Axel F

Arles, France.

September 2011.

Title taken from the 80's classic by Harold Faltermeyer.

Have a nice evening.

- Dom

Badlands

Avignon, France.

September 2011.

On the third day of our trip, we'd arrived on a campsite close to Avignon, where we stayed that night. The next morning, we explored Avignon before we got back into the car to continue our journey around the Provence region.

Later that same day, we passed by the most dramatic view we'd seen on the trip so far: A village called Gordes.

Gordes, France.

September 2011.

Blog post title taken from the song of the same name by Bruce Springsteen... because today is Boss Day!

Man On The Moon

Pictures taken near Avignon, France.

September 2011.

R.I.P. R.E.M. - one of my favourite bands decided to call it a day after a magnificent career spanning 30 years. The title of this blog post has been taken from one of their songs.

More new photographs coming soon!

Have a nice weekend!

- Dom

Born To Run

France.

September 2011.

More photographs taken on the third day of our trip while on the way down south to Avignon... This day would have to be my favourite part of the trip.

My friend from university in Germany, Domian, doesn't have a driving license yet. My friend from school in England, Freddy, didn't want to drive in France - he thinks the French drive like lunatics. I must say that I kinda like the way they're driving - the way they don't care about a scratch or two. After all, a car is just a car, and every scratch or dent tells a story. Long story short, I was the only driver and drove a total of 3615 kilometres in eight days, and I love driving at speeds between 70 and 90 because you see much more of the landscape. It brought back memories from my road trip through the American West.

This part of the route was Bruce Springsteen - country. I just had to put his music on. The blog post title has been taken from one of my favourite songs by the Boss.

I hope you enjoy the updates (five blog posts with new photographs), and I hope you have a nice weekend, too.

- Dom

Run To You

1st picture: Route des Vins.

2nd picture: Haut-Jura region.

France. September 2011.

One thing we all loved very much about those little villages were the skew churches and houses.

Open Road

Haut-Jura region, France.

September 2011.

On the third day, we continued our trip down south. We had stayed in Besançon; our destination was a campsite close to Avignon. We wanted to see as much of France as we possibly could, so on our whole trip, we did not drive a single kilometre on a motorway. The rural roads of France wind through forests, hills, up and down passes, and most importantly: beautiful villages. It took us almost ten hours to get to Avignon, but it was well worth it. 

Blog post title taken from the song by Bryan Adams.

Take My Heart Away

Colmar, France.

September 2011.

On the day before the trip, we all met up in Hamburg (my friend from school, Freddy, doesn't live here of course). The day after, we drove from Hamburg to Strasbourg. We'd been caught up in a few traffic jams for a total of three hours and there's a lot of road works on the way down south. When we arrived, we were happy to walk around town for an hour before getting dinner. The pictures taken that day can be seen in my previous blog post. We stayed in a hostel ("auberge de jeunesse") on the edge of town. 

After we had breakfast, we soon found ourselves back on the road again. We followed the Route des Vins d'Alsace. For more information, visit this website. Our favourite villages were Barr and Colmar. We loved the colourful houses. At the end of the day, we arrived in Besançon, where we stayed for the night.

Besançon, France.

September 2011.

Fallin' And Flyin'

Strasbourg, Alsace, France.

September 2011.

Hello! I'm back from my trip to France. It was everything I'd hoped it would be: The weather was awesome (most of the time, that is) - we passed through absolutely gorgeous villages and small towns - the people were very friendly. I've driven exactly 3615 kilometres. 

Let me say this much: Dear people of France, I love your country! 

This is just a quick update; I'll publish my favourite pictures over the next few weeks with the first major update coming this Sunday - check it out; there's a lot of pictures and stories that I'd like to share - and Sunday is also when I'll take the time to answer all your comments and messages and check out all your blog posts that I've missed these past two weeks. I have to apologise for this delay... we still don't have internet at our flat, so I'm sitting in my car using wireless internet... and as you can imagine, a car isn't exactly the most comfortable place to do this.

Blog post title taken from the song of the same name from the "Crazy Heart" - soundtrack.

Have a nice day.

- Dom

The Crossing

Through all the days that eat away

at every breath that I take

Through all the nights I've lain alone

in someone else's dream awake

It's only you that remains with me

Clear as the light of day

(Johnny Clegg - The Crossing)

Early tomorrow morning, I'll set out on a trip to France, along with my best friend from school and my best friend from university. I really need a break from everything - university, work, the country I'm living in. I'll also try to recapture the emotions, the feelings, the sensations of past road trips, for they lie at the core of my best and brightest dreams and continue to inspire me to - at some point in the future - travel more often than I do now.

I'll be back in mid-September, and I hope y'all have a good time!

- Dom