We had another two wonderful hiking weeks in Brittany, still away from the sea. There was no lack of water, however. We were following the Nantes-Brest Canal (which from our perspective should be the Brest-Nantes canal, but we can’t change the toponymy just because we were walking in the opposite direction) and all along the… Continue Reading
We had been walking closely along the coast of Brittany until the city of Brest. From there, we started following the St. James’ Way rather than the GR34/E9, in order to reach Spain within two months instead of three or more. The price we had to pay was leaving the coast, but we soon discovered… Continue Reading
Coming from England, Brittany doesn’t represent such a huge cultural shock. This part of France has always valued its celtic roots rather than the French influence, which is felt in the local language, music, and architecture. Stone is one of the main elements in this region, be it as natural sculptures along the shore or as… Continue Reading
Days: 55 (20 rest days, including Christmas and New Year) Km: 733 Paid accommodation: 40 nights Free accommodation: 15 nights Best food: Sunday Roast Best drink: Cider Favorite word: Pub Favorite place: Jurassic Coast United Kingdom in one word: Mud Hiking in the UK was not our first idea when we had thought about the route. We were… Continue Reading
After leaving behind the emotions and ups and downs (literally) of the Jurassic Coast, we could expect an easy home stretch until Plymouth, right? Wrong. The last five hiking days in the UK presented as many challenges as the weeks before. The ferry lottery (will it be working or not)? Check. Climbing up cliffs… Continue Reading
When we had mentioned to anybody that we were planning on hiking along the Jurassic Coast, the reaction was always the same: “Oh, it’s a gorgeous place! But veeeery difficult to hike.” The latter usually was underlined by an upward and downward motion of the hand, drawing a steep curve in the air. We were… Continue Reading
Holidays were over and we were sitting in the train back to Portsmouth, singing happily: “We’ve got a ticket to Ryde” (you can hum the Beatles song “Ticket to Ride” at this point). In London, where we had celebrated New Year, we had already purchased the tickets for the hovercraft going to Ryde, at the… Continue Reading
If there has been a period in which we felt frequently awkward, uncomfortable, and even scared, it was these three days in France. Yes, there has been sunshine, and yes, some of the scenery was really beautiful, but in this part of our hike, a different reality made itself seen and felt. We realized, stronger… Continue Reading
Days: 33 (6 rest days) Km: 681 Paid accommodation: 28 nights Free accommodation: 5 nights Best food: Gehaktballen (the best meatball of the Netherlands in a B&B in Holwerd) Best drink: Champagne (on Moiken’s birthday) Favorite word: lekker Favorite place: Haarlem Netherlands in one word: Dikes More than just flat trails on and along dikes, our hike in the… Continue Reading
After crossing an incredibly long causeway, we finally got closer to the North Sea coast of the Netherlands. On top of what we had expected, namely wide sand beaches and strong wind (mostly in the opposed direction), we encountered soft dune landscapes and even some hills. The variety of plants and animals was surprising: All… Continue Reading
12 crossed countries
319 hiking days
89 resting days
Updated on 11/06/2016 – ARRIVED IN LISBON!