It has been a long time in coming but we finally have half of the Motley Crew together in Calgary who left this morning towards our destination of Strasbourg where we should rendezvous with the other half of the team…..hopefully!!
Fras and Di are making their way to Montreal and then to Paris where they will catch a train to Strasbourg. Meantime, Gabby and Linda are going via Denver, Heathrow then Stuttgart and then train to Strasbourg.
Randa and Neal left their home in Kelispel, Montana yesterday and overnighted in Phoenix. Today they fly to New York with a layover on their way to Zurich and then train to Stuttgart where they will meet up with Gabby and Linda who will also train to Strasbourg.
Now this all seems rather complicated but there is more. Jen and Al flew with Qatar Airways from Perth, Western Australia on Sunday to Frankfurt…..EXCEPT……they had a refueling stop in Doha, Qatar……NOT GOOD!!!! Only 50k from the Doha airport was where Iran was bombing one of the US military bases. For us back here, it was nerve wracking and very concerning and only knows how poor Al and Jen were coping with it all. Luckily, they only incurred a 36 hour delay and then sent on their way to Frankfurt. They experienced a lot of confusion, chaos and no doubt fear during this time. The relief arriving in Frankfurt was no doubt immense. They have a couple of nights in Frankfurt and then train to Strasbourg – one can only but think HOLY SHIT!!! They are now safe and probably having more than just a few nerve calming bevies.
This is NOT setting a very positive the tone for our holiday.
So what does this holiday involve. We will chew it off in bite size chunks for you. Initially, we all get together in Strasbourg and then make our way to MS Olympia which is a repurposed river cruise boat and now our home for the week where we will cruise/bike down the Upper Rhine River ending up in Mainz in Germany. On completion of the seven day bike ride, we all go our separate ways.
Snakey set and ready to go at YYC. He will be meeting up with Barbie, Jerry and Pukekhoe who will be explained a little down the track.
After an uneventful flight from Calgary to Paris via Montreal we started making our way to Strasbourg via train. There was a hiccup but an unusual one. We arrived over an hour early into Paris which we are assuming was because of strong tail winds. An hour early on what was meant to be a seven hour flight was pretty impressive. Whoever hears of flights arriving early nowadays. The conundrum it left us with, was we had to wait for our booked train for four and a half hours. It was hot, humid, heaving with sweaty tired travellers (just like us) with no air conditioning in a not so pleasant rail station at the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. It was a bit expensive but Di was sooooo over it that we paid to get out of their earlier.
Strasbourg is situated a two hour train trip directly east of Paris. The countryside consisted of very pleasant green, gently rolling hills and was very easy on the eye and soothing for our jaded bodies and minds. The train was also very busy and we think it is the beginning of the European summer holiday season. The TGV was super fast and super smooth and who can not be impressed when you whiz by cars and lorries at 250k + speeds.
We were into Strasbourg by 3.00pm and headed straight to our hotel which as per usual was disappointing when you compared it to the glossy photos from the travel brochure. Oh well, the room was clean and the beds comfortable.
Strasbourg is the capital city of the Grand Est region, formerly Alsace, in northeastern France. It’s also the formal seat of the European Parliament and sits near the German border, with culture and architecture blending German and French influences. Its Gothic Cathédrale Notre-Dame features daily shows from its astronomical clock and sweeping views of the Rhine River from partway up its 142m spire. Disclaimer – this is straight out of google. As if we would be able to pull this info from our lost file space in our noggins. Don’t even think we had it in the back filing space to be able to haul it out.
Strasbourg is the second most international university city after Paris and you can see this by all the young people and the bikes around.
We had a bit of a wander around and then caught up with Al and Jen who had by then arrived back at our hotel. It was then happy hour followed by a dinner of flammekueche which is a type of square pizza made with a light crust.
We last saw Al and Jen in Perth in November 2018, so had some serious catching up to do plus get the full low down on their Doha Airport saga of them dodging ballistic missiles screaming over their heads which were aimed at the US military airbase which was only 50k away. They put a right scare up their kids plus their friends. Jen said she swore her kids not to tell her mum. This will be a story they will be able to regurgitate to all for a very long time.
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