Island Walker

Massif de l'Esterel

Ah the warmth. I missed the heat of a beautiful Canadian summer this year. As such, France was doing it’s best to accomodate. Wellington, as beautiful as it’s summer days may be, was lacking heat. So here I was, in the middle of an unexplored city, feeling at home from nothing more than the blazing sun. It was definitely a beach day. We had seen a few pictures of a beautiful cove at the hostel. It was apparently quite close and only a short six kilometer from one of the beaches. We grabbed our jandals (or sandals for non-kiwis), water and headed to the beach. After a few hours, we came up with nothing. Hot, sweaty and ready to head back we decided to search out a gelato. In our efforts we stumbled upon a path different from the rest, so we decided to follow it.

Hiking in jandals

Sails in the horizon

Turns out that when the French say a nice walk, they really mean a trek. It was a bit strange to see everyone on the same trail as us wearing proper hiking gear. It should have been an obvious sign, but we were determined after all our efforts to see this cove. Expecting a lovely stroll along the beach, we were a bit surprised when we were presented with a rock climbing session. But we persevered. We must have looked like rediculous tourists to the other hikers. Holding the camera around the neck, water bottle and flip-flops in hand, climbing the rocks. Not the most brilliant thing I have done in my life, but that doesn’t matter, we managed to reach our goal. It was almost euphoric when we reached the top. Want a hot foot massage? Go rock climbing barefoot. It feels like an incredible, several hour, hot rock massage. Read the rest of this entry »

Traboules - Tunnels Connecting the Streets of Lyon

After Paris I was a bit skeptical about the rest of France. I was worried it would be more of the same, two weeks more. At least one thing would be true, there wouldn’t be as many people – hopefully. I can gladly say that once we left Paris, we also left the (insert appropriate words) behind. Lyon was our first destination and honestly, it was brilliant. Lyon was supposed to be a short stop over, but it became much more than that. It became our passage into southern France. The city was not only incredibly clean, but friendly and beautiful.

The colourful buildings along the river

Vieux Lyon

Cathedral St. Jean

A view of the Rhine at night

At the heart of Lyon was the old town, Vieux-Lyon. The narrow cobblestone streets, the stone buildings, the traboules and cafes all made me want to live here. Even though Lyon had more than a million people, it felt like a small medieval village. Not only was it a medieval village, it was quite similar to Wellington. Half of the city was up on the hill, there was even a tram! Lyon also happens to be the gastronomy capital of France. They have many Bouchons – cafe style restaurants – where they served Lyonnaise cuisine. Delicious food! But still, the only thing letting me down was the coffee. The majority of it is instant. It’s really difficult to find a cafe with real espresso here. Sorry Tim Hortons, you just don’t cut it for me anymore.

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