Author Archives: Leigh
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Bonjour Paris!
My goodness! 5 weeks has flown by!! It has been absolutely incredible and beyond my imagination. We have seen so much of France and met so many lovely, incredible and wonderful people. We finished the trip with a way too quick stay in Paris. All I could hear in my head I was Ella singing this gorgeous tune. It was way […]
More Champagne in Champagne and meeting The Widow Clicquot!!!!
It has always been a dream of mine to drink Champagne in Champagne, but to drink Veuve Clicqout at Veuve Cliqout, well I almost lost my mind!!! It was hands down the best experience we had in Champagne. From walking through the gardens touching and smelling all of the different herbs and flowers in their garden, to touring and walking through […]
Champagne in Champagne!!!!
Heaven. I can only say Heaven. Champagne France is absolute Heaven and a dream come true! We stayed in 2 small villages, Hautvillers and Ay and tasted as many Champagnes as we possibly could. Some were served some of the most delicious little bites, even though I have no idea what they were. We went to see Dom Perignon’s grave […]
Normandy – Omaha Beach
We started our morning by heading right outside our little hotel and heading to Omaha Beach. Wikkipedia can do a better job at explaining than I can. Omaha Beach was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II. Omaha is […]
Mont Saint-Michel & Normandy
We started our morning in Dinan, had a fabulous breakfast, and drove to see Mont Saint Michel. As we got closer Adam made me close my eyes until we got closer. When he said I could look, I literally gasped. It is breathtaking. Here is a little history: Le Mont Saint-Michel is an island commune in Normandy, France. It is located […]
Dinan
Travel Guru Rick Steeves really says it best… ”In France, if you have time for only one stop in Brittany, make it the ancient riverfront city of Dinan. It’s about four hours west of Paris by train and one from Mont St-Michel, but it seems a world away. You’ll awake to the sound of roosters. Dinan’s hefty ramparts bundle its […]
The Château de Chenonceau
The Château de Chenonceau is my personal favorite of the Loire Valley as it is built over a river, is absolutely stunning, and there is a whole soap opera around it! Many, many, many moons ago, King Henry II gave the chateau to his mistress Dian de Poitiers – who had kissed him when he was 7 and she was in […]
Amboise and Hot Air Balloon Ride over The Château de Chenonceau
One of my most favorite days so far! We stayed in the most lovely B&B in Amboise, Le Vieux Manor and then took a hot air balloon up over the Loire Valley. Absolutely amazing!!! We finished our evening off drinking Pastis and listening to Jimmy Hendrix at the most fabulous little bar right on the river called Le Shaker. A perfect, […]
Blois and Cheverny
The Loire Valley is very special. Each small town is different and we found Blois to be absolutely lovely. From the intown Chateau to the church to the fabulous, cool, hipster barbershop where Adam got his hair cut, we were so surprised at this little town every time we turned a corner. We used it as home base when we […]
Chambord
The royal Château de Chambord is the largest château in the Loire Valley; it was built to serve as a hunting lodge for Francis I, who who only stayed at Chambord for 7 weeks in his entire lifetime. Chambord was altered considerably during the twenty-eight years of its construction (1519–1547). In 1792, in the wake of the French Revolution, some of the furnishings were […]
Agen to Bordeaux
It is Easter morning and we have just left Agen on a train for Bordeaux. I went to a French, African, Live Band, Evangelical Easter service this morning, that was in our hotel, and absolutely loved it! Although I don’t speak French, I could mostly tell what was being said. It was fantastic and I felt very blessed to be […]
Day 16 – Mossaic to Lamagistere to Agen
After a lovely breakfast where Christine, our B&B owner, made the bread, the yogurt, and all of the jams, we went to the market to buy bread for our lunch and headed on our way along the canal. Today was an interesting day. We walked in the wind and the rain, met pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago (our route […]
Day 15 – Montauban to Mossaic
We left early in the morning and began our day along the Canal de Lateral. It was a great day of walking, with just the right amount of sunshine. We stopped in a tiny little village and got a couple of sandwiches and some fruit and….support hose for me! Now, I would never think about wearing support hose while you […]
Day 12, 13, 14 Toulouse – Montauban
Before we left Castanet, Madame Michelle took us to see her new small little B&B that is going to be right on the canal. It is an old pump house and she is going to make it a quaint little place with 2 bedrooms, a tea room and a place to cook and lounge outside. It has a ways to […]
Day 11 – Villefranche-Lauragais to Castanet-Tolosan
Today was a tough day for us. We started early with breakfast from our little hotel and set out to get back onto the Canal. We had to walk a a good ways on the highway, which is never that much fun. The wind was howling, plus it was raining – all right in our faces, and it was that […]
Day 10 – Castelnaundry to Villefranche-Lauragais
Up early and had breakfast with the owner of our little hotel. He could not have been any nicer and offered to give us bikes for the day and also wanted to give us 2 cans of Casoulet! (Unfortunately they were too heavy for the backpack.) Today was extremely hard on my feet! I think I am breaking them in […]
Day 9- Bram to Castelnaundry
Not to bore you, but here is a little history about Bram….”Bram was a centre of Cathar belief, a heresy from Christianity. Their difference from Rome brought the intervention of Simon de Montfort who, following a Spanish monk who became St Dominic, besieged the town in 1210. He succeeded in three days and took revenge on resistants by cutting off the top lip of all his prisoners […]
Day 8- Carcassonne to Bram
We left Carcassonne for Bram after breakfast. Today was only 18km but after having 2 days off it felt like 29km. By the time we got to our gorgeous B&B, Domaine Les Magasins, I was spent. The trail along the Canal was really nice today, but the wind really whipped us around! Walking with it in your face all day […]
Day 6 & 7 – Carcassonne
We took 2 lovely days off to relax and enjoy this Gallo-Roman city created in 100 b.c. There is so much history that it is impossible for me to share wth you using my phone and limited wifi. You can read more about it here.
Day 5 – Le Somail to Homps to Marseillette
We had breakfast with Madam and then took a cab to Homps. Today was supposed to be a 38km walk and it that is just too much! So we took a cab to Homps to make it a 24km, which is much more enjoyable. Our cab driver has a daughter living in Atlanta!!! It is a small world!!! Although it […]
Day 4 – Capestang to Le Somail
We arrived in Le Somail after what seem lke a walk walk that took forever! We started the day with delicious pastries and a short walk through town. Once we reached the canal we were greeted by a few ducks and fed them a little petite d’jonour and off we went. We had a lovely, lovely walk however we ran […]
Collioure and off to Sete
Before leaving the Perpignan area we had the grand opportunity to visit Collioure, a gorgeous small town on the sea. My pictures don’t do it justice at all as it is stunning. We sat on the shore at a little cafe and I thought to myself- “Self, I could really get used to this!”
Day 2 – Agde to Beziers
In the early morning we left the Gothic Hotel, had a coffee and a pastry, and left to find the Canal du Midi Leaving Agde to Beziers we saw the only round lock in the world. It acts like a round about, but only for water. It is really incredible! We began our walk on the Canal du Midi and […]
Day 1 – Sete to Agde
Once we arrived in Sete, we found a little hotel and waited for Adam’s niece to arrive on the train for dinner. We went to a great little seafood restaurant and then raced to get her back on the train. The next day is when the adventure really started. We began our walk to find that we could not go […]
Mas Baux
Working in NYC at Berluti, a fabulous French men”s shoe company with a very rich history, and extremely nice shoes, allowed me to meet many amazing people. One of those people happened to be a wonderful woman whose parents have a vineyard in Perpignan called Mas Baux. “Just a stone’s throw from the Mediterranean, mid-way between Perpignan and Canet resort, […]
Barcelona to Figures to Perpignan
Figueres is the Home of the Dali Museum and the toy Museum, and they both are incredible Dali’s work is beyond words. It is inspiring as it is creative, and of course, EXTREMELY unique!!! To have this kind of talent…..I can’t even imagine! An instillation on the outside of the Museum A small sculpture I loved! The heart of the museum […]
Barcelona = Lost Luggage
Well it has not started off as smoothly as we had hoped. We arrived at the airport to find out that our flight was delayed and we would miss our connection. So, we hopped on the phone and were re-routed through Frankfort, only to find that was as far as we could go and they were not sure when we […]
From the Mediterranean to the Atlantic
Oh! The Places You’ll Go! – Dr. Seuss We are walking across France! From the Mediterranean to the Atlantic!! I am so excited! Soon we will be walking a little over 300 miles from Sete to Bordeaux along the Canal du Midi which is absolutely gorgeous! We have had so many friends and family tell us that they enjoy reading […]
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Summer is in full swing!
Summer is here and I absolutely love it! I am in the mountains of NC and falling in love with mountain living!!! From waking up and having coffee on the lake to meeting my neighbor who sells me “yard eggs” and is going to teach me how to pickle and can, to attending Community College for pottery, to learning how […]
We have had a change of plans…
“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” – Mark Twain. And what a strange and wonderful short journey we had! After getting the bike started, we headed out for TN to Chattanooga and then on to Arkansas to see the Crystal Bridges Museum. We stayed at the most fabulous […]
Oh! What An Adventure!!
Hello!! Sorry for the delay! It has been a very busy few days!!! After the weather finally cleared, we loaded up the Ural to head out and hit the Trans America Trail. Adam has spent over a month working on and improving the bike. I have to say that my most favorite improvements are the heated seats in the sidecar, […]
The Trans-America Trail
We are about to head out on The Trans-America Trail on the Ural with the sidecar!!! Please come back to go on this amazing journey with us and to see photos along the way! Much love to all, Leigh and Adam xx The Trans-America Trail is a west bound ride across America. The Trail starts in Southeastern Tennessee, and ends at the […]
New Motto For A New Year!!!
This is going to be a wonderful year!!! And, below is my motto for this fabulous year! This year there will be more Muses, new lines of dinnerware, more eggs and all around more beautiful things to live life with! Sending you much love! Look for new work coming soon! xx Leigh
