June 22, 2014

Les châteaux de la Loire

June 22, 2014/ The Loire Valley/ Andy McCulloch

There are few destinations in France, perhaps only Paris and the Côte d’Azur, as iconic as the châteaux of the Loire. Since 1995, exploring the area by bike - following the Loire à Vélo trail - has become the way to see the homesteads, gardens and towns of one of the most fertile parts of the country.

The trail itself runs some 800 kilometres, so when we discussed how far we could get along this trail, in the end the answer was “not very”. With long weekends and holidays allocated to other destinations, we had but one weekend to enjoy France’s longest river and all it has to offer. The real “meat” of the area lies in the UNESCO World Heritage area, which runs from Sully-sur-Loire (upstream of Orléans) to Chalonnes-sur-Loire (downsteam of Angers). In an effort to see as much of the crème de la crème as possible, we selected the section between Blois and Tours.

June 09, 2014

Les Gorges du Verdon

June 09, 2014/ Les Gorges du Verdon/ Andy McCulloch

It felt like I had been doing little else other than traveling lately, but the situation was near idyllic. The descent of the holy spirit upon the apostles had granted us yet another long weekend. Verdon was one of the many destinations that I had earmarked before moving to Europe as a “must do”; I had been saving the trip for a long weekend that was neither in the depths of winter nor the scorching heat of summer. With a mid-May Pentecost, it was the perfect time to take say yes, I can(yon).

June 01, 2014

Zermatt

June 01, 2014/ Zermatt/ Andy McCulloch

Before I moved to Europe, there were only a few places on my list of “must see” places. Whilst we had visited some amazing places, including one place off this list (Norway in the winter), one of the most iconic destinations I wanted to see was the town of Zermatt, or more accurately, Mont Cervin - also known as the Matterhorn. The Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was the third holiday to fall on a Thursday in May, and again, il a fallu que je fasse le pont. So only three days after returning from Switzerland, I was heading back to Geneva on Wednesday night and then into the deep Pennine Alps for some spring hiking.

May 25, 2014

Zürich

May 25, 2014/ Zürich, Switzerland/ Andy McCulloch

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.

May 18, 2014

The Romantic Rhine

May 18, 2014/ Rhine Gorge, Germany/ Andy McCulloch

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.

Adventures