PARIS-ARRAS. 19th-20th August.

Thanks Michele, Amy, Laraine and Terri for your encouraging comments. I'm afraid I still haven't worked out how to add the photos in French, and will have to wait till I find an internet shop man who speaks some English.

Tuesday 19th August - early to the internet shop. The guy at ANZ that I spoke with on Sunday e-mailed me some info, including a release form that I need to sign to authorise ANZ to give details of my bank accounts to the Gendarmerie. Unfortunately he didn't include a necessary stat. dec. form, or a fraud questionnaire. So I printed out a stat. dec. form from the Vic. Govt's Justice site, and then typed up my statement and photocopied it onto the stat. dec. Then I had to go right across to the other side of Paris to the Australian Consulate (literally in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower), to get it signed and stamped, which costs 12 Euros. Back at the internet shop the guy tried to fax the stat. dec. and the release form to ANZ for me, without success, so I thought I'd try at the Post Office at the Gare Nord when I'm leaving tomorrow.

Wednesday 20th August - By Métro to Gare Nord, only to discover that a POST OFFICE can't send faxes to anywhere outside France. So I photocopied the forms and sent the originals to ANZ by post. Enormous long queue to buy a ticket to Arras, and got one with just 5 minutes to spare. I didn't realise that the seats were allocated, and managed to sit in the wrong carriage. Then there wasn't enough room for my backpack on the luggage rack, so now I'm occupying two seats in the wrong carriage. The ticket collector didn't seem to notice, but started interrogating me about something else. I'd got a senior's discount on the ticket, and thought he was asking for proof (why?), but then he realised I couldn't speak French, and fortunately lost interest.

I'd thought to stay at the youth hostel in Arras, as it was only 8 Euros a night, though Lonely Planet said their reception was closed from 12 till 5. I got there with 20 minutes to spare, but a notice on the door said closed 11 till 5. Not to worry, I needed to find a laundrette to do some washing, which my trusty French phrasebook said was a 'lavoir'. This is a rather unfortunate word, as a sign in 15 inch letters outside the laundrette proclaimed it as a 'Lav'. Nevertheless I proceeded to wash my clothes there, having to ask assistance at every stage of the procedure from various assorted matrons.

As I was still toting my backpack, I didn't walk around too much in Arras, but cooled my heels for a couple of hours at a café looking onto the Grande Place (town square). The square is enormous and cobble-stoned, and the shops and buildings around it jut out over walkways supported on about 300 columns. It is a Flemish-style square, unique in France apparently, about 500 years old, and the only part of the town to escape unscathed from the bombing in 1940.

While here I wanted to follow a bit in the footsteps of my oldest brother, who was stationed in Arras with the B.E.F. in 1939/40, and was unfortunately later posted 'missing in action, believed killed' in Belgium. I never knew him, but sitting there it occurred to me that he must often have
sat looking out over this same square, having a beer perhaps, and it gave me a really eerie feeling, with shivers running up and down my spine.

Arriving back at the youth hostel, I now noticed another notice on the door, to the effect that it was closed for the holidays until 21st August - tomorrow! Plan B was a reasonably cheap hotel nearby, which I soon found out was permanently closed down. Any other hotels were upwards of 65 Euros (over a hundred bucks), and I had no intention of paying that for a few hours sleep. So to Plan C, a camping ground allegedly 10 minutes walk south of the town - which half an hour later turned out to be also closed for the holidays! Got to go, internet shop is closing......