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Europe 2023

September - October 2023
A 25-day adventure by k Read more
  • 24footprints
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  • TravelerEurope 2023
    11
    Day 11

    Day 11: 4 churches : 3 pubs

    September 22, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    A late start (8.30am) saw us heading straight to the Strasbourg Cathedral. Matt refused to show me any photos he took last night because he said they wouldn't do it justice - he was right : très incroyable! While he, once again, climbed to the top (332 steps), I sat on a pew and watched the stained glass windows change as the sun moved in and out of the clouds; beautiful. The rest of the day was spent wandering around the old part of the city, searching out churches and craft beer. We ate baguettes in a park for lunch and had dinner in a little restaurant by the canal, under a tree in the rain - perfect! We strolled home in a rain shower and were in bed eating Belgium chocolate from yesterday by 6.45pm.Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 12

    Day 12 : Off to Lucerne

    September 23, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    6am saw us rudely awoken by our alarm to make sure we were on time to catch the bus to Switzerland....pity the bus didn't have an alarm as it was 50 minutes late. It was a lovely trip; we passed into Germany for an hour or two before moving into Switzerland, and we were able to see villages and towns along the way. We had a short toilet stop for the bus to refuel ...Di and I were confused by the sign, but took our chances. Matt, once again, decided to leave it until the last moment to go and had to come running back when the driver called out "rouse, rouse". We arrived at Lucerne bus station and caught the local bus to our air bnb - we are getting very good at navigating local transport. A quick trip to the supermarket for wine and cheese and we set off for dinner - OMG! Molly had warned us how expensive food was here but we weren't expecting it to be quite so much...a green salad - 21 Franks; beef burger - 25 Franks...so we ended up with a meal deal Mc Donalds 24 Franks, and ate it by the lake. Looks like its going to be a hungry few days here!Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    111
    Day 13

    Day 13: Off to Climb a Mountain

    September 24, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    We stood above the clouds today with our 2 best friends...and it was amazing!

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    1
    Day 14

    Day 14: Luzern

    September 25, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    We had a (somewhat) relaxed day today exploring the Musegg Wall - a wall built in 1370 to protect the city. As we were walking up some very steep steps, Matt saw something move and said " Look at the squirrel" as a dirty, big rat ran towards me. After my heart rate returned to normal - and not from the climb! - we walked along the top of the wall, stopping to climb 6 of the watch towers along the way. Lunch was baguettes and sandwiches by the water, before we found 4 churches - before Matt found 4 churches! - very pretty and totally different from any we have seen before. Midafternoon, washing done for the next 4 days, Matt went out wandering while I lay in the sun reading. Cambeys returned with make-your-own fondue for tea, washed down with a 3.55 Frank bottle of wine. Time to repack our bags; tomorrow Matt and I leave the Cambeys for a few days, to drive across France, before meeting up with them in Paris!Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    12
    Day 15

    Day 15: Lucerne to Troyes

    September 26, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Today Matt and I said uf Widerluege to the Cambeys as we set off to drive across France - West to East. We trained it to Mulhouse, just inside the French border, then picked up Fifi; our pearly lavender Fiat rental car for the next four days - Matt was delighted when he saw her! We almost didn't get her as French law says you need an international licence (which Matt had) and a physical licence from your own country (which Matt didn't have; he had his licence on his phone. but this wasn't acceptable). The French Avis lady was amazing - she must have seen the look of panic on Matt's face and disappointment on mine - and allowed us to take Fifi. We set google maps for Troyes, avoiding tolls and highways...and you should have seen the back lanes, alleyways and one way streets we went on. Matt did an amazing job of driving a manual on the wrong side of the road and after driving through the Champagne region of France, we arrived at Troyes mid-afternoon. Troyes is a medieval town with no less than 12 gothic churches - so you can guess what we did when we got there! Our accommodation was in a building dating back to the 16 hundreds with sloping ceilings and wonky floors - perfect!Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    11
    Day 16

    Day 16: Troyes to Alencon

    September 27, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    We headed off to our next stop, Alencon, with a small detour to the town of Chatres to see Our Lady of Chartres Cathedral...a magnifent building dating back to 1194; we could see it rising from the surrounding fields from miles away. Matt did an awesome job navigating the medieval alleyways that they call streets - he deserves a medal. We left the Champagne vineyards behind yesterday and today we drove past mile after mile of potato crops as well as huge piles of spuds drying in the paddocks. Matt tested out his overtaking skills, passing many tractors and harvesters. Once again Google maps had us driving through tiny villages, cobbled alleyways and one way lanes before we arrived in Alencon. 50m from our room was an enormous Cathedral which was shut (sorry Matt) so we took a walk to the Château des Ducs d'Alençon. Built in the 9th century this castle was taken by William the Conquer, Henry I and Louis VI. More recently, it was used by the Gestapo between 1940 and 1945. It is now an open freespace with a playground - a very tasteful repurposing for the public. A quick pint and dinner at a brewpub - with a great view - and it was home to plan tomorrow's trip to Mont St Michel...a place we have both wanted to visit for a very long time.Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    31
    Day 17

    Day 17: Alencon to Mont St Michel

    September 28, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We had a somewhat shakey start today - Fifi had a coolant light show on her dash and after much googling and youtubing we decided to find a Fiat dealership and ask them for help. We drove into the lot and parked... right in amongst all the cars for sale. Matt took a photo of the dash and I used google translate to have a message ready in case they didn't speak English - which they didn't. A lovely man read my message, looked at the photo, shook his head and put his hand out for the key. He jumped in, turned a knob and all was well - Matt had bumped a menu log button and that was all it was. We were on our way to Mont St Michel...a place we have both wanted to visit for over 30 years! With just 1 minor detour - to look at a huge cathedral at Harcourt - we arrived at 12 and spent the next 5 hours walking around the Abbey, which dates back to the 8th century, and the town at the base. The Abbey and surrounding walls were amazing, but the town was like Disney on steroids. We went back to the mainland to find our accommodation, which was 1 of 4 tiny rooms built above the hosts own home, overlooking cow paddocks and barns and Mont St Michel. We went back at 6.30pm to watch the high tide come racing in and surround the island - it was amazing how quickly this took place. The sun setting over the western walls and reflecting on the ocean was magical. After 30 years, we can now say we've been!Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    1
    Day 18

    Day 18: Bye Bye Fifi; Hello Cambeys

    September 29, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    After taking our last look at Mont St Michel, we loaded up Fifi and headed for Paris. Matt was excited to be on major roads for this part of the journey, especially when he realised the speed limit was 130 - he was not so delighted when he was told that doing 130km/h, in the rain, on the wrong side of the road, in a fiat 500 was not a good idea! We dropped Fifi at Rouen train station and took at 1 and a half hour train ride into Paris where we had to learn yet another ticketing and timetabling system...fun and games - NOT. However we managed to find our next accommodation without killing each other, and rang the Cambeys who were only 10 mins away. After a quick catch up, we all walked down to see the Eiffel tower, then decided to climb the Arc de Triomphe to see the tower light up - magical. A short 2.5km walk home, where we ordered pizza for tea...at 10pm. Off to see a palace full of mirrors tomorrow.Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    111
    Day 19

    Day 19: Palace of Versailles

    September 30, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    We were off to visit the French version of Windsor castle today. Having watched Marie Antoinette on netflix before we came, I was ready to have a poke around and learn a bit more. I was not prepared for the absolute over the top grandeur and oppulance that was Versailles...no wonder the peasants stormed the Bastille! The history seeping out of the walls kept Matt engrossed, so I snuck out to walk around the gardens...I didn't know there were 2000 acres of them. I took lots of photos and have lots of ideas for when we return to Mt Rankin. While I admired the plants, Matt took himself off to investigate how the support structure of the giant terrace worked. When we returned home, the Cambeys went out to a nice little French restaurant around the corner for dinner, Matt had toast and I had a glass of wine. A tiring, but pretty nice day for us all!Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 20

    Day 20: Another 18,000 steps

    October 1, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Today started with a double metro ride out to the Basillica of the Sacred Heart of Paris...otherwise known as "another church". Once again Matt climbed to the top while I sat and looked at the floor and windows. We then caught another train to Sainte Chapells Cathederal - a church with over 1200 individual leadlight panels, but no dome to climb. We then walked to Notre Dame to see how the restoration was going - slowly, and on to the Pantheon Paris. This was a huge surprise, as we didn't know what to expect. The ground floor level was amazing but the crypts below were spectacular. Marie Curie, Voltaire and Victor Hugo are just a few of the big names interred there. On the way back to the metro we found an English pub and had a couple of pints to keep hydrated on a very hot day.Read more

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