Just Humans Being...

This lovely village is in the Loire. It looks like it could be popular with tourists. But we had the place to ourselves. Lots of pretty places. And a huge Abbey where Richard the Lionheart is buried. A lovely old doorbell. Love Kay and Sime xx

Day 7 of  World Vegan Month and our last night in France for this year, so we decided to treat ourselves to a vegan pizza.... With onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, artichokes, olives and potatoes. We are now staying near to Roscoff in Brittany and will be taking the ferry to Plymouth tomorrow.  The pizza came from a pizza emporter in St Pol de Leon, a few minutes from where we are staying - another lovely place...and the owners lit the wood burner before our arrival, which we were thrilled with, as it feels so much colder up here...but at least the cabin is toasty! We will take some photos of the place tomorrow in the light. It's always a joy to be back in Brittany, having spent a winter here some years ago - we know it very well and love it's uniqueness. Visiting the monument for the Breton Resistance Fighters. Love Kay and Sime xx

We have spent yesterday exploring this lovely area of Brittany. Nice to do when it's a quieter time of year. We drove to Port Navalo at the end of the gulf where it was warm and sunny. We found lots of quiet villages. Marshlands. Maps. Lighthouses. We watched a storm come in while we ate our picnic. There was a cormorant sat on the rock just out at sea, but the camera hasn't picked it up. Lots of the beaches were covered in red seaweed. Chateau Suscinio A 13th century castle with connections to Henry VII and the War of the Roses. We enjoyed a walk around Port Navalo's headland before the stormy weather started! Such a warm and quiet day!  Love Kay and Sime xx

We have travelled from the Auvergne, through the Loire and are now on the south east edge of Brittany in a lovely space. Finding places with kitchens is always important, as we like to cook! Tonight's dinner was fresh organic broccoli from the Biocoop, which we steamed for 5 minutes, then fried with 5 cloves of garlic and 1 red onion in soy sauce with dried basil and black pepper. We also added a tin of mixed beans and sweetcorn and finished with the juice of half a lemon. We served it with last night's leftover tabbouleh and a mixed salad. It's always good to have an opportunity to cook when travelling and it doesn't have to be difficult or long-winded. This place is perfect and it's obvious that the owners are enthusiastic cooks themselves, as the kitchen is well-equipped!  Another nice space to be!  This is Day 5 of World Vegan Month. Love Kay and Sime xx

Religion is still a big thing in rural France, especially in the Auvergne. We've seen it all before - the volcanic rocks with virgin Mary statues towering over communities, the altars and crosses just outside villages. The views from the statues are amazing, so always worth a climb.  Friday (All Saint's Day) was a day of families gathering. Everywhere was quiet and we took the opportunity to explore. Saint-Pierre church at Novacelles is a lovely little building. With a warm and cosy atmosphere. Day of the Dead is all about honouring our deceased loved ones, so we lit candles. Our Lupe died just days before we came away on our trip. Our beautiful companion of 14 years. We are still hurting and know when we arrive home next week we will miss him dearly. We continue to wish him a goodnight every night, as we do Fleaby (our other old boy) when we're away from home.  Lupe is buried just outside our bedroom window, under...

All you need is the plan, the road map and the courage to press on to your destination. ~ Earl Nightingale ~  We are pretty sure that we have covered this subject before... We absolutely love road trips and they start as soon as we close the door at home. We focus on the journey, rather than the destination. Sometimes the journey turns out to be completely different than we expected, but it never matters. What is important to us is that we enjoy it. Being on the road lights us both up - the amazing places we come across and the people we meet, the new friends and connections we make - it's all wonderful.  Even when we set out to explore a place only to discover that we have been there before, which seems to happen a lot lately...Hahaha!!! It makes us sad that most people are so keen to get to their destination as quickly as possible, they miss out on so much. Folks who drive long hours don't seem to think of their journey as part of their tri...

Some photos from our recent road trip through France... Old road sign in the Vendee Old meets new A private house now...hope they're still dancing! Spotted this in someone's garden... Looks like Romeo's been busy! Picnic area with quite a view Beautiful old car, but no idea what it is... Organic zero waste van Street art Biocoop Kitty Breton Marais Free books - take, deposit, exchange as you wish.  About to drive over the Saint-Nazaire Bridge Les Moutiers-En-Retz in the Loire-Atlantique...love this place! Bye for now, K&S xx