"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list."
On our “Barcelona to Berlin” trip we visited the 17th smallest country in the world, Andorra. That was our first visit, so we have updated our “Countries Visited” counter on the website to 121. We also visited the second smallest
Woke up to an unwelcome surprise, our train to Berlin had been cancelled with only 2 hours notice. Scrambled to find an alternative which ended up leaving much later and had a transit stop. Arrived late evening at our hotel
We left France by train, but not without changing stations in Paris, enjoying a coffee and croissant at a sidewalk cafe across from the Gare du Nord. (It wasn’t a real French breakfast though because we didn’t finish off with
After dropping our rental car in Caen we were back on the rails and took the short train trip to Bayeux. What a beautiful town! A very walkable size, and lots of scenic attractions. We were just a short walk
To begin our tour of Mont Saint-Michel and Normandy, we rented a car in Caen and started our drive through the French countryside. Very picturesque journey through the Vire River Valley on our way to Mont Saint-Michel. Stopped in Vire
Last week we visited Arras in northern France as a base for visiting the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. (See our earlier post.) Our first stop in this picturesque city was the “Le Beffroi d’Arras”, the belfry. Hard to imagine that
As the residents of Marseille kept reminding us, Marseilles is NOT Paris! Marseille is the oldest city in France, with a history going back 2600 years, and they are extremely proud of their history and heritage. With good reason we’d
Côte d’Azur – Antibes to Monaco
Man, it’s a hot one!! 🔥 🥵 Arrived by train from Barcelona via Nimes and headed into Arles old town. Gorgeous cobbled streets lined with cafes and small shops. So nice to be back in France after 10 years.
When our walking tour guide asked if anyone had been to Barcelona before, we were the only ones who said “Yes”. “So you guys just keep coming back?” “Sure, every 44 years!” We repeated some typical touristy things in Barcelona,
Every year on June 23rd, Catalonians celebrate La Nit de Sant Joan, the evening before the feast day of St. John the Baptist. Of course this Saint’s day is celebrated everywhere in the Catholic world, but the celebrations of the
Quite a tiring flight from Vancouver to Barcelona via Toronto. Transatlantic Air Canada flight was only moderately comfortable and food disappointing. Arrived at Barcelona Airport quite exhausted, and then began a 4-hour car drive to Andorra. Scenery along the
We’ve always meant to visit the Mont, but despite visiting France many times over five decades we’ve never made it that far! That changes in 2023, with our upcoming Barcelona to Berlin trip! We’re going to be in Normandy for
Earlier this week, Canada introduced a new passport design which was immediately met with some (OK, a lot of) criticism. Here’s a link to an online article from CTV News. The quote that caught our eyes was from Pierre Poilievre,
On our Barcelona to Berlin trip we are looking forward to visiting Berlin’s famous Museum Island, featuring several of not just Germany’s but the world’s best museums. The star attraction of one of these, the Neues Museum, is one of
We’re publishing this post on April 9th, Vimy Ridge Day. In 2003, the Government of Canada declared April 9 to be “Vimy Ridge Day”, to honour and remember the Battle of Vimy Ridge which took place during the First World
Update 2023: We have realized that this trip just isn’t going to happen as we originally envisioned. A greatly modified version will happen in 2023 though! Watch for posts from our Barcelona to Berlin trip. The text below was written
This must be the unluckiest trip that we have ever planned! We bought tickets in 2019 only to see the flights cancelled in 2020 when the pandemic hit. Bought another set of tickets in 2021 when things seemed to be