France

Le Mont-Saint-Michel

19 March 2025

Caught up on blessed sleep. Weather is sunny and cool. With rain predicted for later in the week, we adjust plans accordingly.

After a coffee and biscuit, my niece Gabrielle and I returned to Rèn’s modern train station, maneuvering its many levels and services. Our destinations over the next few days seem best reached by automobile. Therefore, we retrieve our Peugeot rental car and drive the 45 miles to Mont-Saint-Michel along the western coast of France.

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By Pat, ago

Rennes, France

18 March 2025

Sometimes the most challenging part of visiting a foreign country is pronouncing your city of destination. One wrong inflection, and I would find myself hundreds of kilometers from my room for the night. Such is the case with our first stop: Rennes. I may think I correctly pronounce the city’s name, but the French say differently.

Checking available information represents a good idea.

For Americans, European train travel is so civilized and convenient. But then, we are not apt to discover big bombs, well, at least not WW2 ordinance!

Earlier this month while replacing a railway bridge just a few miles from here, construction workers  discovered what SNCF described as a “really huge” unexploded ordinance. The 1100 pound bomb dropped some 80 years ago, contained over 440 pounds of explosives. Enough to make a really, really big hole! 

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By Pat, ago

Paris – Everything but the Siren

29-30 October 2019

Sleeping soundly in Toulouse. Message from SNCF, definitely NOT something I want to wake to find. I believe France is the only country in the world with a mobile APP monitoring strikes. It has come in handy, but sudden cancellations and changes mean an unpleasant wake up call. What? Our train is not departing our station? Then where is it going?

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By Pat, ago

Toulouse, France

28 October 2019

Le Pont Neuf

I like Toulouse. I can’t be much more enthusiastic than that. It is well-located for visiting some great sites in this southern part of France, like marvelous Carcassonne. It is on the road to Andorra. I has some nice parks, pathways along the historic Canal du Midi and River Garonne, big churches and bigger streets and squares.

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By Pat, ago

Carcassonne, France

26 October 2019

Ancient fortress of La Citė of Carcassonne

Just 60 miles southeast of Toulouse is the picturesque hilltop village of Carcassonne. I love old fortified cities and Carcassonne is absolutely one of the best!

Carcassonne has dominated this hilltop since the New Stone Age which began about 12,000 years ago when the first farming of domestic crops and a domestication of animals began. Also referred to as the Neolithic period, the era lasted in Europe until about 1700 BC.

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By Pat, ago