Category: Travel in France & beyond

Travel in France & beyond

In training

TGV at the Carcassonne station
TGV at the Carcassonne station

The weather forecast for today was rain so we planned a relaxing day in. That meant a bit of a sleep in, a leisurely morning with a full pot of coffee to go with a baguette and croissants, and nothing particularly planned for the afternoon. Then the sun came out and Bill said “Let’s go to Italy. There’s a train at 11:32”. Uh oh, the last time he started a sentence with “Let’s…” we ended up moving to France. This turned out to be just an exercise to see if we really could be spontaneous and take advantage of being within a 20-minute walk of the station. Continue reading “In training”

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Travel in France & beyond

Now you see us…

Watermill and fish market, Bayeux, France
Watermill and fish market, Bayeux, France

Did you ever see the movie The Forgotten or one of the similar stories where the main character grieves a dead relative but no one else seems to remember this person ever existing? Even the photographs of the family have a mysterious gap where someone’s smiling face might have been. That’s how I felt today when looking at Google maps. Continue reading “Now you see us…”

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Travel in France & beyond

And we thought France was cheap

Yachts in Barcelona harbor
Yachts in Barcelona harbor

You’ve already read a couple of blog posts about the cost of living in the southwest part of France and I’m certain that there will be more. In fact, in the works is another section of the blog that will show monthly budgets of other Americans living in different parts of the country plus we’ll include our own expenses as well.

While in Barcelona this month we had ample opportunity to visit shops, restaurants, markets, and supermarkets to get an idea of what it might cost to live here and it seemed pretty cheap. Restaurant meals in the 10 to 12 euro range abound including an appetizer or dessert with the main course plus a glass of local wine adding only 2 euro to the bill. Fresh fruits and vegetables, coming from only miles away were especially affordable. Drinkable bottles of wine from the supermarket start at just over 1 euro. Yes, really.

Continue reading “And we thought France was cheap”

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Travel in France & beyond

Is Gaudi gaudy?

Sagrada Familia
Sagrada Familia

Earlier this month we were in Barcelona for a few days before moving on up to Carcassonne. Since this was our first visit to this Spanish city of 1.6 million people, where the amount of things to do and see is overwhelming, we had to choose an area of concentration. It’s only 2 1/2 hours by train from where we’ll be living, so we’ll be back to see what we missed. This time around it was all about Antoni Gaudi, the Catalan architect known for his unique and some might say outlandish style reflected in buildings including the Sagrada Familia cathedral. Continue reading “Is Gaudi gaudy?”

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