Blogs from Picardy, France, Europe - page 5

We decided to have breakfast in the restaurant again this morning and it was lovely to sit overlooking the beautiful gardens. After packing up, I went back to get the car and found it parked with both an AMG Mercedes and a McLaren!! Our Renault is firmly outclassed here! We checked out then had a great little play in the gardens before moving on closer to Dunkirque for our ferry tomorrow, The AirBnB app on the phone was playing up so we lost the address… Double back to Maccas (again) and use the wifi to find the place. After taking almost 5 hours for a 3 ½ hour drive, we finnaly found our B&B which was a rustic old converted farm. The stables and other buildings have all been turned into guest rooms and are quite ... read more

Geo: 49.7837, 3.21424We left the UK this morning on P&O's Dover-Calais crossing to start this year's trip, though it will be no where near as extensive as 2013. Over the next 8 weeks or so, we plan to take in the south of France (we are in need of warmth and sunshine), Italy, Croatia and Slovenia. Although we have visited Italy on a number of occasions, there are still areas we should like to explore, and Croatia is new to us but comes highly recommended so a 'must see' before it becomes too popular and overcrowded.Last year's five-month odyssey proved to be a life-changing experience leaving us quite unsettled over the winter months to the extent of even talking about becoming snowbirds in Southern Spain at some time. Despite the last UK winter being comparatively mild, ... read more

Day 2 – France Hillaire Beloc made the statement that “He had wandered all his life and he had travelled. The difference we wander for distraction and we travel for fulfilment”.. Those words rang in my ears on Day 2 of the trip. I have been a wanderer. I have lived in 12 homes and worked at probably twice as many locations and both have been distractions. I probably haven’t travelled as much as some but when I do travel it is for fulfilment, to understand different cultures and learn all the time about life. This trip would be no different. Hopefully upon our return we would know more than before we left and we would have precious memories to take forward. We had a good nights sleep which was surprising given all the noise from ... read more

The church bells rang this morning as I ran towards the town of Misery. I waved to a solitary farmer, then made my way down the lane and past the chateau. Here and there, lone poppies poked through the wildflowers, and I think I found those almost as poignant as the rows and rows of white gravestones we saw later in the day at Villers-Bretonneux. 46,000 Australians died on the Western Front, and as I ran along the roads they would have marched, it was as though each poppy represented one of them. Back at Maison Warlop, we had a lovely chat with Neil and Vicky and another couple from England over a very festive breakfast of fresh bread and preserves, brioche with young goat's cheese and great coffee. Hugo was thrilled with his pot of ... read more

I had bought a ticket to Amiens in advance. I wanted to go there to see the Amiens Cathedral, listed among UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I had early departure (and cheap ticket) in the morning, but managed to have breakfast (it was scheduled at 7-30, I went there at some 7-20 or so); there was no milk and I had to wait about five minutes. The train to Amiens took an hour and twenty minutes and there were no cancellations or late departures as compared to Rouen. I walked without a map, saw an unusually tall and narrow building in front of the gare – it is called Tour Perret, a 27-storey residential skyscraper. I was looking for signs of the cathedral, and soon its arches showed up. The cathedral is the tallest of the classic ... read more