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Back in France

16/11/2018 | News | Koala & Cerise

Let's talk about our return to France, about two and a half months ago. After quickly crossing the Netherlands and Belgium, we crossed the French border at the end of August, which left us with a strange feeling. Sad to realize that the journey is coming to an end, proud to have traveled these 25,000 km and to have discovered so many wonderful places in Europe, and a bit disgusted to "go back home" to our country, which w...

Last time in Germany

23/10/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

This time, we went back on the roads we already knew. After Poland, we drove through the Czech Republic for a one night stop. Then, heading to Königstein, where we stayed 3 weeks last winter as workawayers in a backpacker. A few days to enjoy hiking by warm weather, going for a bike ride, going kayaking. And here we go again towards France, towards the west, then. Short break in Hainich National Park, with museum ...

Goodbye

19/10/2018 | News | Koala & Cerise

One year ago, we were just leaving the south of France for a long journey aboard our fitted van, a.k.a our dear Travis! Almost 30 000 km later, we are once more sedentary people, as long as we need to save a bit of money and put our new projects live. In 365 days, we went through 20 countries, took thousands of photos, met some cool people and some less cool ones. But above all, we lived. That's why it's so hard for us to explain ou...

Visiting western Poland

14/10/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

Poland, here we are for the second time, and this time, plenty of things to do. At first we plunged back into the Viking universe with the world biggest gathering of Vikings (more than 600) and a very large market in the former Viking village of Wolin (the only island in Poland). We were able to put on our beautiful clothes again. We met again with the Ours d'Alfadir camp (from Poitiers) that we had already met at the Moesgård (Danish Viking f...

Short stay in northern Germany

11/09/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

Back on our short stay in northern Germany. In order to join Poland from Denmark, we had to go again in Germanic lands. There we could discover the town of Hedeby (Haithabu), not being able to leave the Viking universe for too long. Hedeby is now in Germany, but once belonged to Danish territory. It was a large merchant center founded by Harald Blåtand during the Viking era, the village was surrounded by a huge dike 5 to 10m ...

Visiting Denmark

03/09/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

Dear readers, Back to our homeland, it's time for us to catch up on the story of our adventures on European roads. After Sweden, we reached Denmark crossing the famous Öresund bridge. We started by visiting the capital Copenhagen as soon the bridge crossed. We found a parking space in the city center, which is unusual for our dear Travis. We loved this city, we visited churches and its iconic city hall, which we found splendid....

News!!

30/08/2018 | News | Koala & Cerise

No, we did not forget you! The next articles are already written, but there are so many photos and so little good network in France... Because yes, we crossed the French border again a dozen days ago. We were left with a strange feeling, both sad that the trip ends, happy to have made such a nice and rich journey, also baffled by the karma that has been hard on us during the last week: indigestion, bad work relations, injuries of all kinds and so o...

Goodbye Sweden

13/08/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

As we drove further south-west in Sweden, we stopped at Helsingborg to admire this coastal town from which we could take a glimpse over the Danish coasts. It was very hot and the huge and delicious ice cream we enjoyed there was more than welcome! Further south, around Malmö, the last stop before leaving the country, where we found a beautiful spot in which Travis could dream to be a boat. The next day we crossed the famous cable-stayed br...

10 days in Sweden

21/07/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

After 8 hours of an all inclusive cruise aboard Finnswan, we joined for the third time the Swedish lands. This time a bit north of Stockholm, where we took the opportunity to visit the beautiful city of Uppsala, its cathedral, its gardens, and an iconic firm of Sweden: IKEA! ...

Finland, middle and south

19/07/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

After the great encounter of French friends in a tour of Europe (le voyage de Mia), we continued on our way south, under the sun, which ended up cheering us up. The program included visiting the ruins of the Vaasa church, an open-air art exhibition and a free museum in the charming city of Tampere, where we were able to visit Finland's largest steam engine (Swiss manufacture), which supplied the cotton factory next to it, put out of order in the 1950s. ...

Sunny Lappland

17/07/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

Dear Santa, We have behaved this year. We hope you had time to rest. We came to see you this year because you always come too quickly every year at home, and during our sleep. We could see that the elves are at work and make beautiful toys. We hope you have some for us. Cerise and I would like a bigger truck, and the license that goes with it. Bisous Koala After this magical interlude in Santa Claus' villa...

Rainy Lofoten

15/07/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

On the 21st of June, the longest day of the year, we crossed the arctic circle in Norway, to the north of this point the sun does not set over in summer and the days last 24 hours. Those who have received a postcard from Norway, we have posted it here, hence the stamp you have on it. We are well north of Norway, under a cloudy and rainy steppes. We were able to visit the beautiful Lofoten Islands, which we could only admire the tip of this iceberg of beauty, since all the m...

Rock carvings road

09/07/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

The roads of Norway also led us on the trail of rock carvings. We visited several sites, with carvings of greater or lesser magnitude. In chronological order: - Stjørdal - Leirfall - Ronglan - Bardal - Bøla It was interesting to see the differences on these sites. Some had many footprints (engraved) and drakkars, while others showed more an...

Fjords road

07/07/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

We left after the stave churches, still on the road to the north west to reach the sea. We crossed several fjords with turquoise water. The valleys followed one another before our eyes amazed by the height of the waterfalls and the transparency of the water. A hike at the end of the longest fjord allowed us to witness the breathtaking scene of a giant swirl blending cascades water and fjords one in a sweet mix of turquoise and royal blue. We took a close look at th...

Stave churches road

04/07/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

Leaving our host's home in southern Norway, we decided to take the road to the northwest, pushing us inland. This led us to discover the typical medieval churches of this region: the stavkirke. We realized too late that we had missed the prettiest one in the south (Heddal), but the following were no less impressive. In chronological order, here are the churches we saw: - Flesberg - Rollag - Nore...

Willow growing

03/07/2018 | Work | Koala & Cerise

Catch-up #5! Throwback on our last workaway, a three and a half week stay in southern Norway. We arrived at our host's house mid-May to work at the willow plantation. At SkovstuenPil (www.skovstuenpil.no), 24 species of willows are grown to make baskets, living willow fences and anything else that can be created with the flexibility and strengh of the willow, with a little imagination. We did all kinds of things:...

Swedish capital

28/06/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

Catch-up #4: visiting Stockholm. After the ferry trip, we went to park on the port and undertook the visit of the Swedish capital by foot: about twenty kilometers. We first went for a walk on the island of the royal garden where we could see nice statues and many birds. Then, a little sandwich break near a fountain in the city center. We toured the Royal Palace, then wandered in the streets of the city trying not to get lost a...

Estonian stay

21/06/2018 | News | Koala & Cerise

Catch-up #3: our penultimate workaway. It is in Estonia that Travis took the boat for the first time. So it was early spring when we arrived on the island of Saaremaa. A little early (for once...), we took the opportunity to visit the island. Thus we were able to visit a whole series of old USSR bunkers ruins, thanks to our new hobby: geocaching. The roads also led us to discover a beautiful deer antler, geodes at the bottom of Panga cliff, the majesti...

Lithuania & Latvia

17/06/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

Catch-up #2! Throwback on the most eastern part of our trip to Europe. We had left Poland to go to our next workaway host in Estonia. So we crossed two other Baltic countries. First, Lithuania. After strolling along the river, we visited the beautiful little town of Kaunas, including its small medieval castle, in whose walls we discovered a beautiful painted rock. We then went to visit the capital, Vilnius, which pleased us less, ...

Eastern Poland

07/06/2018 | News | Koala & Cerise

Catch-up #1! After our unforgettable workaway stay in the Polish countryside, we visited a few cities on our way north. First stop, painful but obligatory: the Auschwitz camps. Auschwitz I, where the famous portal "Arbeit macht frei" sets the tone of the place. It is silently and with horror that we went into one of the old gas chambers. We then walked to the Auschwitz II - Birkenau camp, where w...

Busy life

28/05/2018 | News | Koala & Cerise

Finally some news! A bit late, for sure, but we have not been able to take advantage of a rainy day to write an article in the last two months, because we had only sun! It's time to catch up! For those who followed our progress on Facebook, we continued our journey towards the north, crossing Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Then we took a ferry to arrive in Sweden with as our final goal our Workaway host in south Norway where we are at the m...

Podkarpackie Voivodeship

09/04/2018 | Work | Koala & Cerise

After the first mishaps, we had three wonderful weeks of workaway in Poland. To start, we went around the huge property on a hill in the middle of the woods. A camping area with a tipi and an old circus wagon is reserved to make it a place of rest and retreat. We started harvesting the wood that our host had cut. Koala brought back the wood and Cerise cut it into pieces to be able to use it in the stoves of the small wooden house (let's not forget that ...

Welcome to Poland

06/04/2018 | News | Koala & Cerise

We leave in a few days heading north, hoping that our trip will be less bumpy than the previous one. Two weeks ago, we left our Slovak host to arrive the same evening at our Polish host. Of course, we still chose a cold snap to hit the road, and our start was delayed because one of Travis's brakes was blocked! Never mind, we were still able to ride, being careful during breaks not to use the handbrake ...

Stay at the Tatras

27/03/2018 | News | Koala & Cerise

We spent two weeks in Slovakia. We spent our first night in this country, which was also the coldest one for Travis (< -20°C), in the very picturesque village of Čičmany. We then went back on the road and were welcomed by our host in the midle of the Tatras mountains, in an old school near the village church, which he wants to renovate into a guest house. We were able to build some wooden furniture and sew curtains on a 1965 Lada!&...

Bohemian Prague

19/03/2018 | News | Koala & Cerise

Leaving our German host, we headed towards Slovakia and took the opportunity to visit the Czech capital: Prague. As soon as we crossed the border, we were amazed by the typical and colorful architecture of the first city we met. Once arrived in Prague, we were able to find the same imperial lines and details. Unfortunately, the three places we wanted to visit turned out to be failures: ...

The rest of our German workaway

18/03/2018 | Work | Koala & Cerise

We are leaving Slovakia soon, so we thought it was time to tell you what we did in Germany. We did not only build beds! In the hotel where we were, we also fitted out the bathrooms, pasted blackout window films, made work plans, painted the ceiling and many other things....

An unexpected day

26/02/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

Two weeks ago, we received an unusual offer: play as extras for a promotional video in exchange for free jacuzzi and sauna. We exchanged a few looks and agreed. The next day, we left with our host and another French workawayer to spend an unusual day: Finnish sauna at 100°C and beer jacuzzi, all along with some pints. We ended up face to face with the cameras, a bit shy in front of instructions in German that we did not understand, but the experience proved to be ve...

Beds!

22/02/2018 | Work | Koala & Cerise

It has been more than three weeks since we arrived at our host in Germany. Although much remains to be finalized before the imminent opening, the work in the hotel has progressed well. In particular, we have once again built beds with wood and OSB. ...

Hiking through Saxon Switzerland

17/02/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

This week-end we rest a bit, but since we are here in Germany, we enjoyed some nice hiking trips to the surroundings. First hike to the Lilienstein and Bastei bridge, emblems of Saxon Switzerland. We then came back home by train. ...

Bavaria

09/02/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

When we left our Austrian hosts, we drove towards Salzburg, but while we didn't find any parking for our wheels, we continued on our way towards Germany. That's how we enjoyed on a foggy morning a tour of the Bavarian capital. The large park at Nymphenburg Castle reminded us of Schönbrunn Palace near Vienna, we parked there for free and reached Munich by tram. We were able to discover typical architecture as well as showcas...

Austrian workaway

01/02/2018 | Work | Koala & Cerise

Now that we have arrived at our new host, it is more than time to tell you what we did at our previous host in Austria during this stay that lasted more than one month! We stayed with Bettina and her two children, where we did all kinds of work. First, we helped with daily tasks such as cooking, washing up, cleaning and laundry. But we also did some bigger works: ...

Starting New Year

12/01/2018 | Fun | Koala & Cerise

We wish a very happy new year 2018 to all our readers. May it bring you happiness and travels. On the travel side, we are doing kind of a break, since it's been nearly a month since we arrived at our workaway host in Austria. Rest assured, the road is calling us louder and louder, we will soon bring Travis to new horizons. In the meantime, we were able to spend a New Year's Eve on the roof of the truck watching the thou...

Windy Vienna

27/12/2017 | News | Koala & Cerise

We take advantage of a break between parties to write a new article. We are in Austria for a while, and here is how it started. We spent the second weekend of December in Vienna, and it was very cold! We arrived there in a freezing wind, and through some snowflakes. Koala was more than happy to take a hot shower on the motorhome area where we decided to sleep. The first morning was a laundromat tour, and in the afternoon w...

Short stay in Croatia

15/12/2017 | News | Koala & Cerise

So it was under the snow that we arrived at our next stop, in the city of Slunj, in Croatia. There, we surprisingly discovered beautiful waterfalls all along the river. After a good night's sleep, we went to visit the Pltiviče Lakes National Park. We came across the sun and the snow, for our greatest happiness, wood nuthatches not at all shy, and even a small black squirrel. We also crossed paths with a French couple who were also traveling in a Master...

Through Slovenia

15/12/2017 | News | Koala & Cerise

About two weeks ago, we left Italy under a bright sun, to reach Slovenia, which we crossed quickly, but we took the time to linger in the beautiful city of Ljubljana. We crossed the famous Dragon Bridge, had a little tour of the city and almost succumbed to the temptation to do some ice rink laps. The following night, we found a spot at the foot of a castle and on the river's edge, in the small town of Žužemberk. Worst idea ever! While Ce...

Italy - part III

05/12/2017 | News | Koala & Cerise

Having found a new land (holiday village) near Rome, we could enjoy a good night's sleep (after an hour of waiting at the reception). The next day, to the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill! A bit crowdy, we are happy it's not summer! As the following pictures show, we were able to enjoy the sun. ...

Italy - part II

30/11/2017 | News | Koala & Cerise

It was with relief and under a bright sun that we left our host in Italy where things did not go exactly as planned. ...

Italy - part I

26/11/2017 | News | Koala & Cerise

We take advantage of the calm provided by the snow to write a new article. No, you are not dreaming, we are still on the road. Today, it's been a month since we left France, and within a month, things happened. First of all, our first (and only) workaway in Italy did not quite go as planned. We arrived on a Sunday night, in the rain and at nightfall. Our host was not present and it was his companion who welcomed us. We stayed i...

First workaway

06/11/2017 | Work | Koala & Cerise

We finally find some time to write an article! We've been on the road for two weeks now, with our house on the back. We arrived in Italy, after a day's driving in the rain, and it's not about to stop! This morning we cleaned the stables at our new host. But let's go back to our last week activities. We were hosted by friends of ours in Switzerland, next to Fribourg. Ove...

Imminent departure!

16/10/2017 | News | Koala & Cerise

We finally find the time to give you some news! The last few weeks have been very busy: work on the van (which is still not finished), goodbye to our colleagues (visit of our house on wheels included), huge sort in the things we left at our parents' home, move out slightly overloaded, goodbye to our parents, re-sort in the things that we will unfortunately have to leave behind before leaving. And here we are. Some of you will have noticed, we have postp...

Progress on our van

02/08/2017 | News | Koala & Cerise

Koala bought the van eight years ago. Over the years, he equipped it according to his needs, but now that the European road trip project is getting more and more precise, we decide to bring some modifications to the rear part of the van to create more storage, to add a roof rack, and to have it certified as a motor home if we have time. In June, we started putting down the benches in order to lower one and adapt the other to add dry toilets inside. We took the oppo...

ABOUT US

Koala & Cerise

Tired of the sedentary life routine, we decided to leave everything and go on an adventure exploring the world, starting with Europe in October 2017.

LATEST POSTS

16/11/2018 | Koala & Cerise

Let's talk about our return to France, about two and a half months ago. After quickly crossing the Netherlands and Belgium, we crossed the French border at the end of August, which left us with a strange feeling. Sad to realize that the journey is coming to an end, proud to have traveled these 25,000 km and to have discovered so many wonderful places in Europe, and a bit disgusted to "go back home" to our country, which w...

Last time in Germany

23/10/2018 | Koala & Cerise

This time, we went back on the roads we already knew. After Poland, we drove through the Czech Republic for a one night stop. Then, heading to Königstein, where we stayed 3 weeks last winter as workawayers in a backpacker. A few days to enjoy hiking by warm weather, going for a bike ride, going kayaking. And here we go again towards France, towards the west, then. Short break in Hainich National Park, with museum ...

19/10/2018 | Koala & Cerise

One year ago, we were just leaving the south of France for a long journey aboard our fitted van, a.k.a our dear Travis! Almost 30 000 km later, we are once more sedentary people, as long as we need to save a bit of money and put our new projects live. In 365 days, we went through 20 countries, took thousands of photos, met some cool people and some less cool ones. But above all, we lived. That's why it's so hard for us to explain ou...

Visiting western Poland

14/10/2018 | Koala & Cerise

Poland, here we are for the second time, and this time, plenty of things to do. At first we plunged back into the Viking universe with the world biggest gathering of Vikings (more than 600) and a very large market in the former Viking village of Wolin (the only island in Poland). We were able to put on our beautiful clothes again. We met again with the Ours d'Alfadir camp (from Poitiers) that we had already met at the Moesgård (Danish Viking f...

Short stay in northern Germany

11/09/2018 | Koala & Cerise

Back on our short stay in northern Germany. In order to join Poland from Denmark, we had to go again in Germanic lands. There we could discover the town of Hedeby (Haithabu), not being able to leave the Viking universe for too long. Hedeby is now in Germany, but once belonged to Danish territory. It was a large merchant center founded by Harald Blåtand during the Viking era, the village was surrounded by a huge dike 5 to 10m ...