In what has to be the greatest stretch of weather for western France in memory, we enjoyed four gorgeous days on the Ilê d’Yeu, a small island off the coast of Vendée, accessible from the port of Fromentine at the causeway for Ilê de Noirmoutier. Our trip started with an hour drive south along the […]

This is a continuation of Day 1 of 3 gray and wonderful days on Belle-île-en-Mer, Brittany. Our second day in Belle-île-en-Mer started with a change of hotels. The owner of the Hotel Clos Fleuri wasn’t any easier to deal with in the morning, so we quickly booked the hotel we considered when we first planned […]

I never thought I could associate rainy skies and beautiful vistas, but Belle-ile-en-Mer, an island just 8 kilometers off the Brittany Coast of France is where you can. I call Brittany the ‘Ireland of France’ for its weather and coastline. Belle-île is located northwest of the city of Saint-Nazaire and to the southeast of Lorient. […]

There’s something about islands anywhere. We love the finiteness and inclusion of a place that requires at minimum a bridge to come and go. Our adventures in Hawaii are made more interesting because we’re at a place in the middle of the sea, a safe distance from the daily life that we escape every time […]

Today was our last full day in Perigord and we saved the best for last. We timed our rise, breakfast and drive to be at the ticket window when it opened at 9:00am. We heard beforehand about crowds but were surprised to have no trouble getting tickets for the 10am tour in English. Lascaux’s discovery […]

Still tired from the previous day, we slept in a little more and got a late start to our next adventure, the Gouffre de Padirac (Cavern of Padirac). Located in the west of the Department of Lot, we were technically out of Perigord by a few kilometers where the land is less wooded and the […]

The following is a continuation of Perigord in July 2012 – Saint-Nazaire to Sarlat-la-Canéda. Our first full day in Perigord was our chance to begin to tour the countryside nearest where were staying. We decided to head to the Roque de Saint-Christophe, a city that once had as many as 1,000 people living in a […]

Jeanne vacationed in Perigord with her family when she was a child and talked it about so often that we knew we had to go there together. With three weeks in Brittany this summer, we finally a stretch to spend a good amount of time in this region famous for its cave art, castles and […]

The Normandy Coast is just a few hours drive from the West Coast of Brittany where we spend our summer vacations. We’ve talked many times about seeing Mont Saint-Michel and this time we were determined to make it part of our plans. We packed a lunch of white asparagus, baguette sandwiches of jamón serrano and butter, […]

The news broke the same day we arrived in France for the 2011 Holidays, “A Beautiful Christmas Present for the Shipyard at Saint-Nazaire.” Viking Ocean Cruises of Norway signed a contract to build two luxury cruise ships  at the Chantiers Atlantique in the city of 70,000 people near the mouth of the Loire River. These […]