Blogs from Rhône-Alpes, France, Europe

Het was als altijd weer een plezier om de kinderen en kleinkinderen te zien in Nederland. Maar wat hebben we het koud gehad daar begin april. We waren er natuurlijk totaal niet op berekend en hebben eigenlijk vrijwel constant lopen kleumen. De accu van de auto was de winter ook niet goed doorgekomen en helemaal op door de kou, ondanks dat zoon M hem trouw gestart en gereden had, behalve toen er sneeuw lag en tijdens de gladheid, uiteraard. En dat was nou net een groot deel van de tijd. Dus meteen de volgende dag een nieuwe accu erin gezet. Het is duidelijk dat we het de volgende keer anders moeten aanpakken. Wij hadden vorige week onze Franse buren, Roger en Dominique, op de apéro, en die avond beleefden we een echt Frans moment. We zitten ... read more

Thought it was about time that we did a little update on what we've been up to..... Where our travel bug has took us to now! The answer .... Thanks to our lovely mate Jen, we have found ourselves doing a ski season here in Morzine in France, a place I'd never even heard of before, god knows why not.... It's at the bottom of the Portes d'solei region, which is an immense ski area, filled with loads of gorgeous reds and blues, snow parks, half pipes, off piste to die for and some tough moguley blacks including the infamous Swiss Wall, which is exactly what it says on the tin.... A Wall...leading down to Switzerland! The moguls are so big you can't actually see the run unless you scoot down a bit....And that's just the ... read more

Chamonix is located not far from Genève and Lyon, so it was only natural that I should visit both cities during this skiing temptation. The disadvantage of inexpensive flights is that sometimes they are late at night or early in the morning; I had to be at St. Petersburg airport at about 3 o’clock in the morning. The flight to Lyon was by Lufthansa via Munich. The check-in time approaching, a huge crowd gathered near the entrances, but soon it began dispersing as passengers were allowed to proceed to check-in and passport control. In the Munich airport, German authorities put a stamp in my passport though I really hoped that a transit flight would not involve a needless entry in the Shengen zone in Munich, but in Lyon I would get a French stamp. I believe ... read more

France,Corsica,France,Monico,France,Torino,France,Geneva,France. I think I got them all. Torino was interesting. Went and saw the Shroud. Oddly enough the church that houses it doesn't look that much like a great cathedral on the outside, Inside is a completely different story. All around the church there are ancient Roman ruins that are continuosly being excavated. Very interesting place from a historical perpespective, Sunday morning in Torino the streets are lined with book sellers. It's sort of like a giant flea market up and down both sides of the street but only selling books. There's a bridge that runs from the end of a tunnel on the way to Geneva that has to be the longest and highest I've ever been on . Remember the bridges in New York? Well this one makes them look like a puddle jump ... read more