Saintes Maries de la Mer is the place where Callum made up a new proverb: 'never camp under a leaning tree' . It is yet another life lesson that we have learned during this round the world trip, but more on this later. We crossed the Camargues and it won our heart. Everything we had been looking for in the South of France was here. There was an easy mix of tradition and culture to be discovered in a cute seaside village ten minutes walk away from a great camping...

The more we are driving south, the more France is shrinking, like a ripe grape, drying under a generous sun. The tall, proud mountains of Haute Savoie are melting into little tough hills, the long, fertile plains of the Loire are reduced to sandy carpets of lavander. The dignified manors with their high roofs covered in dark slates against the cold rain have morphed into quaint white washed houses, with peach colored roofs as an optimistic shield against the hot ...

As Maxim says so well, our trip around the world has lots of ups and downs, litterally, up roads, hills and mountains, down beaches, rivers and lakes. This time, we shared our time between places right by the lake or a step climb above Annecy We left our friends in Burgundy with a new itenary throught the mountains of the Jura, and once again, the landscape changed dramatically. That is the best part of this drive across France, how one region is so clearly diff...

We left Loches on Saturday, after a last walk in the medieval village, just in time to get an organ concert at the church, illuminated by a rainbow of lights in the morning sun. To see the chateau of Chenonceau, as in my french books, we asked for directions and walked through a forest. There, suddently, at the corner of the track, this graceful reminder of the past appeared, elegantly arching its way over the Loire river, a fairytale fantasy of white towers and ...

Hundreds of years ago, knights or merchands on their horses would travel from castles to castles along the same routes as us, under the shade of the same trees. On the way they would have stopped along the Loire for a lunch of fruits, bread and cheeses, just like us. You can feel, smell and taste the passage of time here.The steps leading up gothic churches are worn out, the houses in medieval towns are caving in above narrow paved streets. The recipes served in...