Today we explored the backroads around where we are staying. We are in the the British and Canadian sectors of the Normandy invasion. We started at the Big British Normandy Memorial. It was opened in 2021 Next we stopped at the Green Howard’s D-Day Memotial. It’s in Crépon near where we are staying. The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howard’s) are the unit that captured Crépon on D-Day.

Today we moved a bit east on the Normandy coast. Last night we were in Viereville-sur-Mer overlooking Omaha Beach. Tonight we are just inland from Gold Beach, one of the Allies landing sites, and Arromanches, where the British built a massive artificial harbor. This morning we went back to Trévières where we had breakfast yesterday and went to the same boulangerie for our pastries, then got our coffee at the same bar.

Today was the nicest weather day we have had in several days. It was a perfect day to explore along the D-day Normandy coast. We started by going 9 kilometers into Trévières to find a boulangerie for pastries for breakfast. We bough our pain au chocolat and pain au raisin and then went to another shop to get coffee and to eat them.

It was a beautiful sunny day today. Before leaving Château de la Ballue this morning we took another walk through the gardens but this time we used their printed guide to the gardens and saw things we had completely missed on our first walk. We also got to enjoy everything in the sun light.

Chateau de La Ballue where we are staying is a beautiful, wonderful chateau originally built in the 17th century. We are not far from Mont Saint Michel so our goal this morning was to get a relatively early start so that we would get to Mont Saint Michel before the crowds. We did pretty well. We were there just after nine and took the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the base of the island.

Today we continued west to another wonderful château, Château de La Ballue in Bazouges-la-Pérouse, not far from Mont Saint Michel. Before we left Chateau de Vauloge this morning we had a great breakfast and then went for a walk. Breakfast to candlelight at Château de Vauloge. The gardens A walk in the woods There are two chapels at Château Vauloge. One was for the family.

This morning in Versailles we went out for some breakfast then enjoyed walking through the town market on the way back to the hotel. Breakfast Versailles market When we got back to the hotel we packed up and checked out. Then we walked to the Avis rental car office and picked up our rental car. We left Versailles and headed west.

Today was proof of how changeable spring weather can be. A few days ago in Paris the temperature was over 80. Today the high temperature was 57. But, that’s good because the sun was shining and cool weather is ideal for exploring the gardens of Versailles. Before we started our walk we stopped for some breakfast.

This morning we left our hotel in the La Defense area of Paris and took the Metro to Versailles. Versailles is only about 10 miles from Paris so we didn’t go far. We did have a minor hiccup today on our travels. When we got on the L train we didn’t realize that the line splits and you need to actually make sure you are on a L train for Versailles.

Our 4 days in Paris have been a really nice break in our travels. This morning we went to the Carnavalet Museum. It is an enormous, fascinating museum of the history of Paris.

Duke and I have been to Paris before. So on this trip we aren’t visiting sights like The Louvre or the Eiffel Tower, as wonderful as they are. Instead we are visiting less well known sights. Today we walked through the Bois de Boulogne to the Musée Marmottan Monet.

Today is May 1st, May Day or Labor Day. It’s a holiday in France so most museums were closed. In fact at least one of the museums I looked at is open every day of the year except January 1, December 25 and May 1. Not only were many museums closed but also, this part of Europe is having a heat wave.

Wednesday was a long day, but a very successful day. We left Mas Tulipe de Soie a little after 8:00. It is too bad we didn’t have more time in northern Provence. It’s a beautiful area and there seems to be lots to see and do. I would definitely stay at Mas Tulipe de Soie again.

Today we drove south, back out of the Vésubie Valley, and then west into Provence. We are staying at a wonderful prototypical Provençal country gite, Mas Tulipe de Soie.

Saint Martin Vésubie where we are staying in France’s Alpes-Maritimes department had devastating floods in October of 2020. The Vésubie River was a few meters wide when we saw it today, but during the flood it was 180 meters wide. The pictures of the devastation that you can see online are pretty amazing. Today we drove along the river up into the Mercantour National park to do a hike.

Today we drove south out of the Italian Alps to the coast, then west into France, and then north into French Alps to the town of Saint Martin Vésubie. Saint Martin Vesubie is on the edge of Mercantour National Park. The last part of the route was through the Vésubie River Valley. The road through the canyons and along the river was stunning…

We really like this area of the Piedmont region of Italy where we are staying. It is absolutely beautiful and there aren’t many tourists. Today we went on an almost 7 mile loop hike starting not far from where we are staying. The first part of the hike was all on country roads that had all been paved at some point.

Today we moved farther south in Italy. For the next 2 nights we will be at Cascina Bertolotto Wine Resort in the southern Piedmont region of Italy. For most of our drive today we were on motorway but, we didn’t want to arrive before we could check in so for the last twenty miles or so we drove on country roads.

We had a really nice day today. We started with a great breakfast at our B&B, Breakfast The B&B where we are staying Then we drove up the valley east of where we are staying almost to the Swiss border in the high alps. It was a wonderful drive narrow, lots of switch backs, one lane roads and stunning scenery.

Today we drove south, then east, and then north to the Ossola Valley on the Swiss - Italian border. The mountains here are so beautiful. Tonight we are just five miles from the border with Switzerland. Outside our hotel this morning Our drive today took us past Lago Maggione. I was at a Sun Microsystems, European wokplace group, management meeting on lake Maggione in 2000.

We had a wonderful day with perfect weather. It was about 32 f/0 c when we woke up. The view from our window this morning By the time we checked out and drove up the road to the trailhead for our hike it was around 50 f. We hiked on the trail to Lac de La Douche. We decided to only go up the trail about 2 miles and then turn around.

Today we planned to pick up our rental car number 3 at about 1:30. We didn’t want to pick it up too early because on the last day of our 9 day rental, when we return the car to Lyon, we have a 3 and a half hour drive. First thing this morning we had another perfect French breakfast

We were in Lyon for two days almost exactly six years ago. We saw all the sites and had a marvelous time. That meant that on this trip we could just enjoy the experience of being in a beautiful French city on a perfect spring morning. So we went for a long walk. We started out with croissants and coffee.

Today was a travel day. This morning we left the Parador of Aiguablava at 7 A.M. for the one hour drive to Girona, where we returned our rental car and caught a 9:00 high speed train to Lyon, France. Our room at the Parador included breakfast, but the breakfast buffet didn’t open until 8:00. So yesterday I ask if they would give us some breakfast to take with us.