Balance

Mont Saint-Michel, France

In the last few weeks we have been focusing on finding our balance. Traveling full-time is a full-time job and traveling in Europe is not easy! Around every corner hides a treasure of cultural or historical importance and everyone you meet suggests a new place to visit.

After a few weeks we have come to the conclusion that we cannot see everything and we have to pick the places that are important to us.

We drove up to Mont Saint-Michel, just because we had so often heard about the place and we had never seen it. From a distance it was just a dream; it looked like something straight out of the Efteling! We spent the next two days in Saint-Malo, where tall granite walls surround the old town and golden sand beaches beckon you to swim.

Obviously Myron, our sailor, loved it here in Saint-Malo. He enjoyed seeing all the sailboats, big and small.

While the children were swimming in the ocean bay, a group of opti sailors passed in the background. Myron wished he had met them at the beach as he really hopes to find a few opportunities in Europe to go sailing.

Bordeaux, in southwestern France, was the next place of significance we visited. A lovely city famous for its wine, but also a city with buildings dating back hundreds of years. The small treasure at the campsite was a lizard family in the tree trunk next to our camping spot, who brought us lots of joy!

Visiting Bilboa, Spain, has been one of the highlights of our trip so far. We absolutely loved this city! The old village with its picturesque streets, the historic marketplace Erribera merkatua where we ate the most delicious pintxos, and of course the Guggenheim Museum of modern and contemporary art, designed by a Canadian-born American architect (Frank Gehry). We did not visit any exhibition in the museum, as there was not one that peeked our interest, but the outside of the museum is worth to admire as well.

The Bizkaia Bridge is worth a mention here. It is located at the mouth of the Ibaizabal River and it is the first ferry bridge built in the world with a metal structure. It was inaugurated in July of 1893. These days it is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

It was so much fun to ride the ferry as a pedestrian.

On our way to Portugal, we spent a night in the medieval town of Carrión de los Condes, Spain. In the morning we walked on a medieval wall in the small town which is mostly known for the pilgrimage route that passes trough it.

There is so much history in these places!

We found a small motorhome-only campsite next to Parque Biológico de Gaia, near Porto, Portugal. A perk of staying at their site was free entrance to the park.

Porto, Portugal, was another beautiful city we were lucky to visit. With Gaia on the southside of the Douro River, it makes for a perfect combination of beautiful views and quaint city streets. While being in Porto, one has got to try francesinha for lunch :)

I found this cool setting on my Canon camera where I can take a picture using a water colouring effect! This is Porto and the Dom Luis I bridge, seen from the Monastery of Serra do Pilar, in Gaia.

We do not have a definite travel plan. We have an overview of the weeks we have in Europe and the places we like to visit, but we have no day-to-day itinerary. This allows us to really travel freely, which results in finding unexpected amazing places. Like Ávila, Spain; we were only looking for a bakery and ended up in this medieval town!

Another beauty was Medinaceli, Spain, on top of a mountain, where we found a free motorhome-only site for the night.

A few days ago we arrived in Barcelona. What an amazing place to be!

The Sagrada Família is really impressive and interesting. The fact that construction began in 1882 and 140 years later they are still working on Gaudí's design, is just unimaginable. The details are so impressive and make for a great "I spy with my little eye" game ;)

Obviously Myron loved Barcelona's harbour and we all enjoyed the beautiful squares, buildings, and market places.

One of the biggest surprises in the city was finding the monk parrakeets!

From Barcelona we followed the Mediterranean coastline north to Fleury in France.

We found a campsite with mainly cabins, occupied by the elderly of France. Every late-afternoon they provided us with free entertainment as they passionately played jeux-des-boules, for at least two hours straight.

Dipping our toes into the Mediterranean Sea was a great way to say goodbye to this southern part of Europe.