Les Vosges

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Les Vosges

The wedding of some friends saw us travelling to an area of France seldom visited, Les Vosges. A small mountain range which feels very similar to the Black Forest in Germany - indeed, the two are of the same geological origin. The wedding was in a small rural town called Remicourt, nearby to Mirecourt, notable as it had the closest train station. The wedding was fantastic, and as it was the first French wedding we have been to, there was much to learn - particularly the many games! - and the party went late into the night. The next day provided a bit of time to have a look around the town, in addition to visiting to former capital of Lorraine, Nancy. The city is rich with history and the town centre, Place Stanislas, in addition to being a UNESCO world heritage site, is absolutely gorgeous.

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Bernese Oberland

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Bernese Oberland

With perhaps one exception, the Matterhorn, the Bernese Oberland is the pilgrimage in Switzerland for hikers and climbers alike. Despite me being woefully sick and the weather quite uncooperative, we were able to explore Interlaken before heading up to Grindelwald. From here, we were the only ones continuing on into the hills, with sporadic rain and snow making things a little unpleasant. We gained altitude and then continued over the next day on what is oft touted as one of the world's best walks: below the north face of the Eiger. Given how low the cloud was, we could have been anywhere. We continued up to Jungfraujoch which was above the clouds, and over the next few hours the weather broke and we were treated to a pretty spectacular sunset. With some perfect weather, we trekked down into Lauterbrunnen, which offers unbelievable views of the surrounding highland as well as soaring waterfalls.

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Hartford and New York City, U.S.A.

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Hartford and New York City, U.S.A.

The United States of America has always been a bit of an enigma for me. As an Australian, I was raised in what is effectively a British environment; however there is almost no aspect of life that is not flooded with popular culture from the U.S.A. and consequently, I have always had pretty mixed feelings about going. I have little to no interest in modern american culture, but their landscape is captivating and diverse. As it happened, my work would see my attend a conference in Hartford, Connecticut. I had just spent 2 weeks in Iceland and had no time nor money for adventuring in the U.S.A., so it was to be pure business. That was until I found out the most efficient way to Hartford was via New York city.

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Iceland

/ Iceland/
Iceland

Previously I have mentioned destinations that were “must-see” during my time in Europe (Zermatt, Norway), but there was nothing more must-see than Iceland. Ever since I was a child I was fascinated by this remote island that seemed to have some of the wildest landscape going around. It was planned from day one of my time in France that I would be going to Iceland for a couple of weeks during summer to really try and see everything it has to offer. The trip could accurately be titled something like “driving to places in Iceland to go hiking”, which should mount a convincing argument for why one should visit this remarkable place.

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Provence

/ Provence/
Provence

When one thinks of Provence, normally one thinks of hilltop villages surrounded by fields of lavender. We had visited Provence previously, but for outdoor activities, but not the classic provençal experience. The weekend of le quatorze julliet had once again arrived, so we wanted to be somewhere to enjoy the fireworks; googling around let me know that Avignon was a good choice, so we set our sights on a weekend of enjoying all that Provence has to offer and seeing what is supposed to be one of the best fireworks displays in the country.

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