The Rouen Cathedral Sound and Light show was great in pictures. Here are a couple of videos and a couple of more coming in next week since Vimeo account limits what can be uploaded. It looked far more spectacular in the video – enjoy it.
Archive | Fun
RSS feed for this section
Insanity Continues
This again will be filled under “Christ what were we thinking” category which is the predominant theme of ours when we go out to eat. After a wonderful dinner at the Golden Horn we rolled out of the restaurant, and rolled down the hill from the castle side, across the main square and to 4D our favourite […]
Farewell Dinner
Tonight we are seeing Volker and Kasia for the last time on this trip. It is largely because of them that we are here, it is because of them that this trip has been such an amazing journey and it if was not for their help with everything we would most likely speak a bit […]
La Violetta
This is our favourite go to coffee shop. Always busy always good and always relaxing.
Around Nuremberg
It is Saturday today which means it is our last chance to go to the shops and buy anything we still might need. Our goal for today was to get some suitcases and a poster tube. We did not find a suitcase we liked, we forgot about the poster tube but we bought a few […]
Travel Update
We are slowly coming to the end of this great adventure and while we are not quite thinking about home yet, here is an updated map of places we have visited. Hopefully tomorrow, I will get a chance to catch up on the blog – so stay tuned! The map in detail
Ghent
Ghent started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Leie and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of northern Europe with some 60,000 people in 1300 AD, 70,000 in 1400 growing to 175,000 Shortly after 1500 AD. Today it is a busy city with a port […]
One More Road Trip
Today we are setting off from Bruges to Nuremberg. On the way home there are a couple of stops we want to make to see some interesting things. We are going to be getting home late but with nothing to do tomorrow, no one really cares.
Off To Ghent
Our stay at the B&B has ended, we are going to be stopping in two cities for a quick visit on the way to Nuremberg. After packing the car which took about 25 min we settled in and off we went to see a WWII museum and then to Ghent.
Jumping for Joy
While we were tying to get the car packed the kids were enjoying themselves on the trampoline – I think they are happy that we are finally going home. Except we are not, as we still have some stops planned on the way home.
Main Square
The Markt (“Market Square”) of Bruges is located in the heart of the city and covers an area of about 1 hectare. Some historical highlights around the square include the 12th-century belfry and the Provincial Court (originally the Waterhall, which in 1787 was demolished and replaced by a classicist building that from 1850 served as […]
Horse and Carriage
Instad of taking a boat tour today, we decided for something more elegant and private – a horse drawn carriage. We have not done this yet on this trip so we though it would be a great opportunity to see a bit of the city from a different perspective. The tour is about 35 min […]
St. Walburga Church
The St. Walburga Church is a 17th-century Roman-Catholic church in Bruges built by the Jesuits in a Baroque style. It is now a parish church and contains many valuable art objects. In 1596 the Jesuits first built a chapel. Soon after they started building a church with a college, a convent, a chapel and garden. […]
Best Friends
After a brief encounter in Colmar France Anna ran into one of her favourite new friends here in Bruges, Belgium. Hello Sara Pacini, nice to see you again.
Bruges Canals
Often Bruges and Amsterdam and Bamberg and Colmar are referred to as the Venice of the North. In fact I think that any city in Europe that has canals can and tries to make this claim. Bruges I think is the cleanest and the nicest of them all. There are a lot of shops and […]
On Bruges
Bruges is a relatively small city of about 120 thousand people, double that if you include the metropolitan area. It is very beautiful and pristine. It’s a vibrant and alive and obsessively clean and not as busy and commercial as Brussels, a perfect place to get a good taste of Belgium. Very few traces of human […]
Saint Magdalene’s Church
This is not an ordinary church. In fact a lot of churches in Belgium it seems, as well as The Netherlands are used for things other than praying. St. Magdalen’s is turned into an art exhibit entitled An Experiment on Space, Man and Religion. The graves of the future dead were quite interesting.
Welcome to Belgium
After spending a few hours in Amiens, we set off for Belgium. We are going to be staying in Bruges close to the old town to reduce our travel time and to maximize our time in the city. Our fist impression of Belgium is very positive. It appears that most highways in Belgium are lit at night, […]
Around Amiens
The first known settlement is Samarobriva (“Somme bridge”), the central settlement of the Ambiani, one of the principal tribes of Gaul. The town was given the name Ambianum by the Romans, meaning settlement of the Ambiani people. The town has been much fought over, being attacked by barbarian tribes, and later by the Normans. In […]
Amiens Cathedral
Amiens Cathedral is situated on a ridge overlooking the River Somme in Amiens and it is the 19th largest church in the world. Medieval cathedral builders were trying to maximize the internal dimensions in order to reach for the heavens and bring in more light. In that regard, the Amiens cathedral is the tallest complete […]
Farewell Omonville
Today we are saying goodbye to our fantastic little cottage in Omonville. Despite the weather, we had absolutely fabulous time here. I would say one of the best stays on this trip. Don’t get fooled by this picture, it rained 30 min later, exactly when we were checking out…
Heaven in a Jar
This habit we picked up in Paris 3 years ago. I can’t put my tiger on it but this is the best yogurt we found and it is only sold in France and it comes in a glass jar. Absolutely delightful – so we gorged ourselves on it.
Crêpes
For a treat, after climbing some trees and stopping to smell the hydrangeas we drove back to Dieppe to have crepes, exactly at the same spot where we had them on the first day. A couple stops at a chocolate shop and a bakery too were on the agenda. Crepes are great but nothing beats […]
Horticulture
Continuing with our fun theme for the day after Tree Top Adventure we set off for Hydrangea Gardens. The gardens which are about 2ha in size claim to have the largest collection of hydrangeas from around the world, with hundreds of flowers and millions of blooms. I am not sure if this qualified as fun […]
Arb’Aventure
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 […]
Chapel of Our Lady of Salvation
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 […]
Fecamp
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 […]
La Rebelle
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!
Étretat
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 […]
Sound and Light Show
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 […]
Made in Normandy
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 […]
Rouen
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 […]
Benedictine Monastery
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.
Church of St. Ouen
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 […]
Ironwork Musuem
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 Great Clock
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 […]
Le Treport
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 […]
Dear God
I have no idea what this is called – but triple bombastic custard, liqueur and caramel bomb would be a very good approximation. There are eight pieces of sponge like pasty each the size of a cream puff. Each is filled with custard and soaked in liqueur, then immediately covered with some caramel to keep […]
Rouen Cathedral
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 […]
Middle of Normandy
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.
Summer in Normandy
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 […]
The Abbey
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, […]
The Bridges
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 […]
Road Trip Normandy
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. […]
Chateau de Miromesnil
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 […]
Saint-Jacques
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 […]
Dieppe
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 […]
Back to France
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 […]
A Long Day
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 […]
Boat Cruise
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 […]
Recent Comments