From Bordeaux we headed directly east, into the regional centre of France. Once we left the highway we drove through many many beautiful little villages (I know I have said that zillions of times, but it is just so true!) and saw for ourselves the everyday life of rural France, where tourists are not the focus and therefore very little English is spoken. Guided by the GPS we wondered where we were being taken as often the lanes and streets were so small and nar...

Since leaving Paris, we feel like we are on a different kind of journey than the previous month, maybe because we are travelling from place to place more often. We hired our little car that has lots of guts, despite our initial hesitations (a Peugeot 207). Must have somthing to do with being diesel (MG's thoughts, not mine). Our first stop out of Paris was a Chateaux on the northern edge of the Loire Valley, near a small town called Nevers. Our endless nights o...

Wandering around the Marais district gave us the feeling of Paris that we were expecting. Not sure if Mal mentioned it above but many of the shops and cafes along the street have been closed. I have come to realise that we actually picked the worst week to come to Paris, as the first week of August is the height of their summer, when many Parisians leave town. While some may say this is a very good thing, unfortunately it also means they shut up shop. So the atmo...

Wow! Paris is amazing. After a long bus ride from London, we arrived in Paris. We found our accommodation easily enough, and Leanne fell in love immediately. I can not blame her as every single street just feels so French. Our first day consisted of walking around and just soaking up the amazing atmosphere, followed by a romantic dinner on a tiny little cobbled street. The owner was so nice, he helped us with the menu (the language barrier was interesting to...