Category Archives: Travel
A Castle’s Papier-Mâché Christmas
Back in early December I mentioned that we’d taken a day and went to Azay-le-Rideau castle, one of the smallest castles in the Loire Valley, but also one of my personal favourites.
I love it because unlike some of the others that impress by their sheer size and sumptuousness, this one is very human-sized (In other words… I could easily see myself living there! 😉).
Today, I’m going to take you on a pictoral walk through the castle, but from a particular point of view. The main ‘theme’ for Christmas decorations this year was ‘papier-mâché’ which many of you will remember from school, growing up. With shredded newsprint and wallpaper paste, you can create all kinds of things. Once dry, they hold their share remarkably well, stiffened by the dried paste.
These decorations are a far cry from anything you made in school, I guarantee you!
Pour yourself a healthy mug of coffee and let’s get started!
Continue readingChâteau de Touffou
It was New Year’s Eve.
I had driven Dominic to a friend’s house where he’d spend the night. Sophie had come along with me just to get out of the house and we were on our way back to Châtellerault.
We’d passed it numerous times, but this time, there were just two easily spontaneous people in the car who were in no particular rush. We stopped…
Continue readingSunrise in Châtellerault
It had been a long while since I’d gotten out to explore our own little town.
Isn’t that always the way? We travel the world in search of new, and big, and unfamiliar, and exotic, all while driving right by some lovely things in our day-to-day.
Covid19 has certainly honed that down quite a bit, but if I went exploring Châtellerault one early morning, two weeks ago, it wasn’t so much covid-related as it was car-related…
Continue readingRoad Trip down the Loire Valley
Back in October, I took the long road home from a teaching day in Angers.
The day was beautiful, the onset of evening was slow coming, and no one needed to be picked up at the station in Châtellerault. Overall, the opportunity was too good to pass up.
I’d intended to document it long before this, but whatever the reason (there were likely a number of them) it didn’t happen until now.
Care to join me on an open-top drive down the Loire River Valley?
Gentle Warning:
This is my longest-ever blog post (3,500 words – about a 22 minute read). If you only have a few minutes, I’d recommend saving it for a time when you can enjoy it over a big steaming mug of coffee, not a small. 🙂
Ready? Let’s go…
Continue readingA Walk Around Chambord
Every once in a while I post a #Travel Tuesday post, just for fun. Today is one of those days.
As so many of you have been aware, Covid-19 lockdowns have affected just about everyone in some way, shape or form. One of the big things, here in France, has been the confinement that kept us almost exclusively at home back in the Spring and quite close to home in the Fall. Although we managed to get out and about during the ‘in-between’ times, once the second lockdown hit, we were limited to local trips, for specific reasons and always with government issued paperwork.
That’s why a recent Saturday was a real treat for me.
I needed to go up to Seine-et-Marne (77) for work, back on the 12th, and had all the appropriate paperwork to justify a trip out of my region. Since, on our attestation we have work-related tick-boxes and a tick-box for short periods of outdoor exercise, I took full advantage of both boxes and broke up my 3.5hr drive home with a walk around Chambord Castle.
Join me as I give you the short version of a one-hour stroll around one of the incredible castles of the Loire Valley.
Continue readingLamb of God, Grant us Peace
Inspiration for today’s Travel Tuesday post came from a rather unlikely spot… it was a trip we took last year to the aerospace capital of France and also the nearest city with an Italian consular presence.
It was the trip we took to Toulouse to renew (and in my case apply for) our Italian passports….
Continue readingMontreuil-Bellay by Day
On Saturday, you read about my quick ‘night-time stop’ in Montreuil-Bellay, on the way home from Angers.
I’ve been driving past that castle since I began teaching in Angers back in September, 2017 and just a few weeks after that, in October 2017, I stopped in for a visit on my way home.
Here are a few pictures from that day…
Continue readingMontreuil-Bellay by Night
Today I’m Marie Kondo-ing my blog… so to speak: I’m posting something that sparked joy in my week.
…and it was all because of a Bible Study.
Continue readingOcean Therapy amid Corona-Chaos
First off… I hope you’ll allow me the latitude to not go into a “Coronavirus in France” update. It’s as crazy here as it is elsewhere. I think we all need a bit of a Corona-break, don’t you?
Let me focus on an incredibly positive part of the week instead. Deal? 🙂
Last weekend began like any other, but then on Saturday night I realized that we were going to need to change to things up on Monday, rather than following our normal rhythm… well, at least for Sophie & I.
Let me explain…
Continue reading
AIM Long 