Switzerland
Sunday afternoon stroll
On Sunday afternoon, we went for a walk in the forest near Donna and Matthias's house in Switzerland, followed by some time at the local playground. Here are a few pics... 0:00 /0:13 1×
A Byrd
France
Arrival in Switzerland
As our five wonderful nights in Switzerland with our friends Donna and Matthias and their children come to an end, it's time to catch up on some blog posts! Here are a few snaps taken during our drive from Saint-Jean-de-Sixt (France) to Butzberg (Switzerland) on Friday... Upon our
France
Lake Annecy by bike
On Thursday afternoon, after exploring Annecy on foot (see previous post), we rented bikes for 2 hours and did an 18km cycle alongside beautiful Lake Annecy. This was considerably easier than our 22km ride the previous week as there was a lovely paved cycle path to ride on! The total
France
Annecy on foot
On Thursday, while staying in Saint-Jean-de-Sixt, we drove half an hour to the town of Annecy, at the top of Lake Annecy. This extremely picturesque little town is apparently known as "the Venice of France" because of its canals! Our first order of business upon arriving in Annecy
France
A's haikus — week 9
Week 9 already! Day 57 • 31 Oct • Blois to Sarlat-la-Canéda Cobblestones, candy And des bonbons ou un sort: A French Halloween. Day 58 • 1 Nov • Sarlat-la-Canéda The Dordogne invites Exclamations of rapture As our pedals turn. Day 59 • 2 Nov • Sarlat-la-Canéda to Carcassonne We meet Philippe At the Saturday markets.
France
Up into the mountains
On Wednesday, after checking out of our accommodation and visiting the public library in Montélimar... ... we set off to our next destination, Saint-Jean-de-Sixt, in the French Alps. We started seeing some magnificent mountains on this drive! They're hard to photograph well from a moving vehicle, but here are
France
Montélimar interlude
We spent Monday and Tuesday nights in Montélimar in south-eastern France. This marked the halfway point of our ten-day road trip through France; we had turned northwards again after our visit to Carcassonne. Montélimar was another random place we hadn't heard of before planning this trip, but it
France
Saturday markets in Sarlat-la-Canéda
On Saturday, after checking out of our apartment and stowing our luggage in the car, we explored the Saturday markets in the medieval centre of Sarlat-la-Canéda. These markets draw people from all over the region; we were very glad we didn't have to look for a parking spot
France
Sarlat-la-Canéda
Here are some photos of beautiful Sarlat-la-Canéda in south-west France, where we stayed two nights (Thursday and Friday) in an apartment right in the medieval city centre, opposite the tourist information centre. This was the view from our bedroom window... Sarlat was one of those places, like Tallinn's
Cycling
Biking by the Dordogne
On Friday, while based in beautiful Sarlat-la-Canéda in south-west France, we hired bikes and did a 22km ride alongside the Dordogne River. This was the longest ride any of us had ever done (only by an inch for me, but for the kids it was more than double what we
Haiku
A's haikus — week 8
Eight weeks in already! Day 50 • 24 Oct • Florence Brolly touts appear When raindrops fall in Florence. Later, a rainbow. Day 51 • 25 Oct • Florence to Venice 5K in the rain, Lugging luggage and no lunch. Ah, personal growth. Day 52 • 26 Oct • Venice Cheap traghetto or Ninety Euro gondola?
France
Le château de Cheverny
On Tuesday, we flew from Venice to Paris, collected our hire car and drove south to Blois, where we stayed for two nights. On Wednesday, our first full day in France, we visited Captain Haddock's Marlinspike Hall (or at least the inspiration thereof — Château de Cheverny), which was