One of the joys on our Dordogne tour is a little hotel in the middle of nowhere, in Calès, Le Petit Relais. It’s owned by Karine and Olivier. The village has a population of just 166, according to the National…
In September 2023, Roberto Peixoto joined us from Brazil on a bike tour through Champagne. I won’t tell you much about the new tour here, I’ve done that elsewhere. I just want to showcase Roberto’s Photo Diary of our week…
I can’t believe we haven’t done this before. Among Hung and Leah’s photos on our Loire Valley tour last June, there were a lot of photos of food. Some French regions are particularly noted for their distinctive food – Burgundy,…
I’m always delighted to receive photos from Chain Gang tours – especially if I woz there. Last year I was lucky enough to accompany a Dordogne bike tour with, among others, Rob Thomas, who sent me an album of photos.…
Researching for our new Burgundy bike tour, I was excited to discover a company that makes Époisses de Bourgogne cheese – and allows visitors! It’s very difficult to visit a cheesemaker, because of the hygiene regulations surrounding them. We visit…
Last year (OK, a couple of weeks ago) I read an article about hidden gems to visit in France. I haven’t been able to track down the article, but one of its 5 ‘gems’ was Nîmes. And it struck me…
About 2024. This year, 2023, was the first time since Brexit, and since the Covid-19 pandemic, that The Chain Gang ran a full season of tours. And even that isn’t really true – we still need to wake-up our Italian…
Fun and Games in the Dordogne Back in 2019, I was introduced to the wonderful ‘sport’ (sic) of sabering by the Mercer Island chapter of The Chain Gang, particularly Bruce and Kim York, and their daughter Casey, my sabering gurus.…
I explained in a previous blog that we were forced to change our Champagne tour – and change it a lot – when France allowed a clown to buy a hotel North of Reims, and pretend to run it. In…
This is a plea for help. So, unless you’re literally in the process of booking a holiday, everybody else, could you take 2 minutes, and see if you could help me? I’m after your photos – your Chain Gang photos.…
