Results for "Vieux-Lille+|+127"

Bonjour,

Nous aimerions trouver des français ou personnes parlant français(québécois ou canadiens) et qui vont voyager sur la croisière québec Fort lauderdale du 23 oct au 1 nov 2010. Si vous avez aussi des renseignements sur cette croisière, forfait boisson, activité.....et autres, n ous sommes preneurs. Nous avons déjà fait une croisière sur NCL et je sais que sur MSC, le système des repas n'est pas le même...avez-vous des news. Merci et à bientôt

Bonjour à vous chez voyageurs 🙂

Je quitte un mois pour la France (juillet-aout), j'atterris à Paris.

Je voyage avec mon sac à dos, donc aucun itinéraire de prévu. Je veux jouer sur les possibilités de rester plus ou moins longtemps à un endroit sans être stressée par les billets de trains ou les chambres déjà réservés :)

Je voudrais savoir quelles sont, selon vous, les meilleures villes/régions à visiter... pour le moment j'en ai trop sur ma liste : Paris, Nice, Marseille, Corse, Bourgogne, Lille, Lyon...

Je veux trouver des villes intéressantes, ou il n'est pas difficile de se rendre, même sans réserver le train plusieurs jours à l'avance!

Si vous avez des conseils je suis preneuse aussi... c'est mon premier long voyage :)

Merci de vos précieux conseils ;)

Bonjour

Je suis en pleine préparation de mon prochain voyage en Inde. Ce sera le Gujarat, à partir du 8 mars prochain. Je n'avais fait que traverser cet état la dernière fois, j'ai décidé de m'y arrêter quelques semaines. Et plus je prépare, plus je lis sur cet état, plus la liste des lieux où j'aimerais aller s'allonge. De jour en jour !

Et aujourd'hui, en fouillant dans les vieux messages de VF, je tombe sur un nouveau nom qui s'ajoute à la liste : Dholavira. Problème : cette ville me paraît pas mal isolée. Pas de train, au moins 8 heures de route depuis Bhuj... Donc a priori pas possible de n'y faire que passer, il faut s'arrêter pour au moins une nuit - voire plus si je m'y sens bien. Donc questions : tout d'abord, quelqu'un est-il déjà passé par Dholavira ? Si oui, comment ? Et y'a-t-il moyen de loger sur place ? Je préfère généralement les transports en commun, mais si c'est vraiment nécessaire, je peux faire une exception en prenant un tacot, très ponctuellement...

Merci !

PS : et tant qu'à faire de rallonger un peu la liste, n'hésitez pas à me raconter vos coups de coeur au Gujarat ! Mon itinéraire n'en est pour le moment qu'au stade d'ébauche, absolument rien de définitif...

Bonjour, Avec mon amie nous projetons de nous rendre, début janvier de Suisse au Mali, en voiture, via le Maroc et la Mauritanie(Dakhla, Nouakchott, Ayoûn, Nioro). Depuis l'enlèvement de 3 espagnols sur ce trajet, nous remettons sérieusement en question notre projet. Qu' en est il de la sécurité sur ce trajet? Quelqu'un l'a t' il parcouru depuis les derniers événements? Faut-il vraiment avoir peur?

Bonjour à tous

Nous sommes une famille de 6 (dont 4 enfants) qui a pris le parti de découvrir un pays en le parcourant durant 3 semaines Que ce soit en voiture, en transport en commun ou à pied nous cherchons avant tout à le découvrir de l’intérieur par ses paysages, ses habitants et sa cuisine. A peine revenu du Nord Vietnam que nous pensons déjà au périple de l’an prochain. C’est à chaque fois un choix difficile puisqu’il doit susciter l’enthousiasme général ! Parmi nos 4 choix il y a une envie qui me taraude : rejoindre Istanbul par le chemin des écoliers: Départ de Lille via la Suisse, l'Italie, la Slovénie, la Croatie, la Bosnie, le Monténégro, la Macédoine et la Bulgarie….. Et déjà plein de questions Y en a-t-il parmi vous qui ont fait ce voyage ? Si oui je sui preneur de tous vos conseils, bonnes adresses, incontournables ext. L’idée serait de louer une voiture en allé simple et retour par avion. Si vous avez des tuyaux…. Merci d avance

Eric

Salam à tous Je prend le bateau (Grandi Navi Veloci) cet été de Barcelone à Tanger avec un camping-car, j’ai besoin de quelques renseignements, et conseils sur le bateau et la route à travers du l'Espagne, ou il faut en particulier prendre garde? D'avance merci

Hallo Ich möchte von Barcelona nach Tanger mit der Fähre und einem Wohnmobil. Nehme alle ernstgemeinten Ratschläge bezüglich Fähre und Strecke durch Spanien dankend entgegen. Auf was sollte man speziell aufpassen?

Bonjour, Un cabinet de recrutement Suisse me dit que j'ai énormément de chance de décrocher un poste de technico-commercial sédentaire (avec 1 jour de déplacement par sem + 5 semaines de déplacement/an) à Sion car je suis le seul candidat correspondant aux critères 🙂. 26 ans, Bac +3 technique, 4 ans d'expérience, anglais courant + restes d'allemand.

Le cabinet m'a parlé de 5500-6000 CHF brut/mois soit environ 71 500 CHF brut/an sur 13 mois. Il me dit qu'en fonction de mon profil, je pourrais négocier entre 70 000 a 90 000 CHF brut/an sur 13 mois, qui est un bon salaire pour la région.

En France, j'ai environ 33 à 35 000 € brut/an pour 39h/semaine avec 2 RTT par mois + 5 semaines de congés payées. Je paye 620€/mois pour un 65m² dans le centre ville de Lille et je vis bien sans me priver.

1) Compte tenue de la région, Sion (Valais), que pensez-vous de la fourchette de salaire qui m'est proposée ?

2) Sion est à environ 45 min de la première ville Française (Vallorcine) d'après mes recherches. Il vaut mieux habiter autour de Sion ou à la frontière, en France ?

3) Si j'accepte cette proposition, c'est aussi pour profiter des pistes et faire du snowboard tous les week ends tant qu'il y a de la neige. Je pense que Sion est bien placée pour ça !

4) Compte tenue de l'imposition, des charges de santé et de retraitre, du nombre de jours et d'heures travaillées, des loyers, de la mentalité Suisse(que je ne connais pas) et toutes ces choses inombrables et complexes à prendre en compte, pensez vous que ce soit une bonne opportunité ?

Merci

Bonjour à tous, La question a certainement déjà été posé mais l'accés aux réponses ds ttes ces discussions m'a été un peu compliquée. Nous partons à DerhaDun dans le nord del'Inde au bord de l'himalaya. Pourriez vous me dire pr les connaisseurs quelle a été la totalité financière pr tous les vaccins nécessaires? (Encéphalite japonaise B, Hépatite A et B, Méningites A et C, Rage, Tétanos-poliomyélite, Typhoïde, Traitement Paludisme)

Merci d'avance.

Diane

Bonjour à tous,

C’est ma première intervention sur ce forum que je trouve hyper intéressant donc j’en profite pour me présenter : je m’appelle Christophe, j’ai 29 ans et je vis à Lille (Nord).

Récemment, j’ai pris la décision de faire un voyage fin avril / début mai (15 jours) au Canada et aux Etats-Unis. Plus précisément, je vais voir des amis qui sont à Montréal et je voudrai en profiter pour faire un aller/retour rapide à Québec City et une escapade de 3/4 jours à New York ! En fait, comme ils bossent la semaine, je ne pourrai voyager avec eux que le we, les autres jours, j’ai donc l’intention de bouger seul !

J’ai donc pas mal de questions en tête sur la faisabilité de mon voyage, sur les moyens de transport, sur les hôtels et sur les démarches administratives à engager… J’ai trouvé quelques réponses sur les différents sujets mais je cherche des compléments d’informations et des avis sur telle ou telle idée.

Voici les premières questions que je me pose :

- Il faut que je fasse un passeport. A priori, le délai d’obtention en mairie/préfecture est de 1 mois et il n’est pas nécessaire de l’avoir au moment de réserver ses billets d’avion ! C’est bien ça ?

- Ensuite, je n’ai pas trop compris s’il faut que je fasse 2 demandes de visa touristique (une pour le Québec et une pour les USA) ou si je peux prendre mon visa à la frontière américaine ?

- Est-ce que quelqu’un a un bon plan pour se loger à Québec City ? Combien de temps faut-il passer dans la ville pour visiter les principaux sites ?

- Pour Montréal, qui peut me conseiller des sites incontournables à visiter également ?

- Pour me rendre à NY, j’ai vu que le moyen le plus simple et le plus « rapide » et surtout le moins cher est le bus. La compagnie Greyhound propose des prix intéressants. Est-ce que vous me conseillez le voyage de jour ou de nuit entre Montréal et NY ?

- A NY, en cherchant un peu les hôtels, j’en ai trouvé un qui correspond à mon budget : le Portland Square Hotel qui se situe sur la 47th entre la 6th et la 7th. L’emplacement a l’air plutôt pas mal, à quelques mètres de la station de métro Rockefeller. Est-ce que quelqu'un y est déjà allé ? Comment sont les chambres ? le bruit ? la propreté ?

- Au niveau du programme à NY, en 4 jours, on m’a conseillé d’aller voir principalement, Ellis Island, la Statue de la Liberté, de faire un tour à Wall Street, d’aller voir une comédie musicale à Broadway, Central Park, la 5th, de monter en haut de l’Empire State Building et du Rockefeller Center, y-a-t-il d’autres lieux incontournables ? Oui, j’imagine… mais en 3 jours sur place ???

- Par rapport à l’argent, faut-il plutôt changer l’argent en France ? Retirer des billets canadiens sur place (en sachant qu’avec ma CB, cela me coute seulement 1, 5% du montant + conversion euros-dollars) ? Pour les dollars américains, est-ce qu’on peut changer des dollars canadiens à la frontière ou il faut aussi en retirer une fois sur place ?

Voilà, c'était peut-être un peu long… et mes questions peuvent paraître un peu simples mais je pense que j’en aurai d’autres au fur et à mesure que mon voyage se concrétisera !

Ah si, dernière chose, si des personnes vont aussi à Montréal ou à New York à la même période, ça m’intéresse…

Merci d’avance pour vos réponses et à bientôt. Bonne soirée. Christophe

Bonjour je suis un petit nouveau sur votre site de forum.

Ma conjointe et moi projetons pour l'an prochain, ce qui est pour moi mon plus vieux rêve : un voyage à vélo.

Comme première destination nous projetons de traverser l'Atlantique avec nos vélos, de Paris prendre le TGV jusqu'à Dijon et de là partir pour un tour de la Bourgogne en pédalant quand c'est possible sur les voies vertes sinon sur les petites routes pendant 2 semaines possiblement en septembre 2009.

J'aimerais savoir si il y a parmi vous des personnes qui connaisent la région à qui on pourrait s'informer sur de petits détails en préparant tranquilement ce petit périple.

Peut-être même des gens du coin, que nous pourrions rencontrer là-bas...

merci beaucoup

J'ai vu sur le net et entendu sur RMC, qu'air france lancera ses propres trains a leurs couleurs !!! Pour ma part, je trouve ça assez malin vu le cours du pétrole et qu'il s'adapte a la concurrence. Et ça poussera la concurrence par rapport a la sncf mais c'est pour début 2010 donc on a le temps de polémiquer d'ici la. Et ils s'équiperont de trains nouvelles générations capable de rouler à 350 km/h. J'espère qu'il y aura les gp dessus 😛.

Bonjour à tous,

J'ai besoin de votre aide pour l'achat d'un vélo, car je commence le cyclotourisme. Et je suis perdu au milieu de toutes ces marques et modèles.

Je souhaite partir sur de longues distances, plaines et montagnes, en chemin et route de campagne. Je pense donc à un vélo assez robuste, mais léger et confortable, type VTC.

Les revendeurs du coin (Lille), m'ont présenté beaucoup de modèles ("Lapierre Campus", "Gitane Outdoor 600", "Qbikes Limber"...) Mais difficile d'être convaincu avec une simple image sur catalogue.

Pourriez-vous m'orienter vers un vélo qui correspond à mes besoins? Par exemple, un vélo qui vous a pleinement satisfait et que vous recommanderiez. Et selon vous, quel est l'équipement indispensable pour ce type de randonnées? (suspension? double paroi? porte-bagage avant? ...)

Je dispose d'un budget de 500 euros (vélo + équipement).

Autre chose, quel revendeur me conseillerez/déconseillerez-vous sur la région lilloise?

Merci d'avance. Tom

Je suis alle dans quelques pays d Asie par le passe mais je ne me rappelle pas avoir constate cela mais je lui trouve un cote sympa:

Que ce soit motostaxis, ( jeunes ou vieux, gars ou filles ) vous tapotent amicalement sur l epaule, le dos ou sur la cuisse, lorsque vous leur expliquer le parcours et les visites effectuees dans leur pays ou que vous plaisantez avec eux. Quelques mns auparavant vous ne les connaissiez pas.

je l ai constate au Sud, de Hue au delta. Au Nord, je ne me rappelle pas.

En Thailande, Malaisie ce genre de contact physique de la part de la population n existe pas par exemple avec un inconnu.

Bonjour à tous, nous partons dans 3 semaines en afrique du sud dans la région du Kruger. en, dehors des lodges situés dans le Kruger, nous allons être basés pendant 2 nuits à Whiteriviere (ou witrivier), au sud ouest du kruger afin de découvrir la région de la Blyde rivier. Ma question est la suivante : peut on, dans la journée, effectuer le trajet de la route panorama depuis Whiterivier en remontant vers le nord (passant par Graskop) jusqu'au blyde rivier canyon, three rondavels ... aller et retour ? a vol d'oiseaux sur Google earth, cela fait 200 km a/r . mais ce sont des routes de montagnes et on souhaite aussi en profiter. merci pour vos avis et si quelq'un a une carte détaillée de ce coin, je serais ravi d'y jeter un oeil. impossible de trouver quoique ce soit en France. cordialement

Bonjour... Je pars en France pour une semaine seulement au mois de mai!! Je veux aller faire la Côte-d'Azur... Je veux faire Nice, Marseille, Cassis, Aix-en-Provence... J'aimerais que vous me conseilliez sur quelques autres villes ou villages dans ce coin à ne pas manquer... J'adore les villages sur le bord de la mer...Tant qu'on peut voir de l'eau.. Y-a-t'il des belles plages dans ce coin là? Y-a-t'il d'autres places qui sont à ne vraiment pas à manquer? Y-a-t'il des châteaux vraiment impressionnants dans ce coin là? J'ai la passe de train alors je pourrai me déplacer sans problème n'importe où... Mais puisque je n'ai pas beaucoup de temps...je veux vraiment savoir d'avance quelles sont les places où je dois aller!! Merci d'avance!!

bonjour tout le monde, j'aimerai emmener mon chéri à tinos pour une quinzaine de jours. il parait que c'est un endroit on l'on peut travailler le marbre (il aime sculpter) j'ai très peu d'info sur les possibilités de jumeler l'hébergement avec un accés à des cours en atelier. de plus, quel est le circuit à faire pour y arriver ? je suis déjà allée à zakinthos plusieurs fois soit par araxos ou directement par zakinthos, mais pour tinos ? j'habite dans le nord de la france je peux donc organiser le départ soit par lille, bruxelles ou paris voir charlerois ? merci de me communiquer vos astuces et connaissances du lieu. à bientôt j'espère

Bonjour à tous!

Je vais séjourner a singapour pui prendre un vol air-asia pour jakarta à Johor bahru (c'est bcp moins cher que jetstar) y a t il des bus depuis singapour qui emennent jusqu'a l'aeroport de johor ou bien faut il que je le prenne un fois la frontierre passée ou depuis la ville de johor ? Avez vous une estimation du tps de trajet ?

merci

Vasoux

J'aimerais avoir le plus de commentaires possibles... Nous prévoyons faire une croisière en fin mars et nous avons toujours été avec Royal que nous adorons. J'ai eu un deal pour le Norwegian Dawn et les destinations sont intéressantes. Par contre quel genre de compagnie est-ce?

Est-ce que le beatu est propre, pas trop vieux? On peut comparer à quelle autre compagnie?

Quelle type de clientèle est-ce? Âgés (60 ans et plus), jeune (20 ans), 30-40 ans?

La bouffe, les cabines, les activités, je veux TOUT savoir!!

MERCI!!! 🙂

Bonjour à tous,

Je vais visiter le Mali seul pendant 2 semaines du 20 novembre au 3 décembre. Voici le circuit que je prévois

mardi 20 lille paris bamako, nuit bamako mercredi 21 bamako ségou, nuit ségou jeudi 22 ségou mopti, nuit mopti vendredi 23 mopti bandiagara - pays dogon samedi 24 pays dogon dimanche 25 pays dogon lundi 26 pays dogon - mopti, nuit mopti mardi 27 mopti fleuve niger mercredi 28 fleuve niger jeudi 29 fleuve niger tombouctou vendredi 30 tombouctou samedi 1er tombouctou mopti, nuit mopti dimanche 2 mopti djenne mopti, nuit mopti lundi 3 mopti paris lille

Je voulais savoir si selon vous on peut faire le trajet de tombouctou à Mopti sur une journée. Trouve-t-on facilement des taxis-brousse à Tombouctou pour Mopti ?

2e question : Peut-on faire le trajet Mopti-Djenne-Mopti sur la journée ou le voyage est-il trop long ?

Merci beaucoup pour vos réponses

Je cherche une camionnette pour, entre autres, un tdm dans quelques années (héhé !!) mais une question vient d'apparaitre dans ce qui me sert de cerveau...

Je vais surtout aller dans les pays du "tiers-monde" (je n'aime pas cette expression mais bon ça s'appelle comme ça) et il se pourrait bien que je tombe en panne donc je me demandais si les mécanos de là-bas sont capables de réparer un fourgon assez moderne genre DUCATO, SPRINTER, BOXER etc? Est-ce qu'il n'y pas trop d'électronique? Est-ce qu'il y a des pièces qui n'existent que dans les pays riches?? Est-ce que pour moi il me sera plus simple de réparer vite fait un vieux( j'ai prévu de m'y intéresser vraiment peut-être un stage)?

La question est donc : faut il mieux un vieux fourgon pour faire tour du monde ou un bien moderne ??

Et niveau essence, est-ce que c'est infernal de rouler avec un fourgon ancien lorsque l'on a un petit budget?

HELP ME PLEASE !!! merci a+

residant en Thailande, plus precisement en Issan, rentrer en France pour qq semaines, un grand vide m'habite :

ou sont les sourires ? ou sont les enfants qui jouent dans larue ? ou sont les petits restaus sur le bord de la route ? ou sont les touk touk qui t'attende a 11 h du soir a la descente du car dans un bled perdu ? ou sont les signes d'appartenance a une nation ? et j'en oublie !

quand je lis 200 post sur Pattaya, je comprends mieux la desesperance de notre pauvre Europe 🙁

Bonjour à tous,

J'arrive dès le 5 juin pour 2 ans en tant que V.I.E à Saint Domingue.

Y a t il beaucoup d'autres V.I.E ou "jeunes" comme moi là-bas ??? Je serai très heureux de rencontrer des gens dès mon arrivée !!

A très bientôt,

Alexis www.alexis.blogs.com

Bonjour à tous,

A part Bruges et Gand (que j'ai déjà visité), que me conseillez-vous de visiter en Belgique à Paques et surtout en belgique francophone (la wallonie ?).

Bonjour à tous,

Voilà c'est décidé nous partons mi septembre en voyage de noces en Thaïlande, Etant du NOrd de la France (Lille), nous partons avec une agence Belge (Best tours) qui propose, à notre avis, une super formule Qu'en pensez-vous ? Connaisez-vous les hôtels ? Enfin si nous pouvons avoir toutes infos sur notre GRAND voyage, merci d'avance 3 jours à la rivière kwai (hotel felix river kwai) avec au programme : chemin de fer, parc national, tigre et dragon, bain d'éléphants 5 jours à bangkok (century park hotel) au programme : ancienne cité royale, diner croisiere, marché flottant, diner calypso, temples et klongs, diner thai, ayuthaya, bangkok à vélo 6 jours à Phuket (kata beach resort) où nous comptons profiter à fond de notre lune de miel mais également visiter Koh PHI PHi et pourquoi pas louer un motobyke pour visiter les alentours

Nous attendons avec impatience vos commentaires, vos idées pour que notre séjour soit le plus merveilleux de notre vie.......

bonjour g m'apel berengere et g vien d'avoir 18 ans, g souhaiterai partir au maroc aux grandes vacances prochaine (juillet ou aout) plus exactement aupres de Rabat. g voudrai allez voir un copain ke g rencontré sur le net, mai le problem c ke mes parents ne veulent pas ke g parte seule ils ont beaucoup de clichés....!!!!! et g sai pas trooooooo comment m'y rendre vu que g sui etudiante et que j'ai vraiment un tou petit budget, je sais vraiment pas comment faire!!!!!!!! g besoin de parler avec des personnes ki connaisse un peu le pays et les personne de la bas......... merci de votre compréhension

Bonjour, Je pars en décembre pour un trek de 8 jours au pays dogon au mali. quelles sont les précautions à prendre, en dehors duvaccin obilgatoire contre la fièvre jaune ? merci pour vos réponses

Bonjour,

J'ai 26 ans et je pars pour l'Europe de l'Ouest du 22 aout au 30 novembre avec un Eurail pass qui me permet de voyager à volonté en France, Espagne, Portugal, Italie, Belgique, Allemagne, Hollande, Autriche...

J'aimerais savoir ce que vous visiteriez en 20 coups de coeurs. Soyez diversifiez, c'est surement ma seule chance d'y aller...

MErci

Nancy

“Hey, your Marker... - My Marker? - The one you used to make hitchhiking signs.”

The marker in question is sitting proudly on the kitchen table. Marielle found it at the bottom of a moving box.

I’ve been meaning to tell the long story of my love affair with hitchhiking for years. Here we go.

To be honest, I’m not quite sure when it started. My earliest memory goes back to a fair with a bike race in my maternal grandparents’ village. I was with my cousin, my little sister, and three girl cousins. There were six of us, ages ranging from six or seven to thirteen or fourteen. Our parents stayed at the fair, and we’d had enough. So we decided to walk home. Only it was four kilometers away. So we hitchhiked. A guy driving an old car picked us all up and dropped us off at the farm. He probably found it amusing to see us thumbing a ride by the side of the road, but maybe it also worried him a bit. With everything you read in the papers...

Around fifteen or sixteen, I started hitchhiking regularly, alone or with a friend, to go to the nearby town. But it was especially when I started boarding school in Orléans that it became more regular. The first year, I’d leave Monday morning and come back Saturday noon by bus. It was an old, uncomfortable bus where we froze in winter. To make matters worse, I often got motion sickness if, as was too often the case, I ended up sitting in the back. In the spring, a high school friend suggested I hitchhike back. It meant a slight detour, but the advantage was taking only national roads.

So that’s how, from the end of tenth grade to twelfth grade, I’d thumb a ride every Saturday on the Pont de Bourgogne. Drivers were used to seeing young people hitchhiking, and it worked pretty well. Our biggest fear? Soldiers! At that time, military service was still mandatory, and on weekends, it wasn’t rare to see them competing with us. They’d keep their uniforms on to go home. That gave people confidence—with everything you read in the papers—and they’d rarely wait more than five minutes. We, with our long hair, were definitely less popular. From time to time, three big red-faced guys in a van coming back from a construction site would flip us off, yelling things like “go get a haircut, you bums!” Those were the good old days.

We still had a good laugh, though. Patrice, the friend I’d hitchhike back from school with on Saturdays, is a musician—I’d later discover he’s an excellent composer. A die-hard Beatles fan, he knows their repertoire by heart and spends his time singing at the top of his lungs while we thumb a ride. One Saturday late morning, we’d been waiting for a while at the exit of Châteauneuf-sur-Loire when a little lady came up to him and asked if he could please sing a little quieter: a baby was sleeping in the house. He put on the most sorry face: “Oh, sorry ma’am, we didn’t realize.” No sooner had the lady gone back inside than he started again. Luckily, a car stopped just then, sparing me the embarrassment of seeing the lady come back out.

Saturday was also the day when the cigarette pack was dangerously low. So before leaving, we’d go buy some “Parisiennes,” the “P4s” as we called them back then. They were slightly thinner cigarettes with a mix of tobacco scraps. Sometimes they tasted like light tobacco, sometimes like dark. Not great, but by the end of the week, our pocket money was gone. They were sold in small packs of four, hence the name P4. We’d only pay 20 centimes. On Saturdays, it was rare for the two of us to manage to scrape together 1.50 F to buy a whole pack of Gauloises...

The last twenty kilometers, I’d usually do alone, Patrice having reached his destination. From time to time, luck would smile on me: an acquaintance would just happen to pass by and stop. One January Saturday, at the exit of Gien, I ran into another guy from Argenton whom I knew a little. That day, the weather was nice, but the temperature was well below zero. It was around noon, and it was the off-peak hour. We were shivering, stamping our feet by the side of the road, when a Citroën “Tube” arrived: it was his father’s boss’s, a mason. They were both sitting in the front, but since they were obese, they had us climb onto the open back. Even though we huddled against the cab to shelter from the wind, the twenty kilometers felt very long, especially since we were only going sixty kilometers an hour. Our hands and cheeks were blue when we finally arrived.

The year I took my baccalaureate, a friend with a 2CV would take me Monday mornings with one or two others we’d pick up in nearby villages. We’d share the gas costs, but it was still cheaper than the bus. And in winter, the bus was my nightmare. You had to get up at five to catch it at six. Not enough sleep, and outside it was freezing or raining—or both. The 2CV was luxury. Plus, Philippe would pick me up at home. On the other hand, since I didn’t have class Saturday mornings—well, I did, but we only had PE the first two hours and nothing after—I’d skip class and slip out right after breakfast to thumb a ride at the Pont de Bourgogne.

Those three high school years were formative in this optional subject that was hitchhiking. Little by little, I learned the rules of the game. First, you shouldn’t walk along the road while thumbing. Cars go too fast and can’t stop easily. Accepting a ride that’s too short is also a no-go. The guy who offers to take you a little way but drops you off at some vague crossroads in the middle of nowhere? No thanks. You need to get dropped off in a town. If it’s a fairly big city, you often have to cross it from one end to the other, but it’s better. At the exit, you have to choose your spot well. Actually, you have to put yourself in the driver’s shoes: they need to see you early enough, not be going too fast, and be able to stop easily without risking an accident. So when leaving a city, it’s better not to go too far. It’s wiser to find a spot where cars go slowly and can stop easily. And preferably near a café. The café is for when you still have a few coins for a coffee and need to warm up. From time to time, you’d run into someone nice who’d make a detour to drop you off at a better spot to start again. Finally, if possible, avoid hitchhiking on Sundays. Cars are packed with whole families who, most of the time, aren’t going far. And then there’s the little worry of those people who rarely leave home: with everything you read in the papers...

During those high school years, it was only short trips, rarely exceeding a hundred kilometers. Later, I aimed bigger, and things were a bit different. In 1973-74, I crossed part of France for the first time on two or three occasions, coming back from the German border or returning to Bordeaux, where we lived briefly. Since there weren’t many highways back then, we took national roads. It was during these trips that I realized it was better to leave in the evening. As I said earlier, Sunday is to be avoided, but on weekdays, there’s another problem: if you leave in the morning, you only make short hops. First, it often takes longer to get going because drivers are people going to work nearby. Which brings us back to those who drop you off in a bad spot, far from everything. There, you have to know how to refuse. You thank the driver for stopping—oh, if only everyone could be like you—while explaining why you’d rather stay put. People don’t take offense, by the way. Those who pick up hitchhikers often hitchhiked themselves when they were in the military or before they had a car. In the late afternoon, you’d often run into salespeople or truckers, in other words, people who drive a lot. At that time, salespeople no longer had appointments and were more relaxed. They wanted to talk about something other than the merits of their products. On the radio, it was time for *Les Grosses Têtes*. You’d also quite often run into small business owners, professionals, or even hippies. The conversations were pleasant and often enriching. A little later in the evening, truckers would take over. They’d already driven a few hundred kilometers, and the depot or customs was still far away. So they’d gladly take a hitchhiker to stay awake at the wheel and chat. The radio with Max Ménier’s show *Les routiers sont sympas*, you’d eventually get tired of it. So a hitchhiker was a change. Others, who’d hit the road at midnight to be at their destination by morning, were nice and offered to let you lie down on the bunk while they drove. When you’d been hitchhiking since six in the evening, freezing in the wind between two vehicles, you weren’t unhappy to take a little nap.

Speaking of Max Ménier, he’d often make announcements for hitchhikers. One evening, I called him. It was getting late, and I still had quite a way to go. No luck: the show had ended for good the day before!

In short, it’s better not to rush, sleep in, and leave after lunch, or better yet, in the late afternoon. Obviously, I’m talking about when you have several hundred kilometers to cover. That’s when you have to play it pro.

First thing, especially at night, but it also applies in the middle of summer when the light is blinding: dress to be seen from far away. I’ll admit I have an advantage over most other hitchhikers: I’m small and don’t scare people. To balance that out, racist drivers often take me for an Arab and are less likely to pick me up, but overall, the balance tips in my favor. Back to the need to be seen: at night, I wear light-colored clothes. In headlights, you can see me from far away.

Second thing: travel light. Forget the big backpack with a frame. Drivers don’t always have room in the trunk or on the back seat, especially if it’s rained and the ground is wet. Plus, it forces them to get out of the car. If they’re nice enough to pick up a hitchhiker, you shouldn’t ask for too much either.

Third thing: bring a cardboard sign and a big marker—like the ones in the photo at the start of this post—to write the name of your destination. In the early 80s, I ran a tourist house in the Cher, but I lived in the Netherlands. In the off-season, it was only open on weekends. On Fridays, I’d leave Holland and return on Mondays. 1200 km round trip. On the way there, in Paris, I’d stand at Porte de la Chapelle. At that spot, the road is very wide, and drivers could stop easily. Obviously, on the sign, I didn’t write Eindhoven, which not everyone knows, and even less Amsterdam because of its seedy reputation. In that case, you’d expect to see a police car stop and two officers in kepis ask for your papers. So as a first destination, I’d write Compiègne. We were well out of Paris, and since it wasn’t too far, a trucker or salesperson was less reluctant to stop. Once past Compiègne, I’d take out my Lille sign. Once in Belgium, it wasn’t really necessary to use a sign anymore, since everyone was going in the same direction. Usually, the guy who picked me up at Porte de la Chapelle would say he wasn’t going far but could take me a little way. Before that, I’d still ask if there was a gas station on the highway where he could drop me off before exiting. While talking, the guy would realize he wasn’t dealing with a dangerous criminal. He’d pretend to check his watch, think for a moment, then say that actually, he was going to Belgium and could take me to the border or a little beyond. To leave Paris on the way back, I’d take the train to Melun, where it was easier to hitchhike than at Porte d’Italie.

Over all those years, I think I was pretty lucky. Or maybe philosophical enough not to imagine a car would stop after a few minutes. An hour’s wait was average. Sure, I sometimes waited three, four, or five hours. Most often at odd hours and in terrible weather. When it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. But there’s always a moment when things pick up. Sure, when you’re soaked in freezing rain in the early morning after a sleepless night, you’re less philosophical than when I’m writing these lines comfortably at my computer, but it still holds true.

Earlier, I mentioned clothing and the importance of being well-rested before leaving. When you’ve eaten well and just gotten out of the shower, shaved, you’re in a better mood. And somehow, drivers sense it. Or at least, that’s the impression I’ve always had. It’s better to look in shape than disgusted at standing there, half-heartedly thumbing a ride. In short, when I’d start to get fed up with waiting, I’d go into the first café I saw for a coffee. Coming back out, I’d be refreshed, and most of the time, a car would stop within minutes. I’ve often said that when I stood by the side of the road thumbing a ride, I felt a bit like a gambler in front of a slot machine. It was a matter of giving luck a chance. And well, it worked out pretty well.

Then, there are countries where hitchhiking works really well and others where it’s harder. In the 70s-80s, it worked best in Germany and England. In the late afternoon, it wasn’t rare to be invited for tea. Well, that was in England. Tea meant being offered room and board. In Germany, they’d offer you coffee. Once there, they’d first show you the guest room and point out the bathroom before sitting you down in front of a big plate of cold cuts. In the evening, they’d go out in town, and the next morning, they’d usually drop you off at a good spot for hitchhiking. On the other hand, in Mediterranean and Scandinavian countries, you’d better be patient. In Spain or Italy, it’s better to take the train, which was dirt cheap back then. However, if you’re a couple traveling light, it’s already easier in most countries.

In 1982, I went on a trip around Turkey with my girlfriend. We only had two small bags, which was plenty. It was November-December, and we wore our warm, bulky clothes. Leaving Eindhoven at nine in the morning, we arrived in Graz, near the Yugoslav border, at eleven at night. 1300 km in a day! In just four or five vehicles. One to the German border, about fifty kilometers from Eindhoven, the second to Hagen in the Ruhr, the third to Salzburg, and the last to Graz at the Yugoslav border. Record broken. During the night crossing of Yugoslavia, we ran into a trucker close to retirement who lent us the truck’s bunk. So we arrived fresh and rested near Skopje the next morning. We continued to Thessaloniki in northern Greece before taking the train to Istanbul. In Turkey, we traveled a good part of the country by hitchhiking too. With truckers in old, overloaded, slow trucks that climbed hills at fifteen kilometers an hour, but also in cars where five or six people were already crammed in. And every time, we were invited for tea. Once, we were even picked up by a big shot in his Mercedes with a chauffeur. Until then, the average speed was around fifty kilometers an hour. There, we were going two hundred. On a national road, not a nice European highway.

I’ve also hitchhiked in Nepal, from Lumbini, Buddha’s birthplace, to a village on the way to Pokhara. It must have been midday. No bus until the next day. I gave it a try. A small truck overloaded with rice sacks, with two or three young people already perched on top, stopped. I rode on the roof of the cab. At fifty kilometers an hour when it was going well, with a breathtaking view. Coming back from India, I also crossed part of Iran by hitchhiking, from Tehran to the Turkish border. I did this trip with an Austrian I met at the hotel who, like me, had to watch his pennies. We gave it a shot. There was almost no traffic, but to our great surprise, the first car that passed in the area would always stop. They’d just ask for a modest contribution for gas, and it cost next to nothing.

Sometimes, you get scared too. After leaving Turkey in early December 82, we spent about two weeks in the southern Peloponnese harvesting olives. A few days before Christmas, we hitchhiked back to Holland. A girl picked us up in her little Fiat 500. We were driving on a mountain road, and that morning there was a bit of black ice. After crossing a pass, we saw the old Ford Taunus ahead of us at fifty meters start to skid. The driver let out a “heeee!” while grabbing my knees. I reflexively grabbed the wheel. Finally, the Taunus got back on track. And we didn’t swerve. But those few seconds felt very long.

In January 77, while I’d been living in Germany for a few months, I decided to spend a few days in Italy. By hitchhiking, of course. I left in the early afternoon, and by ten at night, I wasn’t far from Frankfurt. I saw a big Mercedes stop. The four or five young people crammed inside were listening to Schlager at full volume. Beer cans littered the floor. They didn’t have a precise destination, and as long as they were going south, that was fine with me. They’d finished their military service that very day and had clearly already celebrated their discharge. The driver was going 160, zigzagging dangerously from one side of the highway to the other. I should have realized he wasn’t entirely sober either. Luckily, there was almost no traffic. Finally, I managed to get dropped off at a gas station just before Frankfurt, relieved. I hope their trip didn’t end tragically.

Another time, coming back from Holland with my wife, we were picked up early in the morning near Senlis by two guys from Lille. They were going to work near Tours and could drop us off at Porte d’Italie. Apparently, they were coworkers but barely knew each other. The driver offered us a beer—at six in the morning, sure!—before opening another can for himself. He was clearly having trouble staying in the right lane. We politely declined, the passenger too. Everyone was tense. Luckily, it was rush hour on the ring road, and we were going slowly. When we got out of the car, the passenger said goodbye with the look of a guy being offered the condemned man’s rum and cigarette.

Finally, there are the annoying remarks from drivers who are either gay when you’re alone or turned on by the sight of your girlfriend when you’re a couple. In those cases, I’d get in the back so the guy wouldn’t feel too confident. And if the conversation got a little too suggestive, we’d deflect until we got dropped off.

And luckily, there are the times, not so rare after all, when you run into really nice people who invite you to eat and sleep at their place and drive you to a good spot the next morning. In Germany and England, that was common. And then there are the big strokes of luck, like during our trip to Turkey when we crossed most of Germany in one car, or that other time when some Germans drove me from the exit of Geneva all the way to the Costa Brava.

Going back to “with everything you read in the papers” and its variant “with everything you see on TV”—and now on the internet—it’s always left me perplexed. Personally, I’ve never heard of hitchhikers assaulting drivers, even if it may have happened. On the other hand, what was most common were hitchhikers being assaulted, especially girls. Anyway, even armed, it seems a bit stupid to assault the driver—wouldn’t that risk causing an accident?

Finally, since that time, I’ve occasionally wanted to hitchhike somewhere far away in France. Most often, too busy with work, it never happened, but the nostalgia hasn’t completely disappeared.

* * *

Other Hitchhikers

And then one day, I... settled down to become a driver myself. Ten years had passed, and you saw fewer and fewer hitchhikers. Or maybe I saw fewer because I had a regular job and wasn’t traveling the same way. And then I understood a few things.

Several times, I was tempted to pick up a hitchhiker, but they didn’t meet the required conditions. They were walking along the road instead of staying at the exit of the previous town. Hard to stop without risking an accident. Or the guy looked really scruffy. Or he was sulking, if not both. Then you think of that famous “with everything you read in the papers.” Not that I was scared, but unfortunately, the few hitchhikers I did pick up later were rarely interesting.

A few years ago, we picked up a young guy at the exit of a small town in Sologne. Not an easy spot for hitchhiking. Bad luck, he was a pretentious little jerk. He was barely 20 or 25 and talked like a bitter old man. He was a waiter in a restaurant. According to him, it was lucky he was there, otherwise the boss would have closed up shop long ago. You’d think he had thirty or forty years of professional experience behind him. As we approached Blois, he started ranting about Arabs, blaming them for all evils. And he laid it on thick. That morning, we were going to a teenager’s funeral who had just committed suicide, so he really got on our nerves, Mr. Know-It-All. Out of anger, I dropped him off next to a shopping center a few kilometers from downtown. Not nice, but it felt good.

Some time ago, we were driving around the Limousin on a Sunday to try out the used Twingo we’d just bought. We picked up a guy in his forties. A German who spoke French well. He started talking about the environment. He was a green Khmer. He got worked up all by himself with his pseudo-eco rant and, after a few kilometers, was almost yelling at us. As we were about to leave the main road for a small one, I dropped him off at a crossroads in the middle of nowhere. Normally, I would have made a little detour to take him to a better spot, but this time, I didn’t feel like doing the... eco-warrior a favor.

On the other hand, I’ve still done my good deed a few times. One June morning, coming back from Orléans, I saw a man in his sixties hitchhiking. The poor guy had had a rough time. He was from Montpellier and was coming back from Caen, where he’d been promised a job. Once there, they bluntly told him the position was already taken, and he had to go back. Except he didn’t have enough money left for the train. He’d spent the night hitchhiking without success. I could only take him as far as Lamotte-Beuvron, where I dropped him off near the fire station. Apparently, there was some vague shelter there or something, but it only opened a few hours later. In the meantime, he settled on the grass in a corner to sleep a little. While he was doing that, I quickly went to the train station to check the price of a ticket to Montpellier. It was within my means. Since he was sound asleep, I slipped the train ticket and 100 francs into his pocket. I couldn’t imagine him continuing to hitchhike all the way to Montpellier. And I bet he didn’t even have a piece of cardboard and a marker!

When we go to Brazil, we usually rent a small car. One day, we were coming back from Paracuru to Fortaleza when we saw a whole family hitchhiking. Two adults and two or three small children. Here near the equator, the sun sets very quickly, and it would soon be night. There was little traffic, and trucks wouldn’t stop because there was no room in the cab. As for the rich people driving big 4x4s, they wouldn’t stoop to picking up the lower classes. The only hope for this kind of family was usually a farmer or artisan who’d let them ride in the back of his pickup. Obviously, they were a bit surprised to see us. Everyone crammed in as best they could in the back of our little car. When we dropped them off, we got a whole string of “Deus lhes abençõe”—God bless you.

Still in Brazil, we were on the road from Barreirinhas to São Luís do Maranhão. About 150 km of deserted road with an isolated mud house here and there. A young woman flagged us down. She was very pregnant and had to get to the clinic twenty or thirty kilometers away to give birth. Someone was supposed to drive her, but the first signs of labor started earlier than expected, and the driver was unavailable. Even driving fast, we weren’t feeling great: it would be just our luck if she gave birth in the car!

Today, we’re in the age of smartphones and carpooling apps. Safety. With everything you see on TV... Three or four years ago, we signed up on a platform. Our first, and only, “client” was a little jerk who didn’t say a word the whole trip. No hello, no goodbye, and certainly no thank you. The next day, we found his Ray-Bans in the car. We didn’t run after him to give them back. Ha!

This catchy and somewhat mysterious title comes from several questions I’ve been asking myself.

VF has been back open for a reasonable number of weeks and months now. The number of visitors overall matches past averages, but the number of members online in the last 24 hours seems relatively lower than what we used to see.

Yet, to my surprise, I’m seeing fewer travel journals, way fewer messages, and way fewer questions. I don’t see many new registered users online, and I notice a number of members who are logged in but either aren’t participating or have stopped participating.

Something’s not adding up for me because, in my opinion, VF is still appealing, and I don’t see which other sites could really compete.

Was there a real break between pre- and post-Covid? Does it just take more time for some people to discover the site or learn that it’s active again? Do people now prefer quick consumption on sites like FB or others I’m not familiar with? Where have the site’s old-timers gone, and what are they doing with their time now? What’s really going on here?

"In one place, in one day, a single deed accomplished, May hold the theater filled until the end."

- Sunday morning, a chilly dawn - The kitchen - Smell of coffee and toast, a jar of honey on the table.

- Tits pecking at sunflower seeds in the transparent feeder stuck to the window.

- France Musique on the radio: Brahms, violin concerto by the lovely Hilary Hahn - Characters: - An old man in a plush dark blue dressing gown - An old woman in a worn-out duck-blue dressing gown. They dance cheek to cheek, the woman’s head resting on the old man’s broad chest. The old man breathes in the tangled hair of the lady. She smiles. Happy. Tomorrow, they’re off on a trip.