My trip to Deutschland (Germany) in March 2008 started very much like my trip to Great Britain the year before, on a mad urge to escape! I had been lending my car to my son who was using it to take his little family around. Being isolated in the village they needed it badly. But so did I. One day I said I was leaving, going to visit some friends in Germany, driving there with... my car. I left my place in France on 20 March at 6am to be precise and arrived at my friend's door in Germany in Hanau near Frankfurt at 6pm, i.e. twelve hours on the road in straight line, diagonally from the middle of France heading north-east into Germany. On a map it goes from my village near Argenton-sur-Creuse to Bourges, ... read more

Here's the follow up of my trip to Great Britain in March and April 2007... I got stuck in Carlisle on the north west coast of England for a week. My idea was to visit potters driving along the way throughout Britain. I left Carlisle on Friday around 4pm with cash pounds and pens in my pocket heading south to a place known for its ceramic industry. John, the expat friend with a house in the village where I live in France, had explained to me that Stoke-on-Trent was actually a conglomerate of several towns. He had scribbled in my michelin edition 2007 map of Great Britain and Ireland that I should visit Hanley, Fenton, Burslem and Longton. The electric kiln in my pottery studio (berryhobby.blogspot.com) is tagged Potterycrafts Ltd, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. I was keen to ... read more

After visiting Scotland for a week and driving down through the Cheviot Hills and along the Roman wall, I eventually ended up in Carlisle to overnight. The plan was to spend time driving slowly down south visiting potters in the area. The main idea was to make my own pottery studio known to some British potters and entice them to come and visit me. As usual... the plan didn't work. First of all I needed more money sent to me from my bank in France. As I had arrived on a Friday night in Carlisle it meant waiting for the Monday morning before doing anything anyway. Luckily I saw a Ibis hotel as I drove into Carlisle. The main street was in shambles with a long ditch dug on one side and big blue pipes ... read more

UntitledFrankie PERUSSAULT It took 1 day from St Civran (sain seevran) in the centre of France to Amiens (ahmien) in the north, 1 day from Amiens to Rugby in the centre of England and 1 day from Rugby to Edinburgh in Scotland. On the 4th morning at 8.30 on the carpark of the Dakota hotel at the south end of the Forth Bridge, in the crisp and fresh air of Scotland, John boarded his car to drive back to Rugby and said: "you'll be allright"... as I was boarding mine and heading my own way into Scotland. I was nervous up until the middle of the bridge. To pay the toll fee at the bridge from my driving seat on the left handside I had to stretch my arm way out half getting out of my ... read more

As I'm writing this in May from memory about a trip in March, I have to get my dates right. I left my place by car in the centre of France on Monday 19 June to overnight in Amiens, France. Then Rugby, England, on Tuesday night, Edinburgh, Scotland, on Wednesday night. It means I arrived in Burntisland, Scotland, on Thursday night 22 March. The Bed and Breakfast I pulled in front of was indeed very nice. See: www.gruinardguesthouse.co.uk Tired but happy I put my feet up sipping a nice cup of tea with biscuits in my confortable bedroom. I opened the hard cover single line exercise book I had bought 2 days before and started a 'diary'... I wrote 10 pages of it! This trip was to connect back with myself, with the basic adventurous ... read more