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Europe '24
  • Meg Nyland

Europe '24

A 59-day adventure by Meg Read more
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  • Trip start
    September 2, 2024
    Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Arriving in Paris

    September 2, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Arrived mid afternoon, took RER to 14th arrondissement where our hotel (hotel transcontinental) is located. Nice to be in a more residential less touristy neighborhood. We took the metro to il de cite, and observed Notre Dame with its roof in progress. Then meandered to where some Olympic events were held a few weeks ago. A bit more wandering, but then we were worn out from long travel day and jet lag. Metro back home, then dinner at a mediocre bistro a few doors down.Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Bumming around Paris

    September 3, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We've been to Paris before and have seen the mega sights - the Louvre, the d'Orsey, the Eiffel tower. So it's nice to have a relaxed day with no pressure to see it all.
    We started off trying to go to the catacombs, but hadn't reserved tickets in advance. No go, oh well.

    Across the street was the museum of Paris liberation, so we spent a few hours there instead. Interesting and informative. Then a few blocks away we visited the Giacometti museum which was small but we enjoyed.

    Then we went back to our room for a mid-day nap/rest, jet lag is still rough.

    After a snooze we took the metro up to Les Halles, an old market turned into a shopping mall. A few blocks away was the amazing cooking store Dehillerin, which was super fun to poke around in. We strolled up a pedestrian street and found a spot for a cocktail and charcuterie platter, as we had slept through lunch. My kind of living.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    And im sick

    September 4, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Woke up with sniffles, fever, and a cough. Laid low this morning until check out. Then to train station to kill a few hours and have lunch. Then we got on the TVG fast train for 2 hours to Saint Malo. Took a local bus to the town edge, then walked into the walker city to find our Airbnb. It's a cute and charming apartment in an old building. I took a nap while Bill looked for birds. Then dinner in town, and called it a night.

    We're not positive we can do our full walk (illness, knee pain, annoying blisters, and cold rainy weather. But we've discussed our plan B, which is to keep our lodging, and bus between locations if need be.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Taking it slow

    September 5, 2024 in France ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    Full day in Saint Malo, but we're both quite sick and also not over jet lag. So - awake at 2am, but took a nap at 8:30. We did go for a walk about town, was misty and gray.

    After lunch (crepes/galettes) we headed back to our place and rested more. Bill went out to the taxi stand, pharmacy, and ATM.

    After another nap (sick much????) we went back to the seaside as it was sunny and beautiful. Then found a (mediocre) restaurant for dinner.

    Tomorrow we strike out on our thru hike. Wish we were healthy and the weather was great, but oh well.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Thru-hike day 1

    Sep 6–7, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Time to start walking! We are still sick, but decided to take cold meds, stuff our pockets with tissues and cough drops, and do this thing.

    But first we needed to sort out transporting our bigger bags to our final destination. So we hung out at the taxi stand for a bit, until one rolled up. He spoke little English, we speak less French, but we somehow communicated that we wanted him to drive our bags, but not us. It was a cute exchange, and we left feeling hopeful that we will find our bags just fine in a few days.

    On to the walk! First bit was along a promenade with loads of picturesque houses facing the sea. Then a bit of beach walking. Then trails mixed with some town roads. We headed inland a bit at midday to find lunch in a small village (galettes). Second half continued to hug the bays, then we had some up and down in the woods beside the water. At times it felt like hiking on the Oregon or northern California coast.

    We rolled into the small hamlet of Le Guimorais, our home for the night. We were too early for our room, so we went a bit farther to a campground and sat at a picnic table for a bit. When we got to our room a bit later, we just sat on the bed for an hour or so to rest our legs. Total mileage: 10.4 miles

    When dinner time rolls around, we were excited to try the one restaurant in town, just a block from our house - but got turned away as we had no reservation. Uh oh. So back to the campground we went, where the snack shack provided us with mediocre hamburger and pizza. But hey, at least the sold good wine, because France!    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Thru-hike day 2

    Sep 7–8, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    After an ok night's sleep and the provided Continental breakfast, we started out earlish. The forecast was for a cloudy cool morning, but then rain midday turning "torrential" in the afternoon. Knowing this was a long hiking day, mostly on sorta remote headlands, we talked about options. We did revise one section by cutting across a peninsula instead walking all the way around, as we wanted to get as far as possible early in the day. And we checked in with ourselves when the trail connected to a road that might have provided a short cut.

    The walk was all headlands and bluffs, interrupted by beautiful sandy beaches (there were people swimming at almost every one). This walk felt like more of a hike, with rocky trails and a lot of up and down. Nothing was over 120 ft elevation, but we did it over and over!! Services were sparse/non-existent.

    Luckily mid-day found us on a popular point that had a restaurant. We enjoyed our rest and a yummy meal - oysters, sausage for bill, a duck salad (with gizzards) for me, and a shared pichet of wine.

    By the last few miles, the up and down was often big stone stairs that were really kicking my butt! Also at this point (12 miles in) my legs were fatigued and I could sense a worse trip risk for myself. We decided to compete the last mile and a half into town on the streets.

    Amazingly, the rain held off all day, in fact there's been nice sun breaks. Our luck!

    Rested in our room for a bit (and showered!), and by then the rain was here with ferocity. Luckily our room is right on a strip with restaurants so we ducked out to find something. We ended up in a covered outdoor space with the rain pounding down, and indulged ourselves on oysters and shrimp, cod and steak, and chocolate desserts. I think we earned the calories :-)

    Mileage: 13.7    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Rest day

    September 8, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    We intentionally planned a rest day mid-way through our walk. It was a very relaxing day, and we didn't do much other than a walk into town for groceries. While out it started to pour, and we were drenched - so glad that wasn't our walk yesterday!Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Thru-hike day 4

    September 9, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Walked a relatively flat 9.5 miles from Cancale to Le Vivier-sur-mer. It was a relaxed walk, mostly across flat dunes. It was windy and a little misty, we got a bit wet but not bad. Stopped mid-way for lunch, which was crepes/galettes (we like them, but didn't think we'd eat this many!).

    Cool things we saw along the way - oyster vending machines, and beach sailing (sand yachting).

    Our stopping town of Le Vivier-sur-mer is cute, but very quiet, especially on a Monday. Most restaurants are closed. We chose to eat at our hotel restaurant which was trying real hard to be fancy, but was just ok (but expensive). Oh well.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Mont Saint Michel

    September 10, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Our fourth day of hiking! We got going pretty early from La Vivier Sur Mer. We headed out without breakfast - although our hotel offered it, we figured it would be overpriced and meh, based on dinner last night.

    About three miles in, we found a cute coffeeshop on the beach and enjoyed coffees and crepes (again!!), as that's all they offered this time of day. Was quite nice.

    Back on the trail, we started walking. This stretch is very flat, following a levee between the water and farms. And more of this for the remaining 10 miles. Really nowhere to stop for a break or lunch, no towns. The walk was kinda boring, but it was cool that Mont Saint Michel was visible straight ahead of us for pretty much the whole walk.

    We finally rolled into the little town on the mainland side of MSM at 1:45, and really needed lunch. This area is just set up for tours, tour groups, tour buses, etc. Completely lacking charm or interest. But we found a cafeteria and got a reasonably decent burger.

    Back to our feet, we walked another 2.5 miles inland to our farm-stay Airbnb. It's cute, but we are in the middle of nowhere.

    After a rest, Bill biked into the nearby town of Pontorson for some groceries. Which is how we ended up eating take-n-bake pizza cooked in a toaster oven.

    Total miles walked: 16    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Exploring Mont Saint Michel

    September 11, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    We have a day here so we can explore the abbey built in the island. Our Airbnb includes bikes to borrow (one of the reasons we chose it). Today is breezy and cool (I don't think we topped 60 degrees).

    We set out on our bikes, down a bike path toward the abbey. The wind is right in our faces, but not too bad. I think we only rode about 2.5 miles, but I was feeling it after a)not riding a bike in a year and b) walking lots yesterday. We locked up our bikes on the mainland, then walked a long causeway over the channel to the island. About a mile, maybe a little longer.

    Once on the island, everyone is funneled into an archway, then up a narrow road that winds past souvenir shops and overpriced eateries. It felt a bit disneylandesque - both in Gothic architecture and the crowds!

    We reached the entry to the abbey, pains the entry fee, then followed the flow of tourists through. It was interesting and fun to see, but waaaaayyy too many people. There were some good views from the top, and it was fun to look towards the path we were on yesterday.

    After the abbey and some of the ramparts, we ducked into a snack shop and had simple sandwiches and a beer. Actually probably some of the better food/value in MSM. After a few souvenir shops (had to get a sticker for the water bottle), we got out of there!

    Walked back on the causeway, grabbed our bikes, and appreciated the wind at our backs on the ride home.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Train day

    September 12, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Long and uneventful travel day. Caught the bus from our Airbnb to the Pontorson train station. We had a few hours to kill, so we meandered through town and found a cafe/bar (on a sheep street, vs umbrella street) to sit at. Coffees, then croque monsuer and a coke. Back to train station and an hour long commuter train to Rennes.

    We had another two hours to waste, so we had a few drinks, then bought sandwiches to eat for dinner.

    The train was a super fast TVG from Rennes to Strasbourg, totalling five hours. Not unpleasant, but I was also ready to get off the train! Our hotel is just a block away, and we're winding down with a glass of wine    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Colmar

    September 13, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Morning meander around Strasbourg, then caught a train to Colmar. Dropped our bags at the hotel, then walked into town for exploring and lunch. Such a cute town, but very touristic. Back to our room to relax, then dinner near the train station.Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Alsace thru-hike day 1

    September 14, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    We left Colmar late morning on a bus to a nearby town of Kientzheim, where our walk begins. After walking through this small town, we head into the vineyards on a parked bike trail/road. Weather was sunny and cool. After a few miles, we stopped at the town of Riquewihr for lunch. Each town we pass through is full of Alsatian half-timbered houses, each town cuter than the last. All the charm of Colmar with fewer people. After 6 miles we hit our home for the night, Ribeauville. Also cute. This town has more tourists - mostly French and German, as it's a Saturday and we are on the "wine route". We spent a bit of time at a wine tasting, then decided a dinner of baguette, cheese, wine, and a little chocolate sounded perfect, so we hit the Carrefour for provisions and had a chill evening.Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Alsace thru-hiking day 2

    September 15, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Our stay last night was a funky gite over a bakery. This morning's breakfast was included in the price, and it was yummy!

    We started out early today, 8:30, as we expect to walk 14+ miles. It's cold and clear. Today's was basically walking on a bike path through vineyards, alternating with walking through towns (not as charming as yesterdays). We saw storks in the fields. And there are castles everywhere, seemingly one on every hill.

    We walked through a medium size town around noon, and thought we weren't quite hungry yet, so we'd keep going two more miles to the next little town before stopping for lunch. In this part of France, lunch restaurants are only open noon to two, so we've been timing our lunch stops.

    We keep walking to the next town, but as we start looking at what's open on Google maps ..... Not much. One restaurant. Because it's Sunday and most of the town is shut up tight.

    We popped into the one and only open place, only to be told no go, as we don't have reservations.

    It's now one, we're hungry. We look ahead to the next town (which is also our home base for the night), and see exactly one restaurant that closes in an hour.

    So we start walking kinda fast. Luckily about halfway there, we passed a hotel/restaurant on the side of the trail. Bingo! We head in, where the wait staff mumbles about Sunday brunch/fixed menu. Sure, great, we're game!

    It was really good - buffet salads, duck main for me, salmon for Bill. Then more buffet with cheeses, tartes, and other desserts. Wine for me, beer for Bill. We deserved it, we'd walked at least 13 miles at this point. Then we got the bill, and it was €33 per person, plus our beverages. Over €90 for our lunch, way more than our average. Oh well, we chalked it up to an experience and had a laugh!

    We get to our town for the night, and into our cozy Airbnb. But it's still Sunday, so nothing is open. We find the one restaurant in town that is, and have a tarte flambe and a "strasbougiese" salad - which ends up being a cold white sausage and grated cheese. Weirdest salad I've had, I think.

    Todays miles walked: 16    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Rest day

    September 16, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Today was our planned rest day. But it's also Monday, and we know in rural France Mondays mean many things are closed. We chilled out in the morning, then walked down through the very quiet town. We found a wine tasting room and tried some of the local specialties. Then back towards our lodging, we stopped at the little market store and got pre-made sandwiches.

    We knew that our town had no open restaurants this evening, so we decided to take the train to a bigger neighboring town for the afternoon and hopefully dinner.

    We wandered around Selestat, which was also very quiet on this Monday. We stopped into a few cafes for libations, then hoped to get an earlyish dinner so we could catch a 7:16 train home. First place we sat down said their kitchen would open at 5. So we sat around until 5:45, and the kitchen showed no signs of opening. We left and found another place, sat down, and they said their kitchen wouldn't open until 7.

    Bah! So we trained home, walked back through our village that had absolutely nothing open, and back to our Airbnb. Luckily we survived on leftover pretzels and laughing cow cheese, and wine.

    Lesson learned - be cautious staying in very small towns on Sundays and Mondays!    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Alsace thru-hiking day 3

    September 17, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    This morning we departed Daumbach and trekked to Obernai. One of our longer hiking days, at 13.7 miles. Again the walk was a mix of vineyards and small towns, with a fair amount of walking along country roads. Weather was supposed to be warmer, but again it was cloudy and cool, with a headwind in our faces all day long.

    We arrived in Obernai around 3, and took a good long rest with our feet up. Then walked around the town, very cute. Dinner, then back to our room fairly early.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Alsace thru-hiking day 4

    September 18, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We woke up early in Obernai, but today we only had 8 miles to walk. We ate an (overpriced) delicious breakfast at our hotel, then set out about 9:30. Surprise - more vineyards and cute villages! But soon we were in the suburban outskirts of Molsheim. We skirted the main town, and headed straight to the train station, which was packed with high school age kids (love the normalcy of trains and public transportation). A quick 20 min ride for us back to Strasbourg.

    We lunched in a brasserie, then picked up our rolly bags at the hotel. A few blocks walk got us to our Airbnb for the next 3 nights.

    And we rested our tired feet. After a few hours, we went to a fun anniversary dinner where we feasted on bone marrow, duck, and fish and chips. Great day!!    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Strasbourg

    September 19, 2024 in France ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    Lovely calm day in Strasbourg. Spent the morning doing online chores, bills and such. But then went for a long stroll through the city, with zero agenda. Somehow we walked for hours and 10k steps. The cathedral Notre Dame is quite amazing, especially the exterior.

    We had an afternoon siesta, then amazing dinner.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Strasbourg

    September 20, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Another relaxing day in this pretty city. We bought a one-day museum pass, and hit four museums! First up we went to the city of Strasbourg history museum, then the Alsatian museum (in a very cool old building).

    Then lunch - we hit up a fast-casual bowls & wraps place. Food was fine, but we've noticed that fast-casual today and yesterday cost almost as much as sitting at a brasserie and having a better meal (plus beer/wine)....only a few euros more, and a much better experience.

    After lunch, we still had an hour to kill before the other museums reopen (almost everything is closed 1-2). So we found a pretty square with cafes, and sat an nursed a drink and watched the world go by - lovely.

    More museums - we went to the Rohan Palace, which houses the fine arts museum, and the decorative arts museum (mostly just walking through the furnishings of the old palace, like a mini Versailles). We skipped the archeology museum in the basement. Now siesta time for us. Legs are still a bit tired from our 2 weeks of walking!    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Travel day and Beaune

    September 21, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Today was mostly a transit day. We loitered in our Airbnb til nearly noon, then headed toward the train station. But we still had almost two hours before our train, so sat at a cafe and people-watched.

    Got into Beaune at 5, found our new apartment. Then a quick walk into town for some groceries. Back to our apartment and had a short call with Jess.

    Then dinner back in town, Beaune is another charming town - big enough to have stuff going on, but not too big.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Exploring Beaune

    September 22, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Today we wandered through the picturesque town of Beaune. We first toured the Hotel-Dieu, which was built in the 1400s as a hospital/hospice for the poor. It was built by a wealthy local couple, who also convinced the royalty at the time to help fund, and also give them vineyards to help future funding. Some areas of this hospice were used as recently as 1984! Not our typical type of museum but we found it interesting.

    We then had a nice leisurely lunch of shared charcuterie and cheeses. After lunch we hoped to do some wine tasting, as this is the heart of burgundy wine production. What we hadn't figured on was pricey tasting fees (€26-32 each), similar to Sonoma or other California areas. We just didn't feel like spending that kind of money. So we went to a wine store and bought two decent bottles (one white, one red) and tasted on our own.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Looking for ancestors

    September 23, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    This morning we took the train to nearby Dijon and picked up a rental car. Then drove about 2 hours into the countryside to find a few small hamlets where Bill had some ancestors live before immigrating to the US.

    The first town was Port-sur-Saône, where we stopped at the tourist info and tried to tell them why we were in town, and names/dates, via Google translate. I think he got the gist, but just didn't care or have any useful info for us.

    We took a rainy walk down the canal and back. The town lacked charm, was grey and a bit dreary. I quipped that perhaps the similarities are why Bills ancestors ended up in Aberdeen?? 🤣

    Lunch at a very local restaurant that spoke no English, but we did ok.

    Further driving thru tiny towns that Bill had the names of, but nothing struck a chord in terms of relating back to his family's time there in the 1800s.

    Drove back home, hit the grocery store to make dinner at home tonight.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Dijon

    September 24, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    We need to return our rental car from yesterday, so we got an early start and navigated rush hour traffic back to Dijon (note: this is an 18 min train ride, or a 50 min drive. Trains are superior).

    After ditching the car, we explored the town. Many museums and other attractions were closed (being a Tuesday and all), but we found an interesting museum houses in a 1600's house, where the rich inhabitants from the 1800's had collected many many pieces, then turned the whole thing into a museum when they passed. And it was free! A lot of paintings and sculptures, but also fun to see the rooms, furniture, and decorations of the era.

    We walked through the lovely market that was full of yummy looking seasonal vegetables, breads, cheeses, meats and seafoods.

    We also went into several mustard places and sampled so many great flavors! Would love to bring stuff home as souvenirs but no can do.

    We found a bistro for lunch, and enjoyed a mediocre steak frite (which was the plat du jour, making it pretty affordable) and also coffee and dessert (chocolate mousse and creme caramel). We are becoming quite French with our longer lunches that end with cafe and dessert!

    Train ride home, and now we're having some quiet time.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Travel day

    September 25, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Long travel day - first a train from Dijon to Lyon, where we had an hour and half layover, enough time for lunch. Then a second longer train ride from Lyon to Toulon (past Marseilles).

    We originally had about an hour and a half to get from the train station to the ferry dock. But about 2 miles from arriving, our train stopped, with many announcements in French. Some friendly French women explained that there was a person down in the tracks ahead. Mon deiu!

    With no idea how long we'd be delayed, we did some quick searching on possible hotels in town, and what ferries we could take the next day. But luckily the train started moving. Another friendly local asked if she could drive us to the ferry dock. We said no, we can take a taxi, but we kinda wished we'd taken her up on it, very sweet to offer!

    A quick taxi ride later, we were checking-in to our home for the next 12 hours, an overnight ferry ride, with a booked cabin.

    We found a comfy table and played some cribbage while drinking wine out of paper cups (left over from our last stay, so we brought it with us).

    Went to bed relatively early, and the slight motion and rumbling of the engines made for a surprisingly good sleep. We had to be vacated from our room at 6am sharp!    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '24Traveler

    Arriving to Bastia

    September 26, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Our boat docked early, and we disembarked in a pretty predawn at 7am. We slowly strolled into town, and found a cafe where we nursed our coffee, croissants, and quiche, wasting as much time as possible.

    We then found the local square to hang out while the sun rose and we waited for the tourist info office to open.

    After that, we were contemplating finding luggage storage, but our Airbnb host said we could access the apartment to store our bags. Score!

    Stashed them, then walked around the marina and down the coastline. Then checked out the Bastia museum and learned some essentials about the history of this island, including it's extensive history with parts of current Italy. We can definitely feel that influence in the churches and architecture.

    Lunch in a delightful plaza, then hit up a grocery store for essentials for our 4 days in town.    Read more

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