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I started blogging about Portugal because I felt like I would get more out of my time in Portugal if I was running a blog. There’s something about Portugal that has kept drawing me back and, even though there’s still a lot of the world that I want to see, I’ve decided to make Portugal my base. Portugal has its grey days too, of course, but it’s usually only a few more days before you get blue skies again. Even for Portuguese people who move to another part of Portugal it can be different and, again, this isn’t specific to Portugal either.

After my second expat travel blogger interview with Ashley of Curious Provence, here’s my third one! That’s a challenging and fun working environment and doesn’t leave a lot of free time at the end of the day I was born and raised in the Netherlands, which is a very different environment from what I saw in Malta while on holiday with my parents, visiting family there. The Dutch are known for their sweets and having a sweet tooth that’s definitely something I make a point of sampling whenever I spend some time back home.

but I do know that a lot of important, interesting international artistic festivals are held in small towns in France (such as the Rencontres International Photography Festival in Arles (100,000 visitors each year), the International Comic Book festival in Angoulême (200,000 visitors each year) and of course the International Film Festival in Cannes (45,000 visitors each year)). Also unlike Cannes where it’s near impossible to actually see anything without accreditation, at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, ‘normal’ people actually have a chance to get tickets to really cool events like screenings and  masterclasses. Believe me, if you are a huge fan of films but especially animated films and love film festivals, this Annecy International Animated Film Festival, is all your dreams come true, this is THE place to be…especially if you were as lucky as I was to get a ticket to the worldwide premiere screening of Despicable Me 3! Lyon – Annecy: Takes around 1h45 with the SNCF-run Ouibus and costs 18-24€ | takes 2-4hours with Flixbus and costs 14-40€ | Takes around 2 hours with Isiline and costs  around 26€.

The castle’s first constructions date back to around 1150, although it is probable that the area was a privileged military area well before this date since it is strategically located to be able to access France, Germany and Italy relatively quickly. During his visit in 1816, Lord Byron, the British poet, found inspiration in the story of Chillon inmate François Bonivard to write his poem The Prisoner of Chillon, which made the castle famous. We aimed to arrive well before the castle’s opening time but what we didn’t count on were tourists also arriving well before the castle’s opening time. The Château de Chillon is located in Veytaux, Switzerland and is approximately 100 km (62.5 miles) from Geneva,  40 km (25 miles) from Lausanne and 3 km (2 miles) from Montreux.