Eilean Donan Castle

Eilean Donan Castle, Lochalsh. This must be the most impressive castle I've seen so far, and I've seen my share over the years!

Although the latest version of the castle has yet to celebrate its 100th years, it seems to have stood there proudly for centuries.

Built on the wee Isle of Donan, the Castle of the Isle of Donan (English translation of its name) has never been as important as the Sitrling Castle or any other castle which witnessed the war between England and Scotland. But due to its unique location, at the meeting point of three Lochs (Loch Long, Loch Duich and Loch Alsh) and its most impressive architecture and bridge, it has become over the years the most visited castle in Scotland.

Many will recognize it from the movie Highlander, although the clan McLeod's castle is actually situated in Dunvengan on the Isle of Skye.

The Eilean Donan Castle is situated on the North West coast of Scotland and I strongly recommend you stop there on your way to the Isle of Skye, another stunning place in Scotland!
I was on a road trip from Ayrshire to the Isle of Skye and had planned on staying overnight on the Isle but when we saw the Eilean Donan Castle we just couldn't leave! We booked a room in a B&B in the wee village of Dornie on the coast and went straight back to the castle... and there are just a sample of the pictures we took.


Eilean Donan Castle, Lochalsh. Ce chateau doit être le plus impressionant qu'il m'ait été donné de voir à ce jour, et croyez-moi, j'en ai vu!

Bien que la plus récente version du chateau n'a pas 100 ans, le chateau donne l'impression d'avoir traversé fièrement les siècles depuis son rocher.

Construit sur l'ile de Donan, le 'Chateau de l'Ile de Donan' (traduction du nom gaelic) n'a pas l'intérêt historique que peut avoir celui de Stirling ou tout autre chateau ecossais ayant joué un rôle dans la bataille entre l'Angleterre et l'Ecosse.

Cependant, du fait de sa situation géographique, au point de rencontre de trois Loch (Loch Long, Loch Duich and Loch Alsh) et son impressionant pont, il est devenu au fil des années le chateau le plus visité d'Ecosse.

Certain se souviendront de l'avoir vu dans le film Highlander, bien que le chateau du clan McLeod soit situé sur l'Ile de Skye, celui-ci appartenant au clan McRae.
Le chateau Eilean Donan est situé sur la côte nord ouest du pays et je ne peux que vous recommander de vous y arrêter.

Personnellement je m'y suis arrêté en chemin vers l'Ile de Skye où je comptais passer la nuit mais devant la beauté du chateau et de ses environs, nous n'avons pas pu partir. Après avoir trouvé un B&B miteux, nous sommes retournés au chateau afin de prendre d'autres photos. Le lendemain nous n'avons pu resister a visiter l'intérieur.

Click on the thumbs to go to the album

French passports delay... a lit bit of France out of France!

Going to Florida (hopefully!) on vacation in just 7 weeks, I had to have my passport renewed. Any continental person not used to travelling outside of Europe won't have one of those (at least in the countries where an ID card is mandatory), so of course mine was expired by about 5 years!
Anyway... a day off and £23 later (train fee), here I am in Edinburgh looking for my Embassy!
11 Randolph Crescent, just off Princess Street, so far so good, it's right in the middle of the town.

But right then you know you're back in France!
I was feeling like I was back in my ol' university asking for a form or another... jeez I had forgotten just how slow the French administration is.

On top of that, I wasn't feeling too good going to 'France', I mean I left the country for a reason and just going to my embassy was like being back in my country... weird I know, but there you go!

Anyway... the French gouvernment has decided that we had to look stupid on the photos now! No smile, no fringe, a huge head... and if the distance between your headline and your chin is 1mm less than what it should be, your pics get refused!

But still, so far, so good... the person who dealt with my request was a really nice lady and you could see that she was willing to help me (she was Scottish, it might explain!). I've been asked weird questions but hey, you'd do anything to get a passport!

Even though I wasn't overly enjoying myself, it was still pretty ok, until I asked the question whose answer I dreaded... how long will it take to receive my passport? 6 weeks!
And bam, right there I was back in France facing its oh so slow way of dealing with everything!

So now it's fingers crossed, hopefully I will receive it on time to fly to Florida!

May I add that you can apply for a new passport or a replacement ONLINE in the UK... oh and yeah... they do have one of these options where you can get your passport urgently if need be, gotta love these guys!

A couple of tips to speed up the process (I'll let you know if they really work!):

- Pay for your passport (£42) on the day you make your request, otherwise you'll have to send the money at a later time and it will delay the shipment of the request to France where all French passports are made

- Do not hesitate to have your picture taken 2 or 3 times (happened to me), looks like your request could get very easily refused if the format isn't standard

- Specify to the person at the embassy that it's a urgent request and panic, it worked for me, she wrote urgent and the date I'm taking my plane on, on the form! ;-)

If you need more information of the French ambassy in Edinburgh or on passports:

- Official website of the Embassy