Blog posts, beginning with the most recent and dating back to March 2020
Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on 10th February 2026. Every now and then life throws a lesson our way, often completely unexpected, perhaps even trivial, but at times it can be something to take note of. At times it might lead to a change in behaviour or a…
The other side of Strasbourg
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on Saturday 24th January 2026. Strasbourg is a city with a long list of ‘must-see’ tourist sites. I apologise up-front as this blog isn’t going to be about them. I have decided that 2026 will be a year to step back and let…
The joys of winter travel
Hello and welcome to the first blog of 2026 on The Olivia Rose Diaries. We’re leaving the UK for a house-sit in Strasbourg for a couple of weeks before going home to Le Shack. Because we don’t have a car, our journeys are often complicated, a sometimes bewildering concoction of buses, trains, trams, tubes, taxis,…
Happy winter
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on December 20th 2025. It’s been around six weeks since my last blog and I expect some of you are wondering where I’ve been. The answer is simply that I haven’t been anywhere at all, just living quietly and happily at Le Shack,…
Gorgeous graveyards, thundering waterfalls and a tumbling bear – cycling to the Pyrenees
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on November 7th 2025 We arrived back at le Shack on Tuesday October 28th – and then left again a week later on a cycling trip to the Pyrenees. The weather forecast was good so we made a last minute decision. This is…
By train to the Alps – cycling around Lake Annecy and the best food market in France
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on October 24th 2025. Another train journey! A longer one this time, just over 3 hours to Annecy, one of the most attractive towns in the Alps with it’s cobbled streets and picturesque bridges over the canals, all set against the backdrop of…
Snakes and shoes
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on October 17th 2025. I’m going to begin this blog with a video and leave you guessing as to where I am. I’m not really a museum type of person but there are two museums a short train ride from Valence that appealed…
Life on a boat going nowhere
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on October 10th 2025. Our life tends to be full of experiments. We’re always trying new things, seeing what works and what doesn’t. Sitting on our boat in a marina and not going anywhere is a new experience for us but for the…
Autumn bike ride
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on October 2nd 2025. We’ve just finished our autumn bike trip and I thought I would share it with you. ‘ I’ve got this down to a fine art,’ I said, very pleased with myself, as I looked at the tiny pile of…
Pyrenean safari
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on August 25th 2025. Our roof is finished and we decided we deserved a day out so we hired a car and headed for the mountains for a day trip. Temperatures are on the rise again here and we lost a few degrees…
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