Convoys and the Long Way Home

[drron]

So to the last of our trip around the city-

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

SO that was the end of our bus trip.Went back and had an half hour rest before crossing the road from the Sheraton and walking up a shopping street,Came to yet another Notre Dame church-

.

.

.

 

[drron]

Now we had gone over the road to try and find a restaurant selling that typical Belgian meal-moules et frittes.There was one next to the Sheraton but it was closed for renovations.Along the street half the restaurants were closed.As well at least half the shops were closed.A bit strange as there were banners up everywhere urging people to "Shop on Sunday."However there were also some impressive buildings-

.

.

.

.

Then finally we found what we were after.In fact 2 restaurants side by side.Mine were with garlic,mrsd with cream.And of course I had to wash them down with a Belgian beer-

.

.

.

.

.

.

This church had been rebuilt in the 50s after meeting a bomb during WW2.

 

[drron]

We then found this fabulous stet full of chocolates,macarons and meringues.And we bought some of each-

.

.

.

.

Also lots of craft.Mrsdrron did buy a couple of cushion covers and a bag though not these designs-

.

.

Later on also some shoes so she was happy.Some typical tourist things going on-

.

The street led to the Grand Place.It truly is-

.

.

 

[drron]

More of the Square-

.

.

.

.

.

And another view of the rebuilt church showing the facades of the buildings left-

.

.

And finally a bit of Aussie ingenuity-position,position,position-

.

 

[drron]

Just to finish off our stay a few comments on the Sheraton lounge.Always 2 hot items each night,dips,peanuts,crisps and corn chips with salsa.Drinkable Spanish wines and beer on tap,self serve.Heineken and Hoergaard.However what was amazing was the behaviour of just a few of the guests.The most amazing I christened Mrs Hoover.Always first up when the hot food arrived.Meatballs were piled 3 high on her plate.She would also have in front of her plates of crisps,peanuts,cheese and bread and would take turns with mouthfuls.The first night she had 9 bottles of coke,only saw her have 7 the second night.
She was not alone.Of the about 8 men in the lounge I was the second smallest.The longest the hot items remained on the buffet was 5 minutes.

Brekkie was OK-did have scrambled eggs and bacon and reasonable continental items.So all in all a reasonable but not brilliant stay.
Next back to CDG.

 

[drron]

After checkout the plan was to visit the site of the Battle of Waterloo as on the 18th June it is 200 years since the battle.On reaching what I thought was the correct turnoff the signs for Waterloo with a brown military sign pointed to straight on so I continued.Unfortunately those signs were for the village of Waterloo and a museum.The Ringroad back was a parking lot so no real way of going back.
However it meant that Plan B which was more personal came into play.That was to visit the village of Flers and to visit the grave of my great uncle.I had precise directions but as often happen the road I was to take from Bapaume was-"Barre."So detoured and took a road I thought may be in the right direction and it ended up in Flers.A short distance up a farm road is the Bull's Road cemetery.So a personal journey at the grave which is at the start of the first row-

.

.

.

.

.

A beautiful black iris growing in front of one headstone-

.

.

Looking back to Flers-

.

Signing the visitor's book-

.

The fields they look out on which claimed their lives are now peaceful-

.

 

[drron]

The church in Flers with a touching memorial-

.

.

From the Clapton Orient football club as the whole club signed up.Their unit became known as the footballer's brigade.Also there were local casualties remembered-

.

ow our chariot and the village of Flers-

.

.

.

.

On the roadside just outside the village-

.

It was an eye opener just how many cemeteries there are in this region.

 

[drron]

A couple of fine buildings in Bapaume-

.

.

Then off to the Sheraton CDG.A problem was bus and trucks putting on their blinker to overtake and just pull out.I nearly got totalled by an Insight Tours bus.But the roads are great and the Merc performed well.About 1200kms and only used 1 tank.Diesels are great.
So dropped mrsdrron off at the Sheraton and went to fill up before returning.Fremch drivers are aggressive.I pulled up at a non functioning pump(no signs).I just had to push my way in to get to a pump.Then when refuelling a van pushed between me and another van to exit.Fortunately he left his mirror embedded in the other van not my rental.
Dropped it back at Avis and the fellow tries to blame me for all the little marks.Yes I said they didn't give me a condition report but I always take photos.Then told him where other small scatches were and did he want to take a look at my camera.Asked him best way to walk back to Sheraton.Obviously I didn't make a good impression on him as he sent me up a blind alley.

So the Sheraton CDG.Upgraded to club floor.Great view over runways.Very quiet room.

.

.

.

.

.

And in the distance a reminder it really is Paris-

.

 

[drron]

The lounge at the Sheraton is small but the food offerings excellent.Two hot options-deep fried spring rolls and chicken satay which later was replaced with chicken yakitori.The pastries were especially yummy.Wines were Spanish.Sacre Bleu!Was replaced with Bordeaux quaffers later.Wine was available at 1600.But some pics-

.

.

.

But the plane spotting is great.From our room good for views of 2 runways.One used for landings,the other take offs-

.

.

.

.

Even planes from the QF holding company-

.

.

.

 

[drron]

So just a shot to prove Alitalia still exists and the staff do turn up for work-

.

.

The big birds are majestic-

.

.

.

Brekkie in the lounge also good-2 types of sausage,bacon and scrambled eggs as well as all the continental choices.

As usual we are off early to check in.The board at the Sheraton says our flight is leaving terminal D.Off we go.Go into the checkin area for Finnair and at their counters is a sign saying checkin opens at 1020 for the 1220 flight.But ours is the 1045 flight.Check the board showing Terminal D departures.Our flight is not on it.Getting a little concerned I went back to the woman letting people in to the check in area.Her answer to my query was-"The boards are always wrong."
Hmmm.Great help.But fortunately when I return to mrsdrron the Finnair staff turn up and put up a sign for our flight.Checkin begins 10 minutes later.The lounge is before security.Mrsdrron decides not enough time for a decent stay so off to security.The only dedicated line is for Easyjet!So we queue up with everyone and as usual stop the process setting off the Xray-no body scanners.An hour wait at the gate but free airport wifi.Mrsdrron checks out the duty free but prices are exactly the same as outside the airport.

Boarding begins at 1020.Fills up pretty quick.looks pretty full down the back.
AY872. CDG-HEL. ETD-1050. Push back-1049. take off-1103. Seats 2A,C. A319.
Eta-1450. Landed-1439. At stand-1445.

So the seat pics-

.

.

.

So a Y seat with a quaranteed shadow.Nice white wine,replaced when finished-

.

Meal.Some marinated reindeer and onions then chicken in an unidentified yellow sauce-

.

 

[drron]

There were a couple of problems boarding.My BP flashed red at the gate with a message I had already boarded.Finally believed me.Guy in 5F was upset as he said he was allocated an aisle seat but was at the window.Told it would be sorted when airborne.He didn't have to worry the aisle seat was vacant.
Mr 1A had his large camera put in the overhead for takeoff.Very unhappy.Was allowed to keep snapping on landing though.
Here are the menu items for sale down the back-

.

.

.

.

.

.

After the meal I went of to sleep.Mrsdrron then borrowed my camera-

.

She also took some shots out the window-

.

.

.

 

[drron]

.

.

.

.

.

Unfortunately once more we were directed to a remote stand and bussed to the terminal.Had to wait for our bags.Ours despite their priority tags were virtually last out giving me a few anxious moments.
From the Finnair magazine they will be introducing the A350 to longhaul routes from this year.25/10 to PVG,21/11 to PEK,4/12 to BKK,1/2/16 to HKG and 5/5/16 to SIN.
Straight out when we got our bags and no wait for a taxi-a Volvo station wagon.47.5 Euros to the Hotel Kamp.I had booked a basic room but used SNAs.Worked perfectly.5 days out got email saying upgrade was successful.The SNAs give you a choice of an Executive room or Junior suite.So when we got to our room a bit of a surprise-

.

.

.

.

And the view-

.

 

[drron]

Some more of our suite-

.

.

.

It was even named and the view from the front door-

.

.

Mr Runeberg was a poet and his statue is just across the street from the hotel-

.

One of his poems became the National Anthem.A nice park runs down the middle of the Esplanade.Some shots there-

.

.

.

But always patrolling the park were the Royal Finnish Seagull bombing squadron-

.

I suffered 2 direct hits.

 

[drron]

This is our second trip to Helsinki and was designed to be restful.On our first night we went to our favourite restaurant from last time,Belge.Great moules et frittes.Prices were much higher and the place was nearly empty.Someone got too greedy.
The first day we just walked the park down to the waterfront markets.Old buildings including our hotel-

.

.

Our room was directly under the Kamp sign.

.

.

.

.

.

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed 2 things.The fruit is not cheap.The produce is also sold per litre not KG hence the jugs with the cherries.Damn little tatties though-

.

There were 2 expedition ships in port that day both of which we have looked at-

.

.

They are Le Ponant's Boreal and the Seabourn Quest.But at 260 and 400 pax they IOHOs are just too large for Expedition cruising.If you want luxury they both do Antarctic cruises-however a limit of ~ 100 pax a time onshore means you do a lot of waiting onboard.

 

[love_the_life]

We've looked at both as well - though Silversea's expedition ships did have "groups" for zodiacs and only half the ship's passengers were on land in most places at any one time, (Svalbard & Iceland).

The fruit does look tasty though.

 

[drron]

When we were in Svarlbad on most occasions the 4 zodiac groups went ashore at the same time though in different order.Main times with a wait aboard were the zodiac cruises..But just imagine 400 people wanting to land by zodiac as on the Quest.
But back to Helsinki.There are several eating stalls on the waterfront most selling seafood especially salmon-

.

We really didn't want overcooked salmon though.At this particular place they were giving out samples of smelt.The guy in front of me held his up for the wife to photograph.She didn't get the shot as a seagull had that little fish very quickly and the handouts stopped.At another stall was a smart seagull who just sat there waiting-

.

.

It was rewarded when a busload of Chinese tourists turned up and got a plate of salmon.Boy was he quick and got away with a nice big bit of salmon.
The flower stalls were colourful-

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

We then walked through a section of town we hadn't seen before.So some selection of buildings around the harbour and at a square we came across.But first what many should recognise.the fast ferry to Tallinn-

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Such lovely buildings and they put a modern monstrostity in front.The top floor is a supermarket.On the bottom there was a Post Office so postcards were sent.

 

[drron]

Today was also for shopping.An intriquing shop across the road from the Kamp-

.

But also going to this place-

.

The largest department store in Helsinki.On our last visit mrsdrron found quite a few specials here but this year very much dearer.Perhaps because the last time was 2010 and Europe wasn't doing well from the GFC.She also found the Marimekko shop to be much more expensive.

That night we ate in Yume,a new restaurant at the Kamp.It gets a good review in the Michelin guide so we thought we would try it.Basically an Asian Fusion place.As we found out later Scandinavians have a funny idea on what Asian food should taste like.The food was nice but no wow factor and not really Asian despite the dish names.Quite expensive so definitely not recommended.
But a lot more SPG points.

 

[Bindibuys]

Stockmann had their sales on when I was there, purchased quite a few items.

 

[RooFlyer]

Best way to foil the seagulls at the market and still have the salmon ... salmon soup! Yum!

Ever been to Sea Horse (restaurant) near the old observatory (-ish)? A Helsinki institution!