After catching a bus from Senlis, then a train from Chantilly, we arrived at Gare du Nord and made our way via the metro to our hotel in Paris. Although we have been to (or through) Paris somewhere between 5
Return to Paris, France
Senlis and Chantilly, Oise, France
After a month in northern Africa, we finished off our trip with a week in France. We spent most of an entire day flying from Marrakech, through Casablanca, and then on to Paris. It’s always great to fly into Charles
Countries of Northern Africa
We had already returned home when we finished selecting the last of our images from northern Africa and writing up the text. So, we decided to take a break before adding the photos from a week in France to the
Sights of Marrakech, Morocco
After our North Morocco Adventure, hitting seven cities and towns in just 10 days, we really appreciated the time to see Marrakech in depth by staying in the old town and visiting lots of the historical attractions and museums. Not
Hot Air Ballooning in Marrakech
The morning after our Intrepid tour, we woke up at the crack of dawn to go hot air ballooning just outside Marrakech. Due to a scheduling issue, it was already sunrise when we were approaching the takeoff point, but with
North Morocco Adventure
For our first eight days in Morocco, we did something a bit unusual for us; we joined a small group tour with Intrepid Travel. We were attracted by their itinerary that included all of the hotels and logistics for visiting
Off to Casablanca, Morocco
After our week in Tunisia, we caught an early morning flight westward, across the breadth of Algeria (the largest country in Africa), landing in Casablanca, Morocco. Casablanca has a reputation for being thin on sights. For many tourists it is
A Week in Tunisia
When we left Constantine, Algeria for Tunisia, annoyingly we had to fly west to Algiers then backtrack east flying directly over the city we’d just left! All because of uncertainty about being able to cross the land border. Consequently, most
Djemila, Constantine, and Timgad in Algeria
We had three great days to visit two UNESCO world heritage sites (Djemila and Timgad), and Constantine (the “City of Bridges”). Constantine was also a major crossroads of the Roman empire, known as Colonia Constantiniana. Three fantastic sights in three
Cherchell and Tipasa, Algeria
A peculiarity of the Air Algerie schedule is that all flights seem to have to go through Algiers, and ususally with a terrible schedule! So when we left the desert in Ghardaia, we had to fly back to Algiers before
Fortified Towns of the M’Zab Valley
We spent a full day seeing 3 of the 5 ksour (fortified towns) of the UNESCO-listed M’Zab Valley. An intriguing mixture of markets, medinas, and mosques that in some ways seemed to have not changed in 900 years since the
Camel Riding in the Sahara
A camel looks like something put together by a committee. Attributed to T. R. Quaife in “Reader’s Digest” As we as we said in our “Will You Ride a Camel?” post before we departed on this trip, we were unsure
Ghardaia; Gateway to the Sahara
Our first day in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the M’Zab Valley was split between the oasis and the Sahara. In the morning we walked through the palmerie (palm grove) of the town of Ghardaia, the largest of the
“Come with me to the casbah”
A more appropriate quote for the day would be Pepe le Pew’s “… you do not have to come weeth me to zee Casbah: we are already here!“. (See the Youtube clip below.) Our first real day in Algeria (post
NOT in the Footsteps of Emily!
We began our trip to Northern Africa and France with great expectations. One of us is a fan of the show Emily in Paris. In a Season 4 episode, there is an Air France product placement in which Emily visits
The Night Lights of Tokyo
In the fall of 2025, we’ll visit Japan again and start our trip in Tokyo. On our first trip to Japan we only visited Japan’s earliest capital cities, Nara and Kyoto, and we are looking forward to visiting the current
Will You Ride a Camel?
Whenever we say that we’re going to northern Africa and visiting the Sahara Desert we frequently get asked the question “Will you ride a camel?”. Actually, we’re not sure if we’ll do the almost obligatory camel ride in the Sahara.
Home for Homeless Homing Pigeons
When we visit the Amazon rainforest in Brazil next year, we hope to reach the remote village of Loof Lirpa to visit the Home for Homeless Homing Pigeons. The Amazonian subspecies of the common homing pigeon, Columba livia amazonum, nests
Amazon Cruise (ver 2.0)
When we created our trip page, Uruguay and the Amazon, we were planning to cruise the Amazon from its mouth up to Manaus, Brazil and back on a large cruise ship. We have had to pivot, and have cancelled that
Elbows Up Canada!
The feature image above is from the CBC article “‘Elbows up’ rallying cry evokes memories of Mr. Hockey” which provides the origin story for the Elbows Up catchphrase. As mentioned on our Amazon Trip Page, we’ve cancelled our plans to