Created 17-Feb-19
Modified 7-Oct-20
This is the second Gallery of our 1966 European Road Trip. It begins with a campsite in the middle of Paris. Typical of many along the way, it is located in a choice place in the middle of the citiy and filled to capacity with campers--many of whom pull campers behind luxury cars. By camping we kept our costs down, avoided tourists and met many people we would not have encountered in hotels. I can't remember anyone guessing we were Americans. This was when the UGLY American (a top selling book) was at the height of its circulation. We were mistaken for Swedish on a couple of occasions.
As we continued on our trip we were quite impressed by how advanced the Europeans were at designing tents, cars and camping equipment, but left much to be desired when it came to public restrooms-- see the picture of the tiled room with a hole in the middle of the floor. It was also interesting to see how conscientious (but not practical) many workers were. See the two pictures of the man painting the sign next to the "Royale" Ad. A job that would have taken me 15 minutes took him well over an hour. He was painting a flat surface with a paint brush that an artist might use on a canvas.
I also tried to capture some of the culture by taking pictures of meat markets, alleyways, and other mundane subjects as well as some of the more famous buildings and art.
Drive east a few hours and life changes big time. The trip along Lake Zurich to the foothills of the Alps is both scenic and relaxing, a real contrast to the hustle and bustle of the city.
© Robert Peek Photography