This morning the kids asked what we are doing today? Having fun was the reply and fun we were going to have. In the old days you could either climb a tree or you did not, today they made that into a sport, which I think is a lot more fun. First stop for today is a Tree […]
Behind the bunkers and the radar ruins left from WWII is this lovely chapel which can be seen from the city. Perched hight up on the top of the cliff and originally built in the eleventh century as the story goes, by Count Baldwin, this chapel was rebuilt in the thirteenth century. It takes the […]
Cape Fagnet is the highest point of the Alabaster Coast, it offers a breathtaking panorama of the sea, the cliffs, the harbor and the town of Fecamp. It peaks at 105 m and was once called the “Slam Fécamp.” It is currently occupied by a navy radar installation. Cape Fagnet was part of the German Atlantic […]
About 20 min drive from Etretat is the fishing town of Fecamp. During WWII Fecamp was part of Atlantic Wall fortification project run by Nazis. It was the third best fortified city in Normandy in WWII which was held by the Germans until 1944. Fecamp is an ancient fishing village and it shows signs of habitation dating […]
In the middle of Normandy, in the middle of farmland with cows and sheep everywhere a rather displaced act of civil disobedience and protest. If , like us, you support PETA ( People Eating Tasty Animals) then this is just a bit of whimsical fun!
Yesterday in Rouen we had amazing weather – read no rain and even some sunshine. Today’s forecast is somewhat similar. Cloudy, with light wind, occasional sunshine and guaranteed downpour or five. I think that by now we all got used to the idea that the beach towels we brought with us will go back home […]
Etretat is a small town of about 1500 people located about 100 km from where we are staying. Étretat is best known for its cliffs, including three natural arches and the pointed “needle”. These cliffs and the associated resort beach attracted artists including Eugène Boudin, Gustave Courbet and Claude Monet, and were featured prominently in […]
While I am trying to find some time to catch up on the last two days of posts here is a quick update from Rouen. Our last thing to do in Rouen today was to see the great Cathedral Light and Sound Show. It is similar to what we saw at the Quarries of Light […]
Rouen is a very cool city, well worth a good visit or two. We loved Metz, but Rouen I think is going to be a bit more special to us. This is a wonderful city with a lot of great places to visit and explore. The city has a great atmosphere, it has great shops […]
First thing this morning we made online dinner reservations at a very nice little bistro in Rouen. Made in Normandy Bistro is in the old town and we were quite happy to be able to get a table there. In a typical French style we are celebrating our 17th Wedding Anniversary today with foie gras […]
Another one of predominant landmarks in Rouen are the timber houses. The entire old town it seems is dotted with them. Some in better shape than others, some looking like they were just built and some so skewed they look like they are falling over. All of them however, absolutely charming and beautiful. Most of these […]
In the park behind the Church of St. Ouen church is where all the action is. Great church, beautiful park, a fountain, a pond, a tennis table, a playground for kids, bachelorette party meeting place and an exercise park. Since this trip is all about collection experiences, we thought we would give it a try. We entered the […]
On the other side of the Church of St. Ouen park is a beginning of rowdy to be bachelorette party. It starting slow but I bet it will be a barrel of fun.
This Benedictine Nun Monastery was established in 1677 by a nun from Paris. In 1802 the nuns moved to the former convent of the Minimes, which was built in the 17th century. They have been praying every since and now they also bake and sell delicious cookies to support the monastery and themselves.
The Church of St. Ouen is a large Gothic Roman Catholic church in Rouen, northern France, famous for both its architecture and its large, unaltered Cavaillé-Coll organ, which Charles-Marie Widor described as “a Michelangelo of an organ”. Built on a similar scale to nearby Rouen Cathedral, it is, along with church of Saint Maclou, one […]
Since 1921, the church of Saint-Laurent which dates from the 15th and 16th century has housed a collection of wrought ironwork that to this day is the only one of its kind in Europe. The family collection of Henri Le Secq des Tournelles was donated to the city of Rouen, which at the time was the most comprehensive collection of […]
The Gros-Horloge or Great Clock cannot be dissociated from the surrounding buildings, since their history is so intimately linked. Since its construction in the late 14th century, the Gothic belfry has housed the town’s bells and clock, the latter being a simple mechanism meant to sound the bells on the hour, half-hour and quarter-hour. In […]
Joan of Arc 1412 1431 nicknamed “The Maid of Orléans” is considered a heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. She was born to a peasant family at Domrémy in north-east France. Joan said she received visions of the Archangel Michael, Saint Margaret and Saint Catherine instructing her to support Charles VII and recover […]
Le Treport is a small fishing port situated in the Pays de Caux, some 34 km northeast of Dieppe. The mouth of the Bresle river meets the English Channel here, in between the high 110 metres chalk cliffs and the pebbly beach. Le Tréport is also a sea-side resort with a free funicular that takes you […]
We got to Rouen this morning, totally forgetting the fact that Friday is a civic holiday and most of the places are closed. We had a good look at the Rouen Cathedral and a quick walk around part of the old town. We are going to be coming back here tomorrow for a better look so we […]
The first church on this site dates back to 4th century, The 6th century it was enlarged and elevated to cathedral status. The cathedral was struck and portions of it destroyed by lighting no less than 5 times It was burned and bombed and damaged by hurricanes. One of the fires was so intense it melted […]
Omonville is literally in the middle of nowhere in Normandy, yet it is close to everything. It is just the way we like it, quiet and serene and peaceful – this is one of the roads we take out of the cottage.
It would appear that summer in Normandy consists of three different weather forecasts: looks like it will definitely rain, it’s raining or it’s pouring. Actually, that statement is not entirely true. It should be two forecasts – looks like rain and it is a biblical proportion deluge. It usually pours for anywhere between 2 to […]
Mont Saint-Michel was used in the sixth and seventh centuries as an Armorican stronghold of Gallo-Roman culture and power until it was ransacked by the Franks, thus ending the trans-channel culture that had stood since the departure of the Romans in CE 460. Before the construction of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century, […]
Mont Saint-Michel is an island commune in Normandy. It is located approximately one kilometre off the country’s northwestern coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches. 100 hectares (247 acres) in size, the island has a population of 44. The island has held strategic fortifications since ancient times, and since the eighth century […]
You have to admire the architects and civil engineers here. Someone apparently decided to take a whimsical approach to road works and built these two bridges to look like the road is a part of a roller coaster ride. One is twisted and the other steep like a mountain. I am sure there is a reason […]
This morning we are setting off on a 3 hour drive to the other end of France it seems. Mont St. Michel is perhaps as well know in France as is the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre. This will officially be as far west as we have travelled by car from Nuremberg which is almost 1200km. […]
Our last visit for the day is Chateau de Miromensil. The only way to see the chateau inside is either by booking a night or by booking a guided tour. We booked a guided tour of the chateau, the gardens and the chapel. The tour was in French but we were given information in […]
The Saint-Jacques Church was built between the 12th and 16th centuries, the Saint-Jacques church bears evidence to various epochs. The 1st church was constructed on the remains of the small chapel of Sainte-Catherine, which itself was destroyed in 1195. The church that we see today, dedicated to Saint-Jacques was built around 1283. The church on the sea route […]
The Saint Rémy Church: the first Saint-Rémy church, of which only the tower remains today, was built in the 13th century. It was built at the foot of the hill on which today stands Château-musée. The church gradually fell to ruins and the new Saint Rémy church was built in the heart of the town. It […]
The Dieppe Canadian War Memorial is dedicated to the Canadian and British soldiers who were killed during the Dieppe Raid in 1942. 944 members of the Allied Armed Forces are interred at Dieppe, of which 707 are Canadian. Other dead from the raid are buried in Rouen, where the Germans took captured raiders, some of whom died […]
Today we set off for Dieppe. A small costal city of 32,000 people about 20km from where we are staying. First recorded as a small fishing settlement in 1030, Dieppe was an important prize fought over during the Hundred Years’ War. Dieppe housed the most advanced French school of cartography in the 16th century. Two of […]
On our way to France, we stopped in Delft. It is a small city of 100,000 people located about 35km from Amsterdam. Delft is primarily known for its historic town centre with canals, for Delft Blue pottery (Delftware), for the Delft University of Technology, for the painter Vermeer and the scientist Antony van Leeuwenhoek, and […]
This morning we are leaving The Netherlands and are heading for France. This is going to be our first time to northern France. Off to Normandy we go, but because we are not in a huge rush we are taking it easy with a stop for some sight seeing and breakfast. If we are not […]
We were out in Amsterdam for about 11 hours plus the drive there and back. This has been a long day but I think we are all quite happy with what we saw. In a city of this size you need to spent at least 5 to 7 days to get a good feel for […]
Since we only have one day in Amsterdam we thought it would be prudent to maximized the exploration time by minimizing the walking. We bought a hop on, hop off boat tour, which allows us to take all three cruise lines, all day long around the entire old city. We usually try to take a boat […]
This is a one shot deal – you either parallel park like a boss in the Red Light District as everyone is looking on, or you go swimming! Well done.
There are a lot of interesting things to see in Amsterdam. Amsterdam is perhaps not the city best know for its landmarks like Paris or London but Amsterdam has its own jewels and charm. Amsterdam is the capital city of the most populous city within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the Dutch capital […]
In Amsterdam, short boat ride from the parking garage we are enjoying a lovely breakfast outside watching the world sail by.
We got off to an early start. By 10:10 am we were already in Amsterdam, parked and looking for something to do. First thing on the agenda was to orient ourselves, find a good boat to get to places fast and to find a place to have a breakfast. We are quite impressed because the forecast […]
We are staying just outside Amsterdam. We had a choice of staying in a nicer hotel and driving to Amsterdam or staying in a worse hotel and not driving. We decided to stay in a nicer hotel that is quiet and close to the city rather than staying in Amsterdam. I think this will be […]
The drive down to The Netherlands was not bad. The drive through Denmark was easy, and uneventful. The drive in the initial part of Germany was good too. The drive on the west side of Germany was excruciatingly painful. We got stuck in a 5km traffic which by the time we cleared it grew to […]
We are about one third of the way there. A quick stop for a bit of home made lunch.
The adventure continues. Today we are saying good bye to our great hosts the Mozejkos and setting off for The Netherlands.
Today we said our goodbyes to our dear friends Mozejkos, whom we had a pleasure of seeing 4 times on this trip. Twice we were guests at their home and twice they came to visit us in Nuremberg. We always have a great time with Mozejkos and we are already missing them. Thank you again […]
The weather forecast has changed from sunny with a chance of showers to pouring rain with a chance of deluge. It was essentially raining sideways for most of the afternoon. Despite our rain gear, by the time we walked from the Little Mermaid to the shops, we were absolutely soaked to the bone. The only saving grace was […]
Well, it started to rain, so instead of going to see the Little Mermaid statue we decided to take an early lunch. Henrik suggested a great place that serves traditional open face Danish sandwiches, with just about anything you can imagine on them. There is 40 thousand types of herring, from pickled to curried, eel, meatballs, chicken […]
After the Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace we decided to walk towards the Little Mermaid. We decided to walk along the wharf to see the display of tall ships which were anchored there. The wind had picked up at this point and it looked like the weather might be taking a turn for the worse. Undaunted, we […]
After visiting Ørestad we drove to Fields, which is a massive shopping mall, to park the car and take the metro to the old town. The driverless metro decided to have some issues today so we were running late, and risked missing the show at the Royal Palace. We rushed from the metro station to […]
A place like Ørestad could not possibly have an ordinary playground. Located in the grassy field across the canal is a massive park. In the park, there is a massive ship which is about 80m long with steps, benches and a playhouse and a bunch of rocks to climb on. Not far from the ship is a […]
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