Photo album: "Egypt: Giza"

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I leave the island of Reunion on Wednesday, March 26, 1975 at 20:40, in a Boeing 707 of Air France. We land in Djibouti on March 27 at 1:20 am. Heat and high humidity make the atmosphere boiling. After police formalities, I am led to a hotel where the prospect of a cold shower is disappointed because the shower pipe is not connected. My stay fortunately is short lived as I fly the same day at 9 am aboard a Douglas DC6 of Air Djibouti which leads me to Addis Ababa where we land one hour and 40 minutes later. As I am to leave again the next day I can visit the city and get a good night. On March 28, I board a Boeing 707 of Air France which drops me in Cairo around 7 pm after three hours and a half of flight. My wife, Marie-France, will join me the next day.

Addis Ababa Thursday, March 27 in the afternoon, since the Ethiopian capital is situated 2300 meters above sea level, the temperature is pleasant enough. Today is the weekly market day. I decide to go for a walk.

Visiting the market.

The atmosphere of this market reminds me of my African sojourns in Bangui in 1966 and in Ouagadougou in 1968-69.

Later, I make acquaintance with a student who accompanies me to a restaurant where I can taste the local cuisine. I will visit with him, the following morning, a museum at the University and the Cathedral.

On Friday, March 28, 1975, I arrive in Cairo in the evening. Marie-France joins me the next day in the afternoon. We stay in Cairo until Thursday, April 3 in the evening, allowing us to visit the city and its surroundings. We use the train to travel to the other Egyptian cities. We leave Cairo, on April 3, for Aswan. We set off again, on Saturday, April 5, to Luxor. We leave Luxor, on the evening of Monday, April 7, 1975, to return to Cairo. We leave Cairo again, on Friday, April 11 at 8 am to Alexandria. On Monday, April 14 morning, we leave for Cairo where we fly the same day, in a Boeing 707 of Air France which drops us at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at 17:20.

On Sunday, March 30, to visit the site of Giza, we ride around the pyramids on the back of dromedaries.

The pyramid of Cheops, the largest of the three, was built around 2560 BC. It covers an area of over 5 hectares with a square base of 230 meters across and is 137 meters high. It was 9 meters higher originally before the outer coating was reclaimed as a building material.

The pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three, was built between 2532 and 2515 BC and is 65.5 meters high with a base of 105 meters across.

Behind that of Menkaure, we see the pyramid of Khafre. Its original coating is still intact on the top, its height (143.5 m) is only slightly less than the original height of the pyramid of Cheops and its base is 215.16 meters across. It was built between 2558 and 2532 BC.

Continuing our tour, we see the back of the Sphinx. It was carved directly into a limestone hill, it measures 73 m long and 20 m high.

We can see now a front view of the Sphinx, in front of the pyramids. It has a crouching lion's body and a human head. Much mystery still surrounds the Sphinx, archaeologists are not all agreeing on when it was built, probably between 2600 and 2500 BC, or about who is represented by his face.

We are now moving away from the site of Giza and we can see that the pyramids are just on the edge of the desert. We will return on the evening of April 8, towards the end of our stay, to attend a show of light and sound.

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