La Grande Vadrouille ENG

 As mentioned before, I’ve been sailing solo for the past few days...  I left Jérôme with his son Louis in Stockholm, where they happily reunited after a year apart. The three of us celebrated the reunion in style, along with Louis’s birthday and his graduation. 😊 Then we each went our separate ways—the boys one way, the girl the other way. But not before spending some time exploring the beautiful, colourful, and wonderfully watery city of Stockholm. Sweden’s capital was built across an archipelago of islands, so unlike cities that simply sit beside the sea, a lake, or a river, water is literally everywhere! It makes wandering from one island to another while admiring the city’s stunning architecture very pleasant. During this solo part of my journey, I let my curiosity guide me and tried to mix things up: a bit of  nature, some history and culture, and a few urban getaways. People had told me that Sweden would remind me of Canada—more specifically Quebec—and I have to a...

 I recently came across this quote about Norway: “Here, nature isn’t a vacation destination.” That may certainly be true for many people who travel here from all over the world, but for Norwegians, enjoying nature is simply part of everyday life: walking, running, skiing, cycling, paddling, fishing—and more. Whether you live in the heart of Oslo or north of the Arctic Circle, nature is always close at hand, and heading outdoors to recharge is deeply rooted in the culture. This is a country of active people, you don’t see many overweight people around here... And when you take it all in, it’s easy to understand why. You could almost say the country has been blessed by the gods! With the beautiful weather we’ve had these past few days (sunshine and temperatures between 20 and 25°C during the day) we could believe this is true, but we have to imagine the same places in the middle of winter, with temperatures dropping to -20°C and only a few short hours of daylight to play outside. Jud...

Norway is a magnificent country, or at least that's what you hear all the time. But is its reputation a little overrated? Is it just another one of those Instagram must-see destinations that ends up being overrun by Instagrammers and isn't actually that extraordinary? Our answer, without the slightest hesitation, is  NO! There's no denying it,  it's beautiful, really, really beautiful. It might even be paradise on Earth... 😍 First of all, Norway is the ultimate road trip destination. While many people choose to explore the country and its spectacular fjords by cruise ship, we believe that discovering it by road is far more rewarding, for several reasons. To begin with, there's the scenery. Every mile brings a new spectacle before your eyes: waterfalls cascading down mountainsides, pristine sandy beaches, snow-capped peaks still even at the start of summer, crystal-clear lakes, rushing rivers, lush green forests... it's a feast for the eyes. The roads are in ex...