"Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." – Mary Oliver

Tag: UNESCO World Heritage

  • Camino de Santiago: Burgos

    Camino de Santiago: Burgos

    I left off my Camino recap in Pamplona. That afternoon, we caught the train to Burgos, the next major town on the Camino. For the next four days, we would be fast-forwarding through the central section of the Camino. Once we’d checked in to our hotel, we headed out to look at the town. Our…

  • Camino De Santiago: Zubiri to Pamplona

    Camino De Santiago: Zubiri to Pamplona

    We woke in Zubiri to an email from our travel company advising of a severe travel warning—the tail end of a hurricane was sending high winds and rain across Spain and France. The forecast was for fine weather from 8 am – 12 pm so we got started and walked fairly quickly without a break…

  • Camino de Santiago: Roncesvalles to Zubiri

    Camino de Santiago: Roncesvalles to Zubiri

    Continuing our pilgrimage, we left Roncesvalles around 8:00 am and started walking. I think I’ll leave the photos to do most of the heavy lifting for this day’s walk. Although the trajectory was mainly downhill, you can see from the elevation detail above that there were a few steep uphills. After the previous day’s effort…

  • Camino De Santiago: St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles

    Camino De Santiago: St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles

    The day had finally arrived when we would start walking. The weather forecast was for rain with thunderstorms in the afternoon and very strong winds. We did not want to get caught on top of the mountain in a thunderstorm, but there didn’t seem to be much we could do about it except leave early…

  • Camino de Santiago: St-Jean-Pied-de-Port

    Camino de Santiago: St-Jean-Pied-de-Port

    After my week in Paris, G and I travelled south by train to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to start our Camino de Santiago. We didn’t have the 40 days required to walk all the way from St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostella, so we booked the Highlights trip with RAW Travel. We walked the first three days over the Pyrenees,…

  • Day Trip to Chartres

    Day Trip to Chartres

    On my last full day in Paris, before G returned from the UK, I caught the train to Chartres. The main drawcard is the Chartres Cathedral, and its architecture, sculptures, stained glass and labyrinth provide enough reason to make the trip from Paris. The first Cathedral on the site was probably built in the 4th…

  • Looking for Signs of the Camino in Paris and Chartres

    Looking for Signs of the Camino in Paris and Chartres

    The main aim of our European trip was to walk the Camino, with Paris being a happy bolt-on for me. For centuries, pilgrims came from all over Europe on pilgrimage; of course, some started or passed through Paris. On our first day in Paris, we were walking down Rue St-Jacques, and I spotted the familiar…

  • France 2018: Paris Part 3

    France 2018: Paris Part 3

    WEDNESDAY 11TH APRIL After our usual breakfast of French pastries, we headed across the river for a stroll down Rue de Montorgueill. This is the cutest little street. We popped into Stohrer, the oldest bakery in Paris. I had to try the Rum Baba, and it was delicious. We bought our pastries and then found…

  • France 2018: Paris, Day Trip to The Somme

    France 2018: Paris, Day Trip to The Somme

    MONDAY 9th APRIL The plan today was to catch the fast train to Amiens to meet a tour guide for a tour of the Somme battlefields. This was a request from G, and we decided to do it the day after the marathon because it would not require too much walking. Unfortunately, our train was…

  • France 2018 – Beaumes-de-Venise

    France 2018 – Beaumes-de-Venise

    WEDNESDAY 4th April This morning, we packed up and left the wild Camargue for Beaumes-de-Venise, a small town northeast of Avignon, at the base of the Dentelles de Montmirail. First, though, I needed to get my Roman ruin fix. We drove about an hour north to Pont du Gard. Built to allow the Nîmes aqueduct to…