Automne en Europe 2024

  Bev wanted to do to the Buchart Gardens.   Fortunately the rain had stopped and the   sun peaked through the clouds every now and again. There were two ways to get there; either on a tour (very expensive but not available) or take public transport (much cheaper).   Conveniently, the bus stop for getting the bus that took us there was less than a 15 minute walk away.   It was a pleasant ride through the suburbs which were not too dissimilar to those in New Zealand and Australia.   Single dwellings on a plot of land, except for the most part they were two storied with a basement.     Buchart Gardens is a very popular tourist destination, particularly in spring and summer.   Even in winter they were very nice.   The leaves had mostly fallen, and they were setting the place up for Christmas.   It was lovely peaceful place to walk around with crowds.   In the tourist season it must be so busy judging by the number of car...

Fairmont Empress Hotel   Finally we were forced indoors by the rain.   We had a relaxed start to the day where we played pool on the pool table in the lounge room where we had our breakfast.   It was about eleven o’clock before we arrived in the Old Town to do a bit more exploring.   As we were walking down the street we came across a wine shop selling only British Columbian wines.   We wandered in and ended up having a chat with the salesman who was passionate about the wines and had good knowledge about them.   I browsed the wines and contemplated getting a bottle but decided against it given I didn’t want to carry it around for the rest of the day.     After a coffee we went to the local tourism office and were given some information.   By that time it was raining.   The idea had been to wander around to Fishermen’s Wharf but the rain became more persistent so we wandered back to The Empress where we had been told to go and have a...

  I managed to slip up getting to the Bus Terminal that was going to take us to the ferry to Victoria.   The bus depot turned   out to be not down near the terminus of the Skytrain by the waterfront.   Fortunately we had enough time to order an Uber to take us to the depot which is what Bev had originally thought was a good idea.   I found out later that the Skytrain that would have taken us to the depot was near our hotel.   I was not very smart on that occasion.   The bus ride was uneventful, going through the suburbs to the terminal at Tsawassen.   It drove on to the ferry and we had a lovely 90 minute ferry journey not unlike the Cook Strait ferries minus the bus.   The turnaround was slick. One hour to get the trucks and cars unloaded and the new lot loaded on. The journey is quite picturesque similar to the Marlborough Sounds in some ways although channels are not as tight.   A ferry like the one we travel...

  I had the idea that the railway station was down near the waterfront so after some breakfast we wandered down Granville Street to Canada Place near where I thought the station was. The reason being to talk to someone about getting a ticket for us to take a bus and ferry to Victoria on Vancouver Island (called the Busconnector). The website was not as clear as it could have been.  I tried calling their phone line but that proved troublesome as my phone wouldn't connect to the line and there was a huge wait when we tried Bev's phone. At Canada Place Bev had noticed there was this experience called Flyover.   It was advertised as an experience that activates all the senses.   Having failed to find the station I opted to book on-line later and figure out then how to get to the station. The Flyover turned out to be a really great experience.   We were placed in seats in a theatre with visuals that were like a flight simulation.   The...

  Autumn in London We are beginning our travel home.   There is a layover in Vancouver for a few days before we take the final flights.     Our plane did not leave until 5:30pm so we had quite a few hours to fill in before taking the Picadilly line to Heathrow.     Bev wanted to have a walk around Hyde Park which I thought was a good idea except I also had a desire to go to British Museum.   In the end I decided that a walk around Hyde Park would be nice given that the autumn leaves were in full bloom and   no doubt there would be a carpet of leaves making for a rather pretty sight on a very   nice but cool sunny day.       We ended up on the wrong train and had to backtrack to get to our destination in South Kensington.   I hadn’t realised there were three museums in the area and the desire to have a look around at least one of them overwhelmed me.   After a brief discussion we changed ...

  It was time to return the car in London.   We needed to get on the road reasonably early as there was a two hour drive to go - around 75 kilometres.   The GPS suggested the fastest route and I chose to do that.   The orange colours of autumn were in full display as we made our way to a motorway toward London.   After about 25 kilometres the GPS suggested a faster route by 10 minutes so wanting to make sure I had the car at the rental depot on time I took the off ramp. I am sure the GPS wanted to make sure I could navigate narrow lanes.   At one point we were locked into a one way lane with a truck and a van attempting to squeeze past each other.   It was managed without a scratch which I thought was remarkable.   There was no honking of horns either – it must be a regular occurrence.   Despite that hold up we managed to fill up the car closer to London and still get there ten minutes quicker.   I have been cookin...