France : Hiking on the Island of beauty

I already had the opportunity to visit Corsica when I was younger but I didn't remember too much of it. So what was our plan this time?

If you ask most of the people, Corsica is the place of the mythic GR20. We only had 4 days and didn't want to  do like everybody so we decided to walk on the Mare a Mare Center in 4 days. We started at Ghisonaccia direction our first stop, Catastaghju. It isn't a surprise for anybody if you start at sea level on a mountainous island you only can go up. However, it is worth the difficulty. When you arrive at the refuge you only hear birds singing and the water hitting rocks of a cascade. It isn't a big place but all basic things are available. We installed our tent and got to rest for the next day (3€/tent, 3€ shower, 20€ for a room).

We followed the orange marks

Yes, we're going up there!

Our second day started with a big climb, a bit more than 1000m elevation gain in 5km. However, the good news was that the rest of the day was going down hill. 

We stayed at the hotel restaurant "Le Florida" in Zicavo (http://www.hotel-le-florida.com/index.php). It was a nice place to stay and people were friendly. They let us put our tent on the soccer field in front of their restaurant for free.

The advantage of Mare a Mare is that you can see all kind of different landscapes of Corsica: you go from mountains to meadows. We arrived at Quasquaea for our third stop. We stayed the the "Gîte l'’AGHIJA" (http://laghjaquasquara.wix.com/gitequasquara#!). It was a really friendly place to stay and the view from the balcony was wonderful. (10€/tent, 20€/room)

Our last stop took us to Col Saint-Georges where we stopped at the Bar-restaurant of the same name. It was 5€ to pitch our tent next to the refuge in front of the restaurant. It was a nice place to stay but it is a little noisy as the road is nearby.

After walking five days in the beautiful landscapes of Corsica, we finally saw the other side of the island, Ajaccio. Mare a mare center is a 7 days hike so we slightly changed the itinerary in order to fit it in our 5 days.

We arrived at 2 o'clock in the afternoon at camping EUROPE in AGNARELLU where we would stay the next 3 days. The first thing we did was drop everything, put our swimming suit and ran to the beach about 500m from the camping. The water was like they said emerald blue! Even though the water wasn't warm it felt so good to relax a bit after our five daysof walking.

The next days we went climbing in the area and had some diving initiation. This was a really great trip of outdoor adventure in wonderful landscapes and nature.

France : Paris seen from another angle

Some years ago, we had a friend who lived in the suburbs of Paris (and who now lives in Oslo) and wanted to show us Paris from another point of view. When we arrived he said I hope you have your walking shoes with because we're going to walk a lot, we will follow the walk "Paris debauched and shady"... this was... well let's say... intriguing.

We started in force at the "Père Lachaise" cimitery. This beautiful place makes you forget that you are in the middle of the city. This place hosts a lot of well-known people such as Chopin, Jim Morrison or Oscar Wilde.

 

We walked our way up to Montmartre going to all kind of small and narrow streets. When we arrived on top we could admire the gargoyles of the basilic of the "Sacré-Coeur". A little further you have an oustanding view over Paris.

Going back down we passed the world known Moulin Rouge with its legendary dansers.

 

We then went direction Le Louvre. We went through little passages, tunnels, narrow streerts where, according to our book, a lot of murders found place and prostitutes were running everywhere. A place I wouldn't want to be at night time at the beginning of the 19th century.

Of course we had to pass by the iconic cathedral of Notre-Dame and closed our tour at the Eifel tower at night time.

 

We liked to see Paris from a different angle and walking through the narrow less known streets was a real delight :)

United States : Philly, between history and cheesesteak

I stayed a couple of years ago near Philladelphia and I've always wanted to come back. I really like the northeast cities as you can see modern skyscappers and and small old houses charged of history. Philly is definitely one of them. Our first stop was of course the Liberty Bell and Independance Hall. This is the place where the United States were founded. When visiting Independance Hall you are immegered in that time period and feels like you were there. (http://www.nps.gov/inde/index.htm)

While being in US history, you can stop by Betsy Ross' house. She is thought to be the one that sewed the first US flag. (http://www.historicphiladelphia.org/betsy-ross-house/what-to-see/)

A little further you can visit the place where house of Benjamin Franklin used to stand. (http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org/site/sections/about_house/default.htm)

To finish our historic tour we walk to the Elfreth Alley (http://www.elfrethsalley.org/). This old street seems to come from another time. We you look around you see large roads and tall buildings but when you are in this narrow street you're back in time and can almost imagine the horses and carriages running aound.

Of course Philadelphia is not only for its history. You have to try the Philly cheesesteak at Jim's (http://www.jimssteaks.com/SouthStreet.html) or a soft pretzle.

Belgium : Sunny Sunday in Bruges (Brugge)

We woke up in the morning and saw the beautiful blue sky. What should we do today?... Well let's go to the shore and visit one of the most known city: Bruges.

We first went to take some fresh air at the shore and drove afterwards to Bruges. We didn't really visit all the interesting museums or navigate on the inner city canals. We've just enjoyed wandering in this beautiful city often called "Venice of the north". After walking all afternoon we sat down at a terrace on the main square  with a blanket around us.
Because, first of all, Bruges is also so romantic!

Italy : Citytrip in Rome

Citytrip in Rome

Always dreamed of visiting the "berceau" of Europe.

Belgium : Walk in the neighbourhood of Vezin

Walk in the neighborhood of Vezin. Nice walk on a sunday afternoon.

Belgium : One day at the beach

Even though the water is way to cold to swim in it is always a pleasant walk on the beach on the cold days of winter. We are the only ones on the beach and it gives us the opportunity to let the dogs run.