Finland summer 2026

We took our car to Finland with the Stockholm – Åbo ferry to see Finland for the first time properly. We followed the coastal route to Helsinki via Hangø and Ekenas and stayed 2 nights in the capital. Next, we went north via Lahti to visit friends at their summer residence by the Paijanne lake side near Jyvaskyla. We returned to the ferry at Åbo via Tampere, Rauma and Naantali.

New Book: Sainte-Victoire - The Mountain of Light.

The whole world knows or should know about Sainte-Victoire. The local people who lives within viewing distance of this magnificient mountain knows it all too well with its changing light during the day depending on the season of the year. But in addition, you have all the others in the world who only knows it as an image or a painting.

Book-link:  https://www.blurb.com/b/12531390-sainte-victoire

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Sainte - Victoire (selected photos from the book)

 

The whole world knows or should know about Sainte-Victoire. The local people who lives within viewing distance of this magnificient mountain knows it all too well with its changing light during the day depending on the season of the year. But in addition, you have all the others in the world who only knows it as an image or a painting.

Having been walking up and down this mountain each year since 1994, Sainte-Victoire never stops to facinate me with its changing profiles and lightening. It takes some effort to reach its summit, but it’s well worth it for the discoveries along the different routes and the views from the top.

Ravennna and Bologna, ITALY.

Ravenna & Bologna, ITALY - April 2025
We took the car one early morning over to Ravenna, where we stayed for 3 nights to see the charming City with all its mosaic all the way back to the 6th century. We had time to see the Adriatic Sea at Cesenatico  and we took the train one day to see Bologna. On the way back, we took the Alpine route via Torino and Briancon (France) with a night in Aosta and lunch in Bardonecchia.

Sainte-Victoire: The Black Trail (Garagai)

The Black route up the south face of the Montain Sainte-Victoire was established back in 1898, but it was not till 2023 that I got the chance of trying it out. Anne was waiting for a hip operation at the time, so I went with 3 local friends 17^th May 2023. We passed “pas de l’elephant” after only 30 minutes (perhaps the only real problem for some) and was up through the big “hole” in the mountain called “Grand Garagai” after about 2 hours.

ALLOS, The French Alpes.

ALLOS became a new hiking location for us in September 2024. It’s located in the north-western corner of the Mercantour National Park, just south of Barcelonette. The advantage here is the well maintained road up the Parking du Laus (2.100m) only 20 minutes drive from the village of ALLOS. From here you have only 30 minutes walk up to Lac d’Allos and a series of walks in the area. We did a walk to Col de l’Encombette (No. 7) and a walk to Col de la Petite Cayolle (called le Circuit des Lacs – No. 8). The downside was the fact that Allos was partly “shut down” for the summer season with only few restaurants open.

MURAT, the Auvergne region of France.

We spent a few days in MURAT in the Auvergne region of France (half way between Bordeaux and Grenoble!). Cantal is famous for its vulcanic past and the landscape is formed by old volcanos. Perhaps equally famous is the Cantal cheese and the more matured cheese from Salers, also in Cantal county.