Author archive
2 July 2025
Chateau de Blois We packed up and left around 0800, telling the hotel that we were very disappointed that their aircon wasn’t working properly. Since we had missed Chateau the Blois last night, we drove into town to have a quick look. Parking was still free at this time, with charges starting at […]
1 July 2025
Bad start Today, we start a two-day road trip from Bordeaux to Le Mans via a short section of the Loire Valley. With the rental car booked for 0830, we set the alarm for 0630 and were out the door at 0730 bound for the airport, where the rates were far cheaper than from a […]
30 June 2025
Sightseeing fail #1 This morning, the hotel’s cheapest breakfast option at EUR2.50 (placarded inside the room door) tempted me. It comprised of a coffee and a pastry. It turned out to be EUR2.30 actually, but in retrospect it wasn’t such a good deal. A pastry across the road at the supermarket was EUR0.45 and I […]
29 June 2025
Going to Arcachon The alarm went off at 0715 but we fell asleep till 0845. We woke surprised at the time but the 1h time different towards the east must have contributed to it. We readied ourselves quickly before taking the bus to the train station for the 1005 train to Arcachon. Buying the tickets […]
28 June 2025
Departing Madeira We woke at 0715 and were out the door at 0820 after some breakfast and making sandwiches for the flight to Bordeaux. The car return went OK and we were dropped off at Funchal airport around 0900 for our 1030 Easyjet flight. It wasn’t a long wait as I killed time looking for […]
27 June 2025
Making our own circle line After breakfast in comfy room, equipped with a dining table, we headed out to explore Vienna by tram. We had read that it is possible to do somewhat of a circle line by combining trams 1, 2, 71 and D. We attempted to do that but the best views were […]
27 June 2025
Funchal We were even later today, starting at 1045. Today, we will explore Madeira’s main city of Funchal. I decided we would head to the furthest point of interest on the western end of the centre. That was the Christiano Ronaldo Museum. We paid EUR5 per person to enter and I immediately realised it was […]
26 June 2025
Levada dos Balcoes We had an even later start today at 1030. With good weather, we thought it would be best to do our little outdoor experience today at Levada dos Balcoes. Google Maps took us uphill towards the interior using the narrowest back streets instead of going downhill to join larger roads. To […]
25 June 2025
Southern Coast We had a leisurely start with breakfast of toast, using local fresh bread, supplied by our hosts. Today, the intention was to see one side of the island and maybe more, if time allows. We left at 1000, driving towards the west of the southern coast of the island. We made a wrong […]
24 June 2025
Leaving Vienna Today we have a 1505 Wizz Air flight from Vienna to Funchal, Madeira. We checked out of our hotel at 1030 and got to Vienna airport about 4h before our flight, spending just under 3h in the lounge. In the typical budget airline fashion, we were scanned through at the boarding gate then […]