Caen, the capital of Calvados and the second largest urban area in Normandie, is famous for being the historic seat of the Dukes of Normandie, including William the Conqueror, as well as being the centre of the Battle of Caen during the liberation of France in WW2.

My visit to La Rochelle last month (July 22) was split over two days, with a short time before I caught a train to Nantes and some time when I got back before flying home. Unfortunately, the timings meant I didn’t have a great deal of time to spend in La Rochelle, however I did fall in love with the city and will definitely be returning.

Once known as the ‘Venice of the West’ for its many quays, Nantes lies on the banks of the river Loire and is France’s sixth largest city, ahead of cities such as Bordeaux, Lille and Strasbourg. Having arrived into the city onboard an SNCF Intercités service from La Rochelle, I had about 18 hours to both explore the city and sleep, before my train back the following day.

Back in June we were lucky enough to enjoy three days exploring Manchester, however we enjoyed so much good food and drink, I decided to do a separate post covering the places we visited and what we tried. Obviously this isn’t a food blog, so the reviews won’t be in great detail but I’ll let you know if I recommend it or not.

Whist the week of the Summer Solstice should have seen us racing the sun from Lowestoft to Arisaig, strike action across the UK rail network meant this wasn’t possible. Having made plans to come home via Manchester so Beth could attend a gig, we decided to drive over to the North-West and spend a couple of days in the ‘Capital of the North’.

Almost five years since my first attempt at visiting Sofia and two further failed attempts later, I had finally made it to the Bulgarian capital on the fourth time of asking.