27 Oct walk to beach

Big pine trees on our campsite

We walked for about 30 minutes to reach the beach

Looking down from the top of a dune onto the beach, the waves and the surfers.

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Gerhild is full of beans

Kim‘s Hawaian girl

Big pine trees on our campsite

We walked for about 30 minutes to reach the beach

Looking down from the top of a dune onto the beach, the waves and the surfers.

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Gerhild is full of beans

Kim‘s Hawaian girl
Today we drove through the rain from behind the Zaragoza sports stadium to Camping la Civelle (where’s that?)

In the morning we were still surrounded by all sorts of birds. Fantastic!

We drove up into the hills to find El Jardí de Peter (where’s that?). Peter Buch has worked for 30 years in the abandoned hill farm which he took over, to make his magical garden. Now 86, he should really put his ladder away and revel in a job well done. There is an article about him in Raw Vision, a magazine about outsider art.

Peter the German artist

Goodness gracious, what’s in there?

The interior

That looks interesting

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Another house

Another interior

In the bathroom

In the bedroom

How do you like the door?

Another monster in the woods

Kim tried whispering in its ear

Even more

The green blob

The master’s throne

Nice start to our day as we leave the campsite heading for Arte-Contemporary en La Ràpita

Our first sculpture garden in an olive grove

Two strange birds to welcome us

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One of nature’s more colourful sculptures

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This chicken blends well into the landscape

This one’s a bit spooky

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Just landed from Mars?

Love this one

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the spottiest of them all?

The Ebro delta on the way to our parking space for the night (where’s that?)

Each white dot is a bird, roosting for the night
Today we did the washing, cleaned the camper and recovered from two birthdays.
Today we walked 10 km around the Sant Llorenç reservoir

The weather gods were kind today

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The birthday girl

Not quite a diamond necklace yet, give it a few million years and who knows…

A bright start to the day from the moat

The Pyrenees

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Foothills of the Pyrenees

Our campsite is on this lake, just around the corner

Birthday cake!

Halloween is BIG in Catalonia. Our campsite “Camping la Noguera”.
Today we headed up into the Pyrenees to Villefranche-de-Conflent, a fortified village.

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Quiet square with a vegetarian snack bar

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Sheep eat grass all day, so this seems like a good colour.

Sign for a wine bar using a “Porron” a fiendish Catalan invention to embarrass tourists
Then we went up to an altitude of 1500 m to Mont-Louis

Another fortified village

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The Pyrenees

No, not an artwork by Anish Kapoor, it’s a solar furnace

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Interesting place to camp for the night – in the moat! And it’s free.

This is the village called Eus which they claim is the sunniest place in France

Nice day for a 6 km walk

Some welcome shade

There are a few clouds

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Back to Eus for an ice cream
Today the weather forecast was for rain 💧💧 so we tidied up a bit and read

Kim read a detective story

Gerhild is reading a novel about the events in a house in Berlin over 100 years or so

Advertising for the boulangerie

Everyone’s eating roasted chestnuts

I remember dancing like that!
Children from a French school where they are taught in Catalan
Away from the coast and up into the Pyrenees to Camping les Porte Ducanigou

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Walking up into the town (Prades)

Painted on a wall in the town centre.
We even managed a pedicure today, Wayhay!

Today we took a gentle stroll along the coast (the other way)

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The Pyrenees are in the distance

The coast & our campsite in the distance

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A good day to do some washing.

A scrambled-egg sunset to round off the day with a glass of French wine. 😀🍷🍷

We are parked next to a great tree

Today we went for a scamper along a sentier littoral

There are loads of these around here. No one seems to be eating the fruit?

This was cut into the concrete outside a house in Collioure. Lucky mum – every time she pops out shopping…

Stone at the base of the castle

Time to say goodbye
And drive to Les Criques de Porteils camp site. Where is it?

It’s next to the sea

Minerve is one of the „plus beaux villages de France“. Where is it?

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The gorge surrounding the village

Two lads

Nature clinging on and the house too!

Wild shapes cut by the river

The village

Walking around the hill under the village

The gorge

We’ll, you‘ve got to keep the wine somewhere
We had a delicious meal in the Relais Chantovent

Le sentier des meulières shows how millstones were made in days long gone

Whatever they’re looking at, it’s not a millstone.

It‘s a praying mantis!

Father and son

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Old pals

Fine, misty start to the day.

Autumn is coming.

A marble tiger to watch over the camper.

Next to the parking space

Next to the abbey

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Good piece of art in the abbey
The camper parking is here

Saint-Priest-Sous-Aixe is an interesting little village with a free space to park campers

Big-city art in this little village

Which still has several wells!

Kim enjoying the evening sun behind the church

Also hidden behind the church
It rained non-stop today.

You often bump into Louis Vuitton


Window-shopping with an umbrella

The Petit Palais

A petit picture

Paris past

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A Swedish painter, Bruno Liljefors, who liked cat pictures.

Old pals
In the evening we went to the cinema to see Megalopolis.

On the way to the Musée de la chase et de la nature
The flesh of the world by Tamara Kostianovsky interesting YouTube video.

Pieces of tree-trunk made of old fabrics…

A tree-stump fixed to the wall.

A fabricated feathered friend.

A feathered ceiling with owl motifs.

A dog or a bear, what do you think?

One of the more traditional exhibits.

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No, not in the museum, outside in the street.

Charlie‘s looking suspicious.

Maybe he’s worried about this guy?

She looks suspicious too.

Sublime smile.

Someone’s not keen on this cafe.

Place des Vosges is looking good.

Why do I feel nervous every time I walk past here?
Today was a lazy day apart from filling the water tank, emptying the rubbish, shopping, haircut, cooking, washing up, washing and drying dirty clothes and putting everything tidily away. In the rain… Very lazy.
Today we went to the brilliant (and free) Espace Monte-Cristo for their „Imaginary Worlds“ exhibition.

A rubber tree?

New homes for fashion-conscious birds by Antonio GAGLIARDI. See video on YouTube.

An antique telephone handset takes on a new life

Strange people hanging about

There are more of them!

They are growing them in plant-pots!

A proud mum and her children.

The little girl is growing her own doll.

What a family.

This daughter has grown out of dolls.
All by JEAN-FRANÇOIS FOURTOU, called LA FAMILLE DES HYBRIDUS – 2023-2024. See earlier work on YouTube.

Today, we popped by the Eiffel Tower.

Then we visited the Consiergerie to see some contemporary work by artists from Benin.

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A mixture of crash-helmet with sea-shells

So whose head did she cut off?

Could be haute couture

… until you take a closer look

The colours !

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A lot of traffic next to Notre Dame

No cars allowed next to the Seine!
Today we went looking for urban art in Saint-Denis

Near the Stade de France

It’s nice and sunny today

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Good things are even better when shared

Concrete cat

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In the Halle St Pierre

An outsider artist from Mauritius

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Looking up in Montmartre

Down to earth in Montmartre

On the way to Centre Pompidou

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In the surrealism show

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He‘s the best

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You can see the Eiffel Tower if you squint

How do you like the restaurant?

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If only our living room had the space

You know you’re being watched

Bugs Bunny on the way home

Chocolate shop on the way to Salle Pleyel

Interesting evening of contemporary dance with an unexpected support act of two young musicians. Parisians seem to find it OK to arrive half an hour after the show starts expecting everyone to stand up to let them prance to their seats. We drank red wine from plastic long-stemmed wine glasses, plastic so that if we throw them at the performers no one gets hurt… French culture? Two good souvenirs for the camper anyway.
Article about the work.
Today we drove to Camping de Paris (where’s that?) – €50 / night

Leafy location

Right next to the Seine, in the Bois de Bologne.

Just stroll over the bridge to find some traditional French shops in Suresnes.

What‘s that?

A prime porker! Aka Woinic.

Nice place for the night next to the river Aisne. Where is it?

Walking next to the river into Rethel.
Today (Sunday) we went to the Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean

Work by Cosima von Bonin -looks good, but they haven’t finished installing it yet.

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Part of the „Radical Software“ feminist exhibition…

Girl on stairs 2024.

The Admiral II (Faces of War), 1942 by Xanti Schiwansky.

Also by Xanti Schiwansky.

Very nice carved, bas relief portrait of the duke and duchess.

Tiring work visiting museums.

Portrait of photographer Edward Steichen in the „Tunnel gallery“ (under the Sparkasse bank).
Today we jumped on the bus and braved the chill wind in the city. 🇱🇺

Since 2020 public transport has been free throughout Luxembourg!

Luxembourg is incredibly hilly.

The escalators match the trams.

Look at those colours!

We shopped for Gerhild‘s coming birthday here.

A merry lot.

Today we drove through the rain to Camping Kockelscheuer in Luxemburg €26 per night. Where’s Camping Kockelscheuer? We were surprised to find it full. It was lucky that we had booked a few days in advance.
Today we visited the old Völklinger steelworks, now UNESCO-listed.

A filter-tipped chimney

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Deutsche Bahn not looking at its best

Nature coming in for a visit too

Some unhappy bunnies

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Well, Zollverein it’s not…
Today we drove to Völklingen to visit the Völklinger Hütte (tomorrow).
Free camper parking, €1 for electricity.
Today we did some washing while it rained.

Between the showers we popped up to Lichtenberg for some more delicious home-made jam.
In the evening we went for Handkäse mit Musik to the Kuralpe-Kreuzhof with Claudia. Where’s that?
Uli is ill so we had a day off today.

The sawmill in Niedernhausen

What are they laughing about?

Favourite aunt/niece
Thomas came today, as the Fischbachtal celebrated autumn harvest (Kerb in Hessisch), and we walked to Hottenbacher Hof for some delicious grilled trout with potato salad.

Favourite aunt/nephew!

A forest pool

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Fischbachtal‘s flying fire-brigade!

Our favourite home-made jam supplier in the street leading up to Lichtenberg castle.
After stashing the jam, we headed for Darmstadt for a walk through the forest along the Waldkunstpfad.

A boat

Houses for all sorts of bird.

How do you like Kim‘s new handbag?

Not made of gingerbread but definitely spooky

Looks interesting inside

Time to head home, tired but happy.
Today we had brunch in Seeheim-Jugenheim and visited an old school friend in Pfungstadt-Hahn.

Old friends, new place. Where’s Pfungstadt-Hahn?
Today, Gerhild went into Darmstadt to see S. Kim walked to Steinbruchsee.

Steinbruchsee – a great place for a picnic

In the forest