Travel Around The Clock

2013 has been, for us, the year we discovered France. Not that we had never been there before, but we had only visited Paris until last year when we finally took our time to explore a bit of the countryside, especially in the south. France is an amazing country and not only for its wines and good food (oh yes we love them!!) but because it is also extraordinarily rich in history and art. Other than the myriad of castles spread all over the country (check out our post about some of them) there are plenty of interesting attractions. Above all of them, the prehistoric caves we visited during our 2 weeks on the road in the southern part of the country have left special memories in our hearts. Have you ever heard about Lascaux ? If the answer is yes, well, forget about them.  The original cave is not accessible and the only thing you can visit is a reconstruction ( Lascaux II ). It may be interesting but we preferred to go for some real ones: Font de Gaume and Les Combarelles , ...

If every serious fairytale has a castle, then France is the quintessential fairytale country, considering the ridiculous amount of Chateaux in the country. And if a lack of knowledge had made us think that they were merely located on the Loire banks or used as accommodations by the wealthy wine producers of Bordeaux, a 2 weeks trip on the road in Southern France proved us completely wrong. We encountered plenty of castles of various ages and architectural styles; some of them were closed as December is low season but we still managed to visit most of them and were lucky enough to have guides all by ourselves giving us private tours! We started form the Perigord Vert and the Chateau de Bourdeilles , which is itself a double castle, including a medieval building and a Renaissance one, both very well preserved and accessible for a €7 per head. Chateau de Bourdeilles The medieval part is of course much more austere, while the Renaissance building has still plenty of decoration, furnish...

I have to say that this was my very first time in the U.S. Yes, at 40 years old I was still "U.S. virgin". And more appropriately "San Francisco virgin". Also this time I was travelling alone (partially for business) after about 17 years. I almost forgot that travelling alone is a very intimate and introspective experience. Thoughts are constantly crossing your mind but there's no one next to you to share them with. You almost talk to yourself like a lunatic and you stare in the face on the people, looking for a sign, a friendly smile. San Francisco was definitely an unexpected and unique surprise. I didn't have much time and I wanted to live the city directly as much as possible. So I decided to take a small rucksack and walk all around with no plans, no guides and without using public transport. I just had a small map that I had found in a tourist office. I saw nearly all San Francisco in 2 days. At the end my shoes were smoking and shouting "En...

Puglia (or Apulia, for English speakers) is the Italian region occupying the heel of the peninsula: an amazing area extraordinarily rich in culture and traditions. My personal experience was extremely physical and that’s the reason why I decided to describe it via the 5 senses. Sight There is no better way of depicting Puglia than using its own peculiar features: the long dry stone walls bordering the roads and the surrounding large green fields, olive groves or vineyards.... ...the Masserias,  ancient farmhouses now often renovated and transformed in beautiful restaurants or hotels.....  ...and the trulli, very distinctive buildings characterized by a conical roof and typical of the Valle dell'Istria. Hearing Puglia has all the sound of pizzica, the traditional folk dance characterized by a fast rhythm and lots of tambourines. It can be described in words. You have to listen to it... Smell  This region is rich in perfumes and certainly that of o...

The only way to fight the incoming apathy and sense of depression due to a November rainy afternoon, was to look back at our pictures and notes from our week in Corsica and write about some of its beautiful beaches! Since last time we were in this gorgeous Mediterranean island 2 months ago, memories are still fresh. One of the things we love more about Corsica (other that good food and wine and an extraordinary mix of French and Italian cultures) is the fact that it has something for everyone. Mountain? Ticked! Amazing sea? Ticked! Sandy beaches? Ticked! Rocky bays? Ticked! Beautiful ancient towns? Ticked! (And we don't want to repeat ourselves about food & wine!) But let's go back to beaches...and let's start with an easy one: Plage Aregno . Easy in terms of access because is just by the town of Algajola and there is a quite spacious parking. No facilities there other than a kayak rental. But the beautiful landscape on one side, the view of t...

Cap Corse is a thin strip of land in Northern Corsica called 'the finger' stretching towards the Italian region of Liguria. It is possibly the wildest and less spoilt part of the island and offers plenty of untouched beaches, beautiful hiking paths, ancient Genoese towers, fresh seafood and a worldwide acclaimed muscat ! Mediterranean maquis, Corsica Genoese tower, Corsica Starting your way up from the dynamic port town of  Bastia , on the eastern side, the road is one lane per direction making the trip a bit slow at times, but still extremely enjoyable thanks to the amazing views of the sea on your right. Once you arrive in Centuri, at the top of the finger on the western side, things get a bit more complicated as the road's conditions are extremely poor and nothing has changed at all since we visited 3 years ago; it still looks like a work in progress without having made any progress! Cap Corse, Corsica This time we spent most of our holiday on the eas...