Home in Time for Tea

As usual, we planned this summer's road trip holiday around a naturally beautiful, beachy destination; this time, Corsica. Beaches, mountain walks, and eating local food were the main items on the agenda. It worked out cheaper to take our Corsica ferries to and from different cities, so we got a nice varied road trip with a totally different route home. We mainly travelled for around 3 hours a day on the journey to and from Corsica. We broke it down each day, stopping for lunch and walks (and shopping) in appealing places.   Klowski and I started with a pleasant little day in Cambridge whilst Richard finished work, then we left from there for Dover. This set the tone for the rest of the trip, not least Klowski's thoughts about where we were at various points ('Cambridge' for at least 80% of the time apparently). Rouen & Le Mans On the way to Le Mans, we stopped in Rouen to eat quiche on the steps outside the magnificent cathedral, and I bored Richard with s...

Our little family had 18 days to get from Reims in the Champagne region of France, to Sardinia off the coast of Southern Italy and back again, in our car, loaded with snacks on the way down, and acquired treats on the way back. For example, Italian shoes that fit me really well, an array of tasty French wines, and some lovely French books and toys for little Klowski. The rules of our road trip were: 1. No more than three hours driving in a day 2. No early mornings other than the ferry back from Sardinia 3. To see or do something in a new place each day during the road trip 4. To maintain a ban on videos in the car, so Klowski doesn't become a TV zombie 5. To stay in one place for 5 nights in Sardinia - a holiday from our holiday so to speak! Our route South included the Swiss Alps, Italian and French rivieras, and Tuscany, with an overnight ferry to Sardinia from Livorno. Our return ferry to Toulon in France allowed us to take in Provence and the French Alps befo...

Road-Trip to Amalfi Through France, Switzerland & Italy If there is one thing that makes a road trip worthwhile, it is most definitely the  freedom to go where the wind takes you, and I mean that metaphorically, because another major draw to the road trip holiday is that you can actually escape bad weather like wind. Rain also - and we did. Our choice to book just our first hotel in advance, and no others until we were there meant that we could leave early, stay late, and simply do as we pleased until we had to get the ferry home to the UK! Beaune, France Our first stop was brief but extremely pretty. Beaune's passion for everything wine is wonderfully expressed in the Musee du Vin de Bourgogne with everything from antiquated tools and ancient wine bottles through the ages, to detailed information on tasting and wine production in Burgundy. Beautiful wine boutiques and surrounding vineyards also make Beaune a fantastic wine-lovers' destina...