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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Blaubeuren, Freiburg and Basel

/ Germany/Switzerland/
Blaubeuren, Freiburg and Basel

Once again, my work took me to Mainz, Germany. The winter was nearly over (in the technical sense) and by chance a friend from Australia was to be in Berlin for a conference, so we made plans to catch up. We had other friends in the south of Germany, so after some searching, we decided on a weekend trip to Blaubeuren; a small town with a big hole. Additionally, another opportunity for travel would present itself on my return to Paris: rather than head home directly, I would make a detour to meet up with Mia halfway between Geneva and Mainz and once again we would find ourselves in the Black Forest.

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Gemmi Pass

/ Gemmi Pass, Switzerland/
Gemmi Pass

With the less than satisfying Parisian winter instilling a desire for snow which had been quenched neither by a trip to the Arctic nor a week of skiing, we headed into the Bernese Alps to traverse one of the more famous passes in Switzerland, the Gemmi Pass. Sandwiched between the Rinderhorn and the Daubenhorn, the pass itself has an elevation of 2250 metres and runs between the small town of Kandersteg and the thermal spa town of Leukerbad.

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Les Trois Vallées

/ The Alps, France/
Les Trois Vallées

One of the main questions one faces when planning a ski trip in Europe is where to go; one is simply spoilt for choice. Last year we had a week inAvoriaz, part of les portes de soleil conglomeration, which was fantastic, so wherever we went this time had to have a similar amount of terrain. Logistically it was challenging, as there were four of us: one from Paris, one from Geneva, one from Tübingen (Germany) and another from Budapest. To keep costs down, we did not want to be in Switzerland, which left us with Austria or France. We ended with up with France, as we discovered Les trois Vallées region. Nestled in the northern Alps and comprised of eight resorts, the skiable terrain is the largest in the world and with lifts servicing heights of 3230 metres, it was too good to pass up.

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