travel blog of European countries
We rented mountain bikes today to bicycle to Ravenoville, FR about 24 miles (40 km) from La Haye-du-Puits. By the time we got there, I almost in tears because the bike was not fitted for me and caused me pain. We did not know the area and made a few wrong turns, but managed to…
Josette and Jean-François took us to Mont St-Michel before taking us to La Haye-du-Puits in Normandy. Ever since we were children, we have wanted to visit this. Dennis first became aware of Mont-Saint-Michel from a View-Master slide and I from a monthly grammar school magazine. Mont St-Michel is an island between Brittany and Normandy. The…
Our Camino friends Jean-François and Josette showed us highlights of St. Malo and the surrounding area. We stopped to see the statue of Jacques Cartier, the St. Malo sailor who, in 1534, claimed Canada for France. His statue points towards the Atlantic towards Quebec. Afterwards, we toured the St. Malo, the walled port city of…
This morning we planned to be at the train station early, thinking the train left at 10:51 A.M. I had mistaken our departure time with the arrival time at the transfer station. Having missed the train by only a few minutes,we hopped on what we thought was the next train to Rennes, but was actually…
Sunshine and fresh ocean air welcomed us to Vannes. I slipped on a jacket to ward off the upper 50’s temperature, knowing that by noon it would be at least ten degrees warmer. As long as I stayed on the sunny side of the street and protected from the stiff breeze, I was comfortable. Dennis…
On Tuesday, as we approached the train depot in Coo, Belgium, I told Dennis we would be lucky to have a cow greet us. We did not. There was nothing there but a shelter for those waiting for the train. At the bottom of the hill we were surprised to find a resort for hiking,…
We took the train to Saarbrücken and then the bus to Luxembourg. Seating was tight and Dennis was cramped, his knees stuck into the seat in front of him. We crossed the Moselle River about noon and then made our way into the capitol. As the bus went through towns, I wondered what the folks…
Henri drove us to the train station in Offenburg, Germany. From there we took the train to Kaiserslaurten. Fortunately, we had made reservations because the hotel was full. There are many conventions this time of year and without reservations, we would have been SOL. We took the local bus to Sembach and walked about a…
Lydie went out early to the bakers and returned with two baguettes: one white, the other dark. She also purchased a sweet bread typical of the area, Hugel Loaf. In good company, we breakfasted on tea, bread, local creamy butter, and Lydie’s homemade preserves. While Lydie prepared a traditional sauerkraut meal (oven-baked pork shoulder and…
The birds and dawn woke me at 04:00. I rolled over and dozed until the alarm sounded two hours later. We arrived at the train station, activated our Senior Global Rail Pass (now good for 10 trips in 20 days), bought snacks for the 12-hour ride with the last of the krone, and then boarded…
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