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Post by onlyMark on Sept 26, 2020 18:13:36 GMT
A journey I’ve undertaken several times is driving between Germany and southern Spain, Andalusia. When alone I tend to do it in more or less one go but when Mrs M is with me we try and vary the route and the stop-offs. We decided to initially head north in Spain, to the east side of the northern coast, slip into France near Biarritz, head generally north east to pass to the south of Paris, nip through Luxembourg and hit Germany roughly mid way between Frankfurt and Cologne. About 2,200km which allowed us reasonable journeys with four stop over nights. We decided we’d do a trial run of if we’d decide to stay at each place longer, to see if they were worth it, for another more relaxed trip another time rather than just having and afternoon/evening walk round to get a feeling for the place. We took some photos (some washed out and others not so good plus odd ones out of order), more for us to remember the journey rather than to formulate a report, so they are generally without any commentary as we didn’t go into any details. First came Aranjuez, a little south of Madrid -                 The next stop was just into France, on the beach, Mimizan Plage -        We’d stop for an early lunch wherever was quiet to indulge in bread, cheese, fruit and ham/salami -
 Then a night in Tours -                              Last night was in Troyes -                  We are certain we’ll take quite a few days longer next time - but as we were planning the trip the situation regarding covid was deteriorating rapidly so we wanted to return relatively quickly. |
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 26, 2020 18:28:11 GMT
Always interesting to see a different eye looking at things that I have seen.
I get really mixed up sometimes about the various things that I have seen. For example, I would have sworn that the little canal with the statue of the hatted woman was in Poitiers. But of course that is one of the only parts of central Troyes that is not a total display of ancient timbered buildings, which is probably why my memory placed it elsewhere.
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Post by bjd on Sept 26, 2020 18:31:54 GMT
I never knew that Troyes was so picturesque.
And were there really no people on the streets in Aranjuez or only in your pictures?
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Sept 26, 2020 18:57:02 GMT
Splendid architecture Mark, I suppose that in a 'normal' year the place would be heaving with tourists? Did you have any problems booking overnight stays along your journey? Or did you book everything before leaving Spain? Do you have a house in Germany too?  (she asked nosily) |
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Post by onlyMark on Sept 26, 2020 18:59:23 GMT
We reached Aranjuez and walked around at siesta time on a Thursday afternoon. It does amaze us that in this day and age we can walk or drive through Spanish town and villages and frequently see absolutely nobody. Covid doesn't help either.
Our nearest town has about 10,000 inhabitants and if we go to the supermarket at the right time the only people we see are the check out staff driving in, walking round and driving out.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 26, 2020 19:02:12 GMT
I never knew that Troyes was so picturesque. You mean you have forgotten my report about Troyes? You even commented on it. But I certainly will not disparage you, because there are photos of the canal and the hatted woman that I had totally forgotten myself. 
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 26, 2020 19:05:36 GMT
Boy, for a flash trip you all managed to take in some real beauty. I love the water, both in parks and in nature, and all of the long landscape shots, but the architecture pictures are just wonderful.
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Post by onlyMark on Sept 26, 2020 19:08:20 GMT
I would have sworn that the little canal with the statue of the hatted woman was in Poitiers Just your age catching up with you. Cheery, at German prices you must be kidding. No, we rent an apartment if we are here any length of time, like we are this time. We rented one when I left Zambia until we went to Spain and this one is rented until end of December when I go to Sarajevo - though we may take it for longer for bureaucratic reasons (e.g. me being registered as a resident). |
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Post by onlyMark on Sept 26, 2020 19:09:57 GMT
Bixa, the gardens in Aranjuez and the architecture in Tours and Troyes are exceptional and worth a much longer stop over.
By the way, seventh photo up from the bottom, the bloke with the 'Vans' daypack - what a hunk. I know him from somewhere.
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Post by onlyMark on Sept 26, 2020 19:28:25 GMT
In Troyes we obtained from the hotel a map with a walk on it to see the major sights. Comprehensive and long, we followed it (mostly) and it took us past many of the places K2 mentioned in his report. However, neither of us mentioned in the following photo that the wooden part of this building was a cobblers until not too many years ago. The main stone part was a stop off point for the horse coaches to Paris which from here did it non-stop in 24 - 30 hours. Plus Joan D'Arc stayed in the building. |
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Post by onlyMark on Sept 26, 2020 19:57:07 GMT
Splendid architecture Mark, I suppose that in a 'normal' year the place would be heaving with tourists? Did you have any problems booking overnight stays along your journey? Or did you book everything before leaving Spain? Forgot to answer this - when times were normal, in the dim and distant past, then yes, there'd certainly be many more tourists than now. But pick your time of year, probably spring and autumn and I suppose it would be fine enough. No problems booking and we 'bookmarked' possibilities a week or more before we left, but we booked them all on the Wednesday to leave on the Thursday. Plus though, every time Mrs M looked at the map, she came up with alternatives, even at the last minute where we cancelled a couple of booking made only a few hours before. |
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 26, 2020 22:00:12 GMT
the bloke with the 'Vans' daypack He's out on parole?!  |
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Post by onlyMark on Sept 27, 2020 6:22:52 GMT
He has freedom to roam at will.
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Post by lugg on Sept 27, 2020 9:45:39 GMT
What a great road trip. Tours and Troyes look lovely indeed.
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Post by tod2 on Sept 27, 2020 10:16:00 GMT
Terrific photos Mark…brought back some memories of Tours when I went on my first trip which was a walking trip in the Loire Valley and then driving from Chartres and stopping in Tours for a night on the way to the coast and eventually St.Malo. I looked hard at your photo of Cathedral St-Gatien and could just make out some treelike branches on the righthand side - could be the giant Cedar of Lebanon that was planted by Napoleon 1st in 1804.. St.Gatien was built between the 13thC and only completed in the 16thC.
Another interesting fact about Tours is that in 1461 Louis XI made Tours the French capital but during Henry IV's reign it lost favour and the capital left Tours for Paris.
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Post by onlyMark on Sept 27, 2020 10:59:36 GMT
Lugg, yes they do.
Tod, thanks for the info. I really must find time to read about where we actually went.
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Post by tod2 on Sept 27, 2020 13:05:01 GMT
I use my DK Eyewitness Travel Guide on FRANCE. Just gives the highlites really but is beautifully illustrated.
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Post by whatagain on Sept 27, 2020 18:36:36 GMT
Troyes is not much on tourists radar, which makes it all the more interesting.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 27, 2020 19:21:10 GMT
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Post by lugg on Sept 27, 2020 19:23:44 GMT
That is indeed a surprise .... it is the French capital of factory outlet stores. There are even organised bus trips from Paris just to go to those shops. |
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(she asked nosily) 
