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Le 10 migliori mete di viaggio Département de l'Hérault
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    • ViaggiatoreWalking France and Spain, 2024
      1
      Giorno 15

      Back in Montpellier for 2 nights

      24 aprile, Francia ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

      A lot happened today, but it wasn’t walking or picturesque, in fact my legs are suffering from not enough exercise! But we got the 10 am bus from Lodève to Montpellier, it took an hour, stopping and picking up and dropping off people, not an express…a locale…and for the 2 of us, with an extra for day passes on the tram in Montpellier, it cost €6.

      The tram pass was necessary as the bus terminates at the end of the tram line 1, which we took when walking out of walking out of Montpellier last week, so we are experts at this line, and caught it back to the stop, Comédie, near our hotel, which is in the centre and also near the railway station. Luckily, at 11.30 our hotel (another Ibis) was able to check us in with room ready, so we dropped our bags, for which we are now responsible until we do our Spanish camino next week, and got back on the tram to the other end of the line where there is a big rather soulless mall, but which has an Apple Store!!

      And we bought me an iPhone!!! It is a modest one, as the insurance money is paying for what we still owed of the one stolen (and the one before), and it hasn’t got as good a camera as before, but it is now all downloaded with everything and it feels so good, except I am very scared of carrying it round, and will not have it on me in cities at all…I even felt a bit nervous here in Montpellier, and certainly will leave it safely locked up in Barcelona, Madrid and Paris…but it will be wonderful to be able to take photos on the camino in Spain. Amr may look less anguished, (please note Peter and Simon!) as all photos of him so far have been taken by me on his phone when he is worried that I will drop, break or lose it!!! So now hopefully he will relax…and also getting him to stop for a photo was a problem…

      So all that took most of the afternoon. We had to do another trip back to the hotel before sealing the deal with Apple to get Amr’s passport for the tax free receipt, and we stayed in the Apple Store while it downloaded using their strong wifi, meanwhile attending a lesson there on drawing on an iPad, with a special app…So Amr was happy, and I was happy that he was happy, but I kept being distracted when the new phone kept asking questions that I needed help with! But all got completed, even pairing it with my Apple Watch, though I have lost all the wonderful stats of the last week’s walk.

      After that we stopped for a coffee/chocolate and pretzels, much needed as we had forgotten to eat…then checked with Orange about getting a SIM for a month, but not worth it was their advice..went back to hotel, drew breath and went to the favourite square to sit and have a drink which we did, but still rather windy and cold for comfort, and we decided to eat at 7 and got into the Italian we had enjoyed last visit, the luckily got in, just, it was soon totally buzzing. The only photos are taken by MY phone, of our spacious room, and Amr eating pizza!      Leggi altro

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    • ViaggiatoreWalking France and Spain, 2024
      1
      1
      Giorno 16

      A lazy day in Montpellier

      25 aprile, Francia ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      Not a huge amount to say as we have just been happily mooching around town, without any deadlines or necessary tasks. We wandered the narrow streets where there are little specialty shops with local products, and are getting to know our way round and to our hotel which is very central and handy, but was hard to spot when we first arrived…

      It is still cold, specially when not doing serious walking (though my watch says I have walked 13 kms today, and that’s not including walking somewhere to dinner soon)…and today is cloudy, with rays of sunshine peeping through now and then, and even a few raindrops as we arrived back just now.

      We stopped twice on park benches for kindle sessions, but I found it too cold to really enjoy sitting outside. Even after I went back and put on an extra layer. Amr has been living in his puffer jacket - I didn’t even bring one! I have plenty of layers, but didn’t think I’d need to wear them all at once! We had a delicious lunch - we shared a large salad with avocado, salmon, soy beans, a rice/grain/seed section and leaves, with Asian tasting flavours…just right. And we walked in the Jardin Botanique….that’s about all to report really. Tomorrow a train to Barcelona, leaves here at 4.30pm and arrives there at 7.30.

      Addendum..just back from dinner and have to add because it was really good…French cuisine seems to have moved to fusion, like everywhere else, and you order dishes that are surprising, and delicious. Like our lunch salad had Asian flavours, tonight I ordered an entrée of grilled eggplant, but it came surrounded with almonds, pomegranate, feta crumbles….and my lamb dish was on couscous, with honey/ginger carrots…yum…Amr had his tartare de boeuf, his last chance before Spain, and his entrée was tomatoes, peppers with soft boiled egg…not just the classic French, but these are French eateries.      Leggi altro

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    • ViaggiatoreWalking France and Spain, 2024
      111
      Giorno 10

      Now in Montpellier

      19 aprile, Francia ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

      It’s already 9.30 and I haven’t started to write up the day…I usually like to start when we arrive after walking…but today was different, as we walked the 17+ kms to Vauvert, then were taken by taxi on to Montpellier. This was planned by Chemins de France, not just for us because we are old and decrepit! ..but to eliminate the boring part of walking into a biggish city…and it suits us fine! And the almost 20 kms we walked were quite enough.

      So we set off as usual a bit before 9, and had a just beautiful day of walking…much more picturesque and interesting than yesterday…lots of agricultural interest…we passed almond orchards, peach and apricot orchards, pig farms, sheep with spring lambs, and of course many many vineyards. At first it was flat, and we had a lovely walk along a canal, and after lunch we started to undulate, and even had quite a few ups and downs, and by the time we arrived at Vauvert we were happy to stop.

      We had found out what the orchards were by using an app, which I had put on my phone for that very purpose so that I would not have to annoy Amr by making him do it…but with no phone he is very patiently doing it, and I love to find out…at this stage the fruit a are tiny and hard, and not coloured…we also found peas…such fun! It was cool at the start, but not as cold as yesterday, so I started without a fleece, just jacket and t-shirt, and it was good, and got quite hot by the end, but enough breeze to maintain comfort. And not a cloud in the sky! But Tallie, the lovely Vaseline rosy lips lip balm I love does not have sunscreen I have realised, and my bottom lip is quite burnt!! It is made for English lips! I realised it intensely while eating a peppery pasta at dinner!

      Anyway, we were to meet Cyril, the taxi man, at 4pm in front of the church. We arrived about 2.30 or so and Amr rang Cyril and he came as soon as he could, before 4…and he drove a big black Mercedes, almost a limo, which could take at least 6 people in comfort, and were offered chilled mineral water…! Very comfortable journey along to Montpellier, which was about 40 kms.

      We were delivered to our Hotel du Parc, a sweet little hotel, but not in the centre, so after briefly unwinding we set off to find what happens here. Not very far to walk to where it is all happening, and thank goodness Amr is good at keeping directions in his head! We first passed the enormous cathedral where we lit a candle for Ira, and hope that will help her walk after her knee operation. Then round a bit, had a drink in a sunny popular square (by this time it was getting cool, and I WANTED to sit in the sun!! )…then quite early, about 7.15 we went to an Italian place we’d spotted and had comfort food…I had gnocchi Gorgonzola with walnuts, Amr had spaghetti aioli pepperoncini and a big rocket salad and a glass of red.

      Now clean and about to crash (I have to keep stopping Amr from crashing, so he can edit this )…tomorrow, we are advised to get the tram line 1 to the Euromedicine Parc stop, to get out of the city to walk to Montarnaud, about 20 kms…but there was a problem with the hotel there, and we are again being picked up by Cyril and brought back here (so we can leave stuff unpacked here…2 nights, then on Sunday morning he drives us back to Montarnaud where we continue as normal!!      Leggi altro

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    • ViaggiatoreWalking France and Spain, 2024
      Giorno 13

      At St-Jean-de-la-Blaquiere

      22 aprile, Francia ⋅ 🌬 13 °C

      We arrived here at about 2pm, after one of the most spectacular walks we’ve ever done, and that is saying something! But we did not do the 8 hour, étape difficile, that the Book which is in French, warned us about. Instead, after a long and rather difficult stage yesterday we decided we would not enjoy an even longer and more difficult one today. So after studying the Book, and finding that today started with a 3 hour difficult ascent (and we could see the huge rocky hillsides all around us!) we decided to organise a taxi to shorten the distance. And it was such a wonderful plan…our lovely hotel lady rang to organise it last night, and we were picked up at 9.30 and taken to a town, Arboras, which is actually a bit more than half the distance! But we are not proud, we just wanted to enjoy the day, and not endure it…

      So the taxi dropped us off, right where there was a GR and chemin de Compostelle sign, and we set off happily. And the whole of today the way was well marked, never worried that we may have gone off track. And it is still cold…in fact today was the coldest yet, and in the high spots the wind felt icy! In the end I took off my hat which was annoyingly flapping in the strong wind, and just put up my jacket hood, and Amr had his hood over his new hat!

      So we only had a walk of about 12 kms, but this was the part that Book said was difficile, and we did it knowing we could be slow and careful (don’t want to spoil things with a twisted ankle…) and pause and admire the view and not just be intent on reaching a destination. And so began our wonderful walk. From Arboras we walked at first among a valley of vineyards and then did a very long ascent, even higher than the one out of St Guilhem, all the while looking down at the view of the valley from the heights. We could see Arboras in the distance and were amazed at how high we were. Photos just can’t capture the scene, but will put some up anyway, but they won’t do justice to the beauty.

      There were a few other walkers on the track today…one man who zipped past so quickly on the uphill - we barely had time to say bonjour before he was gone - and on the downhill to our amazement 2 cyclists whizzed past…riding over the boulders, roots, zigzagging around trees!!…and also another woman who is also staying in this town. After the exhilarating uphill we started the inevitable descent, which was the difficult part - the book had warned of sliding rocks, slippery slopes etc, and it was a bit of a tricky narrow path, but not as bad as we feared, and wonderful views over the other side. We found a perfect picnic table in the sun for lunch, but it was just too windy…and by then only a few kms from St Jean, so we continued on, and found a slightly more sheltered and sunny seat in the main square near the Mairie and ate there, as we were fairly early, and often accommodation places don’t want you to arrive before 3.

      But at about 2.30 we headed off to this wonderful place, an oasis! It was another kilometre from the centre of town, not in the direction of the camino - great today, but would have been a lot after an 8 hour walk! It is a B and B run by a delightful couple, who welcomed us, gave us a beer and cake, and with whom we will have dinner tonight as we are the only guests! They like Australians and Australia as they lived in Perth and their daughter is in Nice living with a group of Aussies. So we can comfortably speak French and English! Now we are relaxing totally and will have dinner at 7.      Leggi altro

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    • ViaggiatoreWalking France and Spain, 2024
      1
      1
      Giorno 14

      French pilgrimage finished - in Lodeve

      23 aprile, Francia ⋅ 🌬 13 °C

      We have arrived in Lodève, French walk finished! We feel quite proud, as it wasn’t easy walking, but certainly spectacular. We have checked into our very nice Hotel De La Paix, and booked to have dinner here at 8. Amr is, surprise surprise, off to the laundromat to wash everything, and I’m happily sitting in the room in shorts (all that’s left not being washed) and with 2 tops and my jacket still feel cold…I look back at photos of walking a couple of days ago and I was just in a t-shirt and can’t imagine it….today we did 16 kms of strenuous walking with fleece and jacket on all day and not even sweaty!! …and yesterday the same, but didn’t have my fleece and wished I did!

      Anyway, first last night’s dinner…it was rather like a couple of years ago in France when we stayed at a guest house, we had dinner with the hosts, Martine and Guy, such lovely people. The season is just starting and we were the only people. They can take 14 people, but only do dinner for 4….so we had a delicious home cooked meal in their dining room overlooking the valley! Just beautiful. Started with endive, egg and crumbled cheese salad, then pork fillets and potatoes with very tasty onion sauce and a raspberry tapioca dessert. Comfort food! And we had fun and lively conversation…half French and half English…and this morning we had breakfast there before we set off.

      They had told us a shortcut to get to the GR without going the km back to the village, a path at the end of the vineyard and across the creek, but Amr this time wanted to be authentic and we walked back and started from the square, following the true path! After quite a while we thought we must have passed where we would have joined in from the guest house, as we were out in the wilderness and had been walking several kms, but then suddenly we saw their Domaine through the trees on the other side of the valley… it would have been a true shortcut.

      We knew from the graph that today’s walk was basically a big climb, then going along for quite a way along the top plateau, then a descent into Lodeve. But the Book said it was a short (15km) stage and somehow implied easy…but it wasn’t really easy, the big ascent was most of the time very rough loose stones and roots that needed concentration, and also the descent at the end was also potentially treacherous! But of course the views were spectacular and it was very exhilarating! But we didn’t saunter into Lodeve in time for lunch!! And it continued to be so cold, with the icy wind blowing a gale, specially when we were at the exposed spots at the top…Amr said his app said it was 42 km/hr at one stage, but not sure if that was the max…sometimes you could hardly walk against it. But we are lucky, despite the cold wind, it remained sunny and blue sky. So many wildflowers out now - we saw lots of lavender and irises, which you associate with this part of the world, and the new oak leaves are so bright and beautiful.

      After about 12 kms we realised we needed a break, and tried to find a semi sheltered stone to sit and eat…very pleasant, but about 50 metres further we found the perfect spot, tables, sheltered and a superb view ….too late - if only we’d ventured just a bit further!

      This hotel is part of a chain we loved when we were on the walk from Vézelay, and where we always seemed to have the surprisingly superb meals…so here’s hoping for tonight. Tomorrow we take a bus to Montpellier where we stay for 2 nights before getting a train to Barcelona on Friday. Just a little break between walks! But we are familiar with the Camino walking, and there is no tough bush walking there like we have had for the last 3 days, so we feel very relaxed!      Leggi altro

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    • ViaggiatoreWalking France and Spain, 2024
      111
      Giorno 12

      At St-Guilhem-le-Désert, a long walk!

      21 aprile, Francia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

      Today we didn’t swan in at 2.30 and have the afternoon to relax and explore…we staggered in at 5, a long time, but only 22 kms - it was hard work rather than long distance! And we did pause a few times - for lunch, for coffee/chocolate, to help rescue a dog, and when we looked at the Devil’s Bridge and got a little off course! But we survived, and actually our legs are feeling good and we’ve just come back from exploring the village which is on the side of a hill, and extremely charming. Very much a tourist place, but also deservedly one of the plus beaux villages de France.

      We left Montpellier at about 9 and were driven to Montarnaud (not by Cyril but by Cyril’s friend!). So we set off and found that the climb that we knew was ahead was on very difficult paths - loose stones, just such slow progress…once we reached the top it wasn’t too bad…we went along the top of a plateau, sometimes loose stones, but sometimes easier terrain …it was completely different countryside from previously - we were up in the wild rocky hills, sort of Cézanne territory…not tall lush forests, rather scrubby bushes and trees…but wildly beautiful.

      We stopped for lunch when we were about half way there by our reckoning, about 1 or later.. there was, according to the Book, meant to be a choice to take the GR or a short cut through an old railway tunnel for 300 metres…but the choice never happened as we just followed GR signs (which then were along an ex railway line, so it was flat but now a path of more loose stones) and never saw mention of the tunnel, however we were happy to arrive at the next village, which was for once awake and there was a choice of bars to pause and have coffee!

      After that we had an amazing section of walking through vineyards - suddenly this wild area was filled with myriads of picturesque vineyards…so beautiful, and we felt that the end was in sight…we thought (hoped) it was about 5 kms to go, and when we saw a village coming up, we assumed it was ours.

      So we happily walked along, saw quite a few walkers along the route, being a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We came upon one group of 4 walkers having trouble - their dog had jumped into the canal and couldn’t get out, and they couldn’t reach him…he was just dog paddling and waiting for help! There were sloping concrete edges, and he kept sliding. In the end Amr suggested using some fence-railings lying there from workers, and they managed to put it down and use it as a sort of ladder and pull the poor dog out! Very grateful to Amr for the idea…

      Then we came to the Pont du Diable, the Devil’s bridge, a big feature on the map, historic bridge, and the town just above…I went off the official route to go on the bridge, and look at the view (we are now in an enormous spectacular gorge)…then we suddenly saw the signs to the town and realised it was another one, that was several inches away on the map from our destination!! Such disappointment!

      Our dog friends were horrified and said that is an hour’s walk!! We said we had been walking since 9.30, and would be ok…and it was, but it did seem endless, along the shoulder of a rather busy road most of the time, everyone going home after their Sunday doings. There was canoeing in the gorge, people had been sunbaking on the banks seen from the Devil’s bridge….we are now half way up the gorge here, the running river way below at the bottom, and towering rocky cliff faces above. Amazing changes in one day.

      Finally we found this delightful village, our hotel was the first one we saw, so happy to arrive, bags in room and all good. And now back from a perfect meal here (included tonight), and ready for bed. AND I forgot to say, that while wandering in the village, we got Amr a hat! Very funny, made in Nepal (better than the other cheaper and more normal looking ones made you know where!      Leggi altro

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    • European 5000
      Giorno 7

      On the way!

      8 settembre 2022, Francia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

      Wir sind auf dem Weg nach Andorra!🇦🇩
      Wir versuchen heute mal mit dem Team vom Babybenz zusammen zu fahren. Mal gucken ob unsere Susi mithalten kann. ( Der Lada kannte den weg besser als wir😂)

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    • Zonder doel maar met richting
      Giorno 44

      Geen Minerve

      14 giugno 2022, Francia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      Zes uur op, Tegen half acht vertrokken.

      Vanwege de hitte besloten niet via Minerve te fietsen maar via Pepieux - Olonzac - Homps naar het Canal du Midi welke naar de Middellandse Zee gaat.

      In Olonzac is markt en koop ik nog een lekker stukje zeep en drinken we thee.

      Vanaf Homps rijden we langs het kanaal met veel vaart en sluizen.      Leggi altro

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    • Hochzeitsreise 2.0
      1
      Giorno 8

      Die echte Metropole auf unserem Weg

      2 giugno 2022, Francia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      Heute gab es einen straffen Plan. Aber ganz sanft wurde ich geweckt.  Kurz danach ging es aber auch schon los. Diesmal aber wieder mit dem Auto.  Vite Vite allez allez... Auf nach Narbonne. Nach dem wir uns durch die französische Verkehrsführung gewuselt haben, sind wir mitten auf dem Markt mit anhängender Markthalle angekommen.  Solch tolles Gemüse und ausgefallenen Fisch hab ich noch nie gesehen.  Ich bin nur froh dass ich nicht Meinergleichen sehen musste. 
      Die Damen waren voll in ihrem Element.  Gucken, bummeln, handeln ( flirten) und shoppen.
      Eine sehr belebte aber schöne Stadt.
      Am Nachmittag haben wir dann die kleine Weinprobe von gestern nachgeholt.  Termin war 17 Uhr.  Wir waren auch da. Doch das Thema mit den Franzosen und den Öffnungszeiten hatten wir ja gestern schon. Aber es hat dann doch stattgefunden und wir haben lokalen Wein probiert.  Und so viel darf verraten sein... Es wird nicht mit leeren Händen nach Hause gekommen.  Zum Abschluss dieser Reise haben wir dann das Restaurant im Hafen besucht.  Königlich gespeist und die vergangenen Woche Revue passieren lassen. Eine eindrucksvolle Reise auf dem Schiff.  Morgen früh verlassen wir dann dieses Fortbewegungsmittel und steigen um aufs Auto und es geht  Richtung Nancy.
      Nach einem kleinen Abschlusskonzert von Sarah werden wir nun schlafen gehen.      Leggi altro

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    • ViaggiatoreElternzeit 2022
      12
      Giorno 50

      Valras Plage

      6 giugno 2022, Francia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

      Am Mittelmeer hatten wir eine tolle Zeit auf einem Campingplatz, der so toll für Kinder ausgerichtet war. Das war klasse. Wir haben gar nicht alle Attraktionen geschafft.. Nebenbei müssen wir ja auch nun immer der Kleinsten fleißig hinter laufen.. Wirklich schön war es, vor allem weil wir wieder Stralsunder Freunde getroffen haben. Das Wetter war durchweg auf unserer Seite, sodass wir Strand, Pool und Spielplätze erkunden konnten. Auch bei der Mini Disco war für groß und klein was dabei.Leggi altro

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