Today marks the 81st Anniversary of VE Day, the defeat of the National Socialists. It’s so important to learn from the past and be eternally grateful for the sacrifices of the fallen. #LestWeForget #OTD @CWGC #CWGC Their name liveth for evermore – Bayeux

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but we went to Gordes today, and it was pretty 'meh'. It looks great at a distance, but in the town was pretty unexciting, crowded, and full of touristy shops. Instead, 9 minutes down the road the town of Joucas enchanted us. Small, charming, arty, and almost no people!

Life on the roof. Joucas, Provence.

Because bread is medicine in France 😃

#DoorOfTheDay Roussillon, Provence

The winery we just had lunch at has a corkscrew museum. Here are a couple of, um, colourful ones 😅

The beautiful Luberon hilltop town of Roussillon is strikingly different from the other towns in the region. While most Luberon towns are pale, being built from limestone, Roussillon sits on ochre sand mountains and the locals mix ochre pigment into cement and apply as render. Lovely warm colours!

Très français, non ?

#DoorOfTheDay Roussillon, Provence.

Hey America - remember when you had an articulate, smart, warm, empathetic, and fun President? I sure do.

The roof tiles around the Luberon part of Provence are gorgeous. Terracotta in varying shades with a few hundred years of lichen for added depth and colour variation. This is our current home town of Bonnieux. #France

#maythe4thbewithyou #starwarsday #maythefourthbewithyou Here's "BB-8" by Rod Velarde; Jicarilla Apache Acrylic on etched plastic, 2019 Courtesy the artist @ Museum of Northern Arizona, during our #DesArt roadtrip, 2020. #starwars #art #sculpture #nativeamerican #arttravel

The lavender flowers aren't out in Provence yet, but wow have we been blessed with the poppies!

PSA Always clean the coffee machine in a hotel or Aurbnb before you use it for the first time. This is why - first flush through... 😵‍💫

Just arrived in to Provence today for a months stay to fulfill a goal of ours to stay in a nice Provence country house and tour the lovely towns at our leisure. We certainly lucked out with the accommodation - check this beautiful place out!!

This new Banksy artwork is a statue and was installed in London - but it's symbolism is relevant for almost any country in this era of surging nationalism under the umbrella of "patriotism". Marching forward, unthinking and unaware while wrapped and blinded by the flag. www.cnn.com/2026/05/01/s...

Black Sapote Fatigue

Wow - look at this numpty Trump is sending down under as ambassador 😳 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

So many dandelions!!

What a wonderful man he was. Very sad to hear of his death, but very glad to hear he was able to utilise VAD and to use his voice to educate and advocate for it.

Much loved ABC broadcaster James Valentine died using Voluntary Assisted Dying. Australian community overwhelming supported VAD but parliaments blocked it for decades. Another prohibition which eventually bit dust. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04...

Some tourist places I've seen recently in France have ebike charging racks! So you can secure your bike and recharge it while strolling the castle. Not all come with security cats though 😺

Another day in the mountains. The blue sky of the last 5 days has left us, but the epic vista views remain. Parc naturel régional des Volcans d'Auvergne

We never knew daffodils were high altitude flowers. We were on a plain at about 1500m and there were endless daffodils!

Well that was a mistake! I typically like Leffe beer (brune, amber, blonde). So I thought I'd give ruby a go and 😬 Turns out that it is a base beer with fruit cordial added 🫣 Too sweet and has no beer flavour.

I've never seen so much pollen before. What looks like clouds or smoke here is actually massive pollen releases from the forest. Everything was just covered.

Oopsie. I don't know about you, but as a passenger this would dent my enthusiasm and confidence somewhat 😅

We had an absolute stunner of a day on the Puy de Dome today. The tallest of the volcano peaks in the Auvergne Volcano Park. Endless blue skies, shady forests, and a 1400 meter volcano to climb. All that "smoke" in the first image is actually pollen clouds being released from pine, oak and spruce!

Incredible - the sub 2 hour marathon has officially happened! Sawe running the London Marathon at 1:59:30 - that's a crazy 2 minutes 50 sec avg pace Incredibly the 2nd placer also ran sub 2 hours at 1:59:41 And women's record broken at 2:15:41 Incredible times. edition.cnn.com/2026/04/26/s...

I've recently found that it isn't only Americans hanging on to the archaic payment method of checks (cheques). I've recently been stuck a few times in supermarkets and shops (and even a market) in rural France where they bust out a cheque book! Damn but it's so slow! Worse than oldies paying cash

If there is anything good that comes from the war in Iran, it's this. The world will likely now see fossil fuel dependence as a national security risk and any sane government will look to secure energy independence through home grown renewable projects. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I saw this and stole it

Sleepy Grandpimp

Pet Peeve: Hotels, apartments, Airbnb etc where they have the fridge door opening the wrong side. Someplace are fine, others make it impractical to really operate the kitchen due to space. It's not that hard - takes like 10 to 15 minutes!

Würzburg is easily one of my favourite cities in Germany to visit. Here are the top things to see and do in this beautiful city: velvetescape.com/things-to-se... #Wuerzburg #Germany #travel #traveladdicts

Well now, that's horrific www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Our favourite chateau on this Loire Valley trip was Château de l'Islette. A gorgeous small chateau sitting on an island in a meandering river. The gardens are green, flower filled and set up for people to stroll and picnic. What really makes it interesting though is that 1 of 2 ⤵️ to see more pics

The Loire towns around Montsoreau are ridiculously gorgeous 😍

Sunrise over a still Loire river this morning. We then had a nice run following a single track along the banks of the river - it was magical. #France

She's never as happy as she is in the French countryside.

We're seriously going to get fat spending 3 months in France 😅

The landlord says no, we can't come in, even after those nice head scratches.

Our charming town of Montsoreau on the Loire river has a beautiful little chateau, cute as heck streets and houses, and of course it's own old river port for wine shipments. We are here for a week exploring the chateau filled local towns and remarkable troglodyte cave houses.

What us the point of a Tassimo coffee machine? These things are terrible at making coffee. Seriously, if you run an Airbnb or hotel, please just get a Nespresso machine!

As a non-American, it's fascinating watching the USA's continuous slide to Brazilianization and the fact that the majority of voters are down with it! Now parts of Medicare are being privatized, and these companies get paid by denying medical claims! www.ms.now/opinion/rfk-...

Today we drove from Paris down to Montsoreau in the Loire Valley. We have gone with Car2Europe again with a Peugot lease. For less than a car rental cost we get a brand new Peugeot 3008, full insurance and full road side assistance. We picked her up this morning with just 3km on the clock!

Last night was our last night in Paris - and what a wonderful send off we had by attending a performance of Romeo and Juliet the ballet by Paris Opera Ballet. A great interpretation and telling of Romeo and Juliet in dance.

My long run this week was a sight seeing run around Paris. I hit up Palais Garnier, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Grand Palais, Eiffel Tower, and the Arc de Triomphe. Not bad for a Monday morning 😃

Before visiting #Taiwan I thought China had no legitimate claim to the island, and the last two weeks have only strengthened this view 🇹🇼