Normandy and Brittany

/ Normandy & Brittany, France/
Normandy and Brittany

The savage coastline of France. When I think of Normandy, the first things that come to my head are castles, cathedrals, the Norman invasion of the British Isles (all courtesy of my mother) and the more recent events of world war two. When I think Brittany, had it been a year ago, I would have said “the place in France that is close to Briton, I think they have some funny hats?”. Having lived in France for a while know, when I think Brittany, I think a fiercely proud people that are a little akin to the Corse, in the sense of having their own language and wanting to be an independent state, as well as a place where one eats crêpes and drinks cider. Oh, and they also have funny hats.

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Germany: Mainz and The Black Forest

/ The Black Forest, Germany/
Germany: Mainz and The Black Forest

As part of my work, I found myself in Germany for 2 weeks in the lovely township of Mainz, which is just outside Frankfurt am main, and situated on the Rhien. I took the opportunity to visit the neighbouring city of Wiesbaden, which is situated on the opposite side of the Rhine. Both cities are really nice, but I was quite taken by the cathedral in Wiesbaden. The river was also quite a sight to behold due to the heavy spring rains which lead to so-called “century” flooding (the severe floods which are said to occur once every hundred years) for the second time in 8 years. All bank-side infrastructure was underwater, further upstream the floodgates had been opened, wiping out crops and farmland just to try to prevent flooding of the cities. The volume of water in the river was is hard to comprehend; I am used to “big” rivers, but when the main artery of Europe is swelling, you know there is going to be trouble.

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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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Corsica

/ Corsica, France/
Corsica

The home of Napoleon Bonapart; luxury beach island; these were about the old things I knew about Corsica prior to going. My sister had visited the island during the (Northern hemisphere) summer during 2012, and it looked superb. My partner was coming to visit for 3 weeks during the (Northern hemisphere) winter and once I had the idea of a Christmas gift of a Corsican tour, there was no turning back. We set of on January 2nd, 2013 and returned 7 days later on January 8th. We flew from Orly Airport with Air France to Bastia. During the winter, most airports on the island except Bastia and Ajaccio close, and we went to Bastia as it was less expensive. We left a fresh Paris (about 4 or 5 degrees C) and arrived to a much nicer 12ish degrees. In mid-winter, this is about the standard temperature at sea level, with nice days getting up to about 16, which is much more agreeable than the negative temperatures on the mainland. We hired a car for the week, with AVIS as they had reasonable prices and snow tyres were included in the price, which are required by all companies for driving in winter. After picking up the car, I got into the “wrong” side of the car and prepared for my first experience driving on the other side of the road.

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