You may recognise the clock tower of what was a high point of Victorian Gothic Revival. George Gilbert Scott's Grand Midland Hotel which despite the best efforts of British Rail to demolish it, remains an iconic London landmark. 

Originally built to connect their midlands network with the capital by the Midland Railway Company, St Pancras was one of the last great London termini to be constructed in 1868. It really flourished because of beer. The Midland Railway had signed a contract with Bass from Burton-upon-Trent to transport and store their products in London. Such was the popularity of their pale product over the locally brewed dark porters that the station vaults and warehousing were given over almost entirely to Bass.

An incidental footnote on that story is that a bottle of Bass appears in Edouard Manet's famous 1882 painting of the "Bar at the Folies-Bergere". Easily recognised by the red triangle trade mark (the world's first),  this bottle could be the first to be carried by the Eurostar of its day.

It does seem a little odd to leave by a station facing north west for a journey that is basically south east. 

There is a corner of England that is forever France. Eurostar tries quite hard to pretend that it's a plane. We are sitting in what is effectively a departure lounge. As always the word lounge is something of a euphemism, but to get here we had to pass through UK Border Force (such an unwelcoming name), followed by the French passport control and we are now officially in France. The reverse procedure happens at Gard du Nord on our return. 

The front of the train, facing Burton-upon-Trent. Lovely blue sky, but we were never far from the rain, look at the puddles between the rails. The difference between economy seats and business class was almost as extreme as on an aircraft. The seating was just as cramped as an aircraft and further impinged by the pull down table from the seat in front. Speed is, of course, the selling point but even this was something of a disappointment through England and the tunnel but the 250 kph in the open French countryside much more like what I expected. 

First day out in Paris and we make for the heart of the city. Notre Dame cathedral is still recovering from its roasting. This is the west front, one of the few parts of the cathedral to be relatively unscathed by the disastrous fire. This photo puts me in mind of L S Lowry's painting "Going to the Match". The spectators crossing the square, the dominant image of the grandstand cathedral, the once a week obligatory visit to worship the team. More of paintings and Notre Dame later. 

The oldest of Notre Dame's three rose windows, the one in the centre of the west front dates from 1225. It features the Madonna and Child between two angels carved outside the window. 

This is at the end of the Boulevard Saint-Michel with Pont of the same name behind Helen. Also immediately behind her is one of the surviving Metro entrances designed in the Art Nouveau style by Hector Guimard about 1900. She owns the walking stick, not the bike and she's looking towards the subject of my next photo. 

The Boulevard du Saint-Michel has an appropriate fountain to the eponymous Saint, or more accurately Archangel. This monument was part of the reconstruction undertaken by Baron Haussman during the Second Empire and is in stark contrast to Epstein's famous one next to the entrance of Coventry Cathedral. The area is called the Latin quarter and was the location of the pub where we enjoyed the cup final. 

Place de la Concorde was one of the two official fan zones which the French described as Rugby Villages. Entry could only be gained by passing through the souvenir shop and as you can see there was quite a queue for that. The matches kicked off at 9pm local time, so we arrived 8 hours ahead of that for a recce. I enquired of the stewards about seating,  especially for those hard of standing, as it were. Yes there were seats and, because of Helen's walking stick and limp we were directed to the front of the queue. 

Once inside it became clear that there was no seating apart from that immediately in front of the bars which were full already. Frankly we didn't fancy 8 hours standing on the cobbles in the cold and wet and that was before the start of the game.  We decided to make other arrangements. 

After sampling the Rugby Village we bought some lunch nearby and decided to head for the Musée d'Orsay for a little art therapy. Helen could have a rest as they can provide wheelchairs and we would be out of the wet and the wind. 

I took a number of pictures that appealed to us both, so a few brief words about each. Firstly Claude Manet's blue water lilies. My father could have had an artistic discussion with Claude had he been able to speak French and visit Giverny when aged 10.

By the early 20th century Monet was making quite a lot of money out of his paintings. He had moved 50 kms from Paris to Giverny where he enjoyed his gardening along with a team of 6 gardeners. His works consisted almost entirely of his lilies, his lily ponds and the bridges crossing them. Having cataracts in both eyes may also have limited his subject matter. 

Is it a song? Is it a clique? No, it's a Super........picture. Spot the constellations, there's Ursa Major slap bang in the middle and,  I think Ursa Minor in the top right. Deservedly a great crowd pleaser, by a man who couldn't sell a single painting in his lifetime. 

Would you buy a picture from this man?

Vincent produced approximately 2100 works of art including 860 oil paintings in just over a decade, most of them in the last 2 years of his life. His bedroom in the house he rented in Arles.

Edouard Manet painted this picture in 1863. Rejected by the jury for exhibition at the Salon, Manet decided to enter in the Salon des Refuses where unsurprisingly it caused notoriety and controversy. But it was certainly noticed. In some respects it was a family portrait. The figure on the right is a combination of Edouard's brothers, Eugene and Gustave, the other male is based on his brother in law. The woman in the foreground is Victorine Meurent, a favorite and frequent model. She is most famous for being the model in Manet's equally controversial painting Olympia.

We had previously selected a pub/sports bar where we would try to watch the final.  They couldn't promise us seats but suggested we tried to get there at least one hour before the kick off. This we managed to do, but even then seats were at a real premium. Fortunately one of the waiters helped and the three young South African supporters in the picture agreed to let us join them for the proceedings. These three young people turned out to be delightful company,  though not as knowledgeable about rugby as I expected.

Where I could help with the technicalities, they provided boundless enthusiasm, so much so that we switched our support from the black to the green. So we had a table "in Union".

I make no apology for including this illustration which appeared on the Sunday after the game. The reason I chose this shot is because it shows the strangle hold of defence that the Bok's operated throughout the game. We see one Kiwi with three "in his face" defenders, one of whom is that superb lock forward Eben Etzebeth.

This one that I selected features the man of the match Pieter-Steph du Toit. He put in a phenomenal 28 tackles. You really have to know his back story to fully appreciate the magnitude of his achievement. 

The poster boys! They won all three knock out matches by a single point. 

The street on which our pub was located. It was busy day and night, parallel with the Seine and one street in. It links the Rue du Petit Pont with Boulevard Saint-Michel. 

A final view from the RER of the Stade du France. This railway was our daily link between our accommodation and Gard du Nord.

I said that I would come back to the Notre Dame rebuilding an have another photo taken from the boat trip that we enjoyed on Sunday after the final. The Cathedral was built from 1100 up to about 1300. By the 18th century it was in a state of severe decline. Largely inspired by Victor Hugo's "Hunchback of Notre Dame" the building was restored. This was when the unfortunate and inappropriate iron spire was erected. A huge amount of damage was caused by the 2019 fire on the cathedral is still closed to the public. Here is my progress report photograph.  

Kicking around Kefalonia Thursday 12th October

 Until the Wednesday evening the plan was that we were all going on a boat trip to Zante with George and his friends Sandra and Kevin. Mary had left for home on Wednesday morning and since we received the news that the boat trip had been cancelled, we decided by way of compensation we would all go on another car safari. The reasons for the last minute cancellation of the boat trip were a little mysterious. High wind and choppy sea was the justification given,  but quite frankly the weather didn't seem any different from what it had been all week. As it transpired, we actually did two cruises on the day. 

But I am getting a little ahead of myself, remember we were by now,  card-carrying members of the Loggerhead turtle game warden's society, so we had to put our knowledge to good use. Neither Sandra nor Kev have seen the turtles so we couldn't pass over the opportunity to revisit them. The turtles did not let us down. 

A word about car parking in Kefalonia. Parking is very laissez-faire, although there is some private parking which is charged for, all public parking is free. Bearing in mind we were far from high season, Agostoli had more or less run out of places. Under these circumstances people resort to double parking and use of the hazard lights or there is a continuous trawl around the streets. Something will have to change. 

We had decided to explore a new part of the island so took our first cruise,  the car ferry across to Lixouri.

Each item was €3 per crossing, for example, a car €3 or a passenger €3, easy. Here is the ferry. 

 

This is the stern or in non-nautotechnicological terms, the back. Also see a little contrast below. The back of Cunard's cruise liner Queen Victoria, curiously named after a member of staff at our apartments. She (the ship) has about 2000 passengers and around 1000 crew. Agostoli hosts about one a day of these beasts. They must be both a curse and a blessing.  Me, I prefer a car full to a ship full. 

Meanwhile we'll take in the view and dream. 

Now you can meet us all sitting like Buddhas underneath the banyan tree. Left to right, Kevin, Sandra, George (with the ball), Helen and Nigel. This was taken after we had coffee in the main square in Lixouri. 

This is looking back west towards Lixouri from the mountains on the peninsula. The Gulf is visible centre left. 

We  are making for Petani beach which lies on the west coast of the Paliki peninsula. This beach is described as the finest one on the entire peninsula. Accessible by sea and a single road which is precipitous enough to discourage all but the foolhardy. The beach can be seen from the edge of the road, but please don't lean over too far to try and get a better view. 

This photo is a 360 degree one, which is why it may be confusing you. To the left is the Xouras restaurant of some renown owned by Dina a Greek-American lady. The main restaurant was closed for the season but the bar and snack kitchen remained open. 

A more conventional picture of the beach. Petani beach has crystal clear water as befits an EU 3 star (best) rated Blue flag beach. The floor consists of tiny pebbles ranging in size from around 2mm up to 5cm. They are quite hard to walk on and retain your balance, (ask George). A small modesty screen with a door is provided for those who want to change before they go swimming. The water is cuddly warm, though the beach shelves quite steeply and you are out of your depth within a few metres.  There's no reason to panic however as I found it very hard to get below the surface. 

After a very enjoyable afternoon on the beach when each of us could do our own thing (I'd swear Sandra did a little lotusie meditate) it was time to tackle the ascent and head back to Lixouri. 

This was a striking statue and it had the great benefit of stimulating some discussion. Situated on the harbour front, central to the main square, we spent some time discussing the figure and the ship's bow plinth where there were references to architecture, both ancient and modern, mathematical equations and geometrical diagrams. In addition portraits of people and Greek words. Maybe celebrating all things Greek. However with no stated title and my complete failure to find any textual references online, we are not really much further on. I would welcome any further information. 

Concentrating on the above resulted in me giving insufficient time to Lixouri's most famous statue. The statue of Andreas Laskaratos a satirical poet from the town. His statue was placed in the town with his back deliberately facing Agostoli, to take a stance against the long running feud between Agostoli and Lixouri. The feud dates back to 1757 when the capital was moved from Castro (St George's Castle) to Agostoli. This was not a popular decision with the good citizens of Lixouri and the grudge has been handed down through the generations.

 

Definitely time for our second cruise of the day and on home. We are heading east with the setting sun behind us. I bet that's a brilliant sight on Petani beach. 

Kicking around Kefalonia Tuesday 10th October

 In a nutshell, we plan to circumnavigate the island today, although rather than the nutshell we will be using the hired Nissan Micra. In addition we are planning a turtle hunt. When I say we, I mean the recently convened Dungeon Gang.  We have it on good authority that if we are in the right place at the right time then there is every chance we will encounter one or more of these endangered reptiles. 

The loggerhead turtle, named after its large brown head is about 90 cms long and is the world's biggest turtle. The head is big in order to accommodate its powerful crunching jaws with which it eats crabs, molluscs, clams and urchins. They can live 50 to 60 years in the wild.

The hunt was long and hard. We stalked along the edge of the harbour on the lagoon side of the Gulf of Agostoli. We encountered several shoals of interesting fish, but nothing to raise the blood pressure and excitement level in the way that even a brief encounter with one of those ocean going leviathans would do. On, past the back of the fish market building until Mary was sure she spotted a flipper, possibly waving at her. We were getting warm, well actually hot! After the fish market, the quayside veers left for 30 metres then again to the right. Parked along the quay wall were a number of fishing boats and no small gaggle of very excited people, soon to be joined by our gang. 

This is what we saw.

And even closer, 

So for the first time in your life you can shake hands (well flippers........or hand to flipper) if you see what I mean, with a loggerhead turtle. Just in case you are getting the wrong idea here, no we didn't touch them. Having filled our boots (well, flip flops) with photos and videos it was time to reward ourselves with coffee and cakes. An arduous hunt successfully concluded. 

Next we plan an assault on the wild west coast of the island, making eventually to Fiskardo which is a fishing community in the extreme north of the island. The area around Fiskardo escaped the worst effects of the 1953 earthquake, consequently it still has some good examples the Venetian architecture. There are some interesting small ports and resorts to see or visit on the way up. 

Remember driving anywhere on this island is no bowl of cherries. The topography is such that at any one time a road is either going up or down, left or right but very rarely straight on. This means overtaking other cars is almost impossible. Not, however for the locals who seem to have special powers or extreme faith. 

Looking down to Myrtos Beach you start to get an idea of the land that the roads have been built to serve. North of Myrtos is Assos, our next destination. The road down to Assos is somewhat precipitous which thankfully discourages quite a few people resulting in the village port remaining pleasantly quiet. The village actually lies on an isthmus connecting the island to another bit of land which looks very like an island. 

If you look across the water, you can see a castle and lengthy fortified wall. Originally built by the Venetians, this was a prison until 1953. We enjoyed a drink in the quayside bar before heading back to the car. The picture below shows just how quiet Assos is.

Lunch is calling so we must move north to Fiskardo, which lies in the extreme northern tip of the island. It has a small but diminishing fishing fleet and an increasing recreational one. Ferries sail to the close island of Ithaka and the nearby island of Lefkada. This part of Kefalonia largely missed the worst effects of the '53 earthquake, consequently much of the Venetian architecture remains. The lunch turned out to be a delightful experience with tasty food consumed in a most convivial setting. The candid conversation around the cuisine was blunt, bawdy, biological, blasphemous and bottom bleaching but above all unforgettable. Thank you, especially Mary. 

Fiskardo below.  

Time to continue on our way, first retracing our steps,  then branching south and west towards Sammi. Another port for Ithaka and beach resort. 

It was on the beach here that the filming of Louis de Bernier's novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin took place along with several other locations on the island in 2000. The book and particularly the film thrust Kefalonia onto the tourist map. Although hung on a peg of  a romance the story of the Italian Acqui Division and their relationship with and eventual massacre by former allies the Germans. I would like to supply you with more details of this horrific event courtesy of Wikipedia. 

 The Massacre of the Acqui Division, also known as the Cephalonia massacre, was a war crime by German soldiers against POWs of the Italian 33rd Infantry Division "Acqui" on the island of Cephalonia, Greece, in September 1943, following the Italian armistice during the Second World War.^[1][2][3] About 5,000 soldiers were executed, and around 3,000 more drowned.

Massacre of the Acqui Division
The island of Cephalonia
Location	Cephalonia, Ionian Islands, Kingdom of Greece
Coordinates	38.25°N

Following the decision of the Italian government to negotiate a surrender to the Allies in 1943, the German Army tried to disarm the Italians during Operation Achse. On 13 September the Italians of the Acqui resisted, and fought the Germans on the island of Cephalonia. By 22 September the last of the Italian resistance surrendered after running out of ammunition. A total of 1,315 Italians were killed in the battle, 5,155 were executed by 26 September, and 3,000 drowned when the German ships taking the survivors to concentration camps were sunk by the Allies. It was one of the largest prisoner of war massacres of the war, along with the Katyn massacre,^[4][5] and it was one of many atrocities committed by the 1st Mountain Division (German: 1. Gebirgs Division).

One of the more amazing facts of this  whole tragedy is given the choice to surrender or fight on against all the odds, the division 

voted, yes voted to fight on.

Leaving Sammi behind it was on to Poros for a last pit stop as the daylight was finally dipping below the mountain range to our 

west . We completed the circumnavigation in the dark. Thank you the Dungeon Gang for giving me one of the more memorable

 days in my life. 

Kicking around Kefalonia Monday 9th October

We are staying at Katelios which a small village on the most southern tip of the island. Hereabouts there is a small, but well stocked, "open all hours " shop, a bakery, a taverna/restaurant and several holiday accommodation buildings. Walk about 800 yards down the road and you arrive at the seashore. The village itself stretches for about 150 metres along a road/promenade. On the right are tavernas with holiday apartments above and to the left wooden gazebos where the customers are served next to the beach.

 The main attraction in our accommodation is undoubtedly the swimming pool and surroundings. The pool is 25ms oblong with a hexagonal extension on the deep end giving plentiful space for everyone. Not that there are many people here. The social area,  called the bar is pretty popular as well. 

What can we say? Quiet, verdant, atmospheric, with some spectacular Carboniferous limestone crags in the background. This is typical of the topography of this rugged and arid island. 

I must confess that our accommodation is a little more Spartan than we were expecting. But what better country to be Spartan in? The bed was flat, the fridge cold and the toilet worked so what more could we want?

We were located in one of four apartments round the back but whose balconies faced full sun nearly all day.  The next door to us was unoccupied most of the time. Next to that was Mary, from Carradale, a solo holidaymaker. On the end was the redoubtable George, also on his own and hailing from Frinton on Sea. As it transpired our fates were to coalesce as we moulded into the "Dungeon Gang".

The Dungeon Gang minus Nigel on the harbour front at Agostoli about to embark on a loggerhead turtle hunt. You can find out if they managed to locate any of these endangered animals by reading the next blog.

This is a view looking back at Katelios from the hills to the east when driving over to Skala, the next resort along the coast. You can see the breakwater and little fishing  harbour but the village itself is not visible in this light. The landmass visible in the background of this picture is the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese peninsula. 

Finally looking east on the same journey towards Skala you can get a good idea of the typical country. A sparse population living in an area not yet exploited by tourism. Look at those lovely long sandy beaches, without a soul on them. There is plenty to go round.

Kicking around Kefalonia 4th October 2023

In March this year the well known and trusted consumer magazine Which? published an article entitled "The best and worst Greek Islands. The information was gathered from their readership and concluded that the best was Kefalonia. 

The reasons that they gave were as follows;

" With its mountainous landscape, Kefalonia’s rugged beauty landed it five stars for scenery from Which? readers. As the largest of the Ionian islands, there is plenty of space too – making it the only one in our survey to clinch the full five stars for peace and quiet. One reader neatly summed it up by saying: ‘It’s very easy to find somewhere quiet and away from it all. The roads are not for the faint-hearted, but you can drive slowly and take in the amazing scenery.’

The villages of Mousata, Trapezaki, Afrato and Lourdata – all perched above scenic sandy beaches – are the best bases for exploring. Venture inland for citrus groves, vineyards (producing Kefalonia’s very quaffable white robola wine) and forests of cypress.

A drive or hike up fir-studded 1,628-metre Mount Ainos will reward you with sweeping views over the Ionian Sea. Or explore the island’s spectacular cliffy coastline and secluded coves with a sea kayak expedition. Pearly white Fteri – framed by green hills – is arguably Kefalonia’s most beautiful beach."

I actually only read this sometime after I had booked a 10 day package to Kefalonia with Jet2holidays who were offering a self catering villa with swimming pool for just over £400 a head. This included flights, transfers and a backbreaking 30kg of luggage. Doing everything myself, I couldn't get anywhere near that price. A bonus is that Jet2 also came out as top holiday provider with the wonderful Which?. So can I introduce the island to you, if you don't know it already?

Kefalonia is the largest of the Ionian islands and the 6th largest Greek Island. The resident population was 38000 in 2011 but in 1896 it was 70000. The sharp decline in numbers was due entirely to the disastrous earthquake that occurred in 1953. The buildings in all but the extreme north of the island were destroyed. It was, in fact a series of 4 quakes with the epicentre just south of the island. Kefalonia was raised by 24 inches and remains so today. The majority of the population left the island, the diaspora spreading around the globe. Volcanic activity is a constant risk today. 

Since the Middle Ages, Kefalonia has been controlled by a series of foreign powers. The Venetians ruled the roost  for centuries and there is still plenty of evidence of this today. Napoleon, like us, couldn't resist it, so it came under French control. Napoleon's loss at Waterloo also resulted in the British gaining the island. All the Ionian islands joined the Greek state in 1864. Skipping to World War2 and Kefalonia suffered another tragedy in its history,  but more of that later. 

Let's return to 2023 and our holiday. 

The main reason for coming here 

It is a rather moreish environment. 

But we do intend to explore the island. For this purpose we have forsaken the motorbike and hired a small white Japanese car from the local friendly hire company.