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- Day 1
- Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 9:00 AM
- ☁️ 7 °C
- Altitude: 69 ft
WalesNewport Railway Station51°35’19” N 3°0’3” W
All set to go! Jane looks keen!
April 5, 2023 in Wales ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
The time has finally arrived. The journey begins.
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- Day 1
- Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 10:30 AM
- ☁️ 8 °C
- Altitude: 72 ft
- WalesNewport Railway Station51°35’19” N 3°0’4” W
Why would you want to leave Newport?
April 5, 2023 in Wales ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
If we had any last minute doubts about going, the journey in the rain to the train station soon dispelled them. Why would you want to stay there, more like!?! 🌧️☔
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- Day 1
- Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 11:30 AM
- ☀️ 11 °C
- Altitude: 92 ft
FranceGare de l’État44°50’26” N 0°33’31” W
First leg.
April 5, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
Long, and almost problem free day. Everything was tickety boo until we reached our final destination..... Versailles Chantiers train station. From there it should have been, according to Google Maps,Read more
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- Day 2
- Thursday, April 6, 2023 at 10:00 AM
- ☁️ 8 °C
- Altitude: 440 ft
- FranceGrand Canal48°48’19” N 2°7’10” E
Nice pad.
April 6, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
A bit like the UK in 2023, there was obviously a housing crisis in 17th century Paris. So Louis XIV decided to build his own pad. Didn't make a bad job of it, did he? And........ It's huge.
Of course,Read more
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- Day 2
- Thursday, April 6, 2023 at 6:00 PM
- ⛅ 15 °C
- Altitude: 433 ft
- FranceSaint-Louis48°48’2” N 2°7’30” E
Chez Lazare - Rue de Satory, Versailles
April 6, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Fabulous little French restaurant in Versailles. Place was buzzing and they cooked the meats on the grill inside the restaurant and in front of you. I had duck skewers in a pepper sauce whilst JaneRead more
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- Day 2
- Thursday, April 6, 2023 at 11:27 PM
- 🌙 9 °C
- Altitude: 433 ft
- FranceSaint-Louis48°48’2” N 2°7’30” E
Slept with one eye open last night!
April 6, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
Started playing cards and I happened to win quite a few hands. All sorts of threats started coming my way, so slept with one eye open...... Just to be sure! 🥺
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- Day 3
- Friday, April 7, 2023 at 12:30 PM
- ⛅ 15 °C
- Altitude: 79 ft
- FranceLa Bastide44°50’40” N 0°33’15” W
Beautiful Bordeaux - Day 1
April 7, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Great couple of days just strolling around this beautiful, old city. England and France fought over the right to control Bordeaux for centuries; and it's easy to see why..... It's stunning.
Also, it'sRead more
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- Day 4
- Saturday, April 8, 2023 at 1:30 AM
- ☁️ 9 °C
- Altitude: 226 ft
- FranceSaint-Émilion44°53’35” N 0°9’22” W
Bordeaux 2 - Saint-Emilion
April 8, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
Simply wonderful afternoon spent visiting two wine making Chateaux, and the BEAUTIFUL village of Saint-Emilion. Oh, and we were forced to sample a few glasses of Grand Cru Saint-Emilion wine as well.Read more
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- Day 4
- Saturday, April 8, 2023 at 9:14 PM
- 🌙 14 °C
- Altitude: 79 ft
- FranceThe Water Mirror44°50’21” N 0°34’11” W
Spanish tapas - Can't help ourselves!
April 8, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌙 14 °C
After our exertions trying to get through all the Saint-Emilion samples on offer this afternoon, we decided to venture back into Bordeaux for some food. We came across this Tapas bar (El Pata Negra),Read more
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- Day 5
- Sunday, April 9, 2023 at 5:28 PM
- ⛅ 23 °C
- Altitude: 466 ft
- FranceChâteau Comtal43°12’24” N 2°21’48” E
Carcassonne
April 9, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Over night stop over as we make our way through France and towards Italy. Weather still being kind to us, although there are whispers of storm Noa approaching France and the UK shortly.
We have foundRead more
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- Day 6
- Monday, April 10, 2023 at 8:45 AM
- ☁️ 11 °C
- Altitude: 367 ft
- FranceCarcassonne Railway Station43°13’1” N 2°21’4” E
Morning coffee down by the river
April 10, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
On our way to the train station, heading to Nice, we killed a spare 45 minutes with a cup of coffee watching the boats on the river, using the "lock" system to move upstream.
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- Day 6
- Monday, April 10, 2023 at 6:29 PM
- ☁️ 15 °C
- Altitude: 89 ft
- FranceNice Ville43°42’17” N 7°15’43” E
Nice Nice
April 10, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Ok, so I realise it's an obvious choice of headline for this post. But it sort of sums up our first impression of Nice. It's just..... nice, that's all. But the architecture is interesting.
But ourRead more
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- Day 7
- Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 10:36 AM
- ☁️ 15 °C
- Altitude: 95 ft
- FranceNice Ville43°42’17” N 7°15’42” E
Takes me back to my student days.
April 11, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Ok....... so......we are students again!
Takes me back to Crwys Road, Cardiff way back when (1978-82 to be precise).
I was planning on doing research for a book to write after this holiday.......Read more
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- Day 7
- Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 3:03 PM
- ☁️ 16 °C
- Altitude: 1,299 ft
- FranceÈze43°43’40” N 7°21’42” E
The real Nice
April 11, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
After being slightly underwhelmed by our first evening in Nice, our second day was wonderful. Found the 'Old Nice' in the morning and wandered around the market and coffee bars; in the afternoon weRead more
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- Day 8
- Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at 5:51 PM
- ☁️ 14 °C
- Altitude: 49 ft
ItalyGiardini Pubblici Mariele Ventre44°16’17” N 9°23’45” E
Sestri - Weston-super-mare on steroids
April 12, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
Have to hold my hands up here and admit to a mistake in dates. Plan was to go straight to La Spezia from Nice but I got my dates mixed up. Booked our place in La Specia for the following day so weRead more
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- Day 9
- Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 1:00 PM
- ☁️ 13 °C
- Altitude: 154 ft
- ItalyRiomaggiore44°5’56” N 9°44’19” E
Train strikes force change of plans
April 13, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
As I have always said to Lissy and Emily, try to make the best out of every situation in which you find yourself.
So we arrived in La Spezia on the 13th for two nights, with a plan to spend the 14thRead more
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- Day 10
- Friday, April 14, 2023 at 10:09 AM
- ⛅ 11 °C
- Altitude: Sea level
- ItalyPorto Mirabello44°5’59” N 9°49’41” E
La Spezia Port
April 14, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
This was due to be our day to visit the Cinque Terre, but it was scuppered by the rail strike. So, what to do on a beautiful sunny day? We planned to take a boat trip to Portovenere, which we wereRead more
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- Day 12
- Sunday, April 16, 2023 at 12:22 PM
- ☀️ 17 °C
- Altitude: 233 ft
- ItalyPiazza delle Erbe45°26’31” N 10°59’54” E
There is no world without Verona walls..
April 16, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Or so says Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. It is still debated as to whether they actually existed in real life. And if they were based on real people then they almost certainly didn't live in Verona. ButRead more
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- Day 12
- Sunday, April 16, 2023 at 6:07 PM
- ⛅ 16 °C
- Altitude: 223 ft
- ItalyChiesa di San Pietro Martire45°26’44” N 10°59’57” E
Side street restaurant
April 16, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
As is our wont, we sought out a "local" restaurant, rather than stick to the formulaic tourist places (all laid up, complete with slick salesman type of waiter to greet you.......you know the sort).Read more
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- Day 13
- Monday, April 17, 2023 at 11:30 AM
- ⛅ 16 °C
- Altitude: 200 ft
- ItalySirmione45°29’43” N 10°36’34” E
Lake Garda
April 17, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
You can't come to Italy and not spend a day on one of the lakes. We chose Garda as it is only a 20 minute train journey from Verona.
With snow capped mountains in the distance it was no wonder thatRead more
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- Day 14
- Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 2:55 PM
- ☁️ 18 °C
- Altitude: 177 ft
- ItalyGiardino storico Basevi45°38’44” N 13°46’35” E
Trieste - Vienna by the sea
April 18, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Today's picture collection of old buildings and selfies comes courtesy of Trieste.
A completely different feel to other Italian towns, it has a Central European feel, deriving from it's history asRead more
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- Day 14
- Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 5:00 PM
- ☁️ 18 °C
- Altitude: 200 ft
- ItalyParco della Rimembranza45°38’52” N 13°46’33” E
City of coffee..... And petrol pumps
April 18, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Ok, popped into a cake shop in the afternoon for coffee and cannoli. What else would you expect to see but an old petrol pump!
We had our coffee and cannoli, and then followed that up with some wine,Read more
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- Day 15
- Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at 3:00 PM
- ☁️ 15 °C
- Altitude: 1,785 ft
SloveniaPivka45°40’53” N 14°11’49” E
Pivka
April 19, 2023 in Slovenia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Some things on this trip are a given.......the grandeur of Versailles, the serenity of Lake Garda, or the bliss of drinking St Emilion Grand Cru. But every now and then a surprise comes along.
On ourRead more
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- Day 16
- Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 12:12 PM
- ☁️ 15 °C
- Altitude: 433 ft
CroatiaPetrolejska Luka45°20’39” N 14°24’33” E
A glitch in the matrix?
April 20, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
The most interesting thing about Rijeka was this building under refurb, with a drape over it to make it look like it is still there, as it was. I know it's not much, but that's it. Nothing else.
BUT,Read more
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- Day 17
- Friday, April 21, 2023 at 10:18 PM
- 🌙 10 °C
- Altitude: 997 ft
- SloveniaTivoli park46°3’10” N 14°30’18” E
I ❤️ Ljubliana
April 21, 2023 in Slovenia ⋅ 🌙 10 °C
OMG. We've only been here a few hours, but already we are in love. This place is unbelievable.
The people are lovely (and speak fluent English), the countryside is beautiful, the city centre is likeRead more
TravelerBrilliant.. the back packs as big as you Jane 😊
Traveler
Well done packing everything you need into a backpack. We’d need one back pack just for mikes shoes if we did this 🤣
TravelerHahaha.... Funnily enough, Mike admitted as much last week when we were discussing this. Guess what we are finding, though? We have too many clothes! I haven't worn some stuff yet and it's washing day on Tues. 😂