Category Archives: Travel
À la prochaine
Sunday morning I heard a few successive popping sounds in the hills above. Hunting season is on. There isn’t much game left in these whereabouts, but one wild animal there is a lot of is Sanglier, or boar. Given the … Continue reading
Serrabone
The road from Céret to Serrabone winds its way upwards at a slow pace for 600 meters, through a thick oak forest, stands of cork, olive groves, and an occasional cactus. We pass crumbling farmhouses and solitary villas and, surprisingly, through … Continue reading
Cap Fréhel et le Côte d’Armor
We are in Cap Fréhel, the last of our stops in Brittany for this season. We’d first made a visit here last year on a day trip from Rennes, seeking relief from a heat wave. What a glorious escape that … Continue reading
Les Langoustines, le Blé Noir, le Brebis et le Cidre
It’s Langoustine season in Finistère Sud, the southwestern part of Brittany. Known in English as the “Norway Lobster,” they are available in abundance at all the markets. We’re indulging several times a week. And why not? At an affordable $7 … Continue reading
Italie
From Nice, we are 25 miles/40 kilometers to the border with Italy. Once there, you can visit remote towns like Apricale or Dolceaqua for fine views, honey and other mountain specialties, cut through the Apennines to sample the famous red … Continue reading
The Italian Market
It’s been years that I’ve wanted to visit the huge Friday market in the Italian border town of Ventimiglia. This week we made it there, undeterred by cold and rainy weather. We were so glad we did. Now, Ventimiglia the … Continue reading
Céret and Collioure
Onwards to Occitanie, and Céret and Collioure. These small towns are very near the Spanish border, Barcelona a two-hour drive away. We took a forested mountain road to the border, ears popping, taking in peaceful views over wild country and the Pyrénées … Continue reading