Fergy's Rambles.

Raindrops keep falling on my head.

The 27th of April came and it came in lovely style as one of the images here (a view from my bedroom window) attests but it wasn’t to last as the weather quickly degenerated into the dismal drizzly rain that I have become so accustomed to on this trip. I was talking to a French guy a little later on my rambles and he told me that April and May were the worst months to visit France in respect of the weather. Trust me to pick them! He reckoned that, whilst it was cold, February or March were better as it did not rain so much. Continue reading “Raindrops keep falling on my head.”

This may or may not work.

Again, I am going to take a bit of a leap into the unknown here and try to post a gallery of images. On my wander round Metz on my last day there I went a bit crazy with the camera and took far more images than it seemed prudent to fit into the main blog entry for the day as I do value your scrolling fingers, dear readers. I have seen a gallery function here so I am going to try to do just that and see how it goes. Continue reading “This may or may not work.”

Metz? Let’s!

The 26th was planned for another move, this time to Nancy but yet again I had checked the train timetables and found them to be frequent and running late in the evening and so I negotiated with my charming landlady to deposit my case with her as I went for another ramble round Metz. Continue reading “Metz? Let’s!”

New country, new city.

I awoke on the 25th April very well rested in my most beautiful studio flat so first let me tell you about this outstanding accommodation and it’s slightly unusual name.

I had only booked the Studette du Graoully through a website the day previous to my arrival and through a series of emails I knew that I would not be able to gain entrance to the premises until about 1600 the afternoon I got there but that was not a problem as I described in the previous instalment. Continue reading “New country, new city.”

Busy, busy, busy and moving on again.

Those hardy souls who may have been slogging their way through this journal will know that I was fairly much “confined to barracks” on Sunday 23rd April due to a serious equipment failure with my sole (pun absolutely intended) pair of boots which had fairly well restricted my mobility and so the first order of business on the Monday morning was to get myself re-shod. I had seen a shop nearby which seemed to sell just about everything including discounted footwear and so I made straight for that. Continue reading “Busy, busy, busy and moving on again.”

Disaster strikes.

I loved this funky little car with the crazy numberplate.

The 23rd of April was another day for doing not a whole pile of very much for a very good and ultimately very depressing reason. When I had been walking the previous day, I had noticed a strange slapping noise every time I took a step and upon checking it turned out that the sole of my right walking boot had detached itself from the upper.

This was quite a problem as they were my only outdoor footwear although I had bought a pair of flip-flops (thongs / slippers) for hostel use on the way. I had attempted running repairs with no less than four tubes of very strong adhesive but that had lasted about three hours and as many miles by which time all the shops were shut. The 23rd was a Sunday and the whole area was effectively closed down. Continue reading “Disaster strikes.”

A day in the Grand Duchy.

I woke up here (the kebab shop features later).

The 22nd April came and I did not suffer from a ridiculously early internal wake up call so took to the streets at a decent hour (after a breakfast beer or two obviously) and it was time for a decent wander round. It transpired to be another absolutely wonderful day. This totally unscripted trip was just getting better and better, there is undoubtedly something to be said for this style of travelling. Let me tell you first about the Hotel Yasha where I woke up. Continue reading “A day in the Grand Duchy.”

Another day, another country.

On now swiftly to the 21st and this was now becoming more than a little crazy even by my lunatic standards. A putative four day trip, with appropriate kit for that duration had now gone over two weeks and I still had no desire to go home, I just wanted to keep going. I was starting to question my own sanity by this point but pourqoui non (why not?) as they say in these parts? I am not married, have no children and no responsibilities at home so I can effectively travel as much as I like. I have an annual travel insurance policy, my flat will look after itself as all the bills are paid directly from the bank. I have a modest income from a pension which is enough to keep me on the road if I keep the costs down (this was turning out to be a very expensive run) and I could just keep going until I don’t feel like it any more. Continue reading “Another day, another country.”

Yet another country, are you joking?

Trying hard to blog.

The dawn of the 20th April arrived and, remarkably, I was up with it. I am generally just thinking about going to bed at that hour of the day as I am a fairly nocturnal creature, but here I was wide awake at about 0500 so nothing to do but head out to the back yard for a smoke. In truth, this was no hardship as the wonderful hostel I was staying in had the most gorgeous courtyard. Let me tell you all about this excellent place. Continue reading “Yet another country, are you joking?”

Another two for one and back on the move.

The 18th was really an unremarkable day of wandering from bar to bar and doing little else. I even omitted to take many images which is unusual for me as I tend to be a bit of a shutterfly. Continue reading “Another two for one and back on the move.”