Blogs from Orléans, Centre, France, Europe

France Passion Now I bet that title made you read my blog quicker than normal. Well sorry to say it is not what you think, it is a camp site that we are staying on. France Passion is an organisation where you can stay at a site for nothing - however, it usually is a place that is attached to a local producer of food or wine. So sorry if I got your hopes up on some juicy news. Anyway the co-pilot did really well yesterday with his navigation skills and we only went wrong once, if honest that was a real tricky bit, but we got back on track by taking a couple of roundabouts. So we were driving along and then all we could hear was something wining - it appeared to be a ... read more

Ein Nachtrag zu gestern Abend: mein Restaurant bietet eine abwechslungsreiche Speisekarte an. Als ich das Savoyer Fondue gesehen habe, musste ich es bestellen. Das wird aus Emmentaler, Comté und Roquefort gemacht und hat ordentlich geschmeckt. Heute werde ich vielleicht das Pferdesteak probieren. Es muss ja nicht immer Rinderfilet oder Entrecote sein. Frühstücken konnte ich heute nur bis 10:00 und startet danach meinen Spaziergang durch die Stadt. Zuerst zum alten Rathaus, wo man mehrere historische Räume ohne Ticket besuchen kann. Die Kathedrale ist direkt daneben. Dann durch den alten Teil der Stadt zum Loire-Ufer, wo sich das Starbucks befindet. Selbstverständlich habe ich es besucht und einen Frappuccino getrunken. Von dort ging es zum alten Wohnhaus von Jeanne d'Arc. Genauer gesagt, dessen Replikation, da das Originalhaus 1940 bei einem britischen Luftangriff zerstört wurde. Warum d... read more

Today was another road trip day. It actually rained for the better part of the drive but it stopped right as we were arriving at our first stop of the day! This was a town called Orleans and it was very quaint. The centre had a merry-go-round with two levels and a statue of Jeanne d'Arc. We ate lunch right in the centre and three of us enjoyed mussels which are in season at the moment. They were delicious. Rachel had pizza.....Anyways, we wandered around the streets for a while until we found the Jardin d'Hotel Groslot. This building is an old residence which is now used as a municipal office and the gardens there are very nice. There was a gingko bilaboa tree that was 150 years old! Orleans is at the eastern side of ... read more

Today was a driving day. 650kms from Grindelwald to Orleans in France. The route was essentially to Bern, Newchatel, over the border into France through the Jura's then towards Paris and finally south to Orleans. We left at 9am and arrived at 5.15pm with four stops along the way to give Lindsay a rest, a drink and a shake up for the next 100 or so. The first part of the journey to the French border was interesting enough through cropping country mainly. Into the Jura mountains it became very rocky - mainly weathered limestone and clay. Once out of the hills we went into dairying country, followed by miles of cropping in the rolling country and down to the vast flats. It was surprisingly quite sparsely populated. The further west we went closer to Paris ... read more

We have now moved on to Orleans and say au revoir to Paris until June. We have been staying in accommodation arranged through the website "housetrip.com". This had been a great way to travel so far. Accommodation varies from studio apartments to bedrooms in family homes. The best part is that you get to meet the hosts, who have been incredibly generous and kind people. We have appreciated the chance to get know real people rather than having to deal only with hotel staff. We have enjoyed good conversation, great home cooked food and wonderful hospitality. Our hosts so far have really gone out of their way to help us. They have picked us up and dropped us off at trains stations, given advice about what to see and do and shared their lives with us. ... read more