We really didn’t know what to expect of Pompeii but it is astonishing. Much bigger than we thought but it was a small city I guess. It’s amazing how advanced the Roman technology was, how they heated the hot baths for example, and the sewage systems and water supply. You can still drink the water…

Having arrived quite early in Rome we couldn’t check in to the hotel so we walked down to the Colosseum and back via the Trevi fountain but it was a whistle stop tour since we are coming back to Rome later in the week. We staggered back to the hotel having walked about 15kms or…

Monday we got up early and took the metro to the port of Pireaus and after some trouble finding the magic ferries terminal got the 10am ferry to the island of Hydra. Leonard Cohen lived on Hydra for seven years in the ’60s. We are both big fans although perhaps Pauline more than me. It’s…

Pauline has never been to Greece or Rome and we figured now it’s a bit cooler in Josselin it would be a good time to go. Wednesday we took the bus to Rennes and the train to Paris Montparnasse, staying the night in Paris.

I’ve covered quite a few of the churches we have visited but it occurred to me I should write a post about the one in Josselin. It has an interesting history. “In 808, the town of Josselin, in Bro Sant Maloù, did not yet exist. A ploughman was cultivating his land, at the place where…

Maria lives in Hong Kong but she was flying in to Nantes from Porto where she’d been to a wedding. We drove to Nantes to meet her planning a pleasant drive along the coast, hoping for a walk on a beach along the way. Unfortunately it poured down all the way. When we reached Nantes…

This is slightly out of order as it was before we had our visitors and before we went to St Malo. The 41st edition of the European Heritage Days took place on 21 and 22 September 2024. This year, it had two themes: “Heritage of routes, networks and connections” and “Maritime” On these days a…