Category France

Europe 2022 – Nice – Re-Posted

June 18 – 19 Happy New Year to all. I inadvertently posted this last Monday, a full week ahead of schedule so am pushing it today per my usual time table, that is one post a week until we do so much traveling that I’ll need to start posting more than once per week. So […]

Europe 2022 – Montpellier, Part Two

June 15 – 17 We left Montpellier’s train station, bags in tow, and made our way through a construction zone to the tram station at Opera Comedie, the town’s main square.  Picking up a book of 10 rides for 10-euros ($10.49) we boarded the tram for the ride to Francois’ condo.  Once there, we settled […]

Europe 2022 – Montpellier, Part One

June 15 – 17 We finished breakfast at the Meininger, grabbed our bags and made the now less taxing trek to Gare Bordeaux and boarded the train to enjoy our reserved seats at a cost of 24.22-Euros ($26.40).  A couple of cups of coffee from the small food station in one of the cars complemented […]

Europe 2022 – Bordeaux

Blog Post 12-11-22 June 14 Breakfast the next morning was as good as we anticipated with fresh baguettes and croissants upon which to spread different flavors of that house made jam, fresh goat cheese, local pork Rillettes, fruit salad, yogurts and more.  As we were beginning to come to appreciate, it was well worth the […]

Europe 2022 – Loire Valley, Part Six

June 9 – 14 As Joanna needed to leave early the next morning to catch the one bus that would take her to the town where she could get on the train to our final stop in Chinon, I enjoyed the breakfast at the hotel for a reasonable 10-Euros.  When I first arrived downstairs, it […]

Europe 2022 – Loire Valley, Part Five

June 9 – 14 At 34 miles and about 600 feet of climbing, this would be the longest day of the three of riding.  Our destination would be the small town of Villandry, chosen simply because the distance was just about right for the day and there is a chateau there that Joanna could visit.  […]

Europe 2022 – Loire Valley, Part Four

June 9 – 14 After another hearty breakfast at the hotel, we packed up our bags, checked out, and then walked just down the block to Detours de Loire, the company I would be renting a bike from.  In addition to the rental, they would be transferring our bags from stop to stop.  We’ve embraced […]

Europe 2022 – Loire Valley, Part Three

June 9 – 14 We had some time to relax at the bus stop before its arrival, and then a ride of 20-minutes or so before landing at Château de Chambord for the rest of the afternoon.  We walked from the bus stop to the entrance to pay our entry fee of 14-euros apiece, the […]

Europe 2022 – Loire Valley, Part Two

June 9 – 14 Because of its history, the Loire Valley is home to more than a thousand castles and palaces of all shapes and sizes.  When a “valley address” became a must-have among 16th-century hunting-crazy royalty, rich Renaissance palaces replaced outdated medieval castles.  Hundreds of these castles and palaces are open to visitors, and […]

Europe 2022 – Loire Valley, Part One

June 9 – 14 The next morning would signal the beginning of our true test of the train system and also take us into uncharted territory, the Loire Valley.  We would be spending two nights in Blois and to get there would require taking a couple of trains, beginning with the first out of Paris’ […]