GALLIPOLI TO FRANCE...."Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives....they have become our sons as well"

"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives…

You are now living in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours…You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace, after having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."            

Ataturk, 1934

Gallipoli....Standing at Anzac cove with the famous "Sphinx" behind me

The above speech, made by the Turkish General Ataturk after the battle of Gallipoli is such a lesson of forgiveness and reconciliation from a nation that was attacked during WW1. The Gallipoli campaign saw the loss of 8500 Aussie soldiers, but what I also learnt was that Turkey lost over 80,000 soldiers, approx 35,000 British/French soldiers killed and 2700 Kiwi's....all on a very small peninsula that was critical for both sides in controlling the east during WW1....

As I walked the pathway of the Aussie soldiers of 1915, I was in awe of their resilience given the narrow beach, the steepness of the terrain and the sheer effort required by the diggers to infiltrate inland, and history tells of the sea being red with blood...walking along Anzac cove I wondered if these rocks that the sea was gently rolling over were part of the landscape nearly 100 years ago and felt the traffic of the ANZACS as they landed under the cover of darkness in what is described as the campaign that defined Australia as a  nation.....Gallipoli is a great connection between Turkey and Australia and demonstrates how given great leadership, like General Ataturk displayed with his famous speech, the futility of war can be transformed into positive emotional connection between countries....

Blue Mosque - Istanbul...

Our time in Istanbul was a historical highlight, founded in 660 BC, it now has a population of 14 million and during our time we visited the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and the Cistern....we enjoyed coffee in a 700 year old coffee shop where local artists learnt their trade, and of course some quality time in the Grand Bazaar......where we spent time shopping as well as getting lost and doing laps trying to find our way out.....

Dinner overlooking the Bosphorus....

The Grand Bazaar is an eclectic mix of East meeting West with 61 covered streets and over 3000 shops  selling rugs, scarves, jewellery, leather goods, lighting ++.....giving you a small snippets of what shopping treats await.....and armed with some green backs (USD) off I went........... 

Night-life Istanbul....

I wrote on facebook that Jemma and I visited one of the many rug shops, had a free cup of tea and negotiated on a rug that the shop owner wanted $900 USD, he virtually booted us out when we offered $90 USD...the good part of the story is that I found the most fascinating and unique rug shop that I spent a couple of hours drinking Turkish tea, looking at very old and unique rugs, and ended up buying a couple of items...being an 80 year old rug and an old arrow hunting bag.....again, as per my comment on facebook....every woman's fashion accessory.....a carpet arrow bag!!! Katnis from the Hunger Games...be scared....I am coming.... with my carpet arrow bag!!!

Istanbul is just such a great reminder of the Great dynasties past with major empires such as the Romans, Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman empires seeking to control Istanbul at various tines in history, mainly because of its strategic position on the "silk route", being the pivotal point of East meets West during early years of trading, and its position of being the only sea route between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.....Istanbul is one of my favourite cities full of culture, life and, of course, unique, fun shopping..........a great base for a couple of days to experience Gallipoli and recharge the energy levels....

FRANCE.......

We packed up our gear and with great trepidation booked our bags in for the flight to Paris...trepidation because during our few days in Istanbul the bags seemed to have gained weight!!!  Luckily they squeaked through with the extra weight and off to France we went....

After a brief "whistle-stop" in Paris we caught the fast train to Geneva where we had a day at the WTO (World Trade Organisation) meeting with high level officials...the WTO function is to deal with global rules between nations and ensure that trade flows smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.  THE WTO was formed in 1995 and the obvious example that comes to mind of their influence was agricultural issues we had in the late 1980's early 1990's when farm payments to European and USA farmers resulted in over supply of say wheat and other core commodities being flooded onto the global market.  I still remember the years that wheat was $80-$90/tonne making it unviable to continue farming....the roll back for direct commodity subsidies was agreed upon in the Uruguay discussion where the concept of the WTO was formed and a strategy by major nations was agreed upon in making the global market function "freely" with an environment of economic supply/demand functionality.

To the credit of the "super-traders" in the global agri space we function in, the EU and USA have changed their focus from commodity driven subsidies to "de-coupling" and wind back of direct farm payments, we wouldn't be seeing high grain prices today if they hadn't been successful at the Uruguay...for every success story is the challenges that face democracy/diplomacy...the WTO DOHA discussions that commenced in 2001 are at a stalemate and not a resolution in sight!!  Thats Diplomacy for you...snail pace and requires great patience....the high ranking officials we met with were terrific in giving us real and intimate insight into global trade and the complexities that exist...we did contribute that the "developing" countries that we had visited like India etc have got trade distorting subsidies in agriculture...ie subsidised fertiliser, power, seed etc and they acknowledged that this is a huge concern for the WTO with regard to global trade...but they also told us that it is the opinion of the WTO that high food prices may be here to stay on a more consistent basis...as net exporters of food, lets hope....

France was amazing, I have travelled through France a few times but through the hospitality of the French Nuffield scholars network we had the most amazing time... French Nuffield scholars travelled from all over France to spend 3 days with us travelling around eastern France looking at their unique culture and industries...it was a wonderful time for connecting with our fellow global Nuffield scholars...

We visited vineyards and wineries and drank champagne which France is famous for...we drank boutique beer that one of the French scholars has developed and now sells into a market of about 350,000 people only 50kms from where he makes it.  Michele our French host showed us how they have automated their dairy with a robotic milking machine where the cows load themselves into the machine and get milked without human intervention....amazing, the cows choose when they wish to be milked.  Michele also took us through his green waste depot that he has developed on his property to supplement the dairy income and he is now making terrific compost, whilst making great money from servicing the needs of the local community in collecting waste.  He also has invested $1M Euros into a solar panel system on his buildings that he has a 20 year contract to deliver power into the electricity grid at 61 cents/kw...the amazing part of this deal is that he can buy the power back at around 7-9c/kw....now that is the deal of the century!!!

We visited medieval towns and walked through cobbled streets and continuing the eating theme we have embraced on our trip around the world....we had simply wonderful French food and wine...we often laugh and say we are eating our way around the world, and WOW we have had some great food....the riesling trail and many km's with be my favourite friend when I get home, I have to say that Wild Saffron still has the best global coffee, I haven't had many good cups of coffee on our trip...

What I have learnt again in visiting France is the comfort they have in servicing a large local populations and with a combined EU population of 502 million people they can develop markets just servicing the needs of the EU and at times global exports are of secondary concerns....so different to Aussie farmers who have to look globally for just about every market decision and sales...there are still industries that are struggling (such as piggeries who face high grain prices, labour/wages increases and huge competing pressure from other nations such as Denmark and Germany) but on a whole farming is France is very civilised, organised and above all highly valued by the community...the whole of the EU community highly value the farming industry, particularly the land and are willing to support the integrity of the environment through de-coupling payments.....there are times I dream of this farming system in Australia but we operate in a different space and its not really a reality.....

How about this...after our Chernobyl experience we come to France where clearly farming and nuclear power does and can co-exist...

What a highlight France was, the cultural experience of good wine, food and hospitality and the intimate look at existing and newly emerging industries mixed with a community who love and support their farmers was so refreshing...plus being with our fellow French Scholars and making new lifelong friends...amazing...thankyou France....next stop Washington DC and Pennsylvania....USA here we come....

With our hosts we went to a rugby game to support the local team...I know nothing about rugby but was good at singing the team song with the locals when they scored....