The Loire Valley and especially Blois
We are off on holidays at last! We are joining my son, wife and beautiful 9-month old grandson in Italy on Sunday. Our first stop is Aix-les-Bains on Le Bourget Lake perfect for 2 days of cycling to Chanaz and Chambéry. Nous sommes enfin partis en vacances ! Nous rejoignons mon fils, sa femme et …
Continue reading “Postcards from Aix-les-Bains and Chambéry”
This is our last weekend in the US. We will be returning to France on Monday after five weeks away. This vertical lift bridge crossing the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth was opened in 2013, replacing a bridge of similar design built in 1923. C’est notre dernier week-end aux États-Unis. Lundi nous rentrons en France après …
I haven’t really disappeared but we have been in North America since my last post on 1st October, first in Canada (Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) where we had to spend 14 clear days before traveling to the US to see our new grandson in Boston. One of the recurring scenes throughout our visit …
We came into France via Fréjus Tunnel. It was a perfect day for travelling, with not a truck in sight! Tonight we are staying in Montluçon. Tomorrow we should be home in Blois by midday. Nous sommes entrés en France par le tunnel de Fréjus. C’était un jour parfait pour voyager – pas un camion …
We had a wonderful surprise today when we crossed Lake Maggiore from Laveno to Intra – the beautiful Villa Taranto gardens established in 1928. Nous avons eu une surprise merveilleuse aujourd’hui lorsque nous avons traversé le la Maggiore entre Laveno et Intra: les beaux jardins de la Villa Taranto établis en 1928.
Today we cycled around Varese Lake not far from Lake Maggiore in northern Italy and came across these ice-houses built in the late 1700s and used to store ice from the lake in winter. They were then used in summer to keep fish. Aujourd’hui nous avons fait le tour du lac de Varese qui se …
Ravenna is famous for its Byzantine mosaics and we visited all the city’s most important monuments but I think my favourite was the Basilica of Saint Apollinaire in Classe, about 5 km outside the town and on the bike route. It was consecrated in 549. Ravenna est célèbre pour ses mosaïques byzantines et nous avons …
This will be the last postcard for a while as we are now home to stay for the rest of the summer. We stopped off on the way back in Brantôme, famous for its Benedictine abbey church and one of the oldest bell-towers in France. The second photo is the restaurant where we would like …
In addition to its mediaeval old town, Périgueux has a Gallo-Roman quarter including the Vesunna archeological museum which unfortunately was closed by the time we got there. En plus de sa vieille ville médiévale, Périgueux possède un quartier gallo-romain et le musée archéologique de Vesunna qui malheureusement était fermé à l’heure de notre arrivée.
When we finally got to visit Périgueux without having to solve logistical problems, we loved it! It’s full of tiny streets and historical buildings from Renaissance times. There are also lots of shady squares to relax in and a surprising number of small speciality shops. And to end our holiday in style, we had an …