I feel like a pilgrim to a palace from Lord of the Rings. The island is completely covered in medieval stone structures, walled around with soaring battlements, and topped with a sky piercing spire adorned with a gilt statue like an angel. Sea birds circle the island, and here and there men are walking across the sand flats barefoot, with baskets, collecting shellfish…
Hitching on the highway in Normandy, France. The Gendarmes arrive, lights flashing, and inform us seriously that hitchhiking on highways is illegal in France, but we may hitch at round-abouts or on-ramps. Naturally we apologise politely and shoulder our bags to walk back to the on-ramp. The officer winds down his window and beckons me…
Across the square from Chateaux Ducal in Caen, is the city’s equally venerable 13th century cathedral. It has been painstakingly restored over the past 6 years, and was also substantially reconstructed in the 1940s after Caen was reduced to rubble in WW2. The complexity and artistry of the masonry is awe inspiring. Hundreds of…
I’m nerding out. I may go LARP at any moment and start running around with a toy sword screaming battle cries in Tolkien-ese. The bell in the cathedral sounds 11pm as we settle down in our sleeping bags in the moat of Chateaux Ducal de Caen. The moat is dry nowadays, and is dark…
Before dropping us off near the highway to Abbeville, Francois, our gracious host in Colin-Camps gives us some sage advice: 1. “Go to Mont St Michel, Normandy – it is a spectacular 13th century walled city on an island.” 2. “If you go to Marseilles, watch out for pickpockets!” 3. “When you enter a town,…
Riding with Belgians and Dutch, as we head south, we hear the same thing time and time again: “you will not be able to get rides in France; the French are a rude arrogant lot; they don’t speak to you if you can’t speak French; they don’t like foreigners…” We start to wonder if…