We spent a week in Mauroux, a tiny hamlet on the Lot river, in early May and discovered a dozen incredibly beautiful bastides, chateaus and fortified towns in the area. A quick word on the particulars of each: A bastide is a ‘new town’ established in the 13th and 14th centuries as a means for the French to secure parcels of land (before the English did) across France and to […]
We had a little apartment for our wonderful week in Toulouse in the Saint Cyprien district on the gauche side of the Garonne river, which according to the apartment owner used to be a very poor area and is now known as ‘bo-bo’ (bourgeois-bohemium) and a ‘champagne-socialist’ area – I like the connotations of this last phrase and I would be happy to embrace a champagne-socialist society if it means […]
We fulfilled a bucket list dream that started back in 1994 when we were freshly engaged and exploring Europe in an old Mitsubishi L300 carpenters van. We were en route to take the Hurtigruten down Norway’s fjords when our van broke down and had to get towed back to London. We’ve always had a yearning to finish off that planned voyage and what better time than to celebrate our 30th […]