wandertures

France turned out to be one of the biggest chapters of our European adventure — although, in true Scamper fashion, we took a slightly unconventional route through it.

We entered France near Lyon and kicked things off in the ridiculously beautiful medieval village of Pérouges. Cobbled streets, ancient buildings and where you half expect someone on horseback to come around the corner.

Then came the Parc des Oiseaux, where amongst thousands of exotic birds we were disproportionately excited to find… galahs. 🦜😂

Having our own galah waiting at home in Australia apparently means travelling halfway around the world and getting wildly excited when we see another one.

From there we wound our way through Beaune, Cluny, Chablis, Lézinnes, Auxerre and Moret-sur-Loing, getting progressively further off the tourist trail.

At times, very far off it.

We stayed in towns so small that handing over Australian passports was met with a look that could only be interpreted as:

“Australia? You are VERY lost.” 🇦🇺😂

Correct.

Then came PARIS. 🇫🇷✨

Scamper got a well-earned rest on the outskirts while we moved into an actual hotel.

After nearly two months of four people living in a motorhome, our Paris hotel room seemed ENORMOUS.

The girls could actually play hide and seek in it.

Absolute luxury.

We then attempted the completely sensible task of seeing most of Paris in 2.5 days.

Notre-Dame ⛪

Eiffel Tower 🗼

Arc de Triomphe

Champs-Élysées

The Louvre & Mona Lisa 🎨

The Catacombs 💀

We walked approximately a million kilometres, descended underneath Paris to wander amongst the bones of millions of people, saw some of the most famous art and monuments on earth and discovered that finding a public toilet in Paris can be harder than finding the Mona Lisa.

The girls also decided they needed the ultimate French souvenir…

A bidet.

They meant a beret. 😂🇫🇷

An important distinction we managed to establish before any purchases were made.

After the madness of Paris we reunited with Scamper and retreated to the forest at Chantilly for a night amongst the trees.

Then France was temporarily interrupted by a little 🇧🇪 Belgian interlude 🇧🇪…

…before we crossed back over the border for France Part 2.

This time the mood changed completely.

We travelled through northern France visiting some incredible WWII sites, places where the history is still so visible and close that it is difficult not to stop and think about what happened there only a few generations ago.

Then we headed west to Brittany and beautiful Paimpol, where we spent a fantastic few days by the coast with the grandparents — a chance to slow down, eat well, explore and enjoy having some extra members of the travelling circus around.

And then there was only one small matter left.

We were on the wrong side of France.

😂

So began our final great French road-trip mission:

Paimpol → Luxembourg.

Around 12 hours of driving.

With three stops.

In Scamper.

With two children.

After more than two months on the road.

At this stage of the trip, apparently we have developed endurance levels previously reserved for long-haul truck drivers. 🚐😂

And somehow… we did it.

France gave us medieval villages, vineyards, abbeys, tiny towns, Parisian chaos, Mona Lisa, millions of bones, galahs, bidets-that-were-actually-berets, forests, war history, the Brittany coast, family time and one absolutely monster drive across the country.

Au revoir, France. You are Fantastic. 🇫🇷❤️

Next stop: Luxembourg 🇱🇺 and the beginning of the final stretch towards Germany and home. 🚐

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