Why the Northwest Passage?
The historical Northwest Passage (the Passage) has never been on my bucket list. Then in March 2024 while travelling on the Silver Cloud, I discovered a good deal on Le Boreal Ponant that charges no single supplement on the Passage this summer. The expedition would begin in Paris on 28 August ending in Seattle on 19 September. I signed up and decided to spend four days in London to visit old friends and four days to explore Provence before arriving at Paris CDG Airport on August 27. Two friends, Maria and Karen whom I first met on a foliage trip in Xinjiang decided to join. Heidi, a friend of Maria also joined. We end up having four ladies from Hong Kong on the boat!
Paris 18 August 2024
I left Hong Kong just before midnight on 17 August and arrived before 8 am in Paris. I got a day pass for 18 euro. I first took a train to Gare du Nord. As I could not check in till 3 pm, I made full use of the pass by taking a bus tour and found Paris dead quiet on Sunday. After having a Lebanese brunch, I took a metro to National Museum of Asian Arts-Guimet at Pl d’Lena. I spent two hours looking at Greco-Buddhist art (Gandhara art) mostly from present day Pakistan and Afghanistan, Serindian (Xinjiang) and Chinese art, Indian art (Amaravati and Mathura style, the Gupta and Pala period etc), Southeast Asian art from Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand), Myanmar and Japan.
The exhibitions are well illustrated (mostly in French with some English). with my hip problem, I can’t and should not walk too long. After standing for over two hours in the museum, I took the bus back to the hotel and was ready to sleep by 8pm.
London 19-22 August 2024
After a good sleep, I got up fresh and ready for taking Eurostar to London. It took me less than ten minutes to walk to Gare du Nord and I had a comfortable 2-hour ride to St Pancras station next to King’s Cross Train Station. I found a room in a basic hotel opposite the station. Nothing fancy and clean, bright and airy! I simply stayed in my room reading till I decided to look for a musical. I picked “Next to Normal” at Wyndham’s Theatre. I paid for 50 pounds for a good seat in the royal circle. It is an intimate exploration of family and illness, loss and grief. The wife and mother lost her boy developed depression and bipolar disorder. The singing and acting are powerful with a storyline that is sadly fairly common these days. I have not been to a musical for many years. I really enjoy the show. Unfortunately, with hearing problem probably set off by a flu after my trip to Australia, I found the thundering music almost beyond my tolerance. I can no longer take heavy and loud music in future.
For the next three days, I met Steuart (my former boss in Brussels), Emily (a good friend from HK), Betty (whom I met in the UK), Carla (my roommate in India) and Robert (a former colleague) for lunch and dinner. As I get older, I treasure more and more my time with good friends. Steuart who lives in Oxford is 91 and I hope to visit him again on my next visit. I was moved to see Robert who had a fall the night before but insisted to take the train to London to meet up with me. He was walking with a stick, and I was relieved when he sent me an email saying he arrived home safely. We are all getting old and with my hip problem, I also do not know whether I would be fit for travel in a few years’ time. Before lunch with Robert on 22 August, I visited the British Museum to see the Buddhist art section. Impressive illustrations and collections. After lunch, I took the Eurostar back to Paris at 6pm and stayed in the same hotel near Gare du Nord for one night.
Paris & Provence 22-27 August 2024
With my hip problem, I could not carry heavy things and walk too much. I therefore decided to explore Provence and stay in Ibis Hotel next to the Avignon Centre train station. I also bought an Eurail Global Pass with flexible use for four days. The first journey was on Eurostar back from London to Paris on 22 August. Then I took TGV from Gare de Lyon to Avignon on 23 August. I like the French train service, and the journey took just over two hours. Then I had to take a 6-minute connecting train to Avignon Centre. The hotel is two minutes away. Excellent!
As I could not check in till 3 pm, I decided to use the train pass to go places. The train that came into the station would be heading to Nimes. But I got off at the wrong station- Nimes de Gard which has nothing to see. But I am impressed by the modern design of the train station. I took the next train back to Avignon and checked in the hotel shortly after 3 pm. It was so hot that I did not venture out till 5:30 pm. I walked to the centre and had an early lunch. I bought a combined ticket for 13 euro (reduced price for senior citizens) for the Papal Palace and garden, and the Bridge of Avignon. I walked up the view point in the garden next to Notre-Dames-des-Doms. Fantastic view, peaceful and quiet. I sat and watched sunset. After sunset, I strolled aimlessly in the atmospheric old town with numerous outdoor restaurants.
24 August– I joined a “Full Day Best of Provence” (USD173). The trip started at 8:30 am with a nice young French guide Rimi. We had four passengers and explored the Provencal landscape in the Luberon (with some 35 villages). In the morning we had two main stops at Roussillon famous for its ochre soil and landscape and Fontaine-de-Vaucluse known for its Karst spring – the largest in France. We also had a brief photo stop at Gordes. Unfortunately, the lavender season was over. I must revisit this region in end June or July to see lavender.
In the afternoon, we spent over an hour in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, Les Baux-de-Provence and Pont du Gard, a World Heritage Site which is an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge built in the first century CE. By the time we got back to Avignon, it was almost 7 pm. I went to enjoy a sumptuous dinner at Bidendum.
275m long, 6.4m wide & 48.8m high 
25 August– I took the train to Marseille at 7:53 am and spent a great morning exploring on my own. I bought a hop-on tourist bus ticket for 22 euro with 14 stops. Given my hip problem, I only stopped at the Our Lady of the Guard Basilica on top of a hill and the Major Cathedral close to the port. I found Marseille vibrant and charming. The basilica offers the most commanding panoramic views of Marseille. I was unable to go inside due to an ongoing mass. The cathedral is impressive too. I was a bit tired and sat near the old port people watching.
After 2 pm, I walked back to the station and took a train to Aix-en-Provence just before 3 pm. I have heard a lot about this charming village. I soaked in the atmosphere having a late lunch till 4 pm. I strolled aimlessly visiting a couple of old churches, squares and fountains. I bought a bus ticket with Flexibus which was a big mistake. The bus (6 euro) departed at 9pm and took just an hour to Avignon. Alas, it stopped outside the old town in the middle of nowhere! Luckily I had an uber app and spent 20 euro to get back to Avignon. A mini adventure!
26 August– I joined another half day tour “Follow the Footstep of Van Gogh” (USD110). Our nice guide drove us to Arles, one of the oldest cities in France. It was a leading city of the western Roman Empire. I can see portions of the wall around the old town are Roman, a Roman arena (amphitheatre) and theatre, and an obelisk. We had a good walking tour of the main attractions before having over an hour to discover the charming town on our own. The Romanesque church of Saint-Trophime founded in the 7th century and other Roman monuments are inscribed on the World Heritage properties. Van Gogh moved to Arles from Paris in February 1888, had an artistic breakthrough with some 200 works painted during this short period. He worked with Paul Gauguin who joined him in October.
The guide took us to see the location of the yellow house when he lived, where he painted his Starry Night Over the Rhone, and Cafe Terrace at Night, and the hospital where he was taken when he cut his ear on 23 December 1889. During this productive period, Van Gogh painted some 200 works. In May 1889, Van Gogh left Arles to be voluntarily committed to a psychiatric institution in Saint-Remy-de-Provence which we spent an hour before returning to Avignon.
I got back to Avignon around 2:30pm and I planned to visit the use my combined ticket to visit the Papal Palace and the Bridge of Avignon- both World Heritage Properties. The palace and fortress built during the 14th century was the conclaves of six Popes (Benedict X11, Clement VI, Innocent VI, Urban V and Gregory XI and Benedict XIII 1334 – 1395). The complex is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe.
All visitors are given a pad for a self-guided interactive tour. Being an IT idiot, I had difficulties in figuring out how to use it at first. The palace is vast and spread over six to eight storeys (I guess). Given my walking problem, I struggled to walk up and down the endless staircases. The medieval structures and interpretations made the tour fairly interesting. After spending over two hours in the Palace, I made my way to the Bridge which last admission would be 6pm. Unfortunately when I arrived before 5:30pm, I found the gate closed with for exceptional reason. Visit by an exceptionally important guest? I could have visited it on 23 August when I got there. Lesson to be learnt: live mindfully and do thing I want and can without delay! I finished my stay in Avignon with a nice meal at Le Vintage.
On 27 August, I had a leisure travel day. I took the 6-minute train to Avignon TGV station and got on the 12:55 pm train to Paris CDG Airport. It was easy to take the light rail free shuttle train from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 and walked to Ibis Hotel by Terminal 3. My friends and travel mates Maria and Karen had already arrived from Hong Kong that morning. We had an early dinner before going to bed. But I got up at 2 am in the morning in order to attend the funeral service of Michelle with zoom. I visited her in Melbourne in late July and she passed away peacefully on 8 August. Life is precarious.