EmmJays Travel Journal

May 1969

On the road in Italy and heading north from Rome to Florence. We missed an earthquake in Florence by only a few hours but as we were on a tight schedule so we also missed Florence. We continued north. In Italy so many of the villages are built from the valley floor and on up into the hills. They are tightly packed in and the roads are narrow and steep. The motorways were in excellent condition and well marked. When we were on the outskirts of Milan we set up camp at Lake Como. It was Spring and the trees were in full blossom and exceptionally beautiful.

Swiss Alps

The next day we crossed the Swiss Alps at Gothardt. Paul drove the van up onto the train and we sat in the van as the train chugged its way through the Alps. It was quite the experience. The Alps were covered in snow and the scenery was breathtaking. At the end of the train ride, Paul drove the van off the train and took the road to Zurich, but we were supposed to be headed for Geneva. After a quick review of our maps we got onto the road to Berne. The houses in Berne are just like the ones on post cards from Switzerland. The original template for a gingerbread house. We camped just outside Berne and the next day we headed for Lousanne and Geneva. The drive was spectacular and everyone was pointing in all directions, pointing out the magnificent scenery. Spring is definitely the time to make this journey. The trees were in blossom, the mountains were covered in snow and the temperatures were agreeable.

Geneva, Switzerland

When we reached Geneva we had planned on a few hours sightseeing so as to visit places we had not seen before on a previous trip. We went to a chocolate shop and sampled the merchandise and later we visited a cookoo clock shop to look at they way the clocks were made. We camped in Geneva and there were real cookoos nesting in the trees there. They made a lot of noise. We had supper at a restaurant high up in the Alps and of course we had to have snitchel and snapps. It was delicious.

Switzerland to France

We packed up the van the next day and checked the maps for the correct route to Dijon. We were still in mountainous terrain but as we got closer to Dijon it turned more to rolling hills. The architecture changed rather abruptly to French. Farmhouses were primarily stone and painted white. The huge creamy coloured cows of Switzerland had disappeared too. I do not recall having seen any cats or dogs in Switzerland but in France they out number the French. Motoring through Dijon we were headed for Paris.

Paris

We had stayed at the camp at Port du Neuilly in Paris. The next day we all trooped into the city on foot. We walked through the open markets to the city centre. The stall owners throw their fish heads, fruit cores and discarded paper into the streets. We dodged hanging sausages and animal carcasses as we passed through. We purchased a bagettte, some cheese and sausage meat to make a 'foot long' which we enjoyed later for lunch. Some of our group stopped for pastries but I do not care for these expensive and tasteless treats. It was a lovely sunny spring day ... Spring Time in Paris ... what could be better! The trees were so colourful in full blossom.

We were off to Notre Dame park. What a great place to spend an afternoon. I sat and watched some children play 'oranges and lemons'. Someone was shooting a movie so we watched them for some time. We also checked out the Cathedral. The next day we were off to Sacre Coeur to watch the artists paint. Everyone split up here and checked out their own haunts. I headed for the Latin Quarter. Paul joined me and we stayed there until it got dark. We window shopped, picking out all the stuff that we would like to have but could not afford. Some of the others had tickets for the follies. When it was time to get the van and pick up our group at the follies, the starter jammed and Paul had to push the beast while I steered it (a UK manufactured piece of crap ... we should have had a VW). We were late picking them up but they did not mind as they were having such a great time.

France to Belgium

We had to leave Paris the that night as we had bought tickets in advance for the ferry from Zeebrugge to Dover. We were on the road by 1am and arrived in time to have an espresso at the port before boarding the ferry at 6am. We were back in Dover by 3pm that same afternoon. We had been traveling since March and now it was time to go back to work, earn more money and start planning the next trip.

We had traveled a total of 8,346 miles.