Categories
Travel

Photos: Central France & the Loire

Still getting photos up onto my Flickr account, although over there I’m actually up to Nantes and nearly at the end of the trip, especially as I took very few photos in Paris right at the end of the trip.

Group Photo at the Loire

Above, group photo at Digion where we met the Loire, the last of this trip’s great rivers!

Modern Stain Glass

Stain glass in Nevers.

Gutter Runner

Gutter running in Nevers, two or three stories above the street.

Looking South from Sancerre

Looking south from Sancerre.

Another gym, Sully-sur-Loire

Our five-star accommodation in Sully-sur-Loire.

Sully Chateau, Straighter

We can’t stop now, we’re in chateau country! The first of the famous Loire chateaus in Sully-sur-Loire.

Bike & Loire

Our lunch stop somewhere along the Loire, near Orleans.

Me, Château de Chambord

Me, with the awesome Chateau de Chambord in the background.

Château de Chenonceau

Chateau de Chenonceau – the famous “bridge chateau” over the Cher river.

More to come, we had several more days in the Loire, then Nantes itself, a trip out to the Atlantic from Nantes, and then Paris!

Categories
Travel

Merritt & Salt Spring

Just before Christmas I got up to Merritt to see my father and stepmother, and took the camera along, naturally.

We took a walk along a section of the old Kettle Valley Railway right-of-way. I’d love to see this restored as a fully accessible multi-use trail and be able to do a multi-day bike camping trip along it. Maybe it’ll happen one day!

Vertigo?

Nicola River

We also went walking one afternoon in the ranch area up in the hills, and got some awesome winter sunlight.

Snow Pano

Trees

Closer to home, right at the end of January I got away overnight to Salt Spring Island to camp out at Ruckle Provincial Park. I went there in mid-October and decided to return again for another one-night escape.

Bike + Tent + View

Loaded for the Return

Ruckle is about 45-50km total road distance from downtown Victoria, with a 30 minute ferry ride over to Salt Spring Island from Swartz Bay giving a bit of a break.

Just a note if you do go out to Ruckle in winter, though, there’s no drinking water in the park from November 1st to March 1st — they disconnect the drinking water taps. Bring an extra water bottle or two.

Categories
Travel

Photos: Eastern France

It’s been a while since my last Europe photo post! Here’s a few photos from the eastern part of France, midway through our May-July 2014 bike tour.

Over on Flickr, I’ve got the entire European Bike Trip 2014 album, and country-specific albums (same photos, just organized by single country) for Austria, Germany, Switzerland and now France. What I put up here on the blog is only ever a selection of photos, please do check the entire collection out over on Flickr!

Dreilanderbrucke Panorama

Rolling Laundry Rack

Besançon Place de la Révolution Panorama

Le Tricolore

Eastward Panorama

Follow The Cat

Bike Kid

Then It Rained Some More

Sacré-Coeur Basilica Panorama

Je Suis Un Chat.

More to come!

Categories
Travel

Photos: Ulm to Switzerland

Been a little while since my last photo post here. I’m still steadily plowing through the seven weeks of photos I took (nearly 3000…) and have finally reached the end of the German leg and gotten into Switzerland!

The entire collection is over on Flickr, and I’ve also divided it up by country. So far there’s Austria, Germany and Switzerland albums up, with France obviously still to come.

Just a few highlights below!

Ulmer Münster Tower, Panorama

Above, a two-photo stitched panorama of the main tower of Ulm Cathedral.

Obermarchtal Kloster Pano

Obermarchtal Cloister, one of the Catholic hostels we stayed in. Parts of the main building date back to 800 AD…

Pano At Rechtenstein

On a bridge over the Danube.

Schloss Sigmaringen

Schloss Sigmaringen is what happens when you take the basic idea of “castle on a rock” and dial it up ALL the way. It’s awesome.

Toblerone!

You can tell you’re in Switzerland when the incredibly expensive coffee comes with a tiny Toblerone bar instead of a biscuit.

Lots more to come, I’m up to June 19th and the trip went until July 20th!