August 2026

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1st - The Oxford lads had taken trains from Prague to Venice. Just in time for the Biennale . . Meanwhile in Denmark, the other adventurers headed through Humlebaek to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and it's Danish aesthetic synthesis of art, architecture, and landscape
Lovely seaside homes. And that day, music complimented landscape. The cello connected to an acoustic DI and effects unit made for interesting music. A short video of the gig is on AthoCinema on this website looking out to Sweden
. Stephen admired and pondered Henry Moore's work. 2nd - A visit to Hillerod and Frederiksborg Slot/ Castle .
. . . ‎Then it was off to the Fredensborg Palace Gardens where the guys caught new Royal Guard recruits being drilled
They met numerous other characters in the gardens Excuse the Dr Who reference, but Stephen thought they might be related to the Weeping Angels from said TV show . Paulie's solid friends were more joyful
The Adelaide duo dropped in for dinner (for them). Then it was off to Helsingor for a look at Kronborg Slot/Castle. But not before lunch. The old seafood warehouse reminded Paulie and Stephen of Plant 4, a converted factory, near their Adelaide home. And who did they bump into there? Their neighbours from the camping ground - Miriam & David Batliner and the (censored) kids.
. Still in in Helsingor to wander around Kronborg Slot (Hamlet's castle) on the sea facing Swedish Helsingborg 7km away . .
. The guys noted that a lot of churches had this reference to the sea 2nd - the Oxford lads made for the hills on their travels back to England. Here at Merano in Italy .
3rd- ‎Kastelruth in Trentino-Alto. Italy . . From Denmark it was time for Paulie and Stephen to head back south. They took a different route back to France HQ. About 300km more than the route up from HQ.
Navigator and driver heading to the border of Denmark & Germany The duo stopped for the night in Heide, Germany, so Stephen could join a teleconference by Apple Retail in Australia as he was considering getting back into the Apple fold, even if retail. He needed a good network so an apartment was in order. 4th- In the wee hours in Adelaide, Cam & Olivia continued their training 4th - Around Hamburg the traffic - especially goods transport - was crazy
They nearly took a confused turn to "Adelaide" 4th - A quick stop was made at Schloss Evenburg to farewell Germany. This recent build sat close to the border of Germany ( SE of Emden) and the Netherlands "Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland" Towards the sea from Groningen in Holland/Netherlands, the duo pitched tent. It was across from Zoutkamp - a quiet fishing village
Zoutkamp village across the water E702E574-96AD-4217-B3CF-F713332E1A98 Dressing up for dinner It was only a short pedal into the village
. And fresh seafood was on the menu . 5th - he was up early so Stephen headed off for a spin
. Later the duo headed for the sea and Lauwersoog, 14 km away. arrived Back to the village for lunch
and then back to the uncrowded campsite The only WiFi signal was in the community area which was a lovely collection of items . .
6th - time to pack up shop and continue on the journey home . . Past Negele
The guys pitched a tent near Durnal in Belgium and had dinner in their cafe. Paulie & Stephen were not the only team heading home. Keno and James stopped at Lucern's Chapel Bridge in Switzerland The lads looked down at Lucerne 7th - This day's mission was to cross to France to visit Baye in the Champagene region to visit the makers of a favoured drop
. . Coincidentally Cam and Olivia were in the mood for sparling wine as well. It was the Art Gallery of South Australia's "First Friday of the month" gig 041F51CB-B7EA-43FD-84AD-17519C86A6F7
This was good timing to see the "Monet to Matisse: Defying Tradition "exhibition that opened the next day. 8th - the guys had one uneventful night in Belgium and then arrived at a camp site at ‎Cormery, in France's Centre-Val de Loire Nice and shady whilst France was having yet another heat wave An evening drink in the camp grounds (open to the town) guingette by the river
. 9th - time to hop on the bikes again. The first stop planned was Loches, 23km away. Who trusts SatNav?
Tournesol turned on a smile En route the guys found a sign to ruins of a Roman bridge near the hamlet of l'Isle Auger. Research showed that the ruin was actually a 15th century construction over a Roman ford! False advertising :-) . .
Loches reached at last . It was seized from the Counts of Anjou and was taken by King John of England. From the mid-13th Century until after Charles IX of France's reign the castle was a residence of the French kings. The headed through small village of ‎Chédigny which was beautiful so they stopped at the lovely Café de Chedigny for lunch.
The guys made it to their next goal- Chenonceaux but being holiday season it was crazily busy so they didn't pay to enter the grounds. This borrowed shot shows that a visit might be worth it in quieter times. Heading home one of Stephen's cycling shoes continued to fall apart (he had tied it up with creeper vine half way through the ride). They have been in use for over a decade. The sole eventually fell off, along with Stephen because the sole remained cleated to the pedal. But they battled on despite no direct bike route back to Cormery. Bloody Google had the duo pedalling on "roads" that included farmer's fields and dead ends. Stephen's road bike was anything but suitable and his bruised coccyx was felt for weeks after.
The 80km cycle had more hills and the weather was much hotter than a 80km pedal they had in the Loire around Chinon (see July 2015 in AthoAlbum/ Photo Archive). 10th - time to continue the drive. Next planned overnight was to be below Rauzan Castle. Miss Mouse was ready. Passing through ‎Saintes, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the guys noted some interesting Roman architecture in great shape. The 2,000 year old arena was closed as was much of the town. See www.arenes-saintes.fr Next to the river was the 18 AD Gallo-Roman Arc de Germanicus
A pit stop at the E.Leclerc supermarche at Pons. So much choice for wine to take to our Bordeaux hosts after a night camping. Arrival at the camp grounds. The castle looks down at the camp site. 11th- a morning walk up to the 13th Century castle. PAulie and Stephen camped here in August 2024 - see Photo Archive link on the home age. Home to England & France's King John (John Lackland, 1166 - 1216)
"AthoCinema" also has a 2024 video on the rather full AthoCinema page . Looking down at the camp site (spot their Black car in the mid shot) 11th - A night with Nick Traynor and Sonya in their Bordeaux garden. Nephew Ryan from London (via Glasgow) and family arrived the same day. A bit of help for their arrival and dinner.
A lovely night and catch up. 14th - after a few days staying at Porte Bleue (our Belgian guests were still at our house), we collected Paulie's Kiwi pal Helen who flew in from Canada. The trio stayed in the centre of Castres for a few nights. .
. . An evening stroll in the heat What better way to cool down than feet in a fountain?
. Followed by a glass of wine in a groovy Guinguette The square outside our window was initially quiet. Initially - it was Friday night and the town youth were loud into the wee hours. 15th - at 6 am, the trucks rolled in to set up for market day
. . The crew headed to nearby Lautrec. It was Fete de Pain (bread) With interesting competitions such as "estimate the weight of the loaf"
. . . .
16th - A visit to the Castres Musée Goya which focussed on Spanish art through the ages. All agreed that it was a well curated Musée It included contemporary art such as the Don Quixote installation back in the apartment
To stop for refreshments 17th - The trio headed to Saint Antonin Noble Val, but stopped to show Helen some local sights on the way. Here they had a quick look up at Bruniquel Home after more than month away for Paulie and Stephen 18th - Helen had met Storm the previous year when Paulie & Olivia had a joint birthday in the Adelaide hills (See November 2025 in the Photo Archive linked on the home page)
The guys showed Helen the village from the cliffs And that night joined villagers and tourists at the local Rugby club's fund raising fete. Time to chill 19th- Paulie headed out for a pedal and met some new foals.
And then collected some more figs at home Later that day Storm joined the team to visit the local vineyard at Domain de Barry. They had met with Cyrien a number of times. He was weary after 3 days of grape harvesting . Having purchased some of Cyprien's wine, on teh way home they stopped at the ruins of the Templar's commanderie de Vaour founded in 1140
20th - next up was a tour of Cordes sur Ciel founded by the Count of Toulouse, Raimond VII in 1222 as a Bastide to protect the population displaced by the Albigensian Crusade . . From there the guys went to Albi to visit the cathedral
The gardens of the Bishops Palace . . .
. Helen went into the Palace to walk through the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec gallery 21st - off to Le Boui Boiu diu Pays to listen to some jazz. .
. 22nd - then it was lunch at La Guinguette de Cazals . 23rd- time for a wee gathering in the garden
Julia and Michael and Storm joined in . . .
That afternoon Storm and Helen were shown the view from the hills. Paulie and Stephen often cycle the route. Canoeing continued despite the low river. A reminder that Helen should be taken on a paddle. Meanwhile in Adelaide Olivia is dog sitting her pal Luna who certainly likes company . Cam & Olivia had been ra-arranging and doing up their home.
. In the mornings they continued their training - they will be doing a half marathon in NSW in September 24th - on a cycle Paulie again met the new born horse she admired.. It seemed that said foal admired Paulie as well.
25th - it was time for the much anticipated paddle Paulie deliberately making it look challenging. . .
A wee tipple before being collected All done. . Back in Brisbane Nick prepares a meal at his Toowong apartment before moving back to rent space downstairs at mother Elizabeth's
He discovered that many of his belongings that was stored for many months whilst downstairs water damage was repaired had been damaged by the removalists. . Apart from that hiccup, NIck has great stuff happening. He planned to start a Diploma course a month later as he continued job hunting. 26th - Helen's final outing with the duo to local sights. First up was Penne
. . And then Puycelsi Lunch first...
... then a look around the village. 27th - if only Stephen could remember the punchline Time for Helen to head to Toulouse to fly off for her next adventure - a small tour around Iberia. 29th - the lads caught up and were joined by Paulie and Julia
An very early morning run in Adelaide. The duo watched the moon set & sun rise. Olivia and Cam joined Pat and Hannah at the Cheese Festival, "Mould X Pint Palooza" 31st - what better way to finish up one hell of a busy month ?