This time the waiter at the restaurant spoke English. He was actually from Ireland, travelled all over the world, and ended up in Southern France. He was very helpful when we asked what we could see that was close by, and suggested Vieux Village (Old Town), though most of Marignane… Continue reading
House sitting sounds easy enough – who can’t look after 3 dogs and 4 chickens on a gorgeous country property? The problem lies in the constant tension created when you are not sure of things. Why is the dog biting himself? Why is that chicken not moving? What… Continue reading
So what is the difference between the Cote d’Azur, the French Riviera and Provence? It was confusing, but eventually we sorted it out. The Cote d’Azur in English is The French Riviera. Provence is the short form of the entire region, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. There are still all kinds of regions, districts,… Continue reading
Trieste, Italy, was a very elegant city, combining Italian, German, Latin, Austrian, Hungarian and Slavic cultures, but it was time to move on to Slovenia and Croatia. We could not find an automatic car to rent in downtown Trieste and found automatic transmission vehicles were only available at the airport…. Continue reading
Half-asleep, half-awake, over-stimulated in airports, under-stimulated on long flights, out-of-sorts, out-of-routine, off-keel, and off-base, much like when you wake up after surgery with the effects of heavy-duty drugs. In short, jet lag. And in this condition, you are expected to navigate new airports… And take off your jacket, sweater,… Continue reading
Today we cleaned out the chicken coop at our house sit in Clairac, France. Yup! Easy Peasy. Only problem was that fat Old Momma Chicken would not move. She’s nesting again! So we had to work around “Ms. Precious”. The other 3 chickens had already been let out in… Continue reading
Aix is an elegant city with extremely well-dressed people, cobblestone streets, book stores, parks, gardens, and it has the beautiful Fountain la Rotunde at the end of the Cours Mirabeau, often compared to the Champs-Elysees street in Paris. There is a cultural air in Aix, and a hint of snobbishness. … Continue reading
From Carcassonne, we continued to drive to the coast of Southern France, stopping in Aigues-Mortes, which is another Bastille town with a large rampart around the old town. Park Camargue We drove on to Park Camargue, a half-hour south of Arles where semi-wild black bulls and white horses… Continue reading
One day, from our House Sit, we went out to a 4 star Michelin Chef restaurant that had raving reviews on Trip Adviser, and was also highly recommended by a neighbor. The host/owner offered impeccable service and the menu looked absolutely scrumptious. We liked the soup a lot… Continue reading
The Cote d’Azur is beautiful, but touristy and we were not so interested in these things, so when we discovered a little-known gem along the Cote D’Azur, we were delighted to spend a little time there. While it is still a bit touristy, it was small enough to have… Continue reading
This was a totally immersive and unexpected experience in the South of France. It was our first house sitting job and we thought it would be a fantastic way to experience the area first-hand, save money on hotels, as well as enjoy our favourite animals, the dogs. Morning Dog Walk We’re… Continue reading
Our hostess for the house sit was a charming single woman with 3 dogs and 4 chickens. The Property The property was a two-story house on a large, 4-5 acre, treed lot with flowers and shrubs, a pool, and it backed onto the famous River Lot. In short,… Continue reading
In a few days we will be landing in Marseilles, France. It’s a little surreal that you can be on the French Riviera in Europe on the other side of the world in just one day, your whole environment completely changed in a few hours. We are house sitting… Continue reading
To get to our house sitting assignment, near Toulouse, first we had to catch the hotel shuttle bus from the hotel to the Marseille Airport, next catch the big bus to Marseille, St. Charles Train Station, a 25 minute ride for 8E (12C) each, with a bus driver that liked… Continue reading
We decided to take a day trip out to the Cote D’Argent on the West coast of France, to a place I had read few people know about – Arcachon Bay, known for it’s sand dunes, and huge waves. The Bordeaux area we drove through was full of… Continue reading
We’ve had no Internet access for the past week, not to mention that we’ve both had a cold/flu for nearly a week as well, so I’m a bit behind in our updates from Europe, but I’ll be posting more often now. Before she left, our House-Sit Hostess drove us… Continue reading
Our third visit to a Bastille town was to Sarlat-la-Caneda, a Bastille village dating back to the 9th Century, North of Toulouse, in the Dordogne region. With Romanesque and Renaissance architectural buildings looming high overhead, it is a maze of narrow lanes, picturesque alleys and shady squares… The streets… Continue reading
Provence is full of quaint French villages and towns, and gorgeous landscapes. If you’re wandering around Southern France, do just that – wander. Wander… meander…. stray… stroll… sit on a bench…. stop for lunch… have a coffee… get lost… this is the best part of travelling in France. … Continue reading
The drive to Carcassonne was beautiful… We loved the little towns perched on hilltops… Then, as you come around a corner of the highway, you might think you are seeing a mirage, an illusion, but there in the distance on a hill, is an astonishingly huge citadel!… Continue reading
Managing the trains in Europe is not so easy as one might expect. Nice to Venice through Milan was $120C, changing trains three times with only 10-12 minutes each time to change trains. Now when you have to find a new train, on a new platform, usually requiring you… Continue reading