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!
Continue reading “Historical Monaco Grand Prix”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.
Continue reading “Spring Spain/France Tour”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.
Continue reading “Following the Cleré river in the Lot region of France”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.
Continue reading “The Dordogne Valley, France”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.
Continue reading “Pauillac, Bordeaux”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.
Continue reading “In search of great rioja wines in Spain”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.
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.
Continue reading “A Week in Provence”Visit to Coaraze
Last week we rented a scooter at the port and headed north into the hills behind Nice. The weather was perfect with blue skies and still not cold, at least where the sun was shining. In the deep valleys it got quite cold and we were glad we decided to take our leather jackets with us. We headed up the valley from Nice on 2204 and took the D15 in the direction of Contes. Not much to see up to this point, gets more interesting after Coaraze.
Continue reading “Visit to Coaraze”Gorge du Verdon and Other Canyons
We decided it was time to finally check out what everyone had been telling us, or what we’d been reading about, the Gorge du Verdon. And as it was late October and all the leaves would be turning color, we rented a care for the weekend ad made a reservation at a small chalet nearby. We left Nice on the A8 and got off at the Grasse exit and started heading northwest on D6185. This took us through Grasse and onto the “Route du Napoleon” on D6185, which was a scenic drive that climbed up to the small village of Castellane and one of the entries to the Verdon Gorge. Before heading in, however we had lunch in the village (not bad, Coq au Vin and a terrine).
Continue reading “Gorge du Verdon and Other Canyons”