Ouistreham. Oh, what a delight is Normandie! This region of france has been my favourite. Even though I spent only a few days here there was something about the air up there that was different, it was a calm place and a happy sort of culture, even the cows were chirpy I swear. Not that the rest of the country wasn't like that…I don't know maybe I'm just bias because of my Norman ancestors (the Somervilles were from Evreux before they were in Ireland). All I ...

Bordeaux. I stayed with a lovely Servas family here for one night, Brigitte and her 17 year old daughter Lucile, who cooked delicious chicken and told me all about their city. And what a city is was. I fell in love with it, I wasn't expecting to actually, I don't know why. All I knew about bordeaux was wine, I had no idea what a beauty it was. Winding streets lead to perfect writing cafes, boutiques, boot shops and bars. Cute frenchies dressed so effortle...

Toulouse. Leaving Barcelona was an experience. Ariane left for Bilbao, I left for Bordeaux. It was an early morning and the coffee was strong on my tongue but did nothing for my head. Eyes like lead slabs under lead slabs. Something was up with my Eurail Pass, the ticket inspector said in his Spanish way, 100 Euro fine. I wanted to cry but I didn't. I explained it was not I who had changed the dates on the pass, it was the woman in Dublin who had validated it ...

Gosh its been a while since I wrote anything, let us hope my memory can do justice to these places I have not written of yet. So here I sit in lovely and lively Tokyo, in the Chisun Eco-friendly hotel room while mum sleeps (even though I am the one with the jetlag!) in an attempt to get these effing blogs done once and for all before they get lost in translation… So! Barthellonnnaaa! One of the most incredible cities I have found myself in. The ever prese...

St. Raphael is a small port town on the French Riviera, nestled between Cannes and St. Tropez. It is a sweet little place, nice and calm this time of year, not particularly exciting but made very enjoyable as a result of our lovely hosts Christiane and Roger, an adorable old couple who hosted us for 2 nights. We enjoyed exploring the old town with its cute little churches and interesting buildings, and thouroughly enjoyed the Sunday markets, stretched along the w...