Thursday, 17 July, we depart Caen, France enroute to Paris, France. Yes, back to Paris—Why in the world would we come back to Paris? Good question, we asked ourselves that as well. Simple reason is to stay the night in Paris to head to our next destination. We take the TGV, high speed train which proves to be a real first class experience. We arrive in Paris and seek out our hotel. This time around we are staying in a two-star hotel in lieu of a hostel. The Hotel Bossiere is a quite little hotel with minimal luxuries, but it [View Full Entry]

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This leg of the trip is rather symbolic because Lynne and I began this adventure on the 6th of June—the anniversary of the Normandy Invasion in 1944 (D-Day). D-Day was the deadliest day in US military history where over 6,000 brave men paid the ultimate sacrifice to liberate France and pave the way to end the war in Europe. The Longest Day is a remarkable movie about the Normandy Invasion. The movie starred John Wayne and an all star cast of actors from the era. This epic war movie was released in 1962 and never gets old. It is one of [View Full Entry]

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The French Countryside On Tuesday morning (8 July) we packed our bags and headed to the train station. We boarded the train in Paris and headed to Rennes which would be our first transfer to get to Quimperle. When we reserved our tickets in Paris, we were of the impression that we had confirmed seats for the length of the trip. Unknown to us at the time, we did not have seats when we boarded the train in Rennes. We were both slightly pissed that the young lady in Paris did not explain that the 1st class section was overbooked for [View Full Entry]

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Paris, the city of love, is on many people’s list of places to visit. Mass media has brought us the sights of Paris and glamorized this historical city. We arrived in France on the Sunday, 6th of July from Scotland. We flew on Ryan Air, the discount air carrier serving many parts of Europe. As pointed out in my last post, Ryan Air was the most economical way to travel from Scotland to France. I will point out that Ryan Air does not fly in or out of any of the major airport. Their airports are often located far away [View Full Entry]

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Kendal, England, home of the world famous Kendal Mint Cake and gateway to the Lake district. Lynne and I depart Leominster (Lemsta) on Monday, 30th and head to the north via train. We board the train and pass the station I had previously visited at Ludlow. We both get a pretty good chuckle as the train stops at the station. Our next destination is Kendal. We had heard from other travels that the Lake District was a “must see” while visiting the UK. Our first stop in the Lake District is Kendal. Kendal is another market town that was originally put [View Full Entry]

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Lynne and I have arrived in Kendal, Cumbria, England. We are developing our strategy for the next few days in the Lake DIstrict. We want to do a few Happy Birthday Greetings: To Jackie, my daughter, Hope you have a wonderful day. To Monica, my sister-in-law, Happy Birthday. Make sure Rob and CHaz take you out to dinner. To Kathi, our dear friend in Utah, Happy Birthday young lady. [View Full Entry]

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Lynne and I depart Cardiff, Wales on Friday, 27 June 2008. Our next stop is Leominster (pronounced Lemsta) , Herefordshire, England. We had pre-booked 3 nights in the hostel there. We purchased our tickets and boarded the train. The train heads towards Manchester in the Midlands. There are two coaches (cars) on this train and they fill up rapidly. We are forced to put our backpacks in the back of the coach and take our seats near the front of the coach. We settled in for the two-hour train ride to Leominster. We enjoy the views of the English countryside as [View Full Entry]

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Cardiff is the capital of Wales. The city has well over 350,000 inhabitants and is bustling with activity. We arrive from Salisbury via train. The train ride was peaceful and uneventful. Lynne and I are beginning to master the art of traveling by train. Unlike the US, train travel is a key means of transportation throughout the rest of the industrialized world. Just to think that the American West was settled after the rapid expansion of the Trans-continental Railroad of the late 1800’s and now train travel is almost non-existent. American society has failed the railroad due to our [View Full Entry]

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We traded in the hustle and bustle of the big city of London for the English Countryside. WOW, what a difference. Salisbury is a quaint market town with a small touristic flavor to it. People flock to Salisbury to check out the cathedral and Stonehenge. Lynne and I debarked the train from London and began to get our bearings. We went to the Tourist Information Center (TIC) to get a map of the local area and to determine where the hostel was in relation to the train station. We had over a one mile trek with the fully loaded backpacks. I [View Full Entry]

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The tube, AKA the underground, is London’s famous subway system which transports nearly 4.25 million passengers per day. It is the oldest operating subway system in the world. Although a tad bit antiquated, it is extremely efficient in transporting people around the capital city and outlying areas. Lynne and I arrived at London Heathrow on Friday and took the Piccadilly line on the tube right to Earl’s Court Station—no transfers involved. We are staying at the Earl’s Court Hostel. Our original game plan was to spend two nights in London then head out to see ot [View Full Entry]

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