When you travel, you never quite know what you will stumble across. You can plan all sorts of things but you never know really how things will go. Today, I’m talking about the joy of that. I have found France to be a very good “stumble upon” place – although…
Jeanne d’Arc died here | Rouen
Normandy is split into two halves – Haute-Normandie and Basse-Normandie. Previously, I lived in Haute-Normandie, which is itself split into two smaller sections. My former sleepy little city, Evreux, heads up the smallest region, Eure, and did not feel like any kind of capital (ahhh, just like home!). The larger…
The Paper Mill Museum | Basel, Switzerland 2024
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say this: the Paper Mill Museum in Basel is the best museum I have ever been to. (Excluding Art Galleries, even though the French call them museums.) When I looked online, it was suggested that you needed two to three hours there, and…
Mostly Basel | Switzerland 2024
For today’s post, we’re going to travel back to the past. There were a few places that I didn’t get around to writing about last year. Quite a few actually! Some drafting was done but they didn’t quite make it to the “done” pile. So to set the scene: S…
A Love/Hate Letter to the French Language
Dear French, You suck. I’ll get to the love part in a minute, but first, let’s just be clear: I hate you just way too much of the time. And yet… Ahhh… So much of life is tucked away inside the words “and yet.” (Once, in primary school, I read…
The Haven and Some Kind of Paradise
Le Havre One of my first real weekends away during my last contract was to Le Havre. In fact, it was a little more than a weekend, as there had been a problem during some maintenance at the school, resulting in the water being turned off and the school essentially…
And now we say “Buongiorno” | Italy 2024
I spent my first two week break in Italy. The first break comes up quick, after only three weeks of work. As such, much like last year, I booked my trip only two days before I left. Actually, that might be an improvement! I did already have the vague idea…
Back Again | French Riviera
Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve written here. I have been back in… well, Europe, for over two months now (actually today is day eighty(!) so I told myself I absolutely had to get this posted today). Not just France, as some travels have already been had. (More…
Opulence | Paris, Again
Another set of holidays has passed in my part of France. It was my last fortnight off. Then six weeks of teaching, and my contract will end shortly into the next lot of holidays. They say time flies — but have we considered the possibility that it teleports? The evidence…
Pere Lachaise Cemetery
This is a much more recently written post for me. I visited the famous Pere Lachaise Cemetery just two weeks ago, and wrote this during my visit, while my hands turned a series of different colours from the cold. I hope you enjoy this little visit with me. You get…