Over to France

Bonjour and thank you for stopping by. My name is Renie and this is the story of my first trip (avec mon mari) to France. We flew into Paris and then journeyed south-eastward by car, through so many beautiful villages, to arrive in Nice. It was four weeks of amazingness. We were totally smitten and our lives have been forever changed! If you would like to have a peek at what we experienced, then please read on….. And if you would like to venture further with us, as we work out our future Over to France adventures, then please read on a bit further still…

  • England, Foxes and Friends

    England, Foxes and Friends

    My last few days in England had a lot to do with spending time with friends. The older I get, the more precious friends become.  I’ve walked through decades of life with some friends, whilst others I’ve known for a much shorter time. There’s a deep richness that comes with longtime friendships, particularly when you’ve

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  • Oh So British

    Oh So British

    What is your traditional food in New Zealand?  That’s a question that I got asked a few times while I was in France and it got me thinking about my country’s culture and traditions.  I found it hard to answer the food question.  A roast lamb with kumara maybe?  Pavlova at Christmas time?  These are

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  • Lashings of London

    Lashings of London

    Monday morning finds me waking up in Hanwell, West London.  Less than twenty-four hours before, my darling French host Sophie had very kindly driven me from her home in Saint-Aignan to the tiny airport in Tours.  Tours airport is so small that there is only one flight in and one flight out per day.  We

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  • Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher

    Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher

    This is my view as I write.  I have walked the thirty seconds it takes to get from Sophie’s house to this stunning cathedral in the centre of Saint-Aignan-sur Cher.  Sunlight streams through the stained-glass windows that line the walls.  The chalky plaster-block arches that tower above me are supported by pillars of the same-coloured

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  • Sophie’s House

    Sophie’s House

    Saint-Aignan is a village out of a fairytale book.  I have been here for a week already and every day I have had to pinch myself.  Can this place be real?  Can this house be real?  My host for my second Workaway position in France is Sophie.  Sophie runs a guest house in Saint-Aignan, which

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  • Angoulême

    Angoulême

    For the first time in my life, I have stayed by myself in an apartment in a foreign country.  I had a gap of several days between my visit to family in the Charente and my next Workaway in the Loire Valley, (golly, it feels so surreal to have just said that!) so I decided

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