Zürich

/ Zürich, Switzerland/
Zürich

One could not be faulted for saying that Zurich is not really a natural excursion when on a journey from Mainz to Paris; however there are direct trains between all three cities, and it was cheaper to travel from Zurich to Paris than from Mainz to Paris, so work did not complain. I had visited Zurich previously in 2011 and my memories of the city were that it was pretty, but that it also stank of money which really put me off. Having visited Switzerland somewhat more extensively since then I wanted to give it another go, not to mention I was very keen to visit the nearby Rhinefalls, which are the largest in Europe.

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The Romantic Rhine

/ Rhine Gorge, Germany/
The Romantic Rhine

A place that I had never explicitly planned to visit was the Romantic Rhine, that is, the middle Rhine, which is defined as the region between Bingen and Bonn. The upper half of the section is particularly famous, known as the Rhine Gorge, a 71 kilometre long gorge formed by the constant glacial waters carving their way from high in the Alps into Lake Constance and escaping into the North Sea. The average elevation of the gorge is roughly 100 metres, making for some spectacular scenery. Adding to this are the 40-odd medieval castles built along this stretch, yielding an average separation of only one and a half kilometres between castles. The Rhine Gorge is a UNESCO world heritage site which has meant that the cities that line the gorge are kept pristine; however it has also meant that no bridges have been allowed to be built across the river, leading to practical difficulties. In any case, this area is everything that I think of when I think of Germany, I just did not know it before I went.

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Bordeaux

/ Gironde, France/
Bordeaux

May had rolled around and in 2014, this resulted in three public holidays falling on a Thursday. In France, this is equivalent to a four day weekend – it is a given that the Friday is also a day off, even though it is not an official holiday; on doit faire le pont. The first holiday was the first day of the month, and the Labour Day weekend was as good a candidate as any for a trip to Bordeaux. East-west train travel is somewhat problematic, so from Geneva, Mia would fly to Bordeaux and I would catch the first train of the day from Paris. This would provide sufficient time to see Bordeaux and the surrounding sights of Saint-Émilion and le dune du Pilat.

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Italy

/ Italy/
Italy

As our time in Europe always had an endpoint to it, we had made of a point of deciding the things we wanted to see. This had the benefit of allowing those among us with organisational inclinations to plan out a travel calendar over a year in advance. Being aware of one’s chosen destinations does come with a price however - the depressing cost of knowing many great alternative locations. To allow for some spontaneous travel then, we had left a few dates blank, notably on long weekends in case of further-flung trips. Easter was charging toward us and uncharacteristically we still had not decided where we were to celebrate crucifying people. We agreed that we would like to be somewhere that embraces the occasion and as we had no plans in the future to go to Italy, it seemed to be a fitting match; we were to have four days to see all we could. For practical reasons it was best to start and end in Milan, I wanted to see Florence and Mia proposed Venice. Handily, with the recently-completed high-speed rail lines around parts of the country, each destination was only three hours from the previous one. We had a plan and we were going to stick to it… religiously.

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Le Massif Central

/ Le Massif Central, France/
Le Massif Central

With 2 public holidays back to back midweek comes holidays. On doit faire le pont, meaning that a 5 day long weekend is in order. From the 8th of May to the 12th, 2013, I went adventuring with a friend around one of the “wildest” parts of France. It is often overlooked as a destination as it suffers from (relatively) poor infrastructure and the lack of significant cities. The reason for this is the area is an extinct volcanic area, meaning that it is locally very hilly, making train travel almost impossible (unless you have a lot of money of bridges and tunnels). That being said, it means the area is relatively tourist free and ideal for hiking. So that is exactly what we did.

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