John – Page 12 – Travels of John and Flo

July 8, 2014October 19, 2020

Sailing in Croatia 2014

Having now sailed part of the coast of France, quite a bit of Italy, Croatia, some of Greece and Turkey, our favorite cruising ground remains the Dalmation Islands. Situated in the middle of the Med along its northern shore, Croatia has great weather, excellent facilities, and is wonderful for short or long trips. Nearly everyone seems to speak English and they are friendly, good-looking people. We certainly want to come back, still a lot to explore here, even after three trips. Sailing in Croatia is enjoyable as there are plenty of islands which provide numerous protected coves and bays because of their ink-spot shapes. As well, the shore drops off steeply so it is easy sail close and moor close to shore.

June 8, 2014October 19, 2020

Sailing in Turkey & Greece, Spring/Summer 2014

In the Spring of 2014 we returned to Turkey and Greece to once again join up with Jack & Yvonne on their 75′ gullet Teodora, this time with Jack’s daughters Kimi and Karen joining us, along with his granddaughter Malaika. The timing was similar to our trip last year, two weeks in length and starting from the same place in Bodrum, but a few new places were added to explore in both Greece and Turkey. Teodora’s hull had been recently painted, the wood varnished and new white cushion covers added so she looked really good sitting at the dock in Bodrum. We flew in from Nice to Istanbul but our flight was late landing and getting to the gate, and then the immigration line-ups were very long so we ended up missing our connecting flight. Fortunately they had another one latter that day and we finally arrived at the boat around 11PM.

May 11, 2014October 19, 2020

Historical Monaco Grand Prix

This may actually be a more fun event than the actual Grand Prix. Three days in May of watching old racing cars race on the actual Grand Prix track, a couple of weeks before the real event takes place. Races take place between old racing cars dating back to the 40s, racing against each other, and moving up into the late 70s. It is quite something to see how the styles of the cars, how they are driven and how then handle the course evolve over this 40 years period. And how the sound level evolves as well!

May 9, 2014October 19, 2020

Spring Spain/France Tour

In mid’ April of this year (2014), we set off on a trip we’d been wanting to do for some time, to visit Andorra in the Pyrenees, and then make our way over to Bordeaux and do some wine tasting. In between we’d visit towns along the Pyrenees and the Spanish/French border and come back along the Dordogne river. But it all depended on the weather. This is just a brief summary of the trip, with links to other posts about specific places we visited with more info and photos.

May 4, 2014October 19, 2020

Following the Cleré river in the Lot region of France

Stage Five: We left the next day following the Dordogne east towards Souillac and Rocamadour, leaving the region of Dordogne and entering its poorer, not-as-well known brother region of Lot. Rocamadour is a lovely place that’s built into the side of a large cliff face and was our first stop within Lot. We visited it from the top first, taking in the great views from the chateau ramparts. If you are not fond of heights, you may want to skip this. You can take a funicular ride down into the village, or drive around and go by car. We made our way along the cliff’s edge to where the road descends to the lower part of the village, stopping along the way at L’Esplanade for lunch. You’ll see their large parking area before you descend, offering great views looking back at the village. We enjoyed a salad each and crepes for dessert. Food was good but the viewing looking back really made it worthwhile. In the village it can get quite busy as this is a rather popular spot.

May 3, 2014October 19, 2020

The Dordogne Valley, France

Stage Four: Before arriving in Bergerac, our next stay, we visited St. Emillon, the Disneylandia for wine lovers. This perfectly preserved village now contains mostly wine stores, some of them works of art in themselves. We have now visited St. Emillon and Pauillac without buying one bottle to take with us back home! It was raining during our time in Bergerac, so it wasn’t the best way to see the town. However, having seen a lot, and knowing some of the one’s to come (Sarlat, Gageac, Beynac), it isn’t a “must-do” as far as we are concerned. Our stay was nice, however, at Chateau Les Farcies that is just outside of town in the Pechament wine area.

May 1, 2014October 19, 2020

Pauillac, Bordeaux

Stage Three: We drove up from the Spanish/French border and experienced rain nearly all the way. But by the time we reached Pauillac, although it was partly cloudy, the rain had stopped except for occasional showers.

April 28, 2014October 19, 2020

In search of great rioja wines in Spain

Stage Two: When the weather wasn’t looking good in France, we decided to head south from visiting Andorra to Zaragoza and Logroño in Spain. Zaragoza is really a lovely city, easy to walk and get around, and plenty to see. The city is famous for its folklore, local gastronomy, and landmarks such as the Basílica del Pilar, La Seo Cathedral and the Aljafería Palace. Together with La Seo and the Aljafería, several other buildings form part of the Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

April 24, 2014October 19, 2020

Principality of Andorra

Stage One: Andorra is an interesting country that is situated in the Pyrenees, in between France and Spain. Actually it isn’t a country but a principality, something like Monaco, with the princes of Andorra being whoever happens to be the head of France at the time, and the Bishop of Urgell in Spain. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe, having an area of 500 km2 and a population of only 85,000. The capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe at an elevation of 1,023 meters. And that’s the low point of the country; this is a country of mountains and valleys, and very few plateaus.

November 26, 2013October 19, 2020

A Week in Provence

We enjoy not making any decision as to where we may be traveling until the last minute, something easy to do out of Nice. This is especially so in the spring and fall when the weather can be hit and miss. So we don’t make reservations, (usually not a problem at this time of the year), but wait until a day or two before to see what the weather is like in a few different places, miles apart from one another. We were considering Beaujolais for the wine festival, Cinq Terre to explore an area of Italy we hadn’t seen yet, or the area around Marseille. Marseille won out. Looked very cold with a lot of snow north of Lyon, with some people without electricity because of the snow. And in Italy it was raining.