Lyon and Avignon

We caught the train south through the French countryside, stopping at the beautiful and ancient Lyon and Avignon. Our days developed a routine; seduced by history and architecture during the day, resting then out for dinner, seduced by alfresco French cuisine and style in stone laneways in the warm evenings.

Lyon:

Avignon:

Paris

Paris was everything we expected and more. We stayed at this little boutique hotel, which was the perfect base for catching the metro or sitting downstairs watching the French and their world go by. Fresh baguettes, French style, stunning art and architecture.

At the time I blogged about Paris here.

Berlin

So little time to soak in this truly engaging city. From the confronting realities of the Berlin Wall to the cultural edginess, if there is only ever one German city I get to visit, I’m glad it was Berlin. Our friends Steph’ and Pieter hosted us and delivered us memorable food and ambiance. At the time I blogged about the Wall here.

20th wedding anniversary trip

Before we had even imagined we would own a caravan, let alone live in at as often as we do, we celebrated 20 years of marriage with a European holiday.

It was the stuff of dreams … four childless weeks and our first taste of a European holiday. We expected to enjoy France and love Switzerland. We loouuved France. Our first night was spent at the Melbourne Airport (then) Hilton, while Qantas fixed our plane … typically a bummer but when you’ve got a month and you get to hang out under 5 stars, we didn’t complain. Only downside was being robbed of half our time with Steph’ and Pieter in Berlin.

The posts that follow are short recollections with a smattering of photos ...