Category Archives: France

We have taken up residence in a little village situated on the side of the river Aude, in a pretty little valley in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The lay of the land is such that the village is in a warm microclimate — most days are almost spring-like and sunny. The little family-run camping area where we’re staying is … Continue reading

After our month-and-a-bit-long journey from central France to southern France, with a minor detour via Copenhagen, we’re ready to be static for a while. I’ve spent many long hours trawling through databases of French campsites, trying to find one in Provence that’s (a) not obscenely expensive, and (b) open. There aren’t very many that fall under those categories at this … Continue reading

Our string of errands in Copenhagen is coming to an end, and we start thinking about what we’ll do next. We’re thinking it’d be nice to see a bit of Germany while we’re up this way, and I get as far as booking myself into an Apple developer event in Berlin, before Katherine’s emergency tooth extraction appointment ends up conflicting … Continue reading

This is when all hell breaks loose. As we’re making plans to meet up with our new friends again a bit further south, we’re told by Danish immigration that we have to register in person for our visas. We’d checked several times with various official people to make sure that we could do the entire process via the post, for … Continue reading

We recently made the acquaintance of Kent and Heather, a couple from the US who spend a few months of each year cruising the French canal system on their boat. We’d passed a few emails back and forth about the prospect of crossing paths, and as it turns out, we’re going to be able to make it work! They’re passing … Continue reading

For our final day in Paris, we jump on our bikes again, ready to follow a self-guided bike tour we found in our Lonely Planet guide. Straight out of the train station, the nut holding my brake cable breaks off (sigh!), so we set out rather gingerly ’till we find a bike shop and replace the offending part. We pass … Continue reading

Our next foray into town is eminently unsuccessful: We head into town and finally find ourselves some much-missed fish and chips at an English pub called The Bombardier. Our ambitions to see some more of Paris by bike are thwarted completely — first by an embarrassing spontaneous onset of dizziness resulting in my nearly passing out (not my manliest moment!), … Continue reading

Katherine received a tip that the Marais district was a good spot for good coffee, and interesting shops, so for our next Parisian jaunt, it’s there we go. We get off the train at the Gare de Lyon station, this time, rather than emerging into the middle of a shopping centre, and find ourselves an exit a little more easily. … Continue reading

Another week of project-work goes by, and we decide it’s time for another jaunt into Paris. We jump on our bikes and take the train in, getting out at Les Halles, which turns out to have been not so advisable with bikes: we’re in the middle of a shopping centre, with no clear path to the exit, and stairs everywhere! … Continue reading

Oddly, we find that a week’s gone by by the time we think to head out and see some of this beautiful city we’re in — we’ve both got so much on, it can be hard to make time for the travel stuff, sometimes. Anyway, the time has come, and we decide to try riding our bikes in. The ride … Continue reading

Having stayed in one spot way, way longer than we’d anticipated in Champagne, it’s time to move on — Katherine, the designated travel researcher, proposes Paris as our next stop. I find a place to stay, a caravan park about 12km from the city centre, and at a price point we can stomach, and we head south. On the way … Continue reading