-- From Brunswick to Miami

Florida

The peninsula was discovered in 1513 by Juan Ponce of Léon, he called it "Pascua Florida". It was inhabited by Apalachee, Timucuan and Calusa. In 1565 Pedro Menéndez founded St Augustine. Florida entered the Union on March 3, 1845.

Amelia Island, Fernandina Beach

Fernandina is main sight with its grid pattern, its old residences and its historic museum lodged in the old jail which I visited while taking part in a guided tour of which I was, well involuntarily, an attraction as French.

Old Town Fernandina

The day of Monday was announced mistier than that the day before. I left Fernandina Beach with the intention to visit Fort Clinch in the north of Amelia Island, on the way I stopped to see the historic site of the old city. At 10 am it was always in the fog, I gave up to go to Fort Clinch.

Mayport

I moved southwards with the hope that the weather would be sunnier. I arrived towards noon at the ferry of Mayport and I lunched on other side of the river. The fog dissipated, I decided to remain on the spot.

The Flying Dutchman, Der Fliegende Holländer by Wagner

St Augustine

I awaited much the visit of St Augustine, of course I expected too much from it. Juan Ponce of Leon claimed Florida for Spain in 1513. In September 1517 Pedro Menéndez founded St Augustine. In 1672 Castillo de San Marcos was built during 23 years. After two war carried out by the English, Florida was granted to him by the Treaty of Paris in 1763. But the peninsula of Florida went back to Spain in 1783. Finally the USA took Florida in 1821. Colonial Spanish Quarter is a trap to tourists as all old cities duly restored all over the world. Castillo de San Marcos preserved very well is interesting by its architecture different from that of the fortifications in the Middle Ages. It takes account of the passage from the shooting with the arc to the ball by canon. The city can pride on two sumptuous hotels in the Spanish style built by Henry Flagler who had the financial genius to build a railroad to bring customers. The collections of the Lightner museum will not leave an imperishable memory, from photographs taken I retained that concerning the tradition of Bernard Palissy.

Titusville, John F. Kennedy Space Center

The day of January 25 was devoted to the visit of the Kennedy Space Center on Merrit Island, an island of sand and marsh connected by a causeway to Titusville. It is a park whose Americans are fond. John F. Kennedy was at the origin of the decision to send a man on the moon after launching by Russian of the first man in space, American pride had been destroyed. The beginning was not very glorious with several failures and was also very painful with the death of several astronauts. I spent more than six hours to explore various buildings of the site and to test attractions. The exploration of space is a human adventure without equal, it takes part in the knowledge of the universe and its formation. To conclude I quote a sentence pronounced by Alan Sheppard: "No dream is impossible".

Space Shuttle

Apollo

Miami

Miami is a city of almost 6 million inhabitants of whose more than 60% speak Spanish and of whose 50% of  Latin majority are Cubans. It is the city of superlatives since 1896 date of arrival of the first tourist train. It is especially famous for its beaches and its estivant(e)s.

Thursday afternoon and Friday morning were two driving half-days to reach Miami quietly where I was to find a guarded park to store my truck during about a month and a campground for three nights not too far away from the airport of Miami (MIA). Not without difficulties I solved this simple equation. The storage of my truck will take place Monday morning January 30 at Davco RV-storage and I remained in Miami Everglades Campground. Miami is at the latitude of N25° as the town of Arak in the Algerian Sahara or Ghat in Libya. The temperature was at noon around 30°C with a moisture of 50%. I devoted Saturday and Sunday to prepare the storage of my truck as well as the last publication of my tribulations on USA east-coast. In preview I publish the historic part of the final report of the journey which held me as breviary at the time of my visits.

As of January 7 I had booked a seat on an Air Canada flight bound to Paris via Toronto. The departure took place Monday January 30 in the afternoon with an arrival in Paris Tuesday in the morning. I received Friday January 27 an email giving me the confirmation code to be produced at check-in. Thus all seemed buckled, to follow. According to the established formula, it is necessary to take his run-up.

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