We returned to the heart of the Chartreuse massif for this extended Ascension Day holiday weekend. On our previous visit to the valley of two rivers Guiers (Vif and Mort) in March we discovered a bicycle path that runs at the bottom of the valley. Even if we walked most […]
The past week ended our winter season, and it also ended the winter sports season — more on that at the end of the post. We returned to La Vallée de la Clarée in Hautes-Alpes for one week, since our year-end vacation there was a disaster (we both were sick […]
Then it was time to move on again. Our next destination was Quimper, which we chose for no particular reason other than it being smaller than the port town of Brest. On our way to Quimper we stopped by in the town of Huelgoat (Finistère) to hike in its mythical […]
As much as I love the landscape of the Massif Central, I think the Matheysine Plateau in the French Prealps in Southern Isère is one of the most scenic areas I’ve visited in France, with the silhouette of the magestic Grande Tête de l’Obiou as a backprop. Soon after returning […]
Usually in Helsinki we stay in quiet, old neighborhoods as close to the city center as possible. That’s what we did this time for our first stay, but for the final stay we booked an Airbnb apartment in Vuosaari, the Eastern terminus of the metro line. Early in our vacation […]
We spent the second week at Tomi’s parents’ house in Kangaslampi in Eastern Finland. Kangaslampi is another Finnish commune on the brink of extinction — the school was closed this summer. Its only hope is to cater to Summer tourism and visitors who have their Summer houses in the area. […]
This was the first time this summer that we had good weather for the whole weekend. At least it has felt like we’ve got nothing but rain this spring and the early summer. The downside of the arrival of sunshine is that it also brings hot daytime temperatures (the nights […]
The Tour of Sarrasine and The Dentelles of Montmirail This post wraps up our short vacation in Southern France, mostly Gard and Vaucluse departments. This hike traveled in Gigondas, that is a French wine Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) in Southern Rhône wine region, producing mainly red wine and little rosé. […]
Pont du Gard This was the last brutally windy day of our vacation. On the other hand the wind was blessing since the afternoon became really hot (it was +29°C when we returned to the car). Our destination of the day was Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge […]