France Travel Blogs, Travelogues and Travel Journals

Formally, this day starts at midnight. Saturday evening I had been roaming the streets of Paris. Well, that and the rest of the day of course. I only had a little nap between 15:00 and 19:00 after we had checked in to the hotel. So, after my nap I went to meet one of my dearest friends, who happens to live in Paris. We had dinner at Chartier and as I said, we roamed the streets of Paris after dinner.We said goodbey just after 23:00h. I walked along the avenues, the boulevards and rues some mo…

It is one of the 11 areas of the city of Nantes, located between two parts of the river Loire. I have only seen it at night, when the Buren rings all along the quai are turned on and the night gives a new life to the "hangar à bananes" (shed of bananas), rehabilitated as restaurant, pubs, bars and clubs with a large choice of atmosphere.On the way to the hangar, I saw the huge elephant, a part of the artistic, touristic and cultural project of the island: the machine in wood and steel more t…

Today is my last day in Paris and as planned I'm visiting the Louvre.  It's a HUGE museum so I decided to start early.   I've passed by it the week before so I've pretty much already admired the pyramid and the Jardin des Tuileries.  I have a strategy.  First, I de-stressed by reminding myself that it's impossible to see everything even if I spent the whole day here!  Or according to my book, a whole life time will not be enough.With an imaginary drum roll, I hel…

i decided for the holidays to spend a day in a city called metz in france, just outside the border of germany, belgium and luxembourg and close to the city of trier in germany.  many friends asked me why go there? why not just go to paris because its france? i thought of that, firstly i dont have money hahahaha, secondly, i am so much fond of small cities, i find them charming and have much more to offer and discover than big and chaotic cities.metz is the capital of lorraine region in f…

Every year, I go skiing with a group of friends. The group varies a bit in number and names but there is a hardcore group of six, five guys and a girl. This year there are seven of us; one of the guys brought his girlfriend along. Normally we all drive to whatever destination, but this year there were not enough cars. One of the buddies and I needed alternative transportation. After scrutinizing all of our options (train, car rental and so on) we decided on flying to the airport closes…

Before heading to Switzerland, we had to make a stop by my house first. My wife had a birthday coming up while we were in Switzerland and I needed to get my gift for her. It had proved to be impossible to prepare, wrap and store the gift without my wife noticing, so I postponed that to the very last minute. Now that she was out of my way (so to speak), I finally had the time to gift-wrap and write a card to go with the present.   That being done, we headed out once more, bu…

After saying goodbye to everyone last night but in fact going back to stay in Bastille with the others again, it only meant that I would have to say goodbye yet again to my new found friends. The first up was Jeff, I was still awake so we talked a little before he left. We knew we would be seeing each other tomorrow in Dublin so to be fair it was more of a "see you later" than a "goodbye". After that I managed to fall asleep but for some reason the alarm was set on my phone. Forgetting that …

I have to confess, that this was my goal in Paris. I'm not a big fan of the Eiffel Tower like my travel buddy Pesta, but I really enjoy museums. And Louvre is not just some museum. It's THE MUSEUM. A heaven for all people intrested in art, history, myths and culture. That's why Basia (Short from Barbara) didn't come with us. She doesn't fell the atmosphere of this historical crap. She decided to spend time on her own watching some buildings (btw, she didn't know who Charles de Gaulle was…

I awake from a rather fitful sleep in a reclining chair aboard The Bretagne with just about enough orientation to find the bathroom, freshen up and go to stuff a bowl of fruit and a large coffee down my gullet as France hoves into view and we approach the port of St.Malo.   I am very happy for this to be the first slice of ‘foreign soil’ that I will put my feet down on as this seaside town formed part of several family Weselby trips to the continent in our younger years.  I st…

After the little adventure, I finally arrived at an accomodation-Centre Rencontre International(CRI) in Dijon on June 15, but it was almost midnight that I went straight to bed. This time I went there to attend a course teaching how to translate French into Japanese. CRI was more like a hostel, but they have many single and twin rooms at a very reasonable price with breakfast. The room was clean, and it also had a restaurant inside, so it was …

The fishing village resort St. Tropez...nowadays is most popular for the line luxury yacths in the harbour and the facing line of terrace cafes, divided by a parade of strolling tourists and slowly sports cars. Enjoyed strolling in the town with a picturesque old town boasting winding medieval streets. People watching is the favourite sport in St. Tropez.....visitors like to sit in the outdoor cafes hoping either to be seen or to see someone else :)

If you enjoy outdoor activities and is a great nature and mountains fan, you should not give Chamonix a miss! The mountain scenery surpasses one’s wildest expectation and the hiking trails through the alpine pastures offer superb views of the Chamonix valley, the Mont Blanc range, Aiguilles Rouges mountains and neighbouring Switzerland. Our hikes were always rewarded with the panoramic view of the mountains, glaciers and valleys. Not only that, it was the berry season and I had a fantastic…

This day was out last in Paris. We would wave goodbye to this city, a city that opened my eyes to my own fear and prejudices and welcomed me in. Wow. We really just left this day for filler. To walk around and enjoy without the hustle and bustle of getting somewhere. One thing I had to do was to visit Jim Morrison's gravesite. It might be cliche and touristy but my dad as a fan and it would make him happy. Hell I'm a fan and it made me happy. We took the metro over. It really wasn't far from …

I realised today that I have been 18 for exactly 4 months! Not even half a year! On the one hand it made me feel very young, on the other it made me stop and take stock of what I feel I have achieved since I legally became an adult.Before my birthday I made a quiet pact with myself; turning 18 and running away to Europe was my chance to start living the life I love and loving it (to paraphrase the sage Mr Marley). I promised me that I would grab my goals, big and small, with two hands. Sorry …