Traveling to the Castle’s Steps though French Husband Thinks Normandy

Vintage-motorcycle

That man of
mine, that French Husband, the one who hopes to ride across America one
day on a motorcycle, bought a motorcycle in France.

He bought a larger, more comfortable one then the
little-mean-machine that we have. (The photo is of an old motorcycle that I saw years ago at a flea market.) The new bike has a throne of a seat compared to our little mean machine.

Last night after the reality
settled in– that after months of "practicing" on the
mean-little-machine we, or more correctly, (French Husband has been
riding before he could walk.) I am ready to take on the road. In my excitement I grabbed a hold of that man of mine and rattled off places we could ride to!

rennes

French Husband sat down, my energy was bouncing off the walls. I started dreaming up places where we could go… I said, "Italy," he said,
"Barcelona." I said, "Prague," he said, "Rennes, Normandy…" I said, "Budapest," he said,
"Alsace." I said, "CHINA, oh imagine that! Traveling across Europe, riding on the silk road, alongside the Orient Express to China!"

He said, "You are crazy!"


I groaned, "Well then, maybe we can ride down the road and back?"

He added, "Or maybe to Normandy?"

I said, "It rains in Normandy."

photo source Charles Bridge in Prague

Later
as I was thinking about Prague I typed: Marseille to Prague on Mappy. Mappy gives exact directions, time line, information on cost (i.e. gas tolls…) Prague
is only 13 hours away! That isn't bad. Thirteen little hours, that
is two or three days of riding in my calculations (or HALF A DAY in French Husband's calculations. I think he doesn't value the sake of my behind).

https://www.frenchlavie.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/prague-castle-steps.jpg
Photo Source Castle Steps

Thirteen hours to Prague. That's not bad, that is do-able– I had to know how much does it cost, more or less, for a room… considering French Husband likes the idea of sleeping under a bridge, so you see I thought to myself I might as well find a place or two to have a better idea (and to be prepared or the Charles Bridge could be our next home away from home!). I typed in GOOGLE, "Lovely old places to Stay in Prague" and up popped this:
The Castle Steps!

"Prague or Bust, here I come!" I called out, "You who… French Husband… I have a little secret plan…"

When I told him he gave me that tilted head expression and said, "Do you have rain gear?"

My bubble was not burst, "I'll go naked."

Wish me luck.

Do you have any secrets about Prague regarding back roads, hidden gems, tea rooms, a lovely room with a view?



Comments

25 responses to “Traveling to the Castle’s Steps though French Husband Thinks Normandy”

  1. Can’t wait to hear about this trip, if Prague does turn out to be the destination. I’ve never been there, although it had been in the plans, but we couldn’t get visas in time. Since our teacher was originally from Hungary, we did get to Budapest. That was in 1974, though, and it was a little creepy being watched all the time.

  2. I’m imagining your riding nude…like a modern-day Godiva! Photos, please.

  3. I love your sense of adventure…riding naked to Prague. Wouldn’t that make a great book title? I clicked on your link to the hotel..quite nice, eh? and quite reasonable, I think. Bon voyage, naked lady!

  4. Julie Ann Evins

    2 things:
    Im glad that Yann has bought a new motorbike as Keith will now be unable to resist emailing him for many more moments…
    Secondly, I have been to Prague, which is very beautiful indeed. I have a watercolour of Charles Bridge on the hall that I brought from an artist there. Have always thought it would be lovely to return for the Christmas markets in the snow. I stayed in a great big ubiquitous hotel though so cannot help you there. The trip will be fun for all of us I am sure!jx

  5. Jeanette M.

    Adventure! If you start to consider the “silk road” trip again, rent/watch “Long Way Round” and you’ll probably go to Normandy instead. In fact, you should just watch it anyway. Jann will love it. My husband wanted to ride around the world after we saw it and he’s never even ridden a bike!

  6. Marilyn

    What an adventure. I am green with envy!!!
    You are planning on blogging this trip, right?
    Your writing and photography are always top notch, so in that respect, I feel like I’m going along, too. 🙂
    Marilyn (in Dallas)

  7. that sounds like a lovely trip. take some extra padding for the rear, put on a smile (keep mouth closed on bike), tuck in the hair (lest it tangles like fishing line) and go off to seek your pleasure!

  8. Your brave!!!

  9. Ed in Willows

    Ok….naked on the back of a motorcycle in Europe? Can’t wait to see those pictures………hehehehehe

  10. Have fun if you go to Budapest take a thousand pictures
    That is where my precious Grandmother is from.
    I love you ……….
    Life is short make FUN of it.
    Love you
    Jeanne♥

  11. Sounds so fun! You didn’t tell us what Yann said about you riding naked!

  12. Diogenes

    Dear Corey,
    Prague is simply amazing, and loving art and architecture as you do, you will be in heaven. Without a doubt, it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
    You can find hotels at Tripadvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g274707-Prague_Bohemia-Hotels.html
    There are reviews and pictures from people who have stayed there. I stayed at Hotel Atlantic for around $100 a night. I’ve heard Hotel Rott is good and similarly priced.
    The local industry is making crystal (called Bohemian glass). You will see red and black all-crystal chadeliers everywhere, and no doubt try to figure out how to get one back, as I did. The Moser Crystal store is very historic, with incredible goodies: http://www.moser-glass.com/ I looked all over the city for antiques, and you can certainly find them, but the prices are higher than Paris! I settled on a small oil painting by one of the artists that sell their work near the major tourist sites.
    The food and hotels are quite cheap and good, however, and if you just walk around Old Town you can’t go wrong. Wonderful pastry shops abound. Don’t forget to have some Budweiser (Budvar) beer. It’s totally different than the US beer and was in business hundreds of years before.
    We did a day-trip out to Cesky Sternberk about an hour from Prague: http://www.hradceskysternberk.cz/?en.index
    It was a Dracula’s castle kind of place and the count who owned it gave the tour (he must have been 80). The property was confiscated when communism came and he was made the gardener. The castle was returned to him a decade ago.
    I hear Cesky Krumlov, a Unesco World Heritage site, and a historic town, is incredible but we ran out of time.
    Don’t miss Prague – it’s one of the great cities of the world. You will need at least 3 days.

  13. Oh, that is so funny. After an hour and a half, my rear end falls asleep. We changed the seat on our Harley the other day & it is better. All you need is a rain poncho & your iPod. You do have one don’t you? 🙂 Hope you’ll visit Oklahoma if you ever decide to ride across America. We are in the center you know. Hope you have some fun rides in Europe. We rode through the countryside last night. It was almost cool in the valleys.~~Dee

  14. Marie-Noëlle

    In between the visits, the glasses of beer, … you might like this :
    http://www.a-tout-prague.com/fr/actualites/salon-des-antiquaires-et-adresses-de-brocante-en-republique-tcheque/
    (“Patience et courage” to FH !!!)

  15. I have never been to Prague, but my mother is a world traveler and I think she would say it is the most beautiful place she has ever visited!! You will be amazed and surprised!! Take lots of photos to share with us. As always, your story was too cute!!!

  16. Kristin

    I never went to Prague. My friend and I backpacked through Europe in ’93 and things were so cheap then… but we heard of all sorts of stories and 2 young girls didn’t seem smart…. so we went to Budapest instead! Still want to go to Prague!

  17. Corey, LOL… you and FH remind me of my DH a few years back. Its like graduating from grade to grade as you’re schooled in the fine art of open road travel via a two wheeled transporter. First we bought a Sportster… upon which every divet in the road felt like the Grand Canyon from the back seat (if you can call it a back seat). The stops became so frequent that we realized we weren’t getting anywhere real fast. Hubby realized a bigger bike was in order, if he hoped for me to hold onto him from behind for long trips… enter the fatboy (again, hubby’s idea). HE got a nice custom made Corbin seat for his derrier.. which looked cool, but did little for my (shall we say) differently shaped derrier. The bike was ok for his “Iron Buttruns”… I drove the Jeep and trailer from behind… in case of breakdowns either of mind, body or bike. LOL
    My idea was the Harley-bago (as DH called it)… ahhh, now there’s the one for long trips.. albeit, oh so uncool and makes your age quite obvious, but the stops much less frequent. Hubby had a decision to make … look uncool – and actually get to the places he wanted to see… OR… look really cool, but make short trips. He chose the former and for several years we owned the roads of the western US.
    But alas, things have changed yet again. We have grandbabies to visit … and not on a bike. Decisions, decisions… (:
    Have a great trip to Prague and may God bless your derrier. (: Vicki

  18. How exciting!! It sounds like a lot of fun to be had! I’ve never been to Prague – it’s one on my to do list along with……..Venice…..Barcelona……Cambodia…..New Zealand….gosh so many places to go…how long do you think it would take you to ride to New Zealand???

  19. I was just in Prague about 4 weeks ago. It was, by far, our favorite city in Europe. We cut our Munich stay short and, on a whim, hopped a train to Prague. Best whim we had in a long time. We stayed here
    http://www.hoteluprince.com/hotel-en
    It is right in the “Old Town” square, a few steps from the famous Astronomical clock. It is a marvelously ancient building but the rooms (and bathrooms) have all been updated very comfortably and it even has wireless internet. It has a bar/restaurant on the roof that gives you a panorama of all of Prague. It has a street level restaurant, as well, out on the square or inside. It is a few steps to the Charles Bridge which is being resurfaced at the moment so it is hard to get a lovely photo of it. You can still walk across it, though, no problem.
    Prague (Praha) is a little spendy but totally worth it. I would go again in a minute.
    Bev(Canada)

  20. Never been to Prague, but maybe the following listings will help:
    “Travel Guide – Prague – Overview”:
    (Links to lots of recent articles!)
    “Prague Restaurants”:
    “Prague Journal / Hard Times Give New Life to Prague’s Golem”:

  21. Let’s see if I can get the URLs to appear this time!
    “Travel Guide – Prague – Overview”:
    http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/europe/czech-republic/prague/overview.html?scp=8&sq=Prague&st=cse
    (Links to lots of recent articles!)
    “Prague Restaurants”:
    http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/europe/czech-republic/prague/restaurants.html?scp=10&sq=Prague&st=cse
    “Prague Journal / Hard Times Give New Life to Prague’s Golem”:
    http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/travel/19cultured.html?scp=6&sq=Prague&st=cse

  22. I loved Prague. That astronomical clock alone is worth the trip. The Jewish cemetery is fascinating and there must be a church for every day of the year there but they charge to enter. Lots of black magic was once practiced there. I had a really bad nightmare while there-first time in years. It was those evil looking black towers at the end of the bridges there I think.

  23. I have always wanted to go to Prague, so I will be following any suggestions carefully!!
    Isabel

  24. Birdbrain

    What scrapped Italy already? Oh my gosh, there’s Viareggio, Lucca, not to mention Cinque Terre. Then on to the wine country, and Arezzo, San Sepolcro, Assisi and Rome. Hop a ferry to Sicily and see Taormina, Siracusa and conquer the traffic in Palermo. Che Bello Viaggio!

  25. I’m laughing my a$$ off here. Actually, I can see you and Yann riding off in the rain nekkid as they say in the south. LOL. Oh, I needed to laugh today. Thank you.

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