Canadutch
On April 30, 2008 my hubby and I are taking off on our first ever European Road Trip! Well, the first one with just the two of us. No wait, three! Bailey is coming too! We will be gone for about 10 days and I will be celebrating my 33rd (GROAN) birthday somewhere along the way!
Our end destination is the town of Pezenas in the south of France. We are going to drive down, possibly stopping in a few places along the way, then landing at Xander’s mother’s place for a visit. We will use her place as a base and take a few day trips. She has also kindly offered to watch Bailey while Xander and I take off to the coast somewhere for a romantic getaway! I can’t wait! I absolutely must swim in the Mediterranean, I must! Although the people there will probably think I’m crazy, I’m sure the water will be warmer than half the time I’ve swam in the Atlantic in the dead of summer!
There are a lot of things to see and do in the south of France, and you can bet your ass I’ll be posting tons of photos. One of the things I want to see most is that mega-bridge in Millau. I’ve only ever seen it on discovery and in photos but I want to see it with my own eyes. I also want to visit Nimes and see the Roman Arena. Oh, and I want to take a boat cruise on the Canal du Midi.
There are places I’ve been to on previous holidays that I want to visit again, like Cirque de Navacelles, Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert and the Clamouse Caves.
Only two weeks of work left until my first holiday from it. Paid holiday is a beautiful thing and I get 20 days of it, that’s a heck of a lot more than I’d be getting if I was doing the same work in Canada, I’m sure!
If you have ever been in the Languedoc-Roussillon area of France, or know of something along the way between there and Rotterdam that we should stop and see, let me know!
Funny co-incidence time now, on the 30th ET and myself are also taking a road trip… also to France…
Small small world!
Greetings from Bermuda!
Have a fun and safe trip. Looking forward to seeing some pictures.
ttys
steph
Oh wow that is so neat! We are heading to Denmark for a week next friday and Im so excited about it. Who is going to watch the animals?
Well if you did want to drive all the way to Nice (it’s a scary motorway after living in flat Holland), there are a few great places to visit along the way.
There’s the Vieux Port (Old Port) in Marseille, overlooked by the Notre-Dame de la Garde church.
Now is a good time to visit St. Tropez, because there will be next to nobody there. You can sit outside at the harbour having a drink and all there will probably be to see is a couple of old men fishing off the end of the harbour wall. So much nicer than in the middle of the summer when it’s full of the rich and famous.
Then there’s Cannes, where you can have your photograph taken with the handprint of some famous actor or other outside the film theatre.
In Nice itself, I really like the old part of the town. It’s got an Italian feel to it.
And if you drive all the way to Nice, it would be a shame not to drive a bit further and see the Gorges du Verdon – I think it has the second longest natural straight drop in the world after the Grand Canyon.
Arles is close to where you’ll be staying. That’s also supposed to be very nice.
Whilst you’re travelling, try to experience a Formule 1 motel. You can’t miss them when driving along the motorway.
I don’t think 10 days would be enough for me in that part of the world.
Finally, a road trip! That’s what cars are for… (not commuting!)
20 days off is a helluva lot better than the average in Canada, which is 10 days to start. But I quit my government job partly because, at 15 days off to start, even that wasn’t enough. I was taking an average of 4-6 weeks off per year with my former company in BC, which made the Ontario government job less attractive over time. Now I think the only way I’ll be satisfied is with self-employment.
OH try to get to Monaco and Nice.. I just google mapped it and it’s a 3 1/2 hour drive (if you want to go that far) along the coast. The area is just amazing. If you go to Monaco, you can park underneath the city and then you can walk up and around. The Pink Palace is amazing and you can go to the Cathedral where Grace Kelly is buried.
I used to visit Millau a lot about 10-15 years ago and the region is one of my favourite places. I remember there being a fair few North Americans for the climbing and paragliding. In the evenings, you would sit outside a bar and look up and see about 20 people just floating in the sky with their parachutes.
If you’re going that way, take the opportunity to drive along the Gorges du Tarn – it shouldn’t be too busy when you’re there. Maybe you could have a go at paragliding as well – you can do it strapped to someone more experienced.
And the village of Cantobre is a nice photo opportunity when seen from along the River Dourbie (http://tinyurl.com/66s5b8 or http://tinyurl.com/5hwx28 – looks even better from a distance).
Lucky you. I don’t know what holiday is cos I have none :( France is surely beautiful. We were near Bordeaux and “swam” in the clean ocean, saw Spain from a mountain (La Rhune), visited the sea museum in Biarritz. The Lake Arcachon was charming too. Lots of boats. Reminded me of Arthur Ransome stories. This may be an inspiration for your next trip ;) What other countries have you visited?
Ooo! You’re going to one of my favorite areas in Europe! I’d highly recommend a day trip to Avignon. It’s stunning. Also les-baux-de-provence is beautiful and my favorite little town is Gigondas… there’s absolutely nothing to do there but drink wine and eat great food but it’s lovely. A dip in the Med is probably going to be a bit chilly this time of year… but a heck of a lot warmer than NS :) Have a blast!
I can’t believe you missed out Rotherham. It’s there on your map. Ignored. And worth a visit*.
Oh and you might like this:
A real-life wild Sherman!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/6000/2174481917/in/set-72157603659323947/
(on the left)
*This is a lie.
Hey Breigh!
This is a really impressive blog you’ve created!
I am also a “full-blooded” Canadian girl living in the Netherlands. And I am also from Nova Scotia. I moved over here about a year ago to live with my boyfriend. I’m now looking for work (which has proven extremely difficult without knowing Dutch!) Great blog, and look forward to more :) Have a great road trip to the South! Cheers, Amanda
OMG I’m so jealous! I totally want to go to europe to do a vacation. But it seems like a vacation to japan is more realistic for us than a vacation to europe. there’s that money thing too. :D
I can’t wait for you to go, since it’ll be like i’m having a vacation through you guys! :D i can’t wait to see the pictures!