Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Autumn somewhere else perhaps?


Where would you really like to be right now?
If it was still possible to travel anywhere, would you return to a place
 you know, or throw caution to the wind and venture into the unknown?

At this time of year I love being in France but this of course is not
 going to happen.  But I can dream. . . . . . and hopefully next year will
 be better and Autumn travels will be underway - it's my favorite time of
 year to visit EUROPE.


Working with this old laptop I'm only able to open old photos - so, for a while,
anything I might post here will be about former adventures and travel.

In October 2015 - hard to imagine that's already 5 years ago - we had a
a great trip to France. It involved two segments of river boat sailing - with
always exciting Paris days first, then the Normandy Beaches, followed by 
 a long, very scenic sail along the Saone and Rhone rivers from Paris to
 Arles, Provence.


From there we took a train to my brother's village home in the Languedoc 
near Carcassonne in Southwest France and, following the usual sunny
 and golden harvest time in and around the vineyards, another train
 journey took us south to Barcelona, Spain.


Here's a link to my 2015 visit to my brother's village where I'm sure
 little has changed in five years.




Being a huge lover of Vincent Van Gogh, I was thrilled, at long last, 
to spend a day in Auvers-sur-Oise - a few photos above.

Link to a post made back then.



An Autumn day in Southwestern France - along the road and through the
 vineyards to the wonderful town of Mirapoix - complete with amazing
 13th century buildings.



Yes, Autumn memories of France are special.

I was just notified by Apple that my Mac is on its way home 
already and should be at my door by 8 PM TODAY!  
Wow, what great service.

12 comments:

  1. If I could travel anywhere right now, I would love to be in New England in the fall. I remember your trip....I did a similar river cruise in 2010!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Normandy is lovely. We had visited in winter and had the place a!let to ourselves. If I could go anywhere right now it would probably be Edinburgh and maybe a weekend in London.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dearest Mary,
    Glad to read in the end that your Mac has come home by now I guess!
    Indeed, all the history, the charm and culture combined is a big draw to all that love nature and above all, love and appreciate history.
    On September 9 in 2016 we drove all the way from The Netherlands to the South of France for attending the wedding of our friends' daughter. We enjoyed that trip and stay so much! Would have loved to go back again, with some friends in tow.
    But as you say, we're all in a kind of forced 'holding pattern'...
    Let's hope that life as we all enjoyed and knew it, will come back to all of us!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
  4. Woot! That is great service. You are probably happily checking it out even as I compose this comment.

    I do love that tree-lined road...very intentional. I watch a lot of Chateau Diaries and feel as if I am falling in love with France myself.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I would love to be in France right now. Tim and I have such wonderful memories of the Normandy river cruise we took in 2016, inspired by your post about it. We're dreaming of our next possible trip to Europe, although who knows when that will happen. Isn't it wonderful that we have these memories to entertain us during our non-traveling months?

    ReplyDelete
  6. If I were free to travel right now, my first trip would lead to Yorkshire - I do miss my family and friends there, and "my" cottage, "my" home town away from home (Ripon) and all that is good about this beautiful part of the UK.
    As for autumn, I have plenty right here in my neighbourhood to enjoy; colourful leaves, conkers on the ground, the typical food and drink of this season - just lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a gorgeous trip you had to France, Mary. I enjoyed the map, and your wonderful photos very much, and also remembered our short tour of Provence one year ago, when we visited Nice and surrounds, and sailed from Arles to Lyon. But right now, if I could fly anywhere, it would be a one hour flight to Sydney to meet our new grand-twins. Six weeks old today, safely home from hospital, and we cannot go - the borders remain firmly closed and that is how it is. xxx

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a great train trip! You enjoyed nature, history and people's lives there.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Funny you should talk about traveling to France. We had been planning a trip there this past September. We have friends that have two houses - one in Bristol, England the other other in Brittany, France and we were going to visit them at their house in Brittany. We had figured it was the perfect time for a celebration with my husband turning the big six-oh this summer and our wedding anniversary being in September. We were going to fly into Paris, spend a few days there, then take a train to Brittany. Unfortunately, we don't have plans to possibly do that next year, as now with our son having moved to California, our travel time and money is now spent going there. And one of our cats currently has medical issues, too. Thanks for the beautiful photos.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love that tree lined country road and the trip you describe.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Mary,
    I Love, Love, love your travel posts. Would like to see more. Although some of the pictures make my heart ache. So many memories are rushing back.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sigh! I have been thinking the same thing. Where would I be now if I could go anywhere. France is always on my list and your pictures bring back memories of traveling there. I also have been thinking of England and then heading further north to Ireland and Scotland too. But then I would even stay on this continent if needed and head your direction of north to Banff National Park. Oh so many place my heart still wants to visit.

    ReplyDelete

I would enjoy reading your comment - thanks so much for stopping by.