Local Villages & then on to Saint-Martial-Viveyrol, Dordogne – Day 13

Commune in France

Les Plus Beaux Villages de France – The Most Beautiful Villages in France Tour

Monday 1st of May – ‘Days 13′.

We woke to another rainy overcast day and over breakfast, we discussed what we would do for the day since the weather was so dismal. We knew that today was a public holiday but weren’t sure if anything would be open. We’d planned to visit my cousin at some point during our time in Dordogne and if she agreed, today might be the best time to visit. I gave her a call to see if she’d be OK with that and she kindly said yes.

We packed an overnight bag and decided we’d take a drive around some of the local towns and villages before setting off to my cousins. We didn’t think it was fair to dash up to theirs after giving them literally no time to prepare for our arrival.

Below are a few of the towns and villages we had a quick nosy at before setting off up to my cousins’ place. Unfortunately, I can find hardly any photos for this day. I’m not sure if I didn’t take any because it was raining so much or if they’re lost somewhere amongst the thousands on our TeraStation, or maybe I’ve somehow deleted them.

Below is a Google Maps link with the route we took to see the following towns and villages. Click on the image to take you to Google Maps:

Campagne was very small and there was some sort of event going on so we didn’t get too close but I do remember it having a lovely chateau not too far from the road. Château de Campagne

Le Bugue was a busy, bustling little market town and one we wanted to come back to if we got the time. We couldn’t find anywhere to park which was probably due to it being a bank holiday. Le Bugue

Limeuil looked very old. The village was another one on the Most Beautiful Villages in France list. It looked like it had some really lovely medieval touches but sadly we could only do what came to be called a ‘guerilla photography’ stop from a distance but for some reason, I can’t find any photos of it amongst the thousands that I took on this trip. Limeuil

Le Buisson-de-Cadouin, notable for its 14th-century abbey, Cadouin had a lovely golden tone to its buildings which is so characteristic of this beautiful part of France. We had a little wander around but again I don’t have any photos, hence the link to Google Maps. Le Buisson-de-Cadouin

Belvès was another pretty-looking village, again on the Most Beautiful Villages in France list. We were intrigued and put it on the list of villages we’d like to come back to. By the time we arrived here, the rain was very heavy. We had a whistle-stop and very wet tour of this village but we had to dash back to our apartment when Amanda remembered that she’d left the coffee pot on. Oops! Belvès

I have no idea where these few photos were taken but they’re all I could find for this day. 😦

We were very bedraggled looking by the time we got back to our apartment, so I jumped in the shower to try to make myself somewhat presentable for meeting my cousin and her husband who I hadn’t seen in over a decade.

Once we were all sorted we set off north to Diane and Peter’s place, which according to Google Maps was going to take us approximately 2 hours.

My cousin and her husband moved over full-time from the U.K. to the Dordogne 7 years prior to our visit having bought their property back in 2003. They’d been slowly renovating it ever since.

Peter continues to work as a Quantity Surveyor and Diane works alongside him. They also own and run a small caravan park and chambre d’hôte in the Périgord vert region of the Dordogne that is now up for sale. I’ll be doing a separate post about their lovely property soon. Highthorn at Haute Epine Facebook Page Haute Epine Website

We found the property with no problem at all and they quickly came to the electric gate to let us in. They both looked amazing and seemed genuinely pleased to see us. Their property was lovely, homely, and quite old. Their 2 dogs ran to greet us too. Sidney was a tad bonkers but very sweet and the other dog was called Bella (I think) and much more timid but equally lovely. They also had a couple of cats but I can’t remember their names.

We were given the Grand Tour and the place was really lovely, they’d obviously worked extremely hard to bring this beautiful property back to life.

Peter served us coffee and cocktails, while Diana cooked us a lovely dinner of duck, roast potatoes, and peas. We had a wonderful evening chatting and catching up and I really wish we’d had longer with them.

After a good sleep and a quick breakfast, we set off back to our accommodation in Saint-Vincent-de-Cosse.

In my next post, I’ll be showing you more of Diana and Peter’s property but here’s a little taster. 🙂

Click on the image to take you to the Highthorn at Haute Epine Facebook Page. Barn and outdoor restaurant at Highthorn, Haute Epine, St Martial Viveyrols, Riberac, France. Photo courtesy of my cousin, Diane.

All photos and videos are the property of myself and Amanda unless otherwise stated.

Thanks for visiting.

Touch of Cinnamon

Les Clos des Rives, Dordogne – Accommodation for 1 Week – Days 11 & 12

Les Clos des Rives, Dordogne – It’s great Accommodation on the Dordogne River. The above photo is from their website. To visit their website, please click on the image above.

Les Plus Beaux Villages de France – The Most Beautiful Villages in France Tour

In this post, I’m going to cover the end of Saturday the 29th & Sunday the 30th of April 2017 – so ‘Days 11 & 12′.

Saturday the 29th of April – Day 11 Cont…

We took almost the entire day to travel from Corn in the Lot Department over to our new accommodation, ‘Les Clos des Rives in Saint-Vincent-de-Cosse in the Dordogne. On our way, we visited a number of pretty towns and villages that were all renowned for their beauty (see prior posts). We could have done the journey in a fraction of the time had we gone directly from one place to the other, but we were glad we got to see some truly special locations that we would have otherwise missed. Finally, before reaching our accommodation, we stocked up with groceries and a few bottles of wine for the week.

The following image is a screenshot of our route from our accommodation in Corn to our accommodation in Saint-Vincent-de-Cosse, Dordogne. Click on the image to take you to Google Maps.

Our Accommodation – Les Clos des Rives, Dordogne.

Les Clos des Rives sat on generous grounds on the banks of the Dordogne River. Our self-catering ground-floor 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment (suitable for those with disabilities), was clean, spacious and had beautiful, serene views overlooking the river. The interior was simple but comfortable and a bit of a bargain at €360.50 for the week. I’m not sure what the price would be for next May (2024) to give you a like-for-like price, but for this October it’s €495 for the week, in that same apartment. That’s still really good for a property that sleeps 6 adults and is in such a good location.

We actually booked the accommodation via Booking.com but if I were to go again, I’d probably book directly with them.

We had been a little bit concerned on the approach as we’d passed some run-down, disused buildings that did nothing for first impressions but once we were at the property we were very happy and the lovely lady that checked us in couldn’t have been more helpful and kind, I just wish I could remember her name. The run-down buildings can’t be seen from the apartment and the whole setting is beautiful.

After settling in, we made chilli for dinner and sat outside to eat while taking in the views across the river, and listening to the crickets and birds. We managed a couple of glasses of wine before turning in for the night. Utter bliss.

As we’d been on the go non-stop since arriving in France, this week we thought we’d take it a bit slower. We wanted to unwind and rest up. This was the first night we got to sleep in separate bedrooms so we had an early night and decided that we’d just relax the following day. If the weather was kind to us we’d also be visiting the pool.

The following photos are ones I took on our arrival at the accommodation.

The following photos are from their website because I never thought to take any photos inside the property. Doh! To go to their website, please click on the initial photo at the head of this post.

There isn’t a photo of it, but there was also a second bathroom with a bath and overhead shower, plus a separate toilet. There was a large cupboard fitted out with a washing machine, iron & ironing board etc, this was great after being on the road for 2 weeks we managed to get all our washing done. Plus the apartment had aircon, a fully fitted kitchen, a sofa-bed and a tv in the living room area. The internet was a bit sketchy but we got by. Outside we had our own private dining space with a table and chairs, there was also a communal pool, BBQ, various seating options, sun loungers, table tennis, and a place next door where you could hire canoes. Not bad for €360.50 for the week. You really couldn’t ask for more…well, maybe a couple of additional comfy chairs in the living room, especially if a group of 6 were to rent the place.

We quickly came to realise that this property was very well situated for visiting all the main towns, villages and tourist sites in the area. I would definitely recommend this property to anyone looking for somewhere to stay. Unless something has changed in the last 6 years, you will need a car to get around though.

Sunday the 30th of April – Day 12

Today was a rest day. We were both wrecked, especially me. I’d done the majority of the driving up to this point and Amanda had done a lot of dashing around the locations I couldn’t do, taking pics and videos for us both, so it evened itself out.

Today I was going to keep my legs up as much as possible and try to give the swelling a chance to go down.

I woke around 7 am but not hearing any movement from Amanda, I drifted back off to sleep until my phone buzzed, waking me. I chatted with a friend for a while before getting up and deciding what we were having for breakfast. Today we had fresh crusty bread with pate, and for afters, we had strawberries with thick coconut yoghurt. Delicious.

The weather was nice enough in the morning but not quite sunbathing weather so I took myself back off to bed to read and rest my legs. I pretty much slept for most of the day, getting up around 4 pm when my tummy was rumbling.

Amanda had spent the day reading, filling out her journal, and chatting with her family and friends.

That evening we ate leftover chilli in wraps with salad and had a lovely big piece of cream cake for afters. Yum!

The Internet wasn’t the best but I did manage to upload a few pics to Facebook for my family to see. I didn’t dare try to load videos as the last lot had taken over 12 hours. 😀

The weather ended up being a mixed bag, we’d had sun but also thunder and rain. The rest of the week didn’t look to be much better which was a bit frustrating as I was hoping to get to use the pool. By the time evening came around the weather was calmer. We spent the evening sitting beside the river chatting and putting the world to rights. We had a few glasses of wine and picked at the selection of yummy French goodies. It was the perfect way to end the day.

All photos and videos are the property of myself and Amanda unless otherwise stated.

Thanks for visiting.

Touch of Cinnamon

Curemonte, France – Day 11 Cont…

Amanda in Curemonte, Lot department, France – April 2017
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France – The Most Beautiful Villages in France Tour

Saturday the 29th of April 2017 and ‘Day 11′ Cont…

Curemonte was a hilltop sprawl which we thought might be inaccessible with a car but we were once again wrong and able to park in the heart of the village and take a slow amble around, albeit with one of the windows of the car left open and ALL our belongings, including passports, credit cards, and money, inside. We did have the car key though so at least that was safe…oops! I blame Amanda, it was her window that was down. 😀

We both loved Curemonte and it’ll be on my list of villages to revisit when I return. Amanda has actually been back since our trip and revisited many of the towns and villages with her husband.

Our photos don’t do any of these towns and village justice, especially in a place like this where the village is probably better seen from above rather than right up against the huge walls of these magnificent buildings.

Today’s weather had been perfect and made these already beautiful villages that bit more special. The lovely blue skies had given them a wonderful backdrop.

During our time in France from mid-April to the 8th of May most of the daytime temperatures had been in the high teens right up to a high of 28 degrees. During the night it had been as low as -1 degrees with a light covering of frost but overall the weather was great.

Curemonte, France – Video by Corrèze Tourisme

Collonges-la-Rouge & Tureene

There were a couple of villages, Collonges-la-Rouge and Turenne that we’d hoped to visit but we were running out of time and parking wasn’t easily found, especially in Collonges-La-Rouge which seemed to be hosting some sort of event, plus there was a wedding on. The photos online looked really lovely so we were pretty bummed that we couldn’t take a look.

Collonges-la-Rouge was formed from the local red stone. This small town looked very different from anything we’d seen so far but because it was extremely busy we could only drive by it, kicking ourselves for not realising it would be packed as it was a Saturday afternoon on a bank holiday weekend. I will definitely be coming back here.

As we drove away, we were delayed by a red wedding, not the Game of Thrones type but one where the guests were all dressed in red. The bride wore white of course, though Amanda did comment that her dress made her look like a shuttlecock which made me laugh, she’s such a witch. 😀

Collonges-la-Rouge – video by Walk In France

Turenne

What can I say, again it looked lovely, but we could only see it from a distance. Amanda had a little wander to the start of the village but said it was very steep so no good for me. She also commented that it felt a bit Hogwortesque but it definitely looked like another beautiful village. There are so many towns and villages that we’re going to have to go back to, great excuse. 😀

Turenne, Corrèze department, France – April 2017

All photos and videos are the property of myself and Amanda unless otherwise stated.

Thanks for visiting.

Touch of Cinnamon

Carennac, France – Day 11 Cont…

Carennac, Lot Department, France – April 2017
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France – The Most Beautiful Villages in France Tour

Saturday the 29th of April 2017 and ‘Day 11′ Cont…

Carnennac is a medieval village full of beautiful architecture. The Iglesia prioral de San Pedro de church with its ornately carved portal/arched entryway is stunning.

We parked up, possibly illegally, in the shadow of the Château des Doyens, and from the minute we drove in I knew I wanted to push myself and take at least a little glimpse of this pretty village and I’m so glad I did. We were short on time because of the agreed check-in time for our next accommodation but it was worth every second and it’s definitely worth a second visit…it’s very pretty. Carennac village

I’m sorry my posts aren’t very detailed, I’ve forgotten so much but I still wanted to post what I did have. I may come back and fill in more details at some point.

All photos and videos are the property of myself and Amanda unless otherwise stated.

Thanks for visiting.

Touch of Cinnamon

Cardaillac, Lacapelle-Marival, Assier, France – Day 10 Cont…

Château de Lacapelle-Marival in Lacapelle-Marival, in the Lot département of France – April 2017.
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France – The Most Beautiful Villages in France Tour

Friday the 28th of April 2017 and ‘Day 10 Cont…

It gets a little confusing for me for the rest of this day. I’m unsure which photos go with which village. I know that after Figeac we visited Cardaillac, Lacapelle-Marival, and Assier but I hadn’t got around to editing my photos, not that there were very many for the remainder of this day but now I’m not 100% confident which photos go with which village.

I do have some notes that we made that evening about our day so I’ll type those out and then add the photos that I think go with the villages we visited after Figeac.

Cardaillac

We drove through the main street which was pretty and accessible by car. We were looking for somewhere to park when we stumbled upon the medieval village.

A large, sem-ruined fort, not a chateau, a proper fort with ramparts surrounding the tiny but mainly untouched village.

The houses were insanely old and should be in glass boxes in a museum, and yet they were lived in.

Amanda had the pleasure of watching an elderly lady carefully tending her garden before hobbling back into her, no doubt very age-unfriendly but incredibly beautiful and quaint cottage.

I’ll put the photos here and then continue with the information from my journal about the remainder of the pretty villages.

Lacapelle-Marival

The village here seemed quite modern in comparison to some we had visited but the highlight was the amazing chateau, it was pure Disney.

Assier

This was a very pleasant surprise. Driving home we spotted an amazing church practically a cathedral, and went into the village looking for a place to park. We happened to fall upon a gorgeous 16th-century chateau. It was very different from anything we had seen so far and unfortunately, it was closed so we could only see a part of it, but what we could see was truly beautiful.

What was left of the day was spent relaxing back at the gite. I spent some of the evening, marking Amanda’s journal and making a few alterations. Ok, I cheated and used her journal to help me remember and basically copied everything she’d written. 😀

All photos and videos are the property of myself and Amanda unless otherwise stated.

Thanks for visiting.

Touch of Cinnamon

Various Towns & Villages, France – Day 9 Cont…

Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, France – April 2017
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France – The Most Beautiful Villages in France Tour

Thursday the 27th of April 2017 and ‘Day 9′ Cont…

We visited so many towns and villages but I couldn’t walk so I only saw most of them from a distance and to be honest, I can’t remember which photos go with which village anymore. There’s a good chance I’ll post photos out of sync and maybe they’re even from the next leg of our trip but I’ll pop a few pics in here and name a few of the villages I know that we passed through. Some we stopped at but some we just drove through.

The names of towns and villages I know for sure that we passed through:

Caylus, Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, Najac, Lagarde Viaur, Villefranche-de-Rouergue, Martiel and Gaillac.

Below are the very brief notes from my travel journey about the various locations we visited on this leg of the tour. Unfortunately, most of my memories of them are lost to time so I can’t really elaborate further but here goes…

Caylas: A lively centrepiece church but very little else…I feel sure that it’s far better than this, so forgive me. I was copying from Amanda’s journal so we’ll blame her. 😀

Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val: A fairly large town with lots of winding streets with very old buildings. We chose not to stop as it was very busy with loads of traffic, so we took a few shots from across the river looking back at the town. See the main photo a the top of this post.

Najac: I’d had high expectations of Najac but I was underwhelmed. Again, this was probably due to being in so much pain and the weather not being great. Najac is dark and medieval with a grand cathedral but it’s very high up and seemed to have limited access and parking. We did manage to park at the top of the town and had a quick look around before dashing into a cafe for a drink and a loo stop, and to avoid the weather.

Lagarde Viaur: A minor SAT-NAV setback meant that we nearly missed this place but I’m so glad we didn’t. It’s a sprawling, hillside village with an ancient stone bridge, and wide river and valley views.

Villefranche-de-Rouergue: Another town I was looking forward to seeing because I knew it had lots to offer but it was far too busy to attempt to navigate or park. Instead, we visited a Carrefour for food and petrol. I will be back one day though. 😀

Martiel: I just have ‘Meh!’ written. :O Oh Amanda! *Shakes head*

Gaillac: Very small, barely half a dozen houses, one of which was an occupied Chateau. We saw several kites circulating the valley as we wandered along its short street.

One other very notable point from this day was our journey down/up probably the worst road EVER. Barely a car width wide. We couldn’t work out if it was unfinished or if it had simply been washed away, either way, it was seriously dodgy with rocks strewn everywhere like a dry riverbed. There were bits of fallen trees partially blocking our path, and potholes big enough to hide a small chateau in. It was both terrifying and hilarious. We emerged intact though and miraculously, so did the car. Oh the joys of SAT-NAV!

Photo from the Internet and altered to give you an idea of what the road was like. No Joke! 😀

All photos and videos are the property of myself and Amanda unless otherwise stated.

Thanks for visiting.

Touch of Cinnamon

Gites de Combarel – Accommodation for 3 Nights – Day 8 Cont…

View from our gite ‘Cottage La Grangette’, at Gites de Combarel, Corn, France – April 2017
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France – The Most Beautiful Villages in France Tour

Wednesday 26th April 2017 and ‘Day 8′ of our travels cont…

After leaving Rocamadour we started the short 45 minutes drive to Corn, in the Lot Department of France.

On the way, we picked up food supplies as this accommodation had a kitchen and we were looking forward to cooking for ourselves.

We stayed in a gite complex near Corn called Gites de Combarel. This was our base for the next 3 nights. The complex consisted of a main farmhouse where the hosts lived and three smaller stone buildings that had been converted into gites. We stayed in Cottage La Grangette. The three nights cost us €234.00 and it was worth every penny.

The Gite and its host were great. The property was a lovely mixture of an old building with new styling and facilities. The property was on two floors. The entrance was on the ground floor and comprised a combined living/dining area and a fully fitted modern kitchen. A set of stairs took you down to the lower-ground floor where the bedroom and lovely bathroom were situated. Outside the bedroom door, there was a little patio and table and chairs overlooking the beautiful countryside and shared pool, in the far distance. Unfortunately, the pool wasn’t open this early in the year and given that we had frost each morning, it was for the best. 😀

Daniel and Martine, the hosts at Gites de Combarel were absolutely lovely and made us feel very welcome. The area where you park is close to their property and the farm buildings. It’s a little walk along a path to the gite. It would be nice to know if they’re still the owners as it would be somewhere I’d like to go back to.

Below are videos from in and around our gite ‘Cottage La Grangette’ at Gites de Combarel, Corn, France.

All photos and videos are the property of myself and Amanda unless otherwise specified.

Thanks for visiting.

Touch of Cinnamon

Chateau de la Falque – Accommodation for 3 Nights

The inner courtyard leading to our room.   Photo by Amanda.
Chateau de la Falque in Saint-Geniez-dʼOlt, France – Our Accommodation for 3 Nights.

Chateau de la Falque in Saint-Geniez-dʼOlt, France.  Photos by Touch of Cinnamon.

Our Accommodation from Saturday 22nd to Tuesday 25th April 2017.

After Belcastel we took a fairly long and, as it turned out, eventful journey to our next accommodation.  A minor missed turning meant that we ended up travelling through the beautiful, historic Sainte-Eulalie-d’Olt, the next town along from where we were staying.

Relais du Silence -Chateau de la Falque in Saint-Geniez-dʼOlt, France.
Photo by Touch of Cinnamon.

Unfortunately, I was the one driving and had the unenviable task of trying to navigate (using the spiteful wench of a sat nav) through the smallest of cobbled streets.  She (sat nav) seemed to think that roads, a mere hand-span wider than our vehicle, are perfectly passable.  These narrow two-way streets often ended in a 90-degree turn on to yet another narrow street.  Narrow roads don’t normally bother me when I’m driving in Ireland, but in France, I found them nerve-racking, maybe because I was driving an unfamiliar hire car and didn’t want to lose my deposit!?  To both our amazement, we managed to squeeze through and were heartily pleased when we arrived at our next accommodation, ‘Chateau de la Falque’ in Saint-Geniez-d’Olt.

A taste of the narrow, two-way streets I had to drive through in Sainte-Eulalie-d’Olt, France.   Images lifted from Google Maps.

 Chateau de la Falque in Saint-Geniez-d’Olt, France. 

View from where we parked. You walk under the stone archway to get to the courtyard and our room.   Photo by Touch of Cinnamon.
Chateau de la Falque in Saint-Geniez-dʼOlt, France.

Nestled between Saint-Geniez-d’Olt and Sainte-Eulalie-d’Olt, we seemed to have this beautiful, golden spa hotel pretty much to ourselves!  I’d have like to have learned more about the property but my French is none existent so I couldn’t ask the French-speaking receptionist for information but on my return, I spotted the following bit of info.

“Occupying a stone convent dating from the 17th century, this refined boutique hotel sits on 5 acres of parkland. It’s 1.7 km from Saint-Geniez-d’Olt village and 5.3 km from Parc naturel régional des Grands Causses.

A spa features a sauna, a whirlpool and a steam room, plus massages and treatments. There’s also a quaint courtyard and a chapel. ” 

The convent and its small complex of surrounding buildings were beautifully restored and walking through the stone archway to the inner courtyard made me feel very privileged.

Relais du Silence – Chateau de la Falque in Saint-Geniez-dʼOlt, France.   This image is the property of the hotel.
Click on the image for their website.

The above image and the next two photos below are from the accommodations own website.  If you click on any of these images, they’ll take you directly to their website.

The Entrance  & our Bedroom.    These images are the property of the hotel.
Click on the image to visit the China Junior Bedroom on their website.

Our bedroom and bathroom.   These images are the property of the hotel.
Click on the image to visit China Junior Bedroom on their website.

The room was larger than expected and decorated in a pseudo-Chinese style with a great bathroom and the added bonus of a seating area.  As we were on a tight budget we used to pull the table over to the couch to eat breakfast and make up our packed-lunches before leaving for the day.  Living the high life, eh?  😀

The style of the room wasn’t really to my taste but it was large, clean and very comfortable for our three-night stay.   I only took a few snaps from inside the room but they were blurry, hence me using the hotels own photos.

Our room is the first door on the Left. Photo by Touch of Cinnamon.
Relais du Silence -Chateau de la Falque in Saint-Geniez-dʼOlt, France.

The exterior of the building was definitely to my liking. It really was beautiful and a pleasure to return to at the end of a tiring day’s travels.  At night it looked particularly stunning and if we hadn’t been so tired each night, we’d have sat out in the inner courtyard with a bottle of red, but all we wanted to do when we got back, was sleep.

The inner courtyard to the rooms at night.  Photo by Touch of Cinnamon.
Relais du Silence -Chateau de la Falque in Saint-Geniez-dʼOlt, France.

Views looking over the grounds and courtyard at night.  Photos by Touch of Cinnamon.
Relais du Silence -Chateau de la Falque in Saint-Geniez-dʼOlt, France.

We were surrounded by fields but only a short drive away from two towns.  There was an Intermarché with a petrol station within 5 minutes drive.

Each morning we woke to the sound of cow bells as the cattle came in for milking and in the evenings we were serenaded to sleep by the soothing mating calls of crickets. Perfect!

As for the town of Saint-Geniez-d’Olt, neither of us were particularly enamoured by it but in all fairness, we had been spoiled by some of the places we’d been lucky enough to visit prior to arriving here.  Having said that, the accommodation was wonderful and made a great base to visit some really special and beautiful villages and countryside nearby.

Chateau de la Falque in Saint-Geniez-dʼOlt, France. Photo by Amanda.

There was a spa at the hotel but we didn’t go in.  We had intended on doing so but didn’t have the time in the end, plus it was quite pricey.

There was only one minor negative to this property and that was the view out of our window, it overlooked an industrial estate of sorts.  This was the only negative detail I could point out but it still wouldn’t stop me from staying here again, in the future.

The cost for the 3-night stay was €270 + taxes for the 2 of us, making it €45 per person, per night.   We didn’t eat breakfast at the property but it was available for a fee.

Below are three little video clips.  Again I apologise for how bad they are, I was using my phone and had/have a bad knee causing me to limp, hence the jerkiness of the clips.

Thanks to Amanda for her contribution.  All photos are the property of myself or Amanda unless otherwise stated.

Switzerland & Italy

Vitznau on Lake Lucerne, Switzerland - Image taken by my husband - June 2014

Vitznau on Lake Lucerne, Switzerland – Image taken by my husband – June 2014

I’m recently back from a wonderful holiday to Switzerland and Italy and will write more when I can…this is just a quick overview of my time away. Most photo’s are courtesy of my husband, bar 2 from outside the accommodation in Rome. Please click on the images to take a closer look.

We flew with Aer Lingus from Dublin to Zurich, hired a car and drove down to our accommodation, spending 3 nights in an apartment in Vitznau, on Lake Lucerne.

Our Vitznau Apartment - June 2014

Our Vitznau Apartment – June 2014

This is the view to the side of us, from our Vitznau apartment balcony - June 2014

This is the view to the side of us, from our Vitznau apartment balcony – June 2014

We then drove south through the Gotthard Pass passing through some stunning scenery and made our way over the border into Italy, spending 3 nights in another apartment in Pianello del Lario, on Lake Como, Italy.

Gotthard Pass, on our way to Lake Como from Lake Lucerne - June 2014

Gotthard Pass, on our way to Lake Como from Lake Lucerne – June 2014

Top Left, under the apex of the roof is our apartment in Pianello del Lario, Lake Como - June 2014

Top Left, under the apex of the roof is our apartment in Pianello del Lario, Lake Como – June 2014

View from our apartment in Pianello del Lario, Lake Como - June 2014

View from our apartment in Pianello del Lario, Lake Como – June 2014

View from our apartment balcony, overlooking Lake Como at night - June 2014

View from our apartment balcony, overlooking Lake Como at night – June 2014

After 3 wonderful days there, we dropped the hire car off in Lugano (it’s just over the border, back into Switzerland) and took the train down from Lugano to Florence via Milan and stayed 8 nights in Florence… 1 night in a hotel and 1 week in a beautiful villa near Impruneta in Florence, Tuscany where we met up with friends from Australia.

Entrance from courtyard into our Villa in Impruneta, Florence - June 2014

Entrance from courtyard into our Villa in Impruneta, Florence – June 2014

Side view of our Villa in Impruneta, Florence - June 2014

Side view of our Villa in Impruneta, Florence – June 2014

Another side view of the Villa in Impruneta, Florence - June 2014

Another side view of the Villa in Impruneta, Florence – June 2014

Pool with a view, Impruneta, Florence - June 2014

Pool with a view, Impruneta, Florence – June 2014

Another view from the pool area, Impruneta, Florence - June 2014

Another view from the pool area, Impruneta, Florence – June 2014

At the end of our week in the villa, we kissed our friends goodbye and took the train from Florence to Rome for the final leg of our journey and stayed for 2 nights in an apartment, in central Rome, before flying back from Rome to Dublin…..again with Aer Lingus.

Outside of the apartment in Rome. Photo taken from the internet. June 2014

Outside of the apartment in Rome. Photo taken from the internet. June 2014

Another image of the outside of the Rome apartment. Taken from the internet. June 2014

Another image of the outside of the Rome apartment. Taken from the internet. June 2014

Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome - June 2014

Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome – June 2014

Hopefully, at some point, I’ll get the chance to write more in-depth posts about each location and individual property, adding corresponding links to accommodation and once I’ve had the opportunity to work my way through the thousands of photos, I’ll add a few additional pics from the holiday/vacation.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I hope you enjoyed the images.

Warmest Regards

Touch Of Cinnamon