A gallery of some of the places that we’ve seen over the last year, through pet and house sitting. When we have more time, we’ll add previous years, there have been so many places. Some during sits, some en route or between sits. We love to travel, we love to stay put in a wonderful place too! For more images, check out Blue’s
Flickr stream, for side stories, check out the articles on Blue’s
website.
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Whenever we travel, this is who we leave behind. We love them all dearly and visit whenever in the UK. x
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Willow in her winter coat. Yes, she still has one, this time it was needed for a family event in the chilly Peak District, UK, for Mum & Dad's 60th wedding anniversary.
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Gwenver, Cornwall.Out hiking on the Cornish Coastal Path, in between surf sessions.
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Looking North along the Cornish coast. We used to walk Tangle here, Willow has run the Cornish Coastal Path.
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Looking down from Godrevy cliffs, Cornwall. Why we're so fond of the sea. Cornwall spoilt us, we want our sea blue green wherever we go now.
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One of our favourite cafes, Onshore, St. Ives, Cornwall. Great lunches!
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Where we surf. Godrevy and Gwithian Towans beaches. When in the UK, look for us here.
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We believe in Zen, in leading a spiritual life. We always smile when we see a Buddha. Saw this one in a little chalet we rented at Gwithian.
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Only in the streets of Brighton, England, could one find a 'Disco Buddha' such as this! Just had to snap it and share it!
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Bags packed, and ready to go. Where shall we go today?
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Coffee on the road. Road trip pitstop, Costa Coffee, UK.
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En route from family, to meet Willow in Brighton before we fly to Crete. We love all forms of travel and transport. Bring it on!
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On the train from Cornwall to Bristol airport for our Heraklion flight. First Class all the way. Our favourite train journey. Planning Crete on the train. Love travel!
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Coach booked from Brighton to Gatwick, a favourite departure routine. iPhone and M ticket at the ready. Bags packed.
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Every form of travel has it's drawbacks. 1.30am, London Gatwick, waiting for the flight to Chania. So worth it!
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We try not to sleep on the plane. What if we missed something? Flying over the Alps on a clear day remains one of the best flight moments. Often repeated.
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Flying out of Chania in 2009. Filled with memories. Wondering if we would be back. Our new friends told us we would. They were so right!
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Queueing for the Santander ferry, Plymouth. Wishing we were in one of these classic cars. Maybe next time.
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Another day, another ferry. This time, the MV Pont Aven, Britanny Ferries flagship, our favourite ship. Excited to be off to Spain and Portugal.
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The Pont Aven. Flagship of Brittany Ferries fleet, we just love to travel on the Pont Aven when crossing Biscay.
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On our way again. Leaving Portsmouth for France this time. A special town with many good memories.
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Don't look back! That way lies Plymouth. On the ferry from Plymouth to Santander, en route to the Algarve, Portugal.
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Spain or Portugal? En route to Portugal. Crossing the border from Spain. So many choices in a life of travel. Freedom to choose.
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Even a rainy day in Chania is brightened by the colourful streets and doorways. Blue can't keep the camera in her pocket!
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Looking across the rooftops of our temporary abode in Splantzia, we can see the mountains of Western Crete and plan our next hike.
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Planning our next trip out.
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Blue pulls out the iPhone to plan our first Cretan mountain trip of 2010. Drive up to Madharo then hike up to join the E4 trail.
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Google's eye view of our route. Technology helps us plan every step of the way, but still leaves room for adventure.
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Not far from the top of our first Crete 2010 hike, looking down and along the North coast of Crete to Georgiopouli and Rethymo.
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Willow clutches her freshly picked mountain tea with pride, off to share it with our friends. View of Souda Bay.
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No Cretan mountain trip would be the same without goats. Willow loves the smell of them!
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Another day, another exhibition review for Blue to do and write up. We love our life!
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Sunset is the perfect time for a walk around the old harbour in Chania, ending with a sit on the harbour wall, gazing and dreaming.
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Taking in the sunset on the old harbour wall, Chania, Crete.
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Taking in the sunset with Blue, on the old harbour wall, Chania, Crete.
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Peeping through the battered old wall of Chania harbour, there are some hidden views.
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Our favourite local swimming spot. Nea Chora has beautiful water, and the Greek swimmers are great company. A cloudy day for once.
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Visiting special friends in Vamos. Love their mountain view. Not spoilt at all by a storm, merely enhanced by the dramatic light!
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Our favourite daily swim of last year, Almyrida beach, east of Chania. We still make a weekly trip there for a swim now. Heaven is an ocean swim.
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It's easy to love the snow when you have these mountains to adore, a view from a sit in Vamos, Crete.
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This is one beautiful pool. It came along with the care of the beautiful Demelza dog, in Vamos, Crete.
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When it's not the pool, it's the ocean for us. The Aegean delivers yet again.
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Winter 2011 was late starting, but only really left us on 1 May 2011. Hooray for sunshine!
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Smile, don't look so serious Willow! You want them to book us don't you? An anniversary day out at the beach, Crete.
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Just one more coffee Willow, then we really must get back so I can get on with my work…
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Willow enjoying a glass of chilled water before her coffee at the beach cafe in Almyrida, Chania, Crete, Greece.
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Café Francoise, our favourite haunt in Almyrida. We blame Rosie & Sheila for this one. Have drunk way too many coffees here. Too many brownies too!
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Willow smiles, outside Mitzi's house in Plaka. Who wouldn't be smiling?
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Willow outside Mitzi's house in Plaka, ready for an evening stroll into the village for a glass of wine. It's Friday night!
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We loved roaming the streets of the old town area Ostuni, the 'White City' in Puglia, S. E. Italy, was a real delight, looking snappily dressed, as usual.
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Whenever we suited and booted for a stoll around the old town of Ostuni in Puglia, Italy, we felt so glamorous, like movie stars. There's something about Italy.
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The Blue. In Our favourite café haunt in Ostuni, Puglia, Italy. We just loved this place, the best cappuccinos in town, and ice cream to die for!
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Italy has some of the most beautiful clothes and clothes shops we have seen on our travels. This shop in Ostuni did not dissapoint.
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The alley ways of the old town of Ostuni are filled with memories of last winters wanderings. We'll be back one day.
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Hanging out in cafés after our Friday night shopping, taking in the sights as they pass us by. Italy.
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Ostuni night life came with temptations. Now looking for our next vehicle, Blue fancies one of these.
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Ostuni, otherwise known as 'The White City'. Lit up by the winter sun. Such a lovely old town.
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…and in those cobbled alleyways of Ostuni old town, you will stumble across small religious icons in unexpected places. Jesus truly is everywhere in Italy.
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Our favourite café hangout in Martina Franca, near Ostuni. Contemporary, trendy, stylish, wifi, great cakes, top cappuccinos.
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The trulli town of Alborobello, Italy, is always worth a visit for it's fascinating architectural heritage, but the cafés are where the fun is. Sip and chat.
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This particular café had the finest selection of hand made chocolates we had ever seen!
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Another Caffé Pink Lady moment, this time scooping pistachio icecream with espresso whilst the barman shakes a swift cocktail for another guest.
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Another Ostuni haunt of ours. Caffé Monna Lisa was a new café, set in a small rocky cave. Cosy, arty, friendly, hope it will be there next time!
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The café near the supermarket was our shopping day stop off. Cappuccino and a calzone for lunch. Colourful fun place!
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This favourite café of ours also happened to make the very best cappuccino in town, and it was certainly the most artful, check this one out!
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No one should visit Ostuni without dropping into Ricardo's bar. Atop the hill, above the cathedral, built in caves, it's incredible. Christmas eve.
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New Year 2010 in Italy was our finest New Year ever. With new Italian friends, the sky lit up with fireworks as we chatted of art, Warhol and Polaroid. Bubbly too of course!
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Italy inspired much art for Blue. The markets provided a great resource for her still life photography.
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As we looked down from the hill in Ostuni, across the kilometres of olive groves, we could see the masseria that we so lovingly cared for and called home for three months.
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On to Lagos, Algarve, Portugal. A place we often return to in between sits, renting an apartment with pool in nearby Luz.
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Walking around the old back streets of small but interesting town Lagos, Portugal, is peaceful and provides shade from the sun.
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The smaller shops of Lagos provide a real break from consumer culture of bigger towns and cities. Nice to look, nicer to walk and then hang out at a street café.
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A favourite haunt in Lagos was the marina. Secure parking, wonderful views, and all that we associate with marina life and boat culture, having lived at Brighton marina back n the 1990s.
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Over a cup of the finest Portuguese coffee, Willow enjoyed taking in the sun and the views at Lagos Marina, Algarve, Portugal.
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Now that's what I call and espresso. Another coffee moment in West Grill, Lagos marina.
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The monthly gypsy market in Lagos is always worth a visit. Buy fresh produce straight from the earth, from the hands that grew it.
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Lagos gipsy market possibly had the largest range of figs and dried figs available anywhere we have visited.
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The Centro Culturale in Lagos often provided us with our cultural input, this time, an exhibition of giant pinhole photographs that Blue was reviewing.
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Meia Praia beach in Lagos was one of regular swim / run locations. A short drive from Luz, south facing, peaceful in the early morning. Perfect.
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Another of our Lagos swimming haunts. Good for when you need a little shelter from the wind, or shade from the beating sun.
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The one and only. Chilling in the sun at the 'potato' beach in Lagos, in the Algarve, Portugal.
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The crystal waters at sunset in Praia da Luz, Algarve. Another daily swimming haunt of ours.
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This outdoor setting for an international school in Luz, Portugal provides a unique opportunity for it's students.
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In Praia da Luz, Algarve, Baptista was the go to supermarket. All the very finest foods and beverages. Around the corner, Baptista Mercado served snacks, juices and wine, from fresh market produce.
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Not renowned for our sightseeing, the little church with it's golden clad interior in Praia da Luz is a must see for any visitor.
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From the outside, the little church, down near the sea, looks humble enough, a simple exterior. Inside it hides the wealth of gold leaf everywhere. Open the door and the place glows!
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Carrapateira, west coast of the Algarve. Dreaming of Morocco, with this restaurant for inspiration.
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Another coffee moment, this time in the little square in the village of Carrapateira, en route to a surf at Amado. Algarve, Portugal.
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Cheers! Sticking to the café solo or the coffee with milk in Portugal, where we never did find a proper cappuccino.
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This Italian café in Sagres, western Algarve, made a fine attempt at a pretty cappuccino, but the Italians wouldn't buy it!
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The Mareta Beach Hotel in Sagres, Algarve, is a beautiful contemporary place to stay. Sagres has a few hidden gems. A good place to explore.
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The headland at Mareta beach, Sagres. Our most westerly swims [and surfs] in Europe were done here. Pristine waters.
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Cabo de Saõ Vicente, Sagres. Known to explorer and occasional pirate, Francis Drake. Known to the Romans as the 'End of the World', where the waters boiled at sunset.
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The retail park in Portimaõ is where you will need to go to shop for anything significant in western Algarve. More cafés than you can shake a stick at. Leave time for lunch.
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Looking across the car park whilst taking in a little light lunch in the shade at Portimaõ retail park. Sports shopping, opticians, supermarket, garden centres, electrical and office supplies, it's all there.
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En route to Peniche, in the Zen bus, our old camper van, now parted, we often pulled up and made an espresso in the sun.
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Now that's what we call a beach café! Time for a quick cuppa aprés surf? Sure is!
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Wonderful surfy café at Baleal beach, Peniche, west coast of Portugal. Peniche has to be on every surfer's tour of Europe. We've been tempted to live there.
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This particular café had terrible coffee but great internet, so became Blue's makeshift office on occasions.
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What we come for. Baleal beach at Peniche has to be our favourite wave, and we've surfed a few in the 20 years we've been surfing.
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Peniche, Portugal. Land of fish and fishermen. The boatyard.
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Willow shopping for veggies [left of picture]. We love to shop at local and regional markets for fresh produce. Peniche in Portugal has one of the best indoor markets.
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Gossiping ladies serving cakes from their lovely stall at Peniche indoor market. Great cakes, we've nibbled a few!
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About to say our favourite market, but there have been so many. Our 'favourite' market in Peniche. Fresh fruit.
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Looking down on the Saturday morning hubub of the indoor market hall, Peniche Portugal. A riot of colour and flavour. Bags filled.
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Gypsies sit at the entrance to the Saturday market at Peniche municipal market hall, trading horses and stories.
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Wandering around the small, but pretty little island village of Baleal, Peniche. Beautiful tiled religious art on many homes here.
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Bolo de Arroz. Blue's favourite cake in the whole of Portugal, often shared with Willow. We would never eat a whole cake alone!
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The pretty seaside village of Porto Covo is a place we've stopped over en route from Portugal to Spain a few times. This time, it was for a spot of wild camping in the Zen bus.
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The Zen bus. Blue is currently writing a magazine article and some stories about our adventures driving the entire coast of Europe in her. Memories to savour. Sold her in 2010.
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If you're ever near the northern border of Portugal, a stop over at the unassuming town of Praia da Ancora is a treat. Chapels abound.
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Aguillera beach, on the Noia peninsula, Galicia, Spain. Even on a windy day, looking gorgeous in shades of blue and turquoise.
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En route to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, checking out the street map for our overnight accommodation. We always end up staying longer here than planned.
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Pilgrims collapse for rest outside the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. We have crossed paths with the way of Santiago many times, and may yet complete the pilgrimage ourselves.
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Never wanting to miss a market, this one at Santiago is in the old medieval market place. Worth a visit for the architecture as well as the food and the people.
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Heading north east across Galicia, we were forced to do a late overnight stop in Viveiro. The World Cup was on, and football fever was in town. Blue got a story out of that.
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Our first mountain hike in the Picos, Cantabria, Spain. What a gorgeous day it was. A short exploratory walk turned into a 5 hour hike!
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More beauty at altitude in Cantabria. We promised ourselves we'd do this every time we drove through to the South of Spain.
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Oh how we fell in love with mountains all over again here in the fabulous Picos de Europa, Cantabria, Northern Spain.
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The high craggy peaks of the Picos gave us a wonderful reintroduction to hiking and mountain running.
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Willow tops out our breakfast hike in the Picos. We aimed higher in altitude each day, stopping for a picnic breakfast of bread, cheese and fruit at our highest point.
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Another mountain breakfast, another great view.
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Las Arenas, Picos de Europa, Cantabria, Spain. Colourful houses, beautiful colourful houses here, between Las Arenas and Avin.
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Avin, Picos de Europa, Cantabria, Spain. Colourful houses, beautiful colourful houses here, between Las Arenas and Avin.
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Cantabria, Spain. Not just pretty houses here. Even this hydroelectric pool had en electric turquoise colour, catching our eye.
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Our last bag of pimientos de Padron, grown, picked and bought in Padron. We brought them with us, and cooked up a storm in our outdoor kitchen here, high in the mountains.
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Crossing the border into France, we entered via the Basque country. First port of call, another old favourite of ours, Hendaye. A quiet coastal town. Good surf when it's on.
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Next stop, Biarritz, France. Surf haven and home of many casinos. Surf all the way for us. Looking across to the Pyrenées here.
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This chocolatier & patissier in Biarritz, South West France, is one of many fine patisseries here in Biarritz. Lots of naughty foods for us!
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Blue, Cauterets, Pyrenées, France. Topping out our biggest Pyrenées hike. 10.5km hike up from 800m to 2km altitude, then mountain running the entire 10.5km all the way back down again!
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Willow, also topping out our Cirque du Lys climb, at Lac d'Ilhou. What a day we had, totally hooked on mountain running, planning more like this.
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Hikes and climbs in the Pyrenées are always worth it. Check out this beautiful waterfall.
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Looking back down the valley towards Cauterets, from the Cirque du Lys, on the way back down from our marathon 21km hike / run in the Pyrenées mountains.
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In the quirky French Pyrenées mountain town of Laruns, is this quaint little retro cinema, which we regretfully never went into, but next time…
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The architecture in Laruns, Pyrenées, France, was fascinating, very rural, many houses had stables at ground level, now converted to living accommodation.
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The pilgrims' way appears across our path yet again, this time in Laruns, in the Pyrenées. Every time this little shell sign appears in our sight, we promise we'll do the path.
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On to the Camargue, heading South to a house sit in La Crau, near Hyeres. Enjoying the journey so much. Loving the Spanish flavour we find in the Camargue.
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Saintes Maries de la Mer, Camargue, France. Market day. French markets have some wonderful precious goodies, here, the olives, herbs, salt and rice were the regional goodies.
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Saintes Maries de la Mer, France. Willow and I taking a break after the market tour. At Bar des Poetes, a cute bookish place, loved it!
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We finally made the Med! Here we are, blue skies, 37ºC, beaches packed, wondering what all the fuss is about! But it's a beach, and we can swim, so who cares?
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South of France. A weary beach seller totes his baguettes and various snacks to sunbathing tourists who are too hot to eat. Ah well…
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Next stop, La Crau, near Hyeres, South East France.
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Landed. We have finally made our journey from Praia da Luz, Algarve, around the coast of Portugal & Spain, South through France. For some very special clients and their pets.
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Blue, out taking in a sunset stroll with Willow. Heading North again, on our way back through France, to the UK for family time, our epic road trip continues…
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Willow, thrilled to be taking in another beautiful sunset walk with Blue. La Rochelle, West coast of France.
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The sunset we had this September evening in La Rochelle, on the West Coast of France, was one of the best, ever. Look at those colours!
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Okay. France, you have us here. You have the best sunsets. Period. Heavenly bag of colours spilt across the sky.
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No traveller lives a day without a change of plan. Halfway North, a client appealed to us to sit for her for a week as emergency cover. We hit Brittany and ran her gites and petting farm for her.
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Blue's next car might be a big white jeep, but Willow has taken a fancy to Bentleys. Here we are, dreaming up the future…
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Mont St. Michel, Brittany. House sitting the gites came with the bonus of proximity to Le Mont. Here we are celebrating our anniversary. We celebrate it every single month!
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Blue, clearly having a wonderful day out, wandering the alleyways of Mont St. Michel with Willow.
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Willow just loving her day out, dreaming of Bentleys, praying for the sun to come back out. Shall we head South again?
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Not that we're total foodies, but we can't resist a good market, or a mountain of fresh fruit and veg. Willow loved the plums in Northern France.
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For Blue, it's figs that do it every time. French figs, Greek figs, Portuguese figs, Italian figs. This one is a precious dark Turkish fig. Breakfast beckons.
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We love a walk on the beach. Here, walking at Tarifa, where we can gaze across at Morocco and dream of Africa.
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We climbed a mountain on Christmas Day to visit this chapel near Tarifa, Spain.
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When we got to that chapel, it was so worth the climb. Tarifa, Spain.
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We've driven up mountains and found stupas in Malaga, Spain.
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We've picked figs everywhere.
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We've scavenged for pine nuts in France.
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We've picked walnuts in England, France and Crete.
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We've picked and roasted chestnuts to our hearts' content.
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If you have a spot like this for our breakfast, we'll be right over! Dorset, England.
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We'll look after the house for you. Brittany, France.
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We'll tend the garden whilst you're away. Brittany, France.
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We'll even look after you Lamborghini for you whilst you're away! Brittany, France.
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Where do you want to go today? Morocco? A planning session in the bookstore café, as we dream up a new adventure…
Why not add your home and pets to our collection of memories? Book us for your next holiday or business trip now. We can take your booking as far in advance as you wish. Or contact us for last minute cover, we might just be able to help.
