From Nizza to Warszawa

The last time I drove a car for such a long trip was a couple years ago, from Montreal (Quebec, Canada) to Fort Myers (Florida, USA). But we stayed for 2 weeks in the same place. Last week we did something a bit more demanding, but extremely exciting. For business purposes we had to drive from Nice to Warsaw and then back. The good news, we had a fast car (Hmmm.. VERY fast car!), and our own schedule. So why not make it an opportunity to visit places we haven't seen before, and in the meantime, take some pictures.

We arranged our schedule not to exceed 1000 km per day, so we can get to town for dinner and spend some time walking and shooting before getting back to the hotel for some well deserved sleep. And to make things even more interesting, we took another route for the way back to Nice. This way we managed to see a lot of different countries, regions and cities.

On our way going to Warsaw we went through France, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic and Poland. On the way back we went straight from Poland to Germany, Austria, Italy and France.

While we stopped in lots of cities for a break, a meal or the night, most of the pictures we took were in Warsaw (Poland) and Nürnberg (Germany). But we came back with more pictures from Warsaw because we spent almost 3 days there.

Speaking of Warsaw, I was very surprised by what I saw and felt when I was there. First of all, there are fantastic people living there. On many occasions we had someone offering help and guidance when we were looking for our way in town. The service provided in all of the places we were was fantastic. And, as a photographer, I can add that Poland truly has some great places to visit. I recently saw a reportage on TV about the city of Gdansk. I can't believe I was so close to it but didn't have time to make it there for a shoot on the shores of the Baltic Sea. But it's set in my mind and I will go back just for that! Poland is not what I thought it was, or at least it is changing for the good. Anyone can acknowledge that by the number of tourists in old Warsaw, the major works on the highways, new airports and building renovation. It's great to see that.

All in all this trip was fantastic. We had absolutely no problem, we met with great people in every places we visited, we always felt secure and on top of everything! However, due to the short time we had to travel, I found it a bit sad to drive so close to Berlin, Munich, Vienna and Venice without being able to afford the time to stop and visit. Oh well, we have to plan for another trip!

Goodlight!

Norm

© Normand Primeau