Vacation 2010 – Paris/London/Wales/Tunisia

Thank goodness for FREQUENT FLYER miles!  I have just returned from an amazing vacation which included the UK and two continents!  I hope you will enjoy the trip with me through my eyes.

My friend, Jacqui, from Melbourne, met me in Atlanta and there we boarded a Delta flight to Paris.  The joke of the day was that I scheduled us through Paris because I needed a better photo of the Eiffel Tower!  However, I had other motives as well.  We spent just one day and night there and I enjoyed seeing some of the major sights again before we left on the EuroStar Chunnel train to London.  Chunneling was a new experience – now I can check it off my list!

London was another short stopover, although Jacqui and I managed to find a great pub, to meet a nice lady who took us to Westminster Abbey for a special tour and to take a boat down the Thames to Greenwich.  I now have a certificate to add to my collection – I stood exactly on the line that marks GMT!  Another day, we hopped on a train and headed to Wimbleton to join the crowd for the big tennis tournament.  Jacqui paid the big bucks and went to the main court, but I was happy sitting “on the hill” where I ate traditional strawberries with cream, met lots of nice people and watched Serena Williams win the Singles!

The next morning, we flew to Tunis, capital of Tunisia, which is on the northern edge of Africa.  We picked up our rental car from CAMEL CAR (!!!), checked a road map, and headed off toward the Mediterranean.  Traffic was crazy and the road signs weren’t much help to us in finding our hotel, but eventually it all worked out and we got checked in.  Soon we went exploring, knowing about a small village called Sidi Bou Siad which is famous for its location on the Mediterranean and its whitewashed houses with blue, studded doors.  We stumbled into exactly the right location, parked the car and began to stroll on a very lovely street.  It was dusk and there were sparkling lights everywhere, a soft breeze, fabulous views of the water, great handicraft shopping oportunities, and a tiny little place to buy shwarma sandwiches.  What more could I ask for?

The next day we visited the Bardo Museum where there are many beautiful exhibits.  The mosaics are especially impressive. We also went to the Medina and into the souk for some shopping.  At that moment, the strap on my leather backpack broke but somehow we met Sami who had a friend who could sew it back together!  He had a friend for every occasion, actually, and he led us on a merry tour of the souk, encouraging us to buy, buy, buy!  Finally we bid him goodbye (aka got rid of him!!) and found our way out of the maze.  Next we took the train to Carthage.  The ruins are scattered over a large area so we only saw a small portion of the ruins that day.  We saw other sites on other days.

The next day, upon checking out, I found that there was a problem with the payment that I had made from the States.  SO, I paid again – not the best start to a day!  But soon we started on our way, heading southwest toward the Algerian border.  We made a stop in Kairouan which is the fourth most holy city and mosque in the Muslim world. We passed many interesting sights – storks nesting on the tops of electrical poles, and lots of sheep, both dead and alive, along the road.  Many roadside restaurants were cooking lamb for lunch that day!

The day wore on and the landscape changed.  We were now in the scrubby desert section of the country.  Towns were small, the roads were narrrow and we often had to avoid burros and their carts, sheep in the road and a horse or two.  The temperature was high, hovering in the high 90′s.  We were also beginning to see some mountains.  Our goal for the night was Temerza, about 400 miles away.  We were stopped often by police who checked our papers and passports – luckily Jacqui’s French came in very handy at these times!  (Tunisia was once a French colony and the children learn the language at school.)  We finally arrived at our destination about dusk without a hotel reservation and with an empty gas tank.  We had a choice of three places to stay – a dump, a mediocre dump, and a very expensive 5 star hotel!  Well, sometimes you just have to “bite the bullet” and pay the bill.  It was a lovely place, but I have no idea why it exists.  I believe Jacqui and I were two of its eight guests!

The next morning we planned to go to a nearby town to ride the Lizard Rouge (Red Lizard), a narrow guage train that travels through a cut in the mountains. But before we left for the train, our plan was to find an ATM, because obviously this was a “cash only” area and we had spent all our cash on the 5 star hotel!  Also, we needed to fill up the car with fuel before leaving Temerza. Well, neither of our two needs could be met – there were no banks OR gas stations there!  So, we headed out of town, praying that the car wouldn’t die from lack of fuel.  In spite of that stressful situation and being stopped by the border guards again, we made it to the next town where we bought gasoline by the gallon.  A nice man with a long hose and a funnel filled the car, one plastic jug at a time!  Next we needed to find the Gare (train station) and asked for directions.  Everyone pointed in the same direction, but we were always unclear as to whether they were telling us distance or time!  We made it, however, and climbed aboard  just as the train was ready to leave.  There I met a young man, Hichem, who was selling drinks in the Club Car.  He is studying English and we had a wonderful conversation.  We also met several British tourists who had come on a bus from the other side of the country just for this train ride.  Jacqui and I were not as impressed with the scenery since we had already driven through this area.

Next stop for us was an oasis named Tozeur,  famous for the dates that they grow.  We were traveling in the sandy desert area now and we had already seen an occasional CAMEL CROSSING sign!  We were definitely in a foreign place!

After leaving Tozeur, we crossed the Chott, a large dried up salt lake. We drove through this extremely hot area with nothing but salt on both sides of the road and an occasional mirage in the middle of it.  I was thankful for air conditioning and a reliable car.

Next stop was Douz where we had a reservation at the Hotel El Mouradi.  It was easy to find and quite lovely.  As we were getting settled, Jacqui looked out the window and said, “I see camels!”   It was true, we were at the jumping off place for Saharan safaris and there must have been at least 100 camels in our backyard!  We inquired about a tour and the hotel manager called his friend, Ari, who came to speak to us.  We arranged to leave the next day, spend a night in the desert, and return the following day.  We were really excited about this! I asked Ali if I could please have a white camel (Carrie on Sex and the City had one) but Ali told me he didn’t have one.  So, of course I agreed to a brown one.  Next, Ali took us to the camel area just to look around and before long he had invited us to his family home for dinner. I was thrilled to have such a great experience  – and it got even better!  Ali still lives with his parents and sisters in a block-style house with open rooms.  No one else spoke any English, although a cousin who is at the University stopped by for a chat.  In fact, many family members came by to meet us, the guests.  Mom made dinner on a small hotplate and served us couscous, cucumber salad and wonderful bread.  The couscous was served to the three of us, Jacqui, Ali and me, with one bowl and three spoons.  It was totally authentic - all of us were sitting on the ground - there was no furniture in sight!

After dinner, Ali invited us outside to see his animals.  He had goats, sheep, chickens, and somewhere unseen, a desert fox! Afterward he asked if we would like to attend a marriage celebration – of course we would.  So decked out in our Bedouin garb (robe and yellow turban), off we went to the party!  We gathered with the whole neighborhood at the home of the groom for music and visiting.  People were curious about us, of course, but everyone was very friendly.

Next day, we packed our luggage into a storage room and got ready for our Saharan adventure.  We met Ali, already dressed in our Bedouin robes, and were introduced to our camels.  Mine was white!  I’m not sure where Ali found Ladia, but she was mine for the duration!  Jacqui had a brown camel and there was a third pack camel in our group.  Morat and Totti were our camel drivers. Riding a camel is a completely different experience than riding a horse, but I found it quite easy and a comfortable ride as we lumbered along.  We were suddenly in a world of nothing but sand in all directions.  It was rippled from the wind and reminded me of snowdrifts. Just before the sun set, we stopped, unloaded the camels and started to set up camp.  The camels were hobbled so they could still find their scrubby bushes to eat but not get too far away and our guides were cooking our couscous dinner.   The sunset was amazing, but it suddenly became very, very dark in the desert.  We had a small fire but when the stars came out, the firelight wasn’t even necessary – what a beautiful night!

After dinner, we all sat around while the guys sang traditional songs and played the water jug as a drum.  We also checked up on the camels who had wandered away.  I walked through the desert barefooted and it was only the next morning that I saw signs of scorpions and snakes as they had moved across the sand.  Sometime after midnight I discovered that my cell phone had service and I successfully sent a text message back home to Florida!  I immediately got a response with questions about camels and the desert – I reported that everything was perfect and I was safe. After the singing, dancing and texting, it was time to go to sleep.  Ali rolled out my bed which reminded me of a yoga mat.  We also had several blankets because the temperature had started to drop.  In fact, by sunrise the next morning, I was very happy to have their warmth - but what a great night’s sleep I had!  Breakfast included tea and Sahara bread which Morat made and baked in the sand.  It was delicious and only slightly crunchy!

Next our friends rounded up the camels, broke camp and loaded everything on the camels for our return trip.  I was sorry that our Saharan adventure was ending.  Eventually we traveled back to civization, said a fond goodbye to our good Bedouin friends, and returned to the hotel.  Douz, Tunisia is a place that I will never forget.

Matmata came next and it is famous because the original Star Wars movie was partially shot in this location.  We looked the area over and marveled at the houses carved out of the mountains that people actually live in.

We had a hotel reservation (they had not been paid either) but we soon settled in.  We did some shopping and some touring, had dinner and waited for the World Cup game that evening.  I must add that Jacqui is an avid fan and was following the games wherever we went.  That night, a group of Tunisian guys and Jacqui assembled – they watched the game on a 19″  TV!

Our drive the next day took us into uncharted territory since we had no more hotel reservations.  We stopped to see El Jemm, a wonderful ruin which is similar to the Coliseum in Rome.  I had a bad shopping experience in this town and we also met a scam artist who tried to get a donation from us for his trip to Italy.  This was the only time on our whole trip that the locals weren’t entirely charming.

Next stop was Sousse, a touristy area on the east coast of  the country. I was driving at this point and I pulled into a side street so that Jacqui could hop out and check a hotel.  After deciding that the hotel wasn’t workable, I realized that I was on a blocked, one way street that was filled with parked cars in every direction.  How to get out of  here?  So, a nice young man who was sitting at a cafe with his friends, came to the car and indicated that he would drive.  Our new friend from Libya not only backed the car out, but proceeded to drive us to a nice hotel where we stayed for the next two nights!  He spoke no English, but was nothing but smiling, friendly and helpful.

By now, Jacqui and I were tired, hot and quite satisfied to stay put for the rest of our Tunisian holiday.  We spent a great time shopping in the souk and met more lovely people, especially a father and daughter from Algeria.  He spoke perfect English because he had studied in the USA, and his daughter is studying to be a doctor.

On our last day, we drove toward Tunis, stopping along the way to see anything that appealed to us.  We saw more ruins, lots of animals, and interesting local sights.  Eventually we returned the car and checked in for our flight to Manchester, England.  Our Tunisian experience was over!

Our flight was late and we missed our connection in London.  The airline put us up in a Gatwick Airport hotel, along with many others who missed their flights – we were quite a jolly group as we ate dinner together!  We lost our hotel fee in Manchester that night, but luckily I was able to contact Trudy and Bernie who insisted on picking us up at the airport the next day.  Everything went very smoothly and it was thrilling to see familiar, welcoming faces at the Manchester airport!  We drove to Conwy, Wales, and got settled into their lovely home.  I had visited them about 10 years ago, and was very happy to be back.  The Robinson family, Bernie, Trudy and daughter, Gemma, could not have been better hosts!  They took us on numerous tours and drives, we had delicious meals and enjoyed lots of good conversation.  It was such a relaxing time after our hectic days in Paris, London and Tunisia. The time passed too quickly and soon it was time for Jacqui to return to the USA and for me to go back to London.  Again they insisted on driving us to the airport (1 1/2 hours) and I felt sad to say goodbye.

I arrived at Heathrow Airport and took a bus into the city.  I stayed at the same B&B that Jacqui and I did because it was in a good location near Victoria Station.  This time I had a small room without a private bath.  In fact, the bathroom was two flights downstairs!

That night I had a ticket to see Billy Elliot, the show that tells the story of Elton John’s boyhood.  It was presented at the Victoria Palace, an old, elegant theater near my B&B.  I had a fantastic time and enjoyed visiting with my neighbors from Australia during intermission.  I also had fish and chips for dinner at a nearby pub – all together a great evening!

The next day I bought a two-day ticket for the tourist bus.  I could get on or off as I liked as it traveled through London,  I really got my money’ s worth!  I rode and walked and toured and totally enjoyed myself as I saw all the sights of the city.  I became such a regular on the bus routes that some of the drivers remembered me!  Two highlights of this part of my trip were seeing the Rosetta Stone and having high tea at the British Museum, and meeting Auntie Fang (my friend Lucia’s sister) for lunch near the London Bridge.  I had such a lovely time!

But all good things must eventually come to an end, and soon it was time to go home.  I left my hotel, took the bus to the airport, and checked in for my flight to Atlanta.  As I did, I was told that the flight was overbooked and asked if I would be willing to give up my seat.  Of course I said YES!  I got another day in London, a free night, dinner and breakfast at a 5 Star Hilton, a new suitcase (they broke mine) and $1,000 in Delta dollars for a future trip.  I was so happy with this that I tried to repeat it the next day, but unfortunately, they didn’t need my seat and soon I was winging home to Atlanta.  After passing through Immigration and Customs, I found that my flight to Florida was delayed – oh no!! – it was a VERY long day with the time change and all the starts and stops.  Hilda, my good friend, bravely came to pick me up at PBI in the wee hours of the morning – and here I am.

My mind is still reeling with memories of people and places and wonderful things - I am so thankful for having such a wonderful opportunity and a vacation that I will never forget!