The Ideal Voyage of PolMontreal

Introduction

I wanted to make this European voyage an unforgettable experience. I knew that I wanted to go through the Pyrenees and the Alps, I also wanted to see the Verdon gorges and the Calanques in France. I wanted to visit areas that wouldn’t have interested her and she would have been bored stiff during this 8,000 mile drive. I wanted to enjoy this last trip to its fullest, do what I wanted to do when, where and how I wanted to do it.

My first idea was to visit the American west coast. I had already been to Western Canada but I never went south of Vancouver, BC. I had a limited budget so I wanted to do it by car. California is beautiful but getting there is another challenge. Since I wanted to visit new sites without spending all my time behind the wheel, I quickly realized that Europe could offer a lot more. I had already been there with my family when I was 14 and we visited France, Belgium, the Netherlands and England. It was an unforgettable trip filled with great memories so I finally made my choice and selected Europe as my destination.

I started to look on the Internet to determine what mean of transportation I would use, either train or car. I knew rail would be a lot cheaper but I quickly realized that a 2 month Eurail Selectpass wouldn’t be adequate even with the strong price difference. The most flexible pass was $750US and limited me to 15 days of rail over a 2 month period.. The alternative was the buy back option of a new car and was double at about $1500US. The advantage of a car was the freedom of movement and the possibility of going places inaccessible by rail. Finally, I chose to visit by car for its versatility and I figured it was worth the extra cost.

The next step was to see a travel agent so I went on September 5th 2003 to the local AAA agency to get pricing for a return plane ticket from Montreal, Canada to Paris, France along with the rental cost of a car. I hadn’t yet determined the length of the trip but I had figured that 3 months was too long taking me back to Christmas and 1 month was too short to fully enjoy the experience. All I wanted to do during this preliminary visit was to get a cost evaluation for my project.

When I met with Yves Leblanc, the travel agent on duty, he didn’t take me too seriously since my project was extremely vague and my intentions unclear. I knew that France was my first choice and that I would go to Spain and Italy since they were neighboring countries. I also wanted to visit Greece for its historical importance and since I already was in Europe, why not throw in England, which is only a tunnel away.

Mr. Leblanc had in front of him an indecisive person with big ideas, a real challenge. We started with the plane ticket and the price was affordable. Next came the car rental and he found me a special offer by Renault for a compact car at a cost of $1200US for 60 days. I suddenly found myself running out of excuses and I had to take a decision.

I knew inside that if I left the travel agency without giving my accord, I would have pushed this project indefinitely and would have never gone. My health is uncertain and I didn’t have the luxury to wait too long. I took a deep breath and reserved my seat on a Montreal-Paris plane ticket departing on September 20th and coming back on November 21st. I also ordered my car with Renault to get it ready for my arrival. The cars on the buy-back program are assembled only when the order is passed and the company needs 2 weeks notice to guarantee delivery.

That gave me 15 days to get prepared and plan my itinerary. My first buy was the Europe Michelin Green Guide that describes in a few words the most interesting sites and categorizes them on a star system. I also grabbed a road map to give me an idea of the distances between the cities. I finally acquired an international driving license necessary to drive in Europe.

When I got back home with two bags filled with brochures, I was surprised at this impulsive decision. I am the type of person that looks, examines and evaluate intensely before I make up my mind.

I laid out the Europe map on the dining room table and identified the fundamental locations that would form the skeleton of my project. I could then graft the other destinations around those priorities. Those would be for France; Paris, the D-day beaches, the Loire castles, the Azure coast and the Alps. I wanted to see Florence, Venice, Rome and Naples in Italy along with Madrid, Seville and Barcelona in Spain. I also wanted to include Greece to see Athens, Marathon and the famous islands.

One of my earliest decisions was to use secondary roads as much as possible instead of toll highways. I did that not only for economic reasons but also for tourist interest. I wasn’t entered in a race and I wanted to visit off the beaten path sites. In order to facilitate my driving, I needed excellent maps and elected to choose the Michelin Atlas.

Once I started to identify the interesting sites I quickly realized that I would need more than the Michelin Green Guide. It provided good basic informations but there weren’t enough details and most importantly, no pictures. However, it was a very useful tool to make the initial sort and identify the important locations.

I went to a local bookstore to see what was available and the publication that jumped at me was the Voir guide that was spectacular but a bit expensive. Each country was divided in regions and contained a lot of information in a pleasant format with many pictures throughout. I purchased the guides for France, Italy and Spain and planned my journey together with the Michelin Guide. The combination of these tools allowed me to have the best of both worlds; Voir gave too much information and considered every location fascinating while Michelin was too selective.

I quickly realized that it would be impossible to go to Greece, the ferry cost was exorbitant and I would have lost too much time. In addition, some friends told me that traffic in Athens was horrendous and that I would have a lot of difficulties because of the language. I have some basic knowledge of Italian and Spanish since they both have the same roots as the French language but Greeks have their own alphabet and it would have been impossible to decipher the road signs.

As for Italy, I planned to go all the way to Sicily but it was a lot mileage for the number of interesting sites. That decision allowed me to spend more time in Spain where I had planned to stay only one week initially. I am happy I decided to go that way because I would have missed a lot of fascinating places of interest and I would have regretted it.

I fixed myself a driving objective of a maximum of 200 miles a day. I didn’t want to spend my time behind the wheel and I wanted to see all that I could. Finally, when I look back at what I accomplished during the trip compared to what I had planned, I realize that the time I devoted to the preparation was really worth it. After 9 weeks on the road, I finally closed the loop and got back in Paris 2 days ahead of schedule. That allowed me to visit my friends Guy and Yolande who welcomed me at the beginning and see Paris one last time.

Lodging wise, I didn’t make any reservations besides Paris at the start. While planning my schedule, I had targeted a city or a region where I would spend the night. I was leaving myself some flexibility in case I didn’t like the place and wanted to continue. That allowed me to stroll in a particularly interesting place or hurry through another more ordinary. I would have regretted that choice if I had been traveling in high season but the fact I went in September, October and November eased my concerns.

During my preparation, I found that most of the affordable hotels were located around the city center or close to train stations. I needed a guide to at least give me an idea of the prices and where to find hotels. I returned to the bookstore and selected the « Let’s Go Travel Guide 2003; Western Europe ». Its particularity was to provide many choices of inexpensive lodging, main tourist attractions and a detailed map of where to actually find the hotels in major centers.

This trip filled all my expectations. I saw major historical landmarks, majestic castles and outstanding works of art. I was able to experience life as Europeans do because my schedule allowed it. I was a demanding journey and it was very rewarding. I knew each morning when I got up that I would live a new adventure and see sites that very few persons have a chance to visit during their lifetime. When I look back at the scenes that I filmed and read the e-mails that I sent, I realize how lucky I was to be able to live such an experience. I hope you appreciate this testimony as much as I did living it.

-- Paul B., Montreal, 2004