I was lucky enough last weekend to get a personal tour of how champagne is made with champagne maker Philippe Chochina (who makes a very tasty drop and swears it’s impossible to have a hangover with well-made champagne), and I …
Local French people just don’t understand my excitement when I visit a place like the Mer de Glace in Chamonix. The rounded ‘mountains’ of the Australian Alps are really no comparison to the breathtaking sight of this glacier and its …
Pictured is a big round bunker — a bit like a giant Camembert cheese, but made by the Germans rather than the French, and far less desirable to chance upon during World War II. This is Batterie Todt, on the …
On my last road trip, I came across this signpost in a lovely little village called Aignay-le-Duc. As you can see from the big photo, that’s actually three layers of sign posts, plus a couple facing a different direction. Want …
Beyond the big chicken of Bresse lies Fontenay Abbey. Close to Dijon, this abbey was a harsh place to live. The cold stone walls were built way back in 1118, and the heating was kept only to a minimum, with …
Here, you see a big chicken on a roundabout. The big chicken has several significations for me personally. Firstly, let me point out that the name brings back fond memories. We nicknamed a guy The Big Chicken years ago when …
I’ve just come back from a quick visit to a friend in Zermatt. What an experience. After an amazing drive through the Alps (including an odd roundabout stuck in the middle of a two-way road, without any other intersecting roads), …
After seeing the fresh snow at the end of June on the peaks of La Clusaz, some friends and I were motivated to do a road trip to Tignes for a day of skiing on the glacier. We arose at …
If you’ve ever tried to learn the French language, chances are you know that most words are pronounced differently to how they’re spelt; for starters, the last letter is normally left off. For instance, “un chocolat chaud” is actually pronounced, …
I love French roundabouts (as you may have noticed). They can be quite detailed, with scenes, gates and all sorts of themes. I had to stop and take some photos of this one, near the west coast of France, which …