This year I was ready, mid autumn with full colours of the forest trees and leaves, because every year I seem to just miss the ideal few days where the colour is at its best. This year (2018) we had a particularly warm autumn, meaning that the trees kept their leaves much longer, so I was especially lucky.

Time to head off to photograph a favourite of mine or the one that is still way on top of the list to photograph. We left early, not that early because we knew, the conditions were not optimal. Saying I wanted a nice thick fog and sun to reveal the Burg, but we got treated to the warmest day in October ever I guess. Well, it didn’t spoil the fun we had.

This trip was the return gift from my father to me, as Ilse of Skye was for him. The cool thing is, Étretat is a very nice environment which you can reach by car in about 6 hours. So it is pretty accessible situated in Normandy France and a great place to do photography. It is also quite close to the D-Day beaches and it’s historical landmarks and the remains of war you will encounter.

The Isle of Skye was on my wish list for a few years, however I never really explored the means to get there or the costs. I thought the only way to get there was by boat from The Netherlands to Scotland and then drive, to save costs and go with my own car. Still I thought this was a costly trip and therefor it did not materialise. So why now?

After 5 days in San Francisco it was time to pack and head towards Yosemite National Park. The drive it self was quite boring, but when entering the park and especially Yosemite Valley we were amazed. The grand wild river, the landscape and the mighty El Capitan. That huge monolith rock formation is just amazing!

After the road trip to Santa Cruz the weather changed and the sun was replaced by mist and rain. A perfect time to visit the nearby Redwood Regional Park. We hiked along a nice trail and in the forest forgot about the not so great weather.

What to do with a week of vacation? That was our question, go to a city here in Europe, because time is limited or just something else. Well even though the long journey we decided to go to San Francisco and Yosemite National Park.