Sep 18, 2012 - Les Baux

We're now in Provence, the region known for: lavender (earlier in the year), mistral winds, cicadas, table linens, pastis (anise liquor),, fish, garlic and herbs. Rugged scenery as we approached the fortress town of Les Baux [lay bow]. This fortress and town, destroyed by Richelieu, was virtually dead until the 1940s when a chef started a gourmet restaurant in the old fortress. People came here for his food and now this town is France's 5th largest attraction! We walked up to see the fortress remains (impressive!) and to see the views of...

Jun 14, 2011 - Bordeaux, Montlucon, and Paris: The Twilight Zone

So, it's been a while since I've updated. The reason for this is simply that... France hates us. We have now been trying to leave the country for four days and, as I write this, I am sitting in a McDonalds in Paris, where it is currently raining harder than I've ever seen it rain before. But, let me start with the beginning, all the way back in Bordeaux... I have received several "helpful" tips about how to travel. Namely, that planning a little bit goes a long way, and that many of the places we have wound up have incredible sights to see....

Nov 1, 2010 - Vichy

We awake early and take a last, long sigh looking out the window on the river. After a brief continental breakfast, we head for Le Cap d Agde and – surprise – hundreds of condominiums and boats! We were in the old city last night. It’s a lovely protected bay on the Mediterranean. Mark suggests it may be the last time we see it in our lives, so we sink into enjoying the view, and life, before moving on. It was a special time here. Now it’s time for a big climb – high into the midi Pyrenees. The geology is nothing short of amazing – it’s a...

May 20, 2009 - Montlucon

Today we continued north and drove to Montlucon, a town with a population of around 40,000. We had found out yesterday that tomorrow (thursday)is a holiday here because of ascension day. Many people also take Friday off work to make a long weekend and accomodation can be hard to find. The B&B we had just stayed at was booked out for the weekend. When we arrived in Montlucon, the first thing we noticed was shops were open even though it was lunch time. Many places close down from around 12:30-2:30 for lunch in the other places we have been,...

Apr 17, 2006 - The 'Massif'!

Stunning scenery and stunning weather make fr a perfect day. I've seen wild deer, massivr birds of prey, beatiful butterflies and all manner of wildlife. The terrain may have been the toughest so far but it's been exillerating aswell! Once again everything is shut and eventually at 7pm I found a bar that was willing to put me up in a small town called Neuvic. Slept very well today. My knee held out but it's only going to get tougher. Spent the evening watching Back to the Future on French TV. I think it's better in French than...

Apr 14, 2006 - Greetings from Entraygues

Dear all This may be a second dose of newsletter today. I am still learning! Great flight over here with a short stop at Singapore. Arriving in Paris on a fine but cold day; The words of the song 'I love Paris in the Spring' were very apt: It is Spring; but running about 3 weeks late the locals tell us. PF wore her overcoat all the time whilst out and about. We did all the usual in Paris; first the purchase of a zeekly ?etro tickedt (fanttastic system qnd easy to get around). First stop was the ,agnificent Eiffel Tozer; joined the queue qnd...

Nov 15, 2005 - The House Exists

Picked up our very cool Renault Grand Scenic and headed up to Entraygues to finally see our French house - would it exist, would we like it - all very exciting... The drive up was fantastic and some of the most picturesque scenery we have seen...incredibly green, gorgeous autumn tones every where and the prettiest villages...not to mention the incredible Millau Viaduc bridge which has just opened...tres magnifique!!! At last we arrived in Entraygues-sur-Truyere AND there is a house AND it looks great AND we love it. Fantastique! We spent...

May 31, 2005 - Saint-Etienne, the Cleveland of France

Hey y'all I arrived in Saint Etienne after a quick train ride from Dijon with a stopover in Lyon. Saint-Etienne is a normal, middle class French town with an industrial mining foundation that has dissapeared to a municipality that wants to move over into a more metropolitan frame of mind. I say it's the Cleveland of France because it's also having a hard time getting over the transition from industrial to commercial business as the main employer within the City. In an effort to improve the infrastructure the entire city is a construction...

Dec 11, 2004 - Tours, France

Today we took a train to Chanonceau to see their Chateau. It was so beautiful but we couldn't believe how cold it was. This particular chateau crosses an entrire river(I guess this is pretty unique). It has huge gardens,a little farm area, and supposedly it has a whinery or a wine tasting area. We never found it. And we looked. It was much more exciting than the Tours Chateau! We caught a train at noon and then toured for a couple of hours. We headed back to the little town for an early dinner and a drink to warm us up a bit but apparently...

Dec 10, 2004 - Tours, France

So as always, as soon as I saw we are going to do something we change our plans. We didn't end up going to Orleans like we had planned. As you know we are a slightly retarded group here and we read the train schedule wrong. We got up at 7am to hop on the Metro and get to the train station to go to Orleans at about 9am. But when we read the board it said that there was a train at that time to Tours. Orleans is on the way but that particular train didn't stop there. The next train to Orleans was leaving at 10:45. So we sat our butts down at a...

Jul 22, 2004 - Tasting Tours

Todays entry is all about food - no galleries today, no cathedrals, nothing but eating and drinking pleasure is occupying my mind. My first night in Tours in France I decided that it was either speak really bad French or starve so I braved a small bistro that didn't look too intimidating. Bistro a Vin near the old quarter of town, like many French bistros, offers a menu de jour. These are a set price menu with entree, main and either fromage (cheese) or dessert. I ate grilled sardines with a lemon butter sauce, then another sort of fish...

Jun 19, 2004 - France - Loire Valley - Playground of Noblemen

Royalty was quite fickle back in medieval days. And busy too. When they weren't storming castles, fighting battles and killing each other off, they were claiming new lands and building elaborate pleasure palaces in the beautiful countryside. And it wasn't just the men who were jostling for power. Sometimes the king's mistresses owned chateaux that were larger and more beautiful than the queen's, a fact that apparently upset the queen because sometimes mistresses mysteriously disappeared ... And one thing I want to know is ... what's with...