frankieduberry

frankie du berry

frankieduberry

A vintage woman traveller, French born, currently living in France, I really enjoy going places by car, by train, by sailboat or by plane...
I have also lived in England, Israel, Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand and North America.
To read my writings in English or French see:

http://threefoldtwenty.blogspot.com
http://berryhobby.blogspot.com
http://compere-commere.blogspot.com
https://mywaytothegate.blogspot.com



Europe » Ireland » County Wexford » Wexford January 30th 2013

4. Moving to Wexford After this trip from Rosslare up to Wicklow and back again, my cash supply was running very low. I asked the B&B manager for a cheaper room. As he didn't have one he made a deal for a wholesale winter price without breakfast until the following Monday. It gave me 4 days to find a place to live... in Wexford. In the classifieds of the local paper there was a bedsitter to let for 75€ per week. John, the B&B manager, phoned and made an appointment for me to see it on the Friday at 12:30. Meanwhile I stayed in my room using my iPad and the WiFi internet connection there to check schools in the area where I could possibly get a job as assistant teacher. I also registered with an ... read more
SAM_1133
SAM_1134
SAM_1135

Europe » Ireland » County Wexford » Rosslare Harbour January 30th 2013

3. From Wicklow back to Rosslare When I figured I didn't have the charger for my iPad, I first thought that I had left it in my car but I soon got an e-mail from the B&B in Rosslare that I had left it there. Great, I thought, now I'll have to go back to Rosslare and the idea appealed to me very much! Wicklow was fine but I had no vibes for it. I learnt that it had been a Viking settlement and then a Norman one, that it was famous for all the films that had been made there, 'Brave Heart' among them, the latest one being 'Asterix' featuring Gérard Depardieu... oh really?! So after two nights in the friendly B&B in Wicklow I headed back south to Rosslare, to Arklow by the coast ... read more

Europe » Ireland » County Wicklow » Wicklow January 30th 2013

2.From Rosslare to Wicklow Rosslare is a very small harbour built mainly for the ferry routes linked with the continent. It is situated at the southern tip of the east coast of Ireland. Behind it a large bay hides another harbour, Wexford, so that when you stand on the sandy hills of Rosslare you can see land streching around to the north. The coast is never in a straight line in Ireland, I believe. I arrived in Rosslare on Saturday afternoon, as I said before, 12 January 2013. On the Sunday morning I went to church around the corner from the B&B where I was staying. Although I can't believe in the christian myth any more, I still need to be praying and transcending to some benevolent God. I like to hear that some super being ... read more

Europe » Ireland » County Wexford » Rosslare January 30th 2013

1. From Cherbourg to Rosslare To start with, I had to drive from my place in the middle of France to Cherbourg where I was going to take the ferry to Rosslare in the south east of Ireland. Leaving Chateauroux at 9am I arrived at the car ferry terminal in Cherbourg at 5:30pm and took my place in the queue for embarkment as the 5th car there. There was plenty of time before embarkment. My ticket one way for myself and my car cost €159. A cabin would have been an extra €60 so I declined. Waiting for embarkment at 9pm, either inside the terminal or in my car, was not much fun. At this time of the year there are no crowds of tourists and the café in the terminal building was closed. I could ... read more

Europe » France » Limousin » Bort-les-Orgues October 3rd 2012

HIDDEN FRANCE 5.Bort-les-Orgues I've just figured out something!... When I was a kid, my grand-parents used to rave about Bort-les-Orgues (pronounced 'Borleyzorg' and hence written that way). I was a kid in the 1950's, yes, last century. Yesterday, doing a bit of research on the net to be able to write something clever about the place, I learnt that the big hydro-electric dam there had been officially opened and put to use in 1951... That's it, that's why my grand-parents used to rave about it! In 1951 I was 7 and I vaguely remember travelling with them to the Massif Central to see the damn dam!!! It was in those days quite a technical achievement and it put the area and the country on the list of the most modern and daring of countries in Europe. ... read more
2. Bort-les-Orgues
3. Bort-les-Orgues
4. Bort-les-Orgues

Europe » France » Limousin » Correze September 30th 2012

HIDDEN FRANCE 4.Ussel As I said before, I travelled on this trip labelled here 'Hidden France' with my Helper from the HelpExchange network, taking her to her next Host in Auvergne. It only took me 2 days of travelling there and back, driving, taking photos, stopping and getting the feel of various places on the way. Call me a local tourist if you like! From Aubusson the road south to Ussel took us through forests and up a mountain pass or two. We were heading into the Massif Central which is a very old and massive eroded mountain range with numerous former volcanoes. Although the road felt wide and flat, the car engine was often pulling and we felt our ears buzz. We got to the altitude of 845m without realising it. The main industry here ... read more
2. Ussel
3. Ussel
4. Ussel

Europe » France » Limousin » Aubusson September 28th 2012

HIDDEN FRANCE 3. Felletin The unicorn has been killed... yes, I saw its skin! Yes, in a village called Felletin, about 20ks south of Aubusson on the road to Ussel. We stopped there to picnic on a bench for lunch and before driving on to Ussel, we decided to visit an exhibition of tapestries in the 'église du château'... except that the 'église' is not a church much but an exhibition hall and that there is no 'chateau' at all. Upon enquiry, the said chateau had apparently been demolished at some stage in History and the stones had been used to build this church. (Must check this info! I suspect evil deeds during the war of religions between Protestants and Catholics) It was the week-end of 'National Heritage Days' (Journées du Patrimoine) when all heritage buildings ... read more
2. Felletin
3. Felletin
4. Felletin

Europe » France » Limousin » Aubusson September 25th 2012

Trip: HIDDEN FRANCE 2. Aubusson It was my third time in Aubusson this year, the first time in March to see about a B-and-B for August and the second time for a one week course I attended in needle tapestry. This time around, however, I was just a tourist visiting tapestry museums and taking m-teen photos. Tapestry is synonymous with this small town. This is where the famous huge wool hanging of a sitted Christ in the Coventry cathedral was made. By hand. Woven by the hands of the loom workers here in Aubusson. As a tourist I am entitled to give my impressions of the place, aren't I?... Built in dark grey granite stones, set deep within walls of granite hills, it thrives on memories of the past, seen as glorious. It looks like some ... read more
Aubusson
Aubusson
Aubusson

Europe » France » Limousin » Gueret September 20th 2012

Trip: HIDDEN FRANCE 1.On the road The trip goes from my place in St Civran, an unknown tiny village in the Region "Centre", to Champs-sur-Tarentaine, a farmlike Bed-and-Breakfast in a similarly unknown tiny village in the Region "Auvergne". It meant some 300ks across the middle of France, through yet another Region called "Limousin". Confusing?... not at all :-) The thing to know here is that France is made up of 22 Regions very much the size and purpose of the 'Länder' in Germany. For details, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_of_France. Provinces as such do not exist any more, and Provence is actually the name of a province... but I digress! So, at about 8 am on Saturday, under a grey and misty sky, my Japanese Helper Aska and myself sat in the car and I turned on the ignition ... read more
St Benoit-du-Sault
bonjour Region Limousin
highway 20

Europe » Germany » Hesse » Hanau November 8th 2008

This is my second visit to Germany this year. I spent two weeks in Hanau in March and one whole month in October. The second time round I had a camera in working order! Visiting Europe in autumn is a colorful experience. For a few weeks in October, green trees and shrubs in the middle of towns turn bright yellow, red and brown. The leaves slowly fall like snow on the pavements. I enjoy shuffling my feet through the heaps of colorful leaves and seeing them dance in a shuffle-shuffle sound. HANAU on the river Main in Germany is a great place for this. Pedestrians and cyclists have their own paths and circuit through town, thus avoiding having to walk along busy ring roads and crossing at hectic intersections. On top of that, drivers here do ... read more
HANAU am Main #2
HANAU am Main #3
HANAU am Main #4




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